Suite Birthday

Having decided to spend three nights at Atlantis for my birthday, I asked our host to please reserve a suite for us if at all possible.  She delivered.  Called the Paradise Suite, it was two bedrooms with a living room/dining room/small kitchen in between.  And three full bathrooms including impressive showers with all sorts of water sprays.  Newly remodeled and it was really spectacular.  

Except a host of things.  Three rooms means three rooms of 'where did I leave my phone?'.  It actually felt disorienting at times.  

Friday night we ate dinner at Napa Bistro.  "Small plates" (hors d'oeuvres) and cocktails which are 1/2 off from 4-6.  The BEST fried calamari and lavender lemon drop martinis.  Two!  It was delicious and fun - played slots a bit after and was in bed by 8.  Full disclosure:  I had beers that day, too....and perhaps too many?  'cuz I woke up at 1AM 'not well'.  It was a long few hours but I made it to my slot tournament at 10AM and while I didn't feel 'great', I was OK.  

Sidenote:  When I shared the above with B. - describing how I was feeling - he said 'Mom, you got drunk!'.  Yes, I guess I have to admit that I apparently did.  62 years old and can still enjoy over-indulging now and then - well, didn't enjoy the being sick in the middle of the night - but it was a fun-filled day with a delicious dinner.  

Sidenote 2:  I was pretty sure that I heard gunshots between when I went to bed (8PM) and when I was up not feeling great (1AM).  I sort of brushed it off because it was Sweet Vibrations (motorcycle event) so it could have been a motorcycle backfiring.  But it turned out there was a shooting in the parking lot at 11PM or so that night - and the victim died.  I had no idea - never heard a word from anyone on Saturday - not from guests, waitresses, staff.  My host called me today and left a voicemail apologizing for not checking in with the 2nd half of our stay - but she said 'things got really crazy'.  I bet.  I can't imagine how hard the event was for all the people who work there. 

Thursday and Friday were not great days on the play front.  Fun-filled for sure but not 'winning' in any way. Thankfully, that all changed on my birthday.  I headed upstairs to two Dragonlink machines I had epic luck on last year on my birthday - and they didn't disappoint.  In between slot tournament time slots, these two hand pays happened - 3 spins apart.  In fact, the slot attendant came back up after resetting my machine after the first hand pay and I'd hit the second one before they came back with the cash from the first win.  It was EPIC.  

The second hand pay is a video - I asked the slot attendant to replay it for me so I could record it.  It was 6 free games and I don't record the bonus round 'cuz who knows if it will be epic or not.  This one definitely was - wait for spins 4 and 5.  Only 5 lines ($2 denomination) but when things line up, the wins can be epic.  And they certainly were.  (Unfortunately, the video is too large a file to send to myself via email and while it's offering options to use 'the cloud', I don't know how to do that so...I am posting two still photos of the winning spins).  

Handpay #1:  

Handpay # 2 - 4th spin of 6.  This screen was a $2900 win! The group of monks is the highest paying symbol for this game.  In the free games, it the wild symbol (the single monk) lands, it fills the entire column - which can really lead to some huge wins!

Handpay #2 - 5th spin of 6.  This screen was a $1200 win! 

Grand total was $4180!  EPIC!!  

More full disclosure:  I had those two great wins and was very grateful for them - 'cuz it had been a long weekend of play and I was way WAY down.  The hand-pays helped the bottom line significantly so that was a great thing! 

In other news - B. is enroute to his new post in New Jersey.  He had an epic week - finished his private pilot's license with his FAA check flight on my birthday.  There was a moment during the flight where he thought he'd blown it - but when the FAA person debriefed with B. after the flight, he told him that his irritation towards B. was staged - designed to see how B. would handle being somewhat chewed out for something the FAA pilot didn't approve of.  B. passed with flying colors by maintaining his composure - and the FAA pilot acknowledged he'd been as steady as a rock which is what they look for.  Being under pressure happens a lot when flying - so it's critically important to just stay in the zone.  

B.'s week had been pretty stress-filled.  Somehow, the Army messed up and cancelled his movers - having said it was a 'local' move - which B. was told would be corrected.  It wasn't - and then the people setting up the move didn't re-do it in time.  So B. had to hire movers on very short notice - and had to pay for the expense himself.  I will be completely reimbursed by the Army - but it was a lot of last minute stress in a week that was already pretty full.  

This morning, he said goodbye to his girlfriend - the longest relationship he's been in - and headed east.  He's in Arlington, VA tonight - and I wish we'd known because my nephew and his new wife live in Arlington - and maybe B. could have had dinner with them.  But it's OK.  He's about 4 hours away and will finish the rest of the drive tomorrow and arrive in New Jersey in plenty of time to go to the apartment management and pick up keys.  He may be 'camping' in his place for a couple days - his furniture won't arrive until the weekend (or later) - or he may find an inexpensive hotel for a couple nights.  He reports to the base on Friday and possibly again on Monday (to confirm he has shown up by the date his orders state - June 10th) - and then will have 10 days of leave to give him time to get settled.  He's exhausted and ready for some down time.  

It's hard to believe it's approaching end of day on Wednesday and we're halfway through the week already!  Being at the casino for the long weekend stay had me returning home ready to conquer the world - or at least conquer stuff at home - so I've made a long list and tackle something everyday.  Yesterday, J. and I replanted about 13 plants in the backyard and did some tidying up of the location of the drip emitters.  We lost a lot of plants again this year - I researched some this morning and found out that many perennials do die after a year or two - since it's been two years, maybe we were due for a dying out.  Many of the plants we removed (that were clearly dead) had zero roots - they just lifted easily from the ground with zero effort required.  

Tomorrow is blood work for me first thing in the morning, a notary appointment at 11AM to finalize our revised trust documents and Atlantis for free play and free vodka.  Friday is a catch up call with a friend of 30+ years.  Saturday will be back at Atlantis to pick up a cruise certificate - and Sunday will be free play at our local Carson casino with our neighbor G. .  We both had our freeplay upped extraordinarily this month so we're going to go play together - time with her is so fun and I'm always feeling lucky to spend time with her!  

Monday will have J. heading to California for three non-stop days of golf.  I will piddle around the homestead and work on wiping out drawers, tidying up the pantry, tidying up the garage and an assortment of projects I've got on the list.