Las Vegas Auto Show 2013

A little know fact about me...I like a nice looking car. So when my brother Doug mentioned that Dad got three tickets to the Las Vegas Auto Show, I shrugged and said sounds fun, lets go. So today we headed to the huge Las Vegas Convention Center downtown to check out some cars.

Walking into the hall this is what we saw. Cars after cars going back for about two blocks. We checked the map and found that the really cool cars were all the way in the back, so we made a be-line for them and then took our time walking the rest of the floor.

The only cars we saw that you couldn't get within a foot of were the Lamborghinis and they were so sleek and pretty.

Reminded me of Batman's car.

Sporting the colors of Italy

This one just says "don't mess with me."

 Then we saw the BMWs and the Jags. Some nice looking cars, very solid feeling.

Beefy...its a JAAAAG

Of course we spent a lot of time stroking and admiring my Dad's favorite, the Porsches. He spent his time trying to reasure himself that his little 20 year old Porsche was no different than these new beauties.

I don't think it worked....I can see him thinking, "Now how can I aford to get this thing home"

 As we walked to the more reasonable vehicles we spotted another one of my Dad's favorites:

On the way home he mentioned how much he misses his little Aprilia Scooter.

Hidden behind some monster GMC trucks was this little bubble bee.

 

Vroom Vroom....

Then Doug and I had a chance to pick out our more reasonably priced favorites. Doug went for the Subaru.

He would love to be able to someday own an little hatch back Subaru Impresa.
Me on the other hand found a favorite in a more family built car. The cutest little VW Jetta, four door wagon.

Love, Love, Love this little car, I almost wanted to trade in my Toyota Corolla today. Sadly this gem costs $32,000

Someday.....
As we were walking out towards the doors we swung by the Fords and saw this Beast!

That was quite the truck....Huge tires, four door, five seater, step up on the tailgate. Just one big Beast of a truck. Reminded me of my brother Tony. It was fun and now I need to get a budget going so someday I can get my hands on that cute little Jetta.

Thanksgiving 2013

Well, this has been a very interesting Thanksgiving for me this year. Usually I'm the one sitting back out of the way, not sure where I can help with the food preparations. Leaving it all up to the more experienced cooks and moms.  Not sure if this makes others think I don't want to help, but really I usually just feel like I'm in the way. But not this year. This year my mother was out of town, and going to be spending Thanksgiving with our relatives in Oregon City, OR. Which left the responsibility of the meal entirely on my shoulders. She took me shopping last Saturday to make sure I had everything I needed. And that was that.

I'm happy to say, I only had to cook for me, my dad, my brother and my grandma. And considering everything I think I did a pretty good job.

I began cooking last night, so I didn't have as much to do today.

I cooked some rolls, adding a little bit of butter on top as they cooked.

Made some fluffy jello, Doug let me add some fruit cocktail to it after I removed the pineapple.

And I tried out a new recipe for cheesecake pumpkin pie. Turned out really good.

I also boiled some eggs for the deviled eggs that we would make today. So with all those out of the way I headed to bed, spending the night in my parents new guest bedroom. It wasn't too bad.

Then this morning I got up and flipped open my laptop to see if I could find a copy of one of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parades. And turned it on while I got back to work.

What's Thanksgiving without a parade on the TV. I was also enjoying the view of my parent's new backyard. the fall colors are so pretty.

I had a little visitor as well.

 First off I started in on the Key Lime pie. Knowing it had to chill in the fridge for 3 hours.

By the time I had finished with the pie and had shelled all the eggs. I got reinforcements in the form of my grandma. I sat her down at the breakfast table and put her to work.

She cut up the celery and spread some cheese and peanut butter on them.

Then she helped put together the green bean casserole.

Had to keep her from eating all the dried onions.

Here she is showing great concentration making the deviled eggs.

As for my other "helpers" well....Doug was asleep until right before the turkey was done and this was what Dad was up too.
 

Yep he was working hard. But you got to love um. While they were occupied I got started on the rest of the meal.

I went simple....can't go wrong with Stove Top Stuffing.

Grandma insisted that we add some celery, which in turn caused Doug not to eat it...oh well.

As for the potatoes, I didn't want to kill myself with boiling and pealing so I cheated....but they were really good.

