A Daily Diary - "November"

11/30/2009 - Connie made French Toast for breakfast.  Worked on my book while Connie read.  Heated up some New England clam chowder for lunch before heading to the "M".  Had two free dinner buffets at the "M" before returning home to watch some TV.

11/29/2009 - I woke up with a stomach ache.  I worked on my picture book in the morning. Made soupe for lunch and then we sat around the rest of the day watching football.  Watched some prerecorded shows in the evening, had apple pie and went to bed.

11/28/2009 - After a normal morning of my playing on the computer and Connie reading, we headed to GVR for some free slot play.  Had hot dogs in the Sports Book and then went to the "M".  After a good afternoon at poker, we came home and I cooked dinner - garlic steamed cauliflower and rice. I went back to the "M" and played poker until mid-night and won again, making it quite a profitable day.

11/27/2009 - We stayed home today and relaxed from our busy three day celebration of our anniversary and Thanksgiving. I spent time on the computer catching up on emails and things and Connie did some reading. Then we watched and caught up on some of our recorded TV shows, though we hadn't missed much due to the holiday.

11/26/2009 - This was our last morning at the "M" Resort and we actually slept in until 8:30. We haven't slept that late in months. We must have been either really tired or the bed was really confortable. It was a great bed! After a continental breakfast we went down and played a little before heading home. We picked up some shrimp on the way home as we had our downstairs neighbors coming for cocktails at 5:00pm, before we headed out for a Thanksgiving dinner at the Sonoma Restaurant at Sunset. After dinner we came home and watched Survivor and went to bed.

11/25/2009 - After a continental breakfast we headed to the Spa. It was very nice. We spent nearly two hours there pampering ourselves. We then went and played some before going up to the room to change for dinner. For our anniversary dinner, we went to the Terzetto's Steakhouse at the "M" and had a wonderful dinner. After escargots for an appetizer, we shared a 18oz bone-in filet mignon that was cooked to perfection. After dinner we went down to the Flamingo Casino on the Strip to see Vinnie Favorito comedy show. He is a comedian from Boston that we almost saw once. Though a little crass, he makes fun of and insults everyone in the audience and kept us in stitches the entire show. It was then back to the hotel and to bed.

11/24/2009 - We got up and finished packing and then went up to GVR to pick up a free pumpkin pie. Connie had to stop at the library and get some books.  After dropping everything at home I took Connie to her appointment at the hairdresser.  When we got to the "M" Resort, we were surprised that they let us check into our room early.  After getting settled, we went down to the casino and played  for a few hours before going out for the evening; I won enough to pay for dinner at the Grand Lux in the Palazzo.  After dinner we went to see the show, The Jersey Boys, the lifetime story of Frankie Valie and The Four Seasons. It was outstanding.  One of the best shows we have seen since coming here. Click here for our review ... Jersey Boys

11/23/2009 - After working on the computer some, I got out all of our Christmas decorations and began decorating the apartment. It took several hours, but really looked nice when it was finished. As we were going away for our anniversary, I wanted it to look nice when we returned from our three days of being away.

11/22/2009 - I spent the day working on my photo book while Connie read and watched football. In the afternoon we watch a Netflix movie, The Code.  Click the title for a review. I made dinner, frozen lasagna, corn and garlic rolls.  Talked with mom in Tahoe.  She sounded pretty good. Seems to be meeting more people and becoming more comfortable with her new surroundings.  Complained about one of her hearing aids being broken and and possibly needing new glasses.

11/21/2009 - I was up at 4:00am; had to take Christina to the airport for her flight home.  It was nice to be able to be of assistance.  We went to the "M" for a little play and to have their Seafood Brunch.  Ate a ton of king crabs legs.  Got a call from Christina letting us know that she arrived home safely.  We were so glad that she called us earlier in the week and allowed us to help her and her dad over the past couple of days. Received a call from Bonnie later in the day.  She said she had just gotten off the phone with Christina and that she said she was so glad that she called us and that we had been very helpful. Bonnie sounded good.

11/20/2009 - Christina's dad flew home this morning.  We went to the car rental drop off near the airport and picked her up and brought her home for the night.  We sat around and talked over lunch out on our deck. I made pizzza for dinner which we ate while watching Terry Fator.  She thought he was absolutely wonderful and decided that she wanted to see his show the next time she comes to Vegas.  It was good to see here laugh a little.  We t watched a couple of TV shows and went to bed early as we had to get up early and leave for the airport in the morning.

11/19/2009 - We took Christina and her dad out for dinner at the Cafe at the Luxor where they had tickets to the Chris Angel magic show that evening. We were all very happy with our meals. I had the chicken pot pie and it was the best I've had in years.  We had a very long, leisurely meal which provided the opportunity to share in some nice family conversation and get to know her dad.  We really enjoyed meeting him, even though the circumstances sucked.

11/18/2009 - When I got home from playing cards at the "M" Connie informed me that she had received a call from my nephew Chris' wife Christina, noting that she was in Vegas because her mother had died earlier in the week while vacationing here with her dad in their new home.  It was a really sad situation.  I called her and made arrangements to meet them for dinner the next day and offered our services for the remainder of their stay.  She was very grateful and asked if she could stay Friday night after her dad left.

11/17/2009 - Spent the last couple of days outlining two new chapters for my photo book and finding the pictures to match.  Quite a project.

11/15/2009 - After Connie's review and editing of the photo book I've been working on, she asked why some things were not in it.  I noted that it was because it only covered our first year in Vegas.  After thinking about it I decided to expand to cover friends and family visit up to the present.

11/10/2009 - Have been spending a lot of time trying to finish the last two chapters of my photo book.

11/07/2009 - Slept in this morning after being out half the night trying to hit the "bad-beat" jackpot at Caesars. Went down with my neighbor Jim at 5:00 pm and didn't get home until 2:00 am. He won $150 and I won a whole total of $12 bucks.

11/06/2009 - Played on the computer most of the morning, and most of the mornings for the previous three days, working on our "retirement journey" travelogue book. It is up to 59 pages as of today. This had turned out to be more work than I expected, but it gives me something to do. Went to GVR and had a free buffet lunch and won $22 playing poker. Came home and watch a show on TV and then headed to Caesars poker room with my neighbor Jim.

11/05/2009 - Conne and I had an extremely long day.  First we were up early, so we decided to to to Marie Callendars for breakfast, and what a surprise it was.  I had an eggs benedicts and Connie had a bacon, spinich, cheese quiche with fresh fruit and both were excellent. At noon we headed out to several casinos to use up some coupons we had before they ran out.  We had a total of $65 in free slot play at The Cannery, Binions, The El Cortez, Palms, Southpoint, and the "M".  Connie made $80 on the free play and I won $140 playing poker while she was playing slots.  We ended up having the Prime Rib dinner buffet at Southpoint, and even though it has never been one of our favorites, everything we had was very good.  By the time we got home around 7:30, we were exhausted. We watched one TV show and went to bed.

11/04/2009 - After working on our "retirement travelogue" book, we went to the "M" and had the lunch buffet. Lost $120 playing poker and came home and watched some of our recorded shows.