Didja miss me?

Didn't realize I hadn't blogged in about a month. I guess that's what happens when you're too busy living life to write about it.

A coupla weeks ago, I went to Phoenix for my parents' 50th Anniversary party. (Woo!) They had a '50s themed party -- with real milkshakes (and real rock 'n' roll) and everything. We all came in costume. There will so be photographs. My friend offered to make me a poodle skirt and when we went to the fabric store to buy supplies, I saw a pattern for something even better, and my friend agreed to make it for me. Totally awesome costume. I wouldn't let my parents see it (or know what I was doing) before the party because, well, it's all in the reveal. (Which means I can't even tell you now -- we'll get the pix soon.)

Random memo to LAX: OK, so, y'know how we're supposed to be conserving water right now? Here's a thought: turn off the automatic flush for the airport toilets. The damn things flush once when you wedge your carry-on bag in the stall; once when you put the little paper seat down; and once again when you pick up your carry-on bag. The one time they don't flush is when you actually need them to (at which point, I flushed it manually). Result: four flushes for one pee. That's water efficiency. Seriously, do we have that big of a problem with people not flushing that we need automatic toilets? Particularly at a four-to-one flush rate?

This week, I went to Vegas with some friends. Much fun was had (and very little gambling -- actually none from me). We stayed at Mandalay Bay and played in the wave pool (one perfect body surfing wave every 90 seconds) and floated along the lazy river. A good break from work and bills and house stuff.

Back at the Las Vegas airport, I'm in line to board the plane when I'm pulled out of line -- along with the woman in front of me -- for additional "random" screening. That's in quotes because the woman in front of me was a black woman wearing a head scarf. My additional screening consisted of TSA looking at my ID a second time and being waved onto the plane, while the other woman was kept busy with TSA for quite a bit longer. Couldn't help but think that I was asked to show my ID just so that TSA could question the woman with the head scarf without being accused of profiling. ("You saw! We pulled out that white woman, too!") Subtle.