My favorite get-you-to-come-to-my-booth-and-talk-to-me tactics were the "spin the wheel and I'll give you a key chain" place, the free candy (a classic), the try-my-massage-chair (I like Relax The Back), and the free kid's security kit.  I think we'll put together the security kits for an FHE sometime.  I also collected a free T-shirt from a guy claiming to be giving away a car and some decorating magazines from furniture store booths.  Colin's favorite tagline of the evening was "Thanksgiving Point: Official Provider of Utah Spring."  For those of you who aren't local, Thanksgiving Point has a tourist attraction where you pay to get in to see their huge garden of tulips.  I've never been there to see the gardens, but it's on my list of places to get to.   

Afterward we went to Carrabas for dessert.  We had their creme brule, which was creamy and crunchy in all the right places, and a lot bigger than I expected.  It came with two little scoops of whipped cream, a sliced strawberry and mint leaves for garnish.  Very good, only I think it would have been better to just split it because it was so big.  We also had their brownie/chocolate cake thingy that I can't remember the name of, which was also very good, with a scoop of ice cream.  The ice cream was vanilla Blue Bell, which I had never had before and which was one of the many reasons my friends from Texas felt sorry for me.  There are so many things we non-Texans miss out on, but now I have finally enjoyed the taste of Blue Bell ice cream and it was lovely.  The cake was just the right amount of intense chocolate flavor and fluffy chocolate mousse filling, and also big enough to share (it came with a sharing size price tag, too).  We couldn't finish either dessert, possibly because of all the free bread with oil and herbs tehy served us while we waited for the server to come back.  We really liked the hostesses we met at the front who were friendly while we waited to be seated (about 10 minutes, probably). 

• Mimi's Cafe
• Callie's Cafe
• Denny's
• Einstein Bros Bagels
• Gandalfo's
• Golden Corral
• IHOP
• Jamba Juice
• Jim's Family Restaurant
• Kneader's
• Magleby's
• Pete's Lunch

And a list of places I'd like to go to that serve breakfast:

• Allie's American Grill in Provo
• Apple Spice Junction
• Hollywood Juice Cafe
• La Brioche European Style Bakery
• Nate's Diner
• Tahitian Noni Cafe

So, we drove up to Sandy and put our name on the waiting list at The Mayan ("it'll be a 40-to-75-minute wait") and then wandered around the huge Jordan Commons movie theater and looked at movie posters and watched other people play arcade games while we talked.  I'm not really a fan of places that don't have the lights on, so the movie theater wasn't super-fun for me, but it was good to walk around and talk and not have to worry about runaway Degen.

After about half an hour of that, we went back to the restaurant and we were next on the list to be seated.  I was a little disappointed because a lot of the restaurant was undergoing remodeling and the animatronic stuff wasn't working.  But what was still up was neat–a lot like a Disneyland ride, minus the ride.

Before they seated us, they had us order our meal from a host who was standing at a kiosk in the entrance.  We had a great host who, from his computer, assigned us seats right at the bottom of the waterfall/diving pool when he heard that I'd never been there before so that I would get a good view of the show.  We ordered the all-you-can-eat "Fiesta Grande," me in chicken, Colin in beef.  We then waited at a "Please wait here to be seated" sign for a hostess to take us through the restaurant to our seats.  Everything is decorated as though it's a Mayan temple, with murals and walls that look like archaeological artifacts.

Our table really was right at the foot of the waterfall, and the hostess had to go grab a towel to dry off our seats and table from the splashing that had occurred since the people before us left.  There was a bright lamp over our heads that made it hard to see the waterfall, so we sat on opposite sides of the booth to maximize visibility of the show. 

We munched on chips and salsa (too spicy for me) and talked until a waitress brought us our water.  She then asked if we wanted anything else to drink, and I ordered a peanut butter cup milkshake.  I was surprised when she brought it to me that it was a vanilla shake into which had been stirred mini peanut butter cups.  I guess I was expecting crushed pb cups or maybe a chocolate pb shake or something, but I liked what I got, especially since it had a little umbrella in it.

Our food came, and I had a great chicken taco, but my chicken enchiladas were way too spicy for me, so Colin and I traded enchiladas.  The plate came with rice, beans, three enchiladas, and a taco.  I finished off the beef enchiladas and then ordered another chicken taco.  Service was really slow, and then they brought me a beef taco when they did get around to bringing it to me.  The food wasn't really impressive, but for $11 it was fine and the atmosphere was really neat. 

The dive show was short but amazing.  Both Colin and I couldn't get over the physique of the divers.  Colin said something like "none of them had anywhere close to 7% body fat."  Probably none of them had over 2%.  They did flips and spins and swans from three stories up and I felt like I was watching Olympic divers.  In one of their tricks, one diver dove right after another, before the first even hit the water.  And they didn't get hurt!  We almost got splashed, but not quite, which was perfect.   

