Hands and Feet

Ok, not all of my heroes are professors. Check out the The Austin Family link for two amazing videos of Audio Adrenaline's Hands and Feet. One is Arnold's Dad signing it at Parkview, and the other one is their English class in Peru singing it. I am touched and humbled.

Laney Bug

Most of you have already seen it, but I added my niece Delaney's blog to my blog list. She is definitely the creative one in the family. Since I don't have any artistic bones in my body, I always admire people who do. I so enjoy and admire what she has already accomplished, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for her! Love you, Laney Bug!!

Bradley's Swim-A-Thon

Here are the kids at Bradley's Swim-A-Thon. You can read about it on Bradley's blog.

Ella's photography. Thank goodness for digital cameras!!

Intellectual Courage - Part 2

Randy Pausch is a 46 year old professor at Carnegie Mellon who recently discovered he has terminal pancreatic cancer. He is in good health now, but the doctors say that will only last about 3-6 months. He delivered his farewell lecture at Carnegie Mellon on September 18th, complete with cat scans and all. If you have time to watch the entire lecture (a little over an hour and a half) I suggest you do. He talks about his childhood dreams, how he accomplished them, and how he has helped others accomplish their dreams as a professor/mentor. The lecture was so moving - I laughed out loud a lot, and also cried out loud a lot. He has three small children - something like 5, 4, and 1, and he is leaving behind an incredible legacy. You can watch the full lecture at the link below, or you can catch snippets if you search Google videos for Randy Pausch. Another true hero. Most of my heroes are erudite.



http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8585487176527744326

My New Hero

Scroll down to the video "Columbia President slams Ahmadinejad". Bollinger's "intellectual courage" is amazing.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20942057/


Then when you're done, watch some of Ahmadinejad's (kind of but not really) responses to questions. Specifically when asked directly about the execution of women and homosexuals, he says "who told you we have homosexuals? That phenomenon doesn't exist in Iran."


True sociopath. He should hook up with OJ.

Genetics? Or Learned?

Rick is the type of person (and he will probably kill me for telling this story) that strips down to nothing when he has to go #2. Bradley started doing this at an early age. I figured he was just copying his Dad. I can always tell when I come home and use the bathroom downstairs if Bradley has gone #2 because his shorts and unders will be laying on the floor (because he will go upstairs afterwards and put on boxers). Now Ella is doing the same thing, only she finishes (#1 or #2) and at least brings her shorts/panties to us to put them back on. I'm hoping that it is only because she is little that she still takes everything off, but we'll see.



So last night we went to Outback to eat dinner. About half-way through, Ella announces (very loudly) that she has to go "poo poo." I hop up and take her to the bathroom, and when we return, Rick is by himself at the table. I ask where Bradley is, and Rick motions towards the boys bathroom. So after a few minutes, Rick gets up to check on Bradley (our table was right outside the door), and comes back to the table laughing so hard his eyes are slits and he is about to pass out! I ask what happened, and he says he opened the bathroom door, and looked straight ahead, and underneath the bathroom stall he sees in a perfect pile - Bradley's shoes, shorts, and unders! Naturally, I say "See what you have taught him to do?!?!?" And Rick says "That's pure genetics, Baby!!"



Genetics or learned. You decide.

What is wrong with this picture - Part 2

So Friday I head to the doctor's office to talk about my blood sugars. Armed with information from Susan that she had heard at one of her diabetes classes with Ray, I ask about the new drug "Byetta" which is apparently a synthetic form of something from the gila monster. The doctor says that there are different classes of Diabetes medicines, and that he starts with Metformin because it works to help stop the release of sugar from the liver. Then he would move onto Byetta which stops the stomach from sending hormonal signals to the pancreas to create insulin. Then he would move onto something else that works at the cellular level to help the cells receive the insulin you are making, then onto to something that speeds up insulin production so you can get rid of it all and finally move onto insulin shots. That was a lot of knowledge I hadn't heard before so it was very interesting.



