Departure

Well, we leave for home tomorrow - at unholy o'clock again (thanks Rocketgirl, I love that phrase) - and it has been an epic adventure.
We have played and eaten and met and partied and danced and photo-ed and it has been a really great Thanksgiving vacation.
Cheetah has been phenomenally good tempered, as long as no one takes the cell phone he managed to pilfer away, and charmed all the world, as per usual.

This is me and we're back to real life tomorrow. 

Arrival

Remind me in the future that I do not want a flight that takes off at 5:30am.
Even if it saved me $150 per ticket (which is true and was nice) and even if Cheetah is a trooper and has done really well despite being woken up in the middle of his REM sleep, flown to a cold place and not getting a nap until noon his time.
Even if it's more time with family (who are AWESOME!)
...
Maybe it's not as bad as I feel like it was and *I* don't want to get up at 3am again.

This is me being old

Summer Adventure #3

The last weekend of June we traveled to Salt Lake City for the wedding of a friend of Tarzan's family.
It was Cheetah's first time on a plane and other than the eternal taxiing of the aircraft that caused him to finish nursing before we actually took off, I feel he weathered it well:

And despite his screaming for the first third of the flight waiting for his ears to pop, once he had adjusted, he charmed everyone, including the flight attendants and gossiping college girls sitting behind us.
The wedding was on Saturday but we left the Jungle Thursday night to spend some time with Tarzan's brother Phatfiddle, Liezel and their family on Friday.
We met in the morning for some play time and catching up. (It's been a while since we've seen them.)
**I must apologize for my distinct lack of photos on this trip. I was intently focused on Cheetah having a positive experience and making sure he slept, which he does not like to do when there is new stuff to see. And this whole trip had a lotta new.**
We stopped for lunch on our way to a local farm/petting zoo and sadly for Cheetah, Daddy was not sharing his hamburger:

 

No matter how long and hard he stared:

Liezel and Phatfiddle's children are almost 5 and 3 so while Cheetah was a novelty at the farm, he was not much good for playing:

He was slightly interested in the geese:

But no one looked as cute in their hat as this kid:

I am *so very* thankful that Cheetah sleeps well at night because he doesn't nap well during the day, even when we're home and it's boring. He did sleep good Friday night which was excellent as Saturday was the day and it was both lovely and busy.
The happy couple:

At the wedding luncheon our family contingent took up an entire table:

The food was very picturesque:

(And, thanks to Gamma, Cheetah got to try roasted red peppers and pistachios that day. (There was a romesco sauce on the chicken.) Mommy was mean and drew the line at the chocolate pudding.)
He also ate his own food:

But all eating stopped when Uncle Phatfiddle pulled out the violin:

During the actual wedding, Mommy and Cheetah hung around outside and despite all the cool sites to see:

Cheetah got bored - it was a Saturday in June after all, so the temple was a little backed up, but we amused ourselves as best we could:

Cheetah discovered that Gamma wears a lot of really cool adornments:

And she's always good for a cuddle:

There was a reception following the wedding but Tarzan - being bishop - needed to be back for early morning meetings on Sunday so we dashed off to the airport to catch our flight:

Cheetah was exhausted, so he slept most of the way home and didn't even wake up when I moved him from the car seat to his bed.

This is me and it was a big adventure.

Random Travel Photos

So, I was showing a house today, and waiting for the lady to walk through "one last time" and was playing with my phone, pretending to look busy and I came upon some random photos from the airport when I was traveling.
There is a reason why the Jungle has a "style," a "vibe," a "look":

 

I especially like this one. The shoes, the blanket and the glasses:

 

This is me and it's amusing when you see the stereotype come true.

Giving Thanks

Thankfully, today, I leave all the dramaz and excitement from the Jungle behind and spend a few glorious days with Tarzan and his family, having fun, eating food and ignoring the insanity that awaits when we return on Saturday.

This is me, in the air.

Returned

I am back and will post something substantial soon, I promise.
There's this whole laundry thing driving me because all the clothes in my suitcase smell like bratwurst. (The fact that I brought 9 lbs. of bratwurst and cheese home does not have anything to do with that.)
It was a lovely trip but the time changes and the stupid airline schedule means I do not have any idea what day or time it is and I might have to be at work in ten minutes. Or hours...

