My Lovely Thanksgiving

Well, to tell you the truth, my Thanksgiving started out horrible.  Wednesday night I couldn't sleep because I had the biggest headache ever.  And I kept trying to sleep, knowing that if I'm asleep, I can't feel the headache.  Nothing was working.  I knew I had to be up early, as I was doing living statue at 10am.

I couldn't call in sick.  First of all, Thanksgiving is a big money day for statues, plus, if you call in sick on a holiday, you need a doctor's note, so I'd be out the money I would have made, plus the money for the doctor's visit.

At 6:30, the headache finally lifted and the angels sang.  I was exhausted but pain free. I couldn't go back to bed at that point because it would have made it worse when I did get up. So I drank about a pot of coffee and got ready to go.

Now being tired for a normal day of work is difficult, but being tired while you have to stand absolutely still is a monster. Somehow, I managed to get through the shift. Luckily statue shifts are four hours and I was done by 2.

When I crawled through the door, the boyfriend had Thanksgiving cooked and on the table.  I'm so grateful it was his turn this year to cook. He prefers ham over turkey, and if he's making it, he can make whatever his heart desires as far as I'm concerned.  He had ham, corn, rolls and a wonderful bison-green bean casserole topped with cheese and tater tots. Of course there was apple pie for dessert.

I'm am currently waiting to hear from the Guinness judges on whether I have taken the world record in most weight gained in a 12 hour period.  I'll keep you posted. lol.

Welcome Cooler Times

Winter is coming! The air is definitely cooler, and doing errands is no longer a hot sweaty chore.  I know, I know, how can I live in the desert when I hate hot weather?  Well, the desert is where the jobs are for me, so for 4 months out of the year, I am forced to suffer.

Now the good times are rolling in.  I can go outside with a sweatshirt on. The unbearable heat that makes me the laziest person on the planet and makes me never want to leave my air-conditioned haven has now passed.

Now I can take my dogs on car rides with me.  In the middle of summer, I can't even take them to the dog park unless I go at dawn.  Even though they can have a good time in 110 degree weather, the car while parked gets to well over 130, and that is way too much for them.  Now I can take them on a quick errand or two, as well as the park.

I know in many parts of the country there's snow and ice and winter is already becoming miserable, but here in the desert, I say, "Blow some of that snow my way!"

The "Joys" of Halloween

I think every year I post about how much I dislike working on and around Halloween. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the holiday itself, I just don't like working on it.

You see, as a performer (or enviromental entertainer as my job description says), I have to stroll around doing magic in costume at the Venetian.  Now for 51 weeks out of the year, this is fun, and it is very obvious that I work there... but then there's that one week where everyone thinks that I'm dressed up a little too early for the Halloween festivities. People come up and ask me where they can get a costume like that, or when I need to move people out of the way of the stilt walker, they just look at me like I'm nuts, when all I'm trying to do is keep their children from being stepped on.

Now as a kid, I loved dressing up, going door to door and getting candy, and having my parents pretend that they didn't recognize me in costume.  And today, I still love giving out candy at the door (unfortunately my neighborhood doesn't have very many kids, but I keep the goodies stocked just in case). I don't dress up anymore, unless I'm going to a party. Dressing up every day kind of kills the thrill of the Halloween costume.

This year, I'm off on the actual day, but I do have to work the day before, which is slightly less bad, and soon I'll be back to working just another regular day. Hopefully more than 2 kids will come to my door this year... I give out huge handfuls of candy so I don't get stuck with so many sweets the next day.

Addicted to Black and Orange... & Chumlee?

So, I'm still waiting for the new crochet hooks, and in the interim, I've become addicted to orange and black.  I had yarn left over from the halloween pillows, so while the boyfriend and I watched movies, I made some fingerless gloves.

...Then, as the hooks still weren't in, I started a pair of orange and black house socks.  Just the cuff left to do on the first one, and then it's on to the second.

Depending on how much I get done today, I might have them listed as early as tomorrow, although Thursday or Saturday is probably more realistic.

In other news:

Chumlee from Pawn Stars

Went to the San Genaro feast on Saturday with the boyfriend.  It was crowded, but the food was great and the company was fun.

