Off to work again...

My parents returned home from their cruise today. They are actually in the air right now flying from Los Angeles to Reno. I spoke with my mom this morning and she said they had a great time. My dad was absolutely convinced he would get sick. He didn't! He was very disappointed because he was proven wrong. I am glad they had a great time though. Mom says they are already planning the next one.

Dan's grandpa is doing much better than he was last night. The doctors put him on a respirator for about an hour, and that seemed to help him out quite a lot. He still has a long way to go, but if he can keep having good days every so often, the outlook for a return home looks good. Although Dan's grandpa is tired of being in the hospital and seems a little frustrated, he seems to have the determination to make it home.

Back from New York, but only for a day, as usual. I returned home this afternoon after attending a meeting in San Jose. I'll be on the road again tomorrow night. Had a great time in New York...a fellow flight attendant and I went and saw Chicago on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre. What a funny, funny musical. I thoroughly enjoyed it. On Thursday, I went to 34th Street to visit Old Navy and also exercised a little in the hotel gym. All in all a relaxing, but fun trip.

Speaking of trips, Jenn is off to the Sunset State tomorrow! Jenn, you know we are all expecting a full report. Tell Amber, "Hi!" for us, ok? And have fun!

Dan is still in town with us looking after his grandpa who is in the hosiptal. He has been there now for a week, and tonight we got a phone call to head to the hospital because things weren't looking good. Although his grandpa is awake and talking, the doctors are worried about his condition worsening overnight and some important family decisions had to be made. It is all so very sad. Beth and I were thinking about it on the way home and how sad it is that we live our whole life to have it come down to this: no fan fare, no front page story. It happens everyday and is a fact of life, but death will never be easy. It seems like it would be better if we could announce our departure, have it be a grand occasion and opporturnity to celebrate our life, but unfortunately it doesn't work that way. All I can hope is that Dan's grandpa remains comfortable, and doesn't forget that he has Dan there to watch over him. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to go quietly, with loved ones near and a chance to say, "I love you" and "Goodbye."

Happy 30th anniversary to my parents! They set sail at 5pm on Carnival Cruise Lines to commemorate the occassion! I flew to LA and met up with them yesterday afternoon, and stayed with them in San Pedro last night. We went to Downtown Disney, an area very similar to City Walk at Universal Studios. It was awesome. So much has changed at Disneyland, and I was just there not even two years ago! If you ever stayed at the Disneyland Hotel, you'll remember the big lagoon in the middle. It's gone! But, they've replaced it with a really cool lagoon-like pool. I guess it makes the space more practical. But no more peddle-paddle boats. ;-(

The new Downtown Disney starts at the entrance to both Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure. Downtown Disney goes all the way to the Disneyland Hotel. You don't even have to take the monorail to get from the hotel to the park anymore. This new Downtown Disney thing is awesome...I really liked it. The only thing I didn't like, is, we inquired at the ticket window how much it would be to enter the park. It was 7:30pm and the park closed at 10pm. The price: 45 bucks! FULL PRICE. Can you believe that? Every park I've ever been to has twilight specials. I couldn't believe they were going to charge full price for 2.5 hours. Disney isn't doing so hot right now financially, and they lost out on $90 (we were willing to pay $30 each for 2.5 hours). Think about much money that would add up for them if they just lowered the price 15 dollars three hours before the parked closed. I don't know, maybe that's part of the reason they aren't doing so hot. Anyway, Downtown Disney was awesome. Did I mention Downtown Disney is awesome? If not, Downtown Disney is awesome!

Other big news on my home front. I've been keeping a secret from all of you, and that's because I wanted to make sure it was going to come to fruition before I mentioned it. And it has. Effective June 1, 2002, I will be flying international trips out of Boston, MA. I took the plunge and decided to give international flying a try. I have a friend who has been flying international out of Boston and loves it, and she also commutes from Las Vegas like I do. So, fortunately, their aren't a lot of unknowns, thanks to her. I am a little intimidated by the prospect of a new adventure, but I am very much looking forward to it. I will be flying to Dallas sometime in May to get trained on international procedures and some new aircraft. I'll keep you posted. For some reason, international flying seems to worry people more than domestic flying does. Let us not forget, those two planes that hit the WTC were flying domestic. Perhaps I am making myself more safe...

