Tracie's World

I've talked before about how much I love summer for all the awesome outdoor concerts here in Zion.  Well, this weekend was no exception.  On Friday, Diana, Marianne and I went to a free concert at the Brigham Young Park. They had a fun quartet that sang a lot of classic songs.  I, of course had a terrific time singing along.  I mean, how can you not croon along to "Foggy Day in London Town", or "Almost Like Bein in Love"?  (Sigh...)  After that, we all went back to Diana's for lemonade pie, and Great Performances on PBS, featuring Diana's TLF Harry Connick, Jr. (Double sigh...) Then yesterday, Angel and I and her Sister's family trekked up to Park City for a concert at Deer Valley (one of my very favorite outdoor venues).  We stopped at Squatter's Pub to grab some dinner to take with us (note to self: MUST order the pulled pork sandwich again), then off to Deer Valley, where we unloaded all our plunder, then made the hike up the mountain to fin

Inge happened to mention the other day that she hadn't seen any updates about my garden lately.  So, I thought I'd share another round of photos. The garden is still hanging in there, although maybe not looking quite so robust as it did earlier in the summer.  And the zucchini is really dragging.  But I've been able to harvest a few of the small tomatoes, which I promptly ate with dinner this evening.

Last evening, Mac's Angels (the groupie name Steph and I have given ourselves) were there again to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in concert.   As you know, we love all things MoTab, and this was going to be there Pioneer Day Commemoration concert.  So, we registered for tickets.  It's what MoTab loving Utah girls do.  A couple of weeks ago, the Choir announced that there would be two Special Guest Artists, and that they would be none other than Brian Stokes Mitchell and Linda Eder, and that it would be a patriotic concert honoring American servicemen.  Now, being one of Mac's Angels, I would have been "in" at the mention of the Choir.  But Brian Stokes Mitchell?  Having seen him a couple of times before, well, I'm double "in".  And then to throw in Linda Eder, too, who I've wanted to see for years now?  Quadruple "in"! All tickets for Choir concerts are distributed in a lottery format.  We figured that we hadn't been selected, s

Last week before heading out of town, I went in for my annual skin check at the Dermatologist.  Various forms of skin cancer run in the family, so all of us adults are working to make sure we get regular checkups.  Which is not always an enjoyable experience.  Because, you see, it's a FULL body check-up, meaning that they check you ALL OVER.  This is awkward to say the least, especially when the doc happens to be a rather handsome man, as mine is.  But I figure once you've had bum surgery, you really have no dignity left, so you may as well make the best of it and go for your check-up.  I'd still rather have this than a mammogram. Anyhoo - it's a good thing I went in.  I had what I call a "sun spot" that had started to get a little bigger, so I mentioned it to them.  The doc took a good look, and turns out it was a pre-cancerous spot, which needed to be removed. A little squirt of liquid nitro later, and I was good to go.  The only somewhat embarrassing thing

Well, I finally figured out how to get the old photo software installed and updated.  I thought I was going to have to buy a new camera, but a co-worker suggested I look for an updater program.  I was able to find one, and get it installed, so we're back in business.  So here's the picture I attempted to post the other night. Angel came over last night and helped me get the wireless router installed and secured.  Now it's a matter of checking to see if I can start streaming my NetFlix movies over the Wii.  I also bought a new printer, so will work on that tomorrow. Then, there's figuring out how to wipe the old computer and get it recycled.  Man, whoulda thunk that getting a new pewtah would be such an involved process.  

Aunt Tracie broke down the other day and finally bought a new computer (or as the nieces and nephews call it, a new pewtah).  Not that this was a critical necessity by any means, but I was sick of my agonizingly slow machine, and I'm sure the Lord was sick of my continually cursing it.  It was so bad, that I couldn't wait to get home and not get on my computer.  So I went to the Dell website a couple of weeks ago and looked around.  It took me several days to make a decision, which will not come as a surprise to most of you.  But I finally decided on an All-in-One desktop.  I wanted to maintain a designated work/office space, so no laptop.  And I wanted something that would be fast and have a lot of memory, but not take up a lot of space.  Plus, it came with a 22 inch wide-screen monitor, and what woman of a certain age couldn't use that? It arrived last week, but since I was out of town, I didn't get it home and set up until last night. But now that I've used it a

