Wine, Football, and Giggles

The Friday after Thanksgiving in Biloxi was cold and rainy...quite a change from the day before.  But we were not to be deterred from exploring.  Dad wanted to see if we could find the Old Spanish Fort.  We also thought about doing some shopping in Ocean Springs, but with the weather being so uncooperative, we opted for lunch at Aunt Jenny's in Ocean Springs, where we had catfish and shrimp - yumm!  After lunch, we drove to Pascagoula, MS to find the Old Spanish Fort.  It was located in a residential area, so we drove around the small streets and found the Fort, but it was closed.  We walked around, hoping to find another entrance, but the fence was surrounding the fort and there were no small openings we could sneak through.  So we opted to drive around the neighborhood, looking at the very interesting homes.  Later, we decided we would head back to the hotel and nap for a bit.  Friday evening, Mom and Dad came back over to our hotel and we shared a bottle of wine and watched some football before Jim called to let us know he was at the tournament registration and asked if we wanted to come have a drink with him.  Well, why not!?!  So the three of us ventured down to the casino and up to the conference rooms to meet Jim.  I guess the wine we had was catching up with us, because Dad was getting a little frisky with Mom and from this point on, it was a pretty funny evening.  Mom had a close encounter with a woman who had too much to drink and nearly walked into us, causing us to giggle some.  Dad tried to impress some man on how we was going to pick up a couple of women (me and Mom), but the man was unimpressed.  More giggles.  We shared a drink with Jim and then we decided we should probably eat something, so the 4 of us went to one of the restaurants in the casino and ate some really yummy chicken nachos and watched some college football for a bit and were well-behaved at this point.  Afterwards, Mom and Dad decided to head on back to their hotel, so I went with them to our room to get Mom's purse.  I do not recall what got us giggling on the elevator, but the three of us got to laughing so hard, we were nearly in tears.  As we got off the elevator, still laughing, I noticed a security guard on our floor.  I said in a VERY loud whisper, "Oh, there's SECURITY!  We'd better behave" and we began laughing again.  The really funny part was when the security guard started laughing!  They really try to keep a straight face, so we must have been pretty darned funny to make him laugh.  Well, we somewhat recoverd and found the room (Thanks, Dad!), got Mom's purse, and then headed to the garage.  I will finish this part of the blog tomorrow as I am running out of time and want to make sure I get this next part correct. 

Thanksgiving on the Beach

We spent Thanksgiving in Biloxi, MS this year.  Jim and I arrived Wednesday night around 9pm and the temperature was a wonderful 70 degrees.  Thursday morning, we had breakfast on the beach.  Oh, nothing fancy...McDonald's "to go", but it sure was nice to eat on the beach in the partly-sunny morning with a temperature in the 70s and rising.  Mom and Dad were on their way and would arrive within 30 minutes.  Finally they found us on the beach and we all walked the shoreline for awhile.  We found some shells and a few hermit crabs that were in them.  I found an empty hermit crab shell and gave it to mom to take with her.  A few minutes later, she screamed and THREW the shell!  Woops, it wasn't empty!  Sorry, Mom!  It wasn't intentional.  We didn't find any buried treasure, but I think we all enjoyed the time in the warm sun and sand. 
Later, we came up to our hotel room and had a Thanskgiving toast with some nice cabernet.  After that, we all stuffed ourselves at the Thanksgiving Buffet at the Beau Rivage.  It was a great day and wonderful evening spent with family.

Moon over Nashville

Last night (11/23/2010) around 6:30, I was travelling Eastbound on I-40 in Downtown Nashville and the moon was INCREDIBLE!  I had never seen a moon look that large...EVER!  It was just over the horizon and was yellow/white and nearly full, but waning.  After sitting in traffic for 20 minutes to merge from 4 lanes down to 1 to go around an accident, I wasn't very happy about the rest of the drive home, but then the moon caught my eyes and it just amazed me.  I wish I could find a picture of it to share, but alas, none to be found. 
It looked like if I drive about 30 miles further East, I could reach it...just amazing. 

Good Clean Fun

Last night, Benjamin and I started watching "Bill Cosby: Himself" on TV.  I have seen and heard this bit many times over and it's still funny.  What is so great is that Benjamin thought it was funny too.  With so much crap on TV now, I find it refreshing that Bill Cosby's humor is still entertaining and brings laughter to my child.  We only made it through "The Dentist" bit, so there's more to enjoy.  Benjamin was impressed with the way Mr. Cosby spoke to the dentist, imitating a person who has had novicane.  "Obeekabee"  He also thought it was funny that his dentist tells him to rinse just like Mr. Cosby was telling about.  "Hey, my dentist does that too!" 

