30 is the New 18

Well my birthday has come and gone... I am another year older and for some odd reason I feel like 30 is the new 18. I feel like I am an adult all over again.

As I mentioned in my last post we went to Las Vegas and had one hell of a time. We went with two couple friends of ours and it was a blast! Every night we were in Vegas we went to see a show.

The first night we were there we saw Le Reve at the Wynn Casino. We were running late leaving our casino so we ended up having to take a hired limo. The dude was really nice and gave us a great deal. I was really excited to see this show as I love the Cirque de Soleil. We had some complications getting our tickets before the show with our reservation which started the night off on a bad foot. The whole time during the show I was pissy about what happened and knew I had to take care of our dinner reservations... But the show was very confusing. The story line was rather confusing and I couldn't figure it out. At first it seemed like heaven and hell... Then there were ballroom dancers followed by 4 men in white suits. Just weird. After the show we ate at the Wynn Buffet. It was excellent. The food was delicious. It was on the pricey side, but worth it.

The second night we were there we saw Blue Man Group and it was a wonderful show. We saw the late show at 10PM which was 1AM back home. I was rather tired and drunk and was having a hard time staying up until the show really started to get moving. The comedy was funny and the stuff they did was pretty neat. Hands down better than Le Reve. Before the show we ate at Canaletto at the Venetian. It is an Italian restaurant. The food wasn't the best, in my own opinion, but our waiter was awesome. He really made our experience.

The third night we were there we saw Danny Gans. Danny is an entertainer who does impersonations and comedy. He was simply amazing. I really enjoyed his show. He did well over 100 impersonations while we were there and I couldn't believe while he did the impersonations he did their respective gestures. Danny is going to be leaving the Mirage Casino to go the Wynn Casino after the New Year (per a reliable source). After seeing Danny we went to a Brazilian Steakhouse, Samba. The food was delicious. I couldn't believe how tasty everything was. The meat had great flavors. The service was impeccable. After dinner our waiter came to our table with this huge piece of banana cream pie. We are all looking at each other like what the ??? Our waiter then asks, who's birthday is it? Another round of what the ??? My girlfriend then says... Melissa! So they sing happy birthday to me and we dig in. The funny thing is no one knew it was my birthday... The best thing we could guess was when we called our concierge desk there was mention of my birthday and it was noted in their system for our dinner reservations.

My birthday in Vegas was really fun. Getting old has never felt so good.

Here's some of the pics... I will have to update with more. I didn't have all of them on my camera.

Been awhile...

It's been nearly a month since I have posted. The month of August has flown by...

My "big" baby girl started school. I have been working on a major project at work for nearly 8 months now and I finally finished it. I was able to have two conferences about it and it went well. Talking for 2.5 hours at a time takes a lot of you.

We are preparing to head to Las Vegas for my birthday. I never been more excited for a birthday. I don't think this compares to my 16th, 18th or 21st birthdays. I am reaching another milestone... 30. Yes... Soon I will be saying adios to my 20's and HELLO to my 30's. Now I won't be such a "baby". While I have always felt older than I really am considering I have been married almost 10 years and have had a home for 7 years I have been " grown up" for a looong time.

I will be posting before I go.

Here's my ticker -- I leave on my birthday. YEAH!!!

SYTYCD and music!

I am a total dork, I admit... I watched So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) this summer. There was jack-shit on and I have always loved dancing. I was watching the last competition episode this past week and there was this song I couldn't get out of my mind. I have a special place in my heart for classical music. It's not my first choice, but I do like the genre.

The last dance the 4 finalists did together was choreographed by Mia Michaels, who is excellent! Her song choices are always funky and fresh. The song was by the Vitamin String Quartet (VSQ) and the song was Hallelujah. I frantically searched the net for the song. I found it and found out the Vitamin String Quartet does classical cover albums for really anyone... from Pink Floyd to Incubus to Billy Joel to the Beatles. It is a totally different perspective listening to your favorite songs in string. So this newfound favorite song of mine is from Paramore, who I like. But I love this song.

It's funny because at first I started watching this show alone then it was something the girls and I enjoyed together since Em is in dance.

I am going to miss the show because it introduces new songs and artists I have never heard of. I look forward to next year.

It hurts... Part II

I wrote a post back in June about a friend of mine "It hurts". Well I haven't really talked to this friend because I just didn't want to be the one putting forth all of the efforts for nothing in return. I just feel very guarded. I try to call on occasion and the one time I called to tell her about Em and a surgery she had she vented to me for 15 minutes with me saying virtually nothing. It was a waste of time - for me. Good thing we both have Verizon and share free minutes with our cell phone calls.

Yesterday I get the mail and there is a card. I notice it is from my friend. Begrudgingly, I open it up. I didn't know what the hell was going to be in the card.

I start to read the Hallmark, my favorite, card:

Finding time for friendship
seems more complicated than ever.
That's why the easy
kind of friendship
we share means so very much.
I know I can depend on you,
no matter how much time passes
between our visits or phone calls.
Just knowing you are there
fills my days with the comfort
of being thought of,
the warmth
of being cared about,
and the joy
of being understood
It would be wonderful
to see you more often,
but it's also wonderful
knowing we don't
have to work
at impressing each other
or building trust

-- open card --

Whenever I think
of true friendship,
I think of you

- Barbara Loots


My friend writes -- normally I wouldn't share this, but I need advice...

Sorry I can't not really been around much. Things have been hard, financially, emotionally, physically, not really an excuse, but it's all I have.

Thanks for sticking by...

then signed XXX

The one thing that ticks me off is I offered to pay for her plane ticket to come and visit and she flat out said no. She said she can't afford it. What the shit?? How can you not afford paying for nothing? Um... sounds wierd. I know at her job it is almost like commission. She is a therapist and makes a certain amount of money per patient she sees. But... not even a weekend??? Come on.

I honestly am out of emotion.... I think the card came a little late... Maybe I am just an unforgiving bitch. I don't like to hold things against people, I honestly just don't know...



...sigh...