Last month I celebrated my 15th Anniversary at Holiday Inn.  Which, when you think of it, is really a pretty big deal.  Things haven't always gone smoothly between us.  Sometimes I feel like I'm part of a couple that should break up but doesn't know how.  Other times, I'm basically happy.  For 15 years, Holiday Inn and travellers all over the world have paid the bills, and for that I'm definitely grateful. One of the perks of having hung on for 15 years is that you receive a catalog from which you get to order a service gift.  At 5 and 10 years, the gifts don't rate very high in value.  But the bar was definitely raised for 15.  There were several exciting things for me to choose from - a new camera, and a couple of golf clubs for instance.  But as soon as I saw one particular option, I knew it was the one for me (and you know it would have to be pretty special for me to not go for the TaylorMaid driver).  In the end, I chose...the Le Creuset 7.25 quart French

So it seems that my good friend Lisa has been paying attention to my blog and all the bragging I've been doing over my gardening adventures.  This in turn gave her the idea several weeks ago to ask me to speak at her ward's upcoming gardening group.  Wowsa!  Apparently my bragging has made people think I actually know what I'm talking about!  Nevertheless, I accepted the assignment.  When I asked what she wanted me to talk about, she said to talk about what I'd been learning, and that it didn't need to be more than 45 minutes.  Um - 45 minutes?  Oy vey! Anyhoo - this last Thursday evening I went and presented.  There only ended up being a few ladies there, but that was fine.  Made me less nervous that way.  I talked about how I got started with this goal, the studying I've done, the class I took, the plant sales I went to, the gospel applications, etc.  And before I knew it, the 45 minutes was up!  I think Lisa was pleased with the effort, and hopefully it gave

I've talked before about the outdoor concerts they have here in the summer.  Well, last night was our first of the summer, at the Red Butte Garden.  Not only is it a great botanical garden, but it's also a great concert venue.  You sit on the lawn, they let you bring chairs and food in, and it's all just very casual and everyone gets along.   Last night's artist was none other than Pink Martini, one of our personal faves.  This is the second time I've seen them now, and they never disappoint.  They're a group of about 12 members, who specialize in music that reminds you of what it would be like to be at a nightclub or cocktail party in the 50's (if I'd been around in the 50's).  They sing in different languages, the music runs the gamut from pop to jazz to classical, they have interesting lyrics, and are in general just a really fun band. I have to say, last night's concert was pretty close to perfect.  We sat on blankets on the lawn, got dinne

The Salt Lake Tribune came out with a list this week of what they said were the Top 10 Burgers in Utah.  Being a burger connossieur, I of course took notice.  The Trib declared that the #1 burger in Utah was at a place called Dairy Delight in Tooele.  So, as is becoming our annual 4th of July custom, the Triple D Divas went off to Tooele (Too-illa to those who live there, and Too-lee to the rest of us)  to see what the fuss was all about. Apparently, the burger they're most known for is the Old Fashioned.  Which, since it was an entire half pound of meat, I decided against, and went with the quarter pound cheeseburger instead.  It came in a combo with tater tots, which was a nice change of pace.  And my heart leapt briefly when I saw that they had fried pickles on the menu.  It abruptly deflated when they arrived and they were pickle spears instead of slices.  They were tasty, but obviously these folks don't know their fried pickle etiquette.  I mean, no self respecting Southe

Today is one of my favorite days of the year.  In honor of the day, my cute niece Karlie drew a great picture that she sent to the whole family.  I thought I'd share it with you as well. Have a wonderful day everyone!  Let freedom ring!

Finally decided that today was the day to try my recently upgraded bike out of doors.  So I got up this morning, put on my padded pants, loaded the bike in the truck, and away I went to Liberty Park.  It was a beautiful morning, and a beautiful ride.  Thanks to the continued working out on my indoor trainer, I managed to do six laps this time around, which is more than I've ever done before, and I felt like I really hadn't even broken a sweat. And my bum was none the worse for it. So - Other than a couple of almost run-ins with some pedestrians (hello, pay attention when you're strutting your mutt), and getting run up on the sidewalk by an idiot in a camper and trailer hauler, it was an uneventful ride.  And there were no injuries to either myself or the bike in the making of this little adventure.  Hooray!