I told Benjamin that he will recognize one of the bits later in the show...because there are many times I say, "Benjamin... here, Here, HERE!"  I can't wait to see the look on his face when he hears this one.

Crazy

I thought that the full moon occuring on Saturday night (right?) would alleviate some of the craziness of the past week.  I mean, Thursday's and Friday's traffic in Nashville was completely nuts - you would have thought everyone on the road only had a learner's permit!  :D
So I was hoping for a nice, "holiday week Monday"...meaning not too many on the road and not too many in the office.  WRONG!  For starters, people not letting me merge...then a horrible smell that made me pull over for fear MY car had something burning (it didn't).  Then, some crazed lunatic in a BMW decided that he would drive 90+ MPH in rush hour traffic and swerve in and out of 4 lanes.  THAT was exciting to watch...he actually didn't cause or get into an accident. 
Then the day began at work...H O L Y   M O L Y!  It was just one thing after another after another.  At 11:30, I said, "I am leaving and WILL be back...but I'm leaving so I do not blow a gasket at someone who doesn't deserve it" and I left the building and went to get my hair trimmed.  :)  How nice to have my scalp massaged and a little pampering for a few minutes.  *SIGH*
Even the guy who works with me said, "You have a smile on your face now!" when I returned. He's such a good kid!  :)
And I am VERY EXCITED about spending Thanksgiving with Mom and Dad in Biloxi this year!  I really hate it that B will be with his Dad....maybe next year we'll all get together. 
Hopefully the tides have turned and things will be smooth sailing for awhile.  :)

I survived

My last blog was about my fear of flying.  Well, I survived both legs of the journey with very little anxiety.  The first leg from Nashville to Vegas was aided by some wine before take-off and Jim so kindly distracting me with a discussion about roller coasters we had ridden this past summer.  Wait, I will ride a roller coaster, but I have anxiety about flying?  Well, see, the roller coaster is also about fear and anxiety, but it's over quicker and I am somewhat connected to the ground through the ride, correct?  Yes, but if that ride throws a bolt, you are REALLY gonna be dead meat if the coaster flies off the tracks and goes sailing through the air.  Yes, the logic behind my fears of flying and roller-coasters seem to be "off", huh?  The wonders of the mind never cease.
So Las Vegas was fun, even though I had a nasty sinus thing going on in my ears and throat.  I basically ate, drank, slept, and went to a couple of shows.  Mostly slept and rested.  I wish that I had felt better because the weather was GORGEOUS!  70s and sunny in the daytime...cool and 40-ish in the evening.  We had the Sunday Brunch at Bally's again.  It's pricey, but SOOO worth it.  Champagne (good champangne, not cheap stuff), prime rib, lobster, lamb chops, breakfast foods, fresh fish, sushi, fresh fruit, and pretty much anything you can imagine...plus a formal wait-staff that takes care of your every need. 
The shows we saw were "The Legends" which was the one where people imitate famous singers.  It was really good.  We saw impersonations of Elton John, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, Elvis, Michael Jackson, and Aretha Franklin.  I'd go see that show agan!  Monday night, we saw Penn and Teller.  The child in me is still in awe about their tricks, while the adult in me wants to go back again and again to see if I can figure them out!  :)  Definitely want to take Benajmin to see this show at some point. 
Next week, we're headed to Biloxi, MS...a short 8 hour drive from Ridgetop, TN to spend Thanksgiving with the parents!  Looking forward to this trip too.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

This evening, I will board a Southwest flight to Las Vegas, Nevada.  I am very excited to be going to Las Vegas, but I absolutely hate to fly.  Well, let me rephrase that....I absolutely hate take-off.  Flying is fine and landing is okay, now that I've seen some successful "belly landings".  But as the plane taxis down the runway and gains speed for take-off, my hands sweat, my body gets hot, and I basically have a panic attack.  I try to control my fear with distractions or good thoughts or a book, but usually I just end up counting to 100 slowly until we're high in the air and I can begin to relax.  I really wish I didn't have this fear.  I mean, I did take college physics...2 sememsters of it...so I understand the physics of flying.  I just cannot help but think that if something were to go wrong during take-off, the time to adjust before hitting the ground is pretty small.  If we're 10,000 feet in the air and something goes wrong, there is time to fly around and make corrections or an emergency landing, right?  So I will once again try to relax before my flight and try this "mind over matter" stuff I keep talking about and maybe I will not be so anxious.  Yes, I've tried medication...I'd rather have a short panic attack than take Xanax again.  UGH!

Oh, yes, we're going to LAS VEGAS tonight!  Hurray!  I am really excited!  We are staying at Caesers Palace this time.  And I won't be able to blog about our trip, because we all know, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."  :)