My Happy Place

As many of you know, I have a very unusual Happy Place. You know what I’m talking about: when you’re just about to get a shot, you’re in labor, or you’re trying not to think about something unpleasant—you try to get your mind into another place, preferably a pleasant place, so that you don’t feel so bad.
When I was considering natural childbirth, I had to come up with a Happy Place. I considered many different spots—the playground of my youth, a beautiful overlook, an imaginary place—but those didn’t really hold my attention more than Las Vegas.
Las Vegas is where I got married. We had a great time. I’ve visited there a couple of times and each time I enjoy it more. I love the lights and the sounds and the betting and the winning (not the losing so much, but I keep it reasonable.) So, that’s my happy place—in a casino.

There are a few times when I need a reminder of the fun I had in Vegas. There’s not much around here in Ohio, since casino gambling is not legal. I’ve gone to Indiana’s silly “riverboat” gambling, where they actually built a lake to float the casino on so that they can be legal. It helps to go.

But way out here, in Creekistan, I sometimes rely on online places. Don’t get me wrong, I do not by any means have a gambling problem. I have yet to actually spend money online. But there are some places that satisfy my itch. Pogo.com is one, as well as Facebook's poker application. I’ve heard of others, like Betfair where you can play poker, but I’m not sure I can sign up for that.

Short of actually flying to Las Vegas, I guess I have to keep visiting my Happy Place in my mind or virtually, especially during these long, cold months.

Thursday Thirteen #46

13 Cool Things that I’ve Done in my Life

I guess every so often it’s a good thing to think back at all the cool and exciting things that you’ve done. Especially when you think you’re in a rut. This time of year is good for that.

1. Giant road trip with my parents from my hometown in Nebraska to California when I was 11.
2. Visited the Redwood Forrest in northern-California. The trees are tremendously big.
3. Went to Disneyland when they still had E-Ticket rides.
4. I got my parents in trouble for letting me into a casino and playing the slots in Las Vegas.
5. I talked my parents into letting me visit a UFO museum on Fisherman’s Warf in San Francisco.
6. Took another giant road trip with my parents from Nebraska to Connecticut when I was 12. (I guess I could say that in one year, we drove from coast to coast.)
7. Traveled in an old Pullman sleeper car on a train across Nebraska, Wyoming, and into Denver.
8. Slept on the floor of a Spanish-style Catholic church in New Mexico, complete with distant coyote song. We tried to learn the Rosary in Spanish.
9. Toured a real nuclear sub in London, Connecticut. I used the periscope to find were our car was parked.
10. Got married in a wedding chapel in Las Vegas—a double ceremony with my fiancé’s mother and her fiancé.
11. Took an Amtrak train to New York to attend the Field Day Festival in 2003. It was cold and wet, Beck fell right before his set and couldn’t perform, the Beastie Boys were not very good, but Radiohead was absolutely awesome.
12. Completely booked a trip via the Internet for a vacation to Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris. My husband spent his birthday in Amsterdam and I spent my 29th birthday in Paris. My goal was to go to Europe before I was 30.
13. Bought 2 tickets to see Duran Duran’s reunion tour in 2005. Called up my childhood friend Sandi the Red in Denver to go with me, and she did! I cried when they first appeared on stage.



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Things you may not have known about me

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Deliver projectors and TVs for Media Services in college
2. Monitor a computer lab at college
3. Secretary for a bioscience company’s sales and marketing department
4. Marketing Manager/Coordinator

Four movies I have watched over and over:
1. Pulp Fiction
2. Star Wars, especially Episode IV - A New Hope
3. JFK
4. Lord of the Rings, especially The Fellowship of the Ring

Four Places I have lived:
1. Omaha, NE
2. Milford, OH
3. Cincinnati, OH
4. “Creekistan”, OH

Four TV shows I enjoy Watching:
1. The Sopranos
2. Lost
3. Battlestar Galactica
4. old episodes of ER

Four places I have visited:
1. Paris
2. Amsterdam
3. Las Vegas
4. New York, NY

Four of my favorite foods:
1. The Asiago Cheese Dip from Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery
2. Chocolate, especially Godiva chocolate truffles
3. Sun-dried tomato and alfredo sauce on pasta
4. Ice cream, especially from Graeters

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Las Vegas
2. In bed watching movies
3. In a hot tub with candles in Las Vegas
4. Getting a massage in Las Vegas