July Fourth.

Every summer we head across the country to Georgia. Atlanta specifically. Always a good time, we look forward to it every year. We spent our July 4th weekend frollicking amongst the Georgia peaches. And when I say "peaches", I mean homos. It was Gay Pride Weekend!

We stayed with Kim and Pam. My fictional step-parents. Two people I'll always be bonded to (whether they like it or not). They had the dubious task of entertaining us for 3 days. Pam's peanut butter pie was unbelievable. I had 4 pieces. Only 4 because we ran out of pie. Georgi (Kim and Pam's dog) was immensely entertaining. Between the pie, Georgi and Kim educating me about tennis (did you see the match between Federer and Nadal?!) I would have been content never leaving their house.

This was our 6th summer in Atlanta. The previous 4 years it rained. This year was the second time we've gotten drenched.

The first year the rain soaked us it was fun. Our friends left us in Piedmont park to watch one of our favorite singers perform (Melissa Ferrick). It was almost dark. There were people everywhere. Fifteen minutes before showtime, the wind picked up and the rain started falling. Manda and I started running around Piedmont park looking for shelter. By the time we found shelter it was too late. Loving the rain, I started jumping in puddles and singing songs at the top of my lungs. Manda joined me. Seriously, this is one of my favorite memories.

This year thunder and lightening wanted to play with the rain. Lightening is okay. A little flashy and wild, but doable. I just wish thunder would find other friends. And this wasn't skinny, shy thunder. This was big, bully, weight lifter thunder. The kind you can feel in your chest and makes the ground shake with fear. ::shudder:: We thought we were prepared for the rain. The ponchos proved futile. This was serious rain. The upside? We made new friends. Rain brings people together. Clay and Rob will always have a special place in our hearts for letting us into their home, giving us dry clothes and letting us whine. :o)

Atlanta was great. Seeing old friends and making new ones made it memorable. Already looking forward to next year.

Peace Out.

:o)

Patience is a virtue...

The four of us never thought we'd arrive in Cancun.

We arrived with the boys at the Phoenix airport two and a half hours before our flight.  Tack on the two and a half hours it was delayed and that equals five hours at the airport. Five hours of people watching. Five hours of saying "I'm sure we'll start boarding soon." Yeah. Whatever.

We did finally board our flight after they found us another plane. Turns out the "scheduled maintenance" turned into "not being able to fix the plane today". Oops.

We did finally arrive in Cancun. My naturally curly hair shouted "Finally some moisture!" as the plane touched down. The curling and frizzing started immediately. It wasn't long before I had an afro the size of the moon. My hat sat a full foot from the top of my head.

The line at immigration was long.

We spent another hour people watching as we waited to have our passports stamped. Stoney and Tony's passports were used to the drill. Manda and mine's were a little nervous to be stamped for the first time. The fellow who helped us was surprisingly gentle as he flipped our passports open, dipped his stampper in ink and left his mark.

I'm not sure if everyone knows the extent of my good fortune and luck. I mean delayed flights, lost baggage... If something good can happen, it will. So, imagine my pleasure when I was selected for a full and comprehensive search when going through customs. Actually, the search wasn't that bad, they warmed up the lube before applying it to the glove.

After customs and I had a cigarette and parted ways with promises to call each other later, the four of us started the ten minute journey to the hotel. Turns out there were a couple hundred other people trying to make a similar journey. We found ourselves at the back of this line since customs took so long to refold all the clothes in my suitcase. An hour later, we arrived at the hotel.

It was worth the delays and patience. Dinner was ready and waiting. The ocean waving at us as we approached.  We waved back... This was going to be a great trip!

... more to come...

Peace Out.

:o)

Sina.

My good buddy Sina was kind enough to point out my neglect of the blog again. After her not so subtle reminder, I told her I would post something just for her.

Sina this is for you.