It was a long narrow walk back to the parking area, everyone walking pretty much in a line.  We were actually walking right behind Chumlee (the guy from Pawn Stars).

We didn't talk to him or anything, we were tired and just wanted to get back to the car. The boyfriend and I just kind of rolled our eyes and smiled.

Back again

Ok, I'm back from my numerous trips out of town.

This time I was in Virginia with my sister, my dad, my uncle and my brother came down from DC for 24 hours. It was good family time, and a lot of exercise. I'm really sore now.

There was running,
There was tennis,
There was a 4 mile hike,
There was more tennis,
There was a 7 mile hike (which I think was 8)

Now, walking is kind of a problem.  That should hopefully clear up soon.

Me at the Cascades

The Friday's favorites will be back this week, so don't forget to check in Thursday for submissions!

New afghan

Gibbs the doggie really likes the afghan I made for his daddy!

Fun Birthday

Though there was no big party, my birthday was very fun and relaxing.

I gave myself a manicure, then I gave myself a pedicure, then I watched the Olympics while crocheting my boyfriend's new afghan. I did a bunch of cleaning the day before, because I don't believe in cleaning on my birthday.

When the boyfriend got home from work, he had balloons and cake! 

He'd already given me my presents in March, when, for some reason, he thought my birthday was earlier than it was. March... August... hmmm... I guess it's easy to get those confused. Anyway, better early than late.

Then we went to Bahama breeze where I stuffed myself with coconut shrimp and shrimp pasta.  I hardly ever get to eat shrimp since I can't make it because the boyfriend is allergic. Then back home for more olympics and to pack in some german chocolate cake and triple chocolate ice cream.

Needless to say, I didn't do my run on Sunday... I rolled.

It's a Desert Out There

It takes me a while to get settled back in Vegas.  I had a massive headache all day yesterday. Going from super humid to super dry is really difficult and my sinuses were rebelling.

Despite all that, I did manage to get everything on my to do list done.  There was a lot of lying on the couch with the dogs in between tasks, but I still managed to do it.

Today is my first day back working at the Venetian.  I have a huge list of to do's to accomplish in between the shows.  Sometimes I think I'm more productive at work doing things on our short breaks than when I have a whole day off.

That's all for now. Got to finish my computer stuff and put on my make up... I haven't worn make up in 2 whole weeks...wow!

I'm Back!

Back from the funeral...
Back from my vacation...
Back in my own bed...

Gibbs in the moonlight

The vacation was fun, but it was really hot, and that's saying a lot from someone who lives in Vegas. The main problem with the heat was not the humidity, I like humid, it was the lack of air conditioning.  I'm so spoiled here where everything has central air.  Of course it's just my luck that I go to a cool place like Wisconsin and they're in the middle of a heat wave! Go figure!

There was lots of swimming in the lake, but believe it or not, there were two days where even the lake was too hot to swim in.  On the other days, however, it was awesome to get super hot and then jump right in.  One morning I had my coffee while on a floaty chair in the water.

I did miss having the camp fires at night, but it wouldn't have been enjoyable this time around.

Now I'm back in Vegas with my central air and loving life.

In other news:


New sale going on now.  20% off my favorite color (green) until my birthday (August 4th). 
Coupon code: GREEN


Click here!

Getting Ready to Take Off

Today is my last day of work before I leave town, then I'll be gone for two and a half weeks.  First I'll be going to my mom's funeral in Oregon, then off to Wisconsin for a vacation with the boyfriend and his family.

I really hate getting ready to go, but I love going once I've gotten there.  Well, to the Wisconsin part of the trip, that is.  The Oregon part isn't something that one particularly looks forward to.

I have a knitting project started so I can work on it while I'm there. I got the house sitter all situated to keep an eye on Alfred (the cat)... The dogs are driving to Wisconsin with the boyfriend, so I'll be meeting them all up there. The boyfriend wanted to take Alfred too, but I finally convinced him that cats do not travel well, and it would probably stress him out.

In other news:


My Sleeveless Summer Sweater made it into this lovely treasury!

