Hot Chocolate Challenge

While trimming the Christmas tree, we endeavored to complete the great hot chocolate challenge. Our task was to determine which liquor complimented the hot chocolate the best. We split 11 cups of hot chocolate mixed with different liquors, rated each cup individually on a scale of 1 - 10, and then ranked them from 1 - 11 when we were all done. We then compared our ranked lists the following morning to determine the winner. The sugar high, combined with the alcohol buzz, prevented us from determining the winner on the night of the challenge. 11 half cups of hot chocolate can give you a slight stomach ache!

Anyway....the winner was.....butterscotch schnapps!

Christmas Tree Shopping

Yesterday we went to get a Christmas tree.

I suggested the idea last week. I told P&AF that we could walk to the nursery and then carry our Christmas tree home. It didn't seem like a long walk to me. P&AF looked at me like I was psychotic, or, at best, on massive quantities of painkillers. He then agreed that we could probably manage it, but in that fake nice tone of voice that makes me really think that I've just come with dumbest plan ever concocted.

So then I told my dad about this plan. He told me that he was inclined to agree with P&AF on the whole crazy plan.

But, when it came down to getting the tree, we walked after all. The nursery is about a mile from our house. It would be less then a mile, but the gate to our development faces the wrong direction, so we have to walk around.

We picked out a lovely 7ft Douglas Fir. It has a beautiful shape and smells lovely.




Henri Hides In Her New Forest



Hanging 'Maris' (from the Georgia Aquarium) the Whale



And On Goes The Star!!


The Christmas tree cutter and bagger man asked if we were putting our tree on a car or truck or trailer. I replied that we were carrying it home. I asked if he would tie a couple strings around it so that we could grip them. He seemed amused by the plan and told us that he hadn't ever had anyone say that before. He wasn't discouraging though.

So we started walking. We ran into a few people who seemed rather amused at the spectacle. People in cars tended to slow down and laugh.

As we continued walking, a guy came out from a side street with gloves and stood in front of us on the corner. When we got closer, he asked if we needed any help. How thoughtful! We said that we were fine, and he walked away with a slight shake of his head and a laugh. I thought it was funny because we couldn't figure out how he saw us from so far away, nor could we figure out whether he had been planning to help us walk it the whole way home, not knowing where we lived, or what.

Our neighbor then passed us in a truck. He and his girlfriend had a Christmas tree in the truck bed. He noticed it was us and flipped the truck around to give us a ride. So we threw our tree in and jumped in.

His comments were, "We saw two people walking along carrying a tree, and as we passed I realized, that's our neighbors! Did you guys go out with the intention of getting a tree???"

So, apparently I am about the only person who thinks it is a sane idea to go out, buy a tree, and walk home with it. It really wasn't that bad; if you hoist it up on your shoulder, it is pretty manageable.

Airport Heart Failure

I was waiting for a flight at my gate in Minneapolis. I was assigned an aisle seat and had no carry-on to go in the overhead compartment, so I didn't see any real need to rush on board. I was trying to wait until the last possible minute to board; you know maybe I'd get in line the second time that they called for all rows to board.

There seemed to be a few people left waiting until the last minute in the gate area with me. One woman was just relaxing drinking her coffee. Another man was trying to get some last minute work done. He had his laptop out, and he was also on the phone.

Well, some time before that "all rows now boarding" call, they shut the door to the jetway. The guy who had been trying to finish up his last minute business and not really paying attention flipped out. He heard the door shut, looked up, slammed his laptop shut, and went stomping over to the gate. It was louder than when my cat tears around the house like a herd of angry rhinos. It felt a little like a movie in slo-mo; I could just see him running to push a baby carriage out of the way of oncoming traffic.

He went after the gate attendant with great concern, was assured that he'd still be able to get on the plane, and then proceeded to get back on his phone. I guess he wasn't as scared as he initially appeared. Or the effects of the scare were not long-lasting.

I looked back at the woman enjoying her coffee; she shrugged.

