Catching up

I'm new to this blogging thing, but I'm going to give it a whirl.

I work at SkyWest airlines in Salt Lake City. Unfortunately, business isn't what it used to be, so the company is cutting back. I, alas, did not make the cut this time. So having been furloughed, much to my dismay, I decided to make the most of it. I have entered a 40-day flying frenzy, and will be updating my whereabouts throughout.

Day 1
I flew to Boise, Idaho, and my sister picked me up at the airport. We drove to the base outside of Mountain Home to see my niece's new baby boy, McKay, and her adorable daughter, AnnaLynn. I was, of course, excited to see my niece, her husband, and my sister, too. :) It was great to relax and play with the kids. We had a great visit. Aren't they adorable???

Base was cool. Every day they play Reveille at 7:30 a.m., the Star Spangled Banner at 5 p.m. and Taps at 10 p.m.

Day 2
I flew back to Utah and treated myself to lunch at my favorite restaurant in SLC. It's called Rawtopia. Yes, the food is all "raw." I had the spicy seaweed rolls and a piece of chocolate pie. It was delicious. After that, I went to a Furlough Party at Chuck-A-Rama in Sandy. It was fun to get together.

Day 3
My birthday. I stayed at home for most of the day working on travel plans for the next 5 weeks.

Funny story. When I woke up, I went into the living room for our morning routine. (We do family prayer and scriptures at our house every morning.) There was an odd shaped item, covered by a blanket in the middle of the room. It was a birthday gift. I looked at it for a second and said, "It better not be a vacuum cleaner." I was half joking, but that was what it looked like. Who wants to get a gift for cleaning? Well, you guessed it. It was a vacuum cleaner. BUT, it is a Kirby. I've wanted one for a long time. I felt really silly for what I had said. Poor Vernon felt bad that I didn't like it. But after I tried it, I told him I LOVE it. It is awesome. My carpet already feels better. I didn't vacuum the whole house. It was my birthday after all. But I did vacuum our room. It sucks! Or it doesn't suck. Hmm.

The rest of my day was filled with many wonderful people wishing me a Happy Birthday in many forums. My family also gave me emery boards and other toiletries I had asked for, cutting boards, some DVDs, a Tibetan bowl (very excited about that), components for my MacBook Air, and raw chocolate ice cream. I am one lucky girl!!!