Blogging From Vegas

I am going to try to blog from Vegas, so you all will know we’re doing okay. We leave tomorrow afternoon, and we return Wednesday afternoon. Until then, remember you always split aces and eights.

Something Like Life

What’s new? Well, Rod was scheduled to come to Denver to visit, but his mother-in-law isn’t doing so well, and his wife is out of the country, so he stayed in Texas to be in proximity should something arise. We’re both bummed, but I’m sure we’ll be able to reschedule. We’re so excited at the idea of a California friend coming to visit, and because it’s Rod. He’s like family.

I picked up another shift at work this week, so I worked Monday & Wednesday. Now I’m off until after Thanksgiving. It’s been really busy at work, which is good. But I’m very pooped by the end of my shift.

In Vegas news, Lisa got the scare of her life. She called the hotel to confirm their reservation, and she was told it was cancelled! When Lisa booked the reservation in September, she asked to be sent an email as to when a deposit would be needed. No email came, and so according to the lady Lisa spoke to, she lost her reservation by not doing the deposit in time. They told her they could offer her the only room they had left, a $229/night suite! At some point Lisa got to book with one of the Orleans sister hotels, but it wasn’t for the price she wanted. She took it, and then started looking online for a better deal. When she found one, Lisa called back the hotel to cancel. They said, but you just made this reservation. When Lisa explained the story to them, they said they would honor the original reservation, 2 nights at the Orleans for $20/night. She even gets to stay in the new tower they just built (I don’t know where we’re staying). Poor Lisa! A half an hour of drama, and I wasn’t home to talk her through it. Naturally Geoff made me call to confirm our reservation, and it was okay. Thank goodness. I’m in no state to deal with that kind of garbage.

So we’re almost set for Vegas. The neighbors are going to look after Honey, I made up my packing list, and I started doing some laundry. All we need now is for the snow coming on Sunday not to delay the plane.

Yesterday I had a really bad allergic reaction. Very similar to the one that hit when Heather visited. Ugh, I hate feeling like that. Right now it’s slowly dying down. I don’t need to carry the kleenex box around with me, but I feel all red and blotchy. I don’t know what brings it on.

I finally made it to Hobby Lobby this week to check out fabric. I want to make a table runner for Christmas, so I picked out the fabric I like, I will go buy it the first of December. Need to hold off on spending money. We had to buy a new power adapter thingy for Geoff’s laptop, his adapter died. That was a $80 expense we weren’t expecting. Also at the beginning of December, I need to get my hair cut and highlighted. It’s been over a year since I had it cut, and even longer since it had highlights. Unless I kick butt in Vegas, then I’ll get it done sooner. 🙂

Did you know BBQ-flavored peanuts is a Canadian thing? I had a craving for some, and when I asked people if they had seen them, no one had seen them. They thought it was weird I thought I could find that at my local Safeway. On a BBQ related note, I can’t wait until next summer to go to Edmonton, and be able to get some flavored popcorn from Too Corny. My favorite? Getting a bag of half bbq, half pizza. Gross? Mmmm, not to me. 🙂

So we’re hoping to catch The Incredibles next week. I already know tons of people who have seen it, and I certainly didn’t need their approval to go see it. It’s Pixar, that’s enough for Geoff & me. I will need more time to get sold on Cars, but they have time to sell me on that. In other Pixar news, Disney has decided to go ahead and make Toy Story 3, without Pixar. Since they own the Toy Story franchise, they can do what they want. But I hear they are having a hard time selling Tom Hanks & Tim Allen on coming back. Good on them!

So AFI is putting together ANOTHER list, like that’s what the world needs. This one is 100 best movie quotes. I’m going to close with one of Geoff’s favorites, from The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly.

Man With No Name: You see, in this world there’s two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig.

In Dreams

A few nights ago I couldn’t sleep so well. I was thinking about this couple I know whose marriage has ended. While we weren’t close, I still felt a connection to them. And it pains me to think the marriage couldn’t be saved. I don’t know any of the details, all the info I get is one sided. In a dream I had, maybe that night, maybe the night after, I tried to speak to the wife. To ask her what was so wrong that couldn’t be fixed. She just smiled she didn’t say. I am almost compelled to try to email her, find her email first, but I likely won’t. It isn’t my place.

Sunday night and last night I dreamt about Colin. We were just hanging out. Sunday nights dream lead me to a building which a fabric store, but before that it was the school where I took dance (not in reality, just in my dream). I am trying to use my walkie-talkie to tell Colin to come help me because there is a wild ferret trying to bite me. The ferret is green, and larger than normal. At some point there is also some animal that is a cross between a badger and a bear. I am able to lock that in a room to get away. I have some really weird dreams.

Last week, courtesy of the library, I watched Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star and The Butterfly Effect. The former was a better movie. I laughed a lot, and it was pretty harmless. TBE was darker than I anticipated it to be. I don’t know why I thought it would be lighter than that. I didn’t stop thinking about it the rest of the day. But I’d be reluctant to recommend it to anyone, only because it dealt with such dark issues. The acting in it was pretty good though.

