birthday girl AND first day of kindergarten

How did we go from here...

to here...

so fast?

It feels like this...

which is all I could get when I tried to take her picture on the first day of school. She was totally anti-picture. It's probably the only picture you'll ever see where she's moving and Sam is standing still. :-)  Leave it to her to be the nonconformist kid who won't let me be sentimental and document the memories. I feel sorry for the photographer at her wedding already.

Her first day at school went great, from what I heard. Of course, it helps that she gained instant popularity by bringing donuts for the class for her birthday. The drop-off was chaos, but in a good way. I am impressed already with the teacher's craftiness. She met us at the door with a list of instructions for how to organize and put away all the school supplies. It kept everyone busy and taught all the kids where everything goes, and no one had time to even think about crying. :-) Zip zip, we said goodbye and went out the door to a ferocious thunderstorm that soaked us running to the car. The whole sky opened up and I read in the news that a man was hit by lightning but was doing OK. A drama day for my drama girl.

She had her swim party with friends last week, so tonight we just had a family "party." Her choice for birthday dinner was Kraft macaroni and cheese, and ice cream for dessert. I tried her pink bubblegum flavor and it tasted exactly like those fluoride treatments at the dentist.

I have lots more blurry pictures, as she never wants her picture taken, but I finally was able to sneak one good one. Happy birthday to my sweet SIX year old - I love you soooooooo much.

Interesting running venue

I'm in Las Vegas for a work-related trip this week. The hotel has a gym, but unlike in most hotels, gym access is not included in the room fee. They want $25 per day or $50 for 3 days. No thanks.

So, my challenge last night was to find somewhere to run. It's about 100 degrees here in August and we're located in the middle of the Strip. Running through the air-conditioned mall adjacent to our hotel was tempting, but I felt too self-conscious. So I took an impromptu, self-guided walking tour of the area. It was hot, and the sidewalks were packed with tourists taking photos, so I rescheduled the run for the morning and wandered around. I can't remember when I was here last - maybe 7 years - and it hasn't changed much - if anything it looks a little more worn down. I wonder if the economy has been tough on it. Anyway, Seinfeld, Cher, and Cirque du Soleil are all here, and I saw one ad for Donny and Marie. Good times.

This morning I did run for about 45 minutes. It was still hot - probably 75 degrees - but at least the crowds were gone and the scenery was interesting. Too bad I'm such a flake - should have brought my camera - maybe tomorrow morning. I passed Caesar's Palace, the Mirage, Treasure Island with the pirate ship, the volcano that erupts every hour, the Eiffel Tower, the Venetian, Fashion Show plaza, Circus Circus and some less glitzy areas under construction. There was a "Sin on Sunday" billboard too. I got to run up and down some escalators and threw in a few extra flights of stairs just for kicks. There were a few other joggers, a few homeless people and a police officer just hanging out on the corner. The casinos were all open - definitely a 24 hour town.

Never thought I would be jogging on the strip in Vegas at 6 a.m. I wouldn't call it a "rave run", but at least it's a nice flat road with unique scenery. One thing I won't miss about Vegas is the air - between the smoke inside and the exhaust outside, I bet my cilia are working overtime.