Last Monday was my Mom's birthday, so Scott and I took her and her boyfriend to see "Fiddler on the Roof" at the Pantages on Saturday. Topol was playing Tevye, a role he's played over 2,000 times. Needless to say, he was fantastic! Even at the age of 74, he was incredible. Mom had the opportunity to see him live several years ago (I think before I was born), and sharing this with her was a lot of fun. Seeing someone live is so much different than seeing them on film; there's a different chemistry, a richness to live theater that you don't get watching a screen. This is definitely an experience I will be bragging to my kids about 20 years from now ;)
The best part of the evening, however, was that it was her boyfriend's first time attending live theater. Ever. He had a good time, and I'm glad for that. I think it was a bit long for him, considering he's not used to sitting in a theater for 2 1/2-3 hours, but he enjoyed it. Overall, a great experience and a great birthday for Mom.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Billing Issue Update
Two blogs in one day??? What is this madness???
Anyway, I FINALLY got a call back from the nursing facility, and the girl that I talked to (who sounded like she'd finished high school and not much further, and spoke with an almost unintelligible accent) informed me that the reason for the mix up was that they had been transitioning to a new office. The payment that I sent in originally hadn't been processed because of a mix up at the post office; they hadn't been forwarding payments to the bank. And the reason we hadn't gotten any calls back was that the voicemails were "getting lost" during the move to the new office.
Why it took them over a month to realize that they hadn't received any payments or gotten any calls about payments is beyond me.
She had no explanation as to why I sat on the phone for 2 hours waiting for someone to pick up.
Her recommendation is that the original payment will probably be processed, now that they've fixed the issue with the bank, so just sit tight and wait for it to be processed because paying it over the phone with her right then would cause a double payment (which makes sense, but still). The only helpful thing she did was reset my bill, so that it's no longer considered past due.
I still think that it's strange that the billing department, of all the departments to have, would be so inefficient.
At least it's closer to being taken care of.
Anyway, I FINALLY got a call back from the nursing facility, and the girl that I talked to (who sounded like she'd finished high school and not much further, and spoke with an almost unintelligible accent) informed me that the reason for the mix up was that they had been transitioning to a new office. The payment that I sent in originally hadn't been processed because of a mix up at the post office; they hadn't been forwarding payments to the bank. And the reason we hadn't gotten any calls back was that the voicemails were "getting lost" during the move to the new office.
Why it took them over a month to realize that they hadn't received any payments or gotten any calls about payments is beyond me.
She had no explanation as to why I sat on the phone for 2 hours waiting for someone to pick up.
Her recommendation is that the original payment will probably be processed, now that they've fixed the issue with the bank, so just sit tight and wait for it to be processed because paying it over the phone with her right then would cause a double payment (which makes sense, but still). The only helpful thing she did was reset my bill, so that it's no longer considered past due.
I still think that it's strange that the billing department, of all the departments to have, would be so inefficient.
At least it's closer to being taken care of.
Hershey's Syrup
Last week, I had Hershey's chocolate syrup for the first time in several years. I can't really explain why I hadn't had it in so long, other than the fact that I let Scott pick out the ice cream toppings, and he usually goes with hot fudge and whipped cream. Not that I have anything against hot fudge and whipped cream. They are tasty toppings. But there's something about good ol' Hershey's syrup. I think it's mostly to do with my dad...his favorite part of a meal, much like Scott, was dessert. Some of my favorite mealtime memories are standing in the kitchen, waiting for Dad to scoop out the ice cream either into a cone (always filling the cone with extra ice cream, usually without Mom seeing exactly how much sugar we were getting right before bed) or bowl, and sitting around the table eating it and watching Star Trek or some such.
