Closing Time...

Earlier this month the Sahara (a famous hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip) closed forever.  The closure was announced back in March, when K and I were still living in Las Vegas.  When I heard the news on the radio I told K that we had to go visit it one last time before they closed.

If you don't know much about this hotel, it's one of the last old-school casinos left on the Strip.  (Not including Fremont Street, which is the "Old Strip" where everything is really old... and little rundown.)  Anyway, this casino was like the beginning of Vegas.  I mean, the Beatles played there.

(It's a photo of a photo, so forgive the bad quality.)

These days it's certainly more run-down and has pretty much lost it's appeal among the flashy, new hotels just down the road.  When we stepped inside it felt like we were going back in time:

It was a little bit grimy and dark, but it was kind of amazing to think that this was a place that the Rat Pack hung out at.  Elvis and Ann-Margaret filmed "Viva Las Vegas" here.  Elizabeth Taylor hung out by the pool...

Then...

...and now.

And apparently this guy has been guarding the place since it opened:

And as run-down as it might have become, they had some beautiful chandeliers.

Even though it's glory days were long gone, it was still pretty cool to walk around the hotel and casino one last time before it closed forever.  It's kind of sad that a piece of history will be gone, but I'm sure the space will be re-invented into something amazing, which is kind of the point of Las Vegas, right?

RIP Sahara.  1952-2011

Fun fact: K took me to the Sahara to see a comedy show the first time I visited him in Las Vegas.  It was my 19th birthday!

I can see you!

K and I have been able to video chat fairly regularly since he got settled in in Iraq.  It's made a huge difference in how we cope with being apart (we didn't have any kind of video chat for those 5 years we were long distance) and it makes us both feel a lot better just to see each other.  For some reason I decided to take a screen-shot during our first video chat and then decided to take one each time we talked.  I guess it's the closest thing we have to taking a picture together... you know, because if he wasn't gone, we would be taking pictures together of all the fun stuff we would be doing.  Here's a few of our screen-shots...  (And please ignore the fact that I always have a billion windows open on my desktop.)

One of our first chats... he was still traveling in the U.S.

Sometimes we both smile.

Sometimes we make faces.

And sometimes we're both REALLY tired (so I make faces).

Flowers

On Friday this pretty purple box showed up with my name on it:

And inside were TWO DOZEN ROSES.

And I'm glad I took that first photo of the roses with the vase they came in... because about two minutes later I accidentally knocked it over and my pretty vase shattered.  The roses are now happily resting in this vase:

But at least I still have the gorgeous flowers.  I'm a pretty lucky girl.

Air Force Love

I have encountered many a terrible Commander in my Air Force history as both an Airman and the spouse of an Airman.  Not to cast a shadow over all of the good leaders myself (or K) have had, but mostly they have left a certain bitter taste that makes me expect them to be uncaring and unreachable to their Airmen and spouses.  But yesterday, K's Commander did something which reminded me that even though I have had some bad experiences, there are leaders in our military that genuinely care about their troops and their families.  He reminded me that they are people too, and that they can show concern over the well-being of those they are charged to lead.

What did he do?  He sent me a handwritten letter regarding K's deployment, and I would like to share it with you:

S-

   Thank you for the sacrifice you & K are making for the Air Force and for our country.  I know it is not easy to send a loved one so far away, especially when they could potentially be placed in harm's way.  Please know K is well-trained & well-equipped to handle his duties while deployed, and, even though it may not seem that way now, he will be back home soon.  I know you are very proud of K, as am I.  If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call me.

                                                                                                                   -Lt. Col. S.W.

As simple as it was, the fact that he even took the time out of his day to write this meant so much to me I actually had to read it a few times to savor the gratitude I felt.  I read the note to K that night while we were video-chatting and he felt the same way.  He commented that it was pretty extraordinary for his Commander to do that, considering he wasn't even sure his Commander knows who he is (and certainly doesn't know me).  

I've found it to be much more of a challenge to be a military spouse than I had anticipated, but I am so glad to know that there are members of our military leadership that take us spouses into consideration.  I wouldn't say the bitter taste is gone, but it has remarkably improved.

Two Weeks

Sometimes I think:  "Wow, it's been two weeks!"

And sometimes I think:  "Wow... it's been two weeks."

Can you tell the difference?  No.  That's ok.

One Week Down...

...and it feels like a small victory.  K has been gone for 1 week, as of today.  Sometimes it seems much longer, sometimes it seems like no time has passed.  It's been a lot of changes, a lot of transition, and I've been all over the place emotionally, so I thought I would share some of my thoughts after making it through one week of this deployment:

I am relieved that one week is over.  I have been told that the first and final weeks are the hardest.

I cry a lot less, sometimes I make it a whole day without a single tear!

I have found that I feel disconnected.  My mind is 6 months in the future, when K will be on his way home, but my body is stuck in the present.  This feeling is subsiding, but my mind seems to have trouble reconciling the fact that I still have to endure all of the "now" before I can get to the "later".

I am happy that K finally made it to Iraq after days and days of traveling.  I mentioned this on my Facebook page, but the journey is so unorganized, it seems like he had to go to the moon before he could go to Iraq.  We got to video chat after he finally made it to his destination, and I could see the exhaustion in his face.  Poor guy.  At least he's settling in now.

I'm getting used to being around my family a lot.  I haven't spent this much time with them in awhile, so it's taking some adjusting.  Also, the fact that I am in their home and not mine has been a transition.  It means less privacy, more noise, and having to remember to shut my door so that the cats don't take naps on my pillow (I seem to have developed some allergies).

It feels weird to be back in my hometown.  I am constantly running into people I know... old neighbors, people from high school.  Las Vegas was such a big city and we lived in our own little corner so I rarely ran into people I knew, but it seems to happen here every time I leave the house.

I miss my husband terribly, but I am so grateful for iChat and Skype.  I get to see him every now and then, and being able to see him let's me know that he's still real and he's okay.

One final thought: I am very thankful for all of your calls, comments, texts and messages over the past week.  The support that you have given K for what he's doing, and to me during this difficult transition, means the world to both of us.  Thank you!!!