signs of the times

-trade show seems lighter this year with many vendors foregoing the show all together
-the sales rep I use to spend the day with I spent all of maybe an hour with this year
-the penny & nickel slot machines once hidden in the back corners of the casinos are all over the place and very easy to find

travel day from...

well I was gonna say hell but maybe it wasn't that bad more of a comedy of errors really. Flying with sidekick to Las Vegas for work okay got to McGee Tyson all set board plane en route to Detroit even start to taxi out, I settle in with my book not really paying much attention until the captain explains we are heading back to the gate as engine 2 would not start and they do not know when they can get a crew to fix this or if they can fix this. An annoyance but bettered discovered on the ground than in the air. Back in airport flight re-booked after an annoying line I am not sure where the one man was trying to get to but it took an inordinate amount of time to rebook him. Jump ahead a couple of hours as we are close to boarding on our new flight headed to Atlanta except not so much as bad weather had shut down Atlanta airport so back to the counter we went. This time they booked us on United through DC yup had to travel to DC to travel to Vegas..I kept trying to push first class but to no avail in fact the United flight didn't even have a first class section. We did get put in the exit row which is roomier and so much more pleasant for lengthy flights who knew? But first we had to survive the flight to DC with 3 of the most ill behaved children in the universe sitting behind us and I'll call their parents ill behaved too as they did nothing to try and control their children ugh! I have a fairly high tolerance for out of control children but they were over the top I have never been so happy to get off a plane before! Thankfully a short layover & we were on our way again. Got to Las Vegas way too late to pick up Penn & Teller tickets but we planned on grabbing our luggage and then a decent meal. A solid idea in theory except our bags stayed in DC and would hopefully be on the next flight arriving at 10pm...good grief this has never happened to me ever so I had stopped packing an extra change of clothes years ago(but luckily still did pack extra underwear) and of course TSA prohibits just about every other toiletry & make up item under the sun anyway. We had to fill out some paperwork then we had to wait for the shuttle bus to the hotel. A lengthy wait as it turned out and then we were the last stop on the drop off route..of course we were...What followed was a really lengthy and slow moving line at the casino. At one time some of the casinos had check in stations at the airport that were wonderful I wish they had not done away with them. as a precaution we picked up some basic toiletries then headed up to our room and then dinner. This puts us at after 10pm and a call into United has out luggage supposedly still in DC and not leaving till morning so off to a cheap & tacky souvenir store luckily Vegas is lousy with them and a couple of shirts purchased to sleep in. There was concern about when luggage would arrive as we had a vendor appt at 9:30. Since it was so very late I was waiting to cancel till first thing in the a.m. as neither of us were going to venture out in our day old travel clothes. Thankfully upon waking around 5a.m. we saw the blinking message light and were pleased to find our bags safely at the hotel and were able to make the show as scheduled. So moral of this roundabout long winded story always pack a complete change of clothes in your carry on

maximum caffeination

my favorite 20 oz weekend coffee mug....

home again home again

I am looking forward to seeing my boys, sleeping in my own bed, doing laun..alright not looking forward to that but I have a suitcase full of dirty clothes & I suspect a basket or 3 at home as well.
It's been a good trip we found some good new lines & products to bring into the store. The past several years I have travelled by myself so it was nice to have company & she has a good eye not to mention she is 14 years younger & knows better some of the things I might have passed on. As far as Vegas we didn't do so much which was disappointing and to be honest I like to travel on my own even when David & I have been out here we tend to split most evenings when we are gambling the only time co-worker actually wanted to go out on her own was about an hour last night when I was ready to go back to the room. So I did not do too much gambling because I don't like someone hanging over my shoulder hell even at slots I doubled my money and she urged me to cash out, I didn't think it would be very nice to tell her to buzz off so we went to see the water show at Bellagio-which has the best dinner buffet in my estimation. Paris is the best breakfast and had I been on my own I would have headed over this morning early before we have to head to the airport but I am being polite & we'll grab something at the airport.
So another long day of travel ahead which sucks but hopefully the little televisions in the seat work better this flight, plus I have a book or two to keep my occupied then back to crazy buys life tomorrow!

