Fy Faen

So, Jeff and I just returned from a really wonderful “almost” week long vacation in Las Vegas for my birthday. I had a really wonderful time. We stayed at the Golden Nugget, where we stayed last year when the high school gang got together. I’m not a huge gambler and Jeff is, so if we went strictly for the gambling, I’d be pretty bored pretty quickly. I’ve found the downtown area of Las Vegas to offer me more to do as a non-gambler than “The Strip” does.

As an added bonus, Dane and Jan joined us from Friday to Sunday, and we also got to meet their friends, Kip and Nicole, who were also in Vegas. Kip is originally from Grygla :-) and Nicole is originally from Wisconsin.

As with most excursions out of my woods-studded element, I learned quite a bit, and I’d really like to impart this knowledge to you all. Here are the top 12.

First, never underestimate the power of the ‘blue drink’. (Carolyn will know what I mean by that – now Jan and Nicole do, too.) It can sneak up on a person more quickly than you can realize, causing a person to spontaneously start speaking Scandinavian;

Second, be careful when you eat omelets and watch out for possible bones. I never realized this until this weekend. Whether you have bones in your omelet is directly dependent upon the technique utilized in filleting the omelet. Done incorrectly, the results could be disastrous;

Third, duck farts taste really good;

Fourth, it is really great to be the group in the restaurant that is having the most fun;

Fifth, laughing a lot is just as good for my abs as thousands of sit-ups, and it is a lot more fun, too;

Sixth, electronic bingo allows a person to be somewhat tipsy and yet never miss a daub. It is even hard to miss a bingo, because the unit beeps at you when you are one away. How sweet is that!;

Seventh, I need to work on my self-esteem in a swimsuit. I saw plenty of women in small, two piece swimsuits who didn’t appear have any problems with self-esteem in a swimsuit;

Eighth, slot machines are getting pretty cool. The ‘Wizard of Oz’ slot machine has a built-in Bose speaker system in the machine and seat for ‘surround sound’. I lost a lot of money just listening to it. Marna would love it!;

Ninth, no matter who I meet and with whom I become friends, there are no friends like long time, dear, trusted friends. This is affirmed to me time and time again, and, for me, these friends become more important the older and more intolerant I get;

Tenth, there is always room for new friends – especially those who want to ice fish!;

Eleventh, I’m REALLY looking forward to the party at Carolyn’s house in June;

Twelfth, and most importantly, the love and generosity of the genuine human spirit should never go unnoticed or unappreciated. There are few in this world that have it, and many more, including myself, who really need to work on it. Thank you for everything, especially for your unconditional friendship and the lessons learned!

Well, now I’m back to reality, and there is snow in my yard. We are going to have below average temps again for the next week. The warmth of the Las Vegas sun is now only in my memory and fading fast.

Fy faen!