Quick Recap

Once I returned from Vegas I hit the ground running as midterm time was fast approaching. So far so good, I have 3 of the 4 midterms down. One yet to go next week. I'm wondering if I shouldn't ask the girls to change next year's Vegas trip to Nov--around Veteran's day-- when I know I'll be done with midterms. But then again, if I take a trip between midterms and finals, will there be anything to motivate me to study for finals in time?! Hmmmm..... Something to ponder.

Mom and dad came down for their first Ballunar Fest the weekend of Oct. 23rd. We had a blast! The weather was amazing and we got to do all sorts of things. Besides enjoying the balloon activities, they got to see O play baseball and they got to visit the Historic Apollo Mission Control room at JSC. It was a busy weekend full of activities and good times.

I've been so focused on midterms and just getting through each day trying to always optimize my time that Halloween nearly passed me by. With all of the studying I've been doing, all of the poor food choices I've been making and with all of the crud going around, I've felt run down. Not really coming down with any symptoms per se, but just needing to sleep more and take it easy. Halloween day the fatigue seemed to hit me like a ton of bricks. I worked from 8-3 then came home to grab a nap before we went out trick-or-treating. I slept until after 6. C had taken off to go to the store to get some candy since I hadn't done that yet. I woke up so disoriented and so out of it so it was hard to get the kids ready in their costumes. Some how we managed to get out the door shortly after 6:30, met up with several different friends from the neighborhood and enjoyed the evening walking around in the gorgeous weather.

The extra hour of sleep that night was wonderful. Sunday was a full day with studying, O's last b-ball game and picnic. Plus Wings Over Houston airshow nearby meant lots of traffic, noise and crowds in the area. I had made plans awhile back to go see Mary Poppins at the Hobby Center with some friends so C was left with the chaos. I love that he doesn't complain when I leave him with all of that! What a guy!

Anyway, Mary Poppins was fabulous. The evening was great. I only wish I could have spent it with my hubby too. I managed to get through the midterm on Monday. Needed to sleep a lot on Tuesday and had to deal with a sick M Tuesday evening.

It began with vomiting. She had eaten some candy that turned out to be gum and I thought that it just upset her stomach. Weds morning she vomited a 3rd time so she stayed home from preschool and went with me to my hair appointment. As we sat there (her in my lap) waiting for my color to do its thing, I noticed that she had a fever. It just seemed to get higher as time went by but I had no way to measure it. I decided to see if I could get her in to the school clinic since my teacher who specializes in pediatrics was supervisor that day. I got her an appointment so we quick got the color washed out of my hair and took off for the clinic.

She was afraid she would get needles and I assured her that they could do other things without needles. Dr. Z and K, the intern, were so good with her. They took her temp which felt much lower to me by then and it was 100.5. Dr. Z checked her throat and listened to her lungs then chose 8 herbs for her to take deciding that she has the flu. K did some pediatric Tui Na to help lower her temperature and keep her from vomiting more. No needles or pharmaceutical drugs involved and 24 hours later she is her old self. She and I both slept a lot yesterday. I skipped class last night and along with O, we three were dead asleep on the couch by 8:45. I woke up a little over an hour later long enough to get everyone into bed and I was out again. C had chaos going on at work so he missed all of the drama for Tues and Weds evenings.

M is doing great. It took a bit to get her to eat something and take her herbs (tea decoction that I mixed with grape juice) but she has much more energy now and has been playing some. She even managed a good bm which had not happened for a few days so I think that will help her a lot. Now we are going to nap some more before O comes home. Then I have to hope I can make it through 4 hours of herb class tonight! Luckily the teacher is the same one that treated M yesterday. If I can't make it through the entire class he will understand.

That's what we have been doing for the past few weeks. We have many options of things to do over the next several weekends. This weekend I'll be studying as much as I can but the two after that are fair game. We have free tickets to the circus that a neighbor gave us and I would also like to get up to the Ren Fest. Or, maybe we'll just sleep! Thanksgiving week takes us to Rocheser for family fun with the Ms and also C's 20th high school reunion. Isn't he old?!!!

That is about it here. Take care all! Hugs and kisses all around.

I lost the text numbers for facebook, twitter and blogger in my phone. They are back in there now and saved this time. This text is a test for each...

More Vegas photos

DF and her midget Elvis. The chest hair was real (as he is showing) but the side burns were press-on. Same difference, right?!

Loving my red wine at Nora's

I have many other photos posted on Facebook. Go there to see the cactus garden, the Bellagio/Venetian deorations and pictures of the other gals.

The girls in Vegas

TR and I

KS, ER and I

JJ, KS and I at Pure

DF and RG at Pure

Minus 5: DH, DF, KS, me, RG, TR and AO

Vegas photos

Day time and night time view out our hotel window.

Vegas trip 2009

Some of you have asked what we do in Vegas. I wanted to tell you and also just get it down for future reference.

I arrived first on Thursday afternoon. I was kind of put off by the high energy and chaos that I felt at the airport. Instead of letting it get to me right away, I took my time and chose to take the shuttle from the airport for $6 one way. A taxi from the airport is twice that but a quicker ride. The shuttle goes to several properties so you have to ride around with 15-20 of your new best friends. My shuttle first went to the Rio which is off the strip. I had never been out that direction before so it was kind of fun to take that ride. My stop at Paris was next so I didn't have to ride the shuttle for too long. The driver kept saying Paris with a P and I couldn't figure out why. Later in the week someone pointed out that it sounds like Harrah's.

