May 14

PG-13 has never brought more joy to a couple watching tv on the floor of their family room than today...

Austin!

Spring Break + 2 Free Spouses + Road Trip = Car wreck waiting to happen. But it didn't happen. The closest we got to car troubles came on the trip home to Tucson from Austin when one spouse fell asleep and the other wanted to see how close to the "E" we could get on the gas gauge. Let's just say if it wasn't for the "Daring Drivers" gas station located in the middle of Nowhere, Tx, we'd still be walking. But, we'd also be 3.50$ per gallon richer. Oh, we also pulled up to an 18-wheeler full oh bee hives. Se we could've been stung.

Our trip was priceless and the best of our marriage because it was the first one we spent together. We drove straight to Austin from Tucson, stopping once to eat and twice to sleep on the side of the road. We figured we could sleep beside road kill in the hill country of Texas. I kept waking up from nightmares of running head on into a car while falling asleep and Anna kept dreaming of strangers breaking into our car while we were in it. We didn't sleep long :) On on we went, arriving in Austin on a cloudy, sprinkly Saturday morning. We spent a great three days with Melissa, Sammie, and Brad Markham. There was everything you wanted in a Spring Break: games, naps, good food, March Madness, sleeping in, good looking spouses, reading, movies, and other stuff. In honor of Austin, Anna and I independently compiled a top 10 list. Here's our toast to Austin, enjoyed with a nightcap of milk and homemade apple pie, a la Anna.

Anna 10

10: Drive to Austin

9: Good house upkeep of residents

8: Texas accents

7: Clean down-town

6: Cool river trails

5: Panera Bakery

4: Food

3: Green, green, green

2: Salt Lick BBQ

1: Markhams

Spencer 10

10: Old Faithful (ask Sammie to show you someday when you visit)

9: More Ford trucks than Chevys (Opa!)

8: Recycle Program

7: Yard Work, good, meaningful yard work

6: Mountain Bike Course downtown

5: Churches everywhere

4: No Pollution

3: Texas Mountain Laurels

2: Salt Lick BBQ

1: Markhams

Photos (left to right, top to bottom) Catholic church, downtown mtn biking, Salt Lick, Bradley, Anna, Sammie, and Melissa

Of Arias, baseball and Sabino

Is checking Craig's List on the Sabbath shopping? Not if you just check out the "free" section. Which is exactly what I did last Sunday when I got home from the hospital. I was waiting for Anna's dutiful return from Church when I came across an ad for a free pair of Arizona Opera tickets. The Opera was in two hours so I called the couple and told them to hold the tickets for us. What began as a joke (Anna and I make fun of the opera all the time) turned into an awesome afternoon. This opera was buttressed with a full philharmonic orchestra, harp included. And the songs were Arias. I'm not sure what that means but I think it means a short selection from a much longer, tortuous opera. Short and opera go so well together, like peas and carrots. We heard some great talent and it was a great way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon. I had two thoughts during the opera. My first was how Anna is the harp of my life. I would die a thousand deaths to prove the heart beating in my breast beats only for her and none else...oh whoa!....hold on... that opera has gotten a little too far into my brain. My second thought I shared with Anna on our walk home after the concert. I like to listen to guy opera singers more than girl opera singers. Something about that high, feminine pitch brings back too many memories of angering four similarly pitched sisters while growing up.

Anna and I had a stellar weekend together. We had Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday together without interruption! We called Randy and Mikelah to come help us root our D-backs to a spring training victory over the Athletics. Like the opera, I also had two dominant thoughts at the game. The first was how savvy beer drinkers are about their own bodies. I overhead the following from a guy doing business at the urinal next to me in the bathroom: "Hey, my pee is still yellow so I guess I'm still sober." Please, can we get some more taxis here in Tucson. My second thought was more of a yearning. "Do you have yearn," George Costanza asks? I did today with Randy as we watched the grounds crew mow the outfield after the game. I yearned for a lawn to mow again. I would pay ten bucks to mow someone's lawn right now. The smell of the grass and gas, the feel of the chattering mower, the warmth of the spring sun...my elysium fields.

After the game Anna and I splurged at Olive Garden. When we are there, we are family. That means we didn't feel cheap or dirty for cleaning up the leftovers of the tables around us :) All in the family.

We came home and watched X-Men. Anna's choice. Did I ever mention I have the sweetest wife in the world!!!!!!! I love you Anna.

Saturday morning we were up at the crack of dawn to hike Seven Falls in Sabino canyon. If you have not been to Tucson and ever come with an afternoon or morning to kill, make this hike. And do it in March after the winter rains. Prettiest place on earth. I think even the Holladay, Utah native is convinced of this now. Happy Spring Break everyone. And Sam Packer if you by chance read this soon enough or ever, make sure to put Duke and Kansas in the Final Four. Go Cougars!