Epic Win

The day after my last post, I decided to skip going to the local casino.  I had already put a lot of time, effort and money towards trying to hit that huge Grand - even though I know it's somewhat pointless to 'try' for any jackpot - Grand or otherwise.  I had a fun couple of weeks (including 2 handpays) so Wednesday morning dawned and I did not go.  

The $18,888.88 jackpot hit that morning - on a machine I had played a lot on.  Oh well.  It was a local player who won and as always, I felt very happy for the winner.  I know those big wins are epic and awesome - so yay and congrats to the winner.  

We had a very fun evening at Atlantis last night - the Paint & Sip event was really fun and I discovered something new about my husband - he is insanely talented and artistic.  His painting has way more detail and nuances than mine and/or most of the others in the room.  He painted a bit in his earlier years and it really shined through - his picture is beautiful.  

I will post pics below of both - mine is so-so.  I never feel like it's 'good' but it was a lot of fun.  I've done a couple paint parties myself in Tracy with work friends and it's always a good time.  They say they are planning another event in May and we will definitely sign up! 

J.'s pic is on the left and the one on the right is a painting J. won in a drawing - two lovebirds!  

The week passed quickly filled with the 'stuff' we do.  The weather was crazy and windy and did not lend itself to much time outside so we're still looking forward to having true Spring here soon.  The crazy weather is expected to return tomorrow and once again, J.'s golf plans are hanging by a thread.  All last week's golf cancelled due to weather and now Tuesday's golf isn't looking good.  But he'll see and hope it might happen.

At Atlantis last night, I managed to get a Dragonlink machine and played ever so briefly - and ended up $250 - so yay!  We headed upstairs to the event and on the way out, I did not play anymore.  Felt good to leave a smidge up.

This morning, I headed to our local casino for the monthly 'Comps to Freeplay' event - I had enough comps to swap for $200 in free play - combined with other free play, I was excited about a fair amount of play on 'their' money.  

I played a bit on one machine and moved.  Played my winnings from last night, then hit a $500 Minor which kept me playing a bit longer.  I played it all down and put in a final $100 - telling myself 'you've already lost your winnings from last night, put back winnings from today so no matter what, this $100 is it'.  

I got free spins - six free games - with $21.90 left of that $100.  And on the 4th free spin, it dropped six orbs - I was so grateful for the $100 mini orb and even just thrilled to have an orb bonus round at all!  I told myself 'no matter what this ends up being, cash out and head home after'.  

The orbs were dropping fast and the next thing I knew, this happened:  

 

 

$11,866.26 in total after the final free game spin.  It was so fast - the friends I was playing with went nuts and I just sort of sat there for a minute pretty stunned.  What a great Easter!

 

J. joined me and we had Easter lunch at the restaurant.  I'd earned enough points for a free meal, had a $20 food credit so we ate for free.  Food was so-so.  Not on our list of favorite places.  I skipped cashing in comps for free play - I saved it for the May swap event instead.  

 

We finished a quiet day at home.  

 

It's Monday now and the winds are picking up again - hopefully, J. can play golf tomorrow but there is another storm heading our way.  Spring is so ready to arrive but Mother Nature is messing with stuff big time.  

 

The cleaning ladies come again on Wednesday and I'm getting into a horrible habit of doing a 'stash and dash' in the office before their arrival.  The massive amount of 'stuff' that has accumulated and needs tending to is staggering - so I'm trying to dig out.  

 

I got J. going on reviewing the trust docs because my psychic energy is drained even thinking about all of it again.  The documents are incredibly complicated since the attorney is setting up a trust significantly different from our existing trust.  I think I'm overthinking things - and we just need to get the damn documents signed and notarized and move on with our lives.

 

 

Ladder Games

 J. and I have started maintaining a running list of 'projects'.  Things that need doing that are bigger than the day-to-day stuff.  Writing it down and keeping an eye on that running list will hopefully help us tackle things as we can.  When timing of activities, events and inertia create a vortex we can fill with doing stuff.

Today, we focused on things that required the ladder.  Replaced both climate control filters in the overhead vents in the hallways.  Cleaned the front door which has only ever been cleaned as high as I can reach so it was long overdue for attention to the top.  Removed some mud dauber nests above the windows on the back patio.  

We feel accomplished!  

