That's Travel in Winter!

My parents are coming for Thanksgiving.  Well, that's the plan, anyway.  As things stand, they're going no where.  There's a blizzard (literally, according to the weather report, it's officially a blizzard) that's got I-15 closed basically all along Idaho.  And, a couple hours ago, the blizzard hit here.  I'm looking out my window, and all I can see is white.  Even though it's dark, still... all I can see is white!  Yep.  It's Winter in Utah!  We'll see if things ease up tomorrow.  If not, they probably won't make it for Thanksgiving at all.  Well, that's what traveling in winter is like. I always complained in England that we didn't get enough snow.  So, welcome home, I guess!

Arches and Canyonland National Parks

As you know, I spent 5 days down in Southern Utah hiking and camping in the National Parks. My folks drove down from Montana on Saturday morning, and we left for Moab on Sunday afternoon. A couple of good friends of mine, the Landons, are avid camper/hikers (Nate's a National Park Ranger), and they recommended a fabulous campsite to us. It's off the normal hiking path. In fact, it's out on the 'Slickrock Trail' which is for BMX, 4x4s, ATVs, mountain bikes and other off road vehicles. They have several campsites out there, but they're all considered 'primitive'. As in, no running water, pit toilets, no electricity . . . in other words, perfect. The lady at the visitor's centre wasn't overly enthusiastic about it when we asked for directions, but we loved it. There were several other groups camping out there, but we couldn't see each other from our sites, and they were all courteous and kept the noise down after dark. The point of this adventure was two fold -- 1) Get Mom out of the allergens up in Montana (their spring is just hitting the worst pollen time, and Moab's a couple weeks ahead, so their trees are already done) and 2) Help her build red blood cells. She's been anemic, and the Dr wants her out hiking/biking and whatever else she can stand as much as possible. So, we opted for medium strenuous, medium length hikes.

