Day 5: More than just food

Well, after the excitement of Wednesday, pretty much nothing was going to top it off. We all stayed up pretty late on Wednesday, so we woke up pretty late on Thursday. We had tickets to go to a buffet at Paris… not just any buffet, but THE buffet. For a complete list of all the delights we found there, see previous entry. After the buffet, everyone was pretty tired. We ate ourselves into a stupor, I think. We all went back to the hotel, where wee decided we would take a half hour and relax, then we would go out for our last day After her half hour, Mom decided that she needed more time, so D, C and I left her and Uncle David at the hotel and went out to see the sights. We parked at the Palazzo and walked over to the Venetian, where they pumped some sort of nasty perfume in the air so strong that we could not breathe. We walked across the bridge of sighs and sighed. We looked at the gondolas, heard the gondolier singing and I found my mind dwelling on Stephen Sondheim’s “Do I Hear a Waltz?” After walking around the Venetian, we walked EVERYWHERE else. We went down to Miracle Mile. It was starting to get dark, and the guys with their devious little pieces of paper were out in force. It was a little unnerving. We found a one hour photo place that did not actually do one hour photos. We passed by a guy who was pretending to hand out little pieces of paper like everyone else, and refused his paper before wee realized that it was a dollar bill. I am actually pretty sure that it was a $20 bill. Depressing. Anyway, we got to Miracle Mile and wandered there a lot. D had some guy try to convince her to buy a $300 dollar flat iron that was on sale for $200. If only. We found a couple of cheap souvenir places and got some pretty ridiculous stuff. We found an awesome hat place called Hattitude. Also, D discovered a place called ALDO, where she got some pretty sick rings to add to her collection. All in all, a pretty fun place, even if we did have to walk everywhere. Oh, I almost forgot the most important thing; we found Teuscher chocolates, where D got some of her favorite champagne truffles. C got some chocolate, too, but I didn’t. Personally I think that if I am going to pay $75 a pound for something it had better be gold. We walked back to the car around 7. Mom’s plane was supposed to leave at 9:30 and we were going to take her to the airport, but we found out that her plane was delayed, so we went to Whole Foods again instead. We got random foods for our road trip the next day. D, C and I were to leave Vegas (only one day late) and head to LA on Friday. We finally went back to the hotel, where I crashed. I had stayed up until 2 am on Wednesday, woken up at 7 and then walked all day. I was dead tired. C and D took Mom to the airport… her plane had been delayed now 3 times… and then came back and went to sleep. A slow moving and tiring day....

"Orange Colored Sky" -Unknown

Jaeda-
GAME RULES:
1. Put your music player on shuffle (ALL MUSIC).
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag 10 friends who might enjoy doing the game as well as the person you got the game from.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OK" YOU SAY:
"The Way You Look Tonight" -Michael Buble

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
"Humble Me" -Nora Jones

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
"Soulmate" -Natasha Bedinfield

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
"Dancing" -Chris Issak

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
"The Point of No Return" -Andrew Lloyd Weber

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
"Panis Angelicus" -Unknown

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
"This Time" -Chris Isaak

WHAT IS 2 + 2?
"Strawberry Wine" -Deana Carter

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" -Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy" -Brian Osburn

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
"Mouth on Fire" -Duncan Sheik

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
"I'm Your Man" -Michael Buble

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Two Weeks in Hawaii" -Hellogoodbye

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
"All Creatures of Our God and King" -Cathy Speer

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
"Stupid" -Sarah Maclachlan

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
"Star-Field on Red Lines" -Duncan Sheik

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
"Building a Mystery" -Sarah Maclachlan

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
"Don't Let Go" -En Vogue

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
"The Mirror/Angel of Music" -Andrew Lloyd Weber

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
"I Won't Say I'm in Love" -Cheryl Freeman (Hercules)

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
"The Winner Takes it All" -Meryl Streep

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
"Blasphemous Rumors" -Duncan Sheik

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
"Between the Minds" -Jack Savoretti

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
"Swing Low Sweet Chariot" -Eric Clapton

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
"Walking Away" -Jonny Lang

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
"Start Again" -Dunca Sheik

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
"Orange Colored Sky" -Unknown

1985 -Bowling for Soup

Casey-
GAME RULES:
1. Put your music player on shuffle (ALL MUSIC).
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag 10 friends who might enjoy doing the game as well as the person you got the game from.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OK" YOU SAY:
“Fearless Heart” -Unknown Artist

