Health and Wellness (not for the squeamish)

I couldn't really think of a better title then that since it really sums up the gist of this post. On Tuesday dad had surgery on his hand. Just the right one, it was the worse of the two. He didn't want to be put under and they did a Beir Block. Which is where they just numb the hand using simple anesthesia and tourniquets. They were in and out in a matter of hours. 

This is my fathers hand before surgery. That is fully open. He had put off correcting it for a long time and since he was being stubborn they determined it was to far along to be treated with just injections (they are going this route with the left hand) and needed to be surgically corrected.

Surgery went wonderfully and this is a pic of his hand 3 days after surgery.

 

 Dad is now doing wonderfully. From what I hear he is tormenting mom daily LOL, At least they have 5 acres to run around. 

On another note I found a new yoga lady to go to. Its called Dang Good Yoga and wow! I was a little apprehensive at first because I found her on Meetup.com (which is one of my new favorite sites) Last Sunday she had a Ultimate Beginners class that I went to. I was the only person who showed up =( But that just proved to me how awesome this lady is. She held the class just for me =) And actually listened to me and tailored everything around my issues and taught me how everyone else would do a position then would go back and help me find a way that would work just as well for my body. That REALLY meant a lot. I will be going on Wednesdays after work from now on. =) 

VEGAS!!!

Man oh MAN. Last weekend BF and I went to Las Vegas for a long-ish weekend. We left Friday morning and got home Sunday afternoon. About 5hours each way since I drove (even got a little geocaching in). I had wanted to go for my birthday back in August but it was decided that August is just to hot to venture out to the desert. So we changed it to February for BF's birthday. Then Sister informed me that one of her friends had decided to get married in Vegas the 2nd week in March. Since BF hadn't met any of my family we pushed our trip back a few weeks so he could meet Sister and her hubby. 

We arrived on Friday afternoon. Checking in to the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino was a little crazy. Even after asking directions from an attendant it took us a good 20 min to find the correct check in desk. Once we got to our room it was neat. Fittingly they assigned us the "Lost in Space" room. At PH each guest room is decorated with movie or at least some type of Hollywood memorabilia. 

We were again lucky to get a GREAT view from our room. We were directly across from the Bellagio and had an awesome view of their famous fountain. Also Sister and all her friends were staying there.  

For BF's b-day I gave him 2 tickets to The Amazing Johnathan who was supposed to be playing in Vegas. It happens that he got in a car accident the week before and ended up canceling his show. This is the 2nd time this has happened to BF. Since we didn't have a show to attend later BF decided to take me all over the strip.  It was a nice laid back day. Walking all over seeing all the nifty stuff that Vegas has to offer and not being rushed. Got to check out all the major casinos, since it was early it wasn't super crowded and I could wander like the little tourist I was. 

Later that night we got dinner at The Strip House which is inside PH. I loved the decor. It has red velvet-ish walls with womens naked silhouettes raised and all the art was 20's and 30's era porn photographs. Very well done for a porn themed steak house. 

The next day we met up with Sister and hubby at about 830 for morning cocktails. Yep BF fits in with my family JUST RIGHT. Had a little breakfast and chatted then met up with more Rhode Islanders that had attended the wedding and headed down to the Fremont Street Experience. We all took the bus from PH to Fremont street, its about 4miles. I love bus tours and even though it wasn't an official bus tour I got to see LOTS of things.....about 100 wedding chapels of every style Elvis, drive thru, little, medium, large even one with a hotel attached for easy access honeymooning. A naughty warehouse store (it was seriously the size of a super wal-mart) can't forget the 1/2 off lawyers, the Clark County Detention Center (home of the show Jailhouse on Spike) and thats just a little of what was in those four miles. 

