For the final three days in Utah, there was lots to do, but nothing of real significance. It was a lot of picking up things the girls needed and delivering them to them.
I also got to have breakfast with Hannie each morning at her work. Her 15 minute break was at 9:00, so I would grab some dry cereal from the hotel and drive it over. And those are the moments when I wish my kids lived in the same town as me. What I wouldn't give to just drive over and have breakfast each day with my girl. I can't imagine that it will ever happen, but a mom can dream ;-)
Each night, we went out for dinner as a foursome (Zach, Hannah, Glo and me). The first night was a crazy one. We tried this one Mexican place, but despite one of the doors being open, and the sign saying they were open, there was nobody there and it was closed. So Zach stepped up and chose the next place--another Mexican joint--which was basically street tacos. Holy smokes, huge grills in a tiny little hole in the wall and no air conditioning (it was 98 degrees outside). The kids all ordered their food in Spanish, and then ended up topping them with all kinds of salsas and raw onions and peppers. It was pretty amazing to watch. No customer was wearing a mask in the restaurant, and it was full, and all of the orders, when complete, were called over a speaker which made conversation near impossible. Near the end of eating, Zach excused himself to go to the bathroom. After about five minutes, we kinda wondered what had happened. When he came back out, he told us that he had had a bead of sweat go into his eye THAT HAD SOME OF THE SALSA IN IT from him wiping the sweat with his hand. So he had been holding his eyeball under the sink faucet in the bathroom! When he came out, it was pretty red and swollen, and when we waited for Hannah to check into her dorm room that night, he went back in the bathroom and rinsed it out some more. But wow, he was so calm about it all. I think I might have been completely freaking out AND insisting that I go to Urgent Care!
The next night, I wanted something much more controlled and tame, so I took everyone to Outback. Ahhh, the coolness of the dark restaurant with good social distancing practices and non-dangerous food! And quiet. It was much nicer to sit calmly and have a nice dinner. Yes, it wasn't ethnic which Zach and Glo like, but it also wasn't pure chaos.
The third and final night, I wanted to take Ethan Sulik out for dinner. It was originally just supposed to be Ethan, Glo and me, but Hannah decided at the last minute to join us...which meant Zach was coming along too ;-) I was nervous about all of us being there because I know Ethan gets pretty wiggy about crowds and has issues with the attention he receives. However, it was good. We had good conversation and it felt comfortable. I was happy to see him again too, but it was pretty obvious that Glo can probably do better than Ethan. As Zach put it after the date, Glo is pretty, and has a bright personality, and loves to talk about her mission. Ethan is kinda the opposite. John wonders if he's depressed, because he just doesn't have much motivation to do much of anything. I mean, Glo invited him over for games after dinner....and he told her that he was meeting some friends at Walmart at 8:00 (as Zach said, who DOES that?). And even yesterday, Glo tried to arrange to go for a walk with him, but he was either doing laundry or playing games with friends. When he asked her what their status was, she told him that she'd still like to date him but she'd like to date some other guys too.
I just felt so badly for him. He's obviously a product of his upbringing, wearing a BYU polo that was several sizes too big for him and shiny gym shorts and flip flops to dinner with us. I mean, doesn't he feel the need to step it up for Glo? But I don't want Glo to end up with him because she feels obligated towards him. So, I doubt I'll see him again which makes me sad, but it's not like I haven't gone through a couple of break-ups before with other significant others.
Thankfully Glo wasn't sitting around feeling badly about any of it. She was busy getting her hall ready for her residents. Coming from Santa Rosa, she chose a Peanuts theme. I helped her put together a survey on the wall, asking the residents which Peanuts character they are. Man, it looked so cute, and I loved walking down the hall and seeing which characters the girls had chosen for their doors.
And the day I left, I met up with Sarah. We text and talk enough that it wasn't any kind of catch-up session, but I felt so emotional just sitting across from her having lunch. Again, what I wouldn't give to have my dear friend close enough that we could do that frequently! It felt like we had just seen each other last week, and yet there was the poignancy of not having seen each other for years. Chedda Burger was delicious (seriously, the cheese tots are to die for), and I wish I'd had several more hours to be with her, but I had to get back to the girls.