Sina and I were roommates in college for a bit. We hit it off as friends immediately. I mean, what wasn't to like about each other. Both hilarious. Both tremendous athletes. Both extremely intelligent. Not to mention strikingly good looking. We had a mutual appreciation for the greatness of the other person. Plus, we were really good for each others egos.

On a whim and due to a lack of spending money, we decided to get jobs. Due to our outstanding resumes and business acumen, we landed the most coveted jobs on campus. Nighttime janitors. We worked something like 10pm to 2am. The perfect schedule for college kids who have class the next day. But I digress.

The cool thing about us was the fact we never really took ourselves too seriously.  To demonstrate our eliteness, we made matching mixed tapes. Yes. Matching. You might be wondering why we would do something like this. It is really quite simple.

We both had our respective walk-mans, but we found it really annoying when the other was singing a long to a song the other person wasn't listening to. The obvious answer was matching mixed tapes. Those were the days. Running around the deserted Fine Arts building, singing at the top of our lungs. Riding up and down in the elevators just because we could.  Lip-syncing while watching ourselves in the mirrors of the many deserted bathrooms.

*sigh*

There is one song I will always associate with Sina. We used to sing it - together - over and over. We even developed our own harmony to the song. It was a Back Street Boys song. No need to embarrass ourselves any further. Sina knows the one.  :o)

Good times.

Thanks for the reminder Sina.

Peace Out.

The Boys.

Stoney and Tony. Our two best friends.  They're like the gay brothers we never had... and well, sometimes. They're like sisters as well. Just depends on their mood. :o)

We rang in new year's 2008 in Vegas with our boys. Nothing like flying into Vegas at 7pm and flying out of Vegas at 7am. Call it a Vegas quickie if you will. :o)

Our evening started out fantastically. Our flight was delayed an hour. I'm sorry. Let me lay on the sarcasm a little more...

fantastically

. We had dinner reservations to catch. In fact if we missed our time slot, the price for dinner rose to $300 a person. No pressure.

With forty-five minutes to spare, we caught a taxi from the Vegas airport.  Really though. I should call it a "scenic tour of the area surrounding the strip". We were taken for a ride. But is a trip to Vegas really complete if you don't get taken by a taxi driver? It is all part of the Vegas experience.  Plus every quickie starts with an unimpressive "you're gonna do what?" beginning... ha ha ha.

We couldn't get dropped off at the Bellagio (where we were eating dinner) because of traffic restrictions. What this meant for our time line was: after our 20 minute tour, we had a 20 minute scramble from the MGM to the Bellagio.  Normally this wouldn't be hard. But with a gazillion people and road restrictions everywhere, we felt like the obligatory gay couples on the Amazing Race.

We arrived with 5 minutes to spare. Granted we were sweaty and breathing hard. But what do you expect from a quickie?

Dinner was fantastic. And this time I really mean it was fantastic. No sarcasm.

Now this is where the bragging starts. Manda and I... we're pretty high rollers. With all our bling, people are constantly ogling us in casinos. We walk by slot machines and they speak to us. "Pull my lever and I'll give you a quarter"... Don't hate.

Like I said. I don't want to brag. We're pretty experience gamblers.  It took me five minutes to lose $3 on the two cent slots. It took Manda ten minutes to lose $5 on the nickel slots.  Stoney and Tony... well, let's just say they lost more than we did. :o)

However, our loses paled in comparison to a lady we met in the Paris. She was having a bad night. Not only was she drunk off her ass. Not only had she lost $12,000.  Not only did she wear black nylons under her jeans. She tried to hit on Stoney. Poor girl.

This wasn't our first New Year's in Vegas. However. It will be our last. At 4:30am, as we were sitting crouched together at our gate in the airport.  We'd just waited outside (32 freaking degrees!) in line for an hour to catch a shuttle to the airport. We were freezing. We were tired. We desperately wanted to brush our teeth. We realized, our asses are too damn old for this crap.