The cats thought having the front door open was an invitation to head out so they did.  J. kept an eye on them.  They did leave the front porch and walked a bit on the rock - mostly just looking around a bit.  If only we could guarantee they'd never wander very far but we can't so...they will not be out like that often. 

Guacamole and chips is lunch for me and J. is eating a leftover chicken avocado burger.  Hello Fresh gave us a huge discount for coming back so we have Hello Fresh dinners on deck for the rest of this week.  

The local Carson casino I play at weekly has a topped out Grand jackpot on Dragon Link ($18,888.88) so I've played a fair amount there this past week.  Met my tier point requirement there as well so will stay at that level through January, 2023.  Nice!  After being in 'hot pursuit', I'm going back to the normal play.  Will maybe throw in a Friday night - they have drawings weekly on Fridays and Saturdays and my friend L. convinced me to stay on Saturday - I won $100 in free play and had an absolute blast.  Played until 9ish.  I lost a lot that day - no surprise - that's what drawings are designed for, right?  Pour a ton of money into playing while you wait for your name to be called.  But it was OK because I played on Sunday a good chunk of the day and had an unbelievable come back - including a $2,160 hand pay!  It was an awesome day and the slots were the loosest they've been in ages.  It was an epic recovery and I an very grateful. 

We will venture to Atlantis for our weekly free play and free food on Thursday - it's a gift giveaway so we switched to Thursday to claim those gifts instead of our usual Wednesday.  We are also at Atlantis on Saturday night for a 'Paint & Sip' event - creating a work of art while enjoying appetizers and drinks.  Sounds fun!  

Easter will be super low key - no special meal planned.  It's just the two of us - I think I'll make popovers as a special breakfast treat and we'll eat either leftovers or a Hello Fresh meal.  We did a good stock up shop so we have plenty of food.  

Yesterday, there was an unexpected freak snow storm that dumped 7 inches of new snow on Mt. Rose and left snow on the ground here for a bit.  It snowed buckets for about 30-40 minutes.  The ground wasn't cold enough for the snow to stick around much.  Crazy Nevada weather!

Our new neighbors are here to check out the house and at the moment, we couldn't leave 'cuz there are cars everywhere as all the other neighbors stop to say 'Hi'!  I love our neighborhood SO MUCH!! 

Lots to Catch Up On

Our anniversary weekend was loads of fun.  I was way down by mid-day Saturday - but there's always hope so I kept trying.  I was sitting with two young women and we were all having so much fun.  They were getting super excited with every win and we were all cheering each other on.  I love that about playing slots - rooting for other players and appreciating when they root for you, too.  

I hit a hand pay around 4:30ish - it wasn't enough to get me back to even but it was a really good jackpot and I was super happy.  The women had moved a machine away from where I was - but I went over to them and handed the one who had been sitting next to me a hundred dollar bill.  She refused.  I said 'I just had really good luck and I always share my luck so please, you have to accept it.  It's bad luck to not accept a luck wish'.  She took the bill from me and the two of them thanked me profusely.  A short while later, three more of their friends joined them - and the lady I gave the $100 bill to came over and gave me a stone bracelet.  She'd taken it off her wrist and said 'I'm Chinese and this bracelet is for protection and goodness.  I will never forget your generosity'.  Her friends said they've never heard of anyone being so generous.  Our casino host M. came over and they told her what I'd done and said 'this is a really incredible person' and M. said 'yes, she is.  She really is'.  It was so kind and sweet of all of them.  And I felt really good about sharing the luck.  I've had people share the luck with me and I do the same whenever I've hit some much needed luck.  

[I'm reading the above paragraph and thinking 'it's making it out that you're a hero, Majah - and you're not'.  I didn't give them that gift expecting or wanting any response other than 'thank you!'.  Her bracelet gift and their deep appreciation for the lucky money was so sweet and really made my day/weekend.  I hope it doesn't sound horrible - I just wanted to give a little joy and it was so wonderful for them to share the joy with me!].

I finally stepped away from Dragonlink and moved to a machine I used to love - Lock it Link Diamond.  I've been doing free play on this machine lately at our local Carson casino and have decent luck on it.  I also had good luck on it @ Atlantis earlier in March - see previous post.  This bank of machines had an insanely high Grand so I kept trying.  