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
"No One’s Aware" –Jack Savoretti

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
"Apologies" – Jack Savoretti

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
"Veronique" – Pink Martini

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
"Mosiah 4" -- King Benjamin

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
"Edelwies" –Vienna Boy’s Choir

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
"1 Nephi 20" -- Nephi

WHAT IS 2 + 2?
"The Best is Yet to Come" – Michael Buble

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
"What Hurts the Most" – Rascal Flatts

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Hang on Little Tomato" – Pink Martini

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
"Honey Honey" – Mamma Mia Soundtrack

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
"What About" – Chris Daughtry

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Holes" – Rascal Flatts

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
"Journey to the Past" – Anastasia Soundtrack

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
"Time after Time" – Cindy Lauper

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
"500 Miles" – The Proclaimers

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
"Kryptonite" – 3 Doors Down

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
"Safe" -- Travis

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
"Flying" – Chris Issak

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
"Blackout" -- Muse

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
"Strawberry Wine" – Deana Carter

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
"Ave Maria" – William Joseph

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
"My Wish" – Rascal Flatts

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
"Pieces" – Rascal Flatts

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
"I Stand all Alone” – Quest for Camelot Soundtrack

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
"Survivor" – Destiny’s Child

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
"1985" – Bowling for Soup

IPOD Game -- D -- "A Case Of You" -- Joni Mitchell

GAME RULES:
1. Put your music player on shuffle (ALL MUSIC).
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag 10 friends who might enjoy doing the game as well as the person you got the game from.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OK" YOU SAY:
"Proud Father" -- Jon McLaughlin

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
"Lights, Camera, Action" --NKOTB

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
"Humble Me" -- Norah Jones

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
"Black Rain" -- Jack Savoretti

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
"Dr. Frankenstein" -- Jack Savoretti

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
"Summertime" --NKOTB

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
"Come What May" -- Mario Frangoulis

WHAT IS 2 + 2?
"Put It On My Tab" -- NKOTB

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
"Apologize" -- One Republic

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Only The Lonely" -- Chris Isaak

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
"Bad Day" -- Daniel Powter

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
"A Taste Of Honey" -- Lizz Wright

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Cry" -- Dan Wilson

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
"World" -- Five For Fighting

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
"Put Your Records On" -- Corrine Bailey Rae

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
"Dirty Dancing" -- NKOTB

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
"Something's Always Wrong" -- Toad The Wet Sprocket

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
"Poison" -- Bell Biv Devoe

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
"Dreaming With A Broken Heart" -- John Mayer

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
"Nothing Special" -- Duncan Sheik

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
"Get Together" -- Lizz Wright

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
"The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air" -- DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
"Crush" -- David Archuletta

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
"I've Loved Enough To Know" -- Deana Carter

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
"Several Thousand" -- Jim Boggia

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
"I'm All Right" -- Madeleine Peyroux

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
"A Case Of You" -- Joni Mitchell

Day Five: How can I keep from eating?

We went out to brunch this morning... what did we have you might ask? Well, let me tell you:
Bacon cheddar bread rolls, rosemary bread, bouillabaisse, gnocchi, ravioli, pasta alfredo, risotto, saffron rice with peas and carrots, scalloped potatoes, rosemary potatoes, 2 kinds of mashed potatoes, crepes, gouda, meunster, havarti, chevre, 6 or 7 kinds of olives, artichoke hearts, roasted roma tomatoes with mozzerella, creamed spinach, coq a vin, curried cauliflower, broccoli, seafood soup, breaded fish with cream sauce, prawns, sausage and kraut, quiche, marinated vegetables....
cannoli, fudge brownie, creme brulee, apricot tart, pumpkin chocolate pie, pain au chocolat, croissant, bananas foster & flan
CAN YOU SAY BUFFET?

Day Four: Of Blizzards and Broken things...