Then I ask the doctor if he would prescribe a glucose meter for me. I had used one when I was pregnant, and I remembered that it helped seeing my blood sugar levels during the day so I could see what was affecting them. He tells me that there are hundreds of different meters, and it would be easier if I just went to the pharmacy and had them call up my insurance plan in their computer to see which meter it covered. He actually said that you can usually get the meter for free, because the pharmaceutical companies are in cahoots with the insurance companies and the drug stores, because they make their money on the strips and lancets - that the strips are insanely easy to make and they charge a fortune for them. Of course, I respond with - that's what wrong with America - that and frivolous law suits (but that's a whole other blogpost...).



So I head back to the pharmacy closest to my house because I already had prescriptions filled there. I hand the pharmacy assistant my prescription for Metformin and ask her if, while she is online with my insurance plan, could she please see what kind of meter was covered.



"We can't do that, Ma'am. If you don't already have a prescription for a glucose meter, I can't look it up." I say, "But my doctor said if you would look it up, he would fax the prescription over here." "I'm sorry, there is no way I can do it without a prescription." "Whatever - just fill the prescription for Metformin."



So I walk around the CVS with my blood pressure rising and decide I will just call my insurance company on the way to work and forget these ignorant CVS employees. About that time they call me back to the pharmacy, and I am ready to just pay and get the hell out, when the assistant says the pharmacist needs to speak to you since this a new prescription. Great. I'm stuck here with my blood pressure rising waiting on the pharmacist. The ever-perky pharmacist comes out of her pharmacy box, which is built a good 12 inches above the rest of the CVS floor so as to show her absolute power over the rest of us as she descends from the heavens to spout "take these once in the morning with breakfast and once in the evening with dinner", something my doctor had already told me and was also easily readable on the bottle.



I tried to restrain myself and bolt, but I couldn't. I say to the pharmacist "Your assistant (who was standing a mere 3 feet away) said she couldn't look up what kind of meter my insurance covered without a prescription." The pharmacist/deity says I should check with my insurance to determine what kind of strips/lancets they cover because you can usually get the meter for free. So it is true. The insurance/pharmaceutical companies/pharmacies are all in cahoots. I say thanks and leave.



So now I'm in the car headed to work, and I call my insurance company. After waiting on hold I tell them I need to find out what kind of glucose meter/strips my insurance covers. "Ma'am - could you hold for a moment?" "Sure." After waiting for more than a moment, she comes back on and says "Ma'am - you have to be enrolled in the Diabetes Sense program before we can tell you what kind of meter is covered." "You have got to be freakin' kidding me! So this means this won't happen today?!?!?" "Probably not, Ma'am."



So she gives me the number to Diabetes Sense and I call it. After about 10 minutes on hold, I get the recording that says all representatives are busy, please leave a name and phone number and we'll get back to. I leave my name and phone number with absolutely no hope that they will get back to me any time soon. As my blood pressure is rising even more, I decide to call my doctor's office to find out of he will prescribe a meter while I'm waiting on getting the insurance worked out, and I will just pay for it myself. The receptionist asks me to hold while she tells the doctor my request. She comes back on and says that Dr. Metcalf says it's not urgent for you to have the meter right away and I should just wait for the insurance. Great. It wasn't his idea in the first place for me to have the meter, so now he's punshing me. Doesn't he know that I have prepared myself mentally for a month to start testing my blood sugar every day? The nerve of that pompous, pimply 12-year old doctor!! Ok, maybe he's in his late twenties, but he sure looks 12.



It was then that I decided it would be easier to score a false prescription for oxycontin (a la Rush Limbaugh) or stop on a street corner and pick up some Crystal Meth. What is wrong with this picture????

What's wrong with this picture?