New Ways to Freak Out People in Las Vegas

Last night I was at the Bellagio. We were walking inside from the fountains. The Bellagio, like several strip casinos, has the doors that are the big rotating windmill style. There's probably a name for those doors, but I can't think of it. Anyway, the ones in the Bellagio are powered, and they yell at you if you stop or walk too slowly and the back of your door section catches up to you.

So last night, for some reason, I decided to jump into a compartment with a random guy. I don't really know if it is proper etiquette to get into a compartment with someone that you don't know, but I did it anyway. At first my companion didn't seem to notice my presence. He seemed to think he was alone. So, I slowed up my step a little bit until the door got mad. He then took a quick glance over and just about jumped out of his skin. I just shrugged and looked away. We kept walking and as soon as the compartment opened up to the inside of the casino, he quickly veered his course off in the exact opposite direction of me. I laughed to myself and continued walking. Is that bad karma? I didn't realize that I was going to freak him out so much.

Things As Usual

Recently, I had a small run-in with a spider in my bedroom. I was on the phone with P&AF (he works nights, so he calls on his break), and I was sorting the laundry. And all of a sudden I saw a huge spider climb across my hand on the laundry. It didn't seem to be a poisonous spider, but it was really big. It filled up the entire bottom part of a pint glass. I screamed, a big terrified, startled scream. And P&AF had no response. He sat on the other end of the phone line and said nothing, as if for some reason the phone failed and didn't manage to carry my scream through.

And I was like, "What the h***? You hear me scream and you don't even mention it?"

This is the second recent occasion of the screaming on the phone with P&AF, as I was also taken by surprise by a group of feral cats at a B of A atm on a night not so long ago. On that occasion, he also ignored the scream.

Anyway, P&AF says, "What? I didn't know you screamed. I thought it was an alarm or something."

Because that would be normal....alarms are always randomly going off in our house.

I ultimately did manage to capture the spider and release him outside. That was how I knew he was the size of the mouth of a pint glass. I generally don't like to kill spiders, but I am always tempted in Las Vegas. I think maybe it will rain if I just smoosh them. But, after all, my spider reverence wins out.

Bad Purchase Timing

After completing my thesis prospectus meeting, I decided that I would reward myself by purchasing a bag that I had been admiring for a month or so. Of course, after I actually had the meeting, I wasn't even in the mood to make the purchase for a couple weeks. I felt like I had so much more to do; I didn't feel as accomplished as I had hoped. Anyway, one day I decided that I fulfilled the requirements, and I ought to be able to purchase the bag. I went to the website, customized my bag, and clicked "confirm" to make my purchase.

The next day, I received a notice in my email that my student loan was coming out of deferrment. I immediately regretted the purchased of the bag. Doesn't that just figure?

I explained the situation to VBG.

Her response...

"Yes, you should have bought it. Money comes and goes."

And Now I'm A Finance

I just thought part of this email was pretty funny.

Hello Matthew,

I look forward to meeting you and your finance, Maryse ,at our store so that we can over the perks of registering at Macy's, return policy and completion process.

Car Illiterate

I took my car in to get an oil change today. When I went to pick it up, the mechanic told me that I also needed a transmission flush.

I responded, "You know, the thing about transmission flushes is that of all the cars my family has ever owned, none of them have ever had a transmission flush. And it seems to have been fine."

The mechanic returned (under his breath), "If you say so..."

I said, "Did you just say, 'if you say so?'"

He said, "Well, I'm not going to argue with you."

Okay then...

Picky Eater

Henri has decided that she does not like Iams cat food. We used to feed her just Iams cat food. We did a mix of hairball control and weight control. Then, one day we decided to mix Iams weight control with Meow Mix indoor. We ended up doing a taste test, and Henri preferred the Meow Mix. (The taste test was done extremely scientifically by leaving a pile of Meow Mix out and pile of Iams out, and observing which pile she went for.)
Anyway, we have been mixing the Iams and Meow Mix since then; we figured she still needed the weight control. So, in order to thwart our attempts at keeping her somewhat healthy, Henri has decided that she will not eat the Iams. She picks up a mouthful of catfood, sets it on the mat next to her bowl, and then proceeds to pick up the pieces of Meow Mix and leave the pieces of Iams behind.
B then brought up the fact that as Henri's weight has not changed over the course of 8 or so years, we may as well just give up on the Iams all the way and stick to the cheaper and better-liked Meow Mix.
Probably right...so the cat wins again.

