Grateful Friday

Yesterday I drove myself to my infusion because Adam is having an extra intense work time (which is saying something because his work is always intense) and Mark had class.  It felt weird going alone, because I usually have my entourage.

In the morning, before leaving I saw that I had a text message from Stephanie and another from Tabor, wishing me well and sending their love.

I realized I wasn't going alone and that means the world to me.

I am also grateful for the good week I've had.

Early Monday morning, Mark dropped us off at the Provo Airport and Adam and I flew to Las Vegas.  It is a very short trip.  The captain said we were at 30,000 feet and we could use the bathroom if we needed to and that we would begin our descent in about 10 minutes.

We rented a car and went to the Aria.  There was supposed to be fine art there, which we determined to look at before our lunch reservation at Din Tai Fung.  We mostly struggled to find the art.  There was a map on an app that was really unhelpful, but we saw some pretty things all the same.

Not the art, just a seasonal display in the lobby.  I took exactly one picture (to send to Emma) and Adam took all the rest.

Adam had been wanting to take me to Din Tai Fung ever since he ate there.  I don't love Chinese food in general, but this was exceptional.  We had these amazing soup dumplings, some OK cucumber salad (I love cucumbers, but it had a strong sesame oil flavor), fantastic green beans, spicy chicken wontons and the show stopping finale: chocolate dumplings in salted cream sauce.  

I look kind of silly in this picture, but I was so proud of myself for using chopsticks to eat, I'll post it all the same.

The cucumber salad came first and I'd struggled so much with the chopsticks that I just stabbed the cucumber and ate it that way.

We walked around some more and went to the Bellagio to look at all the pretty things.  I don't know how anyone would think they had a chance to win much at those casinos.  It's clear the house usually wins!

We drove to our hotel eventually.  It was in Midtown, away from the Strip, and we liked it.

Our hotel was The English.  It was a small boutique hotel with a lot of eclectic style and none of the Las Vegas ick.

This was Adam's office.  He sat under the cabana and worked and I read.

We walked a few blocks to Good Pie for dinner.  It was another restaurant Adam wanted me to try.  We got delicious pizza and enjoyed our quirky waiter.

After dinner we drove to Seven Magic Mountains outside of the city.

Each of the rocks was about 6 feet tall.  There were people there, but I erased them with my editing feature on my phone.  It feels like cheating, but I'm here for it.

Tuesday we lived a life of leisure.  At least I did.  Adam worked quite a bit.  Besides sitting by the pool and working/reading, we went to a nearby state historic site, Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort.  It was pretty fascinating.  The oldest building in the state, built by pioneers sent there to make an outpost for people on their way to San Bernardino, settled it.  We love history and learning about places.

We had an interesting dinner at a restaurant called Chicago Joe's.  Adam hadn't eaten there, but it was in a cute brick house and had good reviews and was in walking distance to our hotel.  

There was a man smoking on the front porch and a Closed sign next to him.  According to the website, they were supposed to be open.  We asked the guy and he said, "Yeah, go in, they're open."

It was a bizarre dining experience.  The waiters seemed wholly surprised that we were there.  They also were taken aback by two other parties that joined later.  The food was pretty good and we were entertained by the once again quirky waitstaff and a very dramatic phone call several of them participated it (the man who had been smoking on the front porch was an employee too and he had a session on the phone with the rest of them).  There was a landline at a nearby desk and one of them would talk urgently, then set the phone down and get another employee to talk to whoever was on the phone.  

That evening we went to Donny Osmond.  Earlier in the afternoon, I'd napped while Adam scoped out the show.  He is excellent at figuring out ways to make things seamless for me.  As a bonus, he got to try out a gadget.  It was a win win.

We took a Vay.  There was one waiting for us down the street a bit from our hotel.  Adam unlocked it with his phone, we hopped in, drove to the Strip and parked behind the super sketchy Best Western casino.  The car drove away by itself.

Adam led me on a little path he'd figured out through the unsavory low end casinos.  At Harrah's we went right up an escalator to the show.  Adam is a wonder.  He figures things out.

We were very much in the cheap seats, but when the show was about to start, an usher tapped Adam on the shoulder and said, "Follow me."  He led us down to the not cheap seats and we found ourselves in the 6th row!  

The show was great.  Donny Osmond is an amazing entertainer.  We were about 15 years younger than most people there.  He sang a lot of songs from his 60 years in show business.  My favorites were from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and the song from Mulan.  There were dancers and a live band and lots of audiovisual marvels.  He sang "Puppy Love" with an avatar of himself as a 14 year old.  The whole thing was very enjoyable.

At one point, Donny went down the stage, giving high fives.  I could have very easily stood up and reached for a high five.  Adam said that I should.

I said, "That doesn't sound like something I would do."

Adam concurred.

We wend our way back to the parking lot behind the Best Western and a driverless car drove up.  We got inside and drove back to our hotel.  The alternative would have been to self park.  Adam was pretty proud of the fact that the Vay was cheaper than parking would have been.  Self parking was a ways away and I was also very grateful that we didn't need to walk much.  He always takes such good care of me!

Wednesday, we lounged by the pool.  It was restful to be so lazy!  We walked down the street for a delicious lunch--again at a place Adam had eaten at before.  I like traveling to places where he knows all the good places.

In the afternoon we flew home, Mark picked us up and we were happy to see him and happy to be home.

After my infusion yesterday--easier without chemo, but I was still pretty wiped out--I sat in my chair mostly.  Mark and I took a very short walk and he makes an excellent personal trainer.  He tells me over and over that I'm doing well.  He says, "You're getting stronger all the time!" and "You can do this!"

He also asks me every few minutes how I'm doing.  I'm grateful to have a Mark in my life.