The Las Vegas Zoo

Main Attraction: Orenthal James Simpson

I was driving into work just now (we were up all night with a puky toddler) and as soon as I got on the I-95 heading into town I saw 3 helicopters hovering over downtown Vegas. Helicopters in general are not an unusual site here, it's just that they are usually flying around. It only took about 3 seconds to figure out it was because of OJ. Lately I have been working in the Clark County Government Center, so I'm only a few blocks from "the zoo". Driving down Bonneville I see all the tv vans, and a huge tractor/trailer set up for Court TV, complete with generator and tents to keep their peeps out of the sun. I checked msn.com and realized that "OJ has left the building", so hopefully the zoo will die down a bit.

Like most people, I remember exactly where I was when the OJ verdict was read - the State Office building, crowded around a small tv in the kitchen. I couldn't believe then that he got away with murder (twice). Now it seems as though he will get away with these charges as well - the whole "setup", "why did the guy have the tape recorder", etc. He's one of the worst possible combinations of people - a sociopath with money. Why can't he just go into hiding for the rest of his life? I prefer zoos with a little more class.

Lately

We had fun during our stay at the Montelago. I had to work late a few nights lately getting stuff ready for a big presentation that my boss was giving, so she gave me the day off a couple Fridays ago - and man was that nice!! I made my one year anniversary with the County on 9/11 (I should've known then), so I can actually start getting paid for time off soon. We've got lots of cool things coming up - Mimi D, Jason and Mandy will visit on October 5th, my Dad and Susan will visit on October 25th, we are flying to Reno for Bradley's State swim meet on Veteran's Day weekend, we are heading to Orange Beach for Thanksgiving week, Mimi and Mammaw will be driving out here in early December, and right after that is Christmas. Whew!! I'm tired already!!

Upstairs at the Jackson 4 house

I didn't take any pictures of the downstairs because it was still in disarray from the whole busted pipe incident. I finally finished adding all the butterflies to Ella's room, and now it is complete!! Keri - do you recognize Nicholas's dresser? I painted it and added butterfly knobs. I also painted Bradley's crib/toddler bed, and an old shelf that Rick made in school (you can barely see it to the left of the closet). Ella loves playing in this room, although she has only slept in it once!!

The hall bathroom we call Rick's bathroom. He takes showers in here so he won't wake us up at 4:30 in the morning!!

I hung some of my posters in the stair well and on the walls going up to the toyroom / computer room. Normally this toy room is covered in toys - tornado Ella is only happy when everything is off the shelves!!

Bradley's room looks the same as it did back home. You can see the xbox game he had to pause so I can take pictures - to which he said to me - "You're so mean!!!" Ah, the tough life of a youth...

Our bedroom which looks like it did back home, with the exception of all the extra curtains. It is really bright in the summer time in Vegas, so we closed it all in like a cave. There isn't a door inbetween the bedroom and bathroom, so I had to hang another curtain there. I didn't take pictures of the bathroom because Tracey's food and litter box were in there because of the pipe situation.

Geaux Tigers!!

Watching the LSU game at the Guidry's house last weekend. Last night we watched here at home, but no pics. Geaux Tigers!!!

Me and Carla and our pommegranate martinis (and me with strangely flat-ironed hair).

The Girls

Celeste and Jana came to work for Clark County around the same time and were assigned to the PA team with me. I started calling them "The Girls" almost immediately, now just about everyone else calls them that, too!! We have had a lots of good times working together, to the point of laughing so hard tears come to our eyes!! This past Friday night they invited me to go out on the town with them, and we had a blast. We took some pictures on our cell phones, none of which are appropriate for blogging! It's fun to pretend like you're young every once in a while. We started out at the San Gennaro Italian festival, which is a lot like the festivals back home. After several Limoncello shots, we headed to a restaurant that makes their own home-made limoncello, then out on the strip. I was proud of myself for hanging with them, but the recovery has not been too easy!! Luckily we didn't have anything major planned this weekend so I've been getting plenty of rest. Thanks, Girls!! I had so much fun!!

