Where did all the good soda go?????

Water Please

I grew up in house where soda was a rare commodity. When we would go out to eat, you did not even think about ordering a soda. With six kids that would drive up the bill. As an adult I am not much different.  I would prefer water to any other drink, most of the time.  Now and again I want diet coke, not pepsi, but a coke.

My love of the drink started while I was guiding on the river. It was a good pick me up in the late afternoon when the up-stream winds would kick in.  My love affair was turned up a notch after I became the special education coordinator of a Jr. High.  The long hours and high stress were a little much at times. During this time I went from having a diet coke a week to three a week.

When I moved to Wyoming my soda drinking dropped and I only craved one when we go out to eat. However, the restaurants in this town serve only pepsi products. And yes there is a deference. So, Travis and I were out to eat at one of our favorite places "Wind River Brew Pub" and I decided that I needed a soda. Coke or no coke. So I ordered a diet pepsi. In the process I may have mentioned to our waitress, that I miss diet coke. She was so kind to inform me on why there is only pepsi products in town.......

"Well its because of those Mormons, ya know?" 

"Oh really?"

"Ya, those Mormons own pepsi."

"They do???"

"Ya and the Mormon hub is in Salt Lake City, and thats were the pepsi comes from."

"Are you sure?"

"Ya, and those Mormon are'nt even aloud to drink caffeine."

The funniest part of this conversation was that she made "those Mormons" sound like dirty people. I wonder if her story would have changed if she knew that she was serving two of "those Mormons".   Anyway the pepsi turned out to be all right, but I well be ordering a water from here on out.

In the Mail.

I have been lucky or unlucky (however you want to look at it) to have had something like 30 different roommates during the trials of my single-hood.  I can no longer remember the names of half of these women but only two or three were a really bad idea. However I am not going to talk about the bad ideas but one of the really good ones, Rebecca Ann.

Becca and I met while on study abroad in Israel. We were not best friends in fact I think we rarely hung-out outside of class time.  She had her group and I had mine. But when I think back on the experiences that are closest to my heart and impacted me the most, she was there for almost every one.

When I decided to go to the University of Utah I asked her for help finding a place to live. Being the kind of person she is she offered to let me live with her in a room that was not meant to be shared. We shared the room until another roommate (I can't remember her name) got married and moved out. I can't remember exactly how many years we lived together but I think it was four years.

When she moved out I just gained a new place to go and hang out. Becca and her now second half, Pat have seen me through some highs and lows of dating.  In fact they were by my side through a very hard heart break. Oh the drama, Yep they put up with it and supported me.

When I got married I had a list in my mind of the people that I really wanted to be there, Becca and Pat were somewhere near the top. Unfortunately Becca's due date was within a week of my wedding day. It was touch and go whether or not they would be there.  Rossco (the baby) was kind enough to wait and let his mom and dad come and support me on the most important part of my wedding day. They left right after the ceremony and thought they were going to be heading to the hospital that night.

To show my love to a friend who has been so dear to me and a baby that pushed back his arrival, I gift you this.......

After trying to meet up and give it to you the past two months, I put it in the mail and you should have it by thursday.

Thanks for your friendship, I love ya tons.