Las Vegas, Church Camp, and the Moon

Great News!! We made it home safe and sound. As I write this, I am a little more tan, a lot more well-fed (SOME of that Vegas food is YUMMY!!) and a whole lot more well-rested. I did not tax myself while visiting Nevada. Well, except in that way that involves contributing a little "something something" to the coffers of the Nevada general education fund...or wherever that money goes.

On the other hand, I'm writing this and my hubby is snoring loudly from the other room. That comes from the exactly 1 and 1/2 hours of sleep he got last night. Wisely, he showed up at the room this morning at 5:30 a.m. with a cup of coffee in his hand for me. Wiser, but not wealthier than he was when he did THE EXACT SAME THING in April. Ahhh well...live and learn. He has a love/hate relationship with the blackjack tables.

The good news is we're back and everybody's healthy. In case you didn't read the previous post...he has had a few teensy problems making it home from Vegas in fine form.

SO.

It's definitely an interesting place to people watch. And because it is the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Walking on the Moon (July 20, 1969).. the Fremont Street Experience is focusing on that and the whole Woodstock thing. So all the casinos and street musicians....well...all the music EVERYWHERE...because if you know L.V., you know they are GREAT at marketing and executing that marketing plan...so they really did the 60's thing BIG TIME. So....the tunes of the late sixties really took me back. It was pretty cool. And kinda groovy, ya know?

I remember watching the first steps on the lunar surface. I had just arrived home from church camp. (...For those of you who can relate, yes, it was Pan Fork Baptist Encampment. I can taste the Sweet Tea served from the pail on the table right this very minute.....ooooh the wonderful & fun memories from THAT place! But I digress.) I just know that I was ten years old and that at the camp we were updated on the progression of the Apollo 11 mission. Once I was home Apollo 11 landed on the moon and I gathered around the big old Zenith with my fam and we hung on each and every word Walter Cronkite narrated while Neil Armstrong spoke those famous first words on the moon. It was fantastic. I remember it like it was yesterday.

Even as a child, I knew I was watching something very important and historic. My father was great at helping me understand the value of these things. Thanks, Dad.

Peace.

I'm Taking his Insurance Card.....

No, really..

To (hopefully) finish up our month-long celebration of my husband's 50th birthday, we are heading to my husband's HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH. This is a place where he has had wonderful times, extremely good and bad luck at the tables (both gambling and dining). This is a man who has a LARGE time at his own personal DisneyWorld. I know that You know where I'm talking about:

We hit Las Vegas, along with several other couples....with a vengeance. You know how people say that when you are in LV you don't know night from day, you stay up all hours, etc, etc, etc? Apparently my body does not know those rules. SO. When I get tired, I hit the room for a nap. Eat when I'm hungry, sleep when I'm tired. Now THAT's my idea of a vacation.

My husband, on the other hand, is a classic Las Vegas vacationer. He has been known to sit at a blackjack table for 36 hours at a stretch. DON'T EVEN ASK, I DON'T KNOW HOW THAT WORKS. Now I have decided recently that I have adult ADD and I can't imagine even doing something I love for 36 hours. Luckily, we have the rule that we can just go our own ways. Mine is more like 1) shopping 2) spas 3) slot machines.

I'm not sure what hubby does because like I said, we GO OUR OWN WAY. But I have my suspicions and the list is not as long as mine.

However, I do know this. The last two times we have gone to Vegas, he has spent the next week or so having medical procedures. Really, Vegas has a negative effect on his health. He seems to be okay while we are there, but when we hit the Amarillo airport, WATCH OUT.

I'm packing in the otc stuff just in case I need to doctor him up while we're there.....and taking the insurance card in case there's something I can't handle. Wish us luck!!

Just Let Go Laughing......

Well, I had a super-duper, giggly time with Kaylie in Vega. (Even though the guy in the Village grocery store heard me say that I had been to Vega and he asked me if the lights were still burning......uhhh, yup. THEN, I realized he thought I said Vegas. Whole 'nother story. And state. And week....next week, as a matter of fact. I'll let you know how that goes).

Anyway, back to the giggles. Kaylie and I are at that fun stage in the mother-daughter relationship when it just literally takes a few code words or memories to be able to dissolve into laughter. Russ, her husband, Thank Heavens has the ability to either busy himself other ways or just hit the mental mute button and ignore us completely. We spent several silly and fun hours laughing over some funny memories....

I CRACK UP in the Ya Ya Sisterhood when Teensy says "You are sooooo lucky. If you put one scratch on my baby, I would have your ass."

The scene goes on..we know each and every word...but we don't have to get to the end of it...because all we ever say is...."You are soooooo lucky." That's exactly how far we get before we crying and peeing with laughter...(did I write that out loud?) Wheeeewwww, that is very very good thing. Also, if you know the rest of the lines to the scene, you are my new friend. Of course, that's a movie chock-ful o' fabulous lines.

By the way, to the unindoctrinated...the baby in the scene above, is a classic car and NOT a real baby. I'm just saying.

More funnies:

Now, all funnies are not movie-related....our new favorite giggle was this on the awkward family site (not that we're an awkward family or anything). Because, as you know,

"fabulous dinners do not just make themselves"

smooches and hugs, Marney.

You really should read this...it's a blast and it will make you so grateful for your own holiday get-togethers no matter how dysfunctional they are. Kaylie, as a newlywed, really dug the part Marney wrote to Lisa. At least anything I say to her won't sound as bad as what Marney says!

And, can you stand it? There's more!!!!!!

