I just wanted him to look at it.

Well, my husband just doesn't get it.
MEN don't get it.
He has been looking for a new car.
His old one is shot. It is 17 years old and a mess.
Mechanically it was okay but otherwise, it was shot and well overdue in need of replacing.
I wanted him to LOOK around at other vehicles.
Go to a few dealers.
Shop around and see what was out there, what he might like, what his options were.
Okay....no problem, right?

So a couple of days ago, we went to lunch and I happened to see a really nice looking dark blue GMC Yukon at a dealership on the way to lunch.'
The price was in the ball park.
So I mentioned it to hubby.
I said it looks really nice, it's a BIG vehicle.
Let's go look at it.

He said okay, even though it wasn't what he had in mind/
He'd go look.
well, he looked at it.
And he drove it.
And he decided (without me pushing him in any way) that he really liked it.

Then we went home without making any kind of a commitment and I hoped he would look around some more.
Well, when we go home, he got on the computer and he found another GMC Yukon, same year and $1000 less at another dealership across town.

So he called about it, and OFF we go.'
He looked at this second one.
It was in much better shape than the first one.
It had 30,000 fewer miles.
And it was $1000 less.

So off he went.
He took it to our mechanic.
The mechanic said it was in fine shape and a very nice vehicle.
And then next thing I know, hubby is calling me to tell me he's at the bank.
I tried to talk him out of it, expressing my reluctance since even though It was a VERY nice vehicle, it was a lot of $$$$ and maybe he should just LOOK a little more.

Apparently that is a concept that is totally foreign to him (and to most men, I must add.)

Guess what??

The truck (yes, it IS a truck and it is HUGE) is in our driveway.

it is very nice, it drives very nicely and it is roomy and comfortable.
He likes it.

I HOPE it turns out to be a good car because.....it's ours now/

People will NOT take you seriously if you are wearing tie-dye.

Okay, I admit it, I did it, knowing full well that no one I spoke to today would take me seriously.
Last week I bought a tie-dye shirt.
I don't know why.
I did not come to my senses.
I was in a really good mood.
I liked the bright colors.
So I bought it.
and I wore it today.
With some faded jeans.
I wore a denim vest over it, thinking that would cover up and tone down the colors a bit.
I liked it.
But tie-dye apparently makes people ask you inane, stupid things like "Did you make that yourself?" or "Gee, were you a hippie?"
It doesn't make YOU stupid.
It makes other people stupid.
Maybe it's the bright colors.
I don't know.
Maybe they are just idiots anyway.

What a week in Vegas

Well, I must admit, I had WONDERFUL time in Vegas.
It was a really fun trip and I would do it again next week if I could.

I Left Charlotte on Monday at 4:00, flew into DFW and then on to Vegas.
The flights were quiet and smooth (I do NOT like to fly) and uneventful.
When I got to Circus Circus it was exactly the same as it has always been.
Very little has changed, even in the 30+ years the place has been there.
It was actually kinda like coming home for me.

I was EXHAUSTED after my flight and the time change totally messed me up. I literally stayed up all night but I had enough sense to not try and gamble. My judgement was not the best and I knew gambling was not a good idea.
I finally collapsed (literally, I think I just passed out.) in my room, in my clothes and woke up at 6 a.m.. Before I even got a shower, I went downstairs and brought two large cups of coffee back up to my room.
The coffee helped A LOT. I finally made it downstairs again and went to the Pink Pony.
I had their signature dish Huevos Rancheros (eggs with chilies and salsa and cheese and refried beans.). It was every bit as delicious as I remembered. AND it really helped to not get tanked up on caffeine and sugar. A big solid breakfast turned out to be a good idea.
The gambling was fun. I played slots and a little roulette (I LOVE to play roulette). I tried not to get carried away but I did gamble the whole time I was there and I enjoyed it.
I went down to the strip. It was a PAIN you-know-where getting there but I went. There is just so much construction and it was a long, hot difficult walk. I got as far as Treasure Island and gave up on going any further.
I also went to the Stratosphere but the walk there was perfectly awful and frankly a little scary. It's north of Circus Circus and unfortunately in a VERY run-down, dirty, seedy part of town. I felt bad for people who were real tourists staying there because they were at a beautiful hotel in and awful part of town (I'm talking hookers on the corners, abandoned burned out old casinos, tacky tattoo place). And the people tho hotel were not particularly friendly. I like to watch roulette and when I tried to just stand there and watch for a little while the croupier ran me off. I didn't like that.
It was not a fun place and I felt bad for people who were staying there.

