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It’s been a while. I’m still trying to get through all of my thoughts. In some ways, I’m wordier (see last post) and in other ways I am not so verbose any longer. Here is a recap of since I got back from Vegas.
I went straight from the airport to work I had to complete all the paperwork for the end of the month and then get payroll completed. I was pretty late. I came home and did some laundry and then packed up for the next morning’s trip to the Austin, Texas area. I hit about six stores after landing and after checking into the hotel I had a hunkering for some crab legs. Say what you will, but a pound of steamed crab legs for $12 at Hooter’s is a good deal. Are they the best crab legs? No. BUT, for $12, some cold beer, and some easy-on-the-eyes people working around me while I devour crab – it’s hard to beat. I went back to the hotel and tried to crash. It didn’t work so well and morning came quickly again. I headed out and hit about seven stores before going up to Georgetown about 30 minutes north of Austin for my class. The class went okay, my first class that I had taught in exactly 364 days! I did okay but had to keep my notes out just for the outline. I used to be able to give the classes without any notes and my timing was pretty good. Not so much anymore. Out of eleven people, only one almost fell asleep. They all paid attention which was nice. After the class I went to IKEA and had dinner and shopped. I love that store. Back to the hotel and a little better night sleep. Thursday I thought I had it planned so that I would hit the last stores and be at the airport around 12:30. I guess the traffic gods were smiling on me as I hit the airport at 10:15. I had over four hours to wait. I tried to change my flight (I had three to choose from) and it would have cost an extra $172. Not worth it. I just hung around and shopped EVERY store there. I finally made it home.
Friday was the day from hell at work as I could not catch up. Lots of other curve balls were thrown at me that day but by 5 pm I was a basket case. The kids ended up at Mom’s and Sunnee and I went to dinner at some place that we had a coupon to. It was a Teppan Grille/Sushi place in Rio Rancho. I should have left after we walked inside but was just tired of the day by that time. The food was just okay – service sucked liked only Albuquerque seems to be able to do. We left, picked up the kids and made it home in time for me to go to sleep early for a change.
Saturday was busy with housework and then I went to the factory for about five hours to actually catch up on all the week’s worth of stuff.
Sunday was a little easier but hectic. I took Railee to her piano lesson and then the rest of the day was kind of a blur. I can’t tell you if I was productive.
Today – I actually did NOT go to the factory. I did a lot of computer work that was almost therapeutic. It’s kind of sad that I enjoy doing some computer work. It’s like exercising your brain in some ways.
I had to run a few errands and think I figured a way to get the ‘new’ car painted in a way that will make me happy. There’s some ,minor paint damage that needs to be fixed that I’ve been too busy to look into. I just need to save to get it done.
A very busy Tuesday is in store for me…

~ Hit ABQ Sunport with about an hour to spare. We walked around, mostly people watching. OK, people critiquing is more like it. First thing we notice is that nobody has any fashion sense and that nobody is smiling…
~ Arrive Vegas and didn’t even have to wait for a cab. Never had that happen before but just another sign that it’s not so busy in Vegas. Quick cab ride to the Mandalay Bay and we were in our rooms by 5pm. To think that I was thinking we would be rushed to be at the show in time! We walked around Mandalay and over to the Luxor. Jill was properly amazed. We had a ginormous BLT sandwich that was truly worthy of our bellies. My intent was to leave the hotel at 6 pm to make it across to the MGM for a 7 o’clock show. Ended up making it downstairs about 6:20 AND it had been raining! We thought that a cab would be more prudent but did not account for a Stevie Wonder show that had traffic backed up. We couldn’t even get out of the cab without taking our lives into some crazy driver’s hands. They added those concrete barriers to prevent jaywalkers which made it even more difficult.
While waiting I got to talk to Shannon who was to accompany us to the show. Sadly she thought it started at 8 and would be late. We got our tickets and literally sat down as it started. The Ka show is part of the Cirque de Soleil shows. The theater is amazing – very steam-punk-ish. I was lucky enough to have seen the show before although there was a LOT about it that I had forgotten. It is an amazing piece of theater – a fantasy story in true Cirque paegentry. Cirque should do a promo on their invented ‘language’ for their shows. A mix of inflections and nonsense that conveys the emotions with no tangible words. It’s pretty amazing. Shannon texted me a little after 8 as she had been stuck in traffic and would not be coming in. I felt bad for her to go through that much effort for nothing. Jill was happily amazed!
~After the show we walked around the MGM. I introduced Jill to gambling with a Wheel of Fortune slot machine. I gave her $20 and within a couple minutes she had $35 and smartly cashed out. After some more siteseeing there, we started walking. We went across to New York, New York – thus starting our trek of ‘things-to-show’. The next stop across the new City Center property.

