so much for one liners

All day long I was thinking that I'd make this final post a one liner, and I couldn't narrow it down.

Contenders?

* Happy New Year.
* Sayonara.
* So long, and thanks for all the fish (if you didn't read the book, that will make no sense at all).
* It's going to be strange not posting tomorrow.
* Maybe I'll just keep going.


Thanks to all who followed along this year. I promise, I'll be back regularly.

not much for resolutions...

...but I do have a few intentions, it would seem.

Has nothing to do with it being January 1st, though.

Just some things that are on my mind as wanting to do, and I can never seem to get anything productive done during the holidays, so I put it off until MyFavoriteKid is back in school.

* I intend to spend less time and money on "body work" and divert that same amount of time (and money, if need be) on "working my body". Less PT, more exercise, basically.

* This is connected to the above in some way: I intend on cleaning out the garage. There are things I brought with me when I moved up here that I haven't used since being here (18 months now). They are getting donated. So I have room to park a bicycle. Since it will be a trike, I need the space.

* I intend to learn how to use my spinning wheel. I finally figured out that I hesitate even trying because I am afraid of ruining the fiber. It has finally dawned on me that I can just spin, and if it turns out to be a whole pile o' crap, well...I can just knit it up and felt it. Then it wont look like crap anymore.

* I intend to replace my daily blog-posting (Oh My God...only 1 more) with READING blogs, which I rarely do anymore, and I miss everyone, and I cannot wait to catch up with what y'all are doing 'cuz I am sick to death of listening to myself. But you'll still see me around ;-)

knitting update

The knitting isn't going so well.
Okay, take that back.
The knitting just isn't going.
What I mean to say is, if I was knitting, it would probably be going fine.
But I'm not knitting.

It's not for lack of desire, it's for lack of time. At times like this I am usually happy to squeeze in a row here and there, you know, a few minutes at a time. I'm always surprised just how far along I can get knitting that way. But for some reason, I am not content knitting intermittently. I think I must be waiting for a long stretch. Sadly, I don't see that happening.

It's funny, but I always forget that when MyFavoriteKid has a break from school, that does not mean a break for me. In fact, it's the opposite. I spend more time with him (which is good), but it's usually too active to be knitting.

Lucky for me one of his new pastimes is a team sport (basketball). I think I see one hour practice pockets on my horizon.

snaps on saturday (on a sunday)

my winter snow globe

if you dont have anything nice to say, dont say anything at all

I was about to type, "My grandfather said that all the time." But now that I really think about it, what I really remember is my mother saying that her father used to say that all the time. I'm not sure if I ever actually heard grandpa saying that! I'm not denying he did....I just can't pull up any actual images in my head of him saying that, or the sound of his voice saying those words (he's long passed).

Whatever. Anyhow.

Today has not been so great, so I am going to keep my mouth shut. It's my new anti-complaining tactic. It probably won't work.

quick check in from date night

Ya' know, MyFavoriteKid was to be off with TheEX for one week of his three week vacation, and somehow turned into only 3 nights. This is the last night, and so that means TheMostImportantGuy and I are trying to squish in all the movies we wanted to go see into a mini-marathon.

This afternoon we caught a Benjamin Button matinee, grabbed a little dinner, stopped back home to check on the pets, and went back out again to see Doubt. I think tomorrow we are going to catch an early showing of Seven Pounds before MyFK gets dropped off. Then it's mommy-mode for the rest of the winter break.

Nighty-night!

short one

Short one. Very cold. Out in the van with TheMostImportantGuy and RileyTheDog, filching someone's wireless. Christmas was good. Out of town visiting TheMIG's family (MyFavoriteKid is off with TheEX for a couple of days. Gifted a few handknits, plus some items purchased either from etsy or local artisans.

Must put on a wool hat now, tuck in, and snuggle :-)

Only 6 more posts after this...
can hardly believe it.

and to all, a goodnight....

Here's a little holiday story for you :-)

When MyFavoriteKid and I were in Las Vegas, we were returning to our hotel one night, and this is what to place in the lobby.

Me: Santa.

Me (again, getting over excited): SANTA!!!!!!

MyFK: No, Mom.

Me: Oooh, and Mrs.Clause, too!

MyFK: Mommmmmmmmmm, I don't want to say hi to Santa.

Me: So what.

Me: (yelling) Santaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!

