BYU Parents Weekend Recap

I am now on the West Coast, in Portland, prepping for a presentation to the Travel Industry Association tomorrow, but wanted to give a recap of the rest of the weekend with Our Lady of BYU.

I didn't meet up with Our Lady until Saturday morning for the 5K, which, may I remind you, I ran alone since she pansied out. Two of her really good friends joined us as my support team and off we went to the Richards Building. Normally at races, you hear the sounds of either "Eye of the Tiger" or "Rocky's Theme." Not at BYU, mis amigos, oh no. What greeted us? "It's A Sunshine Day" by none other than the Brady Bunch. I KID YOU NOT! I liked to have died. I will admit, though, that it did make you want to run, fast, so you didn't have to hear that musical offense fest any longer than necessary.

(Quick flashback - after registering, I saw someone I recognized. It took me a second and then I realized that it was a guy who had been in my district/room at the MTC. Have not seen the guy in more than twenty-three years but believe it or not, we both recognized each other. As I recall, I was not particularly nice to him. As an eighteen year old missionary, I had an overabundance of confidence, can you believe it (?) and wasn't afraid to tell people what I thought of them. I've tried ro get better in the ensuing years. That being said, it brought back a ton of memories to see him. He's got a freshmen son at the "Y.")

The race was all around the outer ring of the campus and it was tough - tough because of the elevation. My lungs were screaming by the end of the first kilometer. It was not pretty. But I got it done. Came across the finish line to the cheers of Our Lady and her two friends. It was a good time.

So then it was off to the game after that. Sat in the student section with Our Lady and that once again reminded me that I'm old. We did have a brush with BYU fame when Cosmo the Cougar blew through our section. We got this picture:

It was an ugly win, but a win just the same. We headed over to University Mall after the game to get Our Lady some more cold weather gear, which seemed odd since it was 70 degrees out. Anyway, we did it.

Saturday night, I took Our Lady and her friends to dinner at Cafe Rio. It was fun to be with them. I laughed a lot with these girls. It was good to see our friend Natalie:

And here's a shot of the whole dinner posse:

So then Sunday rolled around and I once again found myself driving down Memory Lane before going to meet Our Lady for Church. I went by my old condo, indeed where I met the incredibly patient Shari all those years ago. The years have been kinder to us than they have been to the condo:

Lots of good memories and good times there.

Our Lady has church in the JKHB, where I spent my entire senior year. Bizarre to be back in that building. It's been totally renovated and looks nothing like what it did. Church was funny, as it always is in student wards. Those Bishopbric members are saints, that's all I'm saying.

We had lunch at the new Cannon Center after that. Bottom line - it's still cafeteria food. You can build a new building and have various cooking stations, instead of the prison lines like the old Cannon or Morris, but it's still pretty bad food. I could not help but laugh as we were eating as I watched the ballet that is selecting the "cool" tables. I realized that absolutely nothing has changed since I was a freshman there. It's the same cast of characters (the guys who were the BMOC in high school, the princess girls, the dorks, the sweet spirits) trying to make it all work - it's just that now they are our kids. Finished the day seeing Sarah's dorm room as well as that of her friends. They are living the life. I laughed so much with them.

Saying good-bye wasn't as hideous as I thought it would be. I think it's because I got to see just how well Our Lady is doing. She's doing beautifully. She has good friends. She's happy. Couldn't ask for more.