Once we got to Fremont Street more booze was purchase and of course the required bottle opener souvenir. Sister, D and I decided we wanted to do the Zipline down Fremont Street. Unfortunately D left her ID back in her room so only Sister and I could do it. All the mens were busy drinking or scared of heights. The lady in front of us was TERRIFIED but her reasoning was "I already paid so I'm gonna do it." Once we got the 6stories (roof of the building plus up a flight of scaffolding) she just kept talking non-stop. They strap you in to these harnesses and then teather you to the scaffolding before they attach you to the zipline and then on the count of 3 they FLING you out over the street. The woman in front of us finally calmed down and was ready to go, the man flings her out over the street and about 10 feet away she swivels around and screams "YOU SON OF A BITCH" Every one laughed so hard. Then it was our turn. It was super fun and over in no time. BF got pics but all you can see in it is butts. 

After that we all milled around Fremont a while longer. D won some money and I lost about $5. Got some pics in the casino to prove we actually gambled and only losing $5 I was happy. When we came out of the casino there was a man stuck on the zipline. Some how he lost momentum and two employees had to ratchet out to the spot in the line where he was stuck and drag him down. At least he was a good sport about it and laughing the whole time. 

Finally we headed back and I got to grab a geocache =) Hooray!! So I can fill in that state on my map. I have decided that my goal is to get at least one find a month this year and eventually one find in every state. (Low goals are better then no goals right) 

Once we got back the 3hour feeding needed to take place so we headed over to Pink's Famous Hot Dogs to feed me before the Hangry struck. I don't think Pink's was the best idea since everyone but me had an upset digestive track the rest of the night. 

Quick nap and change then off to LOVE the Cirque de Sole set to the music of The Beatles. Sister was nice enough to get BF and I tickets so we could attend with her and the rest of the RI crew. It was very cool. Very acid trippy. I didn't really expect a story and there might have been one but it also could have just been random I don't know. Very cool is my official stance. BF wasn't very impressed but he doesn't care for acid or the Beatles very much anyway, but he did admit it was enjoyable. 

Over all we had a great time. I even had an excuse to get "hookered up", thanks to co-worker, I had the proper attire to do so.  Sister and Hubby seemed to like BF and submitted a favorable report to Mom and Dad, followed by a very nice invite to visit P's Palace in RI. (Aka Sisters house since we all stay there when we visit) Hopefully that will be on the agenda for our next long distance excursion.   

Until next time....  

Adventures OH MY!

Yesterday was leap day. Hooray we added one more day to the year. BLEAH! As you all know I am a geocacher. Last night the local cachers had an event out in Mission Trails Regional Park. Now I don't want to point fingers but who ever made the parking arrangements was kind of a douche. Once I found the actual parking lot I started treking in to the park. Problem is it was already almost sunset. So I go in and follow the trail left. BAD IDEA! I finally get to the top of a hill and take a look around. GPS says that I am .3 miles away. I finally spot a pavillion at about the right distance. To bad I have to cross 3 valleys and 2 decent hills. (see crappy map below) It is now mostly dark so I take a chance and que up geocaching.com on my phone and post a note on the event page that I'm lost in the park and need someone to call me. I decide that since I can see where I'm going I might as well just bushwack it straight across. Flashlight in hand down I go. I get down and across one little creek bed. Then I get a text..."The event is near a tall blue tower - Geobuddy" HOORY my cry for help worked. Now that I had contact I shot off a quick text to mom to take down that msg. Don't want my phone number out all alone in interwebbie land. I call the guy who sent me the text and tell him what I can see. I know I am going in the correct direction and mostly just ask that the group not totally leave before I get there. Lord knows I would NEVER get out if no one was left. Geobuddy gathered a few others and started strobing their flashlights for me. Making sure I keep going the right way. A few wandering down the hill a little ways towards me.  Finally I climb the last hill to the pavilion. I arrive to nice hugs and offers of pizza. Over an hour after the even started, guess its better late then never. 

They say that about 60 people showed up to the start of the event. When I arrived there were about 20 counting kids. I got to chill with some old salty cachers. (Which I have missed since leaving BBW and his crew in RI) I made friends with an old Swede "Bear" and a new guy too. They agreed to escort me back to the car via the long way around so we could get a few of the caches along the route. I had a GREAT TIME!! Took us about an hour to get back to the parking lot. Got 5 caches and swapped great stories. 

See getting lost has its advantages. I can't wait till next time. 

Purple Line is my Route