Beyond an Inconvenient Illness

So let's see, this past Monday we had the opportunity to see Al Gore speak about global warming. Now this started out as a little shindig wherein Al speaks to 700 people as the key note speaker for a conservation group. Well, those 700 free tickets were snatched up within 5 minutes and started to go for $100 on craigslist. So Boise State decided to move the speech to Taco Bell Arena and sell 10,000 tickets for $5 a piece. Because Jake is a student, we got our tickets for free.

Now I would like to say that I was neither here nor there with Al Gore before we saw him. I must say I was not expecting him to be so witty and funny. I am always a fan of self depracating humor and he has plenty of it. He introduced himself saying "Good evening, I am Al Gore, the former next president of the United States and would say things like "there are winners, there are losers, and then there is that little known third category". He'd tell funny stories about eating at Shoney's and flying commercial airlines. Before he even started in on global warming, I had warmed up to him. So had the audience. I had no idea there were that many Al Gore fans in Idaho.

His presentation on global warming was very interesting and pretty much exactly like his movie, An Inconvenient Truth. He did taylor things to Idaho specifically, which I thought was a nice touch.

Sadly, earlier in the day I was diagnosed with bronchial pneumonia. Now I am aware that this sounds really bad, but I had pneumonia last May that was far more horrible than this. This was basically a really bad cold, so I felt that I would be fine to venture out of the house. I had been indoors for 3 days and thought it would be fine to go out for a nice evening presentation about how we are destroying the planet. Well, turns out I didn't have quite as much stamina as I thought I had. I also had this really nasty cough that would rear it's ugly head at the most inopportune moments. I am sure the people around us appreciated it. We ended up having to leave about a half an hour early, just when the good stuff was coming I'm sure.

We knew going in that this was a controversial subject, and there were a few protesters and the senator pretty much called Mr. Gore a liar on the evening news. What we can't figure out exactly why this subject is controversial. I understand that people are saying that he is just trying to scare us and that some of his information may not come from the most reliable sources. Given that, is it a bad idea to save energy? I certainly didn't feel he was on a soap box trying to scare us into buying energy efficient light bulbs. He was just presenting information and suggesting we sit up and take notice. I can get behind that.

So other than that, I was home sick all week and Jake is now sick. So it's a fun weekend at our house!

Weekend in Vegas

I apologize for the lengthy break between blogs, this has truly been one of the busiest months in recent memory. In large part, it is because I have been in Oregon 12 of these first 19 days of the year. This week I was stranded in a snow/ice storm. Nobody was allowed on the freeways without chains, and Budget car rental was not so kind as to provide me with said chains. So I spent a lot of quality time at the Hilton in Lake Oswego watching daytime television.

Last weekend we went to Vegas with the Brijs' and a lovely time was had by all. We had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, which is always a delight. My favorite thing about the cheesecake factory is buying a slice of cheesecake to go and then having it for breakfast the next morning. My personal favorite is the fresh banana with a side of hot fudge. I had agreed to share it with Jake the next day, but sadly ended up eating the entire slice (which I have never been able to do) at 7:00 a.m. the next morning. Obviously, it was Mason's fault. It's definitely his fault that I can no longer sleep in past 7 because I am so hungry. So on the weekend I get up at 7 and eat a full breakfast and then I go back to bed.

Back to Vegas...the next day we got up and went to the Palms for what used to be our favorite breakfast (you will soon sense that the theme of the weekend is eating). At the 24 hour coffee shop, they serve corn flake french toast, and it used to be divine. This time it wasn't so good at all and we all felt kind of sick after eating it. Not to worry though, in just 4 short hours we would be eating again at the Rio Seafood Buffett. This more than made up for the mediocre breakfast. I pretty much only ate crab legs and lobster tails, alot of work, but well worth it.

After dinner we went to the Cirque de Soleil show "O" at the Bellagio. Now I have been wanting to see this show since it first opened over 5 years ago, and every review I have ever heard described it as spectacular. So naturally my expectations may have been abnormally high. I had one word to describe my experience at the show and that word is "underwhelmed". I mean, it's the most expensive show on the strip and for my money, I very much preferred Blue Man Group and certainly Celine Dion. Don't get me wrong, it is very impressive with the whole show being done on or over water. There was some fantastic diving and trapeze work, but I was always expecting them to go just a little further, something over the top. That never happened. I don't think I was the only one that felt this way as there was not a standing ovation at the end of the show. Of course there were those dozen or so people who Dana dubbed the "overclappers" who would clap at a belly flop. I think a couple of them stood at the end. Really though, I would recommend the show, but do not pay for anything but the cheapest seats as the theatre is pretty small and there is no reason to splurge.

After the show, it was time to eat again. This time we had Gelato at the chocolate shop in the Bellagio. After that we went back to the condo where Dana and Ryan soaked, but Jake and I were just too tired.

On Monday I flew to Portland and Jake flew home and it was a bit sad that we couldn't finish out the vacation together. But I'll take what I can get at this point!

In other news, Jake started school this week. He's always a bit high strung the first week of school but then settles into a routine and does just fine. The baby is doing great, he kicks and moves all the time and will not allow me to sleep anywhere near my stomach, which has been rough. At 10:00 every night, Jake has a talk with him and it's so cute! He says "son, calm down, this is quiet time" and then Mason kicks him in the head. Just darling.

Three Words

Two...Point...Conversion! Um yeah, so for those of you who have no idea what we are talking about, we are referring to what may have been the best college football game in history, the 2007 Fiesta Bowl between our beloved Boise State Broncos and the Oklahoma Sooners. As we mentioned in a previous post, we chose to give our baby a place to sleep instead of attending this game. We are now realizing that sleeping in a shoe box is really not that big of deal. He would have understood!
Seriously, even if you are not a football fan you must check out highlights of this game. It had more drama than any American Idol or Survivor finale. It was pure nail-biting brilliance. We had both a love/hate relationship with the quarterback who almost lost it for us and then miraculously tied the ball game with some real trickery. All in all, a huge win for the little guy and some excellent Monday Night Football.