So, we started out the day pretty much the same... slow start. We weren't sure what weather to prepare for. It had snowed a bit on Sunday, rained a lot on Monday, sunny/cold on Tuesday... it was a little unclear. So we figured we would dress for cold. There wasn't a lot we had planned. We were going to hang with David for a while, go to the Rio and check out the Venetian. We didn't really have anything set in stone. we were going to try to meet up with some friends from a while ago and whatever... lazy day, lazy plans. David came up and said that he might have a couple of ideas on what we could do. There was a ghost town somewhere out there... or we could go to Lake Havasu Azirona (yes I misspelled that on purpose) and see his hometown. That sounded like fun. I hadn't been back to Arizona since I was about 5 (unless you count passing through it on the way here) so I was up for it. We all agreed that we were Lake Havasu bound. As we got our things together and went downstairs, we discovered that David had lost his keys. He couldn't find them anywhere. He checked his room, his bag... everywhere. We finally decided that they had to have gotten locked in his car somehow. We checked out in the parking garage and, sure enough, his key was sitting perkily on the back seat, laughing at us. Oh crud. We spent two hours in that garage trying to get his car open. He pulled at the door to his car, stuck a wire hanger down the window and basically did everything he could think of to open that door. We had two security guys helping and there was nothing any of us could do. We listened to music, sang, took pictures. Generally we just had fun. Finally, C and D went inside and rode the glass elevator to the top of the hotel while mom and I went to get 'hot chocolate' from the coffee place inside. (I am using sarcastic quotes because we did not know until we were almost done drinking it that Starbucks puts espresso in their signature hot chocolate. That right there on top of the missing key should have warned us... but we just didn't see) As we got our drinks and D and C finished their elevator joy ride, david and the security officer got the car open. Yay! We were on our way. We stopped at in and out and got food, stopped at terrible herbst and got gas and then went on our merry way towards sunny Arizona. Or so we thought. C, D and I followed Uncle David and Mom along the freeway. As we drove things got brighter and brighter. Not because of the sun, no, because of the snow that was surrounding us. It was not long before we found ourselves in the middle of a FREAKING BLIZZARD. IN FREAKING NEVADA! We were calling back and forth between the cars deciding what to do. We decided to stop by the side of the road somewhere, get Mom in our car and say goodbye to David. He could continue on home and we would go back to Vegas. Without warning, David crossed two lanes of traffic and turned into a casino parking lot. We couldn't get across those lanes fast enough to make the same turn, so Mom and Uncle David told us to keep going until we could turn around, they would wait for us in the casino. We went 5 miles and a half hour further. Traffic was NOT moving. Finally, we turned around. We were having fun. We ate Smarties from Canada and opened the windows to the horizontal snow, turning the car into a snow globe. We took pictures of everything and blasted music. It was great. We got to the casino parking lot and watched as the reader board our front blasted the words 'Poor Weather Conditions Ahead, free coffee inside' to the poor people stuck in traffic. We called Mom when we got there and tried to decide if she was coming out or if we were going in. Finally, we just decided to go in. It was freezing, slippery and slushy outside. We went in and met up with mom, when we found out that David was missing again. We looked around, couldn't find him. His phone went straight to voicemail. Nothing. We were trying to decide whether we should just leave without saying goodbye when mom came rushing over to tell us that we needed to find security or something. David had just fallen in the parking lot... and broken his leg. Yes, that is what I said, broken his leg. We rushed outside, careful of the slushy snow that covered everything, and found David sitting on the ground. His leg was stretched out in front of him and he was shaking pretty badly. We got security over, along with about 10 other people. Everyone was trying to decide what to do. We saw cars spinning out everywhere in the street and the parking lot. The ambulance said that they would be a while. We waited outside with him. They casino personnel covered David with blankets, coats... anything that they could to keep him warm. I tried to lighten the situation with humor... he didn't appreciate that much. We surreptitiously snuck photos that he also wouldn't appreciate. It took the ambulance an hour to get there. It wasn't until we got to the hospital that we discovered that they came from less than 5 miles away. The traffic was just that bad. Mom drove David's car to the hospital while D, C and I drove Sid, my car. We waited in that hospital for 7 hours. After 4 hours they determined that the leg was broken in two places. You know how they figured it out? They took him in for a CAT scan. Morons... a simple X-ray wouldn't do. C D and I had to go to an auto place to get chains for my tires and a new headlight. We also replaced David's windshield wiper, as the one he had was cracked in half. We tried to get dinner for all of us, but ended up with nasty crap that cost way too much and tasted like chemical cardfood. In the end, they wouldn't let David eat anything anyway in case they had to take him in for surgery. I would be afraid of surgery from that hospital... The techs that took him in for the CT lay him on the gurney with his feet sticking out the end and pushed him through doorways feet first... using his feet to open the doors... yeah he did have a broken leg thanks for asking. They apparently didn't care. they put him on some sort of psychotic drug that had him freaking out, then another drug to calm him down. They also said that their 'bone doctor' wasn't in, so they would splint it tonight and we could come back tomorrow to get it cast. Come back tomorrow? What pills are they taking? D, C and I finally came back to Vegas (on clear roads, by the way) to wait at the hotel room for Mom and David to come back from Henderson. Yeah, did I mention that we only made it 20 miles outside of Vegas. This whole thing happened within spitting distance of our hotel practically. What the heck?
I should say, though, that through this whole thing I know our Father in Heaven has been watching out for us. I am not sure that what happened here was His design or a result of our bad choices, but I am sure that He has not left us alone in this. There were many other things that could have gone wrong, many worse things that could have happened. We had good people around us that helped us through it all, and we had angel to bear us up. I only hope that they are okay being with us in Vegas. This town still makes me uneasy, but I no longer fear it. I wouldn't want to live here, but I like it much, much better than I ever thought i would.
As for Uncle David... well... it is 230 am here, and he has been at the hospital for 10 hours. Mom should be bringing him here very soon, and we are waiting for them. (Well, I am, D and C have passed out on the bed)He is not in the best of moods, and he is very drugged. I know that he is not happy with this day, and I fear that he regrets coming to see us. I regret only that he is hurt. I think that this day ended up with a much more interesting story than any of us could have planned. I wonder what tomorrow holds...

