Long Weekend in Reno

I've been calling a hotel room at Atlantis Resort home for five nights....heading back home tomorrow.  I haven't won overall - in the red quite a bit, actually - but I did have some EXTRAORDINARY luck yesterday including being one of the lucky winners called for the 5PM Sunday drawing.  Not a huge win ($200 cash) but still - felt awesome to be a winner no matter how much the prize was.  A nice lady watched my machine because I'd hit a bonus round - which then re-triggered - (of course it did when I had 3 minutes to make my way to the complete opposite side of the casino) - while I ran to get my prize.  I offered her $20 thank you and said 'to keep the luck going, please accept this' and she politely declined.

But overall, I'm in the red.  And when the losses happen - it's called gambling for a reason - I remind myself that this was a vacation - and vacation costs money.  If I'd had to pay for the room, we'd be out $1800.  If I'd had to pay for food, another $200 or so.  I've paid for nothing except the money I put into slots and generous tips for wait staff, room maid, valet parking, etc. - so that helps put it into context a bit and helps me handle my losses better.

Some may call it rationalizing throwing money out the window but I'll continue to remind myself that 'you lost.  It's gambling.  You don't always win and while it was 'expensive', all things considered it wasn't'.

And then I remind myself 'and by the way, Missy, you aren't compromising any financial status at all. All monthly ongoing expenses paid.  Savings added to and secure.  Credit card bills paid in full.

Life is good.  And we are blessed.  And when I've lost, I have to keep reminding myself of that.

I also made the mistake of spending a night in an Indian casino I play at now and then before heading up to Reno and I am NEVER DOING THAT AGAIN.  I'd rather save every penny I have and play here in Reno (where slots are carefully regulated and at a Casino which has a documented proven '25% higher payback than other area casinos) than ever spend another dime at that particular casino ever again.  I lost an extraordinary amount there BEFORE I'd set foot in Atlantis and I won't ever waste do much of my 'stake' again.  Usually, I stop there, play freeplay and a little more and hit the road again.  The overnight stay really put a dent in my stake big time - won't do that again.

This evening, I met a really nice lady from Roseville - she is a nurse.  She is like me.  She loves to play and she loves the 'mindlessness' of it all.  And she (like me) mostly only enjoys a beer when she's playing slots.  Doesn't drink much at all unless she's pressing 'spin' repeatedly.   I love how I meet such interesting people while I'm here.

I head home tomorrow hopefully with an early afternoon arrival because we head to Modesto to see H. tomorrow night.

I work W-Th this week and then off to attend J.'s brother's memorial service in Santa Barbara next weekend.  And off after 4th of July with a return date to work of 7/9.   After that, it's nose to the grindstone and a heck of a lot of 'stuff' happening on the work front in July.

J. and I are back in Reno for the Chalk Festival in mid-July and then I doubt I'll be back here until late September/early October.

Thank you J., for indulging my fun.  This trip, the 'blessed feeling' happened tonight when I felt bad about losing but then realized 'let it go'.  You lost.  One spin can make a difference so who knows?  And I did make a bit of recovery this evening so yay!  Maybe do the same thing tomorrow before hitting the road and I'll feel (even) better.

Skipping

I would have skipped as I left work yesterday - looking forward to the first weekend off I've had since mid-April - but I turned 58 earlier this week and I was afraid I'd mis-step and end up flat on my face in the parking lot. 

And for some reason, my right hip joined my left one in terms of paining me so yay.  Aging.  Great.

We have sold four furniture items so far and are slowly but surely taking back our house.  It's nice to have the spaces being reclaimed and the trash bins filling up. 

I have a lot of draft posts in various stages and will (I think) eventually post them since this is my diary, basically and someday, I'm going to want to remember. 

Or maybe not. 

It's not been the best few weeks of our lives but we are still holding it together.  Sometimes by the sliver of a fingernail but....we're making it. 

Life is (still) good and getting better.  At least for us.