The Day before Father's Day

 It's almost Father's Day, so I'm going to remember what I can about the day before this paternal holiday.

2012. In the morning I went to Winegar's grocery store and bought a box of Whoppers, one of my dad's favorite candies, and some tortilla chips for my mission reunion. I went home and wrote a note and wrapped up the Whoppers. My sister and I had bought my dad something online, but it hadn't come yet, and I was going back to Provo that day, since I had a mission reunion in Draper. I went to the Draper Temple, where we did a session. Afterward, we went to President Clark's house. I can't remember too much about what distinguished this reunion from others, but I do remember some things. I took a picture of my transfer board picture:

I was in the Clarks' backyard. They had bear decorations, and I noticed some mushrooms growing in their garden, so I facetiously asked if the mushrooms were decorations too. I remember talking to Elder Ellsworth about his companion Elder Draney, who became a transvestite. I talked to one Elder Harris, who had served in Lewiston before I was there. I asked him about his experiences in Lewiston; he didn't remember much, but he did remember an old man named Joe; he actually meant George. Someone had bought a box of Krispy Kremes; I was able to eat parts of the one with red, white, and blue sprinkles. Then it was time for me to return to Provo. President Clark noted how everyone had gathered there because of me, since I had made the Facebook event page. When I got back in Provo, I stopped at Smith's to go grocery shopping, since my mom had given me a Smith's gift card. As I was going in, Michael Barlow and Tek Fish (and maybe Jimmy Murphy) saw me and said hi. They asked why I was dressed up, and they wondered why I had a mission reunion in June. Then I went back to my apartment. I brought in my stuff, and my roommate Cameron had some friends over. I went downstairs and got the mail. I was so excited to find a giant envelope addressed from J. Terri. I excitedly came in and showed Cameron. He got excited too, so I opened it up and pulled out three burned CDs and an autographed picture of Jan Terri. Cameron looked at the stuff and said, "This is her handwriting!" Then he had to explain to his friends what this was all about. He showed her the "Losing You" and "Get Down Goblin" music videos.

Cameron's friend said, "I'm really excited for you." But she said it rather unenthusiastically.

2011. My cousin Jesse was having his birthday celebration at Hogle Zoo, so I had invited a friend from a previous ward, Lori, to go. My mom suggested going with so that she could get us in for free. I met up with Lori and she liked my Eddie Munster t-shirt. I introduced her to my mom and Allie. Lori asked Allie how old she was, and then told her that she would soon be baptized. My mom insisted on going on the train. So we did. Then my mom left and Lori and I sat in some shade and we talked about various things. Eventually Jesse and Lisa came, and so did one of their friends. I borrowed some sunscreen from their friend. Then we proceeded to look at the animals. But Lori didn't care to stay with Jesse and co., and we went ahead. She had never been to Hogle Zoo before. We went to the exhibit that was a remnant of Nature's Nightmares, and she couldn't stand to look at the mouse, and she told me she was glad I hadn't taken her to see the bats. When we were at the ostriches and giraffes, she talked about people from our ward. Then she told me she needed to leave because she needed to go babysitting. I walked her to the entrance. At one place Taylor Swift's "You Belong with Me" was playing, and Lori said she wondered if she would ever sing about anything different. As she left, I said, "We should do this again," and she said, "Yeah," but it sounded insincere, and I haven't talked to her since then. Then I went and found Jesse and Lisa. Lisa asked me where my friend was. We almost got some Slurpees or something at the zoo, but they were expensive, so we left. I rode with Jesse and Lisa so they could take me to my mom at their mom's house. As we were approaching their car, I saw a bumper sticker that was horribly faded that said "These colors don't run." I found it ironic. Lisa wanted to get Slurpees, but then she wanted shaved ice, and then we didn't get anything. Both my grandma and my mom were at Sue's house, and we visited. We talked about when Peter hacked Jesse's Facebook, saying he was gay. Grandma said she was sick because she thought it was real. Lisa was mad that people had believed it. We had a conversation about our cousin Tammy's blog post about their kid Jacob, who claimed he had once been an adult. In another conversation, my mom said to the Thompsons, "There was a time when we even liked your dad," and they didn't believe that.

2010. My mom was on vacation, so it was just me and my dad at home. I gave my dad  the present I got him, the new Alice in Wonderland movie. We went out to dinner at Chuck-A-Rama. It was a very quiet dinner. I remember getting their Slurpee-like drink. Then we went home. I think we might have watched the end of Munster, Go Home! which we had started watching the night before. We also watched Alice in Wonderland. I was on the elliptical machine for the movies. After Alice in Wonderland we watched the special features. Then he went to bed, and I went on Facebook and "liked" the Munster, Go Home! page.

2009. I think this was the day that we went to the Lewiston stake center to meet our mission president, President Clark, who was leaving. He shined our shoes for us. When he shined mine (which were quite ugly, by the way), he said, "These shoes have tracted many a street," since I was the oldest there (I think for some reason the Clarkston elders weren't there). Sister Clark was giving us M&Ms because we were "Missionaries with a Message." There were some that were mini M&Ms, and he said they should give them to Elder Hightower (who was quite short) and I said "and Sister Bruner."

2008. This is my journal entry for the day:
"This morning we fixed my bike and made a lot of good contacts with less-actives. In one complex there must be one righteous person, otherwise fire and brimstone would have rained on it. We saw three potentials and one less-active, all of whom were the spawn of Satan. We did tract a mostly nice street, but the people weren't interested. We had dinner with the Sanchezes as well."
The less-active man in the apartment complex was quite rude to us, even though he said he believed. I can only really remember one other person there. Elder Bramall told me that he had previously talked to a man there, who seemed deeply touched by our message, but when he went back, the man's girlfriend or wife was really rude. So we went back this day and she answered the door again. She was quite rude. Elder Bramall said something about how he hoped she wasn't angry, and she said, "I am angry." I don't mind so much if people aren't interested; they just shouldn't be rude about it. At the Sanchezes' that night, we had fried chicken and fried fish, but there wasn't much chicken, and I felt guilty eating chicken if there wasn't much of it. So I ate the fish, and I didn't really care for it.

2007. I know we were at the Music to the Maxx store in Bountiful so I could get something for my dad. I know I bought him a double feature of The Addams Family/Addams Family Values, but I can't remember if I got it there or at Smith's Marketplace, where we went next. I know that at Smith's Marketplace I got the second season of The Flying Nun.