We had one of our crazy busy weekends this past week. Our Friday plans got postponed due to an unexpected and sudden illness, so we drove up to the Maverick early to see "Reefer Madness" (hilarious show), Saturday Scott's dad and stepmom came over to help with the closet rebuild for the baby's room (it looks awesome) and we went to a party in Long Beach in the evening. Sunday, we went up to my mom's place to help her pack stuff up and clean in preparation for selling her condo, and even though I didn't do any of the heavy lifting or anything, I was still exhausted by the end of the day, and Scott even more so. It was exceptionally hot on Sunday; at least, it felt that way to us, so I suggested having ice cream when we got home, and maybe stopping for fixin's on the way home. We hemmed and hawed and kind of decided that stopping wouldn't be worth it, but as I thought about it, I realized that for whatever reason, I really wanted some Hershey's syrup, so we decided we'd make the stop.
I don't really know if it was a pregnancy craving, or if it was nostalgia, or just that with all the familial turmoil (and everything else) going on I'm really missing my dad, but I had a big bowl of vanilla ice cream with Hershey's syrup on it, and as Scott and I sat and ate ice cream while Star Trek played, I fondly remembered all those nights so many years ago while looking forward to making our own family memories that our daughter will someday look back on with the same melancholy happiness.
We had one of our crazy busy weekends this past week. Our Friday plans got postponed due to an unexpected and sudden illness, so we drove up to the Maverick early to see "Reefer Madness" (hilarious show), Saturday Scott's dad and stepmom came over to help with the closet rebuild for the baby's room (it looks awesome) and we went to a party in Long Beach in the evening. Sunday, we went up to my mom's place to help her pack stuff up and clean in preparation for selling her condo, and even though I didn't do any of the heavy lifting or anything, I was still exhausted by the end of the day, and Scott even more so. It was exceptionally hot on Sunday; at least, it felt that way to us, so I suggested having ice cream when we got home, and maybe stopping for fixin's on the way home. We hemmed and hawed and kind of decided that stopping wouldn't be worth it, but as I thought about it, I realized that for whatever reason, I really wanted some Hershey's syrup, so we decided we'd make the stop.
I don't really know if it was a pregnancy craving, or if it was nostalgia, or just that with all the familial turmoil (and everything else) going on I'm really missing my dad, but I had a big bowl of vanilla ice cream with Hershey's syrup on it, and as Scott and I sat and ate ice cream while Star Trek played, I fondly remembered all those nights so many years ago while looking forward to making our own family memories that our daughter will someday look back on with the same melancholy happiness.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Ranty blog
As I type this, my phone sits open between myself and the keyboard, as static-y classical hold music cuts in and out and I hear an occasional computer-generated voiceover saying "Please hold, and your call will be answered in the order in which it was received". This soundtrack has been playing in my ears for the past hour. I am on hold with a billing department, sitting in my swimsuit, because I had planned on going swimming an hour ago but wanted to take care of this first.
The back story: if you'll recall back to the early days of my pregnancy, when I was leaning over the toilet begging for death at least once an hour, my doctor finally suggested at-home nursing care, a solution that I accepted with glee (well, as much glee as I could muster, having not eaten anything in three weeks). A nurse came out, hooked me up to an IV and a pump of anti-nausea medication, and within a week I was feeling almost 100% better. My daily phone calls in to report to my assigned nurse never took more than 5 minutes. A few weeks later, I was able to stop the pump altogether and I've been fine ever since.
Then the bill came.
I wasn't surprised by the bill, I knew it would be a sizable one. The paper had instructions to either send a check or fill in the credit card information on the stub, and send it in to the provided address. I followed these instructions, giving them our credit card information, and didn't give it a second thought. Until about a month later, when the second notice for the bill came. After tracking down the original bill (because the first bill had a different amount on it than that of the second bill, a difference of only a few dollars, but unsettling nonetheless), I scoured Scott's bank account for a charge of the proper amount, as well as any unusual charges, and found none. I still have no idea what happened to this first attempt at payment.
Scott decided he would take the second bill and try to pay it over the phone. He called the number provided once, and got no answer. He called again, the next day, and after being on hold for a few minutes, was sent to a voicemail box. He left a message, and for a week received no call back. He called again, left another message, and again has received no call back.
