A Much-Needed and Now Much-Missed Vacation

Isn't it great to be on vacation when the hardest decision you have to make is if you want a margarita before or after you go eat filet mignon and hit up the spa?

I am back from a week-long vacation in Southern California, and I don't think I have yet to adjust back to normal, boring, mundane life back home.

I headed to San Diego first on my travels and had lunch with my cousin Wendy at Seaport Village while we waited for Robyn's plane to get in.

Once we picked up Robyn, we decided to be the crazy partying 20-somethings that we are and hit up....the casino for some Bingo! Yes, my friends, I am a grandma.

Although, now that I've tried Bingo, I have a whole lotta respect for those seniors who are able to keep up with it. It is way more intense than just looking at one card and hoping to get all your dots in one straight line. You have like 10 cards in front of you, and you're looking for a different shape each round, like a crazy diamond or some kite shape.

It gave me a panic attack, I'll tell ya. Oh, and it didn't help that everyone else there had electronic game cards, and we were stuck with paper ones. Oh well...it was a fun experience!

On Sunday, we headed up to Anaheim for our Disneyland extravaganza! First, we hit up Downtown Disney and ESPN Zone for dinner and drinks - had to have our vacay cosmos! Mine might have hit me hard (I don't drink often), because I started scarfing down my green beans in a very messy fashion. We all then went to bed - at about 9:30 p.m.! Ahh yes, Bingo and early bed times. We love to live it up.

The next 2 days were filled with Disneyland fun! And best of all - I exceeded my goal of going on a new ride! For those of you who know me, I am the biggest scaredy cat when it comes to rides. I hate even seeing people go on them and hearing them screaming and having a good time. Weird, I know. Well, I decided that the price of my 2-day pass to Disneyland/California Adventure Land was too expensive for me to pass up the big rides, so I took a leap of courage and went on....Thunder Mountain Railroad! OK, stop laughing. I've been on it before, but the thought of it still gave me rumble in the jungle.

I conquered that and later reached my goal - Matterhorn! I know these don't seem like big deals to most people, but to me, it was like I climbed Mount Everest or something. Then I got even ballsier and went on Space Mountain - twice! It was fab-u-lous! I had a ball. Oh, and it didn't stop there. At California Adventure Land, I rode that stupid Twilight Zone Hollywood Tower thingy that's like an elevator and drops you! I never thought I'd ride that damn thing, but Wendy persuaded us. Robyn and I about wet our knickers, it was so scary. Never again! OK, actually I would do it again. But maybe not anytime soon.


It really was the happiest place on Earth, and I wish I could go back right now :(

But moving on...after Anaheim, we hit the road for Palm Springs! Wendy's friend's aunt has a condo there that she let us stay in (for free!), and it was just gorgeous. I really felt like we were living the high life.


I had another first on the trip - on our spa day, we got massages, and mine was done by a MAN! Oh my, I was a little nervous, but this old man had great hands. He kept asking me periodically, "How are we feeling, m'lady?" Ahhh, it was bliss. Although he did massage a bit too close to the twins at one point, but there was no funny business. You know I would have acted fast on that one if there was!

I had the best time on the night we went out for drinks and karaoke. I sported my awesome Mickey Mouse shirt, my HUGE ass 'fro left over from being so close to the coast in Anaheim, and my hat - oh, and NO makeup! I got up and sang "Shoop" by Salt 'N Pepa and also "Bennie and the Jets." Not to toot my own horn, but I was a hit! All these people kept coming up to me, and somehow I got the nickname Curly Sue. The males were definitely taking notice, which is weird because I looked 12 that night. But of course, I was not there for any bar action. Just some good ol' karaoke with my ladies (notice me and my happy beer-drinking self below). And just a note: I was not drunk when I sang karaoke. Oh, no. I would do it 100% sober, folks. I love it that much.


Continuing our week of living the high life, our family (of about 20 people) rented a HUGE ranch house mansion for our family reunion. It was gorgeous! Apparently Paris Hilton had rented it the weekend before, and it's a big hit during Coachella. That was the word of the street.

It had 7 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, a gorgeous pool and bridge, as well as our own private lake! Just a few examples of its awesomeness:


We played games, rode on a Seadoo, swam, drank and, of course, held our annual Joke-a-thon. I was reigning champ, but I think I disappointed this year. I wasn't on my A-game. But I was sooo happy to see my cuz Laurie win - on her b-day! So I handed the trophy over to her.


There were some odd moments - my mom's cousin Rich (who might have had some alcohol) put his birthday pie in my face. Why? I do not know. It was bizarre...I almost cried, but I didn't want to be a bad sport in front of the whole family. I got him back though and put it back in his face. Here's the series of events:

Ahh, yes. A lovely, placid birthday celebration.

And I got pied like I was on a Nickelodeon show.


Had to put on a happy face like I enjoyed it. Fighting back tears.


Oh, well. Can't beat 'em? Join 'em.

Karma!

I am more than depressed that I'm back to the real world. It's just so nice to not have to think about all this crap like paying bills and when I'm going to get my oil changed. I want to go back! But alas, I have to wait another year until my next vacay. This next one might be a cruise - oooh la la!