Santa: Ho Ho Ho!!!!!!!!

There is no one else in line to sit on Santa's lap. I make a beeline towards him, pop up out of my wheelchair, and throw out my arms for a big fat hug. Santa pops up out of his chair, greets with me with a hug, and the (don't you just know there is money involved) photographer pops up and takes this picture:


Which of course, I buy. 'Cuz I loooove Santa (and 'cuz I'm a sucker), and 'cuz I kinda like to think it's an awesome photo that really captures my love for the jolly ol' man ;-)

Me: (overpriced photo in hand) Santa!! Look!! I bought the picture!! (bringing it over to him). Look how cute we are!!!

Mrs.Clause: Oh, can I see it to?

Me: Of course!

Mrs.Clause: Do you know who I am?

Me: Why, yes! Of course! You are Mrs......ohhhh....MRS. Clause.

Mrs. Clause: Yah. You're darn tootin' I am MRS CLAUSE. And don't you forget it!!!!!!!

hahahahahahahaha
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XO to all, and Happy Holidays, whichever you celebrate (because I celebrate more than one myself!)

very busy. elfing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

fyi: I need to give proper credit. That dolphin pic yesterday was taken by MyFavoriteKid ;-)

saved by the cuteness....?

I should have posted earlier in the day when I still had some steam left in me and the laptop battery wasn't complaining to be plugged in.

I am hoping with this post to be saved by the cuteness.

dolphin from the Secret Garden at the Mirage in Las Vegas

jiggedy jig

Home. Hooray. Today's leg of the drive was the easiest by far, and that's with rain and high winds. Nothing compared to snow. If this trip was anything, it was a crash course on all weather driving in the van.

I would love to say something about Winter's Solstice.
I would love to say something about Chanhukah.

What I am going to say is that it's 11pm and I'm beat. I'm home, the pets are home, I have a mountain of laundry and unpacking to do, not to mention quite a bit of "elf-ing" (ie wrapping gifts and whatnot) before I take off again for Christmas.

It's good to be home. Merry winter & light the menorah. XO

halfway home & a couple of shout outs

We left Vegas early this morning and stopped for the night halfway home. The drive out was far better than the drive in, to be sure...but being that I could actually see farther than a few feet in front of me, blinded by snow, it was like a whole different drive.

A couple favorite moments from the day?
We stopped in Baker, near Area 51, and popped into Alien Fresh Jerky.



Maybe 10 different flavors, included Whiskey Jerky, a spike with caffeine jerky, and my favorite: Abducted Cow Jerky.

Another favorite moment of the day was the hay ride with Santa, here, through the RV park. Yes, I know. I find amusement with the oddest of things. I love it when people who travel full-time decorate the dashboards of their RV's. Makes me happy :-)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So in response to a few comments (all appreciated):

Yes. I did look up the local yarn stores. Before I even departed--hahaha. Didn't make it, though. Probably for the best. There should be several skeins of yarn waiting in the mailbox when I get home ;-)

I had to reread my own post because I cannot believe I actually wrote that flayed open bit---heeeheeee!).

Before even seeing the NapkinSupportComments, I did do the grossed out napkin thing. I grabbed a chocolate mousse at a buffet, and made sure to make a big smoosh on my napkin, and then set it on the table. MyFavoriteKid was completely squicked by that, and has had his paper serviette on his lap ever since ;-)

He still wiped his mouth on his jacket sleeve the other night when he was walking around with an ice cream cone and hadn't thought to grab a napkin. Yay me. More laundry.

Yeah, Vegas wasn't high on my list as a place to visit---especially with a kidlet in tow. It was MyFK that begged me to go!! Turns out we did just about every possible thing there was to do that was kid friendly, and there is quite a bit, actually. One of these days I should post a single list with links just in case anyone else wants to go.
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Ok, I'm off to bed. I'm hoping we get an early start tomorrow so we can get back quickly. The kennel only allows pick-ups until 6pm on Sundays, and I'm hoping to spring Riley, Gaara, and Mr.Darcy tomorrow rather than Monday morning. It would feel strange to be home without them!

morning update & myfk-isms

It's our last day here. Internet access has been problematic this morning so I am posting now in case I cannot get back online later. I think today we are heading over to the "Bodies" exhibit at the Luxor (it's that flayed open plastination thing). Then maybe a tour of the M&M Factory, and I have no idea what after that. We have hit everything kid friendly, I think. I had wanted to do a day trip over to Hoover Dam, but the road conditions have just been too poor to trust going. I have only gambled once---I plopped $2 into one of those gargantuan slot machines just for giggles.

