The Heat Is On!

It's about 11 am and 91 degrees already. It will be up to at least 104 by the end of the day. The sun seems much closer here than in Boerne (desert, duh!), but the thing about it being a dry heat and being more comfortable because of such--how true! I can walk to the gym and back and not feel as hot and sticky as when I was in South Texas, even though it's much hotter. I'm a little apprehensive about later on, when it will get up to the 120s, but the locals tell me that as long as one stays inside during the worst part of the day and drinks lots of fluids, it's bearable.

We went swimming yesterday--in Vegas, it's no big deal to have a pool--almost everyone does, and I can clearly see why.

Elbie and Nothing are doing fine. They have lost their extra "fat cat" weight! Elbie still doesn't come in the house (or even near the door), but he will let me pet him while he eats. We never see Elbie during the day, only in the early morning and evening. At night, he camps out on our bedroom windowsill. Nothing, on the other hand, has made himself completely at home here. He has his own daytime sleeping spot on a shelf in the laundry room, and lets Henry the Dog a little closer each time they happen to be in the same place. Henry still hasn't gotten the satisfaction of really sniffing Nothing, but he's persistent and will likely not give up any time soon.

I'm still job hunting. I have an interview in June for a library job, but I am also looking into other opportunities just in case.

Sonny passed his first semester of US Govt. with a B, and he's working on the second semester now. We're proud of him.

We've been attending Life Baptist Church. We meet at a middle school now, but used to meet in a casino. LBC is an offshoot of some sort of the Southern Baptist Convention. It's a lot different than what I've been used to at my church in San Antonio, St. Marks United Methodist Church, but I do like it very much. I'm learning a lot and I like the people and the atmosphere. I hope to get more involved musically at LBC.

Helldorado Days: Episode I

Here's the prequel to the last post--I have this whole gallery of pictures from Thursday the 12th that I had forgotten about! There are some photos of the Fremont Street Experience goings on, such as the overhead "Aliens Among Us In Las Vegas" Click on the photos below to view the entire gallery.





The above photo is of a cute sign at the Golden Gate Restaurant (I risked much to take this picture in a casino, I'm told!). They are famous for their 99 cent shrimp cocktails. (I've had five so far this month!)





This is the guy we call Quick Draw, but Hubby was faster, as you can see.





Hubby says that this is my favorite attraction in Las Vegas.




Here's Hubby in front of a restored passenger locomotive.

Helldorado Days

As part of the Las Vegas Centennial Celebration, Helldorado Days resurfaced this past weekend (apparently it was an annual event that was put on hold a few years ago). On Friday evening, we went to Fremont Street where we saw Paul Revere and the Raiders! They were very entertaining and they're still a great band. Pre-Beatles, they've been together since 1959. I remember the show that they were featured in back in the sixties--I think it was called "Where the Action Is". Paul Revere is 67, and two of the other band members have been with the band over 30 years. There was one guy who was pretty much the lead singer (played the drums sometimes) that Paul Revere called Baby Raider (He's 39). His dad was one of the Righteous Brothers. He's pretty good looking, girls (see him in the gallery). Anyway, Paul said that he and a couple of Raiders would be in the parade the next morning riding Harleys. We got several pictures of the band, as well as the Helldorado Days strolling fiddlers and even a cowboy/gunfighter that tried to outdraw Hubby--but Hubby "shot" first!

On Saturday morning, we went to the Helldorado Days Parade. It lasted around 4 hours, but the weather was nice and it was enjoyable. We got pictures of everyone from the mayor of Las Vegas to Big Elvis to Paul Revere and the Raiders (Paul's the one with the three-cornered hat). Incidentally, P.R. & the R.s were riding Harleys as promised, at the very end of the parade. Hubby took a lot of pictures at the parade--note the fire engine with the dice on the sign, the Texas Hill Country Plungettes, the Las Vegas/Clark County Library District float, the police dog and the (gasp) police tank!

Saturday Afternoon at the Valley of Fire

Click on the picture to view the photos from the trip to the Valley of Fire National Park

Regarding Elbie the Cat and Friends

Elbie, poor dear, has not yet decided that it is safe to come into the house. He has found a place to sleep in the daytime that's safe and warm, I presume, but he always comes back at night. We begin to see him at dusk, and as it gets darker, we have more Elbie sightings. This is sometimes difficult because he's black, but we do see and hear him every night. We have food and water out for him always, and I haven't seen any other cats around here besides Nothing so I'm sure that he's eating (he comes from the food bowl direction a lot of times).

Sonny is working on his government homework and his aquarium inhabitants are all still thriving.

Hubby has been building computers for the past couple of days.

Junior (my new stepson) has been working at a Brookstone in the nearby mall, and is in the process of signing up for summer classes at UNLV.

I have been working on and have finished my resume and have found two open positions with the Library District that I will apply for.

Hubby and I went to see "Wonder Boogie" at the Fremont Street Experience on Wednesday evening. Wonder Boogie members dress up in bad 70s outfits and sing disco stuff. Also performing down the street was a sax player who calls his act "Safe Sax". He's pretty good. We were there for the over the top light show--it's a four block long screen over your head with music and mostly psychedelic pictures. There's a different theme every time we go there. Take a look at the gallery of photos by clicking on the photo below, and I apologize in advance for all of the pictures of yours truly--my dear husband takes most of the pictures, and we are, after all, still newlyweds...

Karate Kid Dead?

Just had to relate this story:

Sonny found pieces of the Karate Kid in the fish tank, and it was very sad. You see, it was thought that the other crab may have killed him!

Turns out, the Karate Kid is just fine, having molted and all...

Sonny's Aquarium

The small animal practices various martial arts to defend himself against life in the food chain.


This is Sonny's first aquarium. In it are two crabs, 5 Tiger Barbs and some catfish. The crab pictured above has a name--Karate Kid.

Ethel M. Chocolates and Cactus Garden Tour

Here's me in front of the Ethel Mars' place, just outside of Las Vegas. Click on the picture above to see the entire gallery of photos that we took there. The first few are inside the chocolate factory, the next few are of their environmentally friendly water treatment system, and the rest are of us in the cactus garden. It was beautiful, and the weather was great--a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon out!



Here's Hubby monkeying around in the factory store. Eek, Eek!