Gifts -- check!

Just got gifts for Deb and Lana.  It's hard to figure out something that says, "hey, thanks for letting us stay at your place during the Olympics!"  After talking it over with Jen, we went with Bucky Badger t-shirts, for a start.  I will probably still send some maple syrup and cheese (umm, the thought of those together is kind of gross...), unless I can come up with something cooler.  Plus, Jen came up with the idea of getting a gift certificate for someplace in Vancouver, which is an excellent idea.  We'll see what we end up with.  It's hard to believe how soon we'll be there!

I've been doing a whole lot of nothing for the past couple of days.  We're having a freezing rain / freezing drizzle / snow / rain weather pattern, and didn't have school on Friday as a result.  So, I've logged lots of couch time, watched a few movies, and am going to tackle my pile of laundry today.

Super Exciting!

I just e-filed my taxes.  I should have my federal return in 8-10 days!  Which is super exciting, since in 21 days, I'll be heading to the Olympics!  Shut up!  I can't believe how fast it's coming up.  On one hand, I am so ready to go!  But on the other, more practical hand, I am TOTALLY not ready.  I haven't thought about what to pack, purchased gifts for Deb (who's letting us stay at her place in downtown Vancouver for FREE), or gotten our stuff ready to ship out.  So much to do!  But with my taxes filed, I should have a little more fun money than I'd planned on to buy some rockin' souveniers.  I'm probably going to have to buy some crap for the kids at school, too.  :)  I sure hope there's some cheesy, cheap stuff that comes in bulk!

Arizona, anyone?

I'm sure they need social studies teachers in Arizona. Right? I am tired of winter and all the crud that goes with it. It's been snowing here since last night. We did not have a late start for school today (only a couple around here did), but we got out at 1:30 due to the crappy conditions. It took me almost 40 minutes to get home (normally about 15 minutes). Yuck! It's still snowing, and the wind is supposed to pick up soon, and blow all of the snow all over the place. Plus, bring wind chills of up to -30. Super.

Odds and Ends

It was an 80 degree difference from the time we left Vegas until the time we got home. And not in a good way. But overall, it was a totally awesome vacation. I came back home on Sunday, and was back at work Monday. All the kids knew I'd been to Vegas, and most of them have seen "The Hangover." (One of the funniest movies, ever!) So, most of the day Monday was filled with me disappointing them with my lack of cool stories:

• no tiger in the bathroom
• no one lost a tooth
• didn't meet Mike Tyson
• no small Asian man in a car trunk
• no one married a stripper
• no one found a baby

LOL! Anyway, this has been a good week to ease back into school. Just regular school days, and no basketball game to work at until tomorrow. Very nice. Plus, there is only one and a half weeks left til the end of the semester! How time is flying....

Friday

Friday morning (or early afternoon, whichever) we went to the Wynn. It was pretty, but the best part about it was that there were no strollers allowed! People: Do NOT bring your kids to Vegas! It is for adults! How hard is that to figure out?

When I am in charge of Vegas, no children will be let in. Also, no leggings with sweater dresses. It's not the 80s for the crap sakes!

We went to dinner that night at Toby Keith's restaurant. I had beer batter shrimp that were bigger than my head.

We are so cute in pink!

Here's why I should really love IP -- I won again Friday night! On this machine, I hit some weird wild thing that made a penguin pop up in each spot that made the spot wild. And, I guess the polar bears were a big deal, since I won over $100 -- on a penny machine! Hooray!

I was not the big winner of the evening, though. Bobber played video poker and got a royal flush. Shut up! That was so cool...

The IP has "dealertainers" -- impersonators who, when they aren't performing, deal cards. We saw Beyonce first, then the Blues Brothers. Not bad.

But Michael drew the biggest crowd. Of course! He did "Man in the Mirror" first, and then an encore: "Beat it!" Maybe because Jen and I screamed it...

BTW, Jen, you owe me HUGE for not putting my videos up on the blog. You tube, anyone?

New Year's Eve

We went to the end of the strip that in my head is north, but on a map is south. Go figure. Anyhoo, we were by NY, NY and Luxor and MGM. It was a gorgeous, sunny day. Love that on December 31!

I am going to be a professional photographer in my next life.

NY, NY. No rollercoaster ride this year.

We made our way back down the strip to past Paris. We hit the Imperial Palace, one of Mikki's favorites. Now it's one of mine, too! I sat at the bar to get a beer, put $20 in the video poker game, played a bit, then hit 4 Aces!!! Yee-haw!

Finally figured out the timer on the camera. I'm SO not putting up the first attempt...

64 oz. of Bud Light makes any NYE special...

It was crowded on the strip! We were straight out from Paris in the middle of the Strip. People everywhere, but it was fun. The fireworks were ok, but awfully smoky. Once that was finished, CHAOS! Trying to cross the street to get back to the hotel was unreal. It seemed like every single person was trying to get through the blockade to Paris. It was a real mob. We finally made it through, though.

Wednesday Night

After the Palms, we headed back to the strip and checked out the conservatory at the Bellagio. It was all decked out for Christmas and looked awesome.

There were 12,000 LED lights on this tree! No, I didn't count. I read the sign.

Jen's being the bear!

Big Balls!

We spent the evening at Ellis Island -- one of my favorite places! Kind of a dive, but the cocktail waitresses come around A LOT!