I also got to have breakfast with Hannie each morning at her work. Her 15 minute break was at 9:00, so I would grab some dry cereal from the hotel and drive it over. And those are the moments when I wish my kids lived in the same town as me. What I wouldn't give to just drive over and have breakfast each day with my girl. I can't imagine that it will ever happen, but a mom can dream ;-)
Each night, we went out for dinner as a foursome (Zach, Hannah, Glo and me). The first night was a crazy one. We tried this one Mexican place, but despite one of the doors being open, and the sign saying they were open, there was nobody there and it was closed. So Zach stepped up and chose the next place--another Mexican joint--which was basically street tacos. Holy smokes, huge grills in a tiny little hole in the wall and no air conditioning (it was 98 degrees outside). The kids all ordered their food in Spanish, and then ended up topping them with all kinds of salsas and raw onions and peppers. It was pretty amazing to watch. No customer was wearing a mask in the restaurant, and it was full, and all of the orders, when complete, were called over a speaker which made conversation near impossible. Near the end of eating, Zach excused himself to go to the bathroom. After about five minutes, we kinda wondered what had happened. When he came back out, he told us that he had had a bead of sweat go into his eye THAT HAD SOME OF THE SALSA IN IT from him wiping the sweat with his hand. So he had been holding his eyeball under the sink faucet in the bathroom! When he came out, it was pretty red and swollen, and when we waited for Hannah to check into her dorm room that night, he went back in the bathroom and rinsed it out some more. But wow, he was so calm about it all. I think I might have been completely freaking out AND insisting that I go to Urgent Care!The next night, I wanted something much more controlled and tame, so I took everyone to Outback. Ahhh, the coolness of the dark restaurant with good social distancing practices and non-dangerous food! And quiet. It was much nicer to sit calmly and have a nice dinner. Yes, it wasn't ethnic which Zach and Glo like, but it also wasn't pure chaos.
The third and final night, I wanted to take Ethan Sulik out for dinner. It was originally just supposed to be Ethan, Glo and me, but Hannah decided at the last minute to join us...which meant Zach was coming along too ;-) I was nervous about all of us being there because I know Ethan gets pretty wiggy about crowds and has issues with the attention he receives. However, it was good. We had good conversation and it felt comfortable. I was happy to see him again too, but it was pretty obvious that Glo can probably do better than Ethan. As Zach put it after the date, Glo is pretty, and has a bright personality, and loves to talk about her mission. Ethan is kinda the opposite. John wonders if he's depressed, because he just doesn't have much motivation to do much of anything. I mean, Glo invited him over for games after dinner....and he told her that he was meeting some friends at Walmart at 8:00 (as Zach said, who DOES that?). And even yesterday, Glo tried to arrange to go for a walk with him, but he was either doing laundry or playing games with friends. When he asked her what their status was, she told him that she'd still like to date him but she'd like to date some other guys too.
I just felt so badly for him. He's obviously a product of his upbringing, wearing a BYU polo that was several sizes too big for him and shiny gym shorts and flip flops to dinner with us. I mean, doesn't he feel the need to step it up for Glo? But I don't want Glo to end up with him because she feels obligated towards him. So, I doubt I'll see him again which makes me sad, but it's not like I haven't gone through a couple of break-ups before with other significant others.
Thankfully Glo wasn't sitting around feeling badly about any of it. She was busy getting her hall ready for her residents. Coming from Santa Rosa, she chose a Peanuts theme. I helped her put together a survey on the wall, asking the residents which Peanuts character they are. Man, it looked so cute, and I loved walking down the hall and seeing which characters the girls had chosen for their doors.
And the day I left, I met up with Sarah. We text and talk enough that it wasn't any kind of catch-up session, but I felt so emotional just sitting across from her having lunch. Again, what I wouldn't give to have my dear friend close enough that we could do that frequently! It felt like we had just seen each other last week, and yet there was the poignancy of not having seen each other for years. Chedda Burger was delicious (seriously, the cheese tots are to die for), and I wish I'd had several more hours to be with her, but I had to get back to the girls.
Comments
Post a Comment