M.I.A.

So, for those of you who think I've gone MIA, I haven't. School has just started and I've been super busy. I'm hoping after a few weeks, things will calm down. Yesterday was the first day of school and I can't believe I survived. It was crazy busy and a million things went wrong, but today was much better. I also started more Masters classes at UNLV today. Well, I'm about ready to fall into bed, so until next time...

Cheri and me...

I love having visitors in town. I get to go do all sorts of fun stuff. Cheri and I went all over the strip, including going up in the Paris Hotel Eiffel Tower and watching the fountains at Belaggio. We also went to the Ethel M. Chocolate factory and toured the cactus gardens. To top it all off, Monday night we went to see Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian and then ran across the street to see a Cirque du Soliel show, Mystere, at Treasure Island the same night. This was the second time I've seen Phantom since moving to Vegas, but I love it! Mystere was the most amazing thing I've ever seen, combining comedy, dance and acrobatics. Both performances were absolutely amazing and I can't wait to go to more shows!!
Cheri and I at the top of the Eiffel tower.
The Belaggio fountains, as viewed from the top of the Eiffel tower!
Cheri and I waiting to see Phantom.
For some reason, Cheri fell in love with the short, squat palm trees and just had to have a picture with one!
You can't come to Vegas without playing a slot or two. Cheri was really excited to play the Wheel of Fortune one, until she found out that you didn't actually compete against the other players!

Visitors

I have had a lot of visitors this past weekend. Cheri came into town and stayed for 4 days and Bill and family stopped by last Saturday for a little visit. Here's a few pictures. Even though Bill could only stay for a few minutes, it was nice to see them all.

Breaking Dawn

Like the devoted fan I am, I went to the midnight release party for Breaking Dawn, the fourth book in the twilight series. I have already finished reading it, and it is awesome! My roommate, Savannah, and I went to check out a few of the bookstore parties before finally staying at Borders. Barnes and Noble here was hosting a twilight prom, so half the people were dressed in their prom best. It was really interesting. We had the most fun just people watching, especially reading all the crazy t-shirts! Some were very funny (Edward makes me sparkle!) while others were just grammatically incorrect (I run with vampire). I am already looking forward to rereading the series!
I know the picture is blurry, but I was trying to be sneaky and use my camera phone. This was at the Barnes and Noble twilight prom.

Batman

So, I finally went to see the new Batman, on an IMAX screen no less. I have to say that it was totally creepier than I was expecting. Don't get me wrong, I really liked it, but it was dark. I am a little sad that they killed two-face so fast, he was one of my favorite villains.

Jury Duty

I can't say that I've ever really been a fan of jury duty, and yesterday did not change my opinion. On the summons, they give directions to the only parking garage that they will validate and then the courthouse is about 5 blocks away. While walking these 5 blocks, in one of the worst areas of downtown Vegas, I had to walk by several people still asleep on the sidewalk, many ladies-of-the-night and several drug dealers. Of course it was also about 100 degrees outside, too. When I finally got to the courthouse, they scanned me in and then everybody just sat around waiting for about 2 hours. When they finally needed jurors, I was one of the lucky 40 chosen to be questioned in the courtroom on the 11th floor. Being up on the 11th floor we had a nice view of the surrounding area, or "cracktown" as the bailiff called it. After about 2 hours of questioning potential jurors, they finally sent the rejected back to wait for another trial. I, of course, was rejected because I am a teacher and the case was a criminal case involving children (Convicted felon in possession of a weapon). After another half hour in the waiting room, again, they finally sent some of us home. I feel bad for those who were never called and just stuck in the waiting room for 5 hours!

Rentals...

I've been having car problems for the last few weeks, which is especially annoying considering I have a nice, new car. After needing 20 minutes to get it to start yesterday, I decided to take it in to the dealership today. I went to the dealership I bought it at, thinking that because it is a bigger dealership, they should have time to look at it today. The people were rude and not helpful at all. They wanted me to just leave it there for a few days until they might have time to look at it. I made an appointment for tomorrow and started to drive home. I then remembered that there is a Nissan dealership near my new house and thought I should give them a try. They were so nice!! They got my car in right away, and even offered to fix the hubcap for free (apparently hubcaps aren't covered in your warranty.) I waited for about half an hour and the guy told me he didn't have the part, but enterprise rent-a-car was on their way over to pick me up and get me into a rental, completely free of charge. My car would be ready tomorrow. It was kind of funny at the rent-a-car place because they were down to their last two vehicles, so I get to drive around town in a truck for now. It's been a while since I drove something this big!!
Today's Fortune: Your present plans are going to succeed.