Lunch at Applebee's

Swimming at the Montelago

Aren't they cute? Check out more on Bradley's blog.

Lake Las Vegas

Our stay at the Montelago, Lake Las Vegas was nice. Of course, we walked into the room, and the kitchen and bathroom had Verde Butterfly granite, just like my old house, and it made me fahklempt. Oh well, maybe again one day.

Walking around the shops at Lake Las Vegas.

In the lobby of the Montelago.

Dinner at Zinc Bistro.

After dinner that night we got to see the dress rehearsal for the ballet company that was performing the next night. Ella loved it! I guess by next year I will enroll her in some type of dance class. Rick says gymnastics or swimming, but she needs something girly!!

Check it out

Once Bradley saw Delaney's blog, he insisted on starting one of his own. Seeing as how I can barely keep up with my own, I don't know how we'll keep his updated!! We'll give it a shot, though.

http://swimdude-vegas.blogspot.com/

Funky Town

I have kind of been in a funk lately (Rick would say for quite a while). It’s not that I regret moving here, because it did get Rick out of the nuclear industry and he is MUCH happier, but I miss my friends and family soooo much. It didn’t help this week with the Katrina anniversary and so much coverage of the people I know and love.

Last year everything in Vegas was a novelty, including the heat, but this year it’s just not cute anymore. Logically I know that I have so much to be thankful for, especially my family, but there is still something missing. I have made a few good friends at work, and now Carla lives here, so that helps, but I still miss everyone back home. If for some strange miracle we had the opportunity to move back, about 75% of me would jump. The other 25% still has reservations about moving home, the same reasons we had for leaving in the first place. But I keep thinking at least I would have my friends to fall back on, not only in a thoughtful or spiritual way, but in a physically being there way. If only I was independently wealthy and could fly home once a month. That’s the other thing – it is way too expensive to live here.

Ok, enough of the depressing thoughts!! In between the sadness I did manage to make some good memories along the way, so enjoy!!

“Find Me Tonight” – Everyday Sunday

“You speak without sound…Your love is so loud”

Lately whenever I start to feel depressed I put this song on my iPod and crank it up loud. It is a beautiful song that really speaks to me. You can listen to it here:

http://www.myspace.com/everydaysunday

Yesterday, I could not feel this

Today I’m sick of trying

To live like I can live on my own

This world around me is suffocating

But I keep forgetting

To turn and run into You

So Find me

Wherever I am won’t You

Find me

I got myself lost and I

Don’t think

I want to be roaming in heartache

Please find me tonight

I make it hard and I can’t stand it

Can’t wrap my head around it

I wrestle with You more than I should

I make a mess of everything

But You see the best in me

I’ll never be too far gone

You speak without sound

Your love is so loud

You always save me

“Beth, we have a major problem….”

The same day as Ella’s first disciplinary letter (see below), Rick was about to take her upstairs for a bath, when he said the above. I went to see what he was talking about, and saw this.

Our landlord has been fighting KB homes since the house was built about the condensation pipes for the upstairs air conditioner. It had been dripping down the side of the house and spewing rust. So about 5 or 6 weeks ago, a repair man came and said the two condensation lines were backwards, so he switched them. That stopped the rust spewing outside, but little did we know, the spewing was happening inside. So a different repair man came the next day, opened the ceiling sheet rock, found mold (a tiny spot – nothing like the mold that grows daily in Louisiana), and now we have to move out of our house next week for a few days. Thankfully KB homes will pay for the hotel and a per diem for food, so in true Jackson 4 style, we chose a hotel that was $60 more per night than the allotted amount, and we are staying at the MonteLago resort at Lake Las Vegas. We check in Monday afternoon, and I can’t wait to see what that adventure has in store for us!!

