The 43

On schedule, my traditional summer blogging swoon! I knew it had been a few days since I had written anything, but when I logged in tonight, I was stunned to discover two weeks had passed. I've been back at work, which has been all right. I've been preparing for a big structural shift that's almost here, and the last two weeks have been all devoted to that. The transition back wasn't jarring -- although I would have loved another three months of leave, the return hasn't been stressful. Michael successfully moved into his dorm. He has been home off and on, so we're not feeling so abandoned. Having him close is nice. Ben is back in school and has been driving often -- hopefully he can get his license by November. I've been running in the morning, avoiding the still brutally hot temperatures that show no sign of abating -- September will start with 100 degree-plus temperatures in SLC. This last weekend, I house-sit for some friends with a pool, which was nice a...

Tonight is Michael's last night at home before he moves into the dorm tomorrow. Thirty-four years ago, I  experienced my last night before going away to college. The summer of 1988, after graduating high school, was amazing. At the time, it was one of the hottest summers in Chicago's history, with highs in the 90s for a month straight and plenty of humidity. I worked at SportMart, trying to collect as much money as I could before heading to Marquette. I hung out with my friends, seemingly doing something every afternoon or evening. More than ever, I felt like I belonged, and the summer seemed as if it was there just for us. Then in August, we all departed for college. Of the seven friends in our group, two of us were going to colleges on our own, without another friend along for the ride. I was one of those two, walking away from that belonging I felt and the unforgettable summer. I've written about the run-up to leaving for college before -- spoiler alert, there was vomit...

The rest of our short vacation turned out to be a whirlwind of activity, with little time to rest but much to enjoy. We left Steamboat on Thursday morning and made our way to Silverthorne, where we ate a unique lunch (Lori had a buffalo brat, and Ben and I ate a mac-and-cheese burger) at The Eclectic Cafe. Afterward, we looked for clothes for both boys at the nearby outlet mall. Lori drove down Interstate 70, through the Eisenhower Tunnel, to Denver in advance of my sister Megan's wedding. We found our Airbnb in the Country Club neighborhood of Denver. The basement apartment of a bungalow wasn't as nice as our Steamboat Airbnb, but it served its purpose well, considering we just needed a comfortable place to sleep and have a little bit of room. After seeing my dad and stepmom, Lori, Ben, and I found a Greek restaurant for dinner. On Friday, Ben and I met some of our extended family downtown for breakfast, then the two of us explored downtown, including the capitol. We visited o...

The second day of vacation was busy. I had hoped to wake up early and go for a walk or run, but I slept to 8:30 and wasn't sad about it. I made a bagel for breakfast, took a shower, and ran to the store to get some provisions for the hike Ben, my sister Julie, and I were going to take. Before the hike even began, something noteworthy occurred. I had never been a passenger in a car my sister, who has not been the most confident driver over the decades, was driving. With every little bit of traffic, I could sense her trepidation, but she did great.  The hike at Mad Creek was wonderful. The whole trip was about four miles total, culminating in a restored barn. The grasshoppers were out in force around the born, and Ben captured a picture of marmot sunning itself on a rock. The hike was strenuous but not overly taxing, but I was nonetheless exhausted when we got back to the house. The pool at the condo complex is still closed, so I took a cooling shower and tried not to fall asleep aft...

The day before vacation is always busy. Monday, I was busy with errands -- packing, getting a car wash, getting gas for the trip, stocking up on provisions for the drive, dropping off Popcorn, and so on. I went to bed early and slept mostly well for the first day of our trip. Today, we hit the road by 10 a.m., driving from Salt Lake City to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The trip took about seven hours, though we stopped in Heber City and Vernal. Most of the drive was on the two-lane U.S. 40, and it seemed I was stuck behind the same truck for 50 miles. (Admittedly, I hate driving and passing on two-lane highways.) The Airbnb we have is nice, though Ben and I were disappointed when the pool to the condo complex was closed and the hot tub wasn't so invigorating.  We met Julie for dinner at Taco Cabo, then got ice cream on Steamboat's downtown strip. The town reminds me of a cross between Park City and Moab. After stopping at Safeway for a few extra provisions (including a deliciou...

The heat finally broke. Plus, we got some rain -- heavy rain. Today was sunny all day but with temperatures in the 80s, and tonight while I write outside, crickets are chirping, likely because they aren't overheated like everyone else was the past six weeks. Unfortunately, the last few days haven't been that exciting. I think I've hit the lull of Joe-batical. I've managed some good writing, but I'm at a point in which I don't want to be adventurous and I don't want to address organizational issues in the house, but I know that my leave in coming to its conclusion. I think that means I might be a little ready to return to work. Not that I'm excited about that prospect, but it won't be sneaking up on me, and it won't the end of the world. I think this acceptance of the end of Joe-batical was especially evident today, when, for a couple hours, I literally didn't know what to do. The day felt more like a lazy Sunday than a precious day of non-wor...

Summer 1997 was dominated by wedding, wedding, and more wedding for Lori and me. The only travel we did was to Chicago and northern Wisconsin for wedding showers, or around the Midwest to other people's weddings (we easily attended double-digit weddings between 1996-2000). I don't remember much else that June and July other than planning for our own wedding, to be held on Aug. 2. Our wedding weekend was wonderful -- all the planning worked out, and all the things that didn't go right didn't make much of a difference in the grand scheme. We took the Monday afterward off, then worked the rest of the week and departed for our honeymoon on Friday.  Lori and I decided on Colorado for our trip because we knew it wouldn't be too expensive and would be more adventurous and, well, personal (for lack of a better word) than, say, an all-inclusive resort in a tropical locale -- not that we would have time to get passports that summer, anyway. Lori had never been to the mountain...