This place has seemed like it has been 10 years in progress but I bet it’s been more like 5. Either way it is impressive and one (of seven) tower is scheduled to open in the next couple of weeks. Just in first impressions, it is too huge! You would never leave the property unless they gave you a personal golf cart and driver just to take – and retrieve – you to the property lines! It supposedly will have everything and I guess that is the idea.
~ I wanted her to be able to see some of the casinos so that she could compare the ‘vibe’ of them all. We went over to the Planet Hollywood – the old Aladdin for us fogeys. I give the Aladdin credit for doing a Vegas remodel well. You can still tell that it’s all the same, but they did a nice job of adding lights, pillars, and other stuff to make it look ‘hip’. I think it’s my favorite looking casino. We were at the Paris when we got a lucky crosswalk break to cross over just in time to watch one of the fountain shows in front of the Bellagio. The fountains were choreographed to Gene Kelly’s ‘Singin’ In The Rain’.

It was amazing. We walked on into the casino and showed her the crazy glass umbrellas in the lobby and then into the garden display. It was still the ‘fall harvest’ set-up and was amazing. Jill couldn’t believe that they had all of that as a ‘temporary’ setup. From there we went into Cesar’s Palace and I showed her the ‘original’ table pit room that has been the same since I have been going to Vegas. It’s very ‘old school’ for Vegas seeing that they typically tear down stuff like that. We walked over towards the shops and I showed her the replica of the Trevi Fountain. Again, just more proof that ANYTHING can exist in Vegas.
~ We hopped in a cab from Cesar’s to go to the Palms since we were so close. I had texted Bryce to see if he was up for visitors. I got to see Joe Maloof hanging out. I wonder if he would remember me? Doubt it! Bryce had the KISS show in the Pearl showroom and it was done. He still had to take care of some things but he led us upstairs to the Playboy Club/Moon in the tower. The Playboy Club is exactly as I remember it. Kind of slow, but it was only 10:30 or 11 – still early. We went upstairs to the Moon dance club. It has a retractable roof that open up to the sky. Sadly, the two of us found ourselves feeling very ‘old’ there. The music is too loud and the people looked like kids. We laughed as we were able to totally people-watch. We both decided that it was getting late and we went downstairs. Bryce wanted us to hang out a bit longer but I told him we were just old anymore. He told us that GhostBar was more ‘mellow’ and to try it. We went up to the top of the other tower and indeed, it was more mellow – and a bit older crowd. By this time, I think we were both on the verge of falling asleep. We took a cab back to our hotel and passed out. I think it was about 1:30 am.
~ Sunday morning my phone rang at 6:50 am to remind us to check in online for our flight out. Stupid alarm function. We couldn’t fall back asleep as the noise of the airplanes taking off was CRAZY. We laughed that the ONE day that neither of us had ANY family responsibilities – we could not sleep in. Fitting. We finally crawled out of bed and went downstairs for some breakfast. Raffles cafe at the Mandalay Bay was just good, straight-forward food. We split a large omelet and a stack of banana-nut pancakes. The service was incredible.

~ Our Spa Mandalay appointment was for noon and we got there a little after 11. I think that this was my first time to a ’spa’. I’ve been to Ten Thousand Waves and to different places that have had massages but I don’t think I had been to a men’s spa prior to this. I have to laugh a bit at myself as it’s a bit disconcerting to walk around when your first response is to cover up when you see someone when you ARE naked. Regardless, I opted for a dry sauna for about 20 minutes before the massage.
The massage was awesome. My therapist had been working at the spa at Mandalay for ten years! She said that quite a few of the workers had been there that long. I asked about the economy based upon what she saw and she said that people that come to Vegas have money to spend and that will never change. She said that people used to not think twice about spending $400-$500 and now it’s more under $200. She said that the crazy tipping is gone. People think more now, she thought.
After the massage, I went back into the spa for about an hour. More sauna, cold plunge, hot tub then the showers and back to the room. Jill had said that she was going to hang out for a while and since I couldn’t find her (and I knew she wouldn’t have a place for her phone) I went back to the room and then back down to the casino.
I went for my normal slot machine – Wheel of Fortune. It’s just a slot machine, but there’s something exciting about watching that damn wheel spin. On a quarter machine, I hit a forty coin win ($10) and then….
I hit a 1,000 coin win! I have only done that one other time and it was in Albuquerque at the Sandia Casino. That time was on a dollar machine, still this did not suck. I continued playing for a bit – something that you should NEVER do. I still walked away with $250. Jill called and I met her upstairs.