I came back to Circus Circus and just kinda hung out and did my own thing. I actually enjoyed being by myself because I could stay on my own schedule and do whatever I wanted to when I wanted to. I never really got off of our local time but it worked fine for me (things go on 24/7 in Vegas so it doesn't really matter when you want something).

The trip back was fine. The flight from Vegas to DFW had a little excitement. A woman on the plane started having chest pains and shortness of breath. The asked if there was a doctor, a nurse or a paramedic on board. The woman sitting next to me was a SICU nurse and a doctor came back from the first class cabin (of course). They pulled out all the medical equipment but she was okay and they took her off the plane in a wheelchair in Dallas. The flight itself was very smooth.

The last leg of the flight home from DFW to Charlotte was NOISY. I was sitting back in the hell hole right next to the engine on a 727. Damn it was loud and I could hear every minute change in the engine noise. But we got back safely so that's all that mattered/

Cousin Suzie was right there to pick me up at the curb. We had a nice ride back. I was kinda hungry (all I had all day was a Krispy Kreme donut, coffee a bag of chips and a $3 bottle of Gatorade. Was stopped at a Waffle House on the way back. What better place to stop when you are hungry and exhausted?

The trip was GREAT. I must admit, I really enjoyed myself. I talked to strangers, I had coffee with people, I got to see places that were blasts from the past for me. And EVERYTHING went off without a hitch. EVERYTHING....my flights, my hotel reservations, my airport shuttle.

It was sure fun and I am glad I went.

I would do it again in a second.

The only things I'm sorry I didn't do?
I'm sorry I didn't bring a hat for Cousin Suzie/
I'm sorry I didn't go to see the Titanic exhibit at the Luxor/
And I'm sorry I didn't go to Cirque du Soleil at Treasure Island.

Other than those three things, it was a wonderful fun trip and it was sooo good to get OUT of this town!

Why did I eat that??????

Ugh.
Did you ever immediately regret something that you ate?
Ugh.
You knew the very second you finished it was a mistake and you wished you never ate it?
Ugh.
Ugh.
I do that practically every night at dinner.
I don't really want dinner.
I am not usually very hungry.
I would be happy with a bowl of cereal.
And I usually am sorry after I scarf down whatever I have for dinner.
That's it for me.
Ugh.
I need an Alka Seltzer.
I hate myself. '
And I hate what I just had for "dinner".
I have to STOP doing that.
UGH UGH UGH

How do you deal with this?

Well...here's a toughie.
A friend of mine witnessed her elderly next-door neighbor being murdered in his own front yard last week.
Without going into too much detail, it was frightening and devastating for her.
The guy who did it then killed himself. It was a domestic issue thing....family problems.
It has been very, very difficult for her but I think she is handling it pretty darn well, considering the circumstances.
Wow....scary.
It just goes to show that you NEVER know what is going to happen.
Wow. Let's all take a deep breath and try to get on with our lives.
You just don't know. It's just that simple.

Thank you for cutting my hair too short.

