Looking Forward to Traveling with Grandpa Again

We're flying out tomorrow for Las Vegas to celebrate a joint anniversary: my parents have been married for 25 years as of September 10th and my paternal grandparents will have been married 50 years as of November 22nd. It should be a lot of fun traveling with more than my parents and sister. I'm not a big drinker and only mildly interested in gambling, which are the two things my dad and sis are really into. I'd rather see things, like the shows. Last time we went, the most fun I had aside from the drag races, which are fun no matter what, was seeing the Tournament of Kings, which is a staged joust at the Excalibur. I'm enough of a dork to enjoy watching the staging as much as the actual show, just because I know a lot about technical theatre. Anyway, this weekend my other grandpa is also joining us, and he was the one I traveled to Europe with, and we had so much fun together. I'm looking forward to traveling with him again, since he's willing to indulge me in what I like to see and is also more interested in the same things I am. He doesn't drink anything but wine anymore, and that only a glass with a meal once in a while, and he'll do only a little gambling. On top of that, he and I worked hard at wrapping a lot of change at his house the last two weekends. He and my grandma had been putting aside cans and jars and whatnot of change for several years, and I agreed to help wrap it. We filled 3 folders of the state quarters, still working on the Philadephia mints, since we have the full Denver mints, and set aside all sorts of rare coins like bicentennial quarters and silver dollars and whatnot. Aside from that we wrapped $545 in quarters, nickels, and dimes. Grandpa said he'd divide that up as spending money between me, my sister, and him, which is also nice. I'm looking forward to going, and I hope we get to see Cirque du Soleil or some other fun show. Not sure about the craziness of Halloween, and we're still not sure if we're going to the races either, but we'll see. All in all should be a very interesting weekend. I'll post pictures and give a rundown when I get back on Sunday.

Weekend in Colorado Springs

My weekend in C. Springs was quite enjoyable, though I had my issues with some of the things that happened there. I went up with my friend Cole, who I've been quite close to for many years. We get along well, but our interests and temperaments are very different. If we spend more than a day or two together I find myself growing weary of his company because he's very extroverted, and I'm very introverted. He loves to be surrounded by a crowd and have an audience for his antics, and he doesn't always understand that I want to be left alone or spend time with people one on one Also, I missed out on some of the church-related things I would have liked to do because he doesn't have any interest in such a thing. On that same note, I didn't get to spend as much time with some of my friends from that venue because he was driving and he doesn't know these people almost at all. Next time I go I'd like to go alone.

Nonetheless, I did have a great time. Our hotel room was nice, and we got to spend a good time with Sami and Brian, and also Ella. We went out to eat probably more than we should, and I spent an exorbitant amount of money. I went to the bookstore, bought some things from my school bookstore, and found some nice things in All Things Catholic, a little shop I really do like. I also got a jump on my Christmas shopping, which is another thing I'm very happy about. I got to spend some time with Valerie at her new place, and it makes me happy that she's settling in and has Lisa and Aaron and Lena around to look after her while she's going through such a difficult time. I wish I would have been able to see some others though, mostly my friends from school or church, like Beth and Patrick, Philip, and Carl. Next time I have any time off I would like to take a three day weekend so that I can stay and go to Mass with them. In the meantime...Go CC Tigers!!!!!