Viva Las Nasty...

This past week DH and I went away for a few days. We really need to do this more often, but life gets in the way.

Two years ago we went away for a week to New York City and loved it! This year we decided to go to Vegas. We both love playing poker so Vegas just seemed like the obvious choice.

I realize that it is called “Sin City” for a reason and have heard the term “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” but didn’t really understand the extent of immorality that exists there.

I have never been modest or prude and consider myself to be quite free spirited, but Vegas was a bit much for me! Everywhere you look there is nudity. When you walk down the street there are guys who wear t-shirts that say “Girls Direct to You” and hand out flyers and business cards with naked women and girl on girl pictures. I knew that prostitution was legal there, but didn’t realize that there would be guys on the street handing out flyers for it! These guys or as we call them “card flickers” are so creepy. As you walk by they flick the cards at you and try to get you to take one. Unfortunately these cards are strewn all over the sidewalks.

The worst thing was people were actually there with their children. What were they thinking? There is nudity everywhere and large screens with women pole dancing and stripping, not to mention the cards that were littering the sidewalk every couple of feet. I watched as a young boy walking with his mother was just mesmerized by these cards. It was sad to me that at such a young age he was seeing all of this!

We played poker in several card rooms, but it seems like what we did most is just WALK. The thing is, Vegas itself could be fun if they would clean it up a bit.

We saw Ka - Cirque du Soleil and it was amazing! What an awesome experience! On the last night there we decided that we had played enough poker and went to the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Jason Segel of How I Met Your Mother wrote and starred in this movie. It was *very* funny although now it will be a little weird watching How I Met Your Mother now that I have seen Marshall’s “junk”.

New York City was a blast, Vegas was a bust. I did *love* spending time with my hunk of a husband and realize we need to do this more often. He is so fun to be around and always makes me laugh! While I didn't like Vegas, the time with DH was great!

Movies that make you laugh and cry...

Last Friday I went to see Run, Fat Boy, Run with my 16 year old DS and my mother. What a funny movie! It is a British comedy written by Simon Pegg who starred in Shawn of the Dead and Hotfuzz and was directed by David Schwimmer of Friends.

This movie received mixed reviews from critics, but the audiences seem to love it and we really enjoyed it! At one part I laughed so hard I cried. I love British humor and this movie ranks up there with Waking Ned Divine and The Full Monty.

Yesterday I was especially happy to get the mail because a movie that I have long wanted to see had arrived! The Kite Runner is one of my favorite books and the movie did not disappoint. We stayed up late to finish it and DH and DS both thought it was a great story. It wasn’t as violent as the book, although I think that was a smart move by the screenwriter. The story is more about the relationship between the characters than the brutality of the Taliban. This is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time.

Both movies are great, it just depends on your mood!

Prairie A**holes

Hormonal speaking I am a train wreck. I had a hysterectomy way too young and this has totally screwed up my body. I am overweight and am constantly low on estrogen and have all of the side effects that come along with having low estrogen.

Being low on estrogen means that I am not very “girly” or emotional and tend to think things through analytically….like a man. I don’t have PMS and don’t have highs and lows. I stay pretty much the same throughout the month and I feel that this can be a good thing. My husband and children are spoiled having never experienced the ups and downs of PMS.

I haven’t been feeling well these past few months and in November found out that my estrogen levels are EXTREMELY low. My “hormone guru” upped my dose and sent me on my way. Last month I still wasn’t feeling good so I popped in for a blood draw and lo and behold I am lower now than I was in November. My “hormone guru” concluded that my body is just not absorbing oral estrogen so he switched me to estrogen trits. A trit is a tiny lozenge that goes between your cheek and gum and is absorbed straight into your body without having to pass any organs. I had to wait 3 days to have these compounded and another day for them to ship, all the time just praying that they worked.

Did I mention I am rarely emotional?

The only time I am emotional is when I am sick. I call these my Prairie A**hole Days. Why? Because I cry for no reason and realize that my day is like one long Little House on the Prairie episode where the townspeople are cruel to someone who is nice, but misunderstood. Like the wolf boy, or the fat lady from the circus or Simon the little boy who stutters. Why do they have to be so mean to these people?!?!? Stupid Prairie A**holes!

The last few days since starting my “trits” I am having Prairie A**hole Days. The other morning I woke up crying and told my husband that I think my new estrogen is working. He just hugged me and said, “You know, I think it is.” What a sweet, sweet man. Let’s see if he is sweet when I am ripping him a new one instead of sheepishly crying in bed.

So there you have it, my new estrogen is working and I am a girly mess. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!

Now I have to decide if I want to wait it out and see if my emotions stabilize or stop the trits completely and have all of the side effects of low estrogen. I don’t like feeling so sad or being so emotional. I don’t know if I should be mad that I had a hysterectomy all those years ago or thankful that I was spared 16 years of Prairie A**hole Days!