I arrived at Paris and again felt overwhelmed. The noise and the chaos of the casino gets to me. I went to check in and found things weren't quite as I had requested. But, it ended up not being a real big deal. The desk agent and I worked out a few issues and I was all set to go up to the two rooms I had reserved for the 8 of us gals.

When I walked in to the room, it was fine. Nothing fancy really. Then I walked over and opened the curtain sheers and caught my breath. The view was amazing! We were on the 16th floor with a fabulous view of the Eiffel Tower and the lovely pool area. I could even see the Bellagio and those fountains across the street. I was pretty happy and excited to get settled in.

I had brought along a lot of food/drink stuff so I proceeded to unpack and set up the room so it would be ready when the other gals arrived. DF joined me next and it was nice to have some time alone with her. We started these annual trips to Vegas 8 years ago or so. It is our trip. We LOVE having other friends join us but it is ultimately our trip. It is our time to connect and do something fun together.

ER came along just in time for dinner. We had a yummy dinner at the French Restaurant downstairs, drank wine, enjoyed the fountains and had fun anticipating our weekend plans. KS and JJ joined us before bed time. I think traveling took its toll on all of us and we called it an early evening. We slept in some on Friday then found our way down to the buffet. We pigged out then wandered off to the pool to relax. DH and RG joined us mid-day and TR was the last of the group to arrive a few hours later.

All of us were ready to shop then. TR and I were looking for new clothes so we headed to the Miracle Mile shops next to Paris and ended up having a great time trying on clothes at Ann Taylor Loft. Everyone helped out and I think the retail staff enjoyed our happy group. We finished up just in time to head to dinner.

Dinner was at an Asian restaurant also located at Paris. We wore our new clothes and had a blast. JJ managed (as usual) to get us free VIP passes to go to Pure Night Club at Caesar's Palace. We had to wait for a bit and once we got in we stayed for about an hour. It just wasn't all that. Plus we couldn't sit down. Seats/tables are reserved for those buying bottles of booze. We weren't up for that so we headed back to hotel room. We were played out anyway from all of that relaxing and shopping!

Saturday was crepe day! How I love those French crepes! TR had an appointment with psychic, Kileen after that. TR has seen her several times and it was hard to decide if I wanted to join her or not. ER, JJ and KS joined her but I decided that I wasn't in the right mood right then. RG went to the spa. DF, DH and I walked around for a bit then ended up at Margaritaville to pass the time until the gals finished their session. When we met up with them they sounded like they had had an amazing time. It was then that I wished I had gone with them. Maybe next year.

We then headed out to rent a limo to take us to Ethel M's Chocolate Factory. We were surprised to find out that after waiting for quite a long time it was homecoming weekend and all of the bigger limos that seat more than 6 people were booked! Finally we decided to take 2 taxi cabs to the chocolate factory. That was an adventure! Our driver wasn't sure where he was going. It was a $30 trip. The factory is open on weekends but no one is making the chocolate so we didn't really get to see anything but the equipment. Everyone got their chocolate fix though. There is also a gorgeous cactus garden there which I enjoyed walking through.

A couple of the girls managed to get us seats on a tourist bus to get us back to the strip--YAY! Free ride! We only had to tip the driver. Much cheaper and better than the taxi ride over! Then we split up a bit for dinner. Several of us headed to Nora's Wine Bar for yummy Italian food and wine (of course!). Another interesting taxi ride for $50. Again, the driver didn't know where he was going. But we got there and fun was had by all. RG's friend who lives there drove us back to the strip. So we didn't have to pay that taxi fee again! Saved again! YAY! I think we were all tired after that. A couple of the gals headed down to the Stratosphere to ride the rides. The rest of us crashed.

Sunday morning we were up and out the door early--8:45 or so. We wanted to hit the Champagne Brunch at the Wynn before several of the gals spent the afternoon at the spa. Unfortunately, JJ had to head out that morning so we missed her company. The brunch was amazing and we had so much fun. Our waitress was a hoot and she made sure our mimosa glasses were never empty plus she gave us full to-go cups! The spa girls broke off from there and the rest of us meandered our way back to the hotel by wandering through the Venetian, drinking and shopping along the way. DF had one goal for the weekend: to see a midget Elvis impersonator with press-on chest hair! We found him that afternoon at the Flamingo! What a riot! Back at the hotel ER had to start packing to catch the red eye later that night. DF and I snoozed and snacked while we waited for the other girls to return from the spa. Once they returned we headed over to the Bellagio Conservatory to see the awesome decorations. Back at the room we snacked and talked until it was time to say our sad goodbyes to ER.

We then headed down to Mandalay Bay to go to the Minus 5 Lounge. Again, we had so much fun! They give you parkas and gloves and supply you with one vodka drink as part of the entry fee. Everything but the floor and ceiling were made out of ice: tables, chairs, walls, decorations, glasses... it was awesome. We probably would have spent more time in there but we had skipped dinner and were hungry. After buying souvenirs we headed off to House of Blues for dinner. By that time we were all exhausted. Except for KS who had had several energy drinks at Minus 5! She was like a puppy running around us on our walk back down the strip!

Once back in the room we all prepared to head home the next morning. Everyone slowly trickled out on Monday with the last of us flying out by 1 pm. The weekend was, as always, full of jokes and laughter, lots of fun and planning for next year. By the way, all the gals can join us next year: October 7-11, 2010.

And THAT is what happens in Vegas. I know. We are totally out of control. Pictures to follow.

Finally made it to Minus 5 lounge. It was way cool. No pun intended! Just like being back in Wyoming but without the wind!