It wasn't Las Vegas, but we still had a great time!

My husband sweetly took me out this past weekend. We had 22 hours to ourselves! (The above pic is of me, obviously putting on my earrings at the hotel.)

Of course we had Life going on and we couldn't start at hotel check-in time at  11am-- Cloud had a sacred music workshop going on, and there were numerous events happening all day for the kids before Tiger and her boyfriend got over to be with them for the night. We got out of the house at 3pm. We had planned to have dinner at 5pm at a restaurant, but we just didn't have time. I was wearing a black velvet gown, but I couldn't find various underthings that I swore I had-- they were casualties of the long-ago disaster, but I maintained that I'd seen them only the previous week. We had to run by a department store en route to the hotel to get these things, and of course everything in my life is dictated by costs and I felt bad for throwing them at my husband who was already spending a fortune (for us.)

I also didn't have my garment bags, so to cover my gown and an outfit for the next day, I had to use a Glad garbage bag to cover them. I fear that we must have looked like Valley Trash with them hanging on the hotel rack used to transport the luggage!

We canceled our restaurant reservations and had dinner in the hotel room. I had wild Alaskan salmon-- it was very, very good, and a glass of champagne. I cannot drink without breaking out, but I decided to have two glasses and suffer the what I knew would happen-- I had the cream, so they were minimized.

It was funny because the hotel asked what they could do to make us feel at home and I said, "Bang on our door at 6am and demand to use my husband's laptop and ask me to come downstairs and make French toast!"

We got to the PAC a full hour early. It was nice because we had some time to kill-- for a change, we were early! I had another glass of champagne. I got compliments on my outfit-- my gown was a tea length, strapless black velvet, form hugging dress with a bolero jacket. There is a slit up the center of it and when I walk, it shows off my legs-- nothing skanky, but in this gown you notice that I have nice legs! With it I wore my cheetah heels. In the bathroom, a lady complimented me and said that I was "sophistication with a grin." That made me feel like a million dollars-- with a grin! (I like to dress like that-- when I debated in high school I had a few really nice business suits and I would wear a Donald Duck watch to remind myself to have a good time.)

We were there to see the Duke Ellington Orchestra. They did not disappoint. My husband was funny afterward because he turned to me and asked, "How do they choose first chair for the brass?" All of the musicians got solos and I think I am still dancing to their big band sound!

We breakfasted in down town, but my husband likes "down home" type food and I am into lighter fare, so what I had was infused with a layer of grease-- not so good! But then he took me to Bell's Nursery, one of my favorite places on the planet. They have coffee and delicate, pretty things, like Wedgwood china, and Lennox. We didn't buy anything other than coffee there, but it was nice.

It was good to get out. My husband really tried hard to make a great night for me and he succeeded-- I only hope that we can do this more. I would have preferred to unspool with two or three nights of no kids (and uninterrupted, noisy romance!) but we take what we can together.

How long has it been?

I have passed the six month anniversary of the fire and I feel good. On that date, we got with the builder and it was confirmed that in out new house, I get to have my own area for doing art and writing. I want a small table in there with chairs so that I can also have a place to set a nice tea setting. My art room will be next to the kitchen and the downstairs bathroom and I may seldom leave that corner of the house! There will be few memories of the fire in this new house, other than that it happened. We are getting a new loan to expand it and while it won't be a showcase home, it will be bigger and more of what a family of my family's size needs. I really wish I still had my old house, small as it was, because I had my grandmother's dolls and some family heirlooms. There were nothing, but they were fragile roots to my past. Every time I cry, Cloud reminds me that the roots are severed for forever, but the artists live on through my hands every time I work with my papers and clays. I don't cry like I used to, but my eyes get teary.

A week ago, I got home from visiting my mom in Arizona. I spent a couple of days at a monastery in silence. The only problem was that the other visitors were all 55 and over, it being a snowbird community. I felt like I was 19 and they all seemed much, much older. We ate meals in silence and they all went back to their motor homes and I was a lone guest in a 12 room guest house. During the day, they all were mostly doing other things. The monks wouldn't talk to me and the woman at the reception area seemed only interested in discussing the schedule of the place. When I browsed the gift shop, I realized that she wasn't that bright and that I probably didn't want to get trapped in a conversation with her.

The three weeks with my mom were really, really nice. She is 70 years old. How long will she and my step dad be healthy? We drove all over southern Arizona, seeing Tucson, Bisbee, many wineries, and a place called San Xavier Mission. San Xavier was my religious place. Maybe it was the architecture. The mission was Moorish in design and while not as huge as the European cathedrals, when I touched it's walls, I felt energy and knew that the original builders knew that people would be in awe of it and worshipping there 300 years later. My mom knew that it was special to me and she bought me some books on it. I also bought some Rosaries and horse blankets (blankets made in China!) This is a photo of one of the statues of Mater Delorosa. From her, my drawing took off again. Look at her face. Why does a stature make a person want to cry? Mary of Sorrows was crying for her son. You can see the muscle structure. I knew it in my art classes, I saw it, but when I saw this statue, I felt it.

In the cemetary chapel, there was an older woman crying. She whispered soemthing to me and I knew she was Italian with the cadence of her words. I grabbed the Rosary that I would give to Cloud and prayed with her. Who was she praying for? A lost husband? A child? Her own mother? I did my Eastern Orthodox bowing and she was not able to. She would cross herself when I came up. After a short time, she hugged me.

A few hours later, my mom dragged me into a casino. I was completely overwhelmed by the sites and sounds and wanted to get the hell out. But my mom kept winning. She won a lot of money. I went to the bathroom and there was a woman in a wheel chair crying as her check was gone, spent at the casino. I am one to stop and help people, but I looked at her in silence and left the bathroom. Normally, I'd give someone like that money, but I had a feeling that she was going to spend it. The front desk had numbers to Gambler's Anonymous and I knew she wasn't going to be stuck at the casino for forever.

(One of my friends who loves these places says that I haven't had the right host-- my mom is a fun lady, but he says that I need to be prepared for it ahead of time, glitzed up and in pretty shoes and a stunning dress with what I plan to spend. At the time he says I have to go, there will be no pathetic creatures who've spent a months' entitlements on the slots. He says I will love playing tables. I may one day do this.)

While I was gone, my husband had one of my college daughters take care of the kids for the first week. My new suburban died on her as it has been dying on me. He, knowing that he was going to have to drive it, got it fixed after months of me being told it was something that it wasn't and having it pronounced fixed many times when it wasn't. While I don't like it dying on anyone, I was just happy that it was fixed!

He didn't clean while I was gone. No point in bringing things up to air here, but I was a bit upset when I got home and he said it was the fault of the kids. Women, be warned. If you go on a trip, hire a cleaning lady before you return.

The above picture was taken at an old fashioned picture place. I tried to dress up like a can can girl, but I looked unconvincing. The photographer told me to put this gown on and threw me the pretend rifle. It just seemed right!

My step dad and mom took me to a canyon called the Chiracahua Canyon. I didn't get any good pictures with my cell phone. I wish it had a neck strap. This is a place where Chief Cochise was buried and a lot of wars were fought. The land is beautiful and worth fighting over.

We seldom had a day of rest and my mom paid for everything given that finances always seem to be tight for me. A week later (yesterday) she called me up to let me knwo that the ranch has been sold and that she is moving to northern Arizona-- she had felt like she needed to get me down to see the place and to experience it before she moved!

I have to get out again next year on my own money. It is good to see my mom, but she thinks we need to meet for a writer's confernece. She has been sad that I hardly write any more and says that it worries her!