I Take Pictures Of Bathrooms, Part II

I am intoxicated after a long night/morning of Vegas. Here is the hotel bathroom. ...don't judge me. I am not a drinker.







The lady in the middle is innocent. She just happened to sit in between Crazy One and Crazy Two while on the bus. Crazy One looks thrilled that Innocent is there. Crazy Two keeps fishing things out of her bag and saying things like. "Welcome to Las Vegas, plant a tree, duh! Over and out!" and "It was hash I tell you". The people-watching was the best part of Vegas.

We are on the top of a doubledecker bus called The Deuce. Here's the picture, I proved it. I take dumb pictures of stupid shit when I'm drinking, apparently.

The buffet had a Dessert area. I have been on a strict calorie diet since January. I took one bite of each dessert. The creme brulee was the best. I might have had five bites of the creme brulee, come to think of it.

The Other Bar. The Second Night. Those bottles were gone.

I Went To Vegas And All You Got Were Photos, Part I

We walked a lot in Vegas. A lot. Here are my feet, at some mall in some hotel.








This is the bathroom in the Bellagio Hotel.

The view from the Stratosphere Tower. I went on the rides on the top and didn't poop my pants.

This was an ugly bathroom. I didn't even get all of the ugliness. I was worried about taking pictures in the bathroom. I didn't want to be the strange woman photographing the toilet fixtures.

The Bar for Husband. Ghetto Fabulous.

Just As Things Were Calming Down...

This last year has been difficult, to say the least.

It has been a year since we moved in to our place. One dent in the wall, one broken window-blind, and some spray paint on the garage floor, all done within the last month. Pretty good for us, actually. I expected holes in the walls long before now.

Messy turns a year old at the end of the month. He has grown from a teeny-tiny (six lbs!) baby into a 25lb walking talking destroying almost-toddler. Learning to be parents together was difficult for Husband and I. We have been together for three years and are just now "figuring things out". We still yell and argue, but we know that it won't be absolutely detrimental to our relationship to slam some doors and talk some trash. We have grown closer as we coparent our son together.

J1 has a cell phone. I know it doesn't seem like a big deal or something to write about, but I was very very against it at first...until I really needed to get ahold of her one day and I couldn't. So I let her call up her dad and turn on the charm...and voila! Cell phone that mom doesn't have to pay for. Even better!

J2 has been on meds for ADD. I have waaaaaaaaaaay mixed feeling about giving my child prescription drugs for something like this. I was very very against it. (Wow, I seem to be against a lot of things, huh?) She was not doing well in school, and trying to have a conversation with her and answer the same question over and over again was affecting our everyday lives, my marriage, her social life...so I filled the prescription. I started her on Ritalin. I watched and waited and had the teacher fill out assessments each week on different doses. Guess what happened? She did better in school. She could concentrate. She could focus and sit in her chair and not blurt out things in class. She still says embarassing things while at the grocery store, but it' s not at the top of her lungs anymore. I don't give her the meds on weekends, because, well, I HATE giving my child drugs, hate it hate it hate it. She doesn't have to sit still on a weekend, so I let her be herself, and wonder if she can tell the difference inside when she's not on Ritalin.

Stepson arrived on a train last night to live with us (again). It has been almost a year since he left us from living with us the first time. He is almost 18, and got into some felony trouble back home. He has no motivation and no direction and no high school diploma, but he is a good kid. He just had a shitty mother and stepdad.

Me? I'm the same. I will continue to be the same when I turn thirty years old on the 17th of this month. A little thinner, a lot more exhausted, and some investments in really good skin cream will ensure that my 30th birthday will be nothing special. I don't want to end my twenties, I don't. I am spending my birthday in Vegas with no children. Do you know what I am going to do when I get off the plane in Vegas? I am going to arrive at the hotel and I am going to take a nap. Yes, a nap. And you know what? It's going to be a damn good nap.