Viva Las Vegas

So I made the trip to Las Vegas, the city of sin and the city I said was at the bottom of my to do list. Just goes to show what I know! And yes I was, once again, wrong.

Last Wednesday, after somewhat whirlwind arrangements, my friend Suzy from Velva and I left on Allegiant out of Bismarck. In this great state Allegiant (except out of Fargo) goes only to Phoenix and Las Vegas, at agreeable prices. Travel tip: If you jockey around and book a one way flight at a cheap price ($39.00) and are vigilant, (so you can get back home) and book the return at another cheap price forgoing the round trip route you can have a cheap getaway. We didn’t do that but if one had time you could have a trip for around $100.00. Assuming you don’t check any bags, forgo priority boarding or, heaven forbid, a choice of seating. It’s like the Wal-Mart of Airlines if you want it to be.

We arrived safely (always a concern of mine) and shuttled to Caesar’s Palace, our home away from home for next 38 hours. We had a super priced package through Caesar’s with two nights (actually 1.5 nights because we had to be ready for the shuttle by 3:30 AM) and tickets to Bette . Time to upgrade. We moved to a “fancier” room to be closer to Susan, my old, old friend, who flew up from Phoenix. We were about four doors away. Fancier consisted of 700 square feet of living space. Suzy put it into perspective.

“Our first apartment was only 900 square feet.”

After introductions, a 7oz Bud Light for me (a mere five skins – out of our in-room bar fridge) we embarked on a foot tour of the “palace.” I must apologize for the poor quality of photos as I left my big guns camera a home. The little point and shoot Nikon was my only equipment to record the times of my Las Vegas life. Suzy and Susan had nothing but camera phones. Richard Avedon’s they were not. I also have taken the liberties of Google Image to enhance this blog entry.






Caesar’s Palace is a beautiful place with the Roman theme everywhere. Caesar’s, duh! It is huge too, with more marble than you can ever imagine. Casinos were everywhere with the whirling noise they give off. And believe me, it is a people watchers dream come true.







What is it about traveling that allows us to lose all common sense? Money becomes a slight obstacle. At home I clip coupons, only buy on sale and lurk around second hand stores. Shine some glitz in my eye and I am off. This is where our first meal comes in, under the heading of reckless abandon.

We scored reservations, not wanting to upset our 7:30 gig with Bette, for 5:00 pm at Nero’s – American Cuisine. This North Dakota girl sucked air for a moment but went ahead and ordered a Filet mignon for $48.00 and that was ala carte! Ron and I can go to the Pioneer have plenty of drinks and two damn good meals for under $48.00. Time to chant the Myles Espeseth travel mantra, “What the hell, we’re on vacation.”




We left Nero’s like three waddling whales, if whales could walk.

After a stupendous concert (see the earlier blog – The Showgirl Must Go On) it was time to lose some cash in the machines. A little side note from Susan, after we returned to our respective hamlets, Katy Sagal was in the concert audience the night we were there. Katey is none other than the family favorite - Peg Bundy. But get this: Peg/Katey was, at one time, a Staggering Harlette. The Harlettes are Bette’s three backup girls. After seeing the production Peg must have been a terrific Harlette. Long legs, glitz and tits. I have watched plenty of “Married with Children” episodes over the years and can’t rightly recall her ever singing, but she would have to have some chanteuse abilities to be in that package. Upon further investigation she also sang backup for Bob Dylan, Gene Simmons of KISS and Delta Dawn fame, Tanya Tucker. Hmmm, impressive.

I also want to share with all the party animals in my world, who hate to go out with me because I am a guaranteed, in bed, sound asleep by 10.00 pm kind of girl, I stayed up until 1:30 a.m. North Dakota time. Can you believe that? I still have a spark left in this aging temple.

Up and down for breakfast, cheery as ever, were we (except for Suzy who managed to get a darn good cold) ready for day two of the Las Vegas experience. Rain, Rain, Rain…it never rains in Las Vegas but about two times a year. We nailed one of the days. Las Vegas is not noted for its infrastructure of drainage so walking outdoors was risky business, henceforth we didn’t walk the strip. Susan and I each had umbrellas so we did go to the Venetian and saw the shops, gondolas and waterways inside the hotel. After drying out, supper at The Cheesecake Factory, Suzy and I went to the Bellagio to see the lights and water show from inside the bar. We also took in the Bellagio indoor gardens.








