kerfuffle

i don't even know what to say anymore.

i went to vegas at the beginning of the month. the encore was better than we even imagined. the rooms were absolutely huge, definitely too big for me just staying by myself.

anyway, vegas was a good time. the neon boneyard museum tour was solid, and i'm glad i went. even sister and john were glad they tagged along. i got them to drive me around for a few hours, looking for both vintage neon sings (mostly motel) and thrift shops. the one thrift shop we went into was lame, but some of the motel sign photos i got were awesome. although i only suspect they're awesome, because i have yet to convert them from RAW. we went to olives at the bellagio, our favorite restaurant, and i ate a salad that i now dream about. the rest of the meals were good, but nothing to write home about. that's likely because i was trying to stick to my eating plan. pshaw. that pretty much went out the window the first day. and so much for not drinking. turns out me likey jack and soda. a lot. i had a few too many two nights in a row (one was when this dude called dave invited me to his room) and i haven't been hungover in years. turns out i don't miss that part of drinking. the second night of too much imbibing i was on fire at the blackjack table and ended up coming home quite a few benjamins up.

the first night sister, john and i headed to a place called slots of fun (hardy har har) and it was a total dump and had the surliest staff. the $2 blackjack tables attracted us, but after a couple of hours we headed back to the encore where we ended up playing the rest of the trip. john ended up calling the place "sluts are fun" and when you have as many drinks as i did, it actually sounds funny.

two weekends after that, i headed to tahoe with lisa, sarah and julia and their respective spouses. we stayed in a bitchin' house that sarah found. we quickly discovered that the refrigerator wasn't working. nearly all of our food spoiled that first night, and what we replaced the following day got plunked in the deep snow outside the front door. friday night we played a rousing game of trivial pursuit and saturday we all woke up way too early and played out in the snow before heading to squaw for dog sledding (lis and tim ) and a nice walk for the rest of us.



sophie liked the snow


snowshoeing was on the agenda, but it ended up working out that we didn't go. we went our separate ways for lunch, with jewels, cy and sophie and i going to jake's. yum! the rest of the day was spent napping, playing checkers, hearts, taboo, and begging someone to drive me to the crystal bay casino (it was a no-go). oh, and eating. Jewels made her famous mac-and-cheese with gorgonzola and gruyere and i even had a nibble and it didn't disappoint.

boy did it snow saturday night! over 2 feet, which made it slow going on the way home sunday. i was chomping at the bit to leave early and avoid too many ijits on the road sunday morning. chains were required, but we prayed Jewel's 4-wheel drive without snow tires would get us home safely. chain control let us pass through without a problem, but then again we saw a turbo porsche without chains, so chain control must've been half asleep at 11a. got home at a reasonable hour, only to get into an "argument" with my sister. while i was in tahoe, i got a text from her saying she and john sold one of their two cars, and she needed the accord back. (i've been driving what is technically her accord for nearly two years. when my grandmother died, sister got the car and i got the cash equivalent. john bought a new car a few years back, gave his old one to sister, and i ended up with the accord, as i had just sold my jetta. it was always to be a temporary situation.) i was a little irritated, not because i didn't know the car was technically hers, but because that's how john and sister operate -- no thinking, no notice, just action. so i wrote back a simple, "okay." i spent a good deal of the drive home on sunday bitching about my sister and how now i needed to go buy a car. so i get home and call my father to see what they're all up to for sunday night dinner, and everyone (mom, john, sister and dad) is in the car. my dad's new car has that bluetooth speakerphone integrated thingie, where the caller can hear everyone, and everyone can hear the caller, so my mom says, "did you see sister's new car?" i'm like, "yeah, thanks for rubbing it in, i know she gets the accord back. sheesh!" my mom's all, "no, really. look at the end of the parking lot at your complex, the black car at the end is your sister's new car." turns out, sister and john bought her a new car on saturday, and they sent me that text just to mess with me. jackasses! john said it was payback for leaving a dead rat on the front doorstep. (my neighbor's cat left me a surprise, and john is truly terrified of rats. so a couple of saturdays ago, i saw it there early one morning on the way to the gym. i thought about cleaning it up, but thought it'd be a nice surprise for john. he wasn't amused, but i'm still giggling over his dramatic reaction.)

oh, and i'm going back to vegas in may for memorial day weekend, followed by calgary the following weekend. international road trip!

no spellcheck on this puppy tonight.