On Monday, we went into Arches National Park and hiked up to Delicate Arch. It had rained overnight Sunday, so the air was crystal clear. They get a lot of pollution blowing in from LA, and also the wind picks up all that fine sand (which is how the arches get formed!), so often you can't actually see the La Salle mountains off behind the park, but Monday you certainly could! It was a perfectly clear day, blue sky and sunny! We'd actually lost our sunscreen, but managed to keep the exposure to a minimum, so didn't actually fry. But . . . boy did I get tan! Although, sadly, no one but Lois is ever going to notice! My summer colour is most people's winter colour! I'm just that pale a person. I enjoyed the hike, it's not too hard, and it's only 3 miles round trip, but I ended up doing a bit more than that. I got 2/3s of the way up.... and had to go back to the truck! So I ended up doing it basically twice! Ooops. Never mind. I got a real good first hike in. And on my way back up I saw a collared lizard and a whiptale lizard. We saw loads of whiptales, but that was the only collared any of us saw, so I guess it was worth it!
Monday night the wind picked up. Really bad. 30+ mph. It was so strong that the only thing holding my tent down was me. I ended up dragging the water supply into my tent and climbing into the cab of the truck to sleep. The wind was noisy, but the real reason I ditched the tent was the rain fly might be great for keeping out water, but it's rubbish at keeping out sand. I was being covered. Since the wind was still crazy strong in the morning, we decided to head to Canyonland National Park, which is a bit further South, near Montecello. It was still windy, but definitely an improvement on Moab/Arches! The Four Corners Region, in addition to having some truly remarkable geology, was also the home to the Anasazi Indians (amongst many other groups). These people left behind a bunch of unique dwellings (see Mesa Verde National Park) but also petroglyphs. One of the best examples of petroglyphs is 'Newspaper Rock'. It's in them! And it happens to be just off the road to the Needles District of Canyonland. So, obviously, we stopped off there. Very cool. When we actually arrived at Canyonland, we hiked Pothole Trail and Slickrock Trail. Pothole was pretty easy; all flat. Slickrock was a lot tougher, and ages long! Seriously, it went on forever! It was a 'lollipop' trail, meaning you hiked out a bit, did a loop, then backtracked the first bit to get back to the carpark. It was beautiful, but not my favourite hike of the week. It was hot, windy and I was thirsty . . . and it was not the 2.4 miles it claimed. We hiked solidly for 4 hours! We weren't trying to win any speed hiking competitions, but we weren't just standing around, either. You can walk 4 miles/hour! Ok, so we were going a bit slower because it was up and down and side to side, as well, but 4 hours?!? It only took us 3 hours to hike the 3 miles up and back to Delicate Arch, which was all uphill on the way out, and that was only because I hiked it twice, and we hung around for half an hour once we arrived!Wednesday the wind had calmed down quite a lot. It was breezy, but not windy. I even managed to sleep the night in my tent Tuesday night! We got up and headed out to Double O Arch Trail. This turned out to be my favourite hike of the whole week. It was sort of in three parts. Round trip it was 4-5 miles, depending on how many of the side hikes you took. We took every one of them. It was fantastic! The first mile was out to Landscape Arch. It's this enormous, very thin, arch that spans the horizon. It's considered the largest natural arch in the world -- 295 feet -- closely followed by Kolob Arch, in Zion National Park. It's so cool. The hike was pretty easy up to this point. There was a bit up and down at the beginning, with two side trips out to Pine Arch and Tunnel Arch, but very well maintained, paved, easy walking. It's out in the 'Devil's Garden' area, and there's a whole 7.6 mile loop you can do. We did all but 1.6 miles of that loop. Once you got past Landscape Arch, the trail got quite a lot rougher. In fact, the park service has it labeled as 'Primitive Trail. Difficult Hiking.' But that's also where it got fun. First, Arches is covered by these outcroppings of sandstone called 'fins'. These fins are thin wall-like structures. They're where arches form. Well, the first thing you get to do once you pass Landscape Arch is hike up a (small) fin! Yeah. Obviously I'm going to love that! I was totally in favour of hiking back down, just so I could hike back up again! It's not very tall in comparison to the fins on either side (there are 3 in a row, and you hike the middle one), but it's not flat, like most of them. Instead, it goes up the side of a hill! So you're walking a few feet above the side of the canyon wall. Pretty awesome! Mom's a little sensitive to heights. She wasn't overjoyed with it, but survived ok. Once you got up to the top, you had the option for two short hikes (about 1/2 a mile each way, if you did both) -- Partition and Navajo Arches. They were in opposite directions, but very short trails. Partition Arch was particularly amazing, because it's the same wall as Landscape, just off to the right a bit, so you get this amazing view of the whole valley. Navajo Arch is just very different, because it's kind of in a corner, and you don't have to hike up to it. Ok... sure, you've already hiked up, but usually once you reach the area of the arch, it's still UP! This one's right on the floor! Also, there was this cool little nook just before the arch. I saw it and had to crawl inside. Yeah . . . I do that a lot. If you can climb in or on it, I'm there. The third leg of the trip was the most difficult. But it was also the most fun. (Are you catching a theme here?) That was the mile out from Partition/Navajo Arches to Double O Arch. It was a difficult trail, mostly uphill across rugged land. But the best bit was you got to walk across another fin!! And this one was probably close to a quarter mile long. Now, it was pretty easy walking, because the fin itself was level. What made it challenging was . . . it was the tallest thing up there! And it was a long way down to the canyon floor. Several hundred feet. I have no idea how far, exactly, but absolutely more than 100 feet. Yeah, that really pushed Mom's buttons. There's one point where the fin is cracked, all the way across, and you have to step over the gap. Now, the gap is only a few inches wide, so it's no big deal . . . except that you can see down. That got even stomach, and I'm not bothered by heights. It nearly reduced Mom to tears. Bless her. But she toughed it out, crawled across (no joke. On hands and knees) and we told her how brave and courageous she was to have made it across. Walking across that fin you had the most beautiful view of the lower canyon. Absolutely stunning. You really did feel like you ought to be able to see the back side of your head. The view was only limited by the curve of the earth. Amazing. Once we got across the fin, the trail got physically tougher. Finally, I said to Mom (she was kind of suffering at this point) that, 'whenever [she] wanted to say . . . there it is!' which got a laugh, of course. What I'd been starting to say was, 'Whenever [she] wanted to say enough was fine by me,' and just at that moment, I saw the arch! We could see it out across the valley. It was still a hike away, so Mom decided that it was a rather anti-climactic arch, and she could see it fine from where she was, and sat down to recover for a while. I sat with her, and Dad decided he was going to do a bit more exploring. After about 45 seconds, he said, 'Hey guys . . . that's not it'. We had actually not been looking at 'Double O' even though there were two arches, one above the other! How did he know? Because he'd gone around the corner of the fin we were hiking along the side of, and saw the real Double O Arch! He was all of 15 feet away, so we walked over. It was much more impressive than the one we'd been looking at (still don't know what it was called, if anything), but Mom still thinks it wasn't worth the last part of the trail. The fin, however, she loved . . . retrospectively. She hated walking it, but loves remembering it (which she admits!) Anyway, Mom sat down in the shade of some rocks, and Dad and I hiked the rest of the way over to the arch. I climbed up into the lower arch, but there was no way to get into the upper one. We only stayed a couple of minutes, though, because the wind was picking up, and we still had to walk back across that fin! Mom did it even better than she had on the way out, though. She handled the crevasse much better, no tears at all! Still didn't like it, but did a great job getting through it. All in all, we hiked for 5 hours, and did 5 miles. I'd go back and do that hike in an instant. I'd really loved to have done the whole loop, but Mom was just not in any condition to do the extra mile and a half. But I loved that hike.

