Vegas-Sister Style

Just got back from a long weekend in Vegas. Well, actually, Henderson, which is much better than staying in Vegas, if you ask me. I like going to Vegas, and walking on the strip, but Vegas is, well, Vegas-big, overdone, and kind of loud. Not to mention bordering on tacky at times. But you have to admit, it is impressive.

I left from MSP, on a nice sunny day-

There’s Minneapolis, through the haze. I went to Borealis first, to pick up some yarn for my Skacel KAL, but they didn’t have what I wanted. So I got to the airport kind of early, and passed the time texting Martha, to see where she was.

I remembered why I don’t fly in the middle of the day-there are a LOT of people flying then. It’s not like this-

which is how I prefer my airport experience.

When I got on the plane, I saw this on the engine, and I liked it

The Power of Flight. (cfm made the engines, and if you like, you can order apparel from them that says this very thing)

The plains are still flat and cold, and my window was really dirty. I was wondering if Sun Country had no pride in the cleanliness of their aircraft. (Oops I just remembered a really dirty window picture I posted last year or so-but I am not an airline and can be excused) I suppose washing the jet is not like taking  your plane through the car wash or something. Although…..

I suppose if you have to do a whole jet like this, well, no wonder the windows were dirty. I think it should be more like this.

OK, I seriously just googled washing a jet airplane for 20 minutes. It is no wonder this blog takes so long to put up.

Back to the story……

Martha and I flew in to Vegas about the same time on Thursday, and Debbie followed a couple of hours later.  We went to our Holiday Inn Express in Henderson, which we very much liked.

Front view

 

Our view out the back

That is Sunset Station-a big casino hotel in Henderson-and a super landmark for us.

Martha and I shared one room, and Debbie had the king with the couch, which we hung out on during our down time-which really wasn’t much at all.

Because we were busy people.

Friday, up and at ‘em! We went to the Hoover Dam.

Pretty wild place. You walk around on this very high bridge, while crossing from Nevada to Arizona, which Debbie and I did. (Martha did too, but she missed our group shot!)

It was pretty windy, as you can see from our blowy hair.

It gave me a bit of the vertigo to look down on the dam. And we never figured out how those cars get down there (you have to click to make the picture bigger to see the trucks down by the water)

After hanging on the bridge

we drove down to the dam

and we saw the giant spillway where the water spills-if the water ever gets back to where it should be

The Hoover Dam is one big thing.

Yikes.

We went to the gift shop and all around, and I saw this bronze guy, with wings. I forget what he is supposed to be, but I thought the guy feeling his toes was kind of funny.

The power lines are all leaning over the edge of the cliffs, which is a little disturbing when you look at them

Hmm.

Nextly, we went shopping. We had to drive through the strip a little to get the to yarn stores we were seeking.

Martha did a fab job whilst Debbie navigated on her phone and I navigated on the Garmin. (I seriously HAVE to get one-actually, it’s Dave who should have one. I swear, if the bus didn’t take him to work he’d likely forget the way-but I digress)

That pyramid is the Luxor, and a big honkin’ beam of light comes out the top which, according to local legend, can be seen from space. I would not doubt it.

 

Vegas. Jeez.

We went to Gail’s knits

Then we went to Wooly Wonders. Martha bought some marathon Christmas sock yarn.

I think like this.

We then went on to The Fashion Show Mall. Holy Sweet Jesus. I had to shop, I just had to.

I didn’t see any Fashion shows though. I did see a Nordstrom-my kryptonite. I only bought a shirt and sweater. I was good. I wasn’t so good at Coldwater Creek, which was having a humongous sale and I went there twice-once to get hooked and think about it,  and then back on Saturday to buy the clothes. I have to say, I got some great deals, including a free pair of dress pants and 30 dollars off 100-and more. Sigh.

What I was really looking for was a purse and boots-I didn’t get either this day.

