In just 48 hours...

My husband and I will be on a plane headed for Fiji to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.



It's been a little surreal up to this point. It still is, actually. We (along with 2 friends) purchased our airline tickets clear back in June. We wanted to do our 25th Anniversary BIG. Really BIG! I think we've accomplished that. Initially we were headed for Maui and I was trying to talk Troy in to renewing vows....we were going to invite family and friends...etc, etc....but Troy was afraid I might not say, "I do." this time around.

Well, that's not entirely true. Not entirely.

He never really asked the actual question the first time he "proposed" so he was probably nervous that he would need to ask this time. And that I might just say, "No, thank you. I mean you're a nice guy and everything but I think I'll just wait until I'm older."

That's not really true, either.

So we just stopped talking about the vow renewal altogether because it made him sweat and fidget. That is entirely true. When I told my best friend, Linda (who was initially planning on coming to witness the vow renewal) that we weren't going to do that, she said she would still like to come to Maui anyway since she had never been there. She was going to stay a week, we would stay for 2 weeks.

So I popped on line to make reservations through our time-share resort membership thingy. I was on night-shift, a little bored (that's not really true...I was a lot bored) and started surfing around their website and discovered they had a resort location in Fiji! One thing led to another, one more person was invited to even out the numbers, we booked tickets, booked the room and here we are some 187 days later.

Fiji.

It goes without saying that I will most likely NOT be around a computer for 2 weeks. There will be no blog posts about Fiji as we experience it. There will be blog posts, just not about Fiji. Yet. But I've scheduled 3 posts to entertain and wow you. All 3 posts celebrate our 25 years together in some way and lead up to mine and Troy's anniversary on December 15, with an extra special post scheduled for that actual date.

So don't miss it!!

Because there may be a prize!

That may or may not be true.

Mr. Cuervo

This is our little friend who showed up at the Ice Fest....Mr. Ceurvo. His first name is Jose. He is quite a party animal! His voice wasn't nearly as deep as you would imagine it to be and he was completely toothless. I guess that must be from sucking all those limes...



He made his first appearance the second night we were in Niagara Falls. It would have been nice if he hadn't shown up so soon because maybe, just maybe, that stupid slot machine would not have appeared quite so sparkly and bright and charming. And maybe, just maybe, I would have come home with a little more change in my purse.

Maybe.

But Jose showed up early. And he was larger than life.

About that Wizard of Oz Slot Machine...

First things first.

If you are relatively new to this blog, you need to understand that I have an unusual love for the Wizard of Oz. I *heart* all things Oz. If you so desire to catch up with this phenomena you may do so by reading this...and this...or maybe this....and this....and let's not forget this.

There's more. Trust me. It's a sickness.

Now that we are all on board, let me get to the point of this post. Remember Patti? My Canadian, partying, gambling internet friend?



During my recent visit to Niagara Falls to visit her and a couple of other internet friends (see previous "internet safety" post before you lecture me...I understand the dangers...sort of) we hit the casino. At one point Patti started sashaying around the casino floor. She seemed aloof and giddy at the same time. Something was up, I could FEEL it. When she finally revealed where she was headed I lost my breath. She was VERY excited to show it to me. And I was VERY excited to see that lovely piece of metal. NOT so excited when that shiney-shoed girl from Kansas took my money. A lot of my money. But it just sucked me in like a tornado with it's sparkly images and extra fun bonus rounds and Bose surround sound built in to the seat.

Yes. Bose Surround Sound during a tornado. It was AWESOME!

There is no picture in existence of me playing said machine. Because we were not allowed to take pictures in the casino. And you know we followed the rules, right? RIGHT? *cough-cough* The truth is it is residing on a cell phone and I don't have it yet. HOWEVER....you gotta love google!!

Here is that lovely beauty in all her glory.



And if you are so inclined to view a little video and watch it in all its bonus round loveliness?

http://www.wms.com/gameroom/gi/oz/index.php

This machine did NOT show me the same kind of love that I so richly deserve. I've been a faithful follower practically my entire life. And there was just NO LOVE, PEOPLE! Those 3 free tequila drinks were the most expensive drinks I've ever had. But those images...those sounds...the action....those bright lights....it was almost too much for me to handle.