Thursday Mom was beat. We'd done quite a lot of hiking, and her body had said 'Uncle!' So we took it easy. We did Park Avenue, which is only a mile, all down hill (then sent Dad back for the truck!). Then we did the upper view point for Delicate Arch, which was probably only a mile round trip (1/2 a mile up -- and I do mean up -- and 1/2 a mile back). But after that, she was exhausted, so we went back and slept. Honestly I was sort of feeling it a bit, too, but was fine as long as we kept moving. I'd been sitting in the middle of the bench seat along the front of the truck on our drives, and it was starting to bother me. It meant I had to sort of twist my back a bit, and even then my legs couldn't be straight out in front of me. They had to fold one direction or the other (mostly one direction, other wise they would get in Dad --driver--'s way). So I was rather glad to have a break and let my muscles soak. We'd decided that we would get a hotel that night, rather than camp again, so that we could get a shower and wouldn't descend on Lois like (Mom:) a Plague of Locus, (Me:) a Pack of Wild Hyenas or (Dad:) a Plague. We opted for one with a hot tub so we could soak the aching muscles. Actually, it ended up being the worst night sleep for both me and Dad. Mom, however, slept much better. Both Dad and I were up early Friday morning because our backs had had enough of the hard mattress! Friday, our last day, dawned overcast. Not heavy clouds, just not the bright blue we'd had up til then. It was kind of a nice break from the heat and sun, but kind of sad, too. So we got out the door and up to the park pretty early (since we didn't have to break camp or anything). We headed out to the Windows area of the park, and did two short hikes: North/South Window and Turret Arch, and Double Arch (not to be confused with Double O Arch). Double Arch is probably the second most photographed/iconic arch in the park. It's sort of a tough call between it and Landscape Arch as to which is second to Delicate Arch. But, Double Arch features in the movies occasionally. Most memorably (for me, anyway), it's the location that Young Indiana Jones is climbing around in at the beginning of The Last Crusade. Once we'd hiked out to both those areas, we piled back in the truck and drove back to Salt Lake.
And thus ended our fabulous visit to Southern Utah.

I'm Back! (In Salt Lake)

Ok.... sorry to have disappeared off like that. I went down to Arches National Park with my folks for the week. But I'm back now, and I promise to get a real post up soon. In any case, know that I'm alive and well.... and a whole lot tanner!