dinner

getting old

or just pathetic?
after a long day of travel co-worker & I grabbed dinner and turned in by 9 granted it was midnight for us but the clock said 9! I didn't gamble a dime! although one of the machines did call out to me so might need to visit that today.
Good night sleep woke up early but having a roomie meant I couldn't turn on a light & read or turn the tv on finally logged on around 5.30 local time-again 3 hours behind what our bodies are use to. She is ok to travel with but had called boyfriend 1/2 dozen times yesterday-isn't young love grand? I talked to David once and texted him once, still love & miss him but we are only gone 4 days not 4 weeks.
Bally's is good but we got a crappy crappy view ah well at least beds are comfy!
Now we are going to get ready grab breakfast at the buffet in Paris and off to the show to buy some cool stuff for the store!

fun filled friday

an fun indeed it was.
C woke complaining of a sore throat I essentially told him that's nice have some tylenol & juice you'll be fine when you get going-it is allergy season & all. He ate breakfast just fine and was his normal crazy self at the bus stop with his friends. I went off to work only to get a call from MIL the school had called her and C was sick needed picking up. Now she is an emergency contact for him and in fact was available to pick him up but I was a little put off that they had called her first I am his mother and all..So called up to the school only to find out C had suggested calling her first because I was at work. Alright fine in the future I get the first phone call.
Work was busy especially since I will be out for 4 days next week. I think I covered most bases although I need to shoot off a few emails at some point before Monday. The co-worker I am traveling with was getting on my nerves a lot I really hope she snaps out of it before we travel. I was dithering about what time to meet in the morning you see this is a Bristol weekend and it always is or at least has been for the 10 years or so that I have been traveling to Vegas on this specific weekend. This means the airport is a little bit crazy with race fans returning to whence they came. I mentioned all this and later in the day got the "Bubba(her annoying boyfriend also a co-worker) well he's from Bristol and says we shouldn't worry about the extra people" really does he fly this weekend every freaking year? dumb a**! We are still gong early to the airport.
Ran a few errands pre-travel stuff I have more today after David gets off work. C just has a cold nothing too exciting but no need to drag him around K-town.
Dinner at MIL's-shrimp, fried fish(snapper maybe) & oysters very yummy stuff hung out with nieces and nephew plus BIL & SIL an enjoyable evening but I took the kiddo home around 8-ish to get him home & in bed. Got home let superpug out to romp in the yard, got knock on door several minutes later he had escaped and neighbor call caught him. No biggie saw where I thought he had wriggled out of gate, fixed area put him back out. David came home we watched some tv about to head to bed, went to let Oscar in and no Oscar. I luckily noticed the message light flashing on the phone-someone the next street over had found him wandering and took him home so he did not get run over! so I went and met them half way to retrieve our crazy pug. This morning I discovered the other gate a little askew which I was his escape route so fixed that and no more Houdini tricks. I hope.
Lot's of laundry on tap for today, need to clean some, pack and still do some shopping. i really need a pedicure & maincure but am thinking I might splurge at the spa at Bally's tomorrow afternoon.

Vegas baby! Vegas!

I must admit Swingers was one of those OMG what a great movies that eh I can take it or leave it I don't really get the appeal.
Now Vegas itself I get the appeal. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to go on a buying trip there each summer. Although industry and store situation being what they were I didn't get to go last summer so I am excited about this year's trip! And in spite of what the naysayer hubs says I do go for work 4 convention centers worth of product in fact. It doesn't all apply to our store but it is so much fun to wander the booths. So work during the day and at night it's Vegas the restaurants, shows, casinos and gambling-the grown-ups Disney. I am not exactly a card shark but blackjack is fun and in spite of slots being a waste of time I am under the (probably misguided) impression that one day I will hit it big-I did win $400 once not exactly really big but better than a slap in the face 'ya know.
Pre-C days David would come out with me but for the past several years I have been going by myself which does not bother me in the least. I actually enjoy the alone time but this year I got talked into bringing along a co-worker and I am really hoping that won't be a mistake. Oh well I suppose if it is it'll be just that much more to blog about right? positive spin right?
So have a million and one things to do before we leave on Sunday both here at work and at home not least of which is deciding the wardrobe and co-ordinating shoes. MAGIC is a major fashion event can not show up looking slubby, need to hit the bookstore long travel days need some new stuff to read plus I need to get a bag for the laptop can't leave home with out that now can we? And to top it all off C got sent home from school early with a sore throat today, no fever or anything so I am hoping it is no big deal!