Not all childproof caps

actually stay child proof. We found this out last night, after booking our hotel and looking forward to our “mini vacay”. Ella tells me us is going to the bathroom, then about 3 or 4 minutes later we hear Bradley fussing in his room (turns out he was trying to get out of doing his Kumon), and I looked at Rick and said “I thought Ella was in the bathroom?!?” Then we hear Ella calling my name, and I run into the bathroom, and she has the Alleve bottle open, at least one chewed up in her mouth, and a multitude of others she’s “frushing” down the toilet. Of course I panic because there is no way of knowing exactly how many she has ingested, so we all pack up and head to the hospital. While we are in the waiting room I’m thinking I should have had ipecac to make her throw up, why is this taking so long, what was wrong with that bottle, how many other sicknesses are we going to catch here, etc. There were various styles of shapes of barf buckets that made their way in with patients, and when we got to the back, there were various disturbing gagging/coughing/expectorating noises to deal with. They had to take blood from Ella to check her kidney functions and she barely flinched. All she said was “that hurts”, then went on about the business of flailing all over the gurney and making various animal noises. I can’t believe how high of a threshold for pain she has – thank you Aunt Keri!!

Family Reunion…..of Sorts

Last weekend my friend Carla played in a slots tournament at the MGM Grand, and her husband Keith had to work Saturday night so she invited me to the reception, which was themed “family reunion”. There were about 400 people that played, and she came in 143rd – not too bad!! The best thing about it was she got 3-nights free in a room, three meals per day charged to the room (for two people), and she/we got to attend the reception. We got there kind of early, so we got to sit in the front. The table was beautifully decorated – even the sunflowers were real!! The food was excellent and so was the band!! We had a great time watching all the people, and they kept trying to get us to dance. We finally gave in when they promised we could shake the tambourine! We even started “singing” into the ketchup and mustard bottles! Thanks, Carla, for an excellent girl’s night out!!

The guy behind me was the one who “won” the tournament - $20,000 in cash! I was telling Carla to take a picture of me with the winner in the background, and she kept saying, “what background?”…that’s why I was laughing so hard!!

The New School Year

We attended an open house at Bradley’s school on the Friday night before school started, and we were thrilled to see that he got Mrs. Fewins as his teacher! Then we headed over to Ella’s building and talked to her teacher, Mrs. Ingram. Ella had Mrs. Ingram in the spring so we were hoping it would be a smooth transition. I’m sitting with Mrs. Ingram and she says that school will be much more structured this year, and she’s already working on her lesson plans for the week. So she shows me the calendar, and says that Tuesday will be “red” day, and I said, “Oh, I don’t know if Ella has anything red to wear, and she says, “She can wear a ribbon on her uniform or in her hair,” and I said, “UNIFORM?!?!?!?......But she’s only 2!!!!” So of course the next day was spent at the mall searching for uniforms small enough for Ella to wear. Turns out the smallest size they come in is size 4. They are about a size too big for her, but it was the best we could do on short notice. I’m just thankful she’s a tall two, or I would have to be doing some sewing! She could stand to have some darts in her skirts, but being the non-crafty mother that I am, I sent her running down the hall and back and the skirt didn’t fall off, so I said “we’re good!”

This is out of order, but I thought I would throw it in with the school talk. So Thursday afternoon (this week) I get a call from Rick that says that Ella was in trouble at school. I’m thinking, she’s 2 ½, how can she be “in trouble” at school? Then he starts to read to me from the standard school form, where there are 12 checkboxes, and she has no less than 6 checked. The only ones she didn’t have checked are the ones that could probably only happen to a high-schooler. Wow. I kept going back and forth in my mind – is the school too strict, or are we not strict enough? I finally decided on somewhere in the middle. Parenting is tough, and we all just do the best we can. That’s what I’ll keep telling myself when I’m visiting her in juvy.

