March Came in With a Roar

I spent two nights in Reno with a visit from J. on Saturday.  He didn't stay on Saturday night because when given the option to head home and sleep in his own bed, he accepted that option.  It was OK...except I truly have the worst sleep at Atlantis these days.  The beds are not all that comfy, my hips hurt pretty much all night and I wake up in the morning wishing I'd been home. 

On Saturday, there was the Money Madness event at Atlantis.  Two casino wide jackpots in play - start at $20,000 and have to hit by $40,000.  One from noon until 4PM and then a second from 4PM to 8PM.  Unbelievably - truly UNBELIEVABLE - the first jackpot hit at $20,030 - less than 20 seconds in to the first minute of the first round.  Talk about a malfunction.  And to compound the 'issue', they didn't announce it - so a lot of people didn't know it wasn't in play anymore.  Grrr.  I should have stopped playing and headed to the room - but I played and had fun.  Didn't win the second one either - but at least that one didn't hit until it was over $39K. 

The other challenging thing was there was a special Chinese New Year dinner that night - which anyone trying for the 2nd Money Madness jackpot couldn't attend - J. enjoyed it.  I had a slice of banana bread with a beer or two as dinner.  That was also lunch, come to think of it.  I do a bad job of eating when I'm playing. 

I woke up Sunday morning to snow everywhere and while I was nervous about driving home in the snow, I was slightly more concerned with how in the heck do I get all the snow off my car.  J. to the rescue (via advice).  Took the plastic bag out of the ice bucket - to use to wrap my hand whilst de-snowing the car.  Also grabbed all the hand towels and wash cloths in the bathroom and took the laundry bag hanging in the closet.  Went down to the car and got all the snow off the back lift 'trunk', windows, hood and then as much of the top of the car as I could.  I am short.  That was a struggle and it's THAT snow in particular that has the potential of causing the most issues.  Not sure I wrote about it here but I've been on the freeway when the guy in front of me had the entire top of his car's snow pack fall off and block his windshield.  He did a dead stop - pretty frickin' scary on a freeway - and ever since then, it's the top of the car's snow that really worries me.  Next time, I'll bring a bath towel down as well 'cuz I could have done some 'swatting' motions with a longer towel that would have helped. 

Made it safely home.  Enjoyed a catch up call with my friend C. (who by the way is a new reader - thanks, C.)!  Made chicken enchiladas for dinner.  I'm enjoying cooking more these days - like to plan and stick with our commitment to not waste food.  Used up some pantry items - a few less things to move to the new house

I climbed into bed and said out loud 'oh, hello, pillow top mattress cover - I've missed you!' and was promptly out like a light.  Best sleep I've had in ages.  Woke up just before 8 and enjoyed a leisurely morning - until 9:45 when J. said 'oh, it's possible there will be an appraiser stopping by in 15 minutes'.  Forgot about that.  Scrambled to do a quick shower - and now we're quickly tidying as well. 

Have enjoyed great chats with B. lately - he's thinking through a lot of 'life path' things and I'm so blessed that chatting with me is something he wants to do.  Lucky mom. 

The snow is in full melt mode today - blue skies with sun and things are drip, drip, dripping away.  I showed J. the patios of the homes behind us which are just soaking wet as the snow melts.  No gutters.  A lot of homes don't have gutters here - but ours will.  I don't like the idea of a ton of snow melt landing by the foundation and all over the patio and walkways around the house. 

It's a free play week at Atlantis as well so J. and I are going to go to Reno together tomorrow morning and use our weekly free buffet for a nice brunch.  We both love breakfast 'out' and we also want to use our benefits at Atlantis more -

We just got two change orders for the house - both credits.  Yay!  Saved $1,000 which will pay for a lot of concrete work.  The Sola Tube planned for the laundry room wouldn't fit.  There just wasn't anyway to get that in the space.  $650 credit.  And the art glass chandelier in the entry way also wouldn't fit - with a 9 ft ceiling and an 8 foot door - it risked getting bumped.  So we did a flush mount ceiling fixture instead.  A bit of 'interest' aesthetically (vs. a recessed can light) but way less expensive than the art glass piece. 

Our 30th wedding anniversary is in a few weeks and at the moment, we have no idea how we're going to celebrate - we've talked about Vegas but are more than a bit concerned about traveling with the Corona virus issues currently in play.  Paris also came up - but same issue re: virus.  I'm leaning towards an Atlantis stay - super nice, high end dinner and lot of play.  Fingers crossed.