Warm It Up In Here

I don't think that anybody questions whether it is hot in Las Vegas during the summer or not. It feels like this is the coolest summer that we've had since I have lived here, but that doesn't actually mean cool. We've definitely spent quite a few days above 100 degrees.

We were recently out to Gordon Biersch. We were happily sitting on the patio with refreshing misters at 10PM. After we had been there for about 30 minutes, I noticed that the space heaters on the patio had come on. I figured someone hit the wrong button and that it would be corrected soon. I mentioned it to a waitress, and she said they were looking into it.

The next thing I knew, the misters turned off. A bunch of people (mister-haters, I guess?) started clapping and cheering. So there we were on the patio on a 90 degree evening, with space heaters and no misters.

Sadly, we had to move from our comfortable, happy patio to the inside to finish our beers.

I Hate iPod --- Or Not!

I've been really mad lately because last November my iPod broke. Well, it sort of broke. I had an old iPod Mini. It was awesome. It was my second favorite possession (after my car and not considering Henri the cat as a true possession.) And then the headphone jack quit working; the music only played from one earphone. It didn't quite sound right either.

Being as resourceful as I am, I decided that I would try to replace the headphone jack on my own. Being as mechanically inclined as I am, it didn't go so hot. The sound was much worse (you couldn't even decipher the words to the songs.) And you could no longer run with it because the endplates were loose, causing the sound to stop or the iPod to turn off whenever it was jiggled. It still works in the iHome though, so it wasn't a total loss.

But, I had to immediately replace my iPod for running purposes. I know this is horrifyingly consumeristic of me, but I couldn't survive without the running tunes. So I purchased a 4th generation iPod.

Everything was fine for awhile. It seemed like the world was right again. And then one day, I hooked iPod up to the computer and he wouldn't sync. First the computer told me that I needed to replace my device. Then the computer wouldn't even recognize that iPod was plugged in.

We called the iPod people; they advised us to do a whole bunch of stuff. It didn't work. We took him in to the iPod store for service. They reformatted him. It didn't work. He still wouldn't sync. I messed around with iPod and the computer for awhile, and like magic iPod worked again. I was so proud. It was just luck though.

The next time I plugged iPod in he wouldn't work again. Our friend gave us some advice on how to uninstall troubled ports, and for awhile that worked every time. I was able to uninstall each time I plugged the iPod in, and then when I plugged it in again it would work.

And suddenly that wouldn't work either. I tried plugging the iPod in to my laptop instead. The iPod people had advised us that probably our
PC was somehow insufficient to work with the iPod. We could "bring it in" for them to fix it to work with the iPod, if need be. Of course, I did want to just cart my Dell Dimension desktop computer around to the iPod store. But, the laptop wouldn't work either, so I figured it wasn't actually the computer. (Though at least I could have brought the laptop in instead.)

Anyway, P&AF started googling solutions for the problem, and he came up with the idea that it might be a faulty USB cord. We bought a new one.

AND!!! It was a faulty USB cord!!! All that trouble...I do wonder why none of the iPod people suggested it.

Moose Friend

I met this moose in the backyard of our condo rental in Jackson, Wyoming. She was cool.

The Price of a Traffic Barrel is Up

So I recently figured out why our car insurance is so high in Las Vegas. I have had a hunch for awhile, but it was solidly confirmed the other day. When I first moved here, I was surprised that my car insurance was going up from what it was in California. I thought EVERYTHING was more expensive in California. My car insurance was over twice as much in Las Vegas to maintain the same level of coverage. Anyway, that isn't the point.