Stress Levels

I hate packing. I'm the worlds worst packer, in so many ways. It stresses me out to such a degree that I post pone it till.... well past the time when I ought to have started it! And on top of that, it's been a stressful few days. Oh, and there's the whole leaving my sister and .... other important people.... er.... person.... not a happy state of affairs. And it's not like I'm packing to go home.

Well, ok it is like I'm packing to go home. But I'm not actually going home! I'm off to Arches with my folks today, or maybe tomorrow (yeah.... things are really on a tight schedule. Kinda not helping much, actually! I need deadlines! Hello?!? I'm an academic!) definitely by Monday.... then, we'll be back sometime over the weekend.... Saturday? Sunday? Who knows! (That part's not so stressful.) But when I do finally get back to Salt Lake, I have at least one day with Lois. Which is really good, and quite important. Our week/weekend got hijacked by someone for her pet project, so I didn't really get to spend the last 3 days with Lois. And that stressed me out. But the whole bouncing back and forth between Salt Lake and Arches, not really helping me. It's like, I'm leaving.... psych! Now, I officially, finally, definitively leave Salt Lake on the 5th of May. But even that isn't the final hoorah.

I'm off to Florida to drive my grandma from her winter home (she's a snowbird) to her summer one in Michigan. Sounds like fun, yes? Well, it actually will be. And I'm quite looking forward to it. It's just that it's making my packing more complicated. Because I now have a domestic flight ($35 dollars for luggage!!! I'm totally going to play the, 'I'm an international traveler, and I'm on my way to my international flight. Will you please not charge me extra? card. We'll see if it works.) then at least a week of travel, probably closer to two, living out of my suitcases. So I have to pack in such a way as to balance the weight between my bags.... then repack when I get to Florida, so I can actually get to my clothes, and then repack again when I get to Michigan to distribute the weight again! Aaaaaargh! Not fun.

And then? When I finally do fly to the UK, I've got to get said luggage home, in my jet lagged condition, by myself. Through the London train/underground systems. Because I don't have family in the UK who can come collect me, and all my friends are at work. Yeah. That's going to be so much fun. Seriously, the worst part of flying back to the UK is getting home from the airport.

I'm looking forward to the individual trips. I just wish I didn't have to lug 4 months worth of stuff about with me. I'm normally a very light traveler.... I can go for 6 weeks out of a large backpack. Honest. Have done it before. But with living over here for 4 months, I needed casual, and professional things. Actually, I only arrived with half a suitcase worth of stuff. But you know how it is... Christmas sales, Spring sales.... you collect stuff. And my wardrobe really did need an overhaul. I went through and got rid of a good 60% of what I owned before I left England. So my closets were looking pretty bare. And the combination of cheaper prices (exchange rates are actually in my favour over here!) and having Lois as my personal shopping advisor, I got quite a number of things. And then there's my obsession with Scrapbooking. I bought a bunch of stuff whilst here, because it's A) cheaper, and B) available! But getting it home is no picnic. Especially with the extra travels I've got.

Aaaaargh!!!!

Ok. I'm done. Sorry.

And That's A Wrap!

Well, over the past week I've marked 90 essays and 90 exams. I finished the last of them today. I started off the marking on Thursday, last week. So it was a full week of marking! Except that I didn't actually mark that entire time. I marked all the essays on Thursday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday. I gave my first exam on Saturday at 7.00 am. Ooofta. Then I marked their exams Sunday. And gave my other two exams at 7.00 am and 11.00 am on Monday. And marked all the 1st class on Wednesday and all the second class today. I kind of missed out Tuesday due to exhaustion (and not being home). So I finished the marking, and entered the grades! Yeay! Hooray!! That's all I have to do for my teaching responsibilities for BYU. My TA is doing the grade calculations and submitting the marks. They have to be in by the 29th of April, so I'm doing really well having everything done by the 22nd!

