Friday, July 3, 2009

We must have been really busy!

Once Tom comes home, I don't have nearly the spare time for posting as I do in the winter months! I don't know why things would be any different, but we end up watching movies, playing Wii Golf or Animal Crossing:City Folk in our free time, or I'm knitting or reading. Pretty much the same things I do when he's away. Now that it seems to be almost summer, we really want to plan some camping trips too.

We took a quick trip to Las Vegas right after Memorial Day (guess that's why there were good deals - it was pretty hot!). We stayed at the Wynn Resort, which was nice but for a luxury place seemed to do a lot of nickel-diming. The snack tray and bar are weighted so removing anything for more than 10 seconds automatically charges your room (or perhaps adding things - they specify asking Housekeeping for a refrigerator for personal items you want to keep cold, and I suspect there would be a charge for that too). We decided not to touch anything! The wi-fi was an additional charge ($15/day, more or less). The brunch was good but the most expensive we saw. The slot machines didn't even pay off that well! And, it was quite a hike to the monorail station (their website was a little annoying too). But now we've been there and can cross it off our list. Next time: Venetian or Bellagio. Mandalay Bay is still my favorite so far.

Jon-Erik is still job-hunting. I'm not sure how long we wait until he comes up with a new plan. He's talked about returning to school (to finish the undergraduate degree, which might be helpful in finding work!) and starting some kind of Master's program. He's pretty sure he won't be returning to Bozeman, regardless of his future plans.

James-Philip is surviving well without a driver's license (an unfortunate incident last August resulted in that being taken away) He's just now working through the punishment-consequences phase: 2 days' jail time, work-release, fines, classes, etc. Last summer he blamed the girl he was with (and said he was giving up women) but now admits he probably should take some responsibility. So far he hasn't seen any lost work due to the economy.

Tom has plans to do a Habitat for Humanity project in the Philippines in September. If it's a wonderful trip, we hope to continue once I retire. He's the advance scouting party!