Saturday, April 29, 2006

Sin City

Just added the pic (5/9/06). That's me, with eyes closed, on the left. That's also MY margarita, rocks-lotsa salt, thankyouverymuch. Kelly is in the middle, and Crystal is on the right. We're in the piano bar at Harrah's here. See, Kel, *I* knew where we were!!

Still in Vegas.
What more can be said?
Ok, well, a LOT more, but you've seen the commercial and I'm sure that you know the saying.
I think I told you about Friday. Most of it, anyway. We ended up going out with one of Kel's friends, Crys. Kel met her when they both lived in DC. Now Crys lives in Vegas. Lucky for us!
Crys picked us up at the New york, New York. For any of you that have not been there, it's a blast. It has an amazing roller coaster, lots of slots, a huge gaming floor, and wall to wall men. to be fair, there are wall to wall chicks too, but I wasn't looking at any of those.
From the NYNY, we went to Margaritaville. This place is across the street from Caesar's. I was hooked before we ever walked in the door, just because of the name. Yes, I have a secret (or maybe it's not so secret) LOVE for anything Jimmy. Son of a son of a sailor could have been sung about me, except *I* am not a son! Other than that, it could be my theme song. The bar/club was awesome. It got even better when the band sanf Brown Eyed Girl. I dranks 'ritas after my initial Corona with lime. Rocks, lotsa salt, if you please. Frozen stuff is only for the beach!
We stayed there way later than we should have. Crys then escorted us over to Harrah's, where we closed out the new Toby Keith bar. Then we tripped down to the piano bar downstairs, and that got even more interesting.
The guys were keying Bon Jovi. JBJ is a fine male specimen NOW, but he just was NOT my cuppa back when he was singing "Livin on a prayer". The guy standing behind our table noticed my distaste, and dubbed me "Bon Jovi", or BJ for short. yeah, wasn't that just witty of him??
We closed out yet another bar (yes, it was a theme for the night!), and headed back to the Monte Carlo. Of course, my fan club wanted to join us, and what can you tell a cute lil 25 year old but "Sure"?? So he came back to the MC with us, and watched us play the tables. Kel was hot on Craps, then BlackJack. I was just enjoying watching her play.
Finally, my lack of sleep came crashing down and I headed back to the room. 25yo wanted to join me. I have to tell you, that really just made my day. But instead of babysitting the poor thing, I told him to get back to his own hotel. I was truly flattered, but I'm still just a chicken at heart. Plus, I have my own young stud back home. It's hard enough keeping up with THAT man, why on earth would I add another??? Not to mention the fact that I love him!
So now I'm almost in la-la land. But I just had to blog before I go find a beach chair by the pool and sleep the day away.
I still can't believe that I thought this trip would be about staying in the room and writing. I mean, I'm in Vegas with my best friend. We have No hubbies and NO kids with us.
really, what's a Cherry to do?
yeah, that's what I thought.
And that's exactly what I'm doing.
Can't you see me researching from here?

Friday, April 28, 2006

Being "beautiful' in Vegas

So here I am in Vegas.
I'm here with my best friend, Kelly. She lives in Pennsylvania. She finally got here today, a day after I did.
I spent my first day here trying to sleep. I didn't go to sleep the night before, because I had to leave the house at 3am to get to the airport on time. I was terrified that if I went to sleep I would miss my flight. Thank GOD for RedBull, or I wouldn't have made it!!
My flight from DC to LAX was LOOOOOOOONG. I was in front of a row of 6 guys headed to Vegas for a Bachelor's party. I think they started their party early, since alcohol seemed to be seeping out of their pores. It was so potent, I was concerned that I would be drunk by the time the plane landed. Finally made it to LAX and was dumb enough to eat there. NEVER, never, eat Clam Chowder in an airport before a short flight. The turbulence from LAX to LV was bad enough. Add that chowder, and I almost got sick for the first time.
Vegas was overcast, which was perfect. I had lunch at the Stratosphere. It was kinda weird, going in circles around the city where I grew up. I saw the Country Club Towers, where I lived in the 9th grade. Walking down Memory Lane was a bit odd, but fun just the same.
Today, more Memory Lane, but with Kelly by my side. We hit Caesar's. I spent so many nights at Cleopatra's Barge when I was in high school, even though I wasn't even 18 yet. There was a great group of lounge lizards that used to serenade me. They weren't there today, but it was still pretty cool to see the place.
And then there was the guy that called me "beautiful". If this has ever happened to you, then you know what I mean. let me set the scene. I'm 33 years old. Yes, that's not too old, but it's older than I feel, so it's not always good. I have given birth 6 times, so I am not as small as I was at 18. I've started working out, and lost some weight, and that's good. but still, when I look in the mirror, it's just not quite "ME" looking back. I know you know what I mean. I know I'm not hideous, but Vegas is an unforgiving town when it comes to beauty. The women here are tall, and my 5'4" isn't quite that high. They are all tiny, and my size 11 isn't all that small anymore. They're all young, and well, that's not quite me anymore. So I'm walking through Caesar's with Kel. This really hot guy walks towards us. He slows when he gets near me, and leans towards me, and whispers "beautiful" in my ear. I almost tripped. I stopped and turned around. So did he. Then he smiled, winked, and turned around and walked off. It wasn't a smarmy smile. It was warm. It was sweet. It was very nice. And he called me BEAUTIFUL!
Well, my husband calls me that all the time, and I love the man dearly for it. I truly think he believes it when he says it, and it's nice to hear. I think he's wonderful, and it tingles me all over when he says it. But there is just something INCREDIBLE about a hot stranger in a wild city that whispers "beautiful" in your ear then smiles at you. I actually FELT beautiful, even if only for that split second.
Anyhow, now we're back in our room at the Monte Carlo. My cell phone is dead because I forgot my charger. The view from the room is a perfect one of the Vegas version of the Eiffel Tower. I can see a giant Coke bottle from here. We saw the incredible water show in front of the Bellagio. Now we're 'resting' which really means coffee and beer. Tonight we hit the Mandalay Bay and the craps tables. It should be fun.
Do you have a "beautiful" story? Tell me all about it. It feels good to share!