Sick, now Better

I was so sick for the past 24 hours.  Not cold sick, but flu sick... I don't think it was food poisoning, because the boyfriend wasn't effected. I felt like Linda Blaire in the Exorcist, it was that bad.

All day yesterday, I just lay there, trying to sleep.

Now my back hurts from laying around too much.  How much of a wimp am I when I can hurt myself merely by lying down?

The boyfriend cheered me up when he came home from work. He brought medicine, ginger ale and some new yarn. He's got a really good eye for stuff like that and I can't wait to make something out of it... the yarn, that is, not the ginger ale or the medicine.

I'm doing much better now, though today is going to be playing catch up for all the stuff that was supposed to get done yesterday.

I'm on a Billboard!

I've always wanted to be on a billboard.  To be driving along and look up and say, "That's me!"


Well, it finally happened.  I did a photo shoot for the Venetian, and now the image is plastered all over the hotel, plus there's a billboard on Spring Mountain Road right near the Strip!


Unfortunately, I am wearing a mask, so even my mother wouldn't recognize me.  But at least I know it's me.  Plus many of the other performers know since they have seen me in that costume on many occasions.  


So here it is, me and my billboard:

Me and my Billboard at the Venetian

I'm the one in the red shirt, lol, plus the one in the picture doing the same pose.

Discover Card Woes

So, believe it or not I do try to be responsible with my bills.  Sometimes things get confusing, though. About half of my bills now come through my bank as ebills, and half come via snail mail.  Of the snail mail bills, half still get paid on line.  It's no wonder that I forgot to pay my discover card bill.


So they called me and wanted to take what I owed them from my bank account.  I had just deposited a check, so I said ok.  They not only took out what I owed them, but they took it out again, wiping me out!


I didn't realize this until I got an overdraft.


So of course I called Discover, and they said it would take 3 business days to get the money back into my account. 3 days!!! It only took a couple of seconds to take it.


When I said that now they had left me with absolutely no money, their reply was, "Well, at least you have a credit card."

Dreams

Some people dream of riches, and some people dream of stardom. And for me, though those things would be nice, I dream of a maid.

Imagine, all of those never ending clean up chores that one has to do every day, simply being taken care of. You wouldn't have to worry if you were too tired to do the dishes and that they would pile up and attract insects, they would "magically" be cleaned.


It's such a beautiful thought...


Someday, when my income is steadier, I'll start out with a cleaning woman (or man) and work my way up. 


I could hold off on a new car, better clothes or super cool electronics, as long as I didn't have to clean. 


Why oh why can't I be one of those people that actually enjoys doing it?

Switching Credit Cards

So, the other day, my friend calls me up and asks, "Do you have anything of mine?"


I said, "I don't think so."


She said, "Well, when we went out on Tuesday and paid for our meal, I think we switched credit cards. I was at the store, and when they asked for my ID, they said the names didn't match and I realized I had your card."


We both go to the same bank and we both have identical cards... who knew?


"Uh-Oh," I said, "I spent $15 at Panda Express."


She replied, "Oh good, I spent $13 at a restaurant."


We were both working the next day, so we switched our cards back then.  Before work, though, I couldn't resist and kept sending her texts like, "I can't wait to show you my new clothes I got at Bebe." and "They didn't even card me when I bought my new Rolex!"


Now I have my card, and all is well. Thank goodness it was in the hands of a friend.

Kind or Stupid: Stopping Violence

I went out for my Sunday run today and took a new route.  Now I don't live in a dangerous area, but I don't live in the nicest area either.  I hadn't even gone a tenth of a mile when I saw a woman struggling with a guy.  I couldn't tell if they were horsing around or if she was in trouble, until I heard her say, "You're hurting me!", but she wasn't screaming or anything.

I stopped and asked if she was ok.

She said, "No." meanwhile the guy was trying to get his keys from her and wouldn't let her go.

I asked if she wanted me to call someone.  She didn't seem in mortal danger, so I didn't want to call 911 unless she wanted me to do so.