~ We cleaned up a bit and decided to head out again. I showed her the casino at the Tropicana. The most noticeable thing about the older casinos was the crazy amount of cigarette smoke there is. The newer ones must pump Febreeze or something through them. We took the Monorail from the MGM up to Imperial Palace. The Monorail was very shaky feeling – like it needed some nuts tightened up somewhere to make it less of a rocky trip. Still, we got there fine. The Imperial Palace is another old-school casino. We walked across to the Mirage. I was actually impressed with the remodel job over there – it really looked nice. It’s kind of strange to see the new bars and restaurants – one of them is where the white tiger cage used to be! We decided on some apps at Stack. It’s run by the Light Group who operate several restaurants and several clubs around the Strip. We split an app of lobster tacos with ‘avocado puree’ – something the rest of us know as ‘guacamole’. I had a big ol’ bowl of hearty, tomato soup and Jill had a salad. We were laughing that all the employees could have been models. We walked around Mirage at bit more and then went over to Treasure Island. It’s funny how in the old days you would walk along Las Vegas Boulevard to get everywhere. Now it’s all done in the casino and via monorails and trams. They have actually rebuilt a lot of the walkways so that you do not even get near the street. I showed Jill Fashion Show Mall, it was closing for the night but it’s pretty impressive from the outside. It used to just be a ‘normal’ mall – now it’s way fancy. We went across to The Wynn and was even more amazed at simple things like the flower arrangements and the inside landscaping. We went over to the newly opened Encore as well. WOW! Even more extravagant. The use of the color red is impressive.
We got in touch with Byrce and Shannon and opted to meet at a bar in Bellagio so we started ambling back towards that part of the strip. We went in through the shops at the Palazzio and down through the Venetian. They have that whole place all messed up as far as getting around in it. I actually got us lost only because they closed off an entrance or exit or something. Again – more proof that anything can exist in Vegas. We stopped in a few of the shops. There was a very cool glass place that had some incredible objects and even had some carved wood pieces that looked like fabric. Wow.
By this time we were getting a bit crazed in the head as we were tired, hungry and not looking forward to the 6 am flight in the morning. Once we made it back to the Bellagio, the bar that we were going to meet at was closed for a poker tournament. Jill and I were physically tired and mentally done with the trip. The early flight was weighing heavily and we almost bailed. Intead we waited at Fix, which was strangely similar to Stack – same group. The bartender, although we could NOT understand him was fun. We were the ‘first’ customers he had ever had from New Mexico. That was strange. Bryce and Shannon came up and Jill and I were getting our second wind. We opted for dining across the way at YellowTail for some sake, some rolls, and some edamame that kicked butt! We enjoyed the fountain shows from the inside and some stellar conversation about all sorts of topics. It’s amazing how much I miss conversations with other adults. We closed down the restaurant and said goodnight to our friends. We cabbed it back to the hotel, went upstairs, packed our bags and hit the beds.
~ That alarm came early. We ran downstairs, hopped a cab for the airport and left – just a mere 37 hours after arriving. It was a whirlwind trip. We got to laugh at other people, laugh at ourselves, eat some good food, and escape our ‘normal’ lives for a bit. In some ways I wish we had a few more hours there and in others I was happy that we had the time we had. We didn’t solve any of the world’s problems – or even our own. But I think that we realized that we all have issues and the only way that you understand how normal that is – is for you to share with others. My life hardly seems as complicated and maybe the best thing that I think we both got out of the trip is that we need some time to escape and see the other side.
I had someone tell me last week that the thing that I most need is some ‘me’ time. I think I got it….

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Back in town and on way to Austin. I will update the Vegas trip – LOVED IT!

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I guess I forgot to post yesterday…
Thanksgiving was full of family and food – not necessarily in that order.
As usual, I ate way too much but it was all worth every calorie intake. The sad part is that I didn’t even pig out on the desserts! It was a good night.
Yesterday, more laundry – I stopped counting after load sixteen. But I am happy to say that there is NO MORE LAUNDRY to do before I leave!
The kids and I put up the Christmas tree as well so I am leaving taking care of most all the tasks that everyone has expected me to. I even got a bike ride in before the next front moves in – it’s supposed to snow tomorrow.
I have been busy trying to burn a DVD of a bunch of slide shows for my oldest sister who is coming through town later today on her way for a long mission trip in Mexico. The DVD is burning now and says it still has a little over three hours to finish. I hope it is finished before I leave.
I don’t know if I’ll post while gone – I think I will keep a ‘journal’ going while there and upload it when I get back. We’ll see. I’m not making any promises.
Enjoy your weekend and I’ll see everyone back here on Monday (or so).

