The Joys of Nature

Some of you may know that Nature and I have an interesting relationship. I do enjoy going out into Nature, hiking, camping, swimming etc. But Nature demands a price from me, almost every time I go out. This past weekend was not an exception to that rule. Bill and I went out to the Colorado River on Sunday. You go south on 95 till you hit 165 (about 15 miles south of Boulder City) which dead ends at the Colorado. You have to walk about half a mile to the actual river from where you park. Once there Duchess (Bill's dog a beautiful chocolate lab) was in the water waiting for her ball to be thrown. Well, I take my shoes and socks off (if I'd been thinking about it I'd have worn an old canvas pair of keds instead of my new leather ones) and start wading. Of course I'm not in the water but 30 seconds and I hit a patch of algae and land on my hands and knees, neck deep in the water! Fully dressed in a t-shirt and jean shorts! JOY! So I just turn over onto my butt and sit in the water. Duchess is ecstatic, somebody in the water to throw her ball!! Bill decides to go ahead and come into the water too so we have fun playing with the dog in the water. The water is so clear we can see the fish swimming below, and the water temperature was just about perfect! Once we get out I notice the damage, my left knee is all torn up, my right has just a couple of scratches as does my right arm. Yes Nature has demanded another blood sacrifice and I have paid in full. But I had a good time so it's not that big a deal.

On our way home we went off-roading. That's always fun! Bill drives pretty fast so we fly pretty good when we hit the bumps. The dog was a little freaked but it really didn't bother her too much, except that she kept trying to sit in my lap.

We had a pretty good time!

Dead Man's Chest

I was terribly disappointed in DMC! I really wish they'd just done the last two movies as one, cut out all the boring parts of this one and made it into a really long movie. Don't get me wrong, the special effects were absolutely awesome and there were several very funny parts, and overall I guess I did enjoy it, but still there were plenty of parts that really dragged. I have to say that Davey Jone's seamen were pretty cool, it was interesting trying to figure out just what sea animals they were made up of. The scene with the cannibals was not needed though Captain Jack's escape (and makeup for that matter) was pretty funny. The ending will drive me nuts till the last one comes out!

How could I forget!

I went and saw Chippendales a couple of weeks ago. I can't believe I didn't mention it. Last time I went, was a couple of years ago with Amy. They now have their own theater at the Rio, and it's a much more intimate theater. But it was pretty much the exact same show, except for the MC, who was much cuter than the previous one. He had a very yummy voice think Barry White who could sing Prince. Also different was the fact that the theater was connected to a lounge where you could hang out with "The Men of Chippendales" called Flirt. We didn't stay to see how it went but I might be persuaded to do that another time =) It was a good show. Lots of buff mostly naked men. Who could ask for more?

July 14 Meeting Laurell K Hamilton

I got to meet Laurell K Hamilton on Friday. She was doing an author speak/book signing at one of the Clark County Libraries. It was a lot of fun. She started out the evening with fan questions. There were several very interesting questions, a couple questions that are answered on her website, and a couple of rude questions. Overall it was a really great talk. She's pretty funny. I dragged my friend Allyson to the signing so I managed to get 4 of her books signed. I think there were close to 350 people there. She's got quite a few books comming out this year. Micah was out in Feb. Danse Macabre came out a couple of weeks ago. Death of a Darklord (reprint) came out last week. Strange Candy is out in October. And Mistral's Kiss comes out the day after Christmas. I really like most of Laurell's stuff. I find it humorus, erotic, and a little bit scary. In fact while I have no problem reading most horror, Laughing Corpse gave me nightmares. The funny thing was it was the second time I'd read it! Danse Macabre the latest in the Anita Blake is pretty good. There is a lot of character developement, massive amounts of sex, and the drama of Anita being pregnant. Good stuff. Though I have to say Death of a Darklord was horrible. Part of it may have been that I didn't have any of the background. I think there are 12 books in the Ravencraft books before hers so I wasn't familiar with the magic or some of the lore. The ending made absolutly no sense to me, and the perversion of Elaine's magic was just ick. I also felt it was a little disjointed and while I don't expect happy endings to everything that I read, this ending was extreemly bleak and abrupt. I'm also looking forward to the new Mary Gentry book Mistral's Kiss. At the book talk she said she hadn't wanted to name it that but she wouldn't tell us what she'd wanted to call it. The tease. Mary's up to 18 men now, she's next up to get pregnant of course (that's the whole point of all the men anyway!) I haven't decided yet who I want to become king yet, as much as I like some of the men, I have issues with them actually being her king. I'll have to re-read the current books to see which I prefer at this point. It's been awhile.

I should get back to my day.
Rachel

Trivia at GVR

Wa-hoo! We were the big winners last night at trivia. We won the $50 gift certificate! Last night's theme was cocktails. We couldn't decide on a cocktail so we went with Popped Maraschino Cherries. HA! There was this drunk lady at another table who took our picture (she wanted a picture of the smart ladies. . . (even though there were several men at the table too!))

Bridgerton Family books by Julia Quinn

I read several of the Bridgerton Family series by Julia Quinn. The Duke and I, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, and It's in His Kiss. I enjoy Ms Quinn's works very much. They are humorous and factual for the time period (England 1810-1830). Some of the scenes are laugh out loud (especially those with Lady Danbury in them) and as there are 8 siblings (and 8 books) you get to know the whole family very well. The main characters are diverse and life like and you don't get tired of the family or the other characters. I laughed and I cried. I have read all of Ms Quinn's work and I've pretty much enjoyed all of them.

last week

Hello!

It's been a quiet week. Went out with Bill Friday night. We were going to go see Dead Man's Chest but when we got to GVR (Green Valley Ranch), the movie was sold out until 12:45! So we roamed around the casino for awhile then, checked out all the gambling action. Bill was hungry so we sat down at the cafe. He got chicken Parmesan and I got a piece of cheesecake. Although, it wasn't just a piece, I guess that GVR's cheesecakes are 5 in round and they just cut it into quarters. It was the size of at least 2.5 pieces! It was really yummy but I had to take it home there was so much! I then ate it with strawberries at home the next day.

Bill and I were supposed to get together again this weekend to see DMC but he never called me back. ARG! Otherwise I got groceries. My exciting life never ends!

Well anyway I got some reading done this weekend, which I'll report in another post!

July 3

Wow! It's July already. Half the year is gone. . .Anyway first off Happy Birthday to my best bud Gina! Her b-day was yesterday.

It was a good week. Got lots done at work. All my toddler story times are finished. I'm starting work on my elementary story time that starts next week. First week superheros. Should be fun.

This weekend. Made chicken tacos for Bill, then we went to see Superman Returns. It was pretty good. Kevin Spacey makes an awsome Lex Luthor. He does the sane/insane thing pretty good. I also like Parker Posey as his dame. Kate Bosworth is okay as Lois Lane (The problem is I really don't like Kate) Lois's son is kinda creepy almost as creepy as the kid from 6th sense.
And of course Brandon Routh is HOT. I think he does a great job. He gets Clark down perfectly and does the strong slient type as Superman.
I went to dinner with Leona at Alba Brother's Italian Restaurant on Sunday. I'd never eaten there. It was pretty good. I just got a cheese pizza but there was lots of other stuff that looked good. I just wasn't hungry enough to order, but I forsee stops there in my future. mmm.