Speaking of good acting, I love Scrubs. Last week’s episode provided a hilarious scene where Turk was white. In the episode Turk got a new phone number, and if you called it that night during the show you could speak to the cast and crew. I wasn’t aware of that, but I called the next morning and got to hear a message from “Turk” (Donald Faison), urging fans of Scrubs to vote in the People’s Choice Awards for which Scrubs has a few nominations, and Zach Braff is up for favorite movie actor. I’m excited to see that Matthew Perry is directing and guest starring on Scrubs in 2 weeks.

Speaking of Matthew Perry, Celebrity Poker Showdown finished up another tournament Sunday. The championship game had Matthew Perry, Kevin Nealon, Neil Patrick Harris, Mekhi Phifer, and Dennis Rodman. They will be taping another tournament the next few days, there may even be a taping the day we arrive in Vegas, but since we get in late afternoon, I doubt we could get tickets. I will settle for the hope of running into Phil Gordon or Dave Foley. 🙂

Yep, Vegas is just days away. Let me tell you how the level of excitement plays out. Geoff is the most excited, followed quickly by Lisa, then me, then Chad. It’s going to be so much fun!

I’m going to close with a quote from last week’s Scrubs.

Cal Turk: Cal Turk here. We don’t sell insurance, we sell peace of mind. But only to white people (Winks). Would you like some milk?

Christmas With The Ladies

A pretty good album. If you can get past the first track (Jingle Bells), which I thought was awful (and may be why Kelly thought I was talking about Steven Page (see November 4th post)), Barenaked For The Holidays makes for a great addition to your Christmas music collection. Favorite tracks for me were God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings with Sarah McLachlan, Sleigh Ride, and I Have A Little Driedel. Their original songs are also really good. Geoff thought their effort on Oh Holy Night was pretty poor, and I didn’t mind so much.

Mostly RIYL Barenaked Ladies. If you don’t, you probably wouldn’t like the album.

Scott Peterson Guilty

I’m happy with the way the trial has ended, I suspected he was guilty, but was glad the jurors found it to be so in their eyes. Now they have to decide whether to give him the death penalty or not. I do not envy them, that is not a decision I would want to make. I think it’s fitting to close with a quote from Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring.

Frodo: It’s a pity Bilbo didn’t kill him when he had the chance.

Gandalf: Pity? It was pity that stayed Bilbo’s hand. Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends.

So Go To Canada You Big Whiner!

Rich and I sort of had it out yesterday. He was being really obnoxious, and I was getting tired of it, so I let out that biting side of me. I can say things sometimes and it comes out much harsher than I intend. I’m not saying he didn’t deserve it, but I was just getting tired of him bringing down my natural high. I should start at the beginning.

I got to work and was in a great mood. My iPod was playing some great tunes (Bobby Brown, Tom Petty, 10,000 Maniacs, Guns N’ Roses), and I had baked a cake for break time because it was Jeff’s 50th birthday. Well Jeff was kinda grumpy, and Rich seemed to be a little grumpy. I was able to keep the mood light with everyone, making up songs (Melissa, huh! What is she good for? You know the song that goes War, huh! What is it good for). anyways, 10 o’clock comes, and we go to break, and we eat cake, and Rich starts going off on the election, and how he wants to immigrate to Canada. I’m like, see ya! Bu-bye! So I’m trying to change the topic, since everyone is sitting around looking uncomfortable. Rich is still going on about how he hates Kerry and Bush, and then big closed minded jerk says the “A” word. (The “A” word is in reference to the President.) That just gets me really upset. And he’s saying how he doesn’t morals, and he doesn’t like Bush making decisions based on morals. Now in my head, I’m thinking of the conversation I’d have with him if there weren’t 7 other people sitting around the table. So I’m still trying to change the topic, and every topic I hit, he’s got something negative to say. I finally get tired of it all and I say to him, “Oh my eyes hurt so much looking up at you on your high horse.” Everyone started to laugh, breaking the tension a little. Thankfully it was 10:30, so break was over. But when I left for the day, he had the nerve to say he expected me to bring him chocolate next week (since Harry & David truffles are amazing). My response was,” I expect you to have an open mind next week. Which do you think is going to happen?” He proudly declared he isn’t changing his closed mind.

I like Rich, he can be a lot of fun. And I can be friends with people who have a different opinion than me (I learned that at KUCI). But I think we need to sit down and have a serious talk. He was out of control with his attitude, and it did not make for a comfortable nice break for all. I’m debating whether I should email him, or if I should talk to him next week.

I was so pooped yesterday, working at the museum in the morning, than H&D in the afternoon. But it was good. Thank goodness Geoff came to pick me up from the mall, since the sun is setting here at 5pm, it would make a dark walk home. I do have the option to take the bus, so don’t feel bad for me.

