Memory Tag

MEMORIES:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory about me, or that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! (hopefully you remember something nice!)

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Haven't Felt THAT In Awhile!

We just had an earthquake a couple hours ago! It was a 5.4 - so nothing too major. But it sure scared the heck out of me! I honestly haven't felt an earthquake in probably like 7 years, so it came as a bit of a shock. At first there was a loud thump, so I thought maybe something out on the patio fell down. But then the office started shaking and I could hear things in the living room rattling. Brother and I looked at each other and ran to the kitchen doorway. As we stood there holding on, all I could think was "Is this going to get worse? Is our building going to collapse?" And then just as soon as it started, it was over. Everything was fine. My bro and I sort of laughed at each other and then I ran to check on Hubby. He had felt it, but thought he was just getting dizzy or something. By the time he even realized what was happening, it was pretty much done.

That's one way to jump-start your day, huh? We turned on the news immediately after the shake and for the past few hours, all they've been talking about is "The Big One". This obviously wasn't it, but when will it be? How much damage will it do? Will we survive?

I don't want to think about that stuff! So I turned off the news and went back to work.

BOOO!

Here we are - all excited on our way to the John Mayer concert last night! Have been looking forward to it for months.


Here we are about an hour later when we couldn't find a single spot on the lawn ANYWHERE. Literally. Not one single space where we could sit together.

First, I hunted down a security guard and asked him "So what do we do when there are no lawn seats left?" He told us he could possibly find something in a crappy location, but we'd have to leave our lawn chairs down by the entrance and hope that they'd still be there when we got done. I was like, "Yeah. That's not going to work for me." We paid $50 a ticket for lawn seats, not seats on the concrete where we couldn't see or even HEAR the music. He suggested we talk to someone in Guest Relations.

The Guest Relations person to told us that we just had to deal with it because it wasn't their fault that people are greedy and take up too much space on the lawn. They suggested we talk to the people at the Box Office. After waiting in line for an hour, the Box Office literally closed in our faces.

We went to the Will-Call window next, and they also told us that there was nothing they could do. They suggested we "purchase SEATS next time instead of sit on the lawn." As if that's the easiest thing in the world to do when its a sold-out show. But they gave me the number to the General Manager. Left that guy a message and haven't heard back.

We ended up giving our tickets to some little girls that were dying to get in and took the long walk back to our car, all the while listening to John in the background and the drunk crowd cheering. Met up with some friends to see Stepbrothers instead and at least got a good laugh with that.

This was literally the worst concert experience I have ever had in my life. Not only did we pay for something that we didn't get to enjoy, but the way we were treated as patrons and guests of the facility was just horrible. I am not a huge complainer, but this was seriously a joke. And nobody cared.

Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, California SUCKS!!!!

Vegas, baby... Vegas

This was the best Vegas trip I have been on since my Bachelorette Party. It was a very different trip, since it was just me and the husband, but we had such a great time. Got there Friday evening and checked into the Excalibur. That's sort of a weird hotel. Its almost like they can't decide what type of place they want to be. On one hand, it seems like a great family-type hotel. And on the other hand, they are still trying to be a cool, hip, party hotel. I think they should pick one thing and stick with it. Its strange to see children walking around while they are blasting 50 Cent in the "Party Pit".

A short while after we checked in, my sis and the adorable nephew met us at the hotel to hang out for awhile. The baby was petrified when he first saw us again. It took him a little while to warm up, but then I got to squeeze him a bit. And once we got him down to the pool, he just had a blast. He splashed and kicked as much as he could. Looked like he was trying to swim away a couple times. That was cute. After that little workout, we went to Rainforest Cafe at the MGM Grand for dinner. One really nice thing about staying at Excalibur was how close it was to everything else. Loved that we could walk everywhere, even though it was like 113 degrees. It was better than trekking to the car and fighting the traffic.

By the time sissy headed out, it was pretty late so we were ready to sleep. The next morning, we went down to the pool for a little while, checked out the spa, had some lunch and gambled, of course! For some reason, I have been getting lucky on the Wheel Of Fortune slot machine. It is usually my downfall because its so addicting, but I won $300 over the last 3 weekends of playing! Very strange. Maybe I should try playing the lotto now? I'm sure I just spoiled my luck by mentioning it, though! Anyway, we took the afternoon to walk around the Strip and check out some of the other hotels. Then headed off to the COLDPLAY CONCERT at MGM.

People, if you EVER have the opportunity to see them live - do it. It was one of the best concerts I have ever been to in my life. I wish the video could do it justice. I saw them last year, so I knew it would be good. This was hubby's first time seeing them. Seriously. Awesome. We even rank them slightly above U2. That's how good it was. So we obviously had a blast there and were very pleased with the way our weekend turned out.