We had a little snack at the Nordstrom Cafe and continued to work up our appetite so we could stuff ourselves at the Bellagio buffet, where we met up with Cody.

Yummmmm and delicious. Go to the link. I wish I had pictures of all the food. It would feed a small 3rd world nation.

We walked back along the strip, through the Fashion Show mall, again, and back to the hotel to veg out, digest, and watch Fringe.

Saturday we walked to the giant quilt store-

Really, a nice big bright place. I finally got a Serger book, Martha went in half for my birthday. Debbie looked at the cutting machine and Martha ordered a pattern. Debbie got a Christmas napkin pattern too.

Oh, I almost forgot-I gave Debbie her mini-schlep birthday bag with presents for her birthday, and she gave me a present bag too with a jelly roll of Moda and a really cool notion, a needle puller. I just realized I don’t have any pictures. Dang.

We went over to see Cody’s apartment and his school after we got back from the Quilt store.

 

Sisters made Cody dress up in his dr. costume, and we all took pictures

And this one of us

And I got a nice shot of Betty

We had lunch, and then Debbie had to leave, because she was flying out Sunday to Washington DC. Martha and I dropped her off and I finished my shopping spree at Coldwater (which I mentioned before….). We also stopped at Wal Mart (I know, neither of us liked it, but we didn’t find the Target until Sunday) and got Cody a crock pot, and some bean fixins to make dinner for Sunday night.

We got back and walked out to get dinner. Friday and Saturday, according to Martha’s fancy pedometer, we walked 7 miles Friday, and 7 Saturday. I have to say, I believe it. I know I slept really well.

Sunday we were up early to walk to the Galleria (I was still looking for boots). We were too early for all the stores, so we stopped at Starbucks (they are EVERYWHERE!). Once the stores opened, we did some browsing and stopped by the bookstore to get Cody this book

Perfect for a busy student like him.

We got back, checked out and then went over to hang with Cody. We went here for lunch-

Yogurtland. Holy Cow. When are they coming to MN? You can fool yourself into thinking you are having a healthy yogurt snack. But really….how can you argue with delicious soft yogurty goodness? You cannot.

It deserved two pictures.

We shopped for my boots, which I didn’t find. I did find these though-

Actually, Cody bought them for me. He loves shoes. Not women’s shoes-He was gazing on some men's shoes he thinks he’ll buy, since he is expecting a gift certificate for being a member of DSW-and he got points buying my shoes. They are my dressy shoes, and now I don’t have to hem my two new pairs of dress pants-sweet!

I also got a little purse

-but I have to figure out how to carry all my other stuff around. I hate carrying all my cameras and crap when shopping, but I have to have them for the blog. I am working on a new system.

So for the rest of the afternoon we sat on Cody’s recliner couch watching season 3 of Psych. Cody went to study, but returned for delicious crock pot dinner. I took some pics of Cody’s view

Martha left at 6ish, to return the car, Cody went to study, came back, and delivered me to the airport at 9:15ish for my 11:55 flight, only to find that it was now 12:45 AND maybe not going at all. Thanks Mother Nature.

So I passed the time by taking pictures of my reflection-

Can you see me?

And taking pictures of the slot machines-in the airport.

I took a little nap for a while, and we finally left LAS about 1:45 or so. We got into MSP at 7:00, only a couple of hours late. I hit the road about 7:30 and got home, in the snow, around 10. It was a bit of slow going, and I had to stop at the car wash. (That dirty jet really got me thinking-besides the fact I had to stop on the way to Mpls and wipe the salt off the rearview mirror….)

So, all in all, a really fun trip, even better than I had imagined. I can’t wait to do it again.

Now, back to real life.

 

“There must be some way out of here……

said the joker to the thief

There’s too much confusion-I can’t get no relief”

And so the week ends. I was busy all week long, and last night, when I planned to do this, I fell asleep on the couch at 7:30, went to bed at 8:30 and was asleep (again) by 9. This living certainly takes it’s toll.

