Coffee at BYU-I?

Thursday I went to the Pre-professional Conference sponsored by the English Department at BYU-I. The keynote speakers were Marilyn Arnold, David Kirby, and Ana Maria Shua, all of whom are successful authors. Ana Maria Shua was my favorite speaker at the conference. She is from Argentina and has written dozens of books, many of which have been translated into English. Upon being introduced, she stood in front of the standing-room-only audience and said, "I don't like to lecture, so I hope you have lots of questions for me." She was very generous in sharing what she has learned over the years about writing and getting published. After attending several workshops in the morning, I took a break to go to my science class, meet with my study group, then get something to eat before the afternoon workshops.

When I walked back into the Hinckley building after lunch, I was hit with an overpowering odor that smelled exactly like, could it possibly be, COFFEE?!? For a second I thought maybe University Catering had provided it for some of the guest speakers who aren't LDS. But common sense overruled that thought; after all, we're talking about an LDS university here. Just then, a young man came out of the cultural hall, where the luncheon for the invited guests was held (obviously, I was not one of them). I asked him what they had been served for lunch, thinking that perhaps something on the menu just smelled like coffee, maybe roast beef or something. He told me they had cold cut sandwiches. I asked what the terrible smell was and he laughed and said that someone had burned some microwave popcorn,


set off the smoke alarm and caused the building to be evacuated. I'm glad it wasn't me!


And speaking of smoke alarms...we just got back from a weekend spent at the Providence Inn Bed and Breakfast near Logan.


It's listed on the National Historic Register, and it's a fun place to stay. What makes it truly fabulous, though, is the fact that it used to be an LDS church, in fact the church, where fifty years ago a young couple by the name of Ray and Beverly Carling had their wedding reception! All six of their children and spouses came and stayed Friday night. Mom and Dad stayed in the Bridal Suite.

After a delicious dinner provided by a local caterer, we spent the rest of the evening talking and laughing. In the morning, as we were dressing for breakfast, the smoke alarm went off. Paul went downstairs to make sure the place wasn't really on fire, while I ...dare I say it...continued getting ready - I figured if it were a real emergency, someone would be yelling for us to get out, right? Later at breakfast, we discovered the culprit. Julie had taken a really hot, really steamy shower which triggered the alarm. When it went off, the office called her room and asked, "Did someone just take a really hot, really steamy shower?" Apparently this is a recurring issue with that particular room.

After we ate, we went to the hundred-year-old home where Dad was raised. The current owners generously allowed us to have a tour (Cathy had arranged this in advance). Then we went to the Logan Temple


(Mom and Dad were married here on October 8, 1958) where we did sealings for about 120 sets of our ancestors, some of whom had been waiting for 350 years to be reunited. For lunch, we drove to Maddox restaurant near Brigham City, the site of their original wedding luncheon, where Mom and Dad were surprised


by many of their brothers and sisters. The food was great and the company was excellent. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for your example of enduring love.


TEST RESULTS

I talked with Dr. Hancock about the results of the CT/PET scan and MRI that Paul had last week. Both look good! The CT/PET did show some activity in the right leg, but that was expected. The sternum area that had lit up on the previous scans showed significant improvement. But there was a new area, on Paul's right shoulder, that lit up. I asked Dr. Hancock if an injury would show up on a scan. He said yes. I told him about Paul pulling/tearing the muscle in his shoulder a few weeks ago at work. I really like it when there are logical explanations for unexpected results.