Friday Confessional

1. I am reclining onto a nest of fluffy pillows in a bed in a room at the Golden Nugget as I type this. Seriously, fluffiest pillows ever . . . I must have these in my own home. Maybe that's an elderly person thing. This casino seems to cater to the retired folks. You know it's true when there's a franchise of The Scooter Store in the lobby. (Just kidding.) Oh man, Bryce and I lived out this week's episode of Modern Family. We discovered this in the Gordie Brown theatre, where every person looked like they'd debated vacation plans between Branson and the Golden Nugget; luckily they all came to the early show of Las Vegas' favorite celebrity impersonator. I wanted to shout, "Hey, Gordie! Over here! I'm not old!" But I didn't want to pierce the hearing aids of our fellow show-goers. Besides, it would have been rude to interrupt Gordie's 10-minute re-enactment of the touching scene from "On Golden Pond."

Clive and Juliana need to break out. 

2. This is our Valentine's Day get-away. Even though Bryce had to leave at 11 to sleep at our own house and get the kids up in the morning for school, we had a great time. He is so nice to me; he went back into the chaos while I slept in a fluffy cloud of feathers all night. The only thing is that everything smells like smoke. I think when a building is as old as the Golden Nugget (though very nicely modernized), nicotine must now be part of the structural chemical make-up.

3. I like Valentine's Day. Or maybe I should say that I looooooove Valentine's Day, because as you probably know, the signature design elements of the day--red and hearts--are totally up my alley. I bought the cutest table decorations at Target and I can't wait for our family dinner on Monday. I don't have the menu planned yet but I'm thinking I might do chocolate-dipped strawberries for dessert.

4. Oh, it just occurred to me that Bryce won't be here to join our family party. This is sad news: his great-uncle Don passed away this week in Ely, Nevada. Bryce is going to the funeral, which is Monday. Uncle Don was a good man and was important in Bryce's life as a grandfatherly figure (since his grandpa died when Bryce was a little boy). Uncle Don and Aunt Adele were at our wedding and I will always remember him with a twinkle in his eye. Now he can be reunited with his sweet wife, and while that brings comfort he will still be very missed.

5. This is my confessionyiest confession for the day and I am so embarrassed and if this were YOU I'd wonder why you don't just get your act together. But for Christmas I ordered gifts for my nieces online. I knew I'd waited too long to ensure on-time delivery so I was feeling pretty lame about it. I had to re-enter my credit card and my address several times. You know how when you do that you have to re-click certain boxes or whatever? Well, imagine my shock when a few days after Christmas I received a package from that online retailer. I couldn't imagine what it was and so I opened it. And it was the gifts I'd *tried* to send to the girls, but apparently shipped to myself. Ackkkk!

When I found out my brother was coming for a one-night visit I thought, perfect, I'll give him the presents to deliver to his daughters. But he came and went, and the box remained out-of-sight, out-of-mind the whole time.

So here it is, almost Valentine's Day, almost Xochi's and Maya's birthdays, and their Christmas gifts are sitting on top of a bookshelf in the casita. What is it going to take to get me to the post office? Ah, I hope that this public acknowledgment of my neglect will spur me to get it done. You know, like those people we saw wearing orange vests with the letters "DUI" emblazened on the back? Friday Confessional #5 is my orange vest of shame.

6. But that aside, I am feeling positive and happy about life. Things are going well.

7. I observed my new seminary class twice this week and they are going to be great. There were 19 kids on Thursday--and that's just 10th graders. I am so pleased to be teaching with Sister Bray because she's very good at what she does and the kids love her. Besides, she has whipped that bunch into shape, doing all the hard work before I got there. I am currently more excited than nervous to start next week.

8. Bryce is coming back here after dropping kids off to school. I need to get ready--after all, when you change the day you celebrate Valentine's Day you can extend it for as long as you want! Too bad he has to go to work today, but good that his office is just down the street. Oh, and as far as a gift goes . . . I shopped the after-Christmas clearance and Target and picked up a fancy box of chocolates that looked nice enough for Valentine's Day. A $10 box was only $2.50 and it was only red and shiny--no snowmen or reindeer in sight.

The difference between being cheap and being a deal-finder is in the eye of the beholder. High five for me!

Happy Friday to all, and to all a good heart-filled weekend.

P.S. I accidentally first posted this on my Kiss the Cook blog! Sorry if you went there hoping for some more confessions....but I will tell you that my kitchen is a mess and I don't want to do anything in there today.