Party Time!

Bruin and I had our company Christmas party last night. We had a fun time hanging out with friends, eating good food and waiting with anticipation for the announcement of the winners of the door prizes... unfortunately, we didn't win anything this year :(

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We have finally decorated for Christmas - outside and inside. Here's the evidence:


It's hard to tell but there are white lights wrapped around the porch railing and bows tied at the top of the stairs. We also have a beautiful wreath our neighbors gave us on the door. The lights in the windows on the 2nd floor were my grandmothers.



I begged for a real tree and got one! We bought this from Lowe's for only $25!!! We put tons of colored lights on it and decked it out with all sorts of ornaments from Bruin and I's childhood, along with some we've collected so far.

We can't wait for Christmas now!

Cherry!......Cherry!!!........Lemon :-(

Hey all,

It's Bruin, the other half of this blog. Nicole has been bugging me to blog about my trip to Las Vegas for 3 weeks now, so I figured I'd oblige. (Of course, I think it's because she can only blog about Cricket so many times before you guys get bored and stop reading.) For those of you who didn't know, I went to Las Vegas recently for........uh.......a christian men's conference? a Retreat of Silence? Ummmmm, no. I went with a couple of friends from work to gamble (on a budget!), eat (buffets galore!!!), drink (Waitress: "Here's your bourbon and coke", Dealer: "You've got blackjack!", Me: "Hit me!") and be merry. What I didn't plan on was the LVPD being so darn strict. She told me she was 18!! HA! I kid.

The only lady I paid any attention to all weekend was Lady Luck, and she is a coy mistress. We landed in Vegas at 7, and by 10 pm, I'd already lost $60 of the $300 I had budgeted. But I'd had a plate of Volcanic Nachos and a Perfect Margarita at Margaritaville, so I was okay with the outlook of coming away with nothing but memories (consequently, I pitched the idea of Shirley Templeville to a Casino manager. He was not impressed). But Lady Luck smiled, and I didn't lose much more after that. In fact, after winning $20 at Blackjack the next evening, $40 at Texas Hold 'Em one afternoon, and $200 on a penny slot machine (how bout those odds!!!) I ended up leaving Sin City with a full belly, a clean conscience, and $20 extra dollars in my wallet, even after paying for all my food, chotskies, and some Las Vegas wear for me and the missus.

Bruin-1, Las Vegas-0.

Here's some pics of the trip:

The Excalibur, where we stayed.

The Strip at night.

The Buffet at the Wynn. Best $35 I've ever spent. I think I'm still full from it.

The best burger place ever. I can understand why Paris would drive drunk just to get a Double Double. If your computer is fritzing out, I apologize, that's my drool coming through the blog.

The fountains at the Bellagio. I was hoping they'd play Clair de Lune from Ocean's 11. Unfortunately, they played Celine Dion "My Heart Will Go On." I still felt like the King of the World.

The front of the MGM Grand

The Lion exhibit at the MGM Grand. I can NOT believe how big these things are in real life. Craziness.

Bruin's 3. Danny Ocean, you got nothing on me.

So that's my trip. Thanks for checking in. You stay classy, blogosphere.

Bruin