In 2009, you can go to Disneyland or Disney World for free on your birthday. I really miss Disney World. At dinner last night (Brio!), Mike said he was kind of glad I didn't move to Florida when I started my teaching career. (The notion was certainly on the table.) He didn't want to risk WDW getting samey.
I just looked at him. I would have no problem taking that risk. Besides, we still enjoy the Strip, and it's not nearly the size of WDW plus has far fewer attractions. (Apples and oranges, but it stands up for this analogy.) True, I no longer breathlessly squeal, "oh my god, I'm right here driving on the LAS VEGAS STRIP as a mere MATTER OF COURSE!!!" when I cross it twice a day, but the lights are still pretty dazzling.
But, with the economy, and the fact that our rent is NOT going up this year (we're getting a $50 gift card to renew the lease, even), and the way school is going well (not to jinx it), and the fact that it's still fun to live here, plus my preference for a dry heat (if there must be any heat at all), and oh - plus the fact that I loathe moving - in Vegas we remain.
But, before the day comes to move to Australia, I wouldn't mind a few years in Florida. Absolutely impractical, but... Disney World. Snifflegulp. And beaches that don't require navigating the Los Angeles freewat system first. Le sigh. In other news...
Today is my father's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!
I expect he will spend today working on the "dig." If I've never mentioned it, one of my father's interests ("hobbies" is too flippant a word) is carpentry. In fact, I would describe him as a master carpenter. "The dig" is a project he has going in my grandmother's backyard. It involves a pergola - 'nuff said. He's taking pictures of the whole process, so maybe he'll let me share them here when he's done.
(Recently he sent a very cute one of my mother by a ladder. I guess he was standing on a shaky ladder last week and called my mother over to hold it. After about twenty minutes he climbed down... and saw her standing there, holding the other ladder. Wacky times!)
(You have to laugh.)
The Renaissance festival, such as it is here in Las Vegas (think... "miniature"), is on this weekend. I don't think we'll go. If we go anywhere, it may be back to Whole Foods. The new Whole Foods megastore opened at Town Square (home of Brio!) on Thursday and we took a look last night. Nice.
But, after converting all of our shopping to Fresh & Easy this year, it's hard to appreciate Whole Foods the way I would've a couple of years ago. Example: their peeled garlic costs 75% more than F&E, and it's not organic. Also, F&E tries out new products all of the time. This new WF seems to have the same stuff the store has always had... just with wider aisles and a HELL of a lot more wine. Same bakery choices, same beverage choices, same bulk food choices, same cheese choices... and - unless I missed it - they didn't even have the designer salt bins like the one at Green Valley Ranch.
Oh, that's probably unfair. I never noticed the packets of drinking chocolate at the other stores, and I don't remember the sandwich station, but still... whereas once having a beautiful, enormous Whole Foods a few minutes from home was a genuine fantasy, now it's just a nice amenity. True, they have heaps more selection than F&E, but one thing F&E has taught me is that I don't really need a lot of selection.
Still, one thing Whole Foods does have is the most wonderful-smelling sea-salt soap. But, at $1.50/ounce, I just took several whiffs and walked away... Mike tried to get me to buy it, because he's that kind of husband ("Wait, spending money will make her happy? Wield Visa!") but I'm still holding out for a trip to Lush.
After Brio, where we stuck by our favourites (pasta fra diavolo with chicken for Mike, mushroom raviolu al forno for me, plus a beloved chopped salad for each), we strolled through Borders. It looks bigger on the outside than it really is, and they seemed to lack several aisles of clearance books, like I usually enjoy at Barnes and Noble. (And normally I'm all about taking Amazon's side in things.) It's a bookstore, so obviously it's a holy place, but spending money on "everyday" books has been difficult for some years now. I make too many bad choices at the library to justify grabbing an attractive paperback at the store.
One thing I did finally get to see, there on display at Borders, was "digital ink." Their Sony Reader was out, and - mmmmm - it's nice. It is like reading a real book! No glare at all, and so nice and light.
However, and I'll assume this is a fault of the much-pressed floor model, the refresh rate when turning pages was annoyingly slow. I'd love to see a fresh one in action. And by "one," I mean "Kindle," because I am an Amazon fangirl.
The reason we even went into Borders is because there is a 25%-off coupon in our new Enterainment book. I bought an Entertainment book! I've never had my own before. (People sometimes give me coupons they aren't going to use, but I've always been afraid someone would ask to see my card.) Hmm, 25% off a Sony Reader would be... $225. Still ouchy. Not as ouchy as $50 in gift certificates off a Kindle, but this is all even before buying the books. And, again, library.
(Which really needs to support Kindle format - or Kindle needs better PDF support.)
Free books, a paid-for car, and a discount-store wardrobe: this is why we're still going out to eat, even in These Difficult Times.
The Entertainment book really is a good deal for eating out in Las Vegas. I know I've looked at other cities' Entertainment books before and thought "MEH!", but between the free movie tickets and Tamba 2-for-1 dinner (OH EM GEE!), buying this for $20 was a no-brainer, plus it helped raise funds for a coworker's son's school.
And now I get to be Lady Bountiful and rip out the coupons I don't want, plunking them down in the lunchroom. Hopefully they'll all be taken by gutsy people who won't let the lack of a card stop them.
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