It was nice to get back to work and my trip to New York was fun and definately eventful. We arrived in the city about 6pm on Monday night. Another flight attendant, Joan, and I went out to dinner about 8pm at a little Irish Pub and Resteraunt just down the street from the hotel. Then, we walked around Time's Square, went back to the hotel to drop off some bags and pounded the pavement once more. This time, we went to Grand Central Station. Although I've been by it many times, I had never been in it. It was absolutely beautiful inside. I am glad I finally got to see it. We ended up getting back to the hotel about 1am. It was great to get out and walk around so much, but my dogs sure were barkin'! And, on top of it all, it is really hot in New York right now...91 on Tuesday with fairly high humidity. Their normal temp for this time of the year is the low 60's. What a heat wave! By the time I got back to the hotel, even though it was 1am, I was drenched with sweat. What a workout!

On Tuesday, Joan and I met up around 11am and went and rented bikes. We rented the bikes on 59th Street and ended up riding all the way up to 102nd Street. We went back down to 72nd where we checked out Strawberry Fields, the memorial in the park for John Lennon. Then we headed over to the Hudson River Park and eventually wound our way back to 59th and Broadway to drop the bikes off. In all we had the bikes for two hours. What a workout, again!

When we returned the bikes, I inquired with the man working there about getting back the part of the release form that had my address, phone number and credit card number on it. I had to give it to them in case I stole or damaged the bike. Now that I had brought the bike back on-time and in the same condition I had rented it in, I wanted that info back...there was no need for him to have it. He wouldn't give it to me. There was no way I was going to leave the place without my credit card and address information, especially since this place was a little street corner operation (although it was listed in the New York Magazine.) I was trying to explain to this man, who spoke little english, why I wanted it back and why he didn't need it. Joan was attempting to do the same with the female employee. After a few minutes of arguing, I reached out and grabbed the form off the clipboard it was attatched to. He ATTACKED me! I never touhced him, I simply grabbed the form. After repeatedly telling him to let go of me or I would call the police and waving my cell phone at him, I tugged my arm and he let go. The whole thing happened so fast. The other flight attendant with me, Joan, didn't know what to think! The whole thing was over as quickly as it had begun, and we were on our way with what I wanted: my credit card and addresss information. Once the man let go of me, I looked over at Joan and calmly said, "Joan, it's over. Let's go." She looked at me, puzzled, and said, "Uh...ok."

We walked back toward our hotel and got a sandwhich and salad for lunch, and ate it in a little outdoor sitting area near our hotel. We weren't even talking to one anther, or looking at one another when all of sudden, we both burst out laughing, mouths full of food! It was truly a New York adventure! We laughed about it the whole way across the country. Now, its just a funny story to tell.

All in all, a great trip! Lots of exercise with an assault thrown in for good measure. I prevailed, unharmed, with what I wanted, and thats what counts! Don't mess with me!

Although I am still nursing an ever running nose, I feel much, much better. So much so, in fact, I am returning to the sky! Yeah. I've missed flying, but that is probably because I have been home for two weeks. I head out today to San Jose and then off to New York tomorrow. I will be flying to New York the rest of the month, and am looking forward to it.

Bethany and I went to the Ethel M. Chocolate factory here in Las Vegas yesterday with her grandma. They've both been there many times, but I never have. It was a lot of fun. The big thing at Ethel M., even more so than the chocolate is their Cactus Garden. They have a huge garden designed completely with xeriscape (low water need) and it is green and lush. We wanted ideas for things to plant in our yard. Between the garden and the chocolate, it was a good time. :-) Then we went to lunch at Chili's. Last night, Beth and I met up with her parents, her parent's neighbors Bob and Lisa, and family friend Art and his girlfriend Christine. Got all that? We had dinner at Joe's Crab Shack (a fav) and pigged out. I love that place! I think it is because I only go there maybe two or three times a year, so it is always new, fun and yummy!

It was a very relaxing Saturday, but fun. So, today I am finishing laundry, going to clean the upstairs (since I already did the downstairs a couple of days ago) and pack my bags. My flight leaves at four. Here's to everyone having a great week ahead!

Well, as much as I tried to ignore it, it didn't go away. I woke up on Friday sneezing, and fell asleep sneezing Friday night and with a sore throat. I woke up Saturday morning seriously congested and unable to breathe. Also, the surface of my skin was really itchy. Can we say allergies? This just happened to me not so long ago, and I told myself then to get to the doctor for another Kennalog shot. That stuff works really well at keeping the allergies at bay. I never did, until yesterday. Well, I feel better today, although I still have considerable pressure in my sinuses and am still getting headaches because of it. Needless to say, I didn't go out on my trip.