Day Three: Then things started to go south...

We woke up late again yesterday. We took a long time getting out and about. It didn't help that we were trying to resolve our hotel room mixup. They were chargin us for all kinds of crap and we were not happy. Add that to the fact that the ice machine kept waking us up throughout the night and blah blah blah we were getting a different room. We were supposed to check out of our current room, then check into the new one. as a courtesy to us (I think that they need to really learn what the word courtesy means) they were going to let us stay in our room until our next room was ready, but they didn't let us know if our room was ready or not. And they didn't let us know... and they didn't... you get the pic. So we sat around waiting for them to call, then finally decided that we needed to get out and do something. So we left the room around one o'clock. We drove out to the Las Vegas temple. The difference between the strip and the temple is laughable. There is a peace and a wonderful feeling that comes just from standing on the ground outside the temple. We took pictures and wandered. When we left the temple we went to Ross and each bought something. We got a cooler for our Whole Foods food and a couple of other things. Then we followed the Stratosphere back to our hotel. We were waiting for Uncle David to come so that we could hang out with him, so we went to get our new rooms situated until he came out. Yeah, that was wierd. They didn't have any record of our new arrangements, so mom had to arrange again. We got our stuff out of our room and up to our new room with no help from the hotel staff thank you very much. then we decided that rather than wait for David, we would get a couple of other things on our list out of the way. We knew that David wanted to take us to Freemont St., so we decided to go to NYNY and MGM before he got there. When we got to MGM, we went to Emerils and got some 'banana creme pie' that tasted really good but I would probably never crave. Then we went to see the lions. We felt really really bad for the lions, because I would hate to be stuck in a huge fake plastic habitat all day while people pointed and stared at me. David called and said he would meet us there, so we sat around and waited for him. And waited and waited and... finally he got there, right as we found out that the lions are actually not stuck in the habitat all day, they actually come from a farm on the edge of town, where they live with the other 25 lions. They are traded out every 5 hours and only come to the casino 2 or 3 times a week. I felt better. Uncle David joined us as we wandered (for a very short amount of time) around NYNY and took pictures with us as we walked on the fake brooklyn bridge. He was a good sport about it, though he didn't really like having his pic taken. Then we went to Freemont St. It was cool. I considered, as I had been considering all week, whether or not I should just drop a quarter in the slot machine (I decided against it in the end). We bought postcards really really cheap and saw the music show on the ceiling. C and I were on TV for a short amount of time as we talked to the most awkward host guy ever. We had fried twinkies (which I didn't even try) and fried oreos (which were surprisingly delicious) and got mardi gras beads. It was loads of fun, in spite of the lack of smashed penny machines. We headed back to the car, back tot he hotel and said good night. We didn't crash as quickly, but crash we did eventually... the best is yet to come and babe won't it be fine...