A Public Apology

I was supposed to meet my family at Temple Square tonight and look at the lights. I was so excited. My family is fun. Seriously fun.

We always seem to make wonderful memories at Temple Square during Christmastime. There was the year I punched my Uncle in the stomach thinking it was my friend, why I thought it was appropriate to punch my friend I'll never know. Then there was the year I showed up and saw my Uncles mother so bundled up sitting in her wheelchair that all you could see was the whites of her eyes and as soon as I saw her, I just started laughing. Righ.at.her. And let's not forget the year I made a comment about a certain some one's hat and he refused to wear it the rest of the night. I'm sure his ears got frostbite. Like I said, memories. This year was no different.

We were supposed to meet at 5:30 in front of the visitor's center "with the Jesus statue". I left my house at 4:00 to give myself ample time for parking which I knew would be a nightmare. I arrived downtown at 4:45 and drove around for an hour. Yes, an hour, looking for a spot. Every parking garage I found said FULL and never found a spot on the street. I started to scream in my car and every time I would yell, Grant would yell "KAAAY" back to me. SO, after driving for one hour looking for a spot and screaming like a madwoman, I finally double parked where I thought the "Jesus statue" was so I could run in and tell my family to go without me (I don't carry my cell phone much anymore). I threw my van in park, grabbed my kid, and ran to find that the "Jesus statue" was not where I thought it was.

FORGET ABOUT IT. I guess I'm not looking at the lights this year. I'm sure my family waited and waited wondering where in the hell I was.

This is where you might think the story ends. But, it doesn't.

I had an errand to run while I was in the big city. Yes, I call Salt Lake the big city. I had to go to Williams Sonoma and return something, which is why I didn't just ride the train in. I went to Trolley Square and decided I wanted to give the lights one more try. I really wanted to go. So, I went back. What a fool I was.

I found a public parking lot and decided to give it a try. Just as I pulled in, a van was loading to leave. Jackpot. I waited. I was the only car in sight. I was elated. I knew I wouldn't see my family, but I could enjoy the lights and the different Nativity Scenes. A truck turned the corner as the van was pulling out and a girl got out of the truck and walked into the spot and assumed a Peter Pan stance. Oh, hell no. I started to pull in the spot anyway, rolled down my window and said politely "I was waiting for this spot." "We've been driving around for like 20 minutes looking for a spot." "I don't care." And I just keep pulling forward until I was inches away from her then stopped. She asked "Are you going to hit me?" "Nope, but I'm not going to move either." I was shaking, I was scared, I was mad, I was feeling dumb, but I wanted to park my car and that spot was clearly mine. She moved.

I got out and everyone in the truck yelled at me "NICE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT LADY!"

"Thank you."

Grant cried the whole time looking at the lights.

So, I'm sorry. Sorry to my cousins for not showing up and sorry that I ruined those peoples' night.

Dear Uncle Scotty,

I can't wait to meet you.



Love,

Your Nephew Grant.

Two Weeks in Texas.

I went to Texas for Thanksgiving. It was magical. My son loves his grandpa so much. Every morning I would wake up to find my dad had done the dishes from the night before and he'd be cuddling with Grant on the couch while they both drank chocolate milk and watched tv.

We ate, played the Wii, ate, went shopping, ate, watched movies, ate,went for a surrey ride(a surrey is a horse drawn buggy used in the old days to transport people from the train station to hotels. don't feel bad if you didn't know what a surrey was. I didn't either but pretended I did so my step mom wouldn't know how dumb I am), played with Frankie the dog and tortured Felix the cat, ate, watched season one of Modern Family, cut down our own Christmas Tree, ate, drank super special grape juice, and did I mention we ate?

My dad works a lot. He tells me on the phone that he's working a lot of hours and I would think "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You say you're working day and night but you're really not. How can someone really work all day and all night. He's just exaggerating." But seriously, he works all day all night and all day. He even took it easy while I was there so he could hang out with us and give me and Grant nouggies (how do you spell that?).

Those two weeks went by way too fast. The morning we woke up in our own beds, Grant was standing up in his crib yelling, "Grandpa! Grandpa! Grandpa!" He was pretty disappointed to see me, he knew he'd be getting white milk.

Thanks for such a great visit. We love you so much.