My heart will go onnnn aaaa-nd onnnnnn....

I bet you're thinking, "Oh, here we go...another post about her stupid Explorer...Get over it already!" Well, no it isn't a post about the dearly departed Explorer. But since you brought it up... I do still miss the ole gal... tear...

This post is about is me. (Aren't they all?! Pssssh!)

I'm concerned about my mental & physical health. I must have some sort of medical condition. A condition that's causing the portion of my brain that restrains me from spending money to be broken. I have lost my ever lovin' mind & I have advised B-rad to seek medical attention for me... (but he hasn't...I think he's enjoying my new found illness...)

Ok-so 6 years ago we went to Las Vegas with the Bye's. We had never been there. We stayed for a whole week & just did the 'site-seeing' thang. We flew over the Grand Canyon in a helicopter & also went to the Hoover Dam. We saw a Cirque de Soleil show too. When you tell people you're going to Vegas, they're full of advice on what you should do. And Cirque shows were on everyones list. They are pretty pricey, but very cool. At the time, Celine Dion had her standing gig in Vegas at Caesar's palace. And I heart Celine Dion. And mom told me I should go see her because I would regret it if I didn't. Well, we had already bought the Cirque tickets & I knew B-rad didn't care about Celine Dion. So we didn't go....

Fast forward 6 years. Celine Dion's show is over. She went on a world tour in 2009-2010 & they had a behind the scenes thing on tv a couple of weeks ago so I dvr'd it. I watched it last Sunday & then I realllly regretted not going to see her. Tear. I hate it when mom is right...

So in my regretfullness I googled Celine Dion. I know she just had twin boys & I wanted to see what she's up to now. Much to my surprise, I saw the headline, "Celine Dion returns to Vegas for a three year stand in March 2011" WHAAAAAA?!

When B-rad got home from the barn I told him the whole 'watching Celine Dion concert & googling story'. And then I said, "We are going back to Vegas. And we are seeing Celine Dion!" And he responded, "Uhhhhh, ok?"

So I started looking for dates & tickets & all that fun stuff. (Like I've said-I don't know how anyone did anything before the internet!) But guess how much the best tickets are? $100? Nope. $125? Nu uh. The bestest, mostest expensive tickets are $250...each. GULP! So I texted B-rad, "Is it wrong that I wanna buy the $250 tickets?!" He said, "Yes & no. If we are doing this-we are really going to do it." Boy I don't have to talk him into anything!

So I kept looking & kept debating on what to do. The $250 are obviously in the front on the orchestra level. The rear orchestra are $175. I quit looking at prices after that. I was not gonna sit up on the first or second levels. I finally told B-rad, "Ok-are we doing this? I need to book the tickets!" He said, "Yea, if you want to!" So I booked 2 tickets. For Celine Dion. For $250 each. 13 rows back!!!!! You can do the math...but add $22 per ticket for convenience fees & a 10% 'entertainment' tax & there you have it! I decided the $7 insurance fee per ticket would be a good investment because if we can't go-we will get a refund.

Then I had to figure out where to stay. We stayed in moms resort last time off the strip. But we are going to be using her resort points for something else this year... (more on that in a minute...) so we are staying on the strip. (Like I said - serious.medical.condition!) I asked people who have been to Vegas before where they stayed & how they liked it. Rooms on the strip are pricey, obviously. I found them ranging anywhere from $89-$160/night. And that's for just a 'run of the mill' room. No fancy schmancy stuff.

And here's where we decided to spend our 3 nights...

Mandalay Bay, baby! It has a really cool pool area complete with a real beach. In the summer they have concerts outside in the pool area. Since we're only going to be there 3 days & we don't need to really 'site see' a whole lot I thought we'd hang out there quite a bit!
All I can say is thank goodness I bought the Celine tickets before we bought the new car. Because I know me & I know that I would've never spent $550 for tickets to a concert. Eh, I guess it's meant to be. Me & Celine... epic...


Ok-so next thing. I've told you Jer thinks he can qualify for the main Ironman championship in Kona. It's in October & it's.in.Hawaii! So we've decided to go ahead & book that trip just in case. But then Jer had a good idea - he said, "Even if I don't make it-we can still go to Hawaii!' Me likes! The plan right now is for Jer & Rhonda, Me & B-rad & mom to go to Hawaii before the Kona championship. I already know 2 things for sure I wanna do while we're there! (Dad was talking about how he wasn't gonna go to Hawaii with us at Aunt Mary's party. Which is perfectly fine - he doesn't travel well. And Rhonda said, "You know-if Jeremy qualifies for Kona that's a really big deal..." And I leaned over & told her, "I swear to all that is good & holy-if you talk dad into going to Hawaii with us - I WILL kill you. I will throw you outta the plane myself!") Rhonda also told me Jer has a sponsor now. It's a company that makes bike parts. I told him he was their bitch, but he says, "No, they're MY bitch!" I'm not really sure what all it entails, but I do know if he qualifies for Kona they will pay his entry fee (which is around $1100. Gulp!)

So there you have it! You stalkers should worry. I don't know what's gotten into me?
Maybe it's the fact that I save & stock pile money for a rainy day & the stock pile has got enough for several rainy days?
Maybe B-rad's habits are rubbing off on me?
Maybe I do have a serious medical condition?