Busy, busy weekend!

My parents left this evening, and were the last of a whirl-wind, but fun filled weekend that had it's ups and downs. This past weekend was the Money Honeys annual face-to-face meeting. Dan and Rene arrived here Thursday evening, and my parents arrived Friday morning. All the Honeys and their spouses met at Dale and Carter's on Friday night for a Mexican Fiesta, complete with free-flowing margharitas. Can't go wrong there! Saturday was the busy day. In the morning, all the Honeys and their spouses assembled here for a seminar based on the book "Smart Couples Finish Rich" hosted by a Morgan Stanley Investment banker. After that, we all broke for lunch. The Honeys resumed their business and conducted the actual face-to-face meeting where they were able to change some of their rules and decide on some stock purchases.

Saturday night most of the Honeys went to see "O" at the Bellagio, one of the three Cirque du Soleil shows in town. Those who did go to the show did their own thing. My parents and I, along with Amber, Dan and Rene hung out a little on the strip and enjoyed crepes at Paris. Yesterday my parents, Beth and I headed out to Red Rock to enjoy the sites out there, along with a little hiking. We headed to Lake Las Vegas from there to the new Montelago Village to check out the Mediterranean-ish architecture and boutique shopping area. Although many of the stores are not yet occupied, it was a beautiful place, and somewhere I look forward to going back to. We had dinner at Gardunos, yes, more Mexican food, and then Beth dropped Dan and Rene off at the airport while my parents and I headed to the Fremont Street Experience in Downtown Las Vegas. Although the light show was more lame than usual, it's still neat to see. We weren't there too long before we decided to take a drive down The Strip and head home.

This morning my parents and I headed to the North Las Vegas airport. My parents have flown with me once before in Minden, but never here in Las Vegas. We headed out over Lake Mead and continued east bound to the Grand Canyon. There we did a touch-and-go at Grand Canyon West airport and flew along the rim for a bit. It is so beautiful there. My parents have never seen the Grand Canyon before, and at least now they've seen it from the air, just five hundred feet above the canyon rim. From there we headed back to Lake Mead and turned south to circle over Hoover Dam. From there, we headed west, just south of Las Vegas. We flew through Red Rock Canyon before entering the Las Vegas area and joining the arrival back to the North Las Vegas airport. From there it was off to do a little bit of shopping at the new outlet mall and get a bite to eat. We came home, they packed, and we headed back out to the airport, only this time to McCarren so they could catch their flight back to Reno. They should be home by now.

I unfortunately need to head back to the airport as well this evening as I am taking the red-eye flight to Dallas and then on to St. Louis for a trip I have tomorrow. Ick... very long day indeed. That's ok though, I'll be back home Wednesday night. Whew, there's an account of the last four days... I', just tired thinking about it all. Night, night!

I 'm OUT... I am a metrosexual!

From ESPN's SportsNation and MSN:

Are you a man who enjoys shopping, snappy shoes and a crisply starched buttondown? Have you ever frosted your hair or bought a pair of low rise bootcuts? Do you prefer a good martini over a sudsy draft? Get with it hipsters, you may be a metrosexual.

The latest buzzword defines an emerging breed of modern, straight, stylish, sensitive, well-groomed guys.

Things that suck...

Being home only one day and having to go on the road for five straight
Needing 20% equitty in your home to lower mortgage insurance and only having 17.7%
Constantly sneezing because you can't bare to tell the little kitty to get off your lap
Talking with incompetent people over the phone... I think they call it "Customer Service"
Costco not selling Hanes T-shirts anymore, or at least not today
Only getting five hours of sleep on your day/night off
Your employer agrees it owes you $1,300, but won't pay it for a year

Things that rule...

Spending a night pool side at the Whiskey Bar listening to live Jazz with the one you love
Having lunch with the one you love, even if it means subjecting yourself to 22 eight-year-olds' prying questions
Spending an evening with an old friend you rarely see, but dearly miss

Two new additions

Bethany and I are the proud new parents of Joey and Noah, two American shorthair cats we adopted last week. They both came from Blue Skies Animal Rescue and were buddies in the past, so of course, we had to take them both. Beth and I have been looking for a pair of kitties for the past couple of months, but were waiting for both of our schedules to settle down before adoptng. We found the pair on PetFinder.com, a great website that can help you find exactly what you're looking for, where you live. It's a wonderful site.

Both kitties are white with orange. Joey is 4 (almost 5) and Noah is 2. They are both very well adjusted cats and have seemingly made the transition into our home quickly and easily. They are already sleeping with us at night, and are constantly approaching for love and affection. We just couldn't be happier with our two new bundles of joy! I'll have to somehow get a picture of the two of them on here soon.

Beth and I returned from G-ville last night. We went there for a family reununion. We had a great time... I got to see cousins I haven't seen in as long as 10 years! It was a buys two days... when Beth and I arrived Friday night, we went to dinner with my mom and dad. Saturday morning mom and I went to the Reno Balloon Race and watched the mass ascention. That was a lot of fun as usual. Later we went to Tahoe to meet up with my aunt Lynda and her family at the lake house. We BBQed lunch there. Amber came over from Sacramento, we were sooo excited to see her.

Beth, Amber and I drove to Carson City about 5:30 and met up with Brett, Sherry and William at Red's Old 395 Grille for dinner. William is as cute as ever! Dinner was good, and we had a nice conversation with Brett and Sherry. Amber drove Beth and I to my parent's house about 9pm, and she drove home to Cool from there. Sunday was the reunion. We spent the whole morning and afternoon mingling with family and getting to re-know one another again. It's amazing how we're all grown up now. Seems wierd. Beth and I flew home last night and arrived about 8pm. It was a whilrwind 48 hours, but fun!

Amber is coming to town on Thursday to check out the city, her (hopefully) new school, NSC, and potential job and home locations. She'll be here through Monday. I am not entirely sure of my schedule this week, but I hope to be home as much as possible to hang out with her. Beth and I have really missed Amber these past several months, and it was great to see her this weekend. And now we get another weekend with her, too! Yeah!

And then, on Sep. 25-27 is the Money Honeys annual face to face meeting, here in Las Vegas. My parents, as well as a lot of our friends, will be in town for that. September is just going to be one great monht, seeing a lot of the people that mean so much to us!

Jenn would be so proud...

I have finally decided to stop using the evil MS Publisher to create my websites, and move to a more computer friendly but equally idiot proof method, Front Page. I picked up "The Complete Idiot's Guide to MS Front Page 2000" from Amazon.com for $2.48 from their used book section. Not bad. I have read just a little of the book and am already surprised at some of it's capabilities, like creating a message board. I plan to use Front Page to overhaul www.moneyhoneys.com and eventually recreate this site on it, as well. I'd like to drop the calendar page, and perhaps move the links to the left column on the main page. I just want it to be more simple, and easy to update. I still like Publisher for other needs, but I think, or hope, I am done with it for creating websites. Jenn's only been trying to get me to make this move for, oh, two-plus years.

Speaking of websites, this one's been updated with new recipes. Look for Dale's ultra easy and ultra delicious All-in-one-pot spaghetti and some great summer smoothies.

Beth and I are off to G-ville this weekend for a family reunion on my mom's side. I'll get to see my aunt Lunda and uncle Mark, whom I haven't seen since my grandpa's funeral. I'll also get to meet my cousing Matt's wife of three years! Still haven't met her, or seen Matt in I can't remember how long. But best of all, I'll get to see my parents, Brian and Rene. It's also nice to meet up with family, especially when you've been away for a while.