I receieved a notice in the mail this week, saying that my balance was past due, and giving me the same instructions for payment (also, the amount of this bill is the same as the amount on the original bill; why they can't figure out how much I owe, I have no idea). This time, however, the phone number given had an extension number to call, as well as the name of someone in their "Reimbursement Department". I have tried calling her several times. Every time I call and enter her extension, the computer voice tells me that her extension is busy, to try another extension press 1 or to try her extension again press 3. Pressing 0 to get an operator does nothing, and there is no option to leave her a voicemail directly. It also gives the option to exit, which I tried, thinking it would take me back to the main menu...it doesn't, it terminates the phone call.
One might think that of all departments any company can have, the billing/reimbursement department would be the most efficient. I have now been trying to pay this bill for almost a month, and gotten nowhere. Damn.
The back story: if you'll recall back to the early days of my pregnancy, when I was leaning over the toilet begging for death at least once an hour, my doctor finally suggested at-home nursing care, a solution that I accepted with glee (well, as much glee as I could muster, having not eaten anything in three weeks). A nurse came out, hooked me up to an IV and a pump of anti-nausea medication, and within a week I was feeling almost 100% better. My daily phone calls in to report to my assigned nurse never took more than 5 minutes. A few weeks later, I was able to stop the pump altogether and I've been fine ever since.
Then the bill came.
I wasn't surprised by the bill, I knew it would be a sizable one. The paper had instructions to either send a check or fill in the credit card information on the stub, and send it in to the provided address. I followed these instructions, giving them our credit card information, and didn't give it a second thought. Until about a month later, when the second notice for the bill came. After tracking down the original bill (because the first bill had a different amount on it than that of the second bill, a difference of only a few dollars, but unsettling nonetheless), I scoured Scott's bank account for a charge of the proper amount, as well as any unusual charges, and found none. I still have no idea what happened to this first attempt at payment.
Scott decided he would take the second bill and try to pay it over the phone. He called the number provided once, and got no answer. He called again, the next day, and after being on hold for a few minutes, was sent to a voicemail box. He left a message, and for a week received no call back. He called again, left another message, and again has received no call back.
I receieved a notice in the mail this week, saying that my balance was past due, and giving me the same instructions for payment (also, the amount of this bill is the same as the amount on the original bill; why they can't figure out how much I owe, I have no idea). This time, however, the phone number given had an extension number to call, as well as the name of someone in their "Reimbursement Department". I have tried calling her several times. Every time I call and enter her extension, the computer voice tells me that her extension is busy, to try another extension press 1 or to try her extension again press 3. Pressing 0 to get an operator does nothing, and there is no option to leave her a voicemail directly. It also gives the option to exit, which I tried, thinking it would take me back to the main menu...it doesn't, it terminates the phone call.
One might think that of all departments any company can have, the billing/reimbursement department would be the most efficient. I have now been trying to pay this bill for almost a month, and gotten nowhere. Damn.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Labor Class
If you haven't already read Scott's blog on the labor class, here's a summary: I'm feeling much more prepared for the entire process, but a little overwhelmed and apprehensive about all the stuff that can go wrong.
First of all, I totally lucked out and found my OB on my first try. I found her on a "rate your md" type website, I actually looked her up on three different ones after getting a list of the doctors in my area that accepted my insurance, and the only complaints were from non-OB patients that said they'd had to see her nurse-practitioner on a few occasions because she had a patient in labor. Well, that's something that you have to accept when you're seeing an OB/GYN. That's why the OB is in there. Don't want to deal with it, see a gynecologist who doesn't do obstetrics. Anyway, all of the people who'd rated her as an obstetrician said that she was great, so I called her up and made an appointment. This was at the beginning of 2008, when I was pregnant the first time and wound up miscarrying. Through the entire process of going through that, she and the entire staff were fantastic. I was in a bit of a haze, and they were very nice about explaining that it wasn't my fault and it didn't mean that I'd never be able to have kids, etc., and I felt very confident that when the time was right and we decided we would try again, that I'd be going back to her.
