Thursday, February 26, 2009

Vegas Baby!!

Vegas Baby

I was going to blog about our trip to Vegas, then I read My friend Lisa's account of the trip and she just about sums it up better than I could! So, I STOLE her blog entry!! ;)


About a month ago, Adam suggested we go away for a weekend. Suggestions like this don't come often enough for me, so of course, I was all over it. Adam's reasoning was that soon enough it would be AT&T strike time and that would mean long hours of him at work for who knows how long- weeks, maybe months.
I immediately got online and started looking for destinations. A cruise? Mexico? Maybe Florida? I sent off all my brainstorming suggestions to Adam in the hopes that he would agree with me on at least one of them.

Adam told me that he wanted the trip to be a surprise for me, but not to worry, I would love it.

Okay. I can do this. I love surprises. My only request was that we NOT go to Vegas. I really had no desire to go with just Adam to a place that almost screams "Friend Vacation" (it could also be because we've only been to Vegas with friends, so I equate Vegas with friends).

I did great not bugging Adam about the big weekend. Occasionally I would try to sneak some info. out, but for the most part, I just enjoyed the anticipation.

Two days before we were set to leave, Adam lets the cat out of the bag. We were on the phone and he was telling me about a story he was telling a guy and says "Yeah, I'm really excited. We're going to Vegas this weekend..." I so wished our conversation would have been in person. I would have loved to see the look on his face right after he realized that he blew it. I laughed and laughed.

Although Vegas was my last choice, I wasn't completely disappointed. Never look a gift horse in the mouth, right? He was planning all this, and taking me away. I could, I would make the best of it. It was time away with Adam, restaurants, a good book and no alarm clocks - good enough for me.

So off we went. I still wasn't sure what Adam had in mind, but he assured me that we would have a packed schedule of fun stuff planned. Alright.

On the bus to our gate, Adam told me that we were going to be staying at the Golden Nugget (Nickerson, his buddy, stayed there and loved it). The Golden Nugget rang a bell for me. It's where Virginia, my BFF, always stays. I immediately texted her "Golden Nugget." I got a confusing text back "Can't wait." Hum. "Are they coming?" I asked Adam as my heart lifted a little of the thought of a "Friend Vacation." "No" he says. Drop goes my heart. But I'm still confused. My mind starts going... okay, I got it. A few weeks ago I was emailing Mike (V's husband) regarding his 100 mile race he was about to undertake. I mentioned that we should all go to Vegas sometime. V's text must be in reference to that conversation. I got a text back a bit later from V - "When we going?" Okay. I was right. I texted back "I'll be there in 3 hours." I felt a little bad about this text. What I wanted to say was that my silly husband doesn't understand that you don't go to Vegas without your buddies - not to worry V, I'll talk to him next week to make sure this never happens again.

Once we checked in, we headed to our room then went to the bar for a drink by the pool, took a few laps through the casino and Adam gave me a few lessons on craps. I didn't get craps. It seemed like the most confusing game ever. Adam tried to explain the game to me 2 more times that night. I didn't get it.
For dinner we headed to the strip and had a nice sushi meal at the Bellagio. We watched the fountains and finished the meal off with tiramisu from the Paris. On the surface, our night looked great, but inside I was secretly frustrated. During dinner I asked Adam to tell me all our plans for the weekend so that we could talk about all the fun things we were going to do. He refused. He said he wanted it to be a surprise. "But honey," I said "we have nothing to talk about. We're at the Bellagio in Vegas at a fancy restaurant and you aren't making any conversation with me." Adam stuck to his guns - he wanted it to be a surprise. Okay. I was so confused. Usually Adam will save up things he wants to talk to me about so that when we go out we have great conversations. What was going on??!!
After our desert at the Paris, Adam informed me that we needed to head back to the Golden Nugget. Back in the room I changed into some more comfortable clothes and off we went - for I don't know what. As we're walking through the halls of the hotel, I am attacked from behind by a women screaming "Hi friend!!" It was Virgina. My heart lifted to the ceiling. I was shocked, surprised and about to cry with delight. It all made sense now. I soon found out that the whole thing was her idea, her planning, everything. Thank God. My husband's not an idiot after all. Poor guy. He was so concerned about the timing of Mike and V's flight, that he was too preoccupied at dinner to make conversation - he was just stalling.
I'm so glad I didn't pitch a fit about "his" weekend get-away plans. I would have felt like such a boob.
What a weekend we had. Probably one of the most fun times I've ever had. Oh, I hope we do it again next year.
ps. Virginia taught me how to play craps in 5 minutes and I was glued to the game all weekend. I love rolling dice.:)

By the pool - right when we got there.