Although our quickie in Vegas allowed us to ring in the new year with our two best friends. It left us much like quickies do. Mostly satisfied, but tired, disheveled and needing a shower.

Who wants to spend new year's 2009 playing Parcheesi and Monopoly at our house!?

Happy New Year Folks!!

:o)

Top Ten Tuesdays.

So, Sina (a good friend since we were roommates in college) started "Top Ten Tuesdays".  Basically, every Tuesday she does a different top ten list. She now has a bunch of us copying her. She is such a trend setter. :o)

I am behind the times, last week's topic was "Albums". Here's my list.

1. Ten, Pearl Jam: My very first CD. It has been a part of every major event in my life since I was 12. It was the beginning of something.

2. The Crossing, Meg Hutchinson: This CD just is. I can listen to it from beginning to end, anytime of the day, no matter my mood. I'll never tire of this album.

3. The Other Side, Melissa Ferrick: Although I fell in love with her music years ago, this album was the first of her's that I truly connected with. It's amazing how you can listen to music and feel as if someone channeled you to write it.

4. Details, Frou Frou: I discovered this album during one of the hardest times in my life. It was a life saver.

5. Fortune Cookies, Alana Davis: I been singing along to this CD for 5 years... and I'm not done yet! When I'm in the mood to listen to something and I don't know what, this is often my choice.

6. The Hits, Reo Speedwagon & Gold - Greatest Hits, ABBA: These CDs just make me happy and remind me of my first major, real unreciprocated crush in college. Plus, they are classics!

7. Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette: This defined my high school years. It brought me together with all the other jaded women in the world wanting to be heard. Even now, my inner-angry-biotch needs to vent.

8. Live at the Acropolis, Yanni: I don't want any crap for this album. I love it, because my parents loved it. I listen to it and am instantaneously ported back to my childhood.

9. Sogno, Andrea Bocelli: Just a timeless album... and the only opera I like.

10. Melt, Rascal Flatts: When I want to feel, I listen to this. I fell in love to this album.

Airport Antics.

OK, so it couldn't get worse?  HA....the trip from hell had only just begun.

After Lindsay decided to try re-arranging the skin on her fingers via a fast moving dog leash, we left for the airport.  We stopped to get a quick bite to eat before trudging through security.  Taco Bell was the fast, cheap, easy and on the way decision.  We order our usual, 3 crunchy tacos each and a drink to share.  The drink request was Sierra Mist.  You know how you have your mouth all prepared for one thing and take a big ole drink of it?.....then SURPRISE, it's actually Pepsi!  Yeah, it was interesting.)

So, we pull into the parking garage to begin the unbelievably fun task of finding a parking spot when all of a sudden, out of NO WHERE, this guy in his P.O.S. little Honda Accord comes flying out of his parking spot backward.  "Jerk Face" (this is the cleaned up version of what I actually called him) didn't even look before he pulled a Jeff Gordon in reverse and almost took us out.  Of course we did the same thing any normal person would do, honked the horn and gave the evil eye.  Well, "Jerk Face" laughed and flipped us off!  FLIPPED US OFF!!  Can you believe that?  *sigh*  My blood pressure just shot up thinking about it.

