Sedona Snow

On Friday I kidnapped Michael and took him to Sedona for his 30th birthday, and we couldn't have asked for a better experience. Mother Nature decided to give us the gift of snow, and it was unbelievably beautiful. We arrived at our beautiful hotel, got to our room, and it started snowing. These gorgeous snowflakes came floating down from the sky, and we stood on our little patio outside and just took it all in. After settling in, we headed to the restaurant there and had a very yummy meal (Michael has a new love for polenta). As we sat at our candlelit table enjoying our meal and each other's company, we could see the snow continue to drift down to the Earth, steadily growing heavier and heavier . . . I haven't felt that peaceful in a very long time.

After about 18 hours of luxury, we headed out of Sedona and decided to really trash it up by going to the Cliff Castle Casino for lunch. Michael kept telling me that the place was actually a lot classier than other Arizona casinos, which kind of frightened me. After our meal, Michael decided we should put his birthday luck to good use. I lost $10 in a matter of about 15 minutes, which sounds better than it really was. About 13 of those minutes were spent scoping out the perfect machine with which I should fork over my money. I've never really gambled much, but the whole idea of it makes me very nervous. I'm especially weird about not wanting to sit right next to anyone, and I'm not interested in sharing any of my gambling experiences with random strangers. Apparently, I was the only one in the casino who felt that way because any time I sat down somewhere, immediately some guy smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer (at 1:00 PM) would plop down next to me and say, "Are you winning much?" or "How's your luck today?" or "These chairs are heavy, aren't they?" After losing my last $2 on some game that I still can't figure out, I went to find Michael.

Michael was sitting at a virtual Blackjack table. The table itself wasn't virtual, I mean, he was actually sitting on a real chair at a real table. Instead of a live dealer, there was a big screen and every once in a while the dealer would change between a blonde with cleavage coming right at you, an Asian woman with cleavage coming right at you, and an African-American man at some sort of tropical location. A few men were playing along with Michael, and the group already had its own little rapport. I almost lost it when the older guy next to Michael commented that he didn't like one of the dealers and another guy at the table announced that the dealer will hesitate if she has Blackjack. It's a freaking computer, people! Michael cashed out when he was up $25, so with my $10 loss, we left the casino $15 richer.

What a gift for us to be able to just be with each other, even if for only 24 or so hours.