My Mom is Great Day

I know this is kind of passee blog material but I still can't pass up my chance to write a "my mom is the super much greatest" blog. Seriously, though, she is. I mean my mom could beat up your mom or something....

For her own sake, I won't eulogize her like a sacrament talk on Mother's Day Sunday that makes it sound like she is the icon of perfection. That would just make her mad. I mean, my mom has been known to swear on occassion (okay only that one time - like 20 years ago - it slipped at family night when someone gave her a "wild draw 4" card in Uno) But, I will say that she does have perfect legs. You can't deny that one mom:) And well that also brings me to an important point, she taught me how to love running and....well...that has been one of the greatest things ever.

Also, whenever I get complimented on something I am wearing it is something my mom either gave to me from her own wardrobe or talked me into buying for myself. But the great thing too is that she never "ahems" the clothes I pick out even if I look like a lost gyspy from a Matisse painting. SHOOT! I am starting to eulogize...

Anyway, I love her lots and I am all kinds of happy that I have as lovely a mother as I do. She is always up for a run, art gallery trip, backpacking adventure, an understanding listen about my punk 6th grade students, or a good sit on the hill at Sugar House Park. In fact, that's where this picture was taken. Just look how happy I am to be with her. That's because she's my mom and she is so super great.

May shower.

So did anyone else in Provo time their afternoon so poorly that they got dumped on with ice water and hail? My oh my that was a storm!

On my way out the door for my run I asked Matt, "You don't think it will rain or anything while I'm out...do you?"

"Nah. You might get some drizzle but nothing bad I don't think."

When I got outside it had that rain smell...that sweaty cement smell that I love about warm rainstorms. It was drizzling that lovely, serene kind of rain you sometimes get in the summers. I thought twice about the iPod but not once about how nice of a run it would be in weather like that.

The run went something like this:

Mile 1: pleasant drizzle

Mile 1.5: starting to rain a bit; pedestrians get a little over dramatic about getting wet (running around and covering their heads).

Mile 2: more rain and okay I'm cold now; "maybe I should cut my route short somehow...."

Mile 2.5: AHHHHH! Is that super cold rain or is that hail? Covering my iPod with my T-shirt is getting pretty pointless now and I am wondering if I will get to use it again after this.

Mile 2.75: get laughed at by these freaking people under Center Street canopies and pressed up against windows. "Oh man...you should run with an umbrella"

Mile 2.8: can't see....can't see...too much water...too much cold...can't see.....take cover in a Gurus restaurant (luckily there were no customers - I looked pretty embarassing and perhaps even slightly scandalus by Provo standards). Guy with blue hair asks if I "want a towel or something". I tell him "yes please and can I use your phone". Matt doesn't answer (come to figure out he is driving past at around that time to look for me but he didn't bring his phone)

Blue hair man tells me "sorry man...I'd give you a ride but these guys (points to the two cooks in the back) don't speak English". He gives me a plastic bag for the iPod. Thank you Blue Hair Man.

Mile 3: cold and going into full out sprints to make lights that have already turned yellow when I'm still 25 meters away.

Mile 3.5: step off a sidewalk into a puddle that turns out to be as deep as my foot to mid calf; a lady stares at me from under her full speed windshield wippers and stares. I want to punch her in the face.

Mile 3.9: two blocks from the house, Matt pulls up and throws the door open. I sit on a towel while Matt tries to gauge whether this is something that is funny now or not until later. Once I feel the heater as we park I tell him to run inside and get the camera.

How Austin Keeps Itself Weird...

Matt and I just got a package in the mail from U of Texas. Since we've been getting packages since January from a bunch of schools filled with brochures about how super awesome the faculty and dean think their school is, I didn't get too excited. But this parcel seemed like it could be a little different. It was packaged up in a bubble wrap manila envelope (which convinced me that something special was inside). I felt it and it was soft and lumpy...something special, soft, and lumpy.

Matt, the dear, let me open it. And indeed, U of T had sent us a very warm and hearty Texas welcome to their school this fall. Their welcome was complete with an aray of gifts including:

a UofT Law School Hat,

a bumper sticker, and my favorite: a spicey, cinnamon chocolate bat.

As exotic and tasty as it was, the chocolate bat demanded an explanation. After doing some research I learned that, at the estimation of 1.5 million Mexican freetailed bats, Austin is the home of North America's Largest Urban Bat Colony. And perhaps a bit more surprising is that they are so damn proud of it. The Austin City Guide's writes that, "each night from mid-March to November, the bats emerge from under the bridge at dusk to blanket the sky as they head out to forage for food." Wow. With a horrifically beautiful description like that who wouldn't be attracted to an Austin evening like that on the Congress Avenue Bridge? All this makes me think that this city has been successful in its Keep Austin Weird campaign. After living in Provo for the last 5 years of my life, bat colonies and all, I say more power to ya Austin. I am excited to meet you!

And I can't wait to eat all of those cinnamon chocolate bats you keep under your bridge.