Saturday - Day Five

Where we might be today.

Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.

I've heard it's fun.

I liked the movie.

I bought the book and brought it with me.

Friday - Day Four

Where we might be today.

Rumor has it we will be going on a sunset cocktail cruise courtesy of the company.

I think it sounds dreadful. I've been on one before and did not enjoy it.

Let me just say: I HATE RUM PUNCH!

UPDATE: PRIOR TO DEPARTURE

Thank goodness! We're dining at Spago instead!

Thursday - Day Three

Where we might be today.

The pool at the Fairmont Kea Lani

Wednesday - Day Two

Where we might be today.

The Shops at Wailea

Souvenirs galore

Tuesday - Day One

Where we might be today.

We arrive at Kahalui Airport this afternoon.

Ready to go

Almost.

Mike is packed. Two swim suits, socks and underwear.

What more do you need?

May 30, 1868

Did you know the first Memorial Day was observed on May 30, 1868?

I didn't.

I'm at a point in my life where I actually KNOW people who have served our country in the military. It never occurred to me that this was a big deal until several years ago.

Now I get it!!!

I did a Google search for "soldier iraq" and was disappointed with the results.

I have some idea of the sacrifice from my personal knowledge of ONE soldier.

He doesn't talk much about it.

I think, in general, soldiers tend not to.

It's all in a day's work.

Not so for me.

Thank you ALL for the sacrifice you make.

It's not unappreciated.

Souvenirs

I've been inquiring as to what certain people would enjoy as souvenirs.

JOE - Pretty easy. Wants ONE golf ball.

JANIS - Pretty easy. Wants a shot glass from Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.

Then comes my children:

ANA is keeping it simple. She'd like a t-shirt.

I suggested maybe some jewelry, too. A SEA TURTLE! Now she'd like a sea turtle, too. This one is nice, but at $1995.00, a little more than the budget for gifts for 14-year-olds allows.

And then we come to Sam. Some of you know Sam, so this won't surprise you in the least. For the rest of you, well, what can I say? It's Sam.

Sam: Mom. I want a tiki.

Mom: You mean like the little statue?

Sam: No. Like the torches on Survivor.

Mom: Oh! I can't really bring a torch on the airplane. Is there anything else?

Sam: A wand.

Mom: A wand?

Sam: You know? Like Harry Potter.

This is where I left it. I didn't want to get into Harry Potter never having been to Maui as far as I know. That's when I suggested that maybe I could have a tiki torch shipped to him.

Sam: But Mom! How will they fit it in the mailbox?

This is not my problem, but I did find this website, which seemed to fascinate him.

For all of 30 seconds...

Random

Time for a random post.

It's what one does when one has too many items

sitting in the "draft" pile and no real thoughts to go with them.

The carousel at the Las Vegas Outlet Center.

This is where we look for pants for Mike each year.

I've always liked the carousel.

The kids weren't with us, so no one rode today.

I did a shop at the Mandalay Bay today. We ate at Raffles Cafe. Mike had Corn Beef Hash. I always thought the beef was "corned", but Raffles said it was "corn" and who am I to argue?

I ate scrambled eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and toast.

Pattycakes. We spotted this store in a strip mall. Clothes, toys and tea didn't really seem to go together, but we didn't go inside to investigate.

And finally, at Walmart. Really? Who goes into the restroom at Walmart and PAYS MONEY to find out their TRUE weight. This is the LAST thing I want to know.

More Summer

Stolen, without permission and everything, from Ana.



















(She used my camera? Does that get me off the hook at all?)

I was just wondering...

if it's only me.

I've tried a few Healthy Choice Paninis. I'm actually pretty impressed that one can do toast in a microwave and it comes out "toasty" and not "soggy" like one would expect.

But toast has always given me trouble. It rubs the roof of my mouth raw. You know? That spot right behind the front teeth?

The flavor was decent on those I've tried. Nothing to write home (or a blog entry) about but not inedible. Which CANNOT be said for the South Beach Diet Breakfast Wraps. Blech! Hungry Girl disagrees, but I still like her.

And then I read this.

Now I'll have to start again.

Did you want me to keep you posted?

I'm telling you now

On May 15th, I gave a little information about our upcoming trip to Maui.

I have as many details as I think I'm going to get, so here it is.

We get to fly from Las Vegas to Maui (and back!) in coach. I looked into an upgrade to First Class but $1000 EACH seemed like a lot of money for a wider seat and a meal.

A Limousine will pick us up at Kahalui Airport and transport us to the Fairmont Kea Lani, where we'll spend 5 nights in a Deluxe Ocean View Room.