I’m still having weird dreams. I dream about people from my past life (by past life I mean high school, or B.G.- before Geoff). Last night, I dreamt I was still living with my mom and Hans, yet I was married. It was 3am, and I couldn’t sleep, so I got up and my mom was awake, watching tv in her room. I unlocked the door, and left the house, going next door where someone from the past was living. I just knocked on the door, and was let in. For whatever reason, I figured the solution to my not being able to sleep was to talk to this person. The weirdest thing is whenever I speak to this person in my dreams, one of the first things I say is why didn’t they acknowledge my father’s death? I’m not sure why this bothers me so in my dreams. I’m a weird person. That’s pretty much the dream.

I was speaking to Lisa this morning, and telling her this, and I guess I expected people who knew me would have responded to my dad’s death. Do I honestly believe people read the obituaries everyday? I did, when I lived in Edmonton. But when I hear about the death of someone I know, I try to send a note, even if all it says is I’m sorry. Maybe it’s all just residual anger or resentment I felt at the funeral. I was angry, I was mad that I didn’t register on people’s radar. That all they talked about was Colin, and Dylan. I wasn’t mad at Colin and Dylan, but part of me was mad at myself. For not being around the last 4 (now 5) years. I hated that it was like I wasn’t his child. I guess I have some issues that time needs to heal.

Sunday at church we sang I Can Only Imagine, and I couldn’t sing it. All I could do was stand there and cry. It’s funny because I can hear the song on the radio, and I’m fine. But being in worship, the emotions were too raw. Plus I’ve been thinking about Grandpa Jim, Grandma Bessie, and Auntie Pearl. I miss them so much. They were just so loving towards me, and making me feel like I was truly their family.

Alright, I’m done. I’m going to close with a quote from Wag The Dog.

Stanley Motss : Why Albania?

Conrad ‘Connie’ Brean : Why not?

Stanley Motss : What have they done to us?

Conrad ‘Connie’ Brean : What have they done FOR us? What do you know about them?

Stanley Motss : Nothing.

Conrad ‘Connie’ Brean : See? They keep to themselves. Shifty. Untrustable.

You are Sir Bedevere! Wise and creative, you are
able to counsel others as well as come up with
some really ingenious plans of attack…sort
of.

Which Monty Python & the Holy Grail Character are you REALLY?
brought to you by Quizilla

Musical Musings

So there is a band I adore, and one of the band members released a solo album. Initially, I thought this might be a good idea. For example, I love Paul Bellows’ music and Paul came out of Splendourbog. I love Glen Phillips’ music, he came out of Toad The Wet Sprocket. Well, I gave some of the tracks a listen to, and to say I was disappointed, would be an understatement. It’s an album I definitely wouldn’t buy, or even recommend. Oh well, not everyone can branch out on their own. I won’t name said artist, but they annoyed me even further by making comments about President Bush.

Speaking of musicians and their political leanings, Sheryl Crow called our house in the last week, and Geoff hung up on her. He also hung up on Bill Clinton. I’m a little jealous, I hung up on just Coloradan politicians. I’d have to say in the last year with all the election hoopla on both sides of the border, a musician’s political stance has been enough to make me not want to listen to their music. It’s one thing, if they have always been open about where they stand (REM, Beastie Boys), but if they just decide now to choose sides, it makes it hard for me to listen to their music. Am I being silly? Perhaps. I’m hoping we all can get back to normal.

I struck a deal with Geoff that may affect the rest of my entertainment life. I told Geoff that if Michael Moore wins Best Picture at the Oscars in 2005, I will never watch the Oscars again. He was giddy, asking if it applied to all award shows. In all fairness, that would leave the Emmys and the Golden Globes. I do wonder how you get to have your picture nominated for Best Picture. Is it enough for Mr. Moore to say he wants the prize? If they want to get all controversial maybe they should nominate The Passion Of The Christ. They certainly wouldn’t award Mel Gibson that prize, they like to give out awards to people who are controversial in a different way (see Roman Polanski).

50 days until Christmas. Eep. well, I have a list of what I’m buying everyone, except Mike. Mike, what do you want for Christmas? Now I just have to peck away at buying this stuff, and ship off some of it. But first, I have to get past Dylan, Dawn & Colin’s birthdays. So really, half the battle is won. I know what I need to buy. 🙂

16 days until Vegas. Oh Yeah! Chad is now in on the trip, so he can get excited. He wasn’t mad at Lisa, which was her concern. Well, he was annoyed (or disgusted) by the cake she made (Lisa, Geoff thought it was gross!). We’re trying to decide if we want to spend the money on seeing Penn & Teller. I think it would fun, but $155 worth of fun? Hard to say. We will likely take in a movie at the theatre in the hotel, we’re thinking of seeing The Incredibles. I have to call and book my massage soon.

I guess I’m done. I’ll close with a quote from Grosse Pointe Blank.

Debi : You’re a psychopath.

Marty : No, no. Psychopaths kill for no reason. I kill for *money*. It’s a *job*. That didn’t come out right.