That was a big week in The Life of Phil.  That’s not necessarily a good thing either;  I don’t like “big.”  I like “consistent,” thank you very much.  Well, things happen.  I went to a conference in Las Vegas all week, and it was a bit overwhelming.  Too many people, too hot, and, at the end of the day, it was work.  They can host those things wherever they want, try as hard as they want to make them fun, but it’s still work.  And by “hot,” I mean 110+.  BRUTAL hot.  You could hardly breathe outside the hotel.  This is not to say I didn’t have any fun.  One of my friends attended with me, and then our wives showed up mid-week.  Once the conference (mercifully) ended, we had one big party day too.  We got all fancy and rented a cabana down at the hotel pool, and that made for a great afternoon of relaxation.  That’s the way to go, I’ll say that.  No laying out in the sun on blistering hot plastic chairs for these high-rollers.  After that we met up with one of my college buddies who has lived out there since…  Well, since we got out of college.  He (again, mercifully) took us off the strip for a while, and was it ever good to get away from that mess.  We hit the new tiki bar in town first.  Ever heard of a tiki bar?  I surely hadn’t, but then I’m old and uncool.  After that he took us to a Thai food place, which was a wonderful change from the hotels, both in terms of taste and price.  Oh, and I’m sure everyone wants to know the results of our time at the tables.  Well, I don’t gamble, so I took all my money home.  Donette was the gambler of the group.  She dropped a ten-spot in the penny slots.  Gave it one pull, doubled her money, and cashed out.  I guess that makes her the top gambler in the group.

That was an exhausting week, but we still had “obligations” when we got back home.  Saturday was our friend Jana’s annual birthday party.  We’ve been three years in a row now, and it’s always a blast.  They’ve got an incredible back yard, pretty much made for such events.  I went over around noon and threw a bunch of ribs on, then Donette joined me later in the afternoon and we proceeded to enjoy the pool until way-too-late.  Good times.  The ribs came out OK too, much to my relief.  I hate cooking for large groups of strangers…  Too much pressure.

We rounded things out with a trip to some of the local wineries.  It occurred to us we hadn’t been wine tasting in quite some time.  The weather was reasonably nice, and our friends had a new car to squire us about, so we hit the tasting circuit.  We hit several favorites, and tried one new place.  Sunday Funday, indeed.

I’ve got an awful lot of pics from my trip, and the weekend.  I’d split them up into multiple posts, but I always forget.  So, here they are.