I was driving home the other night, and I exited 95S to Summerlin Parkway. I was driving along, just like everything was normal, when all of a sudden, I came around the curve, and there directly in front of me was a traffic barrel. I tapped the brakes, held my breath while taking a quick glance in the rearview mirror to make sure that the people behind me were making a rapid slow down too, and moved over onto the left shoulder/merge lane. Once it appeared that neither me nor those behind me would be crashing into the barrel at that exact time, I breathed a sigh of relief. I thought that maybe I had been driving without exactly paying attention to what was going on, and that maybe I had missed a sign saying that my lane was closing. It seemed odd, as there really wasn't a defined detour from the closed lane. It was like just driving to a dead end. And that is when I noticed a roughly ten year-old boy standing behind the barrel. And behind him were two cars, with a group of people changing the tire on one of them. Apparently they had just commandeered the traffic barrel to make their own tire-changing lane. I haven't figured out why the shoulder wasn't quite good enough for them. Safety first, right? And, if the traffic barrel didn't stop an oncoming car, then obviously the 10 year-old would!

From all of this, I can only deduce that paying the high car insurance rates in Las Vegas gives you the opportunity to use traffic barrels as needed for your own personal purposes.

Rice Krispie Treats?

P&AF attempted to make rice krispie treats for our 4th of July barbecue. They didn't turn out so good. The project took a turn for the worse as the butter began to quickly brown in the sauce pan. It was all over as the marshmallows began to harden before the rice krispies were fully coated in the bowl.

We then had a special concoction to test tooth hardness.

Rolling Bellagio Mist

So I might as well say it. I really don't like Las Vegas. The number one reason is that I miss having rain. Sure, it is nice to know that pretty much any day that I want to do anything, it isn't going to get rained out. But, I just miss the rain. I didn't mind getting rained out.

Anyway, there are a select few things that I really love about Las Vegas. Near number one on that list is the Bellagio Fountain Show. I love the Bellagio Fountains. I could stand outside and watch them for hours. And I have spent a fair amount of time outside watching them since I have lived in Las Vegas. This past weekend, my enjoyment reached new heights though.

For some reason, I had never watched the fountains from the Bellagio side of the lake, outside. Right out front of the valet area, there is a little path leading down to the Strip where you can watch the fountains. It is so close! I generally am not a huge fan of the Celine Dion "My Heart Will Go On" show, but it was great from that vista. The show begins with mist, and as you stand there, the fog comes up rolling towards you over the railing. It feels like heaven when it is 100 degrees outside. And everything sounds even closer. It was incredible. I don't think that you see the choreography of the whole show as well, but it is definitely worth it.

When it comes down to it, I don't think I have seen a view of the show that I haven't liked---from a lake view room, from the Paris, from the strip, from the valet area---it's all great to me. Now there's two things that I really like in Las Vegas, the blimp and the fountains. I'll keep searching for more.

Selected Excerpts From A Cat Sitter's Note

We had a young neighbor (not the little girl who told me I might have to be her new mom) watch our cat while we were in Wyoming for a wedding. She left us a note regarding the cat's behavior while we were away. It seems that the cat wasn't quite as much fun as she had hoped.

-On Thursday I saw the cat, but she didn't want anything to do with me.
-On Friday and Saturday she didn't even come out.
-On Sunday I looked under your bed and heard her purring.

Be My Baby...Sitter

I was walking to my car when I heard a little girl yelling.

Little Girl (LG): "MA'AM!!!! MA'AM!!!! OVER HERE!!! MA'AM!!!!"

I turned to see the little neighbor girl peering at me from the other side of her screen door. I walked over to her.

LG: "Ma'am, Ma'am, have you seen my mom? I went to sleep, and she was here, and now she isn't. I had my iPod on. I yelled and yelled for her in the house, but she didn't answer. Have you seen my mom?"

M: "No, I haven't seen your mom around."

LG: "Well, I don't know where she went. She was here. I think she might be dead."

M: "I don't think your mom is dead. She probably just went to run an errand."

