My honey called an hour ago to say that he had made it to Sydney and was just waiting for his connection to Brisbane. Glad he’s safe and sound!

His older brother just arrived here to spend the week while he subs for a couple of chiropractors in Ogden and next week in West Valley City. I showed him how to work the TV (some big NBA game is on), got him on the guest network with his laptop, showed him how to run the clothes washer and dryer and he’s good to go.

I have set the DVR to tape the Tony Awards tonight so that my honey can watch them when he gets home. I guess I’ll be upstairs watching them live, so as not to disturb the game.

The weekend is fast ending!

We had brunch with Allison & Rawlin, Rob & Lee this morning at Over the Counter. Scotty bailed, but we gave him a pass because he’s got a new dog. (but that’s the last time, Scott)

I’ve spent the later afternoon updating my photoblog with images from our trip to Rome in 2006. Lots of memories sprang up. In spite of being back from Mexico only a week, I’m ready for another vacation.

I wonder if the economic issues facing the US and the rest of the world will impact us directly. These are scary times.

And writing of scary times reminds me that I think I mentioned that we early-voted on Thursday. It feels good to have that out of the way and to watch election coverage with a less-than-vested interest. My blood pressure is lower.

I guess it’s not a secret that I didn’t vote for McCain and 2012 candidate Palin.

Latest scuttlebutt is the $150k spent on new clothes to make her presentable to the common man. They could have saved money by shopping at Wal-mart.

The $22k bill for two weeks pay for her makeup artist bordered on obscene.

I remember rapid right-wingers screaming because Bill Clinton and later John Edwards had $300-400 haircuts, which made them “elitists”.

I suppose that if I had hair and money, I might spend that much to look good as well. But probably not.

We’ve spent a nice quiet weekend at home before the busy season starts next week: I’ll be driving home to Wyoming to attend a nephew’s high school graduation and my honey makes his 3rd trip to Brazil this year — with one more scheduled in early June.

The weather is finally remaining spring-like with occasional storms, mild temps and no snow for almost 10 days now. We felt confident enough in the weather that we stocked the decorative pond in the backyard with 43 “feeder” goldfish this afternoon. We’ll see how many make it through the first 24 hours.

My honey was up at the crack of dawn this morning painting the deck and finished it in fine form after we broke for brunch with Lee and picked up another gallon of stain/weatherproofing. It looks really good and now we feel like we need new patio furniture to make more like a living room than a dining room as it’s always been. A couple of outdoor chairs, a sofa and maybe a love-seat would make it very nice.

My honey got his “economic stimulus check” from the pandering government on Thursday. I’ve not seen a cent; whether because my social security number is higher or because I made too much money last year to qualify….I hope it’s the former, but suspect it’s the latter.

Our friend Rob is having a housewarming party at his new digs just off 90th south. Quite a few friends are anticipated, so this should be a fun evening. We are waiting for our friend Brook to join us and Mike called this afternoon to say he was still in mid-town Manhattan, but expected to be back in Salt Lake this evening and join as well.

It’s been a quiet day with just a sidetrip to Wal-Mart, where my honey was checking out the dollar fabric table for some additional material for his Halloween costume.

Is it me, or does the place attract mullets and bleached hair? I felt like I was in Rock Springs, Wyoming instead of a few blocks from our house.

My honey decided to visit his parents this weekend and I decided to stay home and veg.

Reno the dog and I took a nap this afternoon and just got back from a taking a short walk and picking up the mail. Other than that, we haven’t done much today.

I had intentions to leave the house, but talked myself out of it several times.

I played with the CSS on my genealogy site and finally got some previously-near-invisible links to display. Exciting stuff.

I’ll probably watch a movie or two this evening and stay out of the cold weather that hit us overnight. It went from being in the 90s to the 50s in less than a week. Not sure that I’m ready for winter yet, but we have lots of new snow in the mountains.

I left work early and have come home to eat lunch and pack for the big event tonight. My honey expects to leave the office around 3pm, drive home and then we’ll head to the airport to pick up his sister and her girlfriend–then off to Midway.

The weather is 15 degrees cooler than yesterday, overcast and threatening rain. Tonight in the mountains is predicted in the low 40s. I’m about ready for the temperature change. I am so over summer.

Monday supposedly has us back in the high 90s.

A very busy Monday at work today. I’m still working on my big project and blocked about six hours on my Outlook calendar so I could do just that. I made a lot of progress and hope it’ll be done tomorrow or Wednesday so that I can get on with my job (and life).

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The weather jumped back into the high 90s today. The last week has felt very much like fall was in the air. We had actually cracked open most of the windows in the house since late last week and had turned off the air conditioner for the first time in many weeks.

It was back on again today.

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We took Reno to the vet yesterday as he’s been having problems with his right ear and suddenly seemed to be experiencing a lot of pain. Having just recovered from an ear infection myself, I could empathize and we paid the extra “Sunday and weekend” fee to get him in.

They irrigated his ear, injected him with steroids for the inflamation and sent him home with $50 worth of ointment and pills. $164.00 was the total bill.

He seems much better today.

I just got up from my normal post-work nap with my dog Reno and cat Buster. We take a little 15-30-minute nap most days and I’m pretty sure they enjoy it as much as I do.

I get up early every morning (5:30), so a little “spencer” (so-named after Spencer W. Kimball–who was famous for his catnaps taken under his desk on the floor) refreshes me for the rest of the day and into the evening.

When my honey takes a nap, he’s out for hours.

Our last guests left this afternoon and we have spent the remainder of the day napping, reading, and in my case, doing genealogy.

I found some specific birthdates for my great uncles and aunt who all died in a tragic auto-train accident in 1933.

The five children–along with their parents (my grandfather’s oldest sister and her husband) were killed Sunday morning, April 2, 1933 on a railroad crossing near Utica, Livingston County, Missouri.

I can’t begin to fathom the tragedy–and the long-term effects that this has had on my family.

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It reached 104 degrees again today. I keep the house dark and the shutters closed and try to move as little as possible. I’ve been quite successful in all endeavors.