So, where did I leave off? Ahh yes, remember the Packers were Superbowl bound? Well, now they are Superbowl champs

GO PACK GO!!!!

There was a lot of Rodgers love flowing around here. But of course, the defense has to be mentioned-seriously, if it weren’t for the interceptions, well-it certainly could have been different. ‘Cause God knows offensively they had some difficulty catching the ball. That’s ok, Jordy Nelson doesn't read my blog.

And check out the celebration at Lambeau

That’s a lot of cheese.

On the home front, I did finish my Center of Attention socks

They are my first toe up, two at a time, magic loop socks. The trifecta of socks.

I attended the  Superbowl Sunday 6th annual mystery quilt. I think it’s 6. Anyway, there were 6 of us-it was perfect. Really it was.

Our fearless leaders-Marcia and Suzie. Aren’t they cute? They needed a whole table (well, actually Marcia is kinda noted for needing a whole table, but that’s another blog post)

Here are a few blocks by the other girls

Here’s mine-almost all stash but I did buy 6 fats for the centers

I also cut the center block an 8th of an inch short. So I had to make adjustments and the points are slightly off. Oh well.

And this is the finished quilt-

Wheeeee!

This week was Patrick’s last week before he moves to the school nursing portion of public health. So Morgan came to help decorate his cubicle. My camera won’t take a clear picture if there is any movement at all, so this is the best I could do. She is still pretty cute. I have Chase on my phone, but he isn’t very clear and I haven’t uploaded him yet. Next week.

There were quite a few folks there and this is what they did

That is Saran wrap around the chair, computer, phone etc.

This is what Patrick said…

Ha!

Lastly, Cody, for his own birthday I guess, bought a new car.

Back in the day I had this car-

Datsun 240 Z

Cody now has this

Nissan 350 Z.

What can I say? He is driving his mother’s reincarnated car. I’m sure he doesn’t see it quite that way.

Cody was also 5th in his class in medical school. He got to have lunch with the dean of students. Now he feels like he has to keep it up-and he has 4 years to go. Congratulations and happy birthday to Cody, the boy wonder.

 

There-I have blogged. Phew! That was close. Next week-

Vegas with the sisters!

Weather Picture

Hey-know what I just realized? The weather picture that I posted a last week updates itself. Seriously. It is linked to the website. So there is no blue covering the state. I was not crazy when I posted that. But I am a little disappointed that you can't see the wonderous weather map that was our snow event.

I guess I just don't understand what goes on in the blogosphere.

I am down to 19 minutes on the HIV/AIDS web course. Phew. More later. For fun, you can click on the website and see our temperature is -3. I don't have to click on anything, I can just walk out the door.

Thank you for your patience

Hey-the blog is coming. I just have to finish up an HIV/AIDS course that I have to do. I don’t have much left. Then I promise, by tomorrow, I will have the blog up.

Really.

Welcome February

Today is the last day of January. There is an hour more of light than the beginning of January, which I like very much.

Today is what they call a “snow event”. It looks like this

KTTC weather

That blue is lots of snow. We are, right now, is that little part that is lighter, slightly east of Rochester, but I am not going to get used to it, because it still means it’s snowing. It’s just brighter. Last month, every snow day was on a weekend, but January has been mostly weekdays, like Monday when I am off to shovel by myself.

Saturday I attempted a return of the now unwanted engagement ring and was told, by Rogers and Holland's that the diamond, which they said was worth over 3000 dollars is now worth 520. Livid does not begin to describe it. So I have to get the thing appraised and then continue on my war against the chain store jewelers. I feel especially bad because Cody originally wanted to go to a private jeweler, but I told him that R&H always provided good service and had a good selection. Little did I know they just rip you off. But I should know. My friend told me to just keep the diamond and Cody could use it for something else someday. But I don’t know. I wrote to the corporate office about this, and they are likely laughing about it over the water cooler. I am posting everyday on Facebook and Twitter about it too.

