My Anal Retentiveness Pays Off

Sunday afternoon B went shopping for a new wardrobe.  He needed it, trust me, the guy hasn’t had new shorts since our last vacation 2 years ago.  He was due.  *side note I refuse to shop for the guy anymore, he either doesn’t like what I buy or it doesn’t fit right etc.*  When he got back I was going through what he bought to see how he did on his own (I was very impressed by the way) and I made the comment that we should go on vacation now that he has new clothes.  He smiled and said “that sounds good”.  Later we were making dinner and I looked at him and said “we really should just say f*ck it and go somewhere, just the two of us”.  I waited a moment to be shot down with reality but instead I heard him say “We really should.”  Just going with it I said “Should we do Key West again or Vegas?”  He said “It would be really cool to do both, spend a few in Vegas then fly down to Key West”.  Yeah well we aren’t millionaires and don’t have $7,000 just laying around to pull of that vacation (I priced it and that is what it was).  We are pushing being Thousandaires and need to stick to a one destination vacation.  After dinner I plopped myself on the couch and started pricing trips to both Vegas and Key West.

Now you see I love to plan trips.  Love it.  I become ridiculously wrapped up in it and will spend hours researching different hotels and flights on every site imaginable.  I’m anal.  It’s ridiculous.

Of course it’s cheaper to go to Vegas than Key West.  We have been to Key West a few times and only Vegas once.  The one time we went it for a convention for B’s Company.  He was stuck with his itinerary all week which was full of seminars, classes, manning a booth etc. where I was free to do as I pleased everyday.  I wondered around Vegas during the day by myself and with another wife and poor B didn’t leave the Venetian the entire stay.  So we decided on…

After a quick phone call to B yesterday morning to confirm that he was indeed serious about going,  I was on a mission to plan our vacation.  I spent all day on different sites, playing with dates, and researching different hotels.  I even called and picked HackingVegas’s brain about the strip.  If you ever need any information about Vegas he is your man to talk to.  I had 10 tabs open on my laptop at any given time through out the day.  This is a hell of a decision you know and especially for me being a Gemini, decisions like this don’t come easy.  

What was killing me were the flights.  The majority of the flights were late flights, not getting us in until after 7pm and having us fly out in the wee hours of the morning which was making me consider an extra night stay.  All the flights were at least 6 hours with layovers on each of at least an hour.  Pricing the good time flights added an extra $100 at the least to our total price, usually more like $200.  Grr.  I was beginning to get frustrated and had started to except that we were going to pay at least an extra $200 over the budget I set for us any way we stay.  I had it narrowed down to two hotels, The Cosmopolitan and The Monte Carlo.  The Monte Carlo was the least expensive of the two but my hesitation was that the rooms were just plain ole hotel rooms with no “Wow” factor.  *we were completely spoiled by our first trip and staying at the Venetian (that we didn’t have to pay for)*  The Cosmopolitan was a bit more but the rooms were beautiful.  By this point I had smoke coming out of my ears and a headache was approaching.  I then found my way to TripAdvisor.  That site always changes everything for me.  Both hotels had good reviews but with the same complaint.  That made me rethink my choices.  During my research I had came across a hotel called the Aria, which looked amazing.  I always skipped over it because of the prices.  As I was plugging in different hotels into TripAdvisor I typed in the Aria just to see.  The reviews were amazing, I don’t think I read a negative one.  This got me thinking.  *more smoke coming from my head*  I went back to the 3,873 tabs and repriced everything with the Aria, prices were still on the high side.  I made my way to Aria’s site to look at rooms and they had a flight+hotel option.  I had learned from earlier that when you go straight through the hotel’s site the flights were going to be crap and it was more expensive but I tried it anyway on the Aria site just for shits and giggles.

To my surprise they had NONSTOP flights and the prices were cheaper than anywhere else!  HOLY MOTHER OF MAKE ME EXCITED!  I just about peed.  So for just $100 more than I was going to pay to fly 6.5 hours with layovers and stay at the Monte Carlo in a mediocre room, we are now going to stay at a 5 star hotel AND have nonstop flights to and from.  Can we say Stoked?  Together now…Stoked.

The Aria

This is where you will find me.

 

I am now going to spend the next month brushing up on my Blackjack skills, oh yes, I love me some Blackjack.  I will also be starving myself and working on my tan.  If the women really look like the ones that showed up in my “Aria Pool” google *see pic below* I am going to need to do both of those things PLUS get boob implants.

Yeah, I don’t look like that and I sure as hell don’t sport heels with my swimsuit.  I will most likely come home with a complex.

On top of a fabulous place to stay and flights that rock my world, there is one more thing makes me extremely excited.  I get to meet Thypolar and HackingVegas while we are out there!  Word!  2 people that live in my computer will come to life!  I am very excited to meet both of them and spend an evening drinking ice cold beverages and tearing up Las Vegas!  So you two get ready…get plenty of rest…and get ready to rock.

Let’s do this!

 

 

Summer and the FurBucket

I’m taking a break from Friday’s Survival Sarcasm for a minute, it needs a time out and a moment for the cards to be refreshed with some new.

With summer break and the kids all up in my bizznass it’s hard for me to keep up with all the blogs that I read and comments coming in on mine.  So with that said if I don’t comment on your blog or reply to a comment left on mine, I have not turned snooty and don’t care anymore, it’s just that  I have 2 needy kids, 1 dumbass dog who keeps trying to play with and eat the new cat, and 1 brand new kitten who is always under the couch or bed then I have to get up and move furniture to get it.  I still love you all, it just going to take me an extra minute or two to keep up.  Bare with me.

Speaking of the new kitten, I have had numerous requests for a picture of the little furbucket.  So here you go.

Meet Daisy Furball Pfister, yes that is her full name.

I am so happy to announce that I am not a prisoner in my home any longer!  The mosquitos are not partying all up around my house anymore. The standing water up the road has finally dried up and now we are back to the normal population of the pesky shits which now I can handle.  Also on the bug front the cicadas are quiet which means they have all done the dirty and died.  So until next time…later bugs.  I can actually hear myself think outside now and have realized that what I do think inside my head doesn’t add up to a pile of beans and it’s all random bullshit.  

I have to say that this summer break has been a good one thus far.  The kids have been great and we have had fun.  They have been huge helpers around the house and we have had minimal fighting.  They are actually getting along nicely for the most part which makes me extremely happy and less of a drunk.  We have kept busy with running around and spending the majority of our time poolside at my dad’s.  It’s time for a fun kid outing here soon like a trip to Beech Bend which is a big amusement/water park, the aquariums in Chattanooga or something.  Time to start planning that one.  I am really hoping that B comes to his senses and realized that we need to visit Key West sometime this summer, just me and him.     That is wishful thinking seeing that we need a new roof and a bunch of other not so fun house crap.  Hey, a girl can wish right?

I want to take a sec and send a huge shout out to the girls that are participating in our care package exchange.  Thank you all so very very much for my packages last month.  They were all so neat and thoughtful and most of all FUN!  Thank you again, you girls Rock my world.

So to all you girls:

Rock your Friday!

Peace.