This is me back home.

Arrival

I can't say I am a fan of the early morning departure:

Though I somehow always choose that option, but it does have it's advantages. Mostly the speed with which one can get through the check-in and security lines.
It was a long trip yesterday but accomplished with little complaint:

Also the nature of airport food has improved drastically from the stereotype:

And I have arrived in the Land of Cheese to play, bond, and hopefully help out a little. The younger crowd does not seem to mind. Sunshine:

Woody:

And Condor:

Well, he's a baby, what do you expect? I was asked to repeat last night's bedtime story telling performance this evening so I take that as a good sign.
The weather is a little unsettling. Or the aftermath of last week's weather. Been a long time since I lived this:

This is me and it's a party all up in here!

In Between

Tarzan and I just got back from a road trip with Stingy and company - loooooong post or two coming on that - and now I am getting ready to fly out to see Rocketgirl for almost two weeks but my plane leaves at a ridiculous hour of the morning - why do I always DO that to myself? - and I still have to finish packing.
So.
Instead of anything substantial, I leave you with this random quote off one of the libraries I drive by on my way to work.

"People should think. Thinking is not to agree or disagree. That's voting." -Robert Frost

This is me and when next I post, it will be from The Land Of Cheese!

Best Family Vacation EVER

What to say about this year's ASKR?(Who knows what number we're on with the weddings and graduations counting for some of the last few years.)What to say about this gathering; only that it was, quite possibly, THE. BEST. EVER!
And all the credit for the success goes to Rocketgirl and Floyd:For the space - we ALL slept in their house and no one died, which is the first miracle of the week; for the fun - we had a keg:A keg of root beer! It was spectacular.We saw CircusWorld!:We swam:We had a surprise party for Gamma and MusicMan's 40th wedding anniversary:With an original song and slide show.
There was 4th of July sparklers:A root beer tasting contest:We ate:We talked, we shopped:We played a lot of Sporcle, we caught up, discussed life, the universe and everything.And on Thursday we dispursed for points near and far.
It was hot, yes, but also the most relaxing vacation of our married life.

This is me and THANK YOU Rocketgirl and Floyd!!

Avoiding The Hairy One

What's the phrase; best laid plans of mice and Jane...
Yesterday morning - SUPER early, again - we departed from The Jungle for The Land of Cheese and all of Tarzan's family. ATL was nice enough to drive us to the airport so we didn't have to park the car at the the airport for a week or get up even earlier for the crazy shuttle people. Things were fairly normal with ticketing and security - no one even paused with my electrical taped purse, so score one there - and boarding. It was a lame airline with no food, not even peanuts, so I slept as much as I could, in the middle seat, not next to Tarzan.
We were starting our approach into The Hairy Airport when the pilot came on and told us a thunderstorm had closed all runways for at least an hour. We were low on fuel and because of the MEDICAL EMERGENCY (This was the first I had heard of anything. Apparently a chick fainted and was still dizzy when she got up so they were calling in the EMTs) we were diverting to the airport in FootballTown, just north. Because of the storm, and all the gate closurs, anyone meeting a connecting flight should be in time. We were supposed to have a lengthy layover and then catch a small plane to the small airport nearer to Rocketgirl and Floyd's house.
Hopefully the storm would pass quick, we'd get the sick chick off the plane and get back on schedule quickly.
We landed, the emergency personnel got their client off the plane and we waited for the refueling.
A few people were actully headed for FootballTown so they disembarked.
The pilot came on to say it would be at least another hour before we had any news out of Hairy, so sit tight and have another glass of water.
Tarzan got on the phone with family to see what they thought and before the conversation was done Floyd was on the road to pick us up. (We did not know it was a three hour drive. I am in awe of that man.)
So we disembarked, met up with Floyd, drive back his and Rocketgirl's house and hung out with family while the airport sorted stuff out.
Round about 9:30 local time last night, Tarzan and his father went to get our only checked bag as it had had to make the original scheduled trip. Late, to be sure, but all our stuff was there and I don't think we inconvenienced anyone too much.
Except Floyd.
We'll have to buy him a root beer or four to make it up to him.