Susan opted to stay and play the machines. It turned out to be a good move. She and the Dean Martin penny machine made for a lucrative combo. She recouped her loss from a cancelled flight and another night at Caesar’s Palace, due to wind and rain in Phoenix. She made me laugh when she said,

“I have no idea how I am winning, and don’t even know what to root for, but when Dino sings to me I know it’s good. Come on sing to me Dino.”

I, on the other hand, was averaging about $20.00 each for those “free” drinks. I had some upticks but opted to reinvest for more expensive free drinks. We can’t all be winners, right?





We also took in the Forum Shops: Harry Winston, Coach, Fendi, DKNY, Chanel and many, many more, all out of my price range. We did go into Prada were I spotted a darling dusty pink trench coat that would have fit on my one thigh for a shimmering $2500.00. I bought stuff for the kids and a bracelet for moi at Brighton. As we were strolling along Susan said,

“I am so glad they have an Anthropologie, wait until we get there.”

I thought, oh a museum – cool. I had never heard of Anthropologie, very neat store, screw the museum concept.

Well it was soon time to call it a day. We had to be in the front of Caesar’s by 3:30 am, to get to the airport. One little down side of the Allegiant experience. There are no other return flights to Bismarck except at that glorious time. Tip: take a cab and you can probably grab few more winks. As we waited for the late arriving shuttle, the night life of Vegas was still thriving. New York is the city that never sleeps, but Las Vegas has to be close contender.

So as the crowed jet takes off over the city of sin, I whisper a little good bye to the fair village and think to myself, “I’ll be back.”

The Showgirl Must Go On

Bette Midler is wrapping up her final concert days after two years at Caesar's Palace. Yours truly was, at long last, able to see one of my all time favorite performers, live at the Colosseum in Las Vegas.


It became a trip of: "oh hell, let's just go." We had hoped to get more joiners but in the final count it was only my girl friend Suzy, from Velva, and Susan from Phoenix, who stepped up to the plate. Susan put her plans together about 48 hours before takeoff. Suzy and I did seal the deal seven days earlier. Do you realize how spontaneous that was for me?

We had wonderful seats, but not together. Suzy and I were part of the Caesar's package with rear orchestra. Susan went through Ticketmaster and had front orchestra. We did try to finagle an upgrade but no tickets were available. Through the package deal we had orchestra seating at upper mezzanine prices. It was very agreeable dollar wise. The view was perfect, but it looked like there really was no such thing as a bad seat.

Sitting from our premium seats we saw a show second to none. The Divine Miss M has an unbelievable stage presence. She can sing, dance, do hilarious comedy, (with humor directed at Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Tiger Woods, "I guess his wife did know he was playing 18 holes.") she can nail a punch line every time. The lady knows how to deliver.

The Staggering Harlettes, twenty Caesar Salad showgirls and her fabulous band all came together on a massive stage with lights, smoke, backdrops - there was a need for nothing.






She sang songs from her vast musical life: The Rose, Do You Want to Dance? Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, When a Man Loves a Woman, Wind Beneath My Wings, to name only a few. The show wouldn't have been complete without Delores Delago, the old showgirl mermaid and her fleet of wheelchairs. Bette, at 64, can move like a teenager; her lithesome figure is testimony - age is really only a number.



This following song I had never heard and was glad I bought the program (on sale for $10.00, reduced from $30.00 a great selling point for me) It was in the book that I could read the words to the song. Double click on the picture and you can read them. It is rather a poignant song for an old retired activity director, who knew the old and isn't exactly light years away from the scene herself!





What a show!

As with all bigtime performances - no cameras. I had to rob these from the sale bulletin so I could share with you. I hope I don't go to some evil place like National Enquirer hell or such.

The Twelfth Day

When we least expect it something rolls on down the pike to make us think, or at least question things. Here's the deal.

Just when is the twelfth day of Christmas?

Let me preface my qualifications in attempting to answer this question: I came from a childhood home where we went to Sunday school, were confirmed (I revolted!!) and received the church newsletter so that meant we were members. But it wasn't until I was married and had little children of my own did I become involved in a real live church life and thus my knowledge began to grow.

Most of my liturgical education came from the infamous Norway Lutheran Church and its pastors and congregants. My paid job for over two decades included working with pastors, playing for church and daily devotions. Being purely human, I too have had my own trials and tribulations which have made me a confirmed follower of the Word. After thirty-five years I don't think I am too shabby at understanding the church year.

