Mab of Dream

I woke early and did one of those 'OMG I'm in Vegas' sitting ups within the first second. I sat there grinning, then decided to go and find caffeine and nicotine. The clock said it was just past 8am, but I wasn't wise to the fact that it was an hour out at that point. It was actually just past 7am.

I dressed and went down to find myself the only one up. I inspected Shonna's kettle, but it was the sort on the hob, not plugged into the wall, and I didn't trust it not to whistle loudly and wake the whole house up. I was still trying to impress them, so I figured waking them all up with a shrill whistling was out. So I went out for a fag to think about it.

It was so peaceful out there! Warm, beautiful. I went on tip-toe to peer over the wall and discovered something which looked like a cut, but without the water. I later learned it was a run for flash floods. I grinned at Shonna's 'hood for a bit, then finished the fag and went inside. I'd decided on a glass of water. Got that and sat at the computer, which is always switched on, to look at e-mails. I found that I'd got over 700 in there. I was just going to answer the first one, when I caught the glass of water and knocked it everywhere.

OH SHIT!

I scrambled for a tea-towel. Couldn't find one. Found a sponge and got it up, but in the process knocked the water over again. It was going all over their papers, heading for their keyboard. I whipped the photos out of harm's reach with one hand and dammed the flow of water with the sponge with the other hand. I considered myself dead as soon as Shonna and Stephane got up. I cleaned the whole mess up and took things outside to dry. The desk looked very clean when I'd finished, but also very empty. It hadn't reached the keyboard, but about half a pint of water had been on that desk.

Before I could worry myself into a panic attack, I heard a sound and there was Shonna with a big grin. 'Hello, cariad!' She came over with a hug attached. 'You're still here!' I gushed out about the water incident and she just laughed at me. 'Don't worry about it.' By the time I went outside to show her what was wet, they had all dried! :-o Yep, it's warm out there!

Poor Shonna had to go to work. I really felt for her throughout this time, because I remember how excruciating it was when I was at work while Georgia was in Wolverhampton. First we had a breakfast of pink things and lots of tea and coffee. The kettle doesn't whistle.

Once Shonna was gone, I sat at the computer and worked my way through some e-mails. Chelle 'phoned all excited, but she had her grandson and so couldn't come and play. We weren't sure if Corey was coming to get me or not - in the excitement of the night before, that hadn't been established - so we potted around for a bit waiting after leaving a message on her answerphone.

It was soooo good being there! I finally understood what Georgia had been trying to say in Wolverhampton. Just because a 'hood is familiar to you, it doesn't mean it's not a different world to someone who's travelled halfway across the world to be there. I was in this legendary place, with these legendary people, and I would have been content to just sit there in wonder. I remember desperately thinking where I could take Georgia, after apologizing for her being in Wolverhampton in the first place, and her smiling that gorgeous smile of hers and saying, 'I'm just happy to be here.' Yes, Georgia, I get it now! Sitting in the Gariepy's house... yes! I get it!

Stephane had just invited me out to lunch, when Corey 'phoned. She'd been at her chiropractor, which I think is something to do with her neck. I did ask, but I don't think she understood what I was saying at the time, seeing as she said, 'Yes' and grinned at me in response to 'so what's a chiropractor?' But that was later. She said she'd meet us at the restaurant and off we toddled. But first, I think this was the moment when I took this great photo of Stephane and William.

William is such a brilliant baby. For a start he's far cuter than the baby on the 'Huggies' nappy bag; then he has that killer smile; and he spends more time snorting and laughing at you than crying. I could munch both him and Elen up, they are such beautiful children.

Stephane took me to Marche Bacchae, which was established by French Canadians to teach the Americans about wine. ;-) You walk through a huge wine cellar, before reaching the seats out back, overlooking a man-made lake. We ate there and I discovered that the waiters just keep coming and filling up your drinks. I later discovered that this happens everywhere, in every restaurant, cafe and diner in America, but it was a surprise the first time it happened.

We had just finished eating when there was a beam of Corey through the window of the restaurant. She was bouncing before she even got outside, and I didn't have time to worry about whether I was going to babble or do something stupid before she was there and we were hugging like long-lost sisters.

We sat out there for an hour or so, I think, canting away. I learned how both Stephane and Corey had come to be in Vegas from their respective homelands. I learned some Californian Valley Girl talk, but I couldn't quite get the right inflection on the 'God' in 'Oh! My gOd'. I didn't get that until Friday, when Pixie explained it was gawd.

Then Corey had to go to get Sean; and we had to go to change William and get Elen, then Shonna. But first, I had a massive shock. A couple went by and paused at the door, and the wench looked at William and asked about twenty questions - how old is he? What nappies does he wear? etc etc She told Stephane about her own four month year old son. That just wouldn't happen in Britain! If someone sees a cute baby, they might nod, smile or say, 'He's cute', but there wouldn't be a whole conversation about it with a complete stranger. I caught myself staring and just smiled. It was refreshing, even as it was disconcerting. I found myself inwardly tensing and thinking, 'You touch that babby and I swear to God I'll...', then slapping myself inwardly, because this isn't Wolverhampton and she was genuinely friendly. Besides, Stephane and Corey seemed quite at ease.

It was a bit of a wake up call on the general differences between Americans and the British. I'll do a later blog on that, but suffice to say here that I saw in wonder that most of the Americans I encountered were the nicest, most genuine race of people I've ever met. I expected that of the Grove and families, but the rest of the population...? Got it.

We picked up Elen, then drove across Vegas to Tomcat, via a carpenters to get their repaired chairs. The only time in Vegas that I remember thinking that the sun was too hot was in a traffic jam on that journey. It was only 10 mins, but the sun was burning my bicep through the window. I just put my hand over it and carried on with the wide-eyed look where I am stance of before. It really is a different world.

I had to smile at Shonna's office. I've seen it before, just not in ways you could explain to muggles. ;-) Then hehehe I was in a car with Shonna! *grin* *grin*

Shonna took us straight to Chelle's flat. CHELLE IS GORGEOUS! Chelle is the only one I got wrong, in how she looked, because I was expecting her to be heavier and more mumsy looking. Nope, she looks like a model. She is so stunning! I was out the car and happy dancing as she ran down the steps, and then hugging her. I love Chelle to bits! Another creature from legend, stepped from a storybook. I've known her for four years now, e-mailing all that time.


William was getting antsy and the bottle just wasn't cutting it, so after a bit of canting, we started back to Shonna's. We nipped into Albertson's (their supermarket) to get veggie food for me, but came out with something totally different. LOL The kids needed feeding and settling, so it was home then.

They were soon abed, worn out, then Shonna and I canted until the early hours, still both in utter shock that I was there. We were still canting when Stephane returned from work, with my athame still in its box in his hand. That had been posted out to the Bellagio about three weeks previously, as I didn't think I'd get it through baggage on the plane. (I could have and I did on the way back, though I wasn't searched on the way back.)

WOW! I WAS IN VEGAS!

yours
Mab
xxxxx