LG: "Well, I thought she was going to pick up my nephew with my brother. Will you babysit me then?"

M: "Sure, I'll sit here with you until your mom gets back."

LG: "Okay. I wanted to watch Madagascar, but only My Bloody Valentine was in the DVD player. And I can't get it out."

M: "That sounds scary. I don't think I'd want to watch that one."

LG: "Well, you could come in and change it. And we could watch Madagascar."

M: "No, I don't think I should come in your house without your mom's permission. I'll just sit here on the porch with you."

LG: "Okay. Well, if my mom is dead, then you're going to have to be my mom, okay?"

M: "Your mom will be back soon. She isn't dead."

The little girl then sees another lady walking by. She just happens to be the wife of one of the HOA board members.

LG: "Can I see if she knows where my mom is?"

M: "Sure, if you want to."

The whole little scene sort of plays out again. The HOA lady doesn't know where her mom is. We try to figure out the little girl's name. She tries to call her grandmother. And then her mom shows up, as expected, with the little girl's nephew.

Little Rock Climbers

We hiked Ice Box Canyon at Red Rock this past weekend. It is listed as a "moderate" hike. You can make it a little more challenging by choosing to climb over more big boulders.

As we were hiking, we ran into a family coming back from the top of the hike which is a waterfall (when there is water to be found.) The boy hiking with the family said that the pools looked like jello.

We kept hiking and got all the way to the very bottom of the waterfall. There was a short little steep section leading up to where the pools actually were. P&AF climbed up, and I attempted to climb up behind him. It seemed like my shoes kept slipping though, and I couldn't find good hand or foot holds. There was also a big canyon/crevice just to the right of the steep part, and I wasn't to crazy to go rolling off the edge down into that.

So I turned around and just sat down on the ground. P&AF tried to get me to climb up and also said that he was just going up on his own. I ignored him because I was too irritated at my defeat.

After awhile I decided that I better try again. I ended up making it, but it was not easy for me, and I did kick P&AF in the nose.

The pools did look somewhat jello-ish, and they had lots of yucky stuff growing in them.

After looking for a better way down, we ended up creeping down the same way that we got up. We sat at the bottom for a little bit.

Just then a dad showed up with three little kids. I would say that the kids were all 7 or under. One (the smallest) kept saying, "But, I can't do this." And then the dad would say, "Don't ever say that you can't." And he went ahead and just maneuvered all three of those little kids up the steep rock face to the pools. It was insane to me. I felt slightly embarrassed at my difficulty in climbing up the rock. But on top of that...wow, I just can't imagine having three kids so close to the edge like that. They all did fine, and it never actually appeared that anyone was in danger. I just couldn't picture trying to keep track of three kids on a steep rock with a drop off on the side and not having an anxiety attack.

Creative Enveloping

We recently voted for HOA board members. It ended up being rather difficult.

The night before the vote we complete our ballot. I followed what I thought were the appropriate directions. The ballot needed to go inside the "Secret Ballot" envelope. Then the "Secret Ballot" envelope had to go inside the "Second Envelope." The "Second Envelope" that I received was a plain envelope with some green highlighter around the edges and a number "59" written in blue ink in the corner. It seemed like my vote had been labeled and wouldn't be very anonymous. We even had a short discussion on the oddity of it all.

It took several tries to actually submit our votes.

Attempt #1 - P&AF brought the envelope down to the HOA office at 3:30 p.m., when it opened. He read a sign that the office wouldn't be opening until 4:30 p.m.

Attempt #2 - P&AF brought the envelope down to the HOA office at 4:30 p.m. He was told by the office manager that she could not accept the ballot. He would have to bring it down to the office at 6:30 pm. and hand it directly to a board member.

Attempt #3 - We brought the ballot down to the office together at 6:30 p.m. We attempted to give it to a board member. They refused to take it because apparently it was not in a green envelope. I told them that we received the numbered envelope and no green envelope. We were told to go look for our green envelope anyway.