So, The Mayan was fun, I'm glad it's there and that I went, but I probably wouldn't make a repeat visit unless I was taking someone else who has never been there.   

First, we drove around aimlessly for a little while until we decided to stop at a Mac store to look at iPod covers to protect Colin's iPod from the abuse it endures from me, him, and two babies.  It was hard to tell whether the Mac store at the mall was open or not because the lights inside were so dim-looking from outside, but I think that was just the dark film over the windows.  Inside, the store was bright and airy, but I was surprised to find that it had only a six or eight computers.  The rest was iPods and their accessories.  The walls were covered in covers for various sizes of iPods.  Colin and I looked at our web sites on the super-wide monitor at one of the few computers and giggled at how funny and small they are on a huge screen. There was one very small section of software packages (about a shelf worth), and we giggled at that too, because Mac users always say that Mac has all the software you'd ever want.  We decided that's because all the software Mac users want is audio, video, or graphics related (i.e. artsy) and Mac is admittedly superior in those areas.  Everything was expensive there, so we didn't go for any of the multitude of iPod covers we found.

Then we drove around aimlessly some more until we decided to try Ma & Pa's Café in Lindon, which we'd been thinking about going to for a while.  They advertise "down home cookin'," which made me a little nervous because Colin's palate is a little more "discerning" than the typical down home-er.  The parking lot was half-full, not a great sign on a Friday night, but at least we didn't have to wait in line for an hour for dinner.  Our hostess sat us at a table with a green vinyl tablecloth, complete with duct tape patches, and promptly got us the waters we requested.  She handed us lunch menus, and I had to ask her if they serve lunch at dinnertime, to which she replied that they do, but indicated that the dinner menu was on the table in one of those little clear plastic thingies.  While we waited for our server, Nick, to finish with another table (a table where the patrons were required to sit on folding chairs), we perused the menus and discovered that they consisted of all kinds of sandwiches, a couple of roast beef kinda things, some fish options, and salad.  Nick came over and pretty much recommended that we stick with the sandwiches since they were out of mashed potatoes and he couldn't think of anything else he would order without the mashed potatoes.  Eventually, we decided on the double burger for me, the double cheeseburger for Colin, Soup of the Day (clam chowder) for each of us, and onion rings (which Colin ordered later after seeing someone else order it).  We realized later that the burger patties were 1/3 of a pound each, so we had each ordered 2/3 lb. burgers!  That's some serious burger for $5.00.  The clam chowder was a surprise, since the potatoes in it were in large chunks and I only got one very rubbery clam in mine.  I kind of liked the chunkiness of the potatoes, though not what I normally expect of a chowder.  The onion rings were great and came with fry sauce that was also good.  My overall feeling about the place is that it's a good lunch place, but they don't have the dinner atmosphere or service down yet, which may explain why they are only open for dinner on Fridays and Saturdays.  I'll bet it's a good breakfast place, too, and they open at 6:30 every morning but Sunday. 

We didn't get dessert there, but we needed gas in the car and it was time to pick up the kids.  So we stopped at a gas station near our house and got donuts inside.  The cashier didn't want us to waste our money on fresh donuts and strongly recommended that we buy the day-old donuts for 2/3 less money, which we did without much reluctance.  Colin wants to start a business someday in the basement of that particular gas station, so we drove around it before going home.

I think the best thing about the page is the search feature.  You can search by city, average entrée price, cuisine type, service type, food type, ordering type, whether they take reservations or do banquets and special occasions, which meals they serve, and drink types.  On the restaurant pages they list the hours they are open, too.  This could definitely come in handy, and I really wish I had known about it when I was an executive assistant and had to have various meals and meetings catered frequently. 

I've been babysitting once a week for a lady down the street who has a son about Degen's age, and we've been debating a good compensation/trade and finally decided on her taking our kids Friday nights while we go on a date.  At the moment I'm feeling like we're getting the better end of the deal, so we may have to go to every other week or something, but I think it's a good start.  Anyway, we got to go on a date last night while our kids got a free babysitter and got to play with friends! 

After going to the temple, where there were long lines, it was a nice cap to the evening to arrive at Magleby's and not have any wait at all.  A host named West (interesting name, that's why I remember it) seated us immediately in a booth next to the bar that overlooks the cooking and preparation area.  It was fun to watch the chefs and the managers and waiters working while we ate, but the TVs above the bar showing the BYU basketball game were kind of distracting for both Colin and I.  We found out from our waitress that the guy who looked like the main chef was named Dennis, not Tevye (he looked exactly like Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof, especially with his chef's hat on). 