If you haven't listened to the Left-brain grocery list, here it is. You will definitely howl. If you were raised in the south, you will relate. Because really, I don't care what things cost by the 1/2 ounce either. Some things just really hit home and this funny audio is one of them. Get a glass of sweet tea, put your feet up and let go laughing!

Hmmmm, now....isn't that nice?

Coming of Age (50)

Today is a milestone in my husband’s life. The big 5-0. Here’s a pic of my card to him:



It was designed with huge amounts of love with a traffic sign that I found in a field. He will take it with the attitude he takes most things. Thanks for noticing, now let’s get on with other things. Which is mainly, for him, cooking. On a semi-related note....That man can cook. That is such an understatement, so I shall rephrase:

MERCY, THAT MAN CAN COOK. Like. Really.

Emeril, Bobby Flay, David. He’s that good. Like melt in your mouth, if he’s cooking I’ll be there, slap your grandma good. Twenty pounds during my first year of marriage to him good. Now that’s what I’m talking about.

So, we have already celebrated with a surprise party at the grove and now we’ll do something kinda small and anti-climactic today….then, we’ll do what hubby loves best later this month. We’ll go help keep the lights on in Vegas.

In a nutshell, he’s a simple man. Put him behind a grill and he’s a happy man. A beer, a great steak, and blackjack. No need to complicate things, really. As he always reminds me, “it is what it is.”

Do you think that’s true for men in general….they are more uncomplicated that women? I kind of think that it’s a pattern I observe. Just thinking too much again……..This is all making me hungry..think I’ll go see what delights he has left in the fridge….

p.s.

Here's what he actually said..."That's the heaviest card I've ever gotten." The man has a gift.

Enough with the Stuff Already

I have spent the last week, which is if you don't already realize it, the second week of my VERY limited summer vacation, going through my stuff.

At first I thought it was my beloved belongings, my treasures, the momentos of my life. I knew decisions must be made about what to do do with these items.... to store? to display? to toss? to give away? and....then that led to more questions....store where? display where? Give away to whom? Permanently or just until I might someday, maybe possibly build on and have more space? Geez............ ENOUGH ALREADY!! I was making my own self dizzy with all the craziness.

It was, after all, just stuff. chozchkes......right?

As the temperatures rose, and the hours ticked by, then the days rolled on, it somehow became easier to make those decisions. More and more often, I could answer my own questions. If I had not been yearning for it in the last year....and I mean dreaming of it, wishing for it...dying to get my hands on it and place it in a position of honor in my new home with my beloved husband...well, it just had to go.

14 old cell phone chargers? Trash 'em

3 ironing boards? Are you kidding me? Trash.

Cords...electrical thingys that hook into other thingys? Junk 'em.

8,674 ink pens? To the dump?

Plastic Flowers? Dump-o

Anything peach, mauve, forest green, navy blue? To the dump, to the dump, to the dump dump dump.

Sweet merciful heavens, it is 109 degrees out here, I believe I will go in and have a diet Dr. Pepper and maybe just a teensy nap.

And believe me in those particular moments, I did not care particularly where any item went....although I knew where it would end up. In the dump...which in the village in which I live...I like to call it the village because it sounds so romantical.....ya know, I'm FANCY like that and all. Anyways, our dump is a little different than you might be familiar with. It is, after all, a great giant humongous trash compactor that the citizenry uses whenever they like as long as it is Monday, Wednesday or Friday and before 7 p.m. I know that you must be practically numb now with boredom over that information, but you never know when that kind of tidbit might come in useful. So.....

Back to the big STUFF extravaganza. The deal is, in case anyone might read this besides well, my daughter. I'm moving furniture from my old house...where I lived as a single mother to teenagers, then alone. It was an antique filled house...and though it needed work, it was sorta my dream house. But some dreams are more important than others and God works that out in his own way. Because THENNN, my dream man showed up and lived in a nearby town (which I call, The Village). So, when we married last year, I moved to his home. My old, single-woman home has been sitting empty ever since. The day came to empty it out and that was LAST WEEK. Now I have had to do something with all the stuff and I do mean ALL.

But it's been good and cathartic to close the chapter on that period of my life. My son and I have had some chats reminiscing about the good times we had in that house. (some things I should never had heard about!).

And They Said It Wouldn't Last.....

Hello again....I told you this would be starts and stops. We had a crazy combination party last night: 1st anniversary/50th birthday party for David/60th birthday party for Mary Ann ....but that's Miami. We had a WONDERFUL time because well, the great people in this village really, really know how to have a fine time. The setting was beautiful, the food was great, the company was super-fun. Kay, the best hostess ever, even set up a Newlywed Competition between the Gills and us. It ended up kind of a tie....not so much because it was even but because...where's the fun in keeping score?

Kay to David: Within 5 how many pairs of shoes does your wife own?

David replies (confidently, I might add): Twenty!

Me: That's exactly right!!

Okay, so we got that point under false pretenses.

Really, that's what I wanted to say, but they made me write it down in advance and I had already written down 50, so I was busted. And that was a big, fat guess because who knows how many shoes they have?

Also fun was that Kay had us re-run part of our wedding..don our wedding clothes and cut a cake. We didn't have a cake at our actual wedding and Kay took that really hard and very, very personal. So...she made sure that we had one last night and it was BEAUTIFUL and a terrific surprise.

So all in all it was a wonderful evening with dear friends to commemorate three great things!

As our good friend Sexy Rexy says....

If you don't have friends, you don't have nothing...

pictures and more information on our first year will follow...