This summer has sucked. Well, not the entire summer, we’ve done some really fun things., but for me personally, this summer has sucked.
We have had a ridiculously busy summer. But that’s how summers go (isn’t it?) It feels like we’ve had something to do every weekend and most of the days in between. Aside from all the family stuff, out doors stuff, and normal stuff I have been sick with one thing or another for the last two months. Ick.
Some high-lights of the last few weeks:
John’s sister Kristin came up with her son nick to visit for a few days at the beginning of the week. We were able to spend a few evenings with them, and the rest of the local Evans’. It’s always fun to spend some time roasting marshmallows around the fire pit.
Bryce and Jennie were in town for the summer and we got to spend a little bit of time with them (even though we wished it could have been more.) On Sunday night we went to Logan and Jenny’s house where John, Bryce and Jacob and all the families attached were able to be together for just a little while this summer. It’s so fun to have everyone get together. We all spent so much time together as teenagers that it’s sad that now, with families and lives that we can’t be together more often. (Yes, I was still itchy and miserable, but with a lot of Benadryl I made it through the evening.)
We went to a Ludo concert with our friends John and Angie on August 1st. It was at “In The Venue” in Salt Lake. I’d never been to a club before. (yes, I lived a sheltered life) and this was… interesting. It was a lot like how I pictured it, but a lot hotter. The club was dark and full of sweaty people. The opening bands were – okay – the sound was really not that great and the loudness of it all made the bands kind of suck. I think I liked Tommy & the High Pilots, but I’d have to here them *not* in the venue to really decide. It did inspire me to write poetry. I wrote this little didy the next morning:
Own the Night
by liz evans 8/2/2011
I close my eyes to shut out the noise
Allowing the lyrics to emerge from the chaos
Bass reverberates through the souls of my feet
Creeping up my legs in a cacophony of feeling
Pounding in my chest like a second heartbeat
Freeing my inner punk to awaken with the sound
Lights pulsating in blinding flashes
Tangles of arms and heads moving like puppets to the singer’s command
Dirty jeans, scraped shoes, shiny reds tarnished for good.
Sweat drenched pleasures of an age not long past
Years falling off, through time and music
Swaying to the forgotten memories
And missing the freedom of youth
We had decided early that morning that it would be a great idea to get a hotel room in Salt Lake and just stay in town that night instead of having to drive home in the dark of the night. Thanks to a friend who works for Marriott we were able to get a great deal on a room at SpringHill Suites in downtown. It was a nice hotel, and we were a little sad that we were just spending the one night instead of a couple. It would make a great place for a quick vacation away from the house.
Some Low-lights from the last few weeks:
I got a cold back at the beginning of July that has just never seemed to go away. I’m really done with it, but it apparently has yet to be done with me. There was a few weeks I battled a severe bout of depression, what with feeling sick and tired and all the family togetherness I’ve had to be a part of. And then, most recently I’ve a UTI that I actually went to the doctor for. He put me on sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, an antibiotic which, after 5 days of taking it, caused me to break out in Hives on Friday afternoon.
I had just been minding my own business, making dinner, when I looked down at my arm and notice that I had a patch of spots. John and I just thought that maybe I had rubbed on something that was causing an irritation, but as we watched they multiplied… At this point, we didn’t really know what I was allergic to. We thought that maybe it was caused by Banjo the Woodpile Cat that allowed me to touch him earlier that afternoon. 
By the next morning I was covered in giant patches of red hives. I’ve never had hives before. I was itch and irritated and just wanted to not feel that way. We ran to the store for some Benadryl and Cortisone 10, but to be on the safe side I decided to ask the pharmacist what the best course of treatment would be. (Side Note: the pharmacist at the local store looks a bit like a rejected 70’s pharmacist with silly hair and a mustache.) He confirmed my first guess, and commented on how covered in blotches I was. (Thanks, like I didn’t already know.) Coming home I stripped down and wore my nightgown for the rest of the weekend, because the thought of wearing clothes was very unpleasant.
I wanted more sympathy than I already had so I contacted my oldest sister, because my mom is out of the country, and between me and her and a quick look at the prescription I had been taken it was decided that I was probably allergic to the antibiotic. Turns out she’s allergic to it, and one of her boys is too. Hmmm. That made me feel better-ish. I was glad to know it wasn’t poor Banjo outside that was causing me such irritation. I was itchy and splotchy all weekend, and completely miserable… I had way too much Benadryl in the last few days so I have a very fuzzy head and no concentration. I’m finally not taking anymore Benadryl and coming out of the fog. What a bummer weekend.
We didn’t get to go to a concert on Saturday that we had tickets for. The useless tickets are sitting right here in my purse. It was the Utah Symphony Orchestra performing “The Music of Queen” at the Deer Valley Music Festival in Park City. I tried giving the tickets away, but no one wanted them. I hate letting good tickets go to waste. We also missed the “Wood Family” reunion, which is John’s Grandma’s family reunion that happens every year.
On the 9th, Mom and Dad and Jessica all went to England without me. John and I really looked into going with them, but were unable to come up with the $5,000 it would take for just the two of us to get to England let alone be able to do or see anything while we were there. Oh well. I hope they have fun. Maybe I’ll get there someday.
August marks the 5 year anniversary of trying to have a baby. And it seems that everyone I know is having babies this month. So that’s contributed to some depression. But for the most part I’ve dealt with it pretty well. But thankfully for me I have a really good support system of women who have been through infertility and are willing to share their lives and their kids with me. It helps a little.
On the Job front… I haven’t found anything yet, but I haven’t been looking too hard. I’ve applied for a few in the area, but there’s not a lot out there. There aren’t too many jobs in credentialing around here because most companies are outsourcing this type of work to India, like my company did. So that’s frustrating. We are budgeted in until the end of the year so I at least know I have a job until the end of December. I may start looking into other career fields. I don’t want to, but we don’t always get a choice.
Coming up:
We’re taking a short trip to St. George. John’s nephew Mitchell came home from his mission and we’ll be going down to visit and hear him talk at church. He’s been in Albuquerque. (I think) So that will be fun for us. We’re staying at a hotel instead of with the 10 + people who will be at Kristin’s house. This always makes for easier Sunday mornings. It will be a nice break for us. We’ve been looking forward to this trip for a while.
After that, it looks like our schedule will clear up for a few months. We have decided to start HALLOWEEN MOVIE MONTH in September this year so you can look forward to our horror movie reviews sooner than later. We think we’re going to start it off by seeing the new Fright Night movie that comes out. It’s actually being release this month on the 19th, but we will probably not see it until next month.
That's about all for now. I'll return again with some movie reviews, recipes and favorite CD's another day.