Silly Words

One day Ella and Bradley both put on Bradley’s swim hats and were playing around. All of a sudden Ella jumps on top of the ottoman and starts saying…..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTlr5DRxvvU

Baby Sophia

When Rick and Bradley left for their big cross-country adventure, Ella and I headed to Toys-R-Us for a little shopping. One of the things we got was this cute little baby that makes cooing sounds, and Ella promptly named her Baby Sophia in honor of her cousin!!. I thought that was really sweet, and the baby did have “olive” skin like all of my nieces, so I was thinking this was turning out pretty well. So we get Baby Sophia home, and upon further inspection, I think she may be African-American, which totally works, too, with a name like Sophia Jackson. Ella took to mothering Baby Sophia amazingly well!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQcq3XPnmQ8

Happy Anniversary to Us!!

Rick got me these beautiful flowers before his trip to Alabama. I love you!!

Frog parking only….All others will be Toad

Thanks, Mimi D for the cute sign and postcard! Ella’s butterfly went immediately to her “wings” bedroom that I hope to finish this weekend.

Airplane…Jackson 4 Style

Thanks, Rani for the cool airplane and other toys! Once the kids discovered the microphone on the airplane they had a blast!! Check out Ella talking and saying thank you here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdMgyxfjHkI

And check out me and Ella singing “La La La La Pepeye”, a Beth Jackson original, here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDTeaqfnvhc

Ray and Susan visit

Ray and Susan arrived on Wednesday, checked into the hotel, and when they took a “nap” at 4:00 p.m., they didn’t wake up until 4:30 a.m.!! They are true Vegas party animals!! I headed over to the Venetian after work on Thursday, checked into my (FABULOUS!!) room, and Susan came to visit. This is what arrived in my room….

We took showers (separately, of course!) and got ready for dinner. I called Rick and he reminded me of that great Mexican restaurant on the Gondola path (I still can’t remember the name) so the three of us headed there. The food and the margaritas were awesome!

The "group"

After dinner we headed to The Blue Man Group. I only had a vague understanding of the “group” before the show, so I didn’t quite know what to expect. There were only three highlights, other than the band playing high above the stage in cool glowing costumes. The “group” is some sort of percussion show for the Twin Peaks/Emo Phillips fan base. We sat there, waiting and waiting for something “big” to happen, but all we got was more of the same - the “group” beating the drums with paint splashing up. Wow, if they beat the drums lightly, the paint only goes up a little ways, and if they beat the drums harder, the paint flies up higher – a basic theory of physics that was only marginally exciting the first minute or two, although they performed it off on and on for about 30 minutes of the 90 minute show. Ok, I guess it was TOTALLY different when the paint came from a weird hole in the chests of their jumpsuits. Evs.

Then the “group” spent 30 minutes pandering for applause from the audience, either by slowly turning their heads away from each other and towards the audience, or facing the audience and slowly raising their hands to the sky, or putting a paint ball in their mouth and squirting a (simple) line of paint across a canvas. The other 30 minutes were spent on the absolute weirdest videos I have ever seen in my life, and a couple of so-called “audience interaction” tricks. One video starts out talking about how cities of people are connected through something so magical and exciting (and we are thinking the internet) that turns out to be plumbing. Then the video shows what happens when the sewer system gets backed up and starts coming out of your toilets (luckily for us, it was only the same aforementioned drum paint). The other video just repeated “rods and cones”, “rods and cones”, while these two circles of statues on either side of the stage showed how our eyes adjust to the spinning height of each of the statues, and how our eyes actually take a split second image of what we see before it is passed on to the “rods and cones”, and that is why we see images when we close our eyes. Then we were schooled on how “rods and cones” see differently – the rods see black and white, and we have more of them so that we can see at night, and the cones see color in variations of three main colors (I forget which three). Right after this these long strings of those three colors fall from the ceiling and start spinning. This is about as entertaining as waiting in line at the DMV. I can’t recall how many times I leaned over to Susan and said “I don’t get it,” or I can’t see Paul Vaught watching this show, to which she said, “twice!!” Then at one point, the “group” starts walking over the audience chairs and messing with people in the audience. Seeing as how we were seated in Row “JJ” and the bottom floor of the arena only went to “KK”, it seemed liked this part of the show lasted three lifetimes!