I got no answer and they started arguing.  I couldn't understand all that they were saying as it was a mixture of English and perhaps an African or Caribbean language.  They both had accents when they spoke in English.

I kept asking again and again if she wanted me to call someone.

Eventually, she got free and jogged one way while he jogged to his car.  She thanked me for stopping and assured me that she was OK, so I went on my way.

I'm not an especially brave person, but relying on my instincts I didn't feel that I was in danger, so I stopped.  Could have been really stupid of me, but I felt I needed too.

The rest of my run I thought about what I would have done if I did feel I was in danger. I wouldn't have stopped, but I couldn't let someone be hurt.  I probably would have run into the hospital (which is the closest building to where this happened) and tried to get help that way.

There are so many stories of people in trouble where no one stops to help, and so many stories where people do stop and help.  I can understand the reasoning on both sides, but now I know which side I am on.

Beer Butt Chicken

For my "un-birthday", I got a beer butt chicken roaster, and last night, I tried it out.

These aren't mine, but you get the idea

For those of you who aren't familiar with beer butt chicken, it's where you take half a can of beer, insert it in the chicken with the chicken standing upright, coat the chicken with a little oil and seasonings of your choice then when it cooks, the beer bastes it from the inside.  It's an easy and yummy way to cook it.


The roaster (and I use the term roaster loosely), is basically a can in a holder on a tray.  The beauty of it is that you don't have to use beer, you can use any liquid that you like!


I glazed the chicken with a bourbon glaze and used apple juice in the can.  It turned out wonderful!  


Now we're probably having our last cold snap of the season, just in time for me to use the leftovers to make some chicken and dumplings.  Soon, it will be too hot to enjoy such a treat.

While the Boyfriend's Away...

No, the mice will not play.

I still have this stupid cold, and so after doing only the errands that were absolutely necessary, I sat in HIS chair and dozed the rest of the day and into the evening.

I made today's to do list, but I think it still might be too ambitious, as now I have a headache from all of yesterday's nose blowing.  I'm going to follow the list from most important to least important, so that way, when I give up, at least things like bills have gotten paid.

I really need to take pictures of Bess in the new crochet dog sweater I designed.  I really want to put it up on etsy, but it will be difficult without the boyfriend to distract the other dog.  Gibbs doesn't want to do what you tell him to, and only wants to do what Bess is doing.

I wrote out the pattern for the sweater too, but I want to get my friend to try out the tricky section to see if I wrote it out right before I list it.  It makes sense to me, but that doesn't mean it will make sense to anyone else.

So for a week the boyfriend is at his mechanics training thing, and while I could be out with friends or watching the trashy tv shows that he hates, so far none of that has happened.

I Miss my Dishwasher!

There are many things I like to do by hand like knitting, crocheting, and sewing, however washing dishes is not on the list.


My dishwasher has gone on strike.  


I don't know whether we'll be moving soon, so I don't want to invest in a new one, so now I'm stuck cleaning the old fashioned way.  Yuck.


Truth be told, the dishes are probably much cleaner than they were before the washer took its last breaths, but still... 


Now I have the worlds largest dish rack, because if I'm going to have to wash them, I sure don't want to dry them.  Unfortunately, I have to leave the dishwasher open for them to dry which means tripping over the door.  


Someday, if I'm ever wealthy, I'm not going to spend my money on fancy cars, designer clothes or expensive stylists.  I'm going to get a cleaning lady (or man)... Then I'll know I've really made it.

Birthday? Not yet...

So, Wednesday night, the boyfriend and I are sitting and watching TV, and he's browsing on his computer, when all of a sudden he yells, "I AM SUCH AN IDIOT!"


At first he wouldn't tell me why he said that, but after some prodding said, "You're birthday is August 4th, right?"


I said, "Yes..."


He says, "So what is March 24th?"


I said, "Um... Saturday?"


Well, last night, I got a whole lot of presents, for no apparent reason whatsoever... All of it in Happy Birthday wrapping paper.  


I guess he didn't want to wait a few more months.  I told him, that it's much better to be early than late, and now he's insisting that they're not birthday presents at all, just presents for nothing in particular.


...ha! I'll take them either way.