Oh? The exhaustion? I was out with The Boy. Yeah, he's still around. I didn't get home until very late Monday night. Or, more accurately, very early Tuesday morning.

Confused Weather!

It's the beginning of March. We've been having all sorts of strange weather around here. In fact, we'll go through pretty much the whole spectrum in a single day. Take these two photos, for example:










They were taken on the same day, out my office window! The first one was taken around 10 in the morning. The second, around 12 noon, last Friday. And then the next day, which was predicted for a snow storm, it was beautiful the whole day! And Sunday, too. Monday it was cloudy, but when I walked out of my 3.15 pm appointment, we'd had an inch of snow! And by the time I made it home (ok, so it was nigh on for 2 am!) it was several inches thick. In fact, it's still pretty white out there, though it's finally starting to warm up enough to melt. Yes, such is early spring in Utah!

Shooting In PG

Well.... Friday was exciting. I came home to my aunt's house in PG on Friday, and the door was locked. Interesting. I could tell people were home, which means the door's usually unlocked. So I dug my key out and came in, and joked 'Trying to keep me out, eh?' as I walked into the living room. My aunt said, 'We've been in lock down all afternoon.' Ummm..... ok. Why? Apparently there'd been a shooting about 5 blocks away, and the police had been chasing the guy all over PG. So the schools were all holding the students till the guy got caught, and the road was blocked off (fortunately I'd come the back way, not the front way, so I missed the traffic problems) and it was a mess, generally. And, of course, being so close, my aunt and uncle knew the victim. Actually, so did my Dad. He's originally from PG, though they moved when he was 10 to Alaska. The victim was the (much) younger brother of my Dad's friend from elementary school. Kind of scary. Actually, really scary. And in PG? It's like the definition of 'Small Town, USA'. And it's kind of freaky watching your house go by on the 6.00 news. Seriously, it was that close.

Culture Shock

Well... maybe 'shock' isn't quite such a good word. But culture difference, definitely. As I was walking around campus today, I was noticing all the couples. Now, it's not that there are no couples on campuses in England. That's just silly! Of course there are. But the display is different. The couples at Essex and Sheffield (and I would guess the same is true at most other Universities around the world) are together for fun. These couples are dating for keeps. Hmm.... how to explain. I'm not sure what the 'seen but not noticed' (Harold Garfinkle) attributes are, but the couples around BYU's campus are visibly courting. They are actively seeking a permanent relationship with the purpouse of marriage and starting a family. This is obviously a result of the ideological theology (which I agree with, mind!) taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Other couples are not displaying the same things. It's just interesting. I can tell by looking at these couples that they've got a different purpouse. I wonder what the 'seen but not noticed' things are!

Photographic Evidence

Ok, I've finally got my computer functioning (I'd lost the power cable) so I can upload the photos.




Really short video of me sliding.

