I’m back in Vegas. Flew out on Sunday night and forgot that check-in and security for the 10pm flights at Hawaiian’s Interisland terminal take all of 10 minutes (I got there about two hours early like how you’re supposed to). I had a drink at the airport bar and talked a bit to these two girls who were celebrating their last year at HPU and going on their first trip there. Their to-do list included seeing the Pirate Show at Treasure Island and going to the top of the Stratosphere. I wished them an awesome trip.

Then I got to Vegas, and it was raining. What gives?! On the plus side, I haven’t washed my car once since the day I bought it, and the rain got it looking white again. Kind of.

Kerri’s family is in town this weekend, so after getting home and taking a short nap, we headed downtown to hang out with them. I blew about 40 bucks on slot machines, realized how little I missed gambling, and later helped take her family down to the Bellagio so that we could check out their Chinese New Year Display over at the gardens.

I’m going to steal one of Kerri’s pictures from yesterday. I really need to get a camera.

Those are pandas made of flowers. The centerpiece was a huge tiger made of flowers for this year (mom’s year!)

And of course, it’s always nice to see white people taking photos and enjoying the whole asian thing. I overheard someone ask her friend “So what’s with the tiger?” This runs a close second to the time I was at the buffet over at Main Street Station and I overheard an old white lady at the buffet line ask “What is that? Shrimp?” It was crawfish. And, honest to God, the only people I saw eating it were me and a black family. Not that I’m complaining. Hey man, more for us!

It was a busy day, and I had a lot more time to unwind today. Kerri’s at work now, and after she comes back, we’re going to head back downtown to spend time with her family again. It’s their last night here before they fly back to Hawaii. They’ve been here since Friday, and I totally planned on getting here before they did, but I did the typical boyfriend thing of not paying attention when she was talking. I thought she said “They’re coming on the week of MLK”, when it was actually “The weekEND of MLK”. Oops!

At least I got to see them for the last half of their trip.

I spent the day unpacking and washing my clothes, and unwinding. It was an awesome time back in Hawaii, and great seeing friends again. I’m trying to think back over all the memories while at the same time realizing that, like everything, there’s only a limited time that you can really remember a good time accurately, before parts of it start getting distorted and/or slip away.

Again, maybe I should get a camera. And use it.

For some reason, a recurring memory was from a few hours before my flight. I’m outside, saying goodbye to my dogs. They were wagging their tails and licking me, like nothing was wrong. Of course, they didn’t get that I was leaving, and even now that I’m gone, they’re not sitting there wondering where I went. And the next time I see them, they’ll walk up to me, wag their tails, and lick me again, as if I were always there.

That’s living in the moment. A state of mind that we can all hope to strive for.

The very last person I kissed before leaving was Toby. I’m especially worried that every time I see him might be the last, because he’s getting on in years. So I made sure to take a few extra videos of him. Here’s me waking him up the other day, trying to get to to follow me, and realizing that he was content where he was. After I left, he curled right back into a ball and went to sleep again.

Good times.