Regaining the Will to Live

I wish the headline was an exaggeration, but it's not. yesterday I had the will to live slowly drained from me as I had a migraine for about 12 hours. It was my longest migraine to date and the only one that got so bad that I had trouble seeing, which caused me to be nauseous and sent me home from work. I figured it would generally be frowned upon to lay my head on my keyboard all day and pray for the sweet relief of sleep. Not exactly billable hours.

I drove home and then curled up in  bed with the blinds closed for a few hours. I drifted in and out of sleep and then got up and moved to the couch. When I could deal with sound again, I laid there with my eyes closed and tried to keep the room from spinning. About 5 pm, I was able to not want to die. At 10 p.m., I could read again without feeling nauseous and this morning I was back to normal. Or as normal as I usually am.

I'm happy this happened yesterday and not last week. I was in Las Vegas for the second time in two weeks for work. By Sunday, I was ready to be home. The sounds of slot machines would ring in my ears at night (not that I was gambling. I prefer to keep my money in the mall--where I'm always a winner!). I did, however, get to take a 5 mile walk and see the new Twilight movie in between the convention and a lot of eating. Mostly I just wished I was at home with my hubby. :)

Here are some shots from the trip:

Stayed at Caesar's and saw these t-shirts in the gift shop. They made me chuckle.

Walked over to the Bellagio to visit the work of one of my favorite artists--Dale Chihuly

The Bellagio also had this cool Fall scene with a beautiful talking tree

The tub in my room was large and jacuzzi. I took about 2-3 baths a day while I was there.

Sometimes It's the Little Things

People may find it hard to believe, but my new job is much like my old job at the American Heart Association. And in a good way. I say it may be hard to believe because my new job is working with a quick service restaurant and its accompanying charity. Heart disease and fast food that's the same? Yes. Mostly because the issue of obesity is literally and figuratively so large that everyone is working on it.

But I digress. I really like this job and I have fun doing things I like. I get to work with healthcare professionals and charity volunteers and media. I may start the day at a High Tea and end it chatting with physicians assistants. It's that the days are all different that's exhilarating and infuriating at the same time.

But mostly I try and appreciate the little things. And one of the little things is going to happen this week. And next week. First of all, I'm excited because I get to go to Las Vegas for the second time in two weeks. You might wonder why I'm excited this time, but it's because of this: the conference I'm working at is unlike any other that I've been at. It's only open from 7 a.m. to noon. Then it's free time! That's 19 hours every day to do what I want. I'm sure I'll work and I'll probably get caught up on sleep, but I know I'll also eat well, write and do some hanging out. I'll miss Chef, but if he wants to, he can totally come too.

The second thing is this: one of our staffers is leaving. Now that's not a good thing; don't get me wrong. She's been here forever (kinda like me at the AHA), and she's very good at what she does. I hope that I can contribute to the team like she does. But her departure brings me something to be thankful for: an office. I have been working in an open plan desk area for the four months I've been here. It's been good because I've been able to work and meet my new coworkers and get to know the account.

But let's face it. There's something nice about having  a door to shut when you don't want to be bothered. And some clearly defined space to call your own. I don't have my own "room" any more at home so having it work again will be nice. It had been about a decade since I hadn't had an office and I will now appreciate it more than ever. Fingers are crossed that the office comes through. While it has been mentioned, I know that it's not a done deal until my stuff is moved in.

A Frozen Hot Chocolate But No Weight Gain. . . Maybe Vegas isn't all bad

I'm a day late on my weekly update, but I'm a little late on everything this week because of the Vegas trip. For the record, I lost a dollar but won in the Forum shops because there was a cute jacket and tank on sale that I snapped up. Most amazingly was that I ordered and ate some of Serendipity's famous frozen hot chocolate. It was good, don't get me wrong, but I thought it was going to be an ice cream dessert and it was actually like a chocolate slushie, but better. All of that, I enjoyed some good food, but didn't over indulge and ended up breaking even on my weight for the week. Viva Las Vegas for that!

