Our (My) Own Private Idaho

It's a cold Sunday night in Chicagoland, can I just tell you? And it looks like it's going to be that way all week. And apparently, the cold is something that we, the Lyons, are adjusting too. So much so that it now looks like we'll be going to Idaho more than we would ever have dreamed...and why?

Why? Because Sarah learned tonight that she's been accepted to BYU-Idaho. Should she decide to go there, she can make it her own. Her own private Idaho. I think more than a thinly-veiled reference to America's Greatest Party Band of all time, the B-52's, is more than called for here:



"You're livin in your own Private Idaho. Idaho.
You're out of control, the rivers that roll,
you fell into the water and down to Idaho.
Get out of that state,
get out of that state you're in.
You better beware."

The B-52's were and are fantastic. Although I saw them a couple of years ago at a private concert in Atlanta and let's just say that time had clearly rode that band hard and put them away wet. It was a little rough. Now, they are releasing their first studio album in a couple of months. I hope it doesn't blow...

It's kind of ironic that Sarah got accepted to Idaho first. When Shari was eight, almost nine, months pregnant with Sarah, I dragged her to a B-52's concert at the Marriott Center in Provo. We were so dumb and young that we called the hospital from a payphone (yes, a payphone - no cell phones yet) to see if the rumbling of the speakers would hurt the baby. Once they said no, it wouldn't hurt said baby, it was onto the floor of the Marriott Center to dance. The place erupted when they started to play "Private Idaho." And here we are 18 years later, staring down the barrell of visits to Idaho.

So Rexburg, ID in the winter actually manages to make Chicago look balmy. No small task, I might add. The thought of flying into Idaho Falls in the winter is stomach-churning. Although I think it's all the pocket rocket jets in there now and not the flying lawnmowers that used to serve that airport. And this may all be for naught, as she's awaiting the other BYU to make up their minds. I've promised NOT to go off about that until a later date...the clock, however, is ticking.

I find it difficult to believe that I have a daughter on the brink of going to college. As Shari and I talked about it tonight, it's not something we look at with sadness though. Sending her off is going to be great. Shari and I both felt like college allowed us to create some of the most amazing memories of our lives and it was such a good time. Really good times.