Attempt #4 - We went back home to search for the elusive green envelope. Of course, we didn't have one. So I went back to the board meeting alone. I explained to the head of the board that we did not receive a green envelope. We received the number 59 envelope.

The head of the board looked at me like I had three heads, turned to the woman next to her and said, "We didn't send out any envelopes like this." Then she turned back to me and said, "You didn't get this from us. We didn't send envelopes like this out. It doesn't mean anything to me."

Because obviously I decided to make my own weird envelope with highlighted green edges and a number 59. Why wouldn't I?

So I said, "It doesn't mean anything to me either. But I'm going to vote whether I have a green envelope or not."

And ultimately, they let me use a plain envelope with my address written on it to vote. What a fiasco!

The Great Vegas Blimp

Here's our blimp --- well, the blimp of the M Resort. But still...that might as well be "M"aryse's Las Vegas blimp, right?







I really do love the blimp. It is one of the things in Vegas that makes me most happy. Just a random blimp, flying around advertising stuff, hovering outside my window.

Competitive Selling

This past weekend, I purchased a couple clearance items in the Dillards workout wear department. I love that place. They have the softest yoga clothes, and if you time it right, the prices are amazing.

Anyway, I walked off the escalator and was greeted by a sales person (SP#1). I walked around the department for awhile and found a pair of pants that I really liked. Unfortunately, they were only available in one size. And, it wasn't mine. Soon, another sales person (SP#2) happened along. I asked her if they had any more sizes in the pants. She said that they didn't and pointed out a few other pairs of pants.

I was mid-sentence, professing my love of the Dillards yoga wear, when SP#1 made a comeback.

M: "This place has the greatest..." (voice trailing off in confusion as I begin to notice SP#1 and SP#2 arguing.)

SP#1: "I greeted her first. She's mine."

SP#2: "That's fine. I'm going to lunch. You can have her."

SP#1 walks away.

SP#2 (to M): "Well. What was that all about? I'm sorry. That was embarrassing. Did she say anything to you?"

M: (Assuming she's asking if SP#1 was rude.) "No..."

SP#2: "Ugh...she didn't even greet you? What was she talking about?"

M: "No, no. I mean, she said, 'Hello' when I got off the escalator."

SP#2: "Well, if I were you, I'd just go somewhere else completely to purchase your items."

I continued shopping in the department and then checked out with SP#1. Technically she did greet me first. And I wasn't going to walk around looking for someone else.

As I was checking out, SP#2 came back to get her purse from behind the counter. She gave me a brief conspiratorial/slightly admonishing eyebrow-raised look. I shrugged.

Weird. Who knew Dillards had such a competitive sales environment?

I'm A Funner...Or Something Like It

The other morning I was running laps around our condo complex. When I first started, I was just doing a little walk/jog/gallop/skip combination of sorts to warm up. I was also throwing a few stretches in there.

As I was going along, I met guy out for his morning walk. Apparently in my stretches I had cracked my back (or something?) and he exclaimed, "Geez, I could hear your back crack all the way over here, when you were back at the corner." He was probably 20 feet away. Weird.

Then I met another guy out for his morning walk a little later in the run. The first time we passed each other, we just said, "good morning" to each other. The second time, he gave a head nod, and I gave a wrist flick. The third time, he said, "Wow, how far do you run?" And I answered, "Just two miles." But I ran away just a little faster, feeling a little more like I runner than I have in years.

You see, most of the time, I don't feel like I count as a runner. Don't get me wrong, I love running. But, I love running a little bit. I love running two to four miles at a time. I love running 10 to 15 miles in a week. I love running intervals some days and running slow some days. Like I said, I love a little bit of running. The true runners seem to be the ones who run the marathons and half-marathons and train for months and months to run many, many miles. I have no intention of ever attempting to run a marathon. I have no intention of ever trying to run a sub-seven minute mile again. So, by my definition, I don't count as a runner...I'm more of a 5K Fun-Runner. Or a "Funner" as I've abbreviated.

Run VBG Run!

Just wanted to say best of luck to VBG running Boston tomorrow. Way to go! And, in the words of my old cross-country team, "Give 'Er!"