My good friend Karlyn Frantsen who has a blog (by invitation) started posting in reference to the twelve days of Christmas. It wasn't until she hit the twelfth day did I feel brain wave surges, and out came my calculator - the trusty ten fingers. I counted and recounted. I was always under the assumption that the twelfth day was the sixth of January, Epiphany. After all, that was when my mother-in-law, Lillian (God rest her soul), said we had to wait until the 6th of January to take down the Christmas tree. The visit of the Magi.

Now Karlyn and I are good enough friends that I asked her about her countdown. I wasn't afraid of the fact that she was a graduate of a private Lutheran High School, plays organ every Sunday. Let's remember while sitting at the organ/piano bench one has to look interested - no time to file your nails, haul out the gameboy or heaven forbid, start texting. You are bound to learn something, especially if the organ is in the front of the church. So I put Karlyn in the forefront of knowing these types of things, knowing the twelve days of Christmas. But Lillian said...

For three days we mulled this over, until some websites came to the rescue.

From Wikipedia (don't forget this is the source you can rewrite if you don't like it):

Twelfth Night is a festival in some branches of Christianity marking the coming of the Epiphany and concluding the Twelve Days of Christmas.

It is defined by the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary as "the evening of the fifth of January, preceding Twelfth Day, the eve of the Epiphany, formerly the last day of the Christmas festivities and observed as a time of merrymaking".[1] However, there is currently some confusion as to which night is Twelfth Night:[2] some count the night of Epiphany itself (sixth of January) to be Twelfth Night.[2] One source of this confusion is the Medieval custom of starting each new day at sunset, so that Twelfth Night precedes Twelfth Day.

Here is another commentary from Dennis Bratcher and his Twelve Days of Christmas:

The Twelve Days of Christmas is probably the most misunderstood part of the church year among Christians who are not part of liturgical church traditions. Contrary to much popular belief, these are not the twelve days before Christmas, but in most of the Western Church are the twelve days from Christmas until the beginning of Epiphany (January 6th; the 12 days count from December 25th until January 5th). In some traditions, the first day of Christmas begins on the evening of December 25th with the following day considered the First Day of Christmas (December 26th). In these traditions, the twelve days begin December 26 and include Epiphany on January 6.

The origin and counting of the Twelve Days is complicated, and is related to differences in calendars, church traditions, and ways to observe this holy day in various cultures (see Christmas). In the Western church, Epiphany is usually celebrated as the time the Wise Men or Magi arrived to present gifts to the young Jesus (Matt. 2:1-12). Traditionally there were three Magi, probably from the fact of three gifts, even though the biblical narrative never says how many Magi came. In some cultures, especially Hispanic and Latin American culture, January 6th is observed as Three Kings Day, or simply the Day of the Kings (Span: la Fiesta de Reyes, el Dia de los Tres Reyes, or el Dia de los Reyes Magos; Dutch: Driekoningendag). Even though December 25th is celebrated as Christmas in these cultures, January 6th is often the day for giving gifts. In some places it is traditional to give Christmas gifts for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Since Eastern Orthodox traditions use a different religious calendar, they celebrate Christmas on January 7th and observe Epiphany or Theophany on January 19th.

The questions are:
1. Do you count day one on Christmas Day or the day after?
2. Is Epiphany day 12?
3. Does the twelfth day begin on the eve of January 5?
4. Is the twelfth day January 5 or 6?

Karlyn and I decided there was no real definition as to when the twelfth day actually was. We did know that January 6 was Epiphany, no questions asked. Feel free to post any of your votes, or comments regarding this mysterious day.

Leaving that deep thought alone, I will ask the next perplexing question: Will Mary Liz take down her tree on the 7th? Highly unlikely.

2010 ~ Let 'er Rip

I guess my year in review gave us much to be pleased with, even downright THANKFUL!! Nothing captures the essence better than a top 10 list.

1. Two new healthy, happy grandchildren: Beau Davis (Nicole and Robert) on January 28th and Mercedes Ann (Billy & Dani), April 1st.

2. A new daughter-in-law, Missy, who married Tad on February 25th in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. We all went on the cruise to make sure neither backed out.

3. My mother died on the 27th of January, ending her full filled life at 94. She was ready to join my Dad and peacefully rest.

4. My father-in-law Myron Espeseth ended his long life too in June, joining Lillian, his beloved wife of over 50 years. As the book of Ecclesiastes says: there is a time to live and a time to die. It is the goodbyes that makes it difficult.

5. We (my brother Tom and I) finished emptying my parents house. It took a year and a half, not bad for over fifty years of accumulation.

