No I Haven't Dropped off the Face of the Earth...

But I did go to Vegas...does that count?

First...last week was hellish...too many things to do, too little time to write, blah, blah, blah. I actually had at least three interesting topics to write about last week too! Some of them will come later (I have some fabulous photos of my PTs to post later this week). DramaGirl turns 14 this Wednesday, so we took her and some friends to see Wicked on Friday night. (It was AWESOME!)... Oh yeah...school started. Classes are too full. I forgot my keys on Monday. I'm still living at a construction site. We had a whole scene with Jerome's furniture and their absolutely, incredibly, bad and awful furniture delivery and customer service.

A typical week. You all know how it is...

But mostly I didn't post much last week because I was also SOOOO afraid that I'd slip up and somehow write something about going to Vegas for the weekend and then I'd ruin THE SURPRISE that Betty has been planning for about a month as we took Momma on a surprise trip to Vegas to celebrate her 60th birthday.

Momma thought we were going camping in Catalina. She also thought none of US knew where we were going. The hints flew furiously last week as she tried to give clues as to where we were going. (Wrigley, The Four Preps (none of us knew that one), Buffalo, Golf Carts...

But the surprise was for her when we took her, blindfolded, to the airport (because we had other surprises, we told her)...and then caught a flight to Vegas!

Momma's Bday from AkaAlice on Vimeo.

In any event, please forgive this post of memories and photos from the weekend. (I'll be back to regular running/cycling posts soon... but this one is for Momma and the herd).

One liners from the weekend:

• We're not going camping are we?
• Betty putting the cow-print scarf over Momma's eyes, then leaving her to get in the car herself.
• D1 hiding in the back seat to drive the car home.
• Southwest will open a new line for you to check your bags if you have a blindfolded person with you.
• ALSO...airport security will let you take a blindfolded person through the security checkpoint so long as she isn't struggling or distressed (we didn't do this, but we asked if we could have...good to know!)
• Do you need this purse?
• Where are the sponges?
• The trillogy (I have no idea what that is about now, but I wrote it down on my iPhone notepad).
• Forgot my driver's license and debit card at home. Walter (Aka...the best husband in the world) drives down to the airport to deliver them to me.
• Momma asks, what did you do with the car?
• Coffee..finally, at 8:00 am
• First Bloody Mary - 9:15 am
• Damn airport dog! (A "bomb dog" nearly took a bite out of my arm!)
• First stop in Vegas? - food and mimosas by the pool.
• How loud can we be?

• Butt tattoos
• Pool time
• Stories from "The Night Before"
• The IceMan Cometh

• Damn it's hot (107º)
• Red Hats

• Dinner at Table 10 - YUM!

• Soda and bitters (best hangover cure ever...for the Friday night girls Alberta and Daisy)

• If Emeril were here, I'd kiss him on the mouth!

• 12 women in red hats...on the strip. What's up with the red hats? (definitely made it easier to find each other in a crowd)

• Damn...it's still hot! I'm not walking all the way to Caesars...Madge and I hop in a cab .(sorry girls)
• Bette!

• Sing along with Bette
• Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (yes, I know all the words. It was one of my first records!)
• You are the Wind Beneath my Wings (are you crying Mona?)
• Is Elsie napping?
• Karaoke (dare I post any of these)

• My feet hurt! Walking barefoot through the Venitian...how white trash is THAT?
• I can't get my Spanx off! Thanks Clarence for helping out.
• Yep, it's 12:30 and I'm out
• Next morning...what time is checkout?
• Breakfast at Margaritavilla - do they serve much coffee here?
• A little sour creme?

• Onion rings

• Cooling off

So happy birthday Momma. It was a great weekend. We love you! And I'm SOOOOOO glad we didn't go camping in Catalina (not this weekend anyway!)