Home Again, Home Again

So I spent from last Thursday until this last Monday in Idaho and Utah. I had a paper accepted to the annual conference of the Association of Mormon Letters. I managed to get my work to pay for my flight, rental car, meals, etc. and I figured it was a good deal all the way around. Not only would the presentation be a nice notch on the ol' vitae to show I'm still academically active, but, more importantly, I'd get to see family and friends and spend a few days near the mountains.



It all went wonderfully according to plan. The conference itself was great. This was the third time I've attended it and I think this was the best so far. The presentations were smart, thought-provoking, and well-done. We screened 1931's Corianton: An Aztec Love Story which is most probably the first "Mormon movie" made. It's spectacularly bad but extremely rare and a real unique cultural artifact.



I heard some great presentations on Mormon lit and had some terrific conversations with really cool people. (Angela Hallstrom, Stephen Carter, Jack Harrell, Kathy Soper, Darlene Young, I'm looking at you.)



In addition to all the conferency goodness, I got to spend a day with Uncle Tony, as my children refer to him. Best friend of 20 years Tony Mosier and I spent Friday hanging out in Salt Lake, visiting the lovely and talented Tawnya and Tracy, seeing Shutter Island, eating chicken wings, etc. It was an excellent day.

The main event, however, was Sunday morning when I showed up on my parents' doorstep without them knowing I was even in the same timezone. You see, I've known for a couple of months that I was making this trip. But I thought it would be a fun surprise so I didn't mention it to Mom or Dad. I didn't even tell my kids until a few days before I left because I didn't want them spilling the beans on the phone to Grandma and Grandpa.

Well, mission accomplished. My dad opened the door and had to stare at me for a good five or six seconds before he realized who in the world I was. My mom hopped out of her bed (which is impressive all on its own) and gave me a big hug. We went to church together and then had a big family dinner. My nieces and nephews were all awesome to play with and just generally cute. We played for most of the day but then they went to bed and the grownups had to get down to serious business: an online game of the Brown family favorite, Acquire. Jason and Dylan logged on from Moscow and we had a nice time trash-talking one another over the chat function of the game.

Early the next morning, I drove to SLC and flew back to Illinois. Though I had an excellent time while I was gone, I was glad to come home and see all the ladies in my life. Suzanne says being home alone with three children is exponentially harder than being home with two. She held up admirably and I really appreciate her supporting my trip.

Anyway, I return to a mountain of papers and things left to be done. Sigh. No rest for the weary.