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Oh how I love thee...

I just adore my husband. No, I mean it, I really do. In addition to the way he is with all of our children, he's a really good man. He takes the time to do things like send me e-mails that are waiting for me as soon as I log on in the mornings, that say things like "You're beautiful and I love you", even though NOBODY in their right mind would think that if they saw me when I read those e-mails. He sends them from the train around 5:30am. Yes, that's before the sun comes up. He commutes 2 hours each way, because working in the city pays better than anything around here. Bigger pay means that *I* don't have to go to work. That means I get to stay home with our babies (ages 13,11,10,9,6,4), and I can homeschool them. He doesn't always like the commute, but he does it. He loves me that much.

I love getting to show him how much I love him. Like tonight. He teaches a computer security class for the SANS Institute on Mondays. Tonight, as I was getting ready for bed, he called. His truck broke down on the way home. It was after 9:30pm. He was 70 miles from home. Did he whine or complain? Not MY man. He just told me his class was great, and his truck was dead, and asked if I'd mind coming to get him. Would I mind? Is he crazy??? So, after getting dressed again, and searching mapblast to see where he was, off I went. I found him, we tried jumper cables on the truck, nothing worked. So he just hopped in the van and we drove home. He didn't complain about his truck, or about how late it was. He just said I looked beautiful, and he loved me, and he was glad to see me. Besides seriously thinking the man needs new glasses, I really can't think of a single thing wrong with him.

Now, he's not perfect, by any means. After all, he IS a man. But man, that man just loves me.

I am one lucky lady.

And very, very tired.

Good night, sweet world.

Sunday, April 23, 2006

What to do or not to do...

I have this blog, which is something that I've wanted to do for a while but never got around to doing. All night, I was thinking about what I wanted to do with this blog. What should I say, what should I discuss? Should this be serious, or just a fun place to put random thoughts?

I have no answer. How absurd is that? Me, the person that always has an answer for everything, has NO ANSWER!

Basically, I think I've decided that it's just going to be whatever I feel like doing on any particular day. I don't think it will be an online diary. Frankly, I live inside my head, and the place scares the hell out of ME most days, so why would I do that to you people? Also, my life is not what many would consider exciting. I have kids, I stay home with them, I homeschool them, I like to cook, I LOVE to read, I really enjoy writing. Really though, there's not a whole lot of my life that would interest your normal, everyday blog reader.

I end up back at the point where I want to have a blog, I want people to read this blog, I want to enjoy comments, but I really have not very much to say. That's another improbability, me not having much to say. Yet it's true in this case. I'll just have to see how this works out. Who knows...

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Because of the Cherries...

Ok, so now I'm blogging.
This is all because of the Cherries.
I started out just enjoying reading Jenny Crusie books. Then I decided to go online to see what else she had written. Of course, I found this beautiful website, www.jennycrusie.com. I cruised all around it and found a link to the fan site, hosted on Yahoo. It was for Jenny's fan club, the Cherries. I just HAD to check it out.

Well, that place was just so warm and friendly that I ended up spending WAAAAAAY too much time there. Then one of the Cherries, Robin, asked for help with an ebay project. I know ebay, so I volunteered. The past few days have been full of frantic listing on ebay, trying to get everything ready for the auctions that start tomorrow. The auctions are to benefit another Cherry, Michele. Michele was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Since my own mother-in-law is a breast cancer survivor, this made me want to help even more.

Michele's wonderful friend, Kim, sent me tan e-mail today that made me cry. She thanked me for helping. I tried explaining that *I* was the one that should be thanking them, for letting me help, and actually feel useful. There are not too many situations where a thorough knowledge of your favorite shopping experience (EBAY) is very helpful to anyone (except your 13 year old daughter desperate for *Tommy* wear). So this is a chance for me to use what I know to help someone that needs it. *I* am the one that gets to give the thanks around here.

Kim sent me a link to her blog, because there is a picture of Michele listed there. I checked out the link. I wanted to just post a comment telling Kim that I was here, but I had to register. Before I knew it, I had myself signed up for my very own blog.

So again, this is all because of the Cherries...
See what I mean?

Anyhow, that's all for tonight. Hopefully this will get posted, even though we're in the middle of a thunderstorm and I'm watching my transmit light on my DirecWay satellite box blink at me. I'm hopeful though.
Hey, what can go wrong?

After all, I'm a Cherry too... :)