Distance: 25.5 miles Time: ??
Avg Speed: ?? Top Speed: ??
I really NEEDED my bike ride today. I was a little hesitant to go on a long ride only because I haven’t taken a long ride in a while. I will admit that I came close to cutting it short and running through the volcanos. But the need for some Vitamin D won out and I soldiered through it. It was about 57 degrees unless the slight wind was coming at you and then it got real cold. I started out with gloves on and my normal long sleeved shirt and that was okay. Going down hills though was downright painful. I had to put my jacket on to go down Old Route 66 as it was very cool by that time – and the fact that I’m coasting downhill at 35 mph!
All in all – a good ride. Not too painful and just a little bit tired. I could fall asleep right now if I didn’t have a couple hours’ worth of work to get done.
No pictures but it was a beautiful New Mexican winter day – blue skies and high sun. We could use some precipitation around here.

You know? I DO have a lot to be thankful for and if for some reason you do not think that you have anything to be thankful for this year – call me. I will think of something for you.
I was talking to a friend last night and although I think that 2009 will NOT be on my list of favorite years – there are things to be thankful for:
~ We have each other
~ We (hopefully) are alive today, hey some didn’t make it through yesterday
~ We will be sharing this day with people that either we care about or that care about us – regardless that says SO much
Although I have had many calls and texts today asking ‘Howyadoin?’ – I really am ok. My dad had the idea that we should have Thanksgiving the night after he got out of the hospital – which just happened to be Halloween. Thanks to The Cooperage – we had an awesome turkey dinner complete with stuffing and smashed potatoes and full bore salads and of course – Jello! It was awesome and even better in that we did not have to cook anything! The pans were even throw aways and we even used paper plates.
Today could be sad in that my Dad won’t be there with us, but we already had one WITH him. Of course, just the way he wanted it.
I always feel for people that have birthdays around the ‘big’ holidays. My sister Brenda’s is right before Christmas and Toni’s is today. I don’t remember it falling on Thanksgiving Day but obviously it does every seven years or so. I guess I don’t think that through all the time.
For those who don’t know, Toni is one of my longest-known friends ( I can’t say ‘oldest’ as she will hit me! ) and even though she doesn’t always live in the same city as me – we tend to always see or talk or type on our birthdays. Never fails that no matter how my birthday may be going – I always hope to talk to her. I failed miserably on finding her a gift this year – but hey, I’ve been busy with stuff! Maybe I’ll make it good by Christmas.
Anyway, I was thinking about the birthdays-around-the-holidays and although they may get gypped on presents that may be ‘combo’d’ I think it’s kind of cool that in most cases your families are around you. This does not work if your family is extended and people are off somewhere else or if you don’t care for your family – BUT the possibilities are kind of cool that everyone that you care about could be around at the same time. Yes, some may be watching football instead of watching you eat your cake – but I don’t think that I give it enough credit about possibly being a good thing!
Either way – hugs to you and all of yours from me and all of mine.
Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Birthday, Toni~

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Hey! I’m back. Well…. sort of.
In the past seven days: I have sought counsel from both professional and non-professional means, attempted to busy myself, think things through, did some yard work, attempted to run away to Las Vegas, ignored ALL laundry duties, and….. I think I’m okay.
I have realized some things that perhaps I’ve been avoiding dealing with that most likely can’t be avoided any longer. I have been told that I need to take more ‘me’ time. Most of all, I know that I possess something that most people don’t have available to them – friends. Some are casual, some are business, some are friends of friends, some I’ve had for over 20 years, most in the 10-12 year range. Even more so, I realized that a lot of other people consider me their friends and even in some cases the sage advisor to help them through things. That’s what it is all about. Having the people to go to to talk through things. Some may be small things – like what exactly is ‘chutney’ and others are how to deal with death of a close person. Some people choose to google things – others seeks more personal advice. Sometimes I feel bad for those who choose the impersonal way of investigation.
Either way – I think I have a better handle on things and will be back to at least my version of ‘normal’ very soon. It will take me four days to catch up on the laundry issue! Sadly, I am not exaggerating.
Last weekend I spent Saturday laying brick pavers around the chicken coop. Who would you say digs around the coop the most? Dogs? Hawks? Chickens? Raccoons? Skunks? Wolves?
Nope. Little freakin’ sparrows and finches. They want in to get to the chicken food. The smarter of them have figured ways in through the roof – the others literally ‘dig’ from the outside in. The pavers now take care of this and when/if we actually ever get any precipitation – it will be less muddy for the caretakers. I brought one carload of pavers from the factory and leveled out the dirt area and…. needed another load. I think I put out about 120 of the little suckers and honestly could have added about another 50 or so to complete the job. You know? It looks better and solved the issue.
Sunday I rode my bike – see post here.
The rest of the week I spent slogging through trying to work. I thought that I had Monday off and had planned to tackle some tasks when I regretfully remembered that it was a short week because of Thanksgiving and the factory was operating Monday through Wednesday this week. Oopsy.
That kind of set the tone for the rest of the week as I had to cram five days of work into three. I lived through it – although I was there until 8 last night.
The other good news is that this weekend I will host my sister to 39 hours of Las Vegas. Jill has NEVER been to Las Vegas! Who Knew?! We received some great deals on travel and I have got us set up. I will post more and hopefully have some great pictures too.
Today – going to my Mom’s at 4 pm. Is that some unwritten rule about starting Thanksgiving? Starting at 4? Okay, I am beginning to realize that I DO need to post more often or I get rambling posts such as this….