I was mildly concerned about the fact that I would have to deliver at Hoag hospital in Newport Beach. It's not the closest hospital to us, and in traffic can take almost a half hour to get to. However, after this class, I am much more confident that it's the right choice. I'm very happy with their procedures, security measures, and the general level of care given to the entire family. Everyone gives birth in a private room, with a pull-out bed for dad or whoever else is there. The baby isn't taken from you right away the way they used to do, and they go so far as to not allow any visitors at all the first hour after birth. It's just mom, dad, baby, and whoever else was coaching/cheerleading. After this initial period of isolation, everyone's taken upstairs to the private recovery rooms, where you can have visitors, but they need to be buzzed in and out by the nursing staff. They inspect packages and backpacks/purses upon leaving to prevent abductions (Hoag has never had an abduction). They keep the baby with you all the time, they do tests in your room. They also keep you for about twice as long as most hospitals. So overall, I'm feeling much more confident in this particular choice.
In the class, we went over all the things that can go wrong. Wow. There's a lot. And most of it you don't have any control over, and neither does the doctor. There's not really much we can do except hope that everything goes the way it's supposed to.
And so begins the (approximately) 10-week countdown. I have the feeling that it's going to go much quicker than I am anticipating, but then again, the whole pregnancy's gone much quicker than I anticipated.
First of all, I totally lucked out and found my OB on my first try. I found her on a "rate your md" type website, I actually looked her up on three different ones after getting a list of the doctors in my area that accepted my insurance, and the only complaints were from non-OB patients that said they'd had to see her nurse-practitioner on a few occasions because she had a patient in labor. Well, that's something that you have to accept when you're seeing an OB/GYN. That's why the OB is in there. Don't want to deal with it, see a gynecologist who doesn't do obstetrics. Anyway, all of the people who'd rated her as an obstetrician said that she was great, so I called her up and made an appointment. This was at the beginning of 2008, when I was pregnant the first time and wound up miscarrying. Through the entire process of going through that, she and the entire staff were fantastic. I was in a bit of a haze, and they were very nice about explaining that it wasn't my fault and it didn't mean that I'd never be able to have kids, etc., and I felt very confident that when the time was right and we decided we would try again, that I'd be going back to her.
I was mildly concerned about the fact that I would have to deliver at Hoag hospital in Newport Beach. It's not the closest hospital to us, and in traffic can take almost a half hour to get to. However, after this class, I am much more confident that it's the right choice. I'm very happy with their procedures, security measures, and the general level of care given to the entire family. Everyone gives birth in a private room, with a pull-out bed for dad or whoever else is there. The baby isn't taken from you right away the way they used to do, and they go so far as to not allow any visitors at all the first hour after birth. It's just mom, dad, baby, and whoever else was coaching/cheerleading. After this initial period of isolation, everyone's taken upstairs to the private recovery rooms, where you can have visitors, but they need to be buzzed in and out by the nursing staff. They inspect packages and backpacks/purses upon leaving to prevent abductions (Hoag has never had an abduction). They keep the baby with you all the time, they do tests in your room. They also keep you for about twice as long as most hospitals. So overall, I'm feeling much more confident in this particular choice.
In the class, we went over all the things that can go wrong. Wow. There's a lot. And most of it you don't have any control over, and neither does the doctor. There's not really much we can do except hope that everything goes the way it's supposed to.
And so begins the (approximately) 10-week countdown. I have the feeling that it's going to go much quicker than I am anticipating, but then again, the whole pregnancy's gone much quicker than I anticipated.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Vegas, baby! (Day 2)
Day two of Vegas was Friday. We got up, had a nice breakfast in our room, and then ventured out to the strip to make a second stop at the ticket broker. As the very cool line wrangler had mentioned the day before, the Blue Man Group tickets were on sale at approximately 60% off; the seats we got are normally $101, and we scored them for $42! Since we had the tickets vouchers so early, we headed over to the Venetian to pick up the real tickets and avoid the crazy line that would inevitably form just before the show started. The Venetian is a gorgeous hotel! I'd never been inside before, and it was really cool to wander around and just look at stuff.