Bumps and Bruises

I had so much fun this weekend! I got to go down the Luge Run over at the Utah Olympic Park. You know those insane people you watch on the Olympics? The ones who go zipping down the mountain side on their backs, inches above the ice? Yeah. That was me! And it rocked. I can't think of when I've had more fun (as much, maybe, but more? Well..... that's going to be tough). It was so much fun. You get up to the top of the hill, and then lie down on your back, on top of these two rails attached by a hammock...... and hang on for dear life! We started off at Curve 12, which is only 3 curves from the bottom. That meant we weren't going overly fast. Sure, fast enough, but nothing insane. It was taking us around 19 seconds to make it from there to the bottom. In fact, I got through my first run and asked, 'How can I go faster?!?' (Yes, those of you who know me particularly well already saw that coming. But it's true! That's what I wanted to know!) Most of the 'go faster' stuff was 'get a skintight suit, good shoes, etc...' which obviously I couldn't do. But I could do the 'point your toes' bit. So I did. Yep. Sped things right up! After two runs on curve 12, we moved up to 'Tourist' which gave you a couple extra curves.... and a more speed. I went from just over 19 seconds to just over 14 seconds! Oooooh baby was that awesome! And I did brilliantly. I didn't hit the walls or anything. Until the last run. Yep. Totally bounced off both the walls. Repeatedly, just coming out of the last turn! I soooooooo should have been fine. But I must have overcompensated a bit too much, which sent me into the one wall, which is what set of the chain reaction of wall wall wall wall wall wall wall.... to the point where I couldn't sit up and grab the wall when I'd finished the run. And that's sort of a problem! Because you don't end up at the 'bottom' of the track. In fact, the 'Low Point' is half way between the last curve and the end of the track. They have to send you back uphill for a bit to slow you down! Now, obviously those of us doing this intro thing weren't going quite fast enough to really need that uphill, but the pros do! Anyway, it means, as soon as you get close to stopping, you've got to grab the wall, other wise you end up sliding backwards. For a long ways. And that's what I ended up doing. So I just hung out on the sled, going backwards! The guy who helps you climb out is standing there saying, 'Just hold on. You'll stop in a minute. And then you'll go forward, just let it go forward. And now you'll go backwards a bit again. Ok, now you can grab the wall.' Anyway, slowed me way down, obviously, but it was still fun. However it left me with some serious bruising! They're quite colourful today! I photographed them on Sunday so that I wouldn't miss them. But they're still pretty awesome today. Slightly green, but mostly still purple. My ..... not sure what to call him. He's not boyfriend... yet... but you know what I mean. Anyway, him. He said, 'Don't show those to people! They're going to think I did it to you!!'

p.s. -- Things are still going well with him.

Exchanging Lois' Birthday

This weekend was rather insane. But loads of fun!

First off, it was Martin Luther King Jr Day on Monday, and BYU (for some obscure reason, considering we don't even get any time off at Easter!) lets us have a 3 day weekend. Excellent. And, considering I only teach M/W/F, it means I didn't go back to work 'til Wednesday! Excellent x2!

Also this weekend is the Utah Lindy Exchange. So, there's all sorts of dancing going on all weekend, starting on Thursday!

It also happens to correspond with Lois' birthday, most years. So, since I had Monday off, Mom and Dad drove down to spend the weekend with us.

Conflict!

What do I do? Do I go swing dancing? Do I stay home and play with my family? OOOoooh such difficult dilemmas. Ok, you know me. I did both! Yep. I played with my family by day (and evening) then went to the late night dances over at ULX. And consequentially, got no sleep! How much more fun can life get?

I actually hit the dance on Thursday, too. Which was great fun. But it meant I was dragging through all my Friday classes. At the end of class Friday, I went 'home' (PG) and fell asleep. I only meant to fall asleep for an hour. 4 hours later, I woke up! Ooops. Obviously I needed it. So I got ready to go back out dancing Friday. I went to the late night. That didn't even start till 12.30! I wore this great little blue dress I bought off the clearance section of Chadwick's. Very '40s vintage feeling. And a stunning cobalt blue colour. Really like it. And so did everyone else. I could hardly move for people asking me where I'd got it. And I only sat out the dances I wanted to. It was brilliant. Both Thursday and Friday were fabulous. Maybe Thursday slightly more-so. But both nights were well worth the effort. I got 'home' (Lois') around 3.30 in the morning, and I'd left the party early. Yeah, that's an Exchange!

Saturday we hung out and played a bit around the house. Mom and Dad arrived, and we got them sorted. Dad and I took the cars off to get washed, and Lois cooked for that evening's shindig. Around 5.30 the guests/usual suspects started arriving. Stephie, Nathan, Kaydee, Ryan and Brittany, plus the 5 of us (Mom, Dad, Steve, Lois and me). We had a Murder Mystery Night for Lois' birthday party. It was great! We had 2 extra people, though, so Ryan played the 'Dead Body', and Stephie was the hostess. And, as usual, Dad was the murderer! No fair! It's amazing, he's the murderer every time! *sigh* Never mind. We had a ball joking back and forth about various things. We didn't quite solve the mystery (there was a bit of magic involved that threw us off the scent of the last step) but got very close. It was a very complicated plot, but loads of fun. The key to those things is enjoying playing the part, not being too worried about actually getting the right answer.