But not so much that I had to walk away.

Step away from the sparkly shoes, Cheri. Just step away.

Somehow tequila makes a girl hard of hearing.

18 days....

until my husband and I leave for this place



to celebrate 25 years of annoying the crap out of each other.

What's a daddy to do....

when he sees that his baby is almost grown up? He hi-tails it to the back yard because his eyes "need some fresh air". Yes, those were the exact words from my husband as I sat and edited my daughter's senior pictures taken in our hometown a couple of weekends ago.





25 years together and sometimes my husband still manages to surprise me with his reactions to things.

But I will give him the benefit of the doubt in this case. It is a little surreal that we are so close to having an empty nest. Well, as empty as a nest can ever be....do we really EVER get completely rid of them? Or want to? Hmmm....

Of our three children, this one has been particularly hard on Troy because they shared an entire year together living without the rest of us. Remember that? So while Lindsay challenged Troy in many ways and bugged the crap out of him with her multiude of teenage drama-queen issues, he is particularly close with her because it was just the two of them for so long.



So it's okay he got emotional. He earned it.

But I'm a little worried about graduation night.....

Internet Safety

If you have children younger than 18 (especially teenagers) that surf the net, what safety measures do you discuss with them about who they might meet on the internet?

I ask because I have failed miserably in setting a good example.

During my absence from blog-update duties I jetted off to Niagara Falls to meet up with some internet friends. *gasp!* I KNOW!! Now in my defense I had already met 2 of these ladies in person on previous jet-set adventures. (I told you I have failed miserably) but the third gal was a first-time meet-and-greet experience.

And these ladies are crazy. But not that physcho crazy that you would need to be wary of. But how do you know ahead of time? Until you get there? Again, failing by example.

This is Patti. Well, this is ME and Patti. But you already know who I am.



She is the hostest with the mostest. And I mean that sincerely. This woman parties and gambles so much at the casino that she is a VIP. That sounds charming, doesn't it? My Canadian, gambling, partying internet friend. But she is wonderfully delightful in every sense and allowed the 3 of us to follow her around as VIP wannabes. To be quite frank she spoiled us rotten even after we invited ourselves to come visit her. Yeah. You read that right. We were not ASKED to come but just showed up anyway. Patti treated us like the royalty we pretend to be.

And speaking of pretending to be royal.....this is Gina.



Well, this is ME and Gina. I'm on the left. You probably knew that by now. This was my first time meeting Gina. She got us in to trouble constantly. In her defense I think we probably encouraged her behavior a bit but I think doing gymnastics moves in the VIP lounge was totally her.

And this person is responsible for my gambling losses at the roulette table.



This is Cassandra. That is NOT me on the left. I am still wondering why it was so important for that Moose to be anatomically correct. Especially with children running around everywhere....or with adults running around everywhere acting like children. What? Well yes I DO happen to have a picture of us together!



That's me on the left. Again. Must be some hidden compulsion I have.

Cassandra is from North Carolina and has a southern drawl to prove it. She's adorable, gracious and was kind enough to share snores with me. We laughed as we shared our nervousness that we WOULD be snoring (there was no doubt in either of our minds) so we made the perfect roommates. She loves Ice Wine. I mean really, REALLY loves her Ice Wine. So much so that she will beg random men in the hotel hallway to pop the very-stubborn-stuck cork in her Ice Wine bottle.



We do not know this man's name. Or where he was from. Or the name of his lady friend. But wasn't she nice to play along?

And what is a post about Niagara Falls without a picture of the Falls? Worthless, I say.



And Canada where Patti lives? I've never experienced Fall colors like this in my life.



We toured. We ate. We drank. We gambled. In fact, here is a picture of Cassandra and Patti with their winnings from the roulette table one night.



You will notice that I am not holding out my winnings for the picture. Because I didn't have any winnings. As a matter of fact, Patti was VERY excited to drag me over to a WIZARD OF OZ slot machine when we first got there. I'll talk about that in a separate post a little later. It IS worthy of its own post after all. It's WIZARD OF OZ, PEOPLE!

My trip was wonderful. It was a nice break from the normality of my feeble existence. I can't wait to meet up with these wonderful ladies again!