In fact, we realized that there were a few more of the hotels along the strip that I hadn't been inside, that I wanted to see the inside of. So, armed with our list of free stuff to do and the thought that I especially wanted to see Treasure Island, we set out to go wander. On a side note, getting in and out of the Venetian via the front entrance was a bitch and a half due to the Michael Jackson tribute/photo op outside the entrance to Madame Tussaud's. I can't seem to understand the amount of fuss that has been made over this man. I understand and acknowledge that he made a profound impact on the music industry, but he's been living an extremely self-destructive and self-indulgent lifestyle for the past 15 years, and his death really didn't surprise me at all. And I'd like to know where the hell the tribute to Farrah Fawcett is? She was an active advocate and lived her life doing her best to serve and help those who didn't have the advantages she did and yet, her death is just forgotten and glossed over in the wake of Jackson's. It just doesn't seem fair. But that's really not the point of this blog, so I'm going to get off the soapbox and continue with the vacation :)
I was a little disappointed with Treasure Island, to tell the truth. The outside was fantastic, the pirate ships were pretty damn cool, and the island-y stuff was awesome, but once you get inside it's only kind of vaguely ship-themed. None of it the stuff there jumped out at me as being particularly awesome though. We went back down to see the animal habitat that was supposed to be free at the Mirage, but they were charging for it so we decided against it, but by then the lion habitat was open at the MGM Grand and we also wanted to see that. It was super crowded, so we only got a few steps in before my claustrophobia wouldn't allow me to go any further, but there were two lionesses lounging up on top of the walk-through tunnel about 4 feet above our heads. It was so cool to be 4 feet away from a gigantic lioness, and almost be able to hear her snoring!
After some more wandering, we headed back to the resort for a short nap before the Blue Man Group show. Just after waking up, our friend from CG showed up (he and a buddy were going to be staying in the second room for the night), and we hung out with them for a bit while we ate dinner, which was cool since we don't see Dinko very often.
The Blue Man Group show was...indescribably awesome. I've never seen a show like it. It's almost impossible to explain what they do; it's a mash-up of awesome percussion performance, awesome blacklight show, audience participation stunts, among other rad stuff.
We were going to meet up with Dinko and his friend after the show, but logistics just didn't allow for that to happen so we said we'd do breakfast or lunch with them the next morning and went to do some more wandering. Our travels took us to the Paris hotel, and past a bar with dueling pianos. Scott can't resist a piano bar, so we stopped in, thinking we'd stay for a few songs and have a drink and then head back to get some sleep. That was at about 10 PM, we didn't leave until 1:30 AM. Needless to say, they were pretty entertaining. The challenge they'd given themselves that they would be able to play any hit song from the 50's or later, and they were only stumped 3 times the entire night. They played everything from "Master of Puppets" to "Behind Closed Doors" (someone thankfully paid them to stop the latter halfway through the song). The only bad part was that the cheap booze they served Scott gave him a bad headache, and he was feeling pretty crappy most of the next morning...but that's a story for the next blog!
Day 3 coming soon!
In fact, we realized that there were a few more of the hotels along the strip that I hadn't been inside, that I wanted to see the inside of. So, armed with our list of free stuff to do and the thought that I especially wanted to see Treasure Island, we set out to go wander. On a side note, getting in and out of the Venetian via the front entrance was a bitch and a half due to the Michael Jackson tribute/photo op outside the entrance to Madame Tussaud's. I can't seem to understand the amount of fuss that has been made over this man. I understand and acknowledge that he made a profound impact on the music industry, but he's been living an extremely self-destructive and self-indulgent lifestyle for the past 15 years, and his death really didn't surprise me at all. And I'd like to know where the hell the tribute to Farrah Fawcett is? She was an active advocate and lived her life doing her best to serve and help those who didn't have the advantages she did and yet, her death is just forgotten and glossed over in the wake of Jackson's. It just doesn't seem fair. But that's really not the point of this blog, so I'm going to get off the soapbox and continue with the vacation :)
I was a little disappointed with Treasure Island, to tell the truth. The outside was fantastic, the pirate ships were pretty damn cool, and the island-y stuff was awesome, but once you get inside it's only kind of vaguely ship-themed. None of it the stuff there jumped out at me as being particularly awesome though. We went back down to see the animal habitat that was supposed to be free at the Mirage, but they were charging for it so we decided against it, but by then the lion habitat was open at the MGM Grand and we also wanted to see that. It was super crowded, so we only got a few steps in before my claustrophobia wouldn't allow me to go any further, but there were two lionesses lounging up on top of the walk-through tunnel about 4 feet above our heads. It was so cool to be 4 feet away from a gigantic lioness, and almost be able to hear her snoring!