I hit this very quickly after I sat down - the image was right when it finished tallying the total in the upper heart on the right - the hearts below blank out.  But the total was epic - and there was a really significant bonus because I had a full screen of hearts!  This pic was taken at 5:57 PM.  

This picture was taken exactly ONE MINUTE LATER: 
 

I'd hit the MAJOR ($1,442.27) - the 2nd spin of six free games.  The total of the win was another hand pay - $1,579.02.  

It ended up being a(nother) pretty awesome weekend!  The only bad thing was I didn't get to share the amazing luck again with those ladies - I didn't see them again that evening or the next day. 

That was the weekend of March 25th and 26th....and here we are with the first week in April finito.  Wow...time flies.  

Last Sunday, our neighbor G. joined me at the local Carson casino I play at weekly and boy, did we have a blast.  We lost....a lot....but we had a really fun time.  Bloody Mary's, slots and spending time with a friend - life is good!  

It's been a busy week and as a retired person, busy weeks feel taxing at times.  Wednesday was super jam packed - doctor appointment for me, cleaning ladies coming, grocery order to pick up, hair cut and pedicure for me, then heading to Atlantis for free play and free food.  J.'s had a host of appointments this week.  We've been out and about more than not which is rare.  

Yesterday, I heard a leaf blower as I was getting my coffee and thought 'it's T. (our neighbor)'.  But as I walked near the front door, I heard it right out front - so I peaked through the blinds once I was in the office and saw it was the lawn maintenance company we've hired doing the first monthly service.  YAY!  I was so glad - tidying the yard has been on our to-do list 24/7 but they made quite a dent in the workload which is wonderful! 

This morning, we took the cats to the vet for their annual check up - and their annual rabies vaccination. They cried like banshees all the way there, calmed down a bit when we were sitting in the parking lot waiting for the vet tech to come get us and take us into an exam room.  Once in the room and out of their carriers, they were good.  Curious, exploring the room - Nala doing her usual Houdini stuff.  She opened cupboards, opened drawers and even managed to get a piece of caulking out from under the bench where J. was sitting.  I grabbed the little bit (size of a chick pea) off the floor where Nala dropped it and handed it to the vet tech and she said 'where did that come from?'.  'Nala found it.  She finds anything and everything'.  The tech was amused.  We all were.  

Nala has gained a pound in a year and Muf stayed the same weight-wise.  They are in good health and doing well.  We had them trim their nails while we were there, too.  I paid the bill while J. got them into the car and buckled in their carriers.  We headed home - 7 minutes away - and they cried very little.  

We're going to give them moist food once a day and cut back on the amount of kibble we give them to free-feed on during the day.  The vet said since moist food is mostly water, it has fewer calories than kibble.  I've been giving them a 'pate' treat once a week - but if we switch to do a 'meal' of moist food daily and cut back on the kibble, it might help Nala take off that pound.  (Note:  they do not look at all - AT ALL - overweight.  Nala is a skinny mini and Muf is mostly fur.  We're not worried about weight but we will do what we can to help them not pack on pounds). 

We were so proud of them - they were troopers.  I was incredibly nervous about the visit but it was really easy - they did a great job and we didn't have any trouble getting them into their soft carriers. 

It's officially Spring and the weather has been beautiful this past week.  Rumor is Monday will be stormy and cold - but we're thinking it will be OK.  The storm front passing through should be pretty quick.   

I'm in a slot tournament on Sunday and Monday at Atlantis - not spending the night and honestly, planning to just show up, play and see where I'm at.  If I score pretty well on Monday morning, I'll have to drive back Monday afternoon to see if I scored high enough to win any free play or cash.  It's mostly just fun.  Our host really wanted me to sign up - and it is a free way to play slots and possibly win something.  

Next week is less jam-packed and I'm looking forward to catching up on stuff around the house.  My pantry re-do is still a work in process - and on Wednesday, the cleaning ladies arrived an hour and a half earlier than we were expecting - right when J. had arrived home with a huge grocery order - and I just put stuff in the pantry to get it out of the way - so I have a lot to do to catch up.  

OH - on the Walmart site, I thought I was ordering 'bulk' carrots - so I asked for five.  Five carrots.  Turned out I was ordering five 1 pound bags of carrots.  We're going to be eating a LOT of carrots.  LOL.  Maybe I'll make a carrot cake.  Or carrot cake cookies.