Viva Las Winter Cup

If I start rambling on and begin to veer off track, don't blame me.  I am working with just over an hour of sleep and I can't say that I have the sharpest mind at the moment.  I came back this morning after a whirlwind trip to Las Vegas, Nevada.  It was a somewhat last-minute decision to go,  but I'm very glad I took the opportunity to do it.

One of my good friends, Cale, asked me if I wanted to accompany him to Vegas to watch Winter Cup (an annual national competition for the elite men that determines the national team for the following six months or so).  I'd followed coverage of the meet online in years prior to this one, but I decided that it would be fun to go and see all the action in person.  Since Cale had practice yesterday morning I was able to go to work before we jumped in the car and jetted off to the airport.  Our flight to Vegas was easy and went by quickly because we talked for the entire 90 minutes.  Once we arrived we took a cab to our hotel and dropped some stuff off.  At that point it was already time to head over to the competition venue and we did the best we could to calm our nerves on the way over.  I should mention that Alex was competing, along with a number of his fellow Stanford Men's Gymnastics alum.  Cale is used to competing here as well but is currently coming back from an injury and didn't want to rush trying to get back into things.

Many seats were already taken when we arrived but Alex thought ahead and got us tickets earlier in the week.  We picked them up at will call and then had to find enough room for the both of us somewhere in the mass of open seating.  We ended up next to other Stanford supporters but didn't stay there the entire time; we only made it through three events before we decided that we needed to move.  I have to take a second to say that Cale is an amazing meet-buddy...we were totally in sync the entire time and we were able to help each other through the roller coaster of emotions we experienced throughout the evening.  The competition ended late but Alex was able to come up to see us almost right as everything was finishing up.  We were happy to see him and gave him a big hug before we gathered together to head to dinner with one of his close family friends.  It ended up that the entire Stanford contingency was there but the five of us took our own table and were able to enjoy some entertaining conversation.  We were all starving because no one had eaten since the early afternoon so we gobbled down our food and a couple of drinks right as they came out of the kitchen.  Afterwards Cale and I went back to the hotel with Alex and Ryan so that we could change and get ready to take advantage of a little of what Vegas has to offer.  Over the course of the week, Alex discovered a new love:  craps.  He was very patient and taught those of us who didn't know how to play the game.  We eventually joined in and we stayed at the craps tables for hours, fluctuating between being broke and having some winnings.  It was a lot of fun but before we knew it it was late and we all really needed to get some sleep.  By the time we got back to where we were staying, Cale and I really only slept for an hour or so.  Then it was off to the airport and back to the bay...home sweet home.

I must say that I'm ready to go back and spend some more time at the craps tables.  As disappointing as it might be to my mom, I really like it better than slots.  There is always something going on and I feel more involved than I do when I'm just staring at a monitor with lots of crazy lights.  I don't think it would take a lot of convincing to get Alex to go back with me, so I might try to work on that.

As far as work goes, I'm picking up more privates and now I'm up to four per week.  That's an extra $200/week which is really great.  I got my first paycheck which was exciting and set a little aside for a new camera.  I've been using my iPhone and it's been pretty good, but I miss the quality of my DSL.  I'm hoping to have enough money after the next couple of weeks and then I can start looking around for a good deal.  I never heard back from the French lost and found so I'm going to assume that no one turned in my missing bag.  I guess that means it's time to move on and find something new :)