On Sunday, we grabbed breakfast and headed home. Stopped in Primm to say hello to my Mom (she had been in LA this weekend - go figure). Did a little shopping and then sat in rain and traffic for the next 6 hours. (It's normally a 3 1/2 hour drive!) So it may not have been the perfect way to end the perfect weekend, but it was still totally worth it. I'm so happy we took this little trip and spent some much needed quality time together. It was honestly like a 3rd honeymoon. He reminded me of a quote that is hanging at his parents' house: "I love you more today than yesterday, but less than tomorrow". So true.

Bowling Legend

So my brother has been wanting to go bowling ever since he got here, pretty much. He reminds us every week that we should go, and we are always either too busy or too tired to actually do it. But we finally got ourselves there and it was great. I was mostly excited that the shoes and ball sort of matched my outfit. But I also got one of my highest scores (142) and got to practice my victory dance a lot.

At least I have gotten better over the years. When I was about 18, I was out bowling with some friends and of course I had been running my mouth - talking about how great my Mom was at bowling. She was the Amateur Bowler of the Year in her bowling league. She consistently got good scores. She would become a legend in her own right. For sure I would follow in her footsteps and do pretty well! That fateful night, I got a 23. You did not mis-read that. I bet most of you didn't even know it was possible to get a score of 23. But it definitely is. I have done it. I remember being pretty embarrassed and I don't know that I will ever really live that one down! But maybe I'm some kind of legend too - just not the kind you want to be...

Proud To Be An American!

The real pleasure this weekend was celebrating with one of our best friends as he officially became an American citizen! He has been waiting for a long time and his paperwork finally came through. He was sworn in on Friday (along with like 6,000 other people), and he and his fiancee had a Red, White and Blue party on Sunday to commemorate the event. We had the All-American food and fun: from hot dogs to softball and everything in between. Plus we listened (and sang along to) "Proud to Be An American" like 4 times. Polished off the night with some fun on the Wii and of course, apple pie and ice cream.

Congrats buddy!

Executive Retreat

HomeView had its first official Executive Retreat this past weekend. The resort - our friends' timeshare - was BEAUTIFUL. It was way out in the desert, but there were also outlet stores nearby, so you know I couldn't complain. There was a little stormy summer weather, which was nice as well, since all we expected was heat, heat, heat.

We had a good long business meeting and an awesome home-cooked meal along with a little gambling and few good laughs out on the patio. All in all, the best Executive Retreat I've ever been on. Yes, its the only one I've ever been on...

That Wild Hair Got The Best Of Us!

Fourth of July Weekend. Its a time for friends, food and fun. And fireworks. And whatever else you can cram into 3 days. Hubby and I tried desperately to plan a little trip with all the friends to get ourselves out of town for the weekend. But with the short notice and the cost of traveling - one by one they all bailed. Even an email with a guilt-trip didn't change anyone's mind. So we slowly came to terms with the fact that we'd be staying in Burbank for our ultra exciting 3-day weekend.

However, on Thursday evening, my brother and I came to realize that you only have to be 18 to gamble at the Indian Casinos in California. He is 5 months away from turning 21 and has been left out of some of the grown-up activities because of this. So, as my sister-in-law would say, we "got a wild hair up our butts" and decided to drive out to Temecula that night and partake in some fun at the casinos. We made a reservation at a close-by Motel 6, not really knowing anything about the area, and once the husband got home from work, we recruited one more friend and the 4 of us headed out to the desert.

Of course the initial planning and the first 20 minutes of the drive are most exciting. Like "I can't believe we're doing this tonight!" excitement. We made good time and were at Pechanga Resort and Casino by 12:30am. We strutted up to the doors, ready to make our entrance when we see security guards outside checking IDs. No problem - since we are all over 18, right? Well, little did we know that after 11pm, the age limit changes to 21! So now brother can't even get in. Utter disappointment! It was going to be his first time gambling! We just drove 2 hours! It didn't say ANYTHING about that on their website! How could they do this to us?

So we retreated. And almost gave up. But, NO! We did not drive all this way just to go sleep in a crummy, smelly Motel 6! So with the help of Google Text, I made a few more calls to other casinos in the area. And we found ONE that was 18 and over all night long. It was an extra 1/2 hour away, but we decided that it would be totally worth it! So we drove out in the middle of nowhere (literally in the boonies, behind an orange orchard) and found Pauma Casino. And it was...ghetto. To say the least.

But hey, we got to gamble and had some decent luck so we weren't complaining. Sure, there was no glitz or glamour whatsoever. And we smelled like ashtrays within 5 minutes of being there, but we also had a great time. We've been paying for it all weekend since it made us so tired. But if nothing else, it was one of those little adventures you just have to have once in awhile.

The rest of the weekend was spent recuperating - went to see Hancock, grilled up some turkey burgs and hot dogs, watched a few fireworks from our patio, and played the new Guitar Hero. I even took a 2 hour nap today and still can't wait to go to bed. It sure isn't as easy as it used to be to stay out all night and still be OK by Monday morning...