Let's Play!

As you may know, "Let's Play!" is the slogan of the Utah Shakespearean Festival which is held annually in Cedar City, Utah. On Friday my co-worker, Susan, came into work and asked me if I was doing anything fun for the weekend. As usual, my answer was no, we were just going to hang out. However, as I thought about it, the more I felt that I desperately needed to get away (this happens on occasion, I get a spontaneous desire to immediately do something new which my husband has labeled as dangerous).

While doing the monotonous chore of entering registrations into our computer system, I began thinking of all the places we could go and things we could do. I thought about hopping on a plane and heading to California, but luckily for my husband, I talked myself out of that idea. I then thought about Jackson Hole, but realized it was a 5 hour drive and I didn't get off work until 2:00, and it would just be a little too long of a drive for a short weekend. I then narrowed my thoughts to Utah and remembered the Shakespearean Festival and had to go. By the time I got off work I had talked my husband into my little scheme, bought tickets for 3 plays, and made room reservations at a hotel. Okay, so maybe I wasn't working as hard as I should have that day, but hey, it was Friday!

We were on the road by 4:00 and racing down so that we could attend the 'Tempest' which started at 7:30. We barely made it, walking into the theater 5 minutes before the show started. The show was terrific! The actors were tremendous and we had a great time. Checking into the hotel I was thrilled to find out that I was getting a room with a jacuzzi! Yes! For those of you who don't know, my tub at home is not much of a tub so I never take baths even though I love them. When staying in hotels I always appreciate the big tubs. :)

Saturday morning my wonderful, charming, adorable husband let us go down to the outlets in St. George. As soon as we got on the road the skies opened up and sheets of water poured down. I couldn't see 20 feet in front of me, the rain was so bad. This continued the entire way down. We finally made it to the stores and I found 60% off racks at the Dress Barn and I got three outfits there. We then each got super soft fleece windbreakers at Eddie Bauer and a pound of luscious caramel pecan fudge at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. It was an awesome shopping trip.

That afternoon we saw a play called 'Art' which was so well done. A comedic classic that questions what art really is and what friendship is worth. That night we returned to the theater for front row seats and Agatha Christie's 'Mousetrap'. The play is a murder mystery and is filled with Christie's trademark red herrings and interesting plot lines. We had such a blast!

Luckily for us, the rain cleared up over night and by Sunday morning it was bright and sunny, perfect weather for us to race home and be back just in time for church to start at 1:00. Needless to say we are a bit tuckered out and will be heading to bed shortly.

Reflecting upon the events of this weekend, I have been reminded that life needs to be lived to its fullest potential. People need to experience as much as they can and who you share those experiences with makes all the difference. I am lucky to be with such an amazing man who humors me and allows me to fulfill those spontaneous desires and takes the time to share those adventures with me. :)

My New Addiction, Part Two

Okay, here is the post I promised with the pictures of my paintings. My camera was a little retarded, so the angles are not quite perfect, but that's okay, you still get the general idea. You can also click on the picture to see it bigger.

This one is the first one I painted. It's of the Delicate Arch at Arches National Park.


This is my second one. I have decided I like things that are not your typical pictures, so this is looking through an old castle window in Cornwall overlooking a little island. It is sideways, so you will have to tilt your head a little.


This picture is a close up of a very small part of a stained glass window in a medieval English church. I call it "An Excerpt of Peace" because the song is Dona Nobis Pacem, which means 'grant us peace'. I liked the old school look of the music so I painted it.


Next I did a series lilies. Like I said earlier, I don't like to be boring so I painted close-ups of the flowers.






They are not perfect, but I am still learning. Hopefully if I keep practicing I will get better. :)

Coughing up a Lung

Today I don't feel so good. The doctor has diagnosed me with bronchitis, again. This means that I am sitting on my couch, wanting to lay down but not able to because it is hard to breathe. Each time I cough my body is wracked with pain because my bronchial tubes are not big enough to handle the force of air that a cough produces. I am also having an incredibly difficult time speaking and swallowing. For my poor husband's benefit I have taken to writing any requests or responses on a small whiteboard, I think he was getting tired of his one sided conversations. I admit it's kinda funny since people usually can't get me to shut up. It's also funny to watch me speak using body language, at least Alexander thinks it's funny since he laughs every time I do it.

I am currently eating a bowl of pistachio pudding (Yay! Pudding!) which I started two hours ago and will probably take the rest of the night to finish. I am also bored. I can't figure out how people can spend all day surfing the web. I can only do this for a couple of hours (at the most) and then I run out of things to do. I have already spent $70.00 shopping at Old Navy.com and if I am on here much longer I will have to get a second job to pay for my spending habits. Oh well.

With any luck I will be feeling better soon, since I can't feel much worse. Sometimes ya gotta be thankful for days like this so that you can truly appreciate the days when you feel good.

My New Addiction

Okay, I admit that I have been a total slacker. But I can defend myself: I have been busy. Work is wearing me out and I come home every night feeling like someone has beaten me up. I have started to worry about the possibility of my blood pressure rising or something as equally old-person sounding. To help alleviate any potential stress-related health problems I have picked up a new hobby. Painting. Yup, you read it right, I have been spending most of my evenings painting.

I have been learning a lot and last week alone I painted 5 pictures. I can paint one from start to finish in about 4 hours and I have realized that I go into a sort of creative trance. I just sit for hours focused on what I am painting. The really amazing thing is that they actually look like what I am trying to paint (usually). I am shocked, so is my family, they didn't believe I actually painted them, they thought I bought them.

I think it would be neat to be able to sell my paintings for like $1,000 each. Then I could really be making money ;)

For your enjoyment, or perhaps to quench your curiosity, I will post pictures of my paintings as soon as I get my act together. :)