Distance: 9.16 miles Time: About an hour
Avg Speed: ?? Top Speed: ??
I had intended to go riding yesterday as the weather was supposed to turn colder today. It didn’t.
Jaeden needed to go do some research at the grocery store so I talked him into riding his bike! I followed him down and then rode around the bosque. I had never been on the west side of the Rio Grande down by Montano so it was all new!
There are some great trails but I have a feeling that they are meant for walkers, not bikers. Everyone was cordial to me so I cannot complain.
The Bosque looks dead. The leaves have not all fallen, but there is no color left. Just various shades of brown and greys. The leaves that are on the ground are very slippery to ride on.
For some reason I did not have my other camera with me on this ride otherwise I could have had some AWESOME video of the cranes and ducks flying overhead. It is SO noisy! Next time.

There are some artwork installations inside the Bosque which are pretty impressive too. The lighting was not conducive to photo taking – but I will get those someday as well. This is a ‘gazebo’ made from cottonwood. It’s kind of cool to come upon in the middle of trees and grass…
As I have said – my bike riding is my therapy. Lord knows I need it right now!
I hope to get some more rides in before December 1st!

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Okay. I’m about to admit that I have no control over me.

I can’t tell what’s going on other than an official ‘not much’. I am not returning phone calls, emails, or anything else. I can’t tell you if I have actually accomplished anything in the past eleven days. Nobody is yelling – that I have heard at least – so I don’t know. I tell everyone that I am okay because I believe that but as of this morning – I’m thinking…. not so much.
I don’t feel any more sad about my dad’s death than before. I had kind of turned off that emotion the past few years because if I truly spent the emotion that ‘may’ have been required at that time I would be a wreck. So, my thought process was that I would believe that any ‘thing’ would actually bring about his death would be when I saw his lifeless body. Well, I did. And I did cry and feel emotions – but most of those were happy thoughts because we all did have a chance to visit, enjoy memories, laugh, and visit.
I can’t tell you how much I have enjoyed getting emails and texts from people that just ask ‘How Are You?’. Also, the people who still keep talking about the service, the slide show, the music, and how we are all good people. I will admit to everyone who asks that Dad picked out the music. It’s what he wanted. Had my Mom not planned the 70th Birthday slide presentation, we would not have had all those photos already scanned. I did nothing other than get the stuff to the church for the service.
Maybe in my showing ’strength’ for everyone I used it all up and just need to recharge. That’s what I’m hoping for. I’ve tried sleep, that has not helped. Actually it made me more tired. I had a back adjustment, that usually helps something. It hasn’t. I am eating my weight in the kids’ Halloween candy and that depresses me every morning when I step on the scale. Maybe Jill can help direct me or maybe I just need to go somewhere else and ignore responsibilities.
I may not update regularly because even typing this seems like a chore.
I will be okay. I’m sorry for letting anyone down. Bear with me…

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Wow. What a night. I relived my dad’s funeral all night in my dreams. Only this time, he wasn’t willing to go so quietly. He ‘woke up’. Then he refused to get back into the casket and there was some serious conversation as to whether or not he should. I mean, he was walking around – who are we to not allow him? It’s not like he was a zombie-dad or anything but he needed assistance. It kept waking me up and then it would take about an hour for me to fall back asleep. The dream would continue and then wake me up again. Needless to say – not much sleep. I never was able to see how the dream ‘ended’.
Examples like this are exactly why I stayed until he was buried and made one last double check before he was lowered into the grave. Out of everyone – I KNOW that he was in there (and was not animated). I also know that he was buried. No questions left to answer – closure. Or so I thought!
I don’t know if it was something I ate or not, but regardless I could do without another night like this…