I'm not so good at this...

Well, it's been a little while, hasn't it.
And what, you may ask, has happened since I last wrote? Not a whole heck of a lot. The summer has been pretty uneventful. I took a couple of classes Spring Term that I enjoyed thoroughly: Calligraphy (the subject matter was awesome and the teacher was even better) and Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (fascinating subject matter, but really hard class name to spit out!).
After classes ended, I took up a job as an early morning custodian - something that I have done many times before. I'm still working at it, until the 22nd or so, and it's... well, the people are great, the job is easy, but the hours stink. Really, who wants to be awake and cleaning other people's messes at four in the AM? Not me. But it's a way for me to get money for frivolous things like rent and bills and, occasionally, food. The things you do...
The month of July was crazy busy for me, though. I went home to Idaho on the 3rd and stayed for a week and a half. On the way there, when I was about 70 miles or so from home (the Portneuf area for those in the know) my front driver's side tire blew up. It was totally shredded. I made an attempt to get to the next exit (I was on the freeway), but when I heard the metal from my rim pinging on the road, I just pulled my Little Blue Wonder over (that being my car). I called home and Mom promptly called my brother Wayne (as my oldest brother Bill wasn't at home). I have recently, i.e. in the past few months, decided that Wayne is my hero. It took him a little while, as his wife Jamie had the car, but he came and rescued me from the madness. He even helped me pay for a new tire. Heaven bless WalMart! So, after three and half hours of driving (give or take) and about two and a half of sitting on the side of the freeway while cars and semis blew past (literally... the car rocked every time) I finally made it to my oh-so-humble familial abode.
In that week and a half at home, I got to spend a lot of time with my family. Most of the day on the 4th I frolicked with my nephew Wayne Donald and my niece Kaylene. It was so much fun! I miss those little munchkins so much. And they're growing up so fast!! Wayne Donald is starting kindergarten in the fall, and Kaylene is talking quite coherently. And I adore them both. And, I'm happy to say, they both adore me too! One of the perks of not being around a whole lot.
The week after that was spent at my annual Family Outing. This consists of all the relatives on my Mom's side of the family (or as many as can) gathering and going camping together for three to four days. We always have a ton of fun. This year was a little strange because Grandpa and Grandma only came up for one day and night. G-pa's health isn't as good as it used to be (he turned 80 this year) and that's the best he could do. The theme this year was Hollywood and we all had a load of fun dressing up and playing together.
I came back to UT wishing that I could have stayed so much longer (or not leave at all!). But I was comforted in the fact that I would be back there soon - as in a couple of weeks for my big brother Bill's wedding. In the interim, however, my family found out that Mom is in the first stages of congestive heart failure. I gotta tell ya, I was shocked and terrified when I found out. My mother's mortality came screeching into my notice. I even had to call Wayne at work to find out what was really going on. He's an RN, so I could trust what he said. He told me that things were going to be ok, that it could all be managed through meds, diet, and exercise - in short, Mom isn't going to the great beyond anytime soon. What a relief. I still had a hard time sleeping that night.
Then fast-forward a little bit to the big event of the month - Bill's wedding!!! It was just wonderful. His fiance (then, wife now) is a wonderful person. She's fun, adorable, kind, and etc, and fits in completely with the family. They were sealed in the Idaho Falls Temple and it was beautiful. One of the biggest reasons is that they were both 34 (Bill turned 35 a few days later) and had both waited so long to find the right person. I'm so excited for the both of them.
During all of these insane happenings, Michelle and I were trying to find a place to live. The managers at our current apartment complex have taken a dislike to us (mostly because we called them to task in a serious way for maintenance issues that they weren't taking care of - like our door not closing and our dryer leaving nasty, greasy stains on all of our white clothing) and never left notice of when we needed to renew our contracts. Granted, we should have gotten on it and done it ourselves, but alas we didn't. So we were madly searching. And we were finding nothing. And I'm talking mad searching, looking places up on the interweb and calling five or six at a time, mostly leaving messages or being told it's already rented or there's no space... stressful.
We've ended up going to a place called Old Academy (after having been rejected by two other places!!) and we'll still be homeless for a week between getting kicked out of our current place and the move-in date for the new one. We're going to have to rent a storage space to put our stuff in (which actually works out better for Shelle) and find somewhere to habitate for the week's interim. Michelle has to stay here so she can work. I tossed some ideas about, but I'm thinking I'll just head home to the fam for the week. It's so much easier... and I need to renew my driver's license anyway... heh, heh... yeah it expired on my birthday and I didn't realize it!! Oops! Don't turn me in! Please!!
So, that has just about caught me up for the moment. I promise that I'll try to be better in posting... Promise!! We'll see...