Doc, the owner, was there.  I like Doc because he's a happy old man and he's confident enough to do whatever he wants.  I like him enough that I ordered "Doc's Blueplate Special" in his honor.  It actually comes on a blue plate, and includes a soup or salad, cole slaw, an entree that changes daily, potatoes, and a Twinkie.  Yes, a real Twinkie in the wrapper.  The entree last night was chicken breast with chunky marinera sauce and a thick layer of mozerella cheese melted on top.  Very yummy.  Colin had the Burger of the Day, which yesterday was a Jalapeno Burger, and he liked his meal, too.    

Our waitress was a cute blonde Oremite three weeks off a mission to Poland and she glowed the whole time.  I never asked her name, but she has a degree in Home Ec. teaching and is looking for a teaching job in the Fall.  We liked her so much that Colin asked her to email him so that he can refer her to Pinnacle.   Hopefully she will, because I'm sure she'd be a great teacher there.

For dessert we ordered the chocolate cake and shared it (but we couldn't eat the whole thing after all that dinner).  It's a huge piece of cake with three scoops of vanilla ice cream and a raspberry sauce on the side.  The cake isn't the best I've ever had, but it was good and was just what I wanted to eat.  The raspberry sauce was really, really good and was just the right thing to add interest to the dessert.  It had the added appeal of reminding me that Spring is coming.

Good job Magleby's!  Fast seating, an intriguing chef, a charming waitress, great food, BYU won their basketball game, and we left thinking good thoughts.

We went to the Runner's Corner yesterday to look at new sneakers for me. I love the Runner's Corner because they know about their shoes, know about running, and spend the time with you to help you figure out what you need. I didn't end up chosing any shoes because I was getting a weird pain in my ankle and they sent me home to see if my regular shoes made it go away, or if I just hadn't noticed it until I was paying attention. How many sales people do you know who would send you home if you really wanted to buy something from them, just to make sure you got the right thing? Pretty impressive.

Last night for our weekly date, Colin and I went to the Orem Nickelcade. I'd been there before with a couple of our young male relatives and enjoyed it, but I really had no idea how exciting it would be for Colin. For those of you who haven't been there, it's a big ol' room with a couple hundred arcade games, which you can play for the low entrance fee of $2.25 plus one to threeish nickles each. We walked in and spent at least half an hour walking around touring while Colin repeatedly said "Wow, they have ___!" (Ninja Gaiden, Sunset Riders, Spy Hunter.) We ended up playing a motorcycle game and a few of those side-scrolling arcade games that he lamented were going the way of the world in another post. We even played skee ball and those hit-the-aligator-on-the-head-for-points games. The air hockey table was broken, or I probably would have been subjected to air hockey humiliations galore. The grand finale was on Tekken 4, one of those karate character fight games, where Colin beat the entire game on a nickel (actually that one cost three nickels, but he had never played it before and he beat it on one set of three nickles). We then had the machine count up the tickets we had, gave the receipt to some little girls at the prize counter, and walked away quite pleased with ourselves and the world.

After that, we went to Magelby's at the Riverwoods for some dessert. We had water, Zucchini Sticks, banana cream pie, and creme brulee. They were setting up for a huge party and the hostess secretly (obviously she's not good at keeping such secrets) didn't want to seat us because they were trying to clear all the customers out in the next 45 minutes before the party. I don't know what the party was about, but there were a bunch of big polynesian guys in tuxedos and high-top sneakers setting up audio equipment and moving chairs and tables, and a bunch of (several nationalities) women in crazy white or black evening dresses directing the placement of chairs and plants. We thought it might be a reunion of some sort or an MLM party, but the waitress didn't know either so we may never be enlightened. But because it was noisy and cold (they kept opening the door next to us to take chairs and tables outside) while we were eating the manager kindly gave us a $20 gift certificate to come back and experience a normal Magelby's. We're excited to go back because the food is great and we noticed that they serve breakfast, so we think we'll use it some morning soon.

I rediscovered BYU's 100 Hour Board today. It's a student volunteer organization where you can write in and ask any question at all, and they guarantee to give you an answer in 100 hours or less. They post archives of the questions and answers on their site (see link above), so it's a pretty good reference. In my quick perusal, I saw cheap date ideas, what debt collectors do, and where to find a specific king of MP3 sorter program for free.

On Thursday night book club was successful, if measured by number of attendees and those who read the book and liked it. We decided as a group that Jane Eyre is mostly about how women can be and should be independent, and that integrity gets you the results you want…eventually. I think it's also about people's feelings and passions and how/if they should/can control them.

Colin has an interview on Monday to be the Sr. Broadcast Operations Manager for Evenstar or something in Gilbert, AZ. He just had one that was really fun for him to be a Trainer for eBay here in Utah. He got a request for a second-round application to be International Director for a college in New Zealand. We're waiting to hear from a consulting firm in Provo and in the meantime he's doing projects for RAM Print and for a friend who is starting a business and wants Colin to help him with a marketing plan. On top of that, he's trying to finish up his Accounting and Economics classes! Busy, busy, busy!