Which bums me too. I was flying with two Reno Air flight attendants that I know and it was a nice, simple trip. Of course, you only get sick when it doesn't behoove you. I guess getting sick never behoove's you, but you know what I mean. Speaking of getting sick, I heard on the news that the common cold virus has been proven to kill cancer cells in 35 cancer patients. Isn't that interesting? I am sure we will hear a lot about that in the coming years.

Well, the house is all quiet and lonely now since everyone has gone. And I am home alone, sleeping most of the day to beat this allergy induced cold. I was able to get out last night for a short walk with Bethany, and I hope to do so again tonight. I am managing to make dinner, too, although simple. Last night we had tacos and tonight we will either have chicken and mashed potatoes or tortelloni soup. The latter's recipe is currently on the recipe page. I'm leaning toward the soup since it's easier and soup goes along way to making you more comfortable when you don't feel well.

In case you've missed the last two entries, you are now viewing Married with... on it's new webhome: http://users.lvcm.com/.bethkevwed Even though the old site is redirecting you automatically, be sure to write down the new address as the old address won't be active forever. Also, the new message board system is up and running. Click on discuss below, then Married with.... Click on the post "Using the new message board" for more information. FYI: the recipe page was updated April 2 with three new recipes, the calendar was updated, and finally, Bethany's page was slightly updated.

Hi everyone! Well, in case you missed the last entry, you are now looking at Married with... on its new webhome, http://users.lvcm.com/bethkevwed Thanks goes out to Jenn for helping me make it possible.

Other than switching over the website, I've had a very busy week, even though I have been off. Dan came home with Beth last Saturday, and was here all week. He went home today. Dan and I did a ton of stuff together, including riding the Big Shot at the Stratosphere and the roller coaster there. That was a lot of fun, but very stressful.

We also went to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay...that place was amazing. I felt like I was at a top notch aquarium. We also went all over Las Vegas, helped Beth out in the classroom on Wednesaday and had midnight breakfast together like the good 'ol days of college. We had a lot of fun. I was sad to see him leave today. Yesterday morning, Brett and Sherry rolled into town. They'll be leaving late tomorrow night. They like the driving overnight thing. I think they're crazy. I guess it's better for them since babt William will be asleep. Yesteray, Dan, Brett, Sherry, William and I went to the Star Trek Experience at the Hilton. Though I have been there before and I'm not a Trekkie, I still think it is awesome! We rode it three times!

Today I went back to the Shark Reef with Beth, Brett and Sherry. None of them had been yet, I liked it so much we all went together. Then we headed over to Carrabba's and had a nice dinner, then drove around looking at dream homes. Tomorrow, I will be leaving for work again, so I don't know what's in store then.

The bathroom project I mentioned a while back is finally complete. The whole thing is decorated, and looks really good. Maybe someday, when I get technologically savvy enough to do so, I will add a picture of it to the blog. Don't hold your breath.

Well folks, with some help from my trusty friend Jenn, you are now visiting the new home of Married with...! And you didn't even know it. The new web address is up in your URL window. But I'll write it out anyway. http://users.lvcm.com/bethkevwed Note: there is no WWW.

With the new home for Married with... comes a new message board. This message board seems fairly easy, but I'll pass along some advice. When you click below on "discuss" you are going to see the message board, with the option of clicking on Married with... Click on that. You have now entered the forum for Married with.... Once inside, you can respond to old topics or start new ones. You will be prompted to fill in your user name and password. Simply fill in the name by which you want to go by on the message board and leave the password blank. Then fill in your comments. It will post your message as a nonregistered user. No registration is required.

The recipe page has finally been updated with three new recipes, all of which are very easy to make. We've got Tortelloni Soup, Poor Man Stew and Devine Berries. The Poor Man Stew is really inexpensive to make, and is actually a Weight Watchers recipe, minus the optional ingredient. The Tortelloni Soup was wildly popular with my family and Cathy and Jim Simpson. Hopefully you will like it, too. And, the dessert, Devine Berries, is simply devine.

The calendar page has been updated, as well as Bethany's page, finally. I decided to add a little something more myself, still holding out hope that Bethany will add her own touch someday. Maybe all onlookers should send her an e-mail encouraging her to divulge! Sounds good to me.

Hi Kevin! The redirect from the old site to the new site is set up now! (Cuz I'm just cool like that....)