Refrigerator Discovery

After living in our condo for two years, today we discovered that our refrigerator is already hooked up to a water line for the icemaker. Pretty exciting. The icemaker situation had been an ongoing discussion. P&AF wanted to put in a water line; I didn't. Not that I don't like icemakers; I really do. I just figured there were a lot of other things that we could spend the money on, like a water softener that works or wood floors for a yoga room. Anyway, we are currently in the process of testing it out to see if the icemaker actually works. The water to it had been turned off for all this time. So we turned everything on; the moment of truth will come later today. Hopefully the water line isn't leaking as we speak and flooding out our downstairs neighbors.

The only unfortunate part of the discovery is that the reason it occurred was because we were trying to isolate the rotten smell that is coming from the kitchen. The source of the rotten smell was not discovered. So far we have pulled out the fridge, along with everything underneath the sink. The stove will probably be our next avenue of investigation.

Mistaken Identity

Lately whenever I go shopping, I seem to be coming home with the wrong products. I don't know if I have been particularly hurried, or if I am just not paying attention to what I've been doing. This week I mixed up the following items:

1) Needed - Vegetable Broth; Came Home With - Beef Broth
2) Needed - Diced Green Chiles; Came Home With - Whole Green Chiles
3) Needed - Shave Gel; Came Home With - Hair Dissolver Cream

Go Me!

Earth Hour!

We went to the park for Earth Hour the weekend before last to watch the Strip go dark. We had planned to barbecue some kebabs and just hang out. The weather was pretty nice for it. We had to go to our second choice for parks because our first choice was holding a Bad Religion concert. Our second choice was a little park dedicated to firefighters. It's a nice, quiet little park with a good strip view. Unfortunately, after arriving, parking, and carrying our cooler and picnic gear to the perfect site, we discovered that the firefighers park doesn't have any grills. It has a notice requesting that patrons only have fires in designated areas, but no grills or firepits. So, we had to make do with drinking wine and eating the fresh fruit that we brought along. We didn't want to leave and miss the action...or drive our car around wasting energy during earth hour.

Here are some pictures of the Strip before and after Earth Hour. You might be able to see the Circus Circus sign on. They apparently didn't know that everyone was turning their sign off. The Palms also did not turn off all their lights. They thought they did, but only one building went out, I guess. Wynn and Encore also left their signs on. I was most impressed with the Palazzo. It is just so huge and bright that seeing it turned off made a big difference.



The Stratosphere Part of the Strip - Lights On!



The Stratosphere Part of the Strip - Lights Out for Earth Hour!


The Rio Part of the Strip - Lights On!



The Rio Part of the Strip - Lights Out for Earth Hour!

Hike With A View

We recently did one of the "Calico" hikes up at Red Rock (either Calico Basin or Calico Tanks.) I thought there was a pretty cool view at the end of the hike. There was a little rainstorm over the Strip.




Us at the end of the hike before heading back.




It's a little hard to see in this photo, but this is the Las Vegas Strip. At the far left, you can see a tiny Stratosphere.

...But, She Still Deserved A Christmas Present

Here was Henri's awesome Christmas present. At first we thought that she would only like the first tier. Now she likes it all. :)

BAD CAT!!!

My alarm went off this morning, and Henri came padding up from the foot of the bed. She came up to shoulder level and sat down looking at me.

I sleepily thought, "That's nice. I should pet Henri before I get up."

I began to raise my hand from under the covers, when out of nowhere...

"AAAAHHHCCHOOOOOOO!!!" --- a BIG cat sneeze. Right in my eye. And when I say, "right in my eye," I mean it.

I squeezed my eyes shut and blindly stumbled to the bathroom to try to rinse out any spit/snot remnants that didn't actually already make it into my eye.

So, if I contract ebola or some other unidentifiable deadly virus within the next few days, just bring Henri to the hospital to help identify the killer disease.

Best Yoga Practice Ever!