6. The house sold, closed on November 13th, thus ending over ninety years of Snyders living in Fargo. We qualify as an O.F.F. - Old Fargo Family.

7. Ron retired after 30 years on the railroad.

8. Mary Liz retired after 23 years at Souris Valley Care Center.

9. Karlie, Carsten and Lacy each made it to another grade level. And on that note, the Velva Aggies football team took State Class A Championship, 7th time in 10 years.

10.....New grand baby due in March 2010.

The beat goes on, thankfully!!!

Christmas Eve

This family is at its finest when I get out the camera. Nobody ever wants to have their picture taken.



I don't exactly have a bevy of photos. Grandma-in-charge was doing more than a few things at one time, my annual multitasking night. It was fun though. We missed the Seattle bunch and Mercedes.

Pink

Well the collection grew again. Last year I posted three cards featuring pink trees. I had been hanging on to these cards for no particular reason except they stood out for having pink trees. I then decided I would call it a collection. (see December 08 on this blog). I received a pink flocked tree from my friend Susan in November, (She shipped it anonymous as if she thought I wouldn't figure it out!) and now the season just got a little pinker: Karlyn gave me the four pink trees decorating my retirement table at work and Nic, my stepdaughter, made me a pink button card.




Susan informed me about my "collection ideas." She thinks my pink trees and candle figurines are nice, but since I dub something a collection I usually wind up with someone adding to it. She thought it would be rather prudent of me to say I collect vintage corvettes or something a little higher on the food chain, you know - GO BIG!!

Candles

Anyone who was young during the exciting fifties and sixties must remember these figurine candles. Last week my sister-in-law Lila gave me an old 2004 Martha Stewart Living magazine because it had a pink tree featured in an article. Well not one to let the magazine go without a thorough going over, I found this article about the little wax Christmas people, Santas, trees, etc.





In my childhood we had the Santa, the choir kids and trees. We also had fair size collection a Thanksgiving candles. In the going through the Christmas boxes I didn't run into any. I suppose Evie thought they had outlived their usefulness and tossed them or pack them up for the Goodwill to become someone new treasures.






Mom may have chucked the Snyder wax heirlooms but I was lucky enough to have the collection restarted when my other sister-in-law Sandra gave me these for Christmas a few years back. I can't rightly recall how the trees arrived but I will assume it was from an auction or the second hand stores that I comb-over in a timely manner. The cost was a whole 10 cents, which in my little people day bought a nice small brown bag of candy or if one were to splurge and buy a candy bar. The following comprise my collection of four.




The article did mention if you run across one of these treasures and it is showing a wee bit of dirt,to take a piece of pantyhose stretched over your index finger and gently rub in a circular motion, but best to test in an area least noticed. Or you can take a Q-tip dampened with soapy water and get in the crevices.

Christmas Photos

With the size of our blended family I thought the easiest way to share photos would be to blog them. So here we go.

The old gray Mare and retired Ron.



Tad and Missy. Tad is still at Lowe's Garden as a landscape designer. Missy is a Radiology Technician at Trinity Hospital. They live in Minot.



Ronald Lee, Jr. serving in the US Army, like his Dad did in the sixties.



Erik is an engineer with CP Rail. He and Nicki live on Myles' and my old farm, same house he grew up in.



Nicki Espeseth, she is Title I aide with Granville Public. She is married to Erik and mom to Collin.



I love this picture of Collin, taken on the ship. He has on Grandpa's sunglasses. He is 4 1/2 in this photo. Collin is son to Erik and Nicole Espeseth.



Deanna, Ron's daughter, with her fella, Loren. Deanna is an esthetician by trade but currently working at a Seattle grocery.



Nicole, wife to Robert and the oldest (by 5 months) of entire crew. A stay-at-home mom to Lainey and Beau.



Lainey is just a plain and simple BEAUTIFUL child. She is 2 1/2 in this photo. Lainey belongs to Robert and Nicole.



Robert and Beau in their matching t-shirts. Beau is about eight months in this picture. His Dad is more than that! Robert is with F5 in Seattle.


Mercedes Anna at eight months. She is Billy and Dani's



Billy and his mama(the one with the stupid grin). He is the oil man and living in Minot.



Karlie Lynn on the first day of her last year of school. WOW!



Carsten absolutely hates to have his picture taken. A rare image.



Lacy, a happy go lucky girl of 12.




MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE ENTIRE CREW!

Addendum: I posted the entire (what I thought was) bunch and then forgot the three at home. There goes the Mom of the year award AGAIN!