After some more wandering, we headed back to the resort for a short nap before the Blue Man Group show. Just after waking up, our friend from CG showed up (he and a buddy were going to be staying in the second room for the night), and we hung out with them for a bit while we ate dinner, which was cool since we don't see Dinko very often.
The Blue Man Group show was...indescribably awesome. I've never seen a show like it. It's almost impossible to explain what they do; it's a mash-up of awesome percussion performance, awesome blacklight show, audience participation stunts, among other rad stuff.
We were going to meet up with Dinko and his friend after the show, but logistics just didn't allow for that to happen so we said we'd do breakfast or lunch with them the next morning and went to do some more wandering. Our travels took us to the Paris hotel, and past a bar with dueling pianos. Scott can't resist a piano bar, so we stopped in, thinking we'd stay for a few songs and have a drink and then head back to get some sleep. That was at about 10 PM, we didn't leave until 1:30 AM. Needless to say, they were pretty entertaining. The challenge they'd given themselves that they would be able to play any hit song from the 50's or later, and they were only stumped 3 times the entire night. They played everything from "Master of Puppets" to "Behind Closed Doors" (someone thankfully paid them to stop the latter halfway through the song). The only bad part was that the cheap booze they served Scott gave him a bad headache, and he was feeling pretty crappy most of the next morning...but that's a story for the next blog!
Day 3 coming soon!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Vegas, baby! (Day 1)
I love Vegas. I love hanging out and partying, the strip clubs, the shows, I'm not a huge gambler but I've come to love the penny slots at Casino Royale (where Scott's favorite craps tables are), and also a game that Alayne got us hooked on at Harrah's called Triple Shot, plus it's close enough to road trip (and I love me a good road trip!). However, being pregnant, I was a little apprehensive about deciding to go for the 4th of July, since it would be hot and possibly really uncomfortable, and because we were staying off-strip at our timeshare and we would have to find a way up to the strip anytime we wanted to do anything.
It turned out our apprehension was all in vain; we had a blast! I found a list of free things to do, we decided we would go see what tickets were available at the ticket broker and wing it on shows, and there would be a fireworks display on Saturday evening that we would go watch.
Staying off-strip didn't turn out to be a problem; we were staying at the Tropicana Ave. location with our timeshare, it's about two miles southwest of the strip, directly down the street from New York New York and the MGM Grand. When we needed to get to the strip, we would drive up to New York New York, park in their structure, and take the monorail anywhere we needed to go. We didn't take a cab a single time we were there; we got three day monorail passes and took that the entire time.
We made great time getting there, we left Thursday morning at 10, and got to the resort at 2 (check-in isn't until 4, so we had to wait a bit for the room to be ready, but they were totally cool about it and even gave us three free rentals from their DVD collection to compensate). After making a list of the shows we were interested in seeing, we headed over to the ticket broker to pass the time and get tickets for a show for the evening. While in line, we were chatting with one of the line regulators, who turned out to be super cool and gave us a really great tip about having Blue Man Group tickets at a bigger discount the next day, so we held off on getting tickets for that and saw Love Thursday instead, and also got a great discount voucher for Benihana before the show. Yummy.
Being just the two of us, they sat us with 6 other people around the grill. We met a very nice older couple from SoCal who were there with their adoreable grandchildren. I was very impressed with how well-behaved and polite the two teenagers were, especially being from LA. There was also a very nice younger couple who lived in Vegas, they were out on a date night away from their three kids. When it came up that I was expecting, I got fawned over a little, which was kind of fun :) We talked about babies and families, as well as theatre and living in the aread that we all lived in. It was a very pleasant dinner, and it was really cool to just chat with total strangers.
