Thanks to my mom and dad, I was able to escape last week and
get off to meet up with Brad in Vegas and stay at a timeshare we booked a few
months ago when are points were about to run out. I ended up leaving a day
early which got me in a good panic but it all worked out okay. Brad picked me
up from the airport on Thursday evening and we went to his parent’s timeshare
(they happened to be in Vegas as well and it was their last night) and had some
diner. I didn’t really plan appropriately that night and learned a very
valuable lesson: I honestly cannot have even the smallest bite of food at least
2 hrs before taking my medication or it will not work at all. At. All. 
We woke
up about 6am on Friday and took his parents to the airport and then went back to
the timeshare and stayed there until we had to leave at 10am. We headed out to
the Hoover Dam and went on a tour of the power plant. It was great to learn about the Hoover Dam and why it was created in the first place. It was pretty amazing.
We drove around a bit out there and then headed back to the timeshare since it
was almost 4pm which is when we can check in.
We checked in, grabbed some
subway and headed back to the room. I was trying to stay close to east coast
versus west coast time so I was done with dinner by 6pm and in bed by 8pm. Yeah
I know. We are in Vegas and I’m in bed by 8/8:30pm but it worked out fine for
us. We did head out to the hot tub and enjoyed that for awhile before we actually went to sleep.
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| Brad cooking breakfast |
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| One of the hot tubs! |
On Saturday morning we went to a Timeshare meeting (and
scored awesome seats to the Blue Man Group for $30 total; normally those
tickets are $100 a piece) and spent much longer than we normally do at the
meeting but learned so much and finally have go-to people we can call for help
rather than just floating around in the system and call the 1-800 numbers where
no one ever really tells us how to use the system. We are pretty excited about
some of the things we learned and cannot wait to use them and were excited that
we didn’t have to hurry through a meeting because we have 2 kids that are bored
out of their mind. We then headed over to the outlet mall which was about 2-3
miles away from our timeshare. We walked around and scored a few good deals. We
then grabbed some dinner and headed home and then went to another hot tub for a
bit which was so awesome.
On Sunday we spent the day at the Strip!! We hung around the
room for a bit (I was waking up at 6am everyday) since Brad made such a great
breakfast (omelet with ham and cheese, toast, bacon). We were on the strip by
10am. I wish I would have had my FuelBand on because we did some SERIOUS
walking. We went to all kinds of casinos and lobby’s and just wondered around.
We even watched the 3D M&M’s movie which our kids would have been
completely freaked out by because of the blowing wind. We found a few cute
souviners for the boys and Nana and Papa and just had a great time walking
around and looking at the different people. I could sit and people watch all
day I think. We happened to see SpongeBob and the Minions so we got our
pictures with them. We also happened to be walking in front of the Bellagio
when the water show started so that was awesome. If you have never been to
Vegas, the later in the day you get, the crazier it gets. There are all sorts
of people out on the corners trying to hand out little cards with naked girls
on them and phone numbers to call for these calls. The people handing these out
actually dared to give them to Brad when we walked by even when we were holding
hands. They pretty much stick them out right in your way and then move their
hand away right before you hit them because you are walking. I finally told
Brad that if one more person tried to hand him a card while I was with him that
I would honestly slap it out of their hand right there. I was so SO SO so
excited to do this. Unfortunately no one got that close again but man that
would have made my day. While it’s fun to people watch there, it’s also sad for
me to see so many men and women going out and getting crazy drunk, wasting
money, and doing stupid things (calling the numbers on the cards). 
At 6:30pm we headed to the Monte Carlo to get our seats for the Blue Man Group show. It started at 7pm and was pretty awesome. They just changed their show and I had read mixed reviews about it. There were 1-2 slow parts but overall, Brad and I had a great time and found ourselves highly amused by their acts. It was great. We headed straight back to the hotel and I took my medicine and jumped in bed. I did sleep in a bit and didn’t wake up until 6:30am on Monday.
Monday we decided it would be good to get some exercise by hiking in the Red Rock Canyon. We love to do this kind of stuff together and really miss all our hiking outings in Maryland at Calvert Cliffs. After Brad made another yummy breakfast and I packed up some stuff, we headed out. It was about a 30 min drive to get there. I chose a trail with “moderate” terrain and it was supposed to be 1.1 miles each way. Well. We got there, started hiking and realized real quick that moderate in our world of hiking on grass/sand/etc was not the same as hiking on …. Rocks. Wow. It kicked our butts. It was awesome and fun and beautiful. However, we kept going and weren’t even sure if we were on a “path” a couple times. We calculated when we needed to leave by so I wouldn’t miss my plane and finally decided we just needed to turn around. It certainly felt like 1.1 miles but there was no end in sight. We hiked back and really did have a great time. Once we got back to the beginning, we realized we should have taken off to the right, not to the left. We were doing another moderate trail but it was 5 miles. Nevertheless, we had a great time together and realize how important it is for us to eventually live somewhere again where we can hike and do some of the other fun outdoor stuff that we like to do. We hurried back to the room showered, packed up, and left all within about 30 minutes.
It was such a great time with Brad. That is the first time
we’ve had more than just a couple hours with just Brad and I. I can see how
important it is to this from time to time to help us as a married couple, not
just mommy and daddy. Brad was shocked to see me so awake (when he last saw me
I hadn’t been diagnosed with narcolepsy or treated with this crazy expensive
medication which actually makes my other medication (Provigil) work very well
for the first time. It was so great to be the old Amy and Brad rather than me
being so tired to do anything. I am so thankful that my parents can come
together and work as a team to watch the boys. They have been divorced for …
15-20 yrs and have the ability to put their differences aside and be friends
and I a so grateful and appreciative for that. I’m excited to be home and
hopefully give my mom a little break now. I’m sure she will be exhausted. I’m
hoping I can see my dad at least for a bit before he leaves but he is busy man
traveling all around so we’ll see about that.
UPDATE: I wrote all that on the plane on the way home and I'm happy to say that my dad stayed here all day today and even took us all out to dinner. My mom was exhausted and literally slept from 9:30am to about 2:45pm. My dad even mowed the yard yesterday and helped me pick up a bunch of yard clippings and weeds I pulled up today. It was great to be able to spend some time with him. My mom did a great job keeping everyone fed while I was gone and helping keep the schedule. The boys were very excited to see me and I was glad to be home and be able to give them their little goodies I brought back for them.
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