I'm home from vacay, and it's good to be back! Kinda. Sorta. I guess. Actually, it's always nice in some ways to be home. I find that for at least a little while after a break I see my everyday life with fresh eyes and renewed appreciation, but I miss my sis and Zozo terribly. I returned to my office this week to find that someone I helped out had left me a pretty bouquet of lavender as thanks, so I get to sit at my desk breathing in the relaxing scent while answering a huge pile of emails. That makes going to work much nicer.

Tahoe was tons of fun, of course! My sister and I ate lots of good foods, saw the movies Knocked Up and Waitress, played black jack, winning and then losing money, shopped, sunned in cabanas at the Grand Sierra and at Camp Richardson, played with Trav, and spent hours and hours just hanging out and talking. Oh, and there was the psychic show the first night, which was totally fun in a this really blows sort of way. The "psychic" didn't seem to connect with the people she talked with, and she kept forgetting the information they would give her, which made her readings obviously off base to the audience. Plus, she seemed way more intent on dishing out her own personal advice than channeling any real info. Luckily, the entertainment value of all her quirkiness and missteps was well worth the price of admission.

In "reading" me (I'm quote happy today, folks), Psychic Lady announced loudly into her microphone, to the room full of people, "Girl, your love life SUCKS!!!" Thanks for the tip, PL, finally you got something right. My sister sat next to me cackling away, gleeful in my uncomf moment (our little group almost got kicked out at one point for laughing our way through the show). PL followed up with some "helpful" advice and semi-encouraging words that ended with, "You are a highly intelligent woman with the ability to overpower men with your smarts. You should really try to curb that in your future relationships." Errrrr. Excuse me? The message I'm supposed to take away is: Yes, Megan, dumb yourself down so you can find and keep a man. Riiiiiiight.

As. If.

I told one of my friends about this in email. His facetious reply was "And, yes, couldn't agree more with the psychic, dumb girls are totally the way to go. There's really nothing more satisfying than sharing a lovely one-sided conversation with a woman who smiles and nods and eventually takes her top off."

Boys! :) That one had me laughing for a long time.

In terms of my career, PL asked what I would like to do, and I said I really enjoy writing and would like to incorporate that more into whatever career path I follow. She was quick to respond with, "There is no money in writing. What else do you like?" Me (wondering if her personal biases blocked her "gift"): "Uh, that is what I like to do." Her: "Oh...Well, you're going to write textbooks."

Textbooks? Yay. Things are really looking up!

Anyway, am convinced PL is a quack.

Later that night, Molly and I had a fun adventure at Bill's Casino. We played black jack forever and won some money. Molly got a little tipsy on the free drinks and eventually had to go to the bathroom. While she was gone, I noticed that an older, rough-looking security guard was walking around asking people about this small wooden thing he was carrying. It looked like a piece from a chair leg or something, so I didn't give it much thought and continued playing. When Mols returned a few minutes later, she was really stumbling and off balance, so I assumed she was more drunkity-drunk than I had realized. But, no. We cashed out and started to leave, and that's when I noticed beneath her jean legs that the heel of one of her tall sandals was missing! It turns out the security guard was walking around asking people, "Is this your heel?" Giggling, we retrieved the heel, and I helped her hobble off.

The big question for the rest of the vacation was, "Is this your heel???"