I'm a wee bit concerned about my van. When you are taking it into freezing temperatures, there are things you need to do to winterize it so there are no plumbing problems, and I did none of those before coming, because I was not prepared for the "most snow in Vegas in 30 years". There was nothing to be done about it once we were here, because it's illegal to drain the thing in a parking lot. Hopefully the pipes didnt freeze. I'll have an inspection when I get home.

The plan for tomorrow is to drive up over the mountain pass again, and spend the night in Bakersfield again, as we did on the way in. Then do the last leg of the trip home on Sunday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MyFavoriteKid-isms while on this trip:

"If gambling in Las Vegas is for adults, how come most of the machines look like kids games?"

~~~~~

"I think kids should be allowed to play slot machines. I mean, they only let us play stupid arcade games here, and if I played a slot machine, at least I'd have a chance to win my money back."

~~~~~

(while watching the hotel's Vegas Today channel, the dining and shows advertisements ended, and it switched over to a segment about the best swimming pools with bars...ie, bikini clad girls dancing around with cocktails...before I could switch it off):

"I think I like my boobs medium-natural."

~~~~~

(while at the buffet at the MGM Grand Hotel)

"Mom, are you suuuuuuure you are supposed to put your napkin on your lap?"
"Yes. Positive."
"I think you are lying, and just want me to do it."
"No, I am positive."
"Well, how come no one else is?"
(and sure as shit, I inspected the laps of...oooooh, I'd say 50 adults within a 20 table radius...and not ONE SINGLE ADULT had their napkins on their laps. Help me out here people!)