• Pages of fiction read: 153
• Fiction read:State of Wonder (got 100 pages to go)
• Fiction listened to via audiobook: Jennifer Weiner's Fly Away Home (Haven't listened this week as I've not been commuting)
• Creative writing every day: yes
• Five pages written: Yes
• Calorie tracking: Check. Averaged 236 calories under my daily goal.
• Exercise: 455 minutes of exercise in the last week.
• Friends and family: Done.
• Weight Loss: Broke even.
• Short story done by August 27th: I'm about 3/4 done so it looks like I'll be cranking some out on Saturday.

Have a great week!

Vegas is Bizarre

Don't get me wrong: I like Las Vegas. It's kinda un-American not to. But it's not my favorite place in the world. It's so bizarre. It's a mix of people who are dressed to the nines in couture, or spandex or in their track suits. It's for the young enough to enjoy the party and for the old enough to enjoy the gambling. It's got luxury out the yang, but everyone here is looking for free money.

I've been here since late Saturday for work and it's been a fairly good time. I wish Chef would've gotten to come along, but at the same time I also know that I've been working for a lot of this and we wouldn't have had as much time together as I would've wanted. Our work events have been successful and I've enjoyed getting some time to know some of co-workers better.

The one thing that tips Vegas to the negative is the way it's one giant frat party no matter the hour. I had a man offer to buy me a drink as I was walking through the casino in my gym clothes to work out. . .at 6:30 a.m. I also had a man offer to buy me a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes as I was wondering through the store. That's slightly better than the offer of a can of Natty Light that I got in college, but I'm fairly certain that the college frat boy and the Jimmmy Choo guy both had the same end game in mind. And I'm not that kind of girl.

Anyway, one more day and I'm back in Chef's loving arms. Tonight I've gotten back to my room early, got room service on its way and have a bath calling my name. Not too shabby an end to a long few days.

It was Grand and It was a Canyon

Yesterday was a long ass driving day. It didn't have to be, but Chef got it into his head that it was a 5 hour day (that's short in our terms) and that we could stop for some sightseeing before getting to the Grand Canyon. So we did.

First we stopped at the Petrified National Park in Arizona. It was some of the most beautiful scenery that I've ever seen. Although that seems to be a theme for this trip. It took about an hour to get out and drive and take pictures, but the vast nothingness and then weird peaks made it so worth it. I even made Chef get Genghis out of his carrier to snap a quick picture.

We made it closer to the Grand Canyon when the signs kept popping up for a giant meteor crater and I knew when I saw the first one that we'd be stopping there. Chef is into that kind of thing. So we stopped and gaped at the big ass divot a meteor made. Although to be fair, the meteor museum was really good comparitively. It had a lot of hands on exhibits that I really like because I'm a kid at heart.

By the time we got back on the road and then to our hotel, it was well after dark. The Red Feather Lodge, where we stayed, was kind of a hole, but a hole that was only about a mile from the Grand Canyon and one of the few places that took pets. We deposited the kitties and then made our way to Sophie's Mexican Kitchen a block away for food. I had my first Navajo Taco which is fry bread with beans, cheese, lettuce and I also had some chicken. It was the most delicious "Mexican" food I ever had.

We got up early again this morning and headed to the Grand Canyon. It was a breathtaking site. I didn't realize there were so many lodges in the park itself. It makes me want to go back and do the mule to the bottom and river rafting kind of expedition. Chef and I are already making our plans. Plus we really wanted to go to the Skywalk, but that's about 3 hours from where we were and a lot out of the way on our trek to Vegas.

Anyway, we spent a few hours at the Canyon and then loaded up again to head to Nevada. It was only about 4 hours away, so when we saw the Hoover Dam, we were all on it. We viered off and saw some more sights. By the time we got to Vegas, I knew what my agenda would be: massage (not of the happy ending variety), buffet and gambling.

Chef and I were lucky enough to be able to book a 50 minute couples massage at the Bellagio (thinking of you Anne and Amanda!!)--there was a cancellation as the reservations are usually booked 3 months in advance! We jumped on it and then decided we needed to get cleaned up and geared up at the hotel before hitting the buffet. So now I'm waiting on Chef to get ready and blogging briefly before I get my Kobe Beef on. I wore my jeggings (aka stretchy pants) just for the occasion. Diet starts on Monday.

This is the last stop before the final destination on the journey. Movers come at 6 p.m. tomorrow to help us unload in the new place. I'm going to be kind of sad when it's back to reality. This has truly been the trip of a lifetime!