The other night I was practicing some yoga focused on inversions. Well, to be exact, I was focusing on handstand. I've been diligently working on handstand for about two weeks now. And I can't say that I've ever had great abilities with it. Even when I was a kid in gymnastics, with a much lower center of gravity, I had issues with handstand. I can't remember ever actually being able to do it freely - without a wall or in 4 feet of water.

So, the other night, I was actually able to kick up into handstand and hold it for a few seconds (15...maybe 30 at the most) without using the wall or anything else for help. Yay! I was super excited. I came back down and happily danced around for a little bit. Oddly, P&AF did not notice my display.

I get very excited about these little victories. It reminded me of a time when I spent an afternoon in my parents' basement working on front handsprings. I must have been a lot shorter when I was doing that too, because I can't imagine not destroying the ceiling in an endeavor like that now. Anyway, I finally got it down, and I ran upstairs to get my mom. I was so excited that I ran back down the stairs and jumped off a stair near the bottom. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite near enough to the bottom, and I bashed my head straight up into the little ceiling overhanging the stairs. I just collapsed onto the floor in confusion. Oddly, I can't remember if I even showed her the handspring after that.

Cats Love Yoga

I have decided that Henri has definitely developed an affinity for yoga. I had been working on a lot of backbends recently, and one day I was specifically working on cobra. So I was laying on my stomach, just getting ready to lift up, when all of a sudden I felt four (heavy) paws on my back. Maybe she thought I was working too hard and that I'd better tone it down a little. More likely she just thought my back would make a nice warm cat bed. This week I had actually finished my practice and was comfortably submerged in corpse pose, when I was brought back by, again, the four paws. This time she seemed to be using my legs as an obstacle course. She was weaving back and forth, until finally settling down on my ankles. I think she might be a slight impediment to meditation, but as far as stress relief goes, I always find myself laughing.

Safety Net

I am embarrassed to admit that for the second or third time in my UNLV career, I came dangerously close to walking into the men's locker room at school. I am not certain as to why this keeps happening to me. I think it has something to do with the fact that the outer doors aren't exactly marked; there is just a huge overhead sign. Anyway, the locker rooms are set up so that you walk through one set of double doors into a little entry way and then another set of double doors leads you into the actual locker room. I have walked into the men's entry way part on a couple occasions. Lucky for me, once you walk into the entry way part of the women's locker room, "women's" is stenciled on the door in red paint. So, in my moments of absent-mindedness, I have been saved by the fact that the men's door is blank. Today I actually walked up to the outer men's locker room door, questioned myself as to whether I was walking into the men's locker room, decided that I had certainly not repeated my past error, walked in, and then realized my error. I walked back out and quickly scanned the hallway to see who had witnessed my moronic episode. There hadn't been anybody close, so I was able to quickly walk up to the women's locker room and duck in before facing anyone.

A Few Sugar Cookies Later

We used our new cookie cutters (from Santa last year) to make some sugar cookies this year. The gingerbread girls were the most problematic for some reason, so we only ended up with a few of them.



It would appear that Henri doesn't really liked having her picture taken. She didn't really help with the cookies anyway.



This was an extra special, handmade road runner cookie.

Happy Christmas Tree!

The liquor store had a nice sale for us right before Christmas.

Las Vegas Snow Days

You all probably saw the pictures of the snow at the Welcome to Las Vegas sign, but here are some pictures from our condo during the snow. I still can't hardly believe it. I had seen a little snow here before, back when I lived in the stolen car drop zone, but it was never really a full blown snow storm. It was never quite as pretty. Hopefully I don't get used to this, since I am guessing it won't happen again anytime soon!







I figured out a way around the picture rotation problem, as you can see. It remains to be seen as to whether this helps me post more frequently this year.

Trying To Post

I was trying to post some pictures today, but for some reason, Blogger keeps rotating my pictures, and I can't figure out how to rotate them back to the correct orientation. I am giving up for now, although I am sure there is an easy fix to the problem. This has never happened to me before.

And I was going to start my 2009 "post more frequently" plan today too...foiled again...