Utah, we love thee

So we've been in Utah for a few days now, enjoying Dad & Mom's hospitality. Also I've been a total social reject, hanging out in the basement and attempting to write through the draft of a short story. (It's slow going. I'm not a fast creative writer.)

This afternoon we went to see How to Train Your Dragon 2, which I liked quite a lot; the first fifteen minutes or so had me wanting my own dragon SO. MUCH. I've always had a thing for flight, and the idea of performing crazy aerial maneuvers in the clouds with a highly intelligent winged mount had me seriously geeking out in the theater. There are some places in the script where you can see they originally planned to take the story in a different direction, and at first I wasn't sure I was going to like the almost Dian Fossey-like quality of Valka as a character, but overall I think they made some good story choices -- and the storyline reached a satisfying coda at the end while still leaving things open for another movie (I understand they've planned a trilogy).

Having not seen Miss V for a while (she's been staying with her mom and with my mom), we stopped by to say hi and spend some time with her. We took her out clothes shopping and to pick up some dinner (mmm, Arctic Circle shakes... mmm, fry sauce... mmmm). Then she gave us an impromptu fashion show using all the outfits she'd picked up. She seemed to be in good spirits and was her usual fun, sassy self ("Don't tell me anything about the movie! I don't want it spoiled!").

There are so many timepieces in Dad & Mom's house. Dad loves clocks of all kinds and has picked them up everywhere he's gone on earth. I'm not sure if the love of clocks and watches precedes his military service, or if it became an obsession during those years as a fighter pilot in the Air Force, when timeliness meant the difference between life and death -- but no joke, Dad has clocks everywhere. Everything from tiny, old-fashioned gold pocketwatches in glass cases to full-sized grandfather clocks that clear their throats before they chime the hour. Even the little desk where I'm writing this has a small wind-up mantel clock (not currently working) sitting on the shelf above the workspace. I think it's endearing. (Also, in this house you never have to wonder what time it is!)