Alright, where was I, "Jerk Face" got me all discombobulated...so, we get inside the airport and stand in line to get through security when the TSA Nazi's confiscate half our toiletries.  Who knew they changed the ounce requirements.  Who knew having a 5 oz bottle of lotion that was only half full was "against the rules?"  We wait in line, go through the cattle call that is necessary to board any Southwest flight.  All this with only a minor 30 - 45 minute delay.  (if you travel at all, you know a 30 - 45 minute delay is fantastic!)  We pick our seats and settle in for the "long" flight to Vegas.  Ahhh, finally we will be able to relax and get ready to throw down in Sin City, right?  RIIIIGHT.  We're airborne and the flight attendant gets everyone their drinks, typical flight shenanigans.  Suddenly, there is a shuffling noise, three heads in the seats in front of us pop up....then, Lindsay's feet, my feet and both of our backpacks are covered in Vodka Tonic.  My disbelief is only compounded when I hear what one of the "Intellectually Challenged Klutz's" say, "Uh, the plane like, just went up."  (Ok, let me think about this for a second....first of all, I don't know about you, but when I am on a plane, it is in the air and I am not to my destination yet, I am DAMN glad it is "up"....isn't the other alternative down?  My second observation at this moment was....if the plane "just went up" wouldn't the drinks that were sitting on the tray in front of Lindsay, the lady beside us, myself AND EVERYONE ONE ELSE ON THE PLANE have spilled every where too?  Just curious.)  On with the story...we land in Vegas and are getting ready to deplane when I notice something about the "Intellectually Challenged Klutz's" attire.  One of the girls had on this little dress that barely covered her "junk" and it was SOAKED in Vodka Tonic, one of the other ICK's looked like he had downed an entire gallon of water and didn't quite make it to the potty.  Isn't justice divine?

Checking into the hotel was a breeze, I caught myself thinking "this trip might turn out ok"....shouldn't we know better than to tease ourselves with this line of thinking?  Lindsay and I go see the bride-to-be and her pals in their room and head to our room to call it a night.  Nothing like crawling onto a slab of freshly laundered concrete and curling up with a sandpaper blanket to catch some zzzz's.  Finally, sleep takes over and I am dreaming of beautiful meadows when suddenly a dark figure appears in the meadow with a FOG HORN blaring in my ear....wait, that isn't a dark figure with a fog horn, that would be an obnoxiously loud alarm going off in the hotel.  *sigh* I get up and open the door expecting smoke or fire or a crazy bastard with a gun and I see nothing, NOTHING!  (Oh, by the way, it happens to be 7 A.M.)  I crawl back into the slab and pull the sand paper back over me and try to re-visit the meadows when a VERY, VERY LOUD voice begins speaking to me.  I look at Lindsay as if to get confirmation that she heard them too.  She is wide-eyed and questioning her sanity as well.  So, we both stop to listen to what the voice has to say....."YOU MAY HAVE HEARD AN ALARM.  PLEASE STAY IN YOUR ROOM AND AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS.  SECURITY IS CHECKING INTO THIS."  (who knew there was a loud speaker IN our room ABOVE our bed?)  Nice.  Stay in your room so you can get blown up or some weirdo can come kidnap you.....  Do they expect us to go back to sleep now?  Honestly!  Lindsay and I do what any good guest would do, we open the door and look around...no, really, we lie in bed and "await instructions". Are you wondering what those instructions were?  "PLEASE DISREGARD THE ALARM. EVERYTHING IS FINE."  However, they couldn't say this and be done.  No.  They repeated it 10 times, VERY, VERY loudly.  Did I mention VERY?  We gave up, got out of bed for breakfast and went to the little store down stairs to purchase toiletries, thanks to the TSA Nazi's.

SO....later that day, we decide to try out the new toiletries.  Seriously, the shower was the worst thing about the whole trip.  No.  Really.  I turn the handle to hot and cannot believe what comes out, or doesn't, depending on the way you look at it.  There is barely a trickle when it is pointed to hot and you had to turn the handle to cold to have a stream of water very similar to what comes from a garden hose without a nozzle on it.  Washing my hair was a blast.  Bathing was even better.  The Sahara SUCKS!  Never EVER stay there.

Keep in mind, while all of this is going on, I am still having to play "Firefighter" and get the "baby" her ice for her savaged fingers.  Ironically, the rest of the trip was pretty uneventful.  (if you call penis sip cups and penis bopper head bands uneventful....)  We got home relatively unscathed and lived to travel again.

Our next trip was quite interesting too...I should write a book about all the interesting airport antics we experience.  =o)

L8R.
Manda