They'll feed us breakfast every morning in the cafe. We will attend a luau on Wednesday and eat at Spago at the Four Seasons Resort on Friday night. We have a Spago in Las Vegas. It will be fun to compare.

I've already told you I'm going to the Spa Kea Lani. I can't wait. There are also three pools. And a waterslide. I'll be trying them all because that's just the kind of kid I am.

My mother is coming to stay with my kids for a few days.

Then they're headed to a friend's house for the weekend.

Souvenirs and thank you gifts will be purchased. Leis will be worn. Fruity drinks will be consumed. A good time will be had by all (or at least by me!).

I've scheduled automatic posts while I'm gone since I won't have access to the internet. Enjoy.

Aahhh...Summer

It's here! It's not even June, and it's here!

These hot temperatures this early in the season prompted an "Excessive Heat Watch" throughout Southern Nevada this week.

Tomorrow will be 85 degrees and Wednesday a chilly 80 degrees.

Gotta love the desert. A 30 degree temperature swing in two days!

Cheap Gas

This was the "cheap" gas available in Las Vegas this week.

They had to buy extra 3's. Ana pointed out that the first three is backwards. Good observation.

I'm Tempted

I'm curious as to the marketing strategy of placing THIS ad on THIS car.

It's a nicely detailed hoopty?

And what's with half the letters in lower-case and half in upper-case?

Perhaps my standards are too high.

The Printer

When The Celebrity Apprentice teamed up with Kodak and did a challenge with a printer, I was intrigued. I'm in need of a printer and the Kodak 5500 All-in-One looked like a good one. Best of all, the ink cartridges are much less expensive than those for my Lexmark.



But I'm basically cheap (okay, I was willing to pay and Mike said no) and couldn't bring myself to pay $250 for a new printer.



Enter Mother's Day! (Okay, you got me again. Ana had a school project that required lots of printing and the Lexmark was inadequate for the job.) The Kodak 5500 AiO (that's All-in-One) in now available for the low, low price of (wait for it!) $150.





So now I have one!

Oh look! A Chicken!

This is one of my favorite t-shirts.

I am easily distracted.

Whenever something distracts me I shout, "Oh look! A chicken!"

That was the case for the following photo.

(Scroll down)

.

I was stopped at a red light. By the time I got my camera out, only the trailer was in view.

Am I spoiled?

I had to clicky, clicky, clicky to find where I think this meme started.
Here is the path I followed:


Being a Mom of 3 Boyz, Purple Puzzle Place, Collecting My Thoughts, Tollef Fog Heen's blog, Magni's General Ramblings, A Bump on the Log of Life


This is where it ended. I looked through several pages of A Bump on the Log, but couldn't find the post. So you see, when linking back to someone's post, it's helpful to link to the post and not just the blog.





Go through the list. Tick everything you have or have done. If you can tick 40 or more, you're spoiled.






(x) your own cell phone
() a television in your bedroom
(x) an iPod It's in my phone. Does that count?
(x) a photo printer But I never use it.
(x) your own phone line
() TiVo or a generic digital video recorder
(x) high-speed internet access (i.e., not dialup)
() a surround sound system in bedroom
() DVD player in bedroom I don't own a DVD player at all. We use the Playstations for that.
() at least a hundred DVDs
(x) a childfree bathroom
(x) your own in-house office
() a pool
() a guest house
() a game room
(x) a queen-size bed It's a king size, but who's measuring?
() a stocked bar
(x) a working dishwasher
(x) an icemaker
(x) a working washer and dryer
(x) more than 20 pairs of shoes
() at least ten things from a designer store
() expensive sunglasses
(x) framed original art (not lithographs or prints) Only because the artist died and we picked it up at his estate sale for a song!
() Egyptian cotton sheets or towels
(x) a multi-speed bike
() a gym membership
(x) large exercise equipment at home
() your own set of golf clubs
() a pool table
() a tennis court
(x) local access to a lake, large pond, or the sea Lake Mead, but we don't go
() your own pair of skis
() enough camping gear for a weekend trip in an isolated area
() a boat
() a jet ski
() a neighborhood committee membership
() a beach house or a vacation house/cabin
(x) wealthy family members This does not benefit me. They don't get wealthy by giving it away!
(x) two or more family cars
(x) a walk-in closet or pantry
(x) a yard
() a hammock
() a personal trainer
(x) good credit This means I'm responsible, not spoiled!
(x) expensive jewelry What's expensive? I own real rubies, sapphires, diamonds and amethysts.
() a designer bag that required being on a waiting list to get
(x) at least $100 cash in your possession right now
(x) more than two credit cards bearing your name (not counting gas cards or debit cards)
(x) a stock portfolio
(x) a passport
() a horse
() a trust fund (either for you or created by you)
() private medical insurance
() a college degree, and no outstanding student loans