And then it was off to the Mirage for Love. Our tickets had come with complimentary admission to the Revolution lounge, this funky little post-modern bar with some awesome installation art pieces. Unfortunately, my camera wouldn't fit in the small purse that I brought, so I couldn't get any pictures of them. The one weird thing I have to say about the lounge is that it has the coolest bathroom I've ever seen. There's two entrances, one marked Men and the other Women, and those lead into a room with a round fountain-style sink. As you walk in, off to the left there are women's stalls and off to the right are men's stalls. No barriers, no walls. It's semi-coed. It sounds strange, but it's actually pretty cool.
The actual show was awesome. I've never seen a Cirque du Soliel before, and it totally lived up to expectations. I really enjoy the Beatles, and watching it paired with such incredibly talented dancers and acrobats was fantastic. It was a little long, especially after having driven all morning and afternoon, and my body is just about at the point where I can't be in the same position for very long without being uncomfortable, so by the time it was over I was very glad to be able to get up and stretch.
We decided to call it a night after that; it was about 10, it had been a long day, and I hadn't gotten my preggo nap. So back to the car, and back down the street to the resort for a good night's sleep.
Day 2 coming soon!
It turned out our apprehension was all in vain; we had a blast! I found a list of free things to do, we decided we would go see what tickets were available at the ticket broker and wing it on shows, and there would be a fireworks display on Saturday evening that we would go watch.
Staying off-strip didn't turn out to be a problem; we were staying at the Tropicana Ave. location with our timeshare, it's about two miles southwest of the strip, directly down the street from New York New York and the MGM Grand. When we needed to get to the strip, we would drive up to New York New York, park in their structure, and take the monorail anywhere we needed to go. We didn't take a cab a single time we were there; we got three day monorail passes and took that the entire time.
We made great time getting there, we left Thursday morning at 10, and got to the resort at 2 (check-in isn't until 4, so we had to wait a bit for the room to be ready, but they were totally cool about it and even gave us three free rentals from their DVD collection to compensate). After making a list of the shows we were interested in seeing, we headed over to the ticket broker to pass the time and get tickets for a show for the evening. While in line, we were chatting with one of the line regulators, who turned out to be super cool and gave us a really great tip about having Blue Man Group tickets at a bigger discount the next day, so we held off on getting tickets for that and saw Love Thursday instead, and also got a great discount voucher for Benihana before the show. Yummy.
Being just the two of us, they sat us with 6 other people around the grill. We met a very nice older couple from SoCal who were there with their adoreable grandchildren. I was very impressed with how well-behaved and polite the two teenagers were, especially being from LA. There was also a very nice younger couple who lived in Vegas, they were out on a date night away from their three kids. When it came up that I was expecting, I got fawned over a little, which was kind of fun :) We talked about babies and families, as well as theatre and living in the aread that we all lived in. It was a very pleasant dinner, and it was really cool to just chat with total strangers.
And then it was off to the Mirage for Love. Our tickets had come with complimentary admission to the Revolution lounge, this funky little post-modern bar with some awesome installation art pieces. Unfortunately, my camera wouldn't fit in the small purse that I brought, so I couldn't get any pictures of them. The one weird thing I have to say about the lounge is that it has the coolest bathroom I've ever seen. There's two entrances, one marked Men and the other Women, and those lead into a room with a round fountain-style sink. As you walk in, off to the left there are women's stalls and off to the right are men's stalls. No barriers, no walls. It's semi-coed. It sounds strange, but it's actually pretty cool.
The actual show was awesome. I've never seen a Cirque du Soliel before, and it totally lived up to expectations. I really enjoy the Beatles, and watching it paired with such incredibly talented dancers and acrobats was fantastic. It was a little long, especially after having driven all morning and afternoon, and my body is just about at the point where I can't be in the same position for very long without being uncomfortable, so by the time it was over I was very glad to be able to get up and stretch.
We decided to call it a night after that; it was about 10, it had been a long day, and I hadn't gotten my preggo nap. So back to the car, and back down the street to the resort for a good night's sleep.
Day 2 coming soon!
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