Vegas in September!

September 19th was my sister Cynthia's 50th birthday! Cynthia wanted to celebrate her birthday in style and go to Vegas! During the weekend of the 19th, I was walking the 3-Day for breast cancer so Cynthia decided to postpone her Vegas trip for a week so I could attend. After all, it made no real difference to her to put it off a week because September was her "BIRTHDAY MONTH" and she had been and was still celebrating for the entire month! (She has already warned her husband and the rest of us... when she turns 60... it will be her BIRTHDAY YEAR! That husband of hers better start saving his dollars NOW!)

Friday after work I flew out of Portland down to Vegas. It is just under a two hour flight and arriving at 9:00 p.m. into a city that never sleeps was no big deal at all. I drank a latte on the plane so I would be wide awake when I arrived. (I never drink caffeine after 2:00 p.m., EVER! I'm definitely a morning person more than a night owl so the caffeine was badly needed.)

After taking a shuttle from the Vegas airport to our hotel, my brother, Russ, met me in the lobby with beer in hand! (Did I mention how much I LOVE VEGAS?!)

We put my belongings in our room at the Luxor (we stayed in the pyramid)...

and then met up with Cynthia and her husband, Craig, next door at the Mandalay Bay. (The Mandalay Bay was sold out so we stayed as close as we could to them. In fact, we didn't even have to venture outside to get to their hotel, the two were connected by a mall.)

At that moment, my Vegas party started!

Of course I was way behind the rest of them - those party hounds - so Russ thought a fancy shot of Patron ... and then another... was the way to help me catch up!

Thanks Russ!

Cynthia had to have one of her own too! After all... she was the BIRTHDAY GIRL!

That's really all it took and oh my... the PARTY started! Heather was in town! (Those who know me personally know who HEATHER is! heh heh) We had a couple more drinks (oh dear!) and then I joined Russ in having a Genesis beer (it's very dark and syrupy and in no way a good chaser for shots of patron! blah!).

At that point I could drink no more! While Craig was playing the slots, Cynthia, Russ and I were drinking, talking, laughing and having a great visit! It isn't often the three of us are together and very rarely is it JUST the three of us. We were having a "sibling party" and it was quite nice and very special. We made the most of it. In fact, we ALMOST got Cynthia to get her first tattoo! She wants one so badly but just hasn't taken that final step to get it done. She wants a tiny little frog on her arm and asked if I would get a matching one? I said, "Of course I will get a matching mole with you!" (Ok, she didn't really want it quite as small as a freckle but compared to mine that I already have, her frog was going to be T.I.N.Y.) In the end, she didn't get it... she was not quite ready.

Next time my dear Sister... next time!

I don't know what time we decided to stumble off to our rooms but I was snockered and had to eat! (I missed dinner because of the timing of my flight.) Russ and I had the most awesome fish and chips at an Irish pub and to this moment my mouth is still watering every time I think of how good that fish was. Awesome.

The next morning Russ and I both woke up with headaches and went straight for the Advil! We met Cynthia for coffee and then ... had another drink! Or in Russ' case... had a beer WITH his coffee (among other essentials)!

It's true... having another drink while nursing a hangover makes you feel better and you forget you woke up feeling like crap!!

We then spent time outside at the pool. While Criag and a couple of his friends, Tim and Cheryl, were in the HOT SUN sweating like crazy, Cynthia, Russ and I were sitting in a shaded area drinking (of course!) and enjoying more visiting time.

We had a light lunch in a bar, shopped a little, had more drinks (OF COURSE!!), and then went to ANOTHER bar and had MORE drinks!! haha We were in Vegas, people!! 

Before dinner, we all six met for drinks at miX Lounge, the restaurant/bar at the top of THEhotel at the Mandalay Bay. There was an outside area with a gorgeous view!



While sitting outside gazing at the City, one can't help but notice the BEAM of LIGHT coming out of the Luxor Pyramid! In that light there were THINGS flying and I just knew they had to be bats but wow, so many and so big?! Could it be? Full of questions, I did what everyone else does in this modern day of technology, I Googled it! The light beam attracts bugs, birds, and BATS.

We had Cynthia's birthday dinner at 9:00 p.m. at Michael Mina's Stripsteak restaurant. WOW... but wow... WONDERFUL! It was a fun dinner with great food, awesome company, and great drinks! (You get the message here, right? We DRANK our way through Cynthia's birthday weekend!)

We stumbled out of dinner, played a couple slots (I put $20 in, took it up to $40, cashed it out at $34! High roller, I am!), and headed off to bed.

Thank you Russ for getting me back to the room safely while I stumbled and whined - seriously whined - oh, and seriously stumbled - about how tired and thirsty I was!

"Cute at 50!"

Sunday was another morning wake-up with another morning headache! Time for breakfast and a spicy Bloody Mary! heh heh

Russ was leaving that afternoon so we moved me into Cynthia and Craig's room for the remainder of my trip. (They had a suite so there was plenty of room to take me in!) Thank you Cynthia and Craig!

After saying our sad goodbyes to Russ (sniff, sniff), Cynthia and I went out to the pool to take in a little sun. It took all of about 10 minutes before I was dying of the heat and Cynthia suggested we get in the water. The Mandalay Bay pool is a wave pool so every 90 seconds a huge wave comes by. They have their chairs in the sand. It's designed to make you feel like you're at the ocean beach - in the middle of the desert in Nevada!

