items of business

I have much to tell you, my blog friends. I will start with the most important.

While on vacation in DC last week (watch for upcoming post), I received a call from my mother informing me that my 32-week-along sister-in-law, Stacey, had a dangerous pregnancy condition called preeclampsia. They told her she would need to deliver in 48 hours.

Long story short, Hannah Leigh Larsen arrived on March 20, weighing 3 lbs 1 oz. She was 17 inches long! Tall baby.

I just barely got to see her for the first time on Wednesday. She was tanning under the bili lights. She just loves to chill and stretch out her long legs over her body-encasing doughnut. She also sounds like a kitten when she cries. You know I love it.

She only had to be on C PAP (breather thing up there) for 12 hours - which is awesome.

Exhausted.

Tanning under the bili's.


Next item: Blown out tire fiasco!

Okay, so I was aware that I hadn't put new tires on the car for, mmm, maybe five years. So what? my young girl mind thought. Maintenance is for boys. Namely my dad. So it shouldn't have been a shock when this happened Wednesday on my way to Statistics.

I haven't been to Stats for the last 4 class periods. I'm behind. I was very eager to get there on Wednesday to catch up and turn in my homework. While driving on Interstate 15, I was approaching the 800 North exit in Orem. All of a sudden my car just started making weird noises and driving uneven. I knew my luck had finally run out.

I pulled to the side and dialed my dad to come rescue me. My parents were there within minutes. When my dad examined the situation and also my remaining three tires, he looked at me with a sigh and said, "When we're done, head directly to Big O Tires." Apparently you could see the cording on my other tires. So they were in bad shape too. Who knew?

My mom scolding me for not being more assertive in my car's life.

So $480 dollars later (I also needed an alignment and one other thing I don't understand) and my tax-refund all but depleted, I got my car back in tip-top shape.


Next item: Wendover!

It's been an ongoing joke among the friends that one night we're just going to take the FUN BUS to Wendover and gamble the night away. Well, one fateful Friday night, Nan and Joe talked me into just that. We met the Fun Bus here at the Buenavista Market in shady West Valley. I know.

Here is the fun bus, already transporting some very enthusiastic patrons.

Nan and me. Excited.

Joe and Ryan. Oh and Joe's rotten friend behind him.

Once aboard, an old lady gets this party started! We played BINGO, played lotto scratch cards, and enjoyed some beverages. We were also given a coupon book with the following: free buffet, five dollars cash back, and free cocktails (gave that one away).

The Friday night seafood buffet was $24.99. My Fun Bus ticket was $18. You do the math. I earned money on this trip.

Nan, Joe, and Ryan trying their luck at the Roulette Table. I didn't gamble my money, but I sure helped Ryan gamble his. It's much more fun that way.

Nan kept wasting away her final dollars in dumb slot machines, so I had to show her how it was done. I put in a dollar to the 5 cent slot machines. I went away with $1.45. I know when to quit.

So, all in all, I spent $12.55 (because I got 5 bucks back). The Fun Bus picked us back up at 3:45 am, and I finally rested my head on my pillow at 6 am. Worth it.

There you have it. I am sorry for the long post, but I just had so much on my mind!

please respond

Dear Tara,

Would you like to go to our Nation's capital, District of Columbia, with me next week?

Think about it.

Yours Truly,

Tawny

Dewey: In Memorium

Saturday marked what would have been Dewey's 22nd birthday. I just wanted to take a mintue and remember him, his life, and his legacy.

It all started one fateful day when my parents walked into Macey's grocery store and saw a recently posted note on the board by the shopping carts. It read: "Siamese Kittens for Sale". They were selling for $15 a kitten, but the first people there would get their kitten half off. My parents headed to this house and were the first there! All of the kittens were running wilding around, and Dewey just so happened to be the first one they could catch. So it began.

That was 22 years ago. I was a mere one year-old when I met Dewey. I have known him longer than three of my siblings. Dewey was a true member of the family. He had his own chair at the dinner table. He would walk to the fridge and it would be opened unto him. He would walk to the back door and someone would jump up to let him out. He was honored and revered as the Great One.

He was also adorned with many nicknames including, but not limited to: Uncle Feathers, Meat Pants, Variety Meats, Smeagol...to name a few.

Some of my favorite Dewey Moments/Habits include:

-Lying on his back under the Christmas Tree trying to knock down as many ornaments as he could.

-Disappearing for two weeks in the summer, only to return in a very plump and well-fed state.

-Attacking the "bump" in the rug.

-Watching him hopped-up on Cat Nip. Very entertaining.

-Finding him next to the heater on the kitchen floor where he looked him a very adorable rug. You could always find him there in the morning.

-His miraculous recovery he made when he was on his deathbed. Truly a miracle.

-His meow. Or "ma" I should say. Some would call it annoying, but we loved it and miss it. Countless mornings Dewey and Brandon would get talking to each other so loudly that we'd yell at both of them to shut it.

-There was the one summer back in 2006, just six months before he passed, where he disappeared for three weeks. We didn't think that was unusual because he was a very independent cat, but with him getting older we were concerned. As time passed, we resorted to checking the neighbors backyards for any sign of him. Nothing. Another week passed and we heard a familiar meow in the garage. My dad found him in there looking completely haggard and hungrier than we'd ever seen him. He came inside and ate and ate and ate. We're still not sure where he was. But we're convinced he came back just one last time to say goodbye before December.

Dewey left us with a certain emptiness that I'm not sure will ever be adequately filled. We adored him. He was treated as a king; we were his humans living in his house. There was something very elegant about him. We were privileged to have known him as long as we did.