They've been remodeling our apartment, so they put us up in a hotel. They did that earlier this month when they painted the walls, but I just went home at that time (before the Fourth of July). This week, they installed new cupboards and counters in the kitchen and new carpet in the living room and bedrooms.
My roommate Jordan and I each got a two-bed room to ourselves, because our roommates just use our apartment as a storage unit. Being in a hotel, I was kind of in vacation mode, and I didn't go to bed as early as I should have and I tried to find interesting things to watch on TV. It was the Super 8 Motel across the street from the BYU track, where I stayed for UEA/Y Weekend almost eight years ago. It wasn't the nicest hotel, but it was all right. I ate out more than usual this week, but we don't have to pay August rent because of all this, and the hotel provided continental "break first."
Even without the hotel, this was a bit of an unusual week. Usually I work from my apartment, but this week I worked in the library because I needed to check some sources for a project. This is the first time I've done a source check for my current job, but I did it a lot for BYU Studies. It's been a little awkward, though, trying to communicate with my boss, because I've been working in the religion section of the library, where there is zero phone reception, and even if there was reception, it's not one of the "No shh" zones. While working this week, I discovered that Snape is actually a real name.
In the library, I saw one of those sticky spider traps. There was a spider stuck on it, with all its little babies stuck to the paper around it. There is a line where the sticky part ends, so I can only surmise that a lot of baby spiders crawled over their stuck brothers and sisters and are lurking all over the library now.
I also had to go to the dentist a couple of times. Ever since I landed on my teeth a year and a half ago, my retainer hasn't fit me, so I went to get a new one. They tried to reshape my old nine-year-old Snoopy retainer, but they couldn't, so I have to get a new one.
Friday was an evening of free concerts. First I went to see Cherie Call at the Central Utah Gardens, a venue I saw her at last summer. I think this is the ninth time I've seen her, so I know all her stories and her jokes. But she did sing one song I haven't heard her sing live, "Restless Soul," because one of her accompanying musicians worked with her on her first album. At the end of the show (for the encore), she asked for requests. Some people asked for "Gifts" from her Christmas album of the same name, and she obliged, which was a little weird. (My favorite song of hers, "More than Enough," is one I've never heard her sing live, so it would probably throw her for a loop to request it.)
Immediately after that, I went over to the Rooftop Concert, the eighth one I've been to. They usually have folk, rock, and pop, and this was their first hip-hop show (I'm not sure if they've had a country show). Hip-hop is a very interesting genre. Some of it's catchy, some of it's just annoying. In mainstream music, you would have a hard time finding a country album with an "Explicit" label, but you'd have a hard time finding a hip-hop/rap album without an "Explicit" label. I missed the first act at the concert. The second one was called House of Lewis, and I didn't really like them. Their music was just remixes of other things, and they just did their white-dude rapping over it. It was probably the most inappropriate stuff I've heard at a Rooftop Concert, although I don't think it would garner an "Explicit" label. The last group, Can't Stop Won't Stop, was better, both in content and talent. It kind of sounded like 70s music with rapping. I debated getting their CD, but I decided against it because I would probably get tired of it fast. I must say that I think hip-hop has some of the most creative lyrics. That doesn't necessarily mean it's good, but it's certainly creative.
Then on Saturday, we returned to our apartment. Not only did they change the carpet and cupboards, they got rid of our dressers, desks, and bed frames. I feel a little uncomfortable that they took all of the stuff out of my desk and dresser drawers while we were gone. Our new beds have drawers in the bottom, so that's apparently the dresser replacement. The new desks don't have a shelf like my old one did (although I was the only one who had a desk with a shelf). Thus we went from having five wide dresser drawers and space under our bed (the beds were propped up with cinder blocks) to four narrower drawers and no space under the bed. I've been feeling a little sad about moving out, because I've lived in this apartment for more than two and a half years, this complex/ward for more than three and a half years, and Provo for more than four and a half years (not counting the two fall semesters I took off). But the sudden decrease in space makes me a little glad to be moving out. It's a good thing I already moved a lot of my stuff home.
My roommate Jordan is pretty annoyed with the situation. He went to renew his contract, but they had mistakenly sold all of them in the apartment without asking us. He asked them if he could stay, but they wouldn't let him. So we have to deal with all the renovations before moving out.
Last night I ran up to Rock Canyon again. People who run on tracks don't know what they're missing, because you see all sorts of interesting things. Last night I saw a tree with half of its leaves already yellow, and when I was coming back, a little boy was driving his toddler sister in a toy car, and she waved at me as I walked past.
August means that my time in Provo is almost up, so I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.
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