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Update - I haven’t felt the desire to write lately. But, I thought I should to keep the events in my life vivid in my mind. Can you believe that the days are already growing shorter? It seems just like yesterday that the temperatures were beginning to rise outdoors as the heat blazed onto the dashboard of my car. Truly, life is really like a roll of toilet paper - the less you have left, the quicker it goes.
It’s unimaginable that I’ve already been on my own for almost a year. Never in my wildest dreams did I truly believe that my parents would be willing to let me part from them while unmarried. I’m not sure if I mentioned it already but mom and dad actually drove up to visit me. They were my ‘guests’. I took mom shopping and we had a very touching conversation. She expressed her approval of my decision to want to marry V. She said there were specific qualities and certain things that she wishes my future husband possesses, but the bottom line of her desire is my happiness. I was surprised that she brought any of it up at all because, for those of you who know me, my mom and I have never been all that close. All the times that I tried talking to her in the past, I always felt a bit uneasy and flustered. This time, it was truly different. We were talking about our lives as though we had always been friends. And so, of course, with that being said, I decided to tell her about the new diamond ring V bought for me over July 4th weekend. It was more of an upgrade, really. We traded the first one he bought me when he proposed for a bigger one. And then I told mom about the cost. She jokingly said that he should have bought me gold instead. That would have been money better spent! LOL.
I feel like I have been traveling all year although I haven’t been very far. For my birthday, V and I went to Vegas where we had an ‘ok’ time. It was blistering hot if you were out for too long. Luckily, some of the resorts and hotels were connected at some point so we were able walk from one to another without having to step outside. Even nicer was the monorail. When we didn’t feel like walking from the Bellagio to New York New York, we were able to jump on the monorail which took us directly to Monte Carlo. From there, it was only a short walk over. We didn’t win any money but we didn’t lose too much either. We strategically brought only cash and spent what was in our pockets so basically, our trip was all done and paid for by the time we came home.
As I mentioned earlier in one of my logs, I wanted to kiss V in front of the Dancing Fountains of Bellagio but we didn’t get to do that. For some reason, we were NOT getting along very well. It probably was because I was tired and cranky and being really mean to him. L We were great together in the mornings and because of the two hour difference, we were always up earlier than expected. So, by the time the nightlife began, it was bed time for me and trying to stretch my fun-loving attitude was a failure. It’s horrible that I’m so set on sleeping by 10pm now, 10:30pm at the latest. We visited the top of the Stratosphere and I tried so hard to be nice to V but my patience ran thin and we didn’t enjoy much of our time there. The view was really breathtaking though.
Perhaps if we ever revisit, we’ll go during the spring or fall when the temperature is decent. V. spotted a pho restaurant during our shuttle bus ride from the airport to the Alladin that he really wanted to try but we ran out of time. There’s also the LV Chinatown that I want to see and of course, the Freemont Street experience. Hopefully we can book a show or two for entertainment, now that we’re familiar with the layout of the hotels and resorts. We spent 4 days and 3 nights there and we didn’t even have time to go thru all of the hotels. And I can’t forget about the buffets. We went to Aladdin’s buffet for both lunch and dinner. I was really looking forward to it. Lunch cost us about $48 and dinner about $52. The food selection was the same with the exception of king crab legs during dinner. They were huge and already split so patrons didn’t have to spend time trying to pry them open. Of course, they were cold though. And the line was extremely long.
We also tried PF Chang’s. Honestly, I don’t know what the hype is all about with their restaurant. I wasn’t thrilled with their food and their service was ‘ok’ - at best. We arrived momentarily after it opened so it wasn’t all that busy but there was still a wait to get anyone’s attention for service. I think I’ll always prefer the authentic Chinese food that you can only get in the windy city. Luckily for me, there’s a really tasty restaurant right down the street from my place. I took my parents and little brother there when they visited and they absolutely loved it. My parents are generally picky so I took it as a thumbs up.
Summer’s almost over and V and I still haven’t hit the beach yet. I’m hopeful that we can go during Labor Day weekend before it becomes cool. For our 1 yr anniversary of my acceptance of his proposal, he wants to take me to Navy Pier and have lunch on the ship. When we first visited the Navy Pier last year, I told him that it’d be nice if we could have lunch on that ship one day so he’s been planning to take me ever since. Of course, it’s so costly being about $40-$45/person, I keep making excuses. He’s hopeful that I’ll agree for this occasion. We’ll see…
Now, V and I have to plan our trip to Oklahoma for the first week of November. My SIL plans on selling food for the New Year so I’m flying down before V to get a head start on assisting with the preparations. And then Christmas will be next. I haven’t even begun my shopping yet which is disappointing because I usually start early. We’ve still got 4 months ahead of us yet, I already feel like the year’s wrapping up. Much like today. I feel like we should already be going home. Who ever ruled that it’s legal to work on Fridays must have been a workaholic.