The sun is pouring in here in Tahoe. It looks like a gorgeous day. Sheila and Lucy already ran 6 miles around Donner Lake. I am just waking up. I was up from 4:00-6:00 am again and feel a bit sleepy. Sheila was sweet and brought me a latte every morning we've been up here. I could definitely stay here longer and take some time off. This is my second time in Tahoe. The first time was in 1998 during the winter with Mike and his Microsoft buddies. This visit is much more fun and relaxed. It's absolutely gorgeous here in the summer.
Yesterday was fun. We met up with J, M and the ILs (in-laws), who are visiting for way too long from Australia. I had a very unhealthy lunch; the last in a long time now that I have decided to change my eating habits and take better care of myself. It's a must. I am going to go grocery shopping today and start my new regimen. I just wish I didn't have to work today but such is life since I did get a lot done on Friday with the power outage.
We went to the Biltmore casino after lunch, which was a new adventure for me. It wasn't very busy and Sheila went to play at one of the tables. At that table, there was a couple who I thought came out of a stereotypical soap opera. The woman was dressed like a hooker and was baby talking to the guy who she was fondling. She was some character. When I came over, she was telling Sheila: "oooooh, this is my Marine. He is my good luck charm. I am so lucky to have him. He did so much for me this morning." She just went on an on about stuff none of us cared about. Martha's boobs were falling out of her bright pink halter top. She kept betting and downing her greyhounds.
We continued learning more and more about this "couple" because she loved to talk incessantly. They met on a plane and they were now "best friends with good benefits." Martha asked Sheila to guess how old she is and Sheila is an angel. Martha looked like she was in her 40's. And Sheila, bless her heart, guessed 32 and 28 for the Marine. Martha was in heaven and shared with us that she is 46 and Marine boy was 23. A cougar, we gathered. I wish I could have taken a photo of them but no photos in the casino.
I was amazed at the amount of personal information and detail Martha shared with total strangers. I actually felt sorry for her. She was so proud of being with a 23 year old soldier who was going to Iraq next year telling us: "Justin told me that he is not afraid of dying. He is learning Arabic and I am so proud of him." She grabbed on his dog tags and went on and on about how he let her wear them last night and how sexy they are. That's where I had enough. Dog tags are not sexy. They are very real. Their whole purpose is to identify a soldier in an emergency situation ranging from captivity to death. Having been married to a soldier and having lived with the reality of war most of my life, I lost interest in Martha and her boy toy.
Martha wanted us to go dancing with them in Truckee later that night and Sheila handled it like a charm assuring her we'd be there. I really enjoyed the time with Sheila and Pete but this woman was too much. Finally, they cashed out. And we all had a big laugh. But after 5 minutes they were back buying chips and continuing on with the same crap. As we were leaving, Martha won and I just looked at her and told her that she should probably get back to her dogs and really cash out. I bet they are still at the casino right now.
We had a great evening just chilling and watching 2 really bad movies. There was no dancing for us.
I am laughing so hard remembering the experience. Thank goodness we don't know people like that! I may need to link to your blog, good stuff...
Posted by: Sheila | September 07, 2008 at 02:20 PM
What a funny experience! I feel sorry and embarrased for the gushing gambling woman. But I'm sure she had no clue that her behavior was so "amusing".
Posted by: Vicky | September 12, 2008 at 10:54 AM