Towards the end of the show, there was more “audience interaction.” There were these numerous rolls of (significantly less rip-able, I tried) toilet paper on these huge wooden rolls that we were supposed to keep passing over ours head until it reached the stage. Mind you, with us being on “JJ”, this was no small feat. When we finally thought the “passing” was over, I looked at Susan, and all of a sudden, this huge mound of toilet paper landed right on her head (one of the highlights!)! Apparently, there was someone standing behind Row KK gathering up the mound while we “passed”. At least we got a good chuckle out of that!

My hero for the night was Ray. After about 40 minutes, he says to Susan – “I’ll see y’all later – I’ll be out in the casino! This was highlight number two. Ray wasn’t about wasting any more time waiting for something “big” to happen!! Highlight number three – when “Ray” came back in. All of a sudden “Ray” was right in Susan’s face, and we both looked quickly to the right, and couldn’t believe that he came back in!! A split second later, we realized it was one of the “group” members, and we burst into screams followed by laughter! Let’s face it – it really seemed like Ray in the dark, what with the smooth top of the head and all…

Sirens

The Siren show at TI (they’re trying move away from the whole Treasure Island thing with this new moniker) was scheduled for 11:30, and we needed to get their fairly early to get a good spot. We stopped and took these photos on the walkway between the Venetian and TI. We were already kind of tired and disappointed by the “group”, so I didn’t even remember to take pics of the show. I had already seen it, and Susan was “tired” from the festivities, so we just kind of grinned and beared it. However, we did have a new reference point, and we decided it was at least better than the blue man group!!

Venetian Breakfast

The next morning we were heading to the Grand Canyon Skywalk bright and early, so I ordered room service. The waiter came in and set up my frittata and coffee so beautifully I just had to take a picture! Plus, I got to enjoy this beautiful view of the pool, the strip, and the mountains in the distance. It’s nice to see how the other half lives every once in a while!

Judy, Judy, Judy

After breakfast I met the Stockstills in the lobby at the rental car place. Susan was getting all her paperwork straight and she found out that we had to go back up to the third floor of the parking lot to get the rental car, and that Judy would be waiting there to help us. When we got up there, we found out that Judy was a little, tiny, spitfire of a lady who was about 72 years old! She was just hanging out talking to the other “car getters”, who were all about 19 or 20 years old. We waited on the bench and Judy and the Ford escape showed up. Seeing as how I had just parked in the parking garage the day before, I was certain I knew everything about it so we told Judy we didn’t need any directions. After about 10 minutes of driving around the third floor looking for a way to get up to the 7th floor where I was parked, we see Judy “getting” another car, driving like a bat out of hell around a corner! I swear she was going about 42 miles an hour in the space of about 100 feet! Right after that, out of the corner of my eye, I see one of the 19 year olds trying to flag us down. I promptly ignore him, thanking goodness I had on my sunglasses and could do so. Then on a subsequent pass, there was no denying him, so we rolled down the window. “I was trying to flag you down – do you need help getting out of here?” Turns out, when you get a rental on the third floor, you have to go all the way down before you can go back up to the 7th floor. Oh well, so much for not needing directions!!

Rain, rain, go away...