Do you:

(x) shop for non-needed items for yourself (like clothes, jewelry, electronics) at least once a week () do your regular grocery shopping at high-end or specialty stores
() pay someone else to clean your house, do dishes, or launder your clothes (not counting dry-cleaning)
() go on weekend mini-vacations
() send dinners back with every flaw
() wear perfume or cologne (not body spray)
(x) regularly get your hair styled or nails done in a salon
() have a job but don't need the money OR
(x) stay at home with little financial sacrifice
() pay someone else to cook your meals
() pay someone else to watch your children or walk your dogs This annoys me. These are NOT equivalent!!
() regularly pay someone else to drive you
() expect a gift after you fight with your partner



Are you:
() an only child
() married/partnered to a wealthy person
() baffled/surprised when you don't get your way



Have you:

(x) been on a cruise
(x) traveled out of the country
(x) met a celebrity I see Chuck Norris every July.
(x) been to the Caribbean
(x) been to Europe
() BEEN TO HONG KONG
(x) been to Hawaii
(x) been to New York
() eaten at the space needle in Seattle
() been to the Mall of America
() been on the Eiffel tower in Paris
() been on the Statue of Liberty in New York
() moved more than three times because you wanted to
() dined with local political figures
(x) been to both the Atlantic coast and the Pacific coast



Did you:

() go to another country for your honeymoon
(x) hire a professional photographer for your wedding or party
(x) take riding or swimming lessons as a child
() attend private school
() have a Sweet 16 birthday party thrown for you My mom was in another country on my 16th.

Only 39 for me. And some of them have nothing to do with being spoiled. I have two credit cards and good credit because I earned them. And all of the travel related questions occurred when I was in my 20s and working as a Travel Agent. We went to Paris, but couldn't afford the fee to ride the elevator to the top. Thank goodness they've built one here in Las Vegas, where we CAN afford to ride to the top.

Gizmo's treat

The ArtFest turned out to be rather disappointing, merchandise wise.

We bought used paperback books from Friends of the Library and dog treats for Gizmo.

That's it.

Nothing else caught my eye.

Here is Gizmo with his People Pop.

He was very anxious to get it out of my hand...

but seemed a little suspicious once he had it in his possession.

Have I Told You?

I mentioned it earlier but I'm starting to get more details.

In recognition of his hard work and dedication, Mike's company has given him an all expenses paid trip for two to Maui. He and a significant other will spend 5 nights and 6 days in paradise. Apparently, I'm significant enough that he picked me as the "other".

We will be staying at the Fairmont Kea Lani. It's Hawaii's only luxury all-suite and villa oceanfront resort.

He was offered golf...but he doesn't, so he traded golf for the spa, which he generously gave to me. I'm very excited. I love the spa. So peaceful and relaxing.

Mike has said he'd like to stay in the room the whole time and do nothing but order room service. I said that was fine with me. He could reach me on my cell phone near the pool where I'll be sitting with a refreshing beverage.

At some point, I'll want to go to Lahaina so I can eat at The Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. I've never done so, and I've heard from several sources that it's quite fun.

Purses and Pretty Girls

Spent the evening with friends.

Eating dinner, shopping for handmade, custom purses, and enjoying the patio.

If there's money on the floor...

we must be at Starbucks.

This is the cup I received.

This is what happens when I order

a complicated drink:

Iced Grande decaf non-fat stirred Caramel Macchiatto,

from a barista who has just been scolded

by the barista making drinks.

I gave the name "Molly" because,

get this,

it's EASIER for most people than "Karen".

Karen,

Molly,

Pauli.

Whatever.

Fashion Show

It's called the Fashion Show Mall for a reason.

Saturday there was a fashion show.

As there is most Saturdays.

Most of the models were this size.

But one was "normal" sized. For the most

part, they did a good job of dressing her body.

Not so much in this outfit.

The Salon

For Mother's Day, Ana and I had pedicures.
It seems we weren't the only two with this great idea.
The salon was busy all afternoon. We were looking pretty shabby before going in...
but terriffic (if not stubby) when we finished.

Not Quite

a day late and a dollar short, but shopping for a Mother's Day card

ON MOTHER'S DAY MORNING doesn't seem like a great idea to me.