On the strip. This guy should get a gold medal for evangelizing.

Loved seeing Jesus in Sin City.About to watch the fountains.All by myself in Vegas.Praise the Lord! My friend's here! Can you tell I'm happy? I didn't know I could smile so big.V and Mike. At "EL CORTEZ" (said with my arm raised).V has the giggles.Saturday, V made plans for us to have pedis.On the strip before our show.We saw Folies Bergere. I don't know if it's my appreciation for dance or my love of glitter and feathers, but I LOVE Vegas show girls!
Dinner at Hooters Casino and Hotel after the show.
The craps table.
In front of our hotel.

Just a few beers in.
Me and my friends on our "Friend Vacation."

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Good bye, Guy!


This is guy!
We have had this stuffed animal since Sara was a baby. I got it from a baby shower, I don't even remember who gave it to me. For two years it just hung on the crib, until we had Joe. One day I heard a funny cry coming from Joe, I went in the check on him and he had the tie from the bumper(that I made) wrapped around his neck! YIKES! He liked to chew on the ties. His face was very red. From that point on I ripped the bumper out of the crib and I gave him Guy! When he was a baby he enjoyed chewing on the tie on the top of Guy's head. I have no idea how this satisfied him but he loved it? So, there began the love affair with Guy. We carried Guy everywhere for FIVE years. He could not sleep with out him.
Well, last night I was putting Joe to bed like every other night...I said prayers...kissed him good night and found Guy and gave him to Joe...I walked out of the room and turned the light off...then Joe calls out to me, "mom, can you put Guy in the attic?" (Joe knows that's where we keep our family memories) I said, "are you sure????" He said, "yes!"
I almost cried! Now that I am writing this I am crying! I have always said, this is all going way to fast for me. Joe will be 6 in a about six weeks. How can this be!!!!

Hug your babies!!!

Friday, February 13, 2009

Alright...I have caught up on my sleep!

Here are the kids and their picnic. Chips and sunflower seed. Does a body good!
This was at mile 60!


The finish line! Here we are at 4:00A.M. Nathan and I had been up all night and we had seen Mike 3 miles back and were able to time the finish line just right. Nate and I woke everyone up at 4:00, we expected Mike to finish around 4:30. Fran, mom, Jamie, Hammy, Huy and Nate.


Finally, out of the darkness! Mike and his amazing pacer, Jeff. Jeff timed Mike perfectly and pushed him to run his last loop faster than the previous loop. Jeff is the guy to the right of mike.


Here are the guys after the finish, trying to warm up.




Well, most of you know I love cowboys! ;) Let's just say I have my running cowboy! The prize for finishing the race is a belt buckle! Now all we need is a tight pair of Wranglers. hee hee! I don't know that Mike will ever wear this buckle, but it makes me very proud that he earned one!

I am amazed by my husband. I always say he does not have patience, but he has mastered this running business and staying out there for 22:45 hours takes a ton of patience! I am so very proud of him for achieving his goal. I keep telling people that he could not even finish a 5K only 4 short years ago!

Way to go Honey! I love you! I would be happy to KREWE you any day!
Now let's talk about those Wranglers....

Monday, February 9, 2009

From 1 to 100

Rocky Raccoon Race weekend!

We started the weekend off with a kids race. 1 mile.
Sara and Joe did amazing, Sara finished in 9:08 and Joe right behind her 9:53
They loved running in the woods.




The next morning at 6:00a.m., the start of Mike's race. Nathan, Jamie, Hammy, Fran, and Greg....let the wait/race begin!
Mike was very excited to get started. He has been waiting on this chance for two years.





the boys waiting....

playing at the park...waiting...



Yeah! the first time we saw him after 4 hours!
He wanted a cheese burger from Whataburger. Very unusual fro a runner to pound a burger in a race, but that's what he felt like eating. BTW, it didn't taste that good to him.



We sent him back out and went to town!


The kids at the Sam Houston Statue. This statue is on the side of Highway 45.


Back to the race, this is Huy, Mike's pacer for miles 60 -80. Thanks Huy! After 50 miles they allow you to have a "pacer," it helps so much b/c usually you are running in the night and your mind isn't working very well.


more to come...