2007 ended the way it always does... with a stop in Regina. This year, for the first time in 6 years, we only stayed a week. In the past, I have gone earlier and Neil has joined me just before Christmas. This year, a variety of reasons led us to shorten our trip west. For one, flight prices for cross Canada travel were absolutely ridiculous! Second, the fact that I was FINALLY working steadily (isn't that a good thing?) meant that work stopped when Christmas Break began, December 22. It is now well into January and I am still not hearing the end of the "shortened trip home." Apparently, it put a lot of people out -- the fact that we only came home for a week -- my brother in particular. Timmy, I never knew how much you loved me until this Christmas. Going on and on about how we didn't get enough time together -- seriously dude, I'm not sure if I should be irritated at this point or just filled with warmth that my presence means so much to you.

Which one should I open first?

I find Christmas Holidays fill me with lots of emotions. I am sincerely happy to get to go home and visit with friends and family. That said, I find it extremely frustrating that no matter how long we stay or how much we visit -- it is never enough. The constant jabs about how much time we spend with people or how we spend our time while home completely depresses me. It seems that it is impossible to please - no matter what we do. I just wish people could be happy with the time we DO have together.

Here's a link to our Christmas fun: Christmas Pictures 2007

After we left Regina we were home for 1 day before leaving on a quick trip. We have done a trip at this time of year for three years now and I enjoy being able to get away with my husband for a few days of relaxation and fun before heading back to work. Two years ago we ventured to Seattle. Last year we spent the first week of January in New York City. This year N and I went to Las Vegas.

We stayed at NYNY Hotel and Casino

For me, Vegas was a mixed bag. Sure the casinos and hotels were interesting and glamorous -- the fountains in front of the Bellagio were quite nice to behold! However, I found Vegas a really seedy (you could have a stripper to your room in 20 minutes for as low as $35) and boring (what do you do if you're tired of gambling and shopping and can't party like a 22 year old anymore??) place to visit. Other than shopping, boozing it up and gambling -- what does Vegas offer? We could have gone to a show but Cirque de Soleil isn't really our thing and I can see a theatre production like Spam-A-Lot in Toronto if I really want to. N and I went for 4 days and it was just long enough. Any longer and I would have hated it. Not to say that we didn't have a good time. The nightclub entertainment is fantastic; great bands and music -- I can't forget to mention the awesome assortment of slushy drinks! We even had lady luck on our side when it came to gambling... we together won more than $350... which made this trip a cheap one as our winnings enabled us to keep gambling and paid for the lion's share of our food and drinks. Unfortunately, when all is said and done, I think we both agreed we'd have had more fun elsewhere. Maybe it was just the time of year -- if it had been warm it's possible our opinion would have improved as all the hotels have beautiful pool areas. Unfortunately while we were there the temperature hovered between 0 and 10 so we had to stick to the slots.

Favourite moment: I had just (stupidly and absent-mindedly) bet $15 on a slot machine. I did something dumb like bet multiple credits on a 20 line 5 cent machine and N was yelling at me when I hit the button as I'd just "wasted $15" in 0.5 seconds. Then my slot machine starts dinging and it turns out I won $168 -- that shut him up pretty fast!

Favourite sight: The Bellagio Fountains followed by the lights of the strip at night.

Most naive moment: I had commented to N many times that I thought it was ridiculous that people brought their kids to Vegas (I still think this). There is nothing "family" about this destination. Every 2 minutes down the strip there are these sceezy men handing out hooker cards to passers-by.... Anyhow, we went to the "Sirens Show" at Treasure Island (it's a live action Pirate Show) and I found myself thinking, 'maybe this is something you could take your kids to....' Turns out the "Sirens" were female hookers... err, I mean she-devils all scantily clad who "dirty dance" to summon powerful storms to sink pirate ships. Oh silly me. Though you have to admit that this plot-line is hilarity itself!

Favourite Casino: I really liked the MGM Grand (N & I won most of our $$$ here), Treasure Island -- N enjoyed the Sirens show and we both liked that the Margarita Hut outside its front entrance made very tasty and very strong drinks! Finally, I think the Wynn was the most nice overall (though the MGM Grand is a close second!)

Best Players Card Deal: The Wynn. They gave you $10 free play on the slots and with 25 players points you got a free buffet supper ($35 value). Neil and I both were able to get the 25 points. Downside: It took 1 hour and 45 minutes to get into the buffet. Upside: Scaring all the people around you. About 1 hour into our wait, N proclaims that this would be a great place to "kill a lot of people" (as we were trapped in a tiny waiting room area). Gotta leave it to N to think cheery thoughts... though in his defense... anyone that waits 1 hour and 45 minutes for supper needs their heads examined (and yes I include us -- no meal, even when it's free is worth waiting that long -- though I must say it was a really really good buffet -- still 105 minutes is ridiculous!)

Most Scummy Casino: Now we didn't see them all -- and no we didn't take in the Hooters Hotel and Casino... so this is just based on what we saw -- it's tie between The Tropicana and the Casino Royale.

Overall, this trip was just ok and we both agreed that it's a destination we are in no hurry to return to. Still we had a good time. We really liked our hotel, NYNY -- our room was very nice and there were a few bars inside that were really good (Big Apple Bar and the one with the dueling pianos)... though its location on the strip was not as good as we'd been led to believe.

Wanna see Vegas through our eyes, check out this link: Las Vegas Pictures!