I guess what makes me sad is that it seems to me more and more that everyone is so concerned about making a buck, they lie and cheat to make a profit. I don’t see it. Oh, I understand mark up and retail vs wholesale, and everyone has to make a living, but a $3000 mark up? Really? And if they bought that diamond back for $520 dollars, they would have sold it to the next person for another $3500. Total profit of, what, 6000 dollars? How much do people need? And why can’t they just honestly take it back? Oh well. Enough of that.

I attended a birthday party for Chase. He is now two.

First of all, here’s the cake. Which was delicious, by the way.

Here’s Ali and Chase

They had the party at an indoor playground which was fantastic. The best part was Laura playing and riding on all the toys. Sadly, I didn’t get a picture of that, for which I am still kicking myself.

Chase had a good time, and when all the presents were said and done, played with the Styrofoam popcorn.

Diva was there too-

She’s my girl with the cake. She had her two year pictures taken-she loves the camera. Gosh.

Here she is at 6 months-back in the day

And here’s Chase, back in the day. Wow. Time is flying by.

I finished the Schlep bag, after doing everything wrong I possibly could. And it’s a super easy pattern.

I didn’t like working with the oilcloth all that much. This is the inside lining-the farm theme.

 

The upside down cows are the pocket.

Next weekend is knitting and Superbowl Sunday mystery, which I have to get going on because there is homework.

February-here we come!

Superbowl

Well, as everyone knows by now, unless you live in a cave somewhere,  the Packers won the NFC championship and are headed to Dallas and the Superbowl. We barely survived the game, and am not sure what will happen in a couple of weeks. I believe the last time the Steelers went to the Superbowl it was against Seattle, and we all know how that turned out. Hopefully the refs have gotten better since then. Yeah, you know what I’m talkin’ about.

I have my annual Superbowl Sunday Mystery Quilt in Decorah that day. We have been doing that for 5 years now? Could it be? I live for my SB Sunday Mystery Quilt day. It calms the nerves, especially for a game like this.

Otherwise, it has been a slow week. I am working hard on my Skacel KAL and am actually on track with it. Am on part 4 this week, which is the week of part 4. Amazing.

I turned the heel with short rows.

See-there’s a heel. So I actually made a whole sock on Magic Loop. Well, I have almost made a whole sock on Magic loop. I need to figure out the cast on though.

I finished this up last week. It is a Thimbleberries from a couple of years ago. I was so frustrated by this kit that I opened the other kits and just put the fabric in the stash. I refuse to do any more. The problem is there is not the right amount of fabric in the kits. And you have to cut exactly right or you will run out. Even if you don’t cut exactly right you will run out. Fuhget about it!

Sorry about the wrinkles. It has been folded up for a week while I am figuring out the back.

Next I am going to put the trees on this one and finish it up. It is supposed to have a bunch of pin wheels, and I  say “fuhget about it “ to those things too. I think the trees will complete it nicely.

See-that pinwheel in the lower L corner? Yeah, not making any more of those. I do like the mountains though. I put that little deer on there-it was from something else. Maybe I’ll hide him in the trees.

I found this on the floor today

It’s garbage. Funny thing is I have no idea where it came from. I think it came out of a bag that is tacked to the table, but the bag was still up on the table, so that means that Jack one of the cats went to the trouble of reaching up into said bag and picked out and removed the garbage of their choice. Weird.

I decided that since I didn’t have many pictures I’d get down and do a Beta cam. Beta did not think it was a great idea, and was a bit puzzled by the whole thing-like what was I doing laying on the floor pointing the camera at him.

That’s the best he could do. Because then he did this.

Enough is really enough.

I have been trying to up load a video of Jack. I am now uploading to Flickr to see if I can actually get it on the blog. Jeepers but they make it difficult sometimes.

This is a video-lets see if it works on the blog……It actually does work, but you have to click on it. Try it.

Off to sew and knit.