Oops, I missed something...

Ever have those months (or years) where things go by so quickly you don't even have time to wash your clothes in between, let alone blog about it? Yeah, that's been my December and January. Today I am washing shirts that came home in the luggage from Vegas. I think this means I haven't done the shirt laundry for a month. Socks, underwear and jeans I am not so picky about so they got done a few times in between. On the bright side, this tells me I have plenty of clothes. On the down side, I was missing my favorite shirts as they were at the very bottom of the laundry pile.

So, where were we? Oh yeah, I missed a couple of big deals on this blog. I was too busy out living them to sit down and write about them. Technically, I didn't miss them.

My dad celebrated his 80th birthday on December 21st! I was very lucky to be able to fly to where my parents live and celebrate with the rest of my family in person. The way I see it, my dad will only turn 80 once (I on the other hand, plan on turning 42 a number of times).My father's family. Rosie, Alice, his father Christ, his mother Katherine, and in the front row, his twin brother Ed (on the left) and my dad Ted (on the right). Ted & Ed are around 8 years old.

Slow forward 72 years and here are Ed & Ted on their birthday:
The day started off with breakfast with the extended family of aunts, uncles and great aunts, and peaked with an open house at the senior center where more relatives and friends dropped in for cake and coffee. You know, one of those days where it all becomes a blur of faces and hugs and impossible to remember all that went on. I got so busy, I forgot to get my camera out. Luckily my brother Scott took many photos.

Then everyone left. It was a Monday. People had jobs to return to and Christmas was just around the corner. Since I had flown in, I made the plan to stay until the next day. That night my parents took me on a driving tour of the county to see all the Christmas lights. (You'd never know it from this blog, but I kinda enjoy Christmas decorations.) We toured our way to a small town called Everson and went for German food to celebrate my dad's birthday.
With the word "schnitzel" in the title of the restaurant, I knew I'd have to have some. Though I come from hearty German heritage, somehow I had NEVER had schnitzel before in my life. I only know about it from the song in the Sound of Music, "Raindrops on roses, and schnitzel with noodles..." I ordered the schnitzel with noodles.

It's pork. It's covered in sauce. It's delicious.
I know, the photos doesn't look all that appetizing, but trust me, I would eat some RIGHT NOW. (and you know what a food snob I am.) The portions are huge, I took half home.

Since it was my dad's special day, we HAD to get dessert. Apple strudel with ice cream and a sparkler.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY (again) DAD!

I flew home the next day, and suddenly, it was Christmas.
Our friend Erica and the Buche de Noël from our favorite neighborhood French Bakery Maison du Pain. I'm sure you can tell from her expression, why she and I get along so famously.

Christmas nibbles for a casual cocktail party.

Nutcracker, candy, cookies and assorted delightful decor displayed on the bar in the dining room.

That's some of what "got away" from me in December. Oh sure there was that trip to Puerto Rico, New Year's with friends, decorations, undecorating... oh my head... stop, stop, STOP! I can't remember anymore. It's all going blurry...

PS, you're beautiful.

After a week of rain, here's the view I woke up to in Palm Springs.

Oh hello, I didn't see you sitting over there...

It's raining. In Los Angeles. If you live anywhere else you probably don't get what a huge ordeal this is. Rain in LA is like snow in Seattle, or a hurricane in Manhattan. Yes, you know it could happen. You know it has happened in the past. But it doesn't happen often enough for people to just get over it and get on with their lives. Unlike rain in Seattle or snow in Chicago it's a BIG DEAL when it rains in Los Angeles.

We had to hurry up and put in ten bags of gravel in the far back yard for the dogs to use as their potty. If not they'd have come in with complete mud boots instead of just slightly wet mucky boots. We need to monitor the water level of the turtle pond, too close to the top and he'll climb out. Chair cushions go in the garage. Take down the outdoor pavilion drapes, put away your suede shoes! People, did you see what happened to those gorgeous gowns at the Golden Globes? THIS IS THE WATER-APOCALYPSE!

Or perhaps it's no big deal.

This blog has been a little quiet. We went to Vegas the first week of January. True to form every single person who went for the week came home with some form of the "Vegas Crud". The ugly beauty is, every single person returned to far flung corners of the nation returning home to share their "Vegas Crud" with their neighbors. I believe when the next plague begins it will roll straight out of Vegas.

Not me though. I had a sore throat, I fought back. Every day in Vegas I took a Claratin and and Airborne vitamin-C fizzy. I continued my program when I got home. The crud hit me but I deflected, only a minor flesh wound. Lyle got hit much worse. He gave in on day two and just announced, "I'm sick," and that was that. The crud keeps trying to get me. After announcing I had dodged the bullet, last night I got all nasal drippy. Back to my regime this morning, I WILL NOT GIVE IN.

As for the quietness over here, I've been tired. You can't give 123% of yourself for 8 days in a row and not be drained when you get home. Who am I kidding? I gave 150% the first day, 110% the second day. 243% the third day and by the end of the week I was phoning it in with only 60% left in my fuel tank. I forgot it's a marathon and I kept sprinting. Sometimes literally running through the Palms hotel to get where I needed to be.

I tell my fellow bloggers to only blog when they are inspired. If you blog because you "have to" then it becomes a job. A poor paying job at that. I've been uninspired this week so I took the week off.

We are home. We are alive. We are wet. I am uninspired, but I'll be back shortly.

Vegas in three photos

Matt Goss performing in "the Gossy Room".

Future Hermés store at City Center.

Calendar signing at the convention.

Sunrise, Sunset

Except I kinda got it bacwards... Sunset, sky villa, sunrise. That's what ya get for making friends in Vegas.

In case of fire, take this first!

Just picked up my new most cherished possesion in the world!

My Vegas boyfriend, Trent Parks, has hooked me up with my very own SIGNED KYLIE MINOGUE poster!

For those in the know of my unending love for Kylie and the two performances I saw of her US tour last October, yes, I peed my pants just a little when I got this.

Viva Las Venice!

Scenes from Vegas:
Me in front if the Venetian Hotel
Queso Fundido with Goat cheese at Mesa Grill
Coconut cake at Mesa Grill.

Good Morning Las Vegas

Work stuff

The Palms Casino entryway, poker tables and check in desk features all the work we did in September.

Viva Las Vegas

We never get to play tourist but tonight, we drove in via the Strip,
just for fun.