I'm not much on getting in ANY water, not even a pool, but it was too darn hot to pass on her suggestion. I don't like taking my hearing aids off and they definitely can't get wet. I was worried the wavies would cause me to go under (we were in up to our chest) so I clung to Cynthia and/or Craig every time one came by. Our feet left the bottom but we floated up with the wave and were back on solid footing after it passed. No problem at all! It was very refreshing and actually kind of nice. (Go me... I enjoyed a pool! Whoa!)

We had dinner at Il Fornaio in the New York-New York (our one and only time to really venture out of our hotel area) and enjoyed a wonderful visit with Tim and Cheryl.

Later that night, Craig, Cynthia and I went to see Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson "ONE".

It was a very well done show with emotions all over the place. Any Cirque du Soleil show is AMAZING and this one was no different. The dancers are unbelievably talented and obviously, this show had great music! (You can read the description of the show here under the Description tab.) I would definitely see it again if given the opportunity.

Cynthia and I were in bed before midnight, SOBER (seriously!), and passed out quickly. Craig came in not too long after. We were ALL tired. (Partying like a rock star all weekend certainly takes it out of you!)

We were out at the pool when it opened at 9:00 a.m. Monday morning (not to waste a minute of our last day!) and had our morning drinks - Bloody Mary for me and a Screwdriver for Cynthia! Unbelievably it was already HOT out and there was a quick need for more in-the-pool time! This time I left my hearing aids behind at my chair and thrououghly enjoyed SWIMMING. It felt fantastic to be "free" in that water without worrying about hearing aids OR the need to hear! Cynthia was close by and we enjoyed bobbing up and down with the waves. It really was the most fun I've had in a pool since I was a young child. And it felt SO GOOD!

After a couple of hours in the heat, we'd had our fill. We packed our belongings and then went shopping for awhile (always a fun mission!) while Craig was outside soaking up every last bit of sunshine he could until the very last minute. (It was all that much more important because we were coming home to the RAIN and the start of the rainy season!)

I couldn't leave Vegas without some Vegas Bling! ;)

I love these crazy things!

By 1:00 we had to leave for the airport. It was definitely hard to say goodbye to the fun, free flowing life of Vegas and the beautiful, warm (HOT!) sunshine! We ate lunch at the airport and enjoyed the last of our Vegas drinking spree. We bought lattes to take on the plane and said our goodbyes. (Sniff, sniff.) Our gates were next to each other and our flights were five minutes apart - a perfect way to end the Vegas weekend!

Thank you Craig (and Maxine - Russ' wife - and Ray - my husband) for letting Cynthia, Russ and I have such a special sibling weekend!

Thank you Russ and Cynthia for the awesome, lifetime memories! It was such a great trip! I love you both dearly! Jac / Sis and lets not forget... Heather! ;)

And Russ... thank you for taking so many wonderful pictures!

2013 Girlfriends Half Marathon

Yesterday, October 13th, was the seventh annual Girlfriends Half Marathon. There were nearly 2000 participates who raised $20,000 for Susan G. Komen for the Cure and $5,000 for the Children’s Center here in Vancouver. The “Pink Brigade” (six men decked out in PINK) raised $11,000 for the Kearney Breast Center at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, also here in Vancouver. This is a very fun, local event and a follow-up to my 3-Day for the Cure (60 miles) every year. The events are only three weeks apart so my pink belongings and pink mindset are still in full swing (as are my battered, tired feet!)! Like at the 3-Day, the fedora hats and boas get a lot of attention. This year Nanette and I tied pink bath scrubbies to our shoes as “pom-poms” which were also a big hit. It is a lot of fun to get in the spirit and dress up for the cause!

Nanette, Cindy, Me and Sue

There are plenty of ladies out there looking for a new PR but I participate in this event with no time to beat and no expectations of myself except to finish (that’s always an expectation). This event for me is for total FUN! Luckily Nanette and I had the same mindset this year and we were out there together praising ourselves for actually moving and putting one foot in front of the other! Both of us had injuries and a tough year and as a result, both became quite lazy while recovering. Getting moving again is always difficult.

I whined the entire way about my aches and pains, about the distance (only two miles down?!) and about my weight gain and being so out of shape again. It was terrible. Of course my little buddy Bullseye (aka Nanette) also had a whining party of her own going on so we really fed off of each other.   SOMEBODY forgot to bring the cheese to go along with this “whine” fest!

Through all of the aches, pains, complaints, thirst (we were carrying water but wanted margaritas!!) and yes - hunger! (Who mentioned chips and salsa first?!) - we managed to laugh, make fun of ourselves, and keep walking. 

I honestly felt WORSE during and after this half than I did during and after 60 miles in three days last month. I was in pretty bad shape yesterday. I went limping home and later went to bed with “magic shit” (a muscle rub from Mexico that works amazingly well) on the back of my knees, a prescription Motrin, and two blister Band-Aids on my right foot. Unbelievably, I woke up this morning feeling pretty good and without pain. Whew!

We truly had a lot of fun and look forward to doing it again next year - with some new ideas for our “costumes”!

But first… we MUST get back into shape and start training again on a regular basis. That starts TODAY. 

Nanette found this picture of us in the local paper today ("We're famous!")… too bad I look like a stuffed sausage (I don't even eat meat!)!  It didn't help that I was wearing layers (no matter how thin they might be). How dare that camera man be taking pictures from that angle! Get up on a latter, dude! ;)

Seriously... OUCH. Pictures don't lie.
The renewed commitment and diet started TODAY.