~~~~~

"Hey, mom. What rhymes with orange..."
"Nothing."
"What about door hinge?"

~~~~~

ok. fine. let's try alpacas.

Clearly you guys are not one bit interested in my vacation photos.



Here's some alpaca for you fiber folk. Taken at Sigfried and Roy's Secret Garden at the Mirage Hotel. We also saw dolphin and various tigers. I am so homesick for my own pets that I walked out of the gift store with stuffed animals.

Since I know at least my mom and dad are keeping tabs here, this is what we have done in the last two days:

Wednesday:
* Statosphere and lunch at The Top Of The World (food = really good/money's worth)
* Circus Circus (lots of tickets and MyFK won a souvenir pillow to bring home; saw circus acts, too....then also did the coaster inside the AdventureDome, which was a bit of a dud)
* MGM to see the lion habitat and to have dinner at the buffet

Today/Thursday:
* Monorail to the Mirage to see the gigantic fish tank, the atrium, the secret garden and another buffet (our favorite thus far)
* a cruise thru Caeser's Palace
* back to the Mirage for the new volcano show (very cool)
* and then on to see Ka, the Cirque du Soleil show (mindblowing, amazing, even got a little teary eyed it was so magical)

Today was supposed to be a trip to Hoover Dam, but the road conditions are still poopy from snow. Schools here were closed today even! We might try that tomorrow. It's our last day and we head out Saturday.

The end.

quick, while i can

Have more to say than this, but I must squeak this in while I can as I am having much difficulty with the internet connection tonight. Perhaps it is because everyone is in their hotel rooms and on their laptops rather than cruising the strip because IT IS STILL SNOWING ON THE LAS VEGAS STRIP. The news is saying the valley floor got 3-6 inches. Gah!



Snow on palm trees. Seems so silly.

a

From our hotel window.



The lions at the MGM Grand are not impressed, however.


Hopefully more tomorrow, if the internet connection is more available. XO

today's version of vegas

Arrived on the strip yesterday, and it was too cloudy to see the mountains...but this morning we pulled the blinds and saw this:



It's supposed to snow again tomorrow, too....so we decided to get a couple of outdoor things out of the way.

We rode the coaster at New York New York.


I loved it. We tripped around inside the casino/hotel area where it's all set up to look like New York. Had a snack. Found the arcade where MyFavoriteKid and I earned tickets for little arcade crap gifts. I scored though. Look what I "bought" with mine:


Bubble Gum lipgloss. On a key chain. Shaped like a toilet.
????????????
hahahahahahahaha
(I only got one; that's just a pic of the pile)

Then we hopped a tram over to Mandalay Bay and went to the Shark Tunnel.

I know that aint a shark, but the shark pics came out all blurry.
You know, the whole Shark thing is geared towards educating folks about over fishing, and endangering species....the problems with wild versus farm-raised, etc etc....and why you buy the shark tunnel tickets, they offer you a really killer deal to eat dinner at the buffet inside the hotel.

Which specializes in seafood.

Kinda crazy.

Anyhow, that's where we had dinner and it was delicious and most excellent...

....and then we went on to see Criss Angel "Believe" at the Luxor, which is him in cahouts with Cirque de Soliel. Good show. A little too much Cirque and not enough Criss, but that's okay. Cirque is great. It's just that we paid to see Criss Angel (and we're seeing a Cirque show later in the week).


Kinda creepy photo. Sorry. But that was in the lobby, and there were no cameras allowed inside of course.


I am so tired. Lots and lots of miles in a wheelchair today, and on casino carpet (which sucks ass---difficult pushing). I am getting a callous on my left hand, and that's even with gloves on.

I'm going to bed. Can't wait.

first part=drag, second part=fun

My apologies in advance, but this is a photo-heavy post. It's almost midnight, and it's just going to be easier to do this in photos.

The weather only got worse. Way worse.




It was like that almost the whole way here. I know that driving in snow doesn't mean that much to those of you in other parts of the world. I mean, I DID grow up living in snow, but never during my driving years. My driving years are all California based, and even though I have driven in snow a couple times as an adult, I have never (until now) done it in a RV.

It sucked the life out of me.

Anyhow, we made it. Finally.

We checked into our hotel, changed clothes, and hopped a cab to The Venetian:


The real reason for going there was to see the Phantom of The Opera, which I have seen before in San Francisco, but it was pretty mindblowing to see it Las Vegas style in a theater built specifically for the show.

Sadly, I have no photos of that, because cameras are not allowed, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Anyhow, while waiting for the show, we ate dinner, checked out the magic shoppe, and took a gondola ride:


After the show, we cruised the strip a bit. Got to see the volcano erupt over at the Mirage:



And then we headed on into the Bellagio:

Canopy of giant glass blown flowers in the lobby....and the conservatory which is set up with a holiday display:



Those flying reindeer are made out of some sort of nuts. Maybe pecans.

We also caught a couple rounds of the water show outside.


Hopped a cab back to the hotel, grabbed a late night snack, and now here I am trying to get this post in, but feeling like I might just pass out from exhaustion.

are we having fun yet?

Nope. Not exactly.

We're half way to Vegas. The drive was reallllly difficult. It was extremely windy and rainy, and passing semi-trucks totally freaked me out. The mini-maison is a little wide, and it also catches wind like a sailboat.

I'd hoped to arrive at our mid-way overnight spot before dark, but that didn't quite work out.

That being said, there is a restaurant here in the RV Park, and although I was leery, the food was actually quite delicious and within walking distance. MyFavoriteKid and I are snuggled up watching a dvd now, and I'm hoping to sack out early so we can get an early start.

snaps on saturday

For every complaint, there's a moment where I want to take it all back

I've been complaining about the kitties lately, as y'all know. But today was the day I check them all in to the "pet resort" so that we can take off on vacation tomorrow morning.

Leaving them there made me sad :-(
And the house feels realllly empty right now.

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Snaps On Saturday

Not a pretty picture:


That dumpster belongs to a McDonald's.

Mindblowing, if you ask me.

Chiming in here from the hotel where TheMostImportantGuy's company holiday party is being held. In addition to being a guest, he is also the PA rental/sound guy, so he's the last one out, basically. We knew it wise to get a room here and spend the night.

I honestly don't have a single thing to say. It might be because I'm exhausted...? Tomorrow is busy, too. Helping the co-dance teachers in the morning at the studio with a duet they are working on. Then getting all the pets to the "resort". Then packing up the mini-maison (my conversion van) for our trip to Vegas (yayyyyy!). We leave on Sunday.

I'm going to sleep. I love this hotel. They give you a clamp for the curtains to make sure no light gets in, lavender spray for the pillows, an eye mask, ear plugs, and a cd to listen to full of relaxing sleepy time meditations.

XO & nighty night