I also made some gravy from a packet. And when the green beans were done. We stuck in the turkey. Now while out shopping for a turkey we came across these little boneless turkey balls. They looked like hams. And they only took two and a half hours to cook.

I know not very traditional of me, but I was trying not to stress myself out. And they tasted really good. While the turkey was in the oven, we relaxed a little bit.

And Doug finally graced us with his presence.

He was a little disappointed that I didn't wait for him to open the cranberry can. But when he didn't get up in time, what could I do.

Then we set the table and sat down to eat.

All in all I think I was successful. I didn't kill anyone with my cooking and it turned out pretty good. I was thankful for the opportunity to prove that I can cook a big meal by myself. I just have to get creative.

My Aura is...Blue

Normally I'm not really interested in these things but I was bored so I took this little quiz online (http://www.quotev.com/quiz/1366538/What-is-Your-True-Color-Aura/ ) to see what color my aura was. And the results said I was blue. After reading through the description I was surprised at how accurate it was. So I had to share.

Blue

Your Aura is Blue!

Personality: Blue’s are very loyal and can be the truest friend any aura could hope to find. On the inside, blues tend to be emotional and even a bit moody. However, you know that other auras depend on you, so you put on a strong front. They tend to live a quiet but enriching life. Blues are very giving of them and is hard to let go of relationships. They believe the key to living a good life is simple: Be as honest with yourselves and others as possible. They value the truth over everything else. Blue will remain loyal to those who are honest with them, even if their honesty hurts. Compared to most other auras, blues handle the truth very well. They take every event into stride. Blues are the calm spot in a sea of chaos. They think that the solution to most problems is open communication; they wish that people would be more real with each other. A Blue personality uses its five physical senses to access information. An emotionally driven personality, you need to be liked and accepted. It is one of the "needs" that can cause apprehension in your personality. You are a polite, cooperative person who seeks to create conflict-free surroundings. You possess highly developed powers of observation. Family is important to you and you sometimes find yourself in the role of being a caretaker. You are conservative, reliable and trustworthy - you are quite trusting of others although you are very wary in the beginning until you are sure of the other person. You are not impulsive- you always think before you speak and act and do everything at your own pace in your own time. You take time to process and share your feelings. You are genuine and sincere, and you take your responsibilities seriously. You have a deep need for peace and harmony in your everyday life. You appear to be confident and self-controlled, but may be hiding your vulnerable side. You are generally fairly even-tempered, unless your emotions take over - then you can become either moody and over-emotional, or cool and indifferent. You are sensitive to the needs of others. While you are friendly and sociable, you prefer the company of your own close group of friends. You are a rescuer and love to be needed. You can be rigid - you like to stick to what is familiar to you- you stubbornly do things your way even if there is a better way. Untidiness and unpredictability overwhelm you. You don't like to draw attention to yourself. While you don't like to have discord or conflict in your life, you are often the cause of conflict with others; you can be quite manipulative but in a very subtle way.
You make a loyal and faithful marriage partner and you are an honest, trustworthy and sincere friend. You are aware of others feelings and sensitive to the moods of others. You are approachable and friendly, always making people feel welcome in your life. You have a thirst for knowledge in order to gain wisdom and appear knowledgeable in whatever area interests you. You can be too cautious and worry about every little thing.

Fun Times

A couple of weeks ago I got to go with my Dad to one of his co-worker's wedding. It was about the first weekend in Nov. and it was an outdoor wedding. If I was still living in the Northwest this would have been unheard of. The weather was beautiful and I didn't even wear a coat. Here are some pictures from the event.

It was held at a Golf Course down in the SW part of the valley

Me and Dad enjoying the sunshine

The Happy Couple

My parents have also been busy moving into their new place. There are still boxes every where but a few important items have found a home.

The teddy bear is "NOT staying there"....according to my mom. But so far he hasn't been moved. Their dog Saydie has been helping with the move and seems to have found the place pretty comfortable.

She enjoys the full carpeting throughout the house.

And her watchdog perch on Doug's bed.

This last few days we have been experiancing unusual rainfall. Not our normal thunder showers that just last a few hours. It has been a Seattle constant drip. And because of it we now have snow on the mountains. Not a sight you see very often here in the desert.

This place never stops surprising me. With the snow it now feels more like November. And its also starting to feel like Christmas.