Okay.... I finally made it to get my hair cut yesterday only to find out that the woman who I really liked had moved to Augusta to manage her own place.
Grrrrrrr. Good for her, not so good for me.
I let another new woman cut my hair and she chopped it a whole lot shorter that I really wanted it and it's going to look terrible for a couple of weeks.
If it grows in and looks good, I won't be upset but right now I am not a happy camper, despite what my screen name says.
But after a bad haircut, the rest of the day went really well.
I drove out to our metro airport to talk to the TSA agents.
It has been about 12 years since I have flown anywhere and I just wanted to be sure of a few things....like whether or not my bag would be okay to carry on (it was the right size) and what things I could take with me like knives, batteries, flashlights, contact lens solution. And how do I get my seat assignment? When do I have to be at the airport? What papers do I need?
They were all very nice and helpful. They answered all my questions and I am feeling MUCH more confident about flying out to Vegas next week.
It was a long drive out there and I was very surprised at how much our little metro airport has changed but I'm glad I went.
After that, I stopped and bought a new messenger bag for myself. I needed a new purse anyway and this will do fine. It's a little bigger than I wanted for every day use but the price was right and I will be able to take it on the plane with me. I like it.
That was it. I stopped at the Goodwill store on the way back and had another run in with finding a large amount of $$$$ that someone had dropped.It's a long story and I won't go into the details here but let's just say the odds of this same thing happening twice to me are pretty astronomical and it did. Again/. Yesterday.
I bought a few things that I think will be useful, I had a good lunch and a helpful trip to the airport. The only bad thing that happened was I got my hair cut too short and that will grow in.

Playing Golf in the Rain...

Okay...yesterday was kinda weird.
It had rained all night long and I was pretty ambivalent about trying to play golf in the evening. But my new golf pal called and wanted to play. Reluctantly, I said okay, thinking that I really should show up for "Ladies" golf night. (No ladies ever actually show up for Ladies' golf.
Well, the wheels fell off and it got very strange.
We got out there (there were 3 of us)...me, my new golf pal, who is a real beginner, and one of the ladies who works at the club. She can actually hit a golf ball but her heart really isn't in it. She was playing in flip-flops and using an old set of clubs that she found in the back of the pro shop.
That was fine. And my new golf pal's hubby was supposed to show up after work. But he didn't exactly qualify for Ladies' night and I don't really think golf pal wanted him to play along with us.
So we got started.
The course was under water and it was miserable playing.
Golf Pal was whacking the ball ten feet at a time and Flip-flop lady was doing okay. Hubby showed up and asked if he could join us. I said it was fine with me but I don't think it was fine with his wife (golf pal).
Well, we got around four holes. The fairways had huge puddles, there were mosquitoes as big as eagles, and it was generally unpleasant and not much fun.
When we got to the end of the fourth hole, Golf Pal suddenly just took her clubs and left. I don't know why. She didn't say anything to us. She just left. I don't know if she had words with hubby or what but she took her clubs and left, heading for the clubhouse. Bye Golf Pal.
Then Golf Pal's hubby spied a little beagle dog who has been running loose on the golf course for several weeks now. He wanted to catch the little dog and take it home so he got distracted with that and eventually, he got his hands on the dog and the next thing I know, he is gone, carrying the dog up to his car so he could take it home.
Okay,,,,,,so I am left out there on a soaking wet miserable golf course with Flip-flop lady. No problem. So we played another little par 3 hole. Not so bad. We had 3 holes left. Well, after the little par 3 hole, Flip-flop lady looks at me and says, I gotta go to the bathroom so I'm going to quit now." And off she goes up the hill to the club house in her golf cart. Bye bye, Flip-flop lady.
There I was. I was left out there all by myself in the middle of a rain soaked golf course (just me and the mosquitoes).
I kinda looked around. "Hey! Where did everybody go????"
And I decided well screw it, I am out here, I am just gonna finish playing.
I played the rest of the holes and I came back up the hill to the club house.
Flip-flop lady was still there, locking up the pro shop.(she works there).
Golf pal was still there (I don't know why..just hanging out I guess).
And she said to me "Call me in the morning, we'll play tomorrow.."
(Uuuuuhhhhh. Huh?? What?? (I said "No I couldn't.")
And her hubby had gone home with his new dog.
It was VERY odd and very surreal.
**********************************************
Hmmmmmmm.
Note to self:(Things I learned)
1)Ladies golf night is a fiasco out there.
2)There is no adult leadership.
3)Playing on a rain soaked golf course is NOT fun.
********************************************

Sick of the Swine Flu Already!!!

IF THERE WAS A MUCH SWINE FLU AS THERE IS MEDIA COVERAGE ABOUT IT, WE WOULD REALLY HAVE SOMETHING TO WORRY ABOUT.