From California to Nevada

What a vacation this has been. Let's go by the days.

Saturday: We didn't do much. J and his cousins played games and I played with my Nintendo DS. I was a little restless due to the craziness that has been by life the past year but I'm slowly learning to relax.

Sunday: We wanted to go to lunch and see a movie. And we did. Only we wanted to take my car and I left a light one. Yup, dead battery. As if my car wasn't going through enough problems. We were able to jump it and drive around to where we wanted to go though. We saw the new X-Men movie and I honestly can't understand the bad reviews it's getting because I actually liked it.

Monday: Again, we didn't do much. I got a new straightener and tried it out. It's one of the ones that looks like a brush. It works okay, but I'll know more when I'm in a modern bathroom.

Tuesday: Great day. We went to the water park with J and his cousin. It made me nostalgic for the days when the Beach was still a part of Albuquerque. I had so much fun and the best part was I didn't get sunburned due to winning at sunscreen application. The boys? Not so much. Luckily J's aunt has Aloe Vera plants aplenty. I think the best part was the wave pool for me. Swimming out there against the waves, finding a tube, getting in it, swimming out even further into the heart of the waves and riding them back. I loved it.

Wednesday. More car troubles. My car died yet again so we had to take J's cousin's car to San Diego. It was me, J, his cousin, his cousin's wife, J's mom, and the longest most annoying lawn decoration for two hours. We survived though. And had a great time at the San Diego zoo. I loved it there and even more so that I got to see panda bears for the first time. I got a ton of pictures. We didn't get back until late, but even then J's uncle was willing to take a look at my car. He thinks it might be the ignition switch which makes sense because the ignition was ripped to shreds last July when some assholes decided to try and steal my car. We got it started and charged up the battery overnight.

Thursday: We were going to go to the beach but since the boys got sunburned we went to the brewery and tried out some beers instead. As per usual, I learned that I love the dark chocolate beers and DESPISE IPAs. Afterwards was bowling where I was terrible as usual but did improve my score from a 51 to 69. That night was a party for J's grandmother who's birthday is on Sunday. She has the sweetest little dog that I love playing with. She's very sweet too, and in need of some care, as she only weighs 68 pounds. But she agreed to move in with J's aunt which I'm happy about because that way she will get the care she needs and she can gain some weight. She really is very nice and very sweet and I want to see her again, healthy.

Which brings us today: Spent the morning in a car and dropped J off at Excalibur on the strip in Vegas to have fun with his buddies. Then I drove to my aunt and uncle's house where food and comfort were waiting. J's aunt's house was so hot (they hadn't turned on the swamp cooler yet) and my aunt's house is so nice and cool. I even got to gamble some with them. I lost pretty bad. $40 of my own savings plus a $20 my aunt gave me and I got $3.28 out of it. Yeah not for me. And now I'm showered and ready for bed, sitting in a guest room blogging. I get my own bathroom which is nice. And a humidifier that is nice and loud for white noise.

I miss my house. I miss Albuquerque. This is the longest I've been away from home since before I started college. But it's been fun and I know I won't have a vacation like this until after I finish grad school probably. So I'm enjoying it while it lasts.