05/30/2009 - Connie started watching the French Tennis Open every morning while I was away and continued to do so upon my return. In between going out for breakfast and dinner, I have spent much of the past three days bringing Connie up-to-date on my trip, catching up on emails, working on a new "family" picture blog for the many pictures that mom gave me while I was in Tahoe, and trying to finish my book while catching a few rays at the pool.
05/26/2009 - Tommy and I went out to breakfast at Denny's and summed up the long weekend by concluding that though it had been difficult at times, it had ended on a successful note. I left Lake Tahoe about 8:30 and spent the remainder of the day driving back to Las Vegas. I arrived home pretty tired, watch a couple of TV shows with Connie and then headed for bed.
05/25/2009 - MEMORIAL DAY - Being that both Tommy and Bonnie had the day off, we drove to Reno and met Bonnie for lunch. We all enjoyed a nice long leisurly meal of sea scallops and shrimp at Red Lobster. After sharing a desert, we then went to a brew pub for a couple of beers and some more family conversation. It was the first time the three of us had lunch together alone in many years and really felt good. Upon our return to Tahoe, Tom and I went over to mom's appartment and talked until nearly eight in the evening.
05/24/2009 - Mom came over to Tom's around 10:00 am and instead of going to church, which was the original plan, we sat around and talked about family matters for sever hours. We went through all of the legal documents that I had written up, pertaining to mom's will, power of attorney, living will, durable power of attorney for health care, and a final arrangements document, answering mom's questions and explaining the meaning of various aspects of each.
After several hours of all this, Tommy made fruit crapes and we started reviewing some of the pictures that mom had brought over and picking out ones we thought would be of interest to us and or other family members.
We then showed mom the email account we had set up for her on Yahoo Mail and what she needed to do to access and use it. Though she was very reluctant at first, she finally admitted that she could see several benefits of its use. We then all went out for a lunch of hamburgers, french fries, onion rings, etc. Mom then went home to get ready to go to a show at one of the casinos that she had gotten free tickets to through someone at the senior living center.
05/23/2009 - After a late rise and a light breakfast, Tom and I went for a long walk along the shore of Lake Tahoe. We walked nearly to stateline and back, about four or five miles. After we got back we showered and went shopping; we had to get propane for the grill. Tom made a great early dinner that consisted of filet mignon, bernaise sauce, baked potatoe, corn, and sliced cukecumber. My brother can really cook.
I called my sister in Reno and set up a luncheon engagement for Monday afternoon. We then spent the rest of the afternoon sitting around talking, playing on the computer and reading. In the evening we picked up Rick and went over to Paul's house and watched the UFC fights that Paul had ordered on cable while eating chocolate cherry ice cream.
05/22/2009 - Tom must have really been tired as he slept in until nearly 8:00am. After he cooked me a nice breakfast we played on the computer and sat around talking until lunch. For lunch we met mom at the Senior Center, where she treated us for lunch. It consisted of sliced turkey and gravy, a delicious stuffing,corn, bread, beverage and canned peaches for desert. The portions were huge and it was quite good.
After lunch we went back to her apartment and sat on the floor browsing through two of the nearly 10 shoe boxes of old family photos that mom had saved over the years. Both Tom and I came away with several that we wanted to have. Later that evening, after a lite dinner Tommy and I sat around watching movies on his new flat-screen TV while eating some fresh strawberry crepes.
05/21/2009 - Leaving Connie behind for the first time, I left early this morning for the drive to South Lake Tahoe for a visit with my brother and my mom, whom we just moved there about a month ago. It was about 490 mile trip and, between stopping for lunch, gas and taking pictures, it took most of the day. Upon my arrival Tom treated me to a great dinner at a nice Italian restaurant where we were able to sit back and have a nice relaxing talk. Afterwards we drove over to mom's new apartment whereupon we sat and visited for nearly two hours.
05/20/2009 - This morning I worked on a photo album for my mom of her trip from New England to Lake Tahoe. Connie and I watched a movie from Netflix, went to GVR and played for a while, and then came home for dinner and watched the finale of American Idol. I must say, apparently along with millions of others, we were shocked and disappointed that Adam Lambert did not win.
05/19/2009 - Went over to the "M" casino for two free breakfast buffets. Afterward we went to GVR for some free slot play and finished the afternoon with stops at the UPS store, library and the supermarket. In the evening we watched a few shows we had taped and the final competition on American Idol between Adam Lambert and Kris Allen.
05/17/2009 - Tonight was the finale of the last reality show we watched this season, 'Survivor Tocantins'. Again, it was no surprise that our favorite person, J.T. Thomas won by obtaining the unanimous vote of the jury. The picture (left to right) shows the final four, just out of order: Stephen (2nd place), J.T. (1st), Taj (4th) and Erinn (3rd). After they voted off Benjamin Wade, better known as Coach, and definitely better known as the Dragon Slayer to himself, it was pretty much a given, depending upon who won the last few immunity's. Even though Coach was a prominent player at times, he was pretty much disliked by almost everyone, players and fans alike. J.T. was definitely deservant of the million dollar prize.
05/14/2009 - Tonight was the finale of Hell's Kitchen, the unscripted reality show where world-renowned chef Gordon Ramsay puts 16 wannabe chefs through a grueling test of their cooking talents as they slice and dice their way through each episode, vying for Ramsay's attention in hopes of winning a life-changing culinary position. Even though we thought there were several contestants whose skills and personalities were so bad that they should never have been on the show, we picked the final two, Paula and Danny, pretty much from the beginning and thought that the winner, Danny, was the better of the two.
05/13/2009 - Tonight was the semi-finale of American Idol, our most enjoyable reality show this season. Again we were pleased that Adam Lambert, the person thought was most deserving and that we picked many weeks ago, was in the last two. Several of his performances were so good, that we even went back and watched some of them over again. One of the most creative was Mad World, [seen here]. I thought that he almost sang Led Zeplin's "A Whole Lotta Love" better than the original. [Check it out here] His talent, stage presence and versitility were just amazing. He will certainly have a huge career ahead of him no matter what happens.05/07/2009 - Spent several hours by the pool reading our books. I then went to Walmart and the Car Wash. We stayed home and watched "Slumdog Millionaire". We both had to admit that it was much better than either of us had envisioned. I don't know, maybe it was just the title and subject that made us think it wasn't going to be very good, however, it ended up being a very good movie.
We took our books and a picnic lunch and had one of the nicest afternoons we've spent anywhere. There are four fully stocked fishing ponds and there were dozens of people just sitting, fishing and enjoying the great outdoors. The peacocks were amazing. There must have been at least 8 of the roaming freely around the grounds, including a totally white albino one. Even though it is about a 35-minute ride from us, I can grantee we will be visiting it again. Click here for a description and history of the park. [Park History]
05/01/2009 - We went down on the Strip today to see the new Encore Casino that Steve Wynn opened a few months ago. We were amazed at how beautiful it was. The interior is full of "skylights" and the floors are tiled and carpeted through with a theme of butterflies and crimson red chandeliers and draperies. Click here to check it out [Encore], it is truely stunning. We then went over to see the spring exhibit at the Conservatory at the Bellagio. Again, it was quite different than some of the previous ones with kind of a "Zen" theme. It even had a butterfly house that was filled with some of the most beautiful moths and butterflies you've ever seen. Check out some of the pictures here ... Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Garden
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