Sunday I went to my ward, and Dad tagged along (singles ward). Then we met Lois and Mom at Lois' house. Steve had to fly out to NYC for a week long job for work. Poor thing. We just sat around and did nothing. All day. Seriously good fun! I never do that. We watched Clue, Oscar, The Sting and a bunch of Firefly episodes. Mom and I got a bunch of knitting done, and Lois worked on her beading. Dad just sat on the sofa and fell asleep. He needed it!

Monday was Lois' actual birthday. We tried to take her out for breakfast, but by the time Stephie, Nathan, Katie and Ryan all got there, it we too late. We had other things planned. Never mind. We tried. So instead we went down to IKEA and got Lois a guest bed frame. Then over to the emergency preparedness place for some water containers for Mom and Dad. Then back home for some lunch. Then we took Lois bowling. We played 2 games. I didn't even break 100 once!! Tragic. Lois got 101 on the second game, and Dad broke 100 on both games, but Mom got the high score of the day: 112 on the first game. Poor poor me. In the evening we watched more Firefly, and polished off the end of the party food. Pretty good day, really. We were going to take Lois for ice cream at Sub Zero, but we found out they only have one in Provo. we thought they'd have one in Salt Lake, too. So I promised to take her the next day. And I did. It was amazing.

New Diggs

Well, the snow drama continues.

Yesterday, after having spent the night up in Salt Lake with my sister, I came back down to PG. And discovered that I still couldn't get up the hill. So I stopped at my aunt and uncle's house, and asked if they would kindly let me stay the night. Since Aunt Cindie had been really hoping I'd move in with them.... she was thrilled. And so I asked if it would be ok if I did move in. She was ecstatic! She took me up the side of the mountain to where I'd been staying to collect most of my stuff. I still have a couple of things, but got 95% of it last night. So, I've moved from one end of the street to the other (flat) end. It's going to be great fun to live with my aunt and uncle.

Also, Uni continues to go well. I hired a Teaching Assistant today... wow does that feel odd. But I like it! He's a very nice junior (one year left of a 4 year degree) in the department. And, bless him, he's getting married next week. I personally think he's nuts to get married mid-semester, but whatever works, I guess. Anyway, he's already been very helpful.

Snow Much Fun!

Well, my first day was brilliant. It seems that the head of my department is pleased with me, which is always a good thing. I had several students come up to me after class enthusing about the course. I even bumped into one on my way out to my car this evening and I asked how his first day had been. He said it was great, but that my class had been his favourite. Always good for the ego ;-) I got all the paperwork done for payroll and getting my office key. Still need to get a parking permit, and figure out how to get a BYU email address, but for the first day that's pretty good!

It started snowing today just after lunch, around 1.30. It was coming down pretty hard, too. By 5, when I got out to my car to head home, it was 4 or 6 inches deep. Seriously. Took me ages to dig the car out enough to be able to drive. And I was in a skirt and heels! A 45 second walk left me looking like I had a serious dandruff problem, and it took me an hour and a half to drive what normally takes 20 minutes. And then, when I finally did get home . . . I couldn't actually get home! I live at the top of a great big hill (right at the base of Mt. Timp in PG), and the snow was so deep, and my little car so light, that I actually could not get up it. Nice. Decided walking up the hill wasn't really an option. Not in heels, through ankle deep snow. And where was I going to leave the car?!? Since I'd already made plans to stay the night in Salt Lake at my sister's, I decided to go on up. So I did. Carefully. Slowly. Safely. Got there fine. 2 hours later. (It normally takes about 30 minutes from my house to her's.) Yeah. It was fun. Actually, it was. It's been a long time since I've had to drive so carefully. Good for me. Course, I arrived at my sister's with nothing but the clothes on my back. Luckily, we're about the same size. Kind of nuts, but such a Utah Adventure!