This is me and we're here.

Isn't Exactly Gucci...

In preparation for our trip to see Tarzan's family tomorrow - TOMORROW!! - I pulled out my travelling "purse" - which is to say, the slightly undersized duffel bag I use as my 'personal item' on the airplane. I love it because it is roomy, with enough pockets to separate all my stuff - I'm neurotic, I admit it - but when less than jammed full, it doesn't collapse on itself and still looks good.
However, after many moons of use, the handles were starting to fray:
I dislike when one part wears out when the rest of the item still works fine:
So I decided to see if I could fix it. I looked through our many (i.e. two) types of industrial type tapes (duct and electrical) and settled on the electrical for a few reasons:

1. It is strong and flexible
2. It lays flat and smooth
3. I had a lot of it
4. It matched the color of my shoulder bag

What I did was select some lightweight cardboard. Like unto a cereal box and cut two strips per handle: Then I tacked it in place, one piece on either side: And wound the electrical tape around from one end to the other:Voila! Smooth, reinforced, flexible, consistant handle:
This is me, happy to be able to smuggle a small child onto the plane in my bag again.

Spring Break - Tuesday Through Thursday

Vegas Baby!
Tarzan and I had a "free" trip to Vegas planned - meaning we go, we sit through a vacation ownership presentation, they try and get us to buy one and they pay for our hotel - and Spring Break seemed like the perfect time to go:
TUESDAY
As a tribute to Rocketgirl I took a picture of my feet as we started out:I always forget how much Vegas irritates me until I get there. We're spoiled in the Jungle since cigarette smoke is almost completely forbidden where the people are. Vegas allows it nearly all places, including the casino floors which pretty much connect all other spaces - that being the point of Vegas and all - the casinos.There were A LOT of tattoos hanging out in plain sight and lots of nearly naked people. None of which made me comfortable to be there.The hotel was very nice however - we got to stay at The Jockey Club - and right in the middle of The Strip so we didn't have to drive anywhere.
And the weather was perfect.
Our first night we went to the infamous buffet at the Bellagio hotel. So amazing. A tad pricey, true, but they had all-you-can-eat crab legs:Tarzan consumed his fair share. We discovered we like snow crab legs better than king crab legs. Who knew? We tried to sample everything and ate a ton but saved room for the adorable desserts:Check out the tiny little lemon meringue pies:After dinner we walked the beautiful indoor garden which helped clean the cigarette smoke from my brain:The lobby had a gorgeous ceiling array by Dale Chihuly:And another piece in the casino:This was all in the Bellagio. I was a little awed by the scale of all the different hotels. Each a miniature city almost. It was late by this point so, one quick look at the musical fountains out front and we called it a night.
WEDNESDAY
We started out early so we could get a few things for my brother - he's serving his mission not too far away from Las Vegas - and drop off a care package at his mission home before we had to be back to the hotel for our mandatory presentation. It wasn't too bad. I hope this doesn't make us appear to be scamming the system or something but Tarzan and I have been to a significant number of these presentations and the timing has always been such that - like this time - we tell the sales guy that Tarzan just got laid off - always true statements - they feel sympathetic - Tarzan is very charming - and don't push the sale. So we get out fairly easy. We pick up our bonus gifts and the sales people like to discuss the state of education in the world with Tarzan. It's a win-win.
We toured about half of The Strip, finding all sorts of crazy things inside the buildings:Yes, those ARE wooden undies hanging in the window: And a first edition Book of Mormon: Told you it was crazy.
Dinner that night was at Zine, an Asian place we were interested in, and then...
We had tickets to see BLUE MAN GROUP! Tarzan had been waiting for years to see this show so he was way excited: And it was a really good show. Totally random, the percussion was occasionally too loud and the strobes were a bit too much for me, but they were really funny and clever and I even learned some stuff, so it was well worth having to close my eyes for a few of the flashing lights.
THURSDAY
We walked some more of The Strip before we checked out, then hit the road for home:
It's good we left early because traffic was awful nearly all the way, but we made it before the sun set, and despite the fun and the lovely hotel room, it's always nice to sleep in one's own bed.
This is me and Vegas Baby!