August

The last week of July and first few weeks of August just flew. I was working a ton to get ready for my upcoming leave of absence.

During that time, I had a book club at Cristina's house in Layton, got locked up for Muscular Dystrophy,

went to the Steers and Beers Parr Brown party at Ken and Julia Tilou's house, had friends and family come to town,



had friends over for dinner,



went to the Mary Chapin Carpenter


and Chris Isaak

concerts at Red Butte Gardens, and just spent as much time with Rod as I could.


I left for Los Angeles on August 19. Just days before, Rod announced that he was coming with me to LA. I was ecstatic to have a few more days with him (especially to have ones that would not be interrupted by work). We stayed with his Uncle Eddie, who was the ultimate host. He took us all over Los Angeles to the best bars, restaurants, and shopping centers.

Mario Lopez

Flaming drinks

Other than a very strange taxi experience from Redondo beach to Los Angeles (our driver, a rapper moonlighting as a cab driver, tried to convert us to Islam), we had a blast, and cannot wait to go back to visit Eddie. It killed me to say goodbye to Rod. Three months is SO long! I'm torn between wanting the time to fly by so that I can be with Rod again soon and wanting it to last as long as possible because Africa is a once in a lifetime opportunity.