It is neat to see rain the dessert, because you can see it from so far away. We saw it several times on our journey to the Skywalk. Did I mention the journey was a two and a half hour journey from Vegas, not all on paved roads? Apparently the Hulapai Indians haven’t actually talked the surrounding county into paving all the roads just yet. The beginning of the trip was uneventful – we passed over the Hoover Dam and stopped to see Rick for a few minutes, then we continued on. Naturally, Susan had the entire route mapped out and we had no trouble finding our way, until the very end. When we got to the road that wasn’t paved all the way, the sign said 21 miles to Grand Canyon West. The first 7 miles were paved, with 14 unpaved. By unpaved I mean a simple dirt road with lots of bumps and ruts where people had traveled through previously. Oh, by the way, it was monsoon season. I’m not kidding – that’s what the call the rainy season in July. Even though it wasn’t raining at the time, we could see several “washes” where the rain flows down from the surrounding mountains. We did NOT want to get stuck in one of those washes! We carefully made it to Grand Canyon West, which is a building with restrooms and ticket counters, a small gift store, and not much else. There were helicopters buzzing all around, taking the Japanese tourists on trips down in and around the canyon. Then there was a bevy of busses, the regular ones taking you to the Skywalk and Guano Point, and the camouflage ones taking you to the “ranch” (no thanks, we’ll pass). So we head into the building to purchase our tickets, and we are told that the Skywalk just closed 15 minutes ago due to bad weather, so we should just purchase the regular package (bus trip and lunch) just in case. Right about now is when we started wondering whether this would be another “Blue Man Group”.

Since we were concerned about the weather, we decided to stay on the bus past the Skywalk stop and head to lunch first. The bus driver had just told us there was a nice lookout point up ahead, so when we see this structure, we’re thinking that must be the lookout point. It certainly didn’t seem like the Skywalk – especially since all the “regular” buses had a painted picture of the Skywalk on the side similar to this:

Guano Point

So we stayed on the bus to Guano Point and had our lunch, outside in the heat. The Grand Canyon is really amazing, and the colors were beautiful! Check us out enjoying the scenery.

The "lookout"

After Guano Point we hopped on the bus and headed back to the “lookout” and the Skywalk. Turns out, the “lookout” structure was actually the skywalk, and what was painted on the sides of the buses was “an artist’s rendition” of what the skywalk would look like once it was completed. Wow. And here I thought we would be walking WAY out over the Grand Canyon, and we are only walking a little ways out over the side of the mountain. And all those fancy buildings surrounding the skywalk weren’t even built yet! The novelty of walking on glass was pretty cool, and we got to wear some really cute booties over our shoes. Check out our ($16) picture. The camera was only about 3 feet from us, but it was one of those special cameras that made the skywalk looks TONS bigger than it actually was, and thankfully, made us look smaller in the process!!

Once again, my hero Ray decided not to spend (waste) the $25 extra dollars for the experience. But, I would say the experience was at least 75% better than the Blue Man Group.

The Journey Back

The journey back from the skywalk was a little faster, mainly because we were trying to get the heck outta there before the rain “washed” us away! That same unpaved 14 miles that we drove slowly on the way up became something of a motor-cross adventure on the way back. I had just had surgery the Friday before, so my guts were hurting a bit, but we figured “let’s get it over as soon as possible!” When rain falls on ground that is dry and hard as concrete, it doesn’t take long to pool and cause a miniature flash flood. The clouds were beautiful and dark in the distance, but we were glad to be out on the highway.

Rain Forest Cafe

After skywalk journey ended, we met up with Rick and the kids and headed to the Rain Forest Café at MGM. Luckily for us they had just brought the 18-month old lions into the habitat and we got some really close views!

The food was great once again at the Rain Forest Café and we had lots of fun!

Snaaaaaakes.....

After dinner, we walked through the gift shop because Suse wanted to get something for the kids. We looked around for a while, saw some really cool stuff, then Bradley found these baskets of rubber snakes – that was what he wanted. So naturally, that’s what when Ella wanted, too. She wants to be just like him…

So Bradley and Ella both pick out their snakes, and they are too excited! Just about that time I see this really cute, bright pink frog. Being the girl she is, pink is Ella’s favorite color, so I’m thinking I can persuade her to ditch the snakes and take the frog. When she sees the frog, her eyes light up, and she loves it!! But then I tell her she has to choose either the snakes or the frog, and with a look of complete and utter anguish, she says snaaaaaakes….

We parted ways with the Stockstills after this, and so began the extended stay at Funky Town.