Last week Scott came down from Idaho to visit me. It was really awesome to see him since it had been about 2 months since school had ended. Like I said earlier, Scott is from Idaho, Pocatello to be exact, and that means that he doesn’t live in a real city. So I had to show him what a real city, like Denver, is like.
WARNING: The events I am about to disclose all happened, though the chronology may very likely be skewed. Sorry, my memory is awful.
Our first adventure of his visit was forcing him to work at the Pecos House, which is a perfect representation of Northglenn. As always, it was a super time. Especially since the temperatures were in mid to high nineties and the house had no air conditioning. On Tuesday night we were supposed to go to a Matt and Kim concert with Abby, Annie, and some of their other friends. Unfortunately, I had babysat for my cousin Emily and her kids (particularly Ella) were sick with some sort of stomach flu. I got it Monday night/Tuesday morning and was sick all day. That day I discovered what is was like to be anorexic/bulimic. I didn’t eat anything all day since it was just going to be coming right back up. I also slept for like 8 hours and Scott was forced to hang out with my dad and Teagan. But point of the story, we didn’t go to the concert and I was bummed.
We went to the lake one day, and my aunt Heidi and uncle Kent practically forced Scott to wakeboard. Which he had never done before, though he water skis. Fortunately for his dignity, Scott got up on his 4th try and managed to stay up too! I also went tubing for the first time this summer, and it was awesome! Even though I flipped off the back and almost lost my bottoms. One day we also went white water rafting on Clear Creek, we had a big ol’ group. Abby, Annie, Nia, Tate, Kent, my dad, Scott, and myself. We were practically pro rafters - especially Abby and Annie, nobody fell out of the raft or anything! We then went to Biker Jim’s for lunch, and feasted on succulent fried mac and cheese and hot dogs.
We're so pro!
That night, Scott and I also went on an adventure to downtown Denver. I first took Scott to the enormous REI that Denver has to offer, his favorite store. I showed Scott the Denver Art Museum, but just the new wing. The old building is super boring, reserved only for field trips and extreme boredom. When we got back to my car in the lot, it wouldn’t start. Which was a ton of fun for Scott and me. Luckily, I we managed to flag down some other motorists who had parked in the same lot and they me a jump. We then continued our tour of Denver to the Cherry Creek Mall, because we all know there are no malls in Idaho and Scott had never seen one before. Luckily, my car started this time. Our last stop downtown was to the Mellow Mushroom, a fantastic little pizza joint that Abby and Annie introduced me to. It’s on the 16th Street Mall between Lawrence and Larimer, for those who wish to give it a visit. Not only is the pizza delicious, but it’s open late! More things need to be open until midnight or later. While at the Mushroom I managed to spill my drink not once, but twice. The waitress said something along the lines of “It’s okay, I’ve had way worse messes from the drunk people who come in here,” except I was completely sober. Thank you waitress for pointing out my clumsiness! As we were about to head home, my car gave me another scare and refused to start for a minute before yelling “psyche!” and starting.
At one point we also went to Boulder, which Scott was excited to see because he had been accepted and had been considering going to CU. We went down to the Pearl Street Mall because that’s always entertaining, with the street performers and whatnot. There was also a small art festival going on in Boulder that was partly on Pearl and partly in the 29th Street Mall. While we were walking around, I discovered that I was in the mood to shop - though Emily accurately pointed out that I am always in the mood to shop. But this mood resulted in me dragging Scott around to a number of stores including Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack, BC Surf and Sport, Anthropologie, Sephora, Gap, and last but not least J. Crew. We called it an early night on our Boulder adventure and tie-dyed.
I also managed to drag Scott along to a number of family gatherings during the week he was here. Lunch with Grandma Shirley one day when we were working. Lunch with Bopa one day. Family dinner with Grandma Shirley, Grandpa Lee, Grandma Carol, and Grandpa Kirk. The lake with the family. My cousin Skip’s homecoming talk at church, and the “Picnic on the Patio” at Clarke and Jo’s afterwards where he really got immersed in Carlsons.
In other news, I have started working on our second house for the summer, the Bellaire House. Thankfully, this house is a lot easier than the infamous Pecos House. It’s old and worn, but not gross and full of trash. Mostly what we have to do is revamping the kitchen - including tile, cabinets, and expanding the pantry - taking out some tile, replacing the carpet, some of the bathroom tile and vanities, and we’re converting the office into a bedroom. Possibly some light yard work. Since I have been abandoned for the week, I coerced my mom into working with me. I had her taking out the kitchen tile and she said that I was beating her up with the work. Now she knows what I do every day and why I never want to get up in the morning!
The basement, complete with red shag carpet!
I also made a pink lemonade cake. I got the recipe off Stumblr, where I get all my recipes. It was pretty good, even though it was just a modified mix. Basically all you do is make a white cake and throw in some pink lemonade drink mix and red food coloring.
