It's go time

I have made some decisions today. I am tired of sitting on my rump or just working all of the time. It is time for me to do some things that interest me. I need some excitement in my life!!! I think that some of this stems from being on vacation. I know it was only a few days, but it was so nice to be able to just do things that are fun.

So, today I ordered a cheese making kit. I have been talking about making fresh mozzarella to go with the basil and tomatoes in my yard. (Thanks for that info BFFH) And, I got a kick a... bread making book for my birthday that will go great with the cheese too!

I have also decided that I am going to start up doing some Tango dancing again. It has been a while since I have done it so I may have to start at the begining again. I am looking for a good teacher in Chicago. If there are any suggestions, please let me know. I am still a bit confused about the different styles of teaching that I keep hearing about. I like the idea of Tango because most of the time the dancing doesn't start until later at night and I can finish up at my office before I go. Besides, I like the shoes. Oh, and I am going to learn spanish. I am not sure how I am going to accomplish that one yet, but I will get started on that too. I have a couple of soccer buddies who want to start in that endevor with me. I think I will have some catching up to do because they both have other romance languages under their belts...

3 things. That is a good place to start. Let the adventures begin...

Vegas Baby

We got home safe and sound last night. We even came home with SOME money in our pockets. That is to say that we didn't completely loose our shirts in Vegas. It was fun, and I can see why people say 4 days is enough. We had a great time and saw lots of stuff. Unfortunately, we didn't get to have the hot dog/strawberry shortcake. But, there was lots of good food, and cool places. We even saw an Elvis impersonator. I have a photo.

My favorite places... Stratosphere (learned to play craps), Golden Nugget (Black jack) and a really cool water slide. I wouldn't mind staying there for a couple of days. 4 Queens in Old Vegas - we had a really good craps night there too.

All in all, craps is the game to play. Sis hit the slots pretty well, and BIL and RMB were pretty much playing craps too.

Our hotel was just across the street from Planet Hollywood, so we spent quite a bit of time there. I liked the inside of Paris the best, and Bellagio had the best buffet that we tried.

Flamingo had some really cool pool areas, and let's face it, it was pink! But, I lost money there, so the Flamingo is a bit tainted to me.

I tend to like the street casinos better than the hotels. They were just more fun, and had more $5 tables. Since this was my fist foray into gambling, I wanted to start small.

BIL was on a mission to see every hotel and casino there. This is where we went...

Day 1 - MGM, Luxor, New York New York, Excalibur the first night. Mind you we got there at 5pm. We had dinner at Excalibur’s buffet. It was so so. Nothing spectacular besides the number of people they can feed at one time. That was crazy. There may have been more places that we went into. This night was a total blur. I think we may have stopped at Planet Hollywood for a night cap.

Day 2 - Planet Hollywood, then Paris for breakfast in one of the cafes. They had the best coffee. We lost some $$ in Paris then decided that Bellagio was a good idea. Let's go from upscale to even more upscale. Then, just to get back to reality we decided on Cesar's Palace, I think there was another hotel after Cesar’s. Went back to change for the evening and then headed off for Sahara and Stratosphere. We saw the American Superstar Show which is where we saw Elvis, Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart, and a few others. It was much better than I thought it would be. We did go up to the observation deck at Stratosphere and had dinner around 11 at Roxy's in the hotel. That is a crazy hotel. They have amusement rides on top of the building that hang over the edge at 108 stories!!! While there is nothing I like more than dangling off of a 100+ story building, this time I took a pass.

Day 3 - Bellagio for Brunch (excellent) Bally's, Bill's, and Flamingo, there is another place we went, but I can't remember the name. We took a quick break to change for dinner then we were off to Venetian where we had dinner at B&B which is Mario Tracossi's restaurant it was very good. We were going to do the gondola ride, but the line was large and we had a lot on our plate for the night. Our tour continued to Pallato, Wynn, Golden Nugget and 4 Queens.

Day 4 - Monty Carlo, Planet Hollywood - there is a mall in Planet Hollywood, and that proved to be a good get away from the casino. Sis and I did the water massage and RMB and BIL hit the Oxygen bar. It was interesting, but I don't know if I need to do that again. There is a great little beer joint in the mall, and it was kind of nice to sit somewhere where there was no tinkling of slot machines.

On the list for next time is the Mirage, Circus Circus, Tropicana (We may have gone there), and Rio. Whew. It was a good trip, but I'm glad to be home.

Adventures

I have been contemplating writing a blog for some time now, but I have been having trouble choosing a topic that I find interesting enough to talk about. I have recently decided that instead of choosing a topic, I will just write whatever I want. So, here it is, my first Adventure. Yes, as corny as it sounds my first adventure is posting this blog entry.

Stay tuned as I navigate through this jumble of ideas that make up the adventures in my own mind...