More from AC

I volunteered to watch my nephew in the hotel pool for a while so his parents could have some free time. I just brought some crochet work with me. He had a great time and it was fun to see all the kids get together for "Marco Polo." They enjoyed each other even though they were strangers. We adults could learn from them:

Later on I went back to the slots. I won some, lost some, but came out ahead because of the free room. Here is a picture of one of my vouchers, from a $20 bet:

Sorry it's upside down.

I don't know why, but I found these two statues in the distance to be really funny. Just two dudes hangin' out!

The front of our hotel, from the Boardwalk:

Mike and Me, on the Beach

Here we are under the umbrella Mike's brother John rented, just after walking along the water!

Atlantic City

My bil got us two nights free in Atlantic City, at Bally's. We went with John, Noreen and our nephew John Joseph. We were there from Monday to today. I enjoy the slots, and we allow ourselves a certain amount to play with. I was up and down and up...but stayed within my 'budget.' I said as long as I came home with $20 in my wallet, I was happy. If you allow that the room would have cost us $400, and we barely lost half of that, we still came out ahead.

Frankly, if you go to Atlantic City thinking you're going to make money, you're nuts. I found two machines that let me win quite often (and got upset if someone else was sitting there!), and it's the thrill of winning that makes me happy, not the money.

Of course, there's a beautiful beach and a nice boardwalk! We walked along it each day and hit the beach yesterday. I can say I got my feet wet by the Atlantic Ocean this year, LOL!

Here is the view of a sunset outside our window. 

We enjoyed ourselves so much that Mike wants to go once a month next summer season. It's less than a four-hour drive in good traffic and we will get perks for free rooms and food. 

Lunch Today

Mike and I met John, Noreen and John Joseph for lunch at Chili's today. We really enjoyed ourselves, as usual!
On the way home, there was a big accident on Elwood Road. It looks like a woman rear-ended a bus. Her whole front end was completely smashed in. She was in her seat looking totally dazed so I'd guess the airbag hit her. This was the aftermath, so there's no telling what really happened. The bus might have stopped short for some odd reason. I hope the woman will be okay!
Mike and I are looking forward to our trip to Atlantic City next week!

Nicky helping out

This is what happens when you get a kid out of bed to mow the lawn:

He does it in his bathrobe!

This was Saturday. Mike said Nick did the front lawn, too (Mike usually does that) and even asked what else he could do to help.

I had to take this when he wasn't looking, of course.

Sushi with the kids

Katherine, Michael and I all went to Aki last night. The food there is remarkable but omg, it is very expensive! I paid for Katherine because she's in dire straits these days. She hasn't been working Sundays, where she gets time and a half. But fortunately, she says, she starts again in a week or two. She said she didn't realize how much that extra pay helped.

It was funny, Michael was trying to remember a song he really liked from the 80s. He said it was one of his favorites and the video had something to do with a tornado. Turns out, the song is "Sara" by Starship, and it was one of Katherine's favorites, too! I haven't heard it in years and will have to find it on Youtube.

We went to Bed, Bath and Beyond afterwards. I didn't get anything exciting, just some little things like a new pair of latex gloves for the kitchen.

On our way home, we witnessed a truck with a trailer-hitch (holding a backhoe!) have a blow-out. Not only that, the axle broke. It made quite a noise! There was a car stopped behind it and two young women got out, but fortunately they looked okay.

A few days ago, Long Island hit a weather-related record. We got about a foot of rain in less than 24 hours. It's the most recorded for that time period in all of recorded New York history! Mike and I woke up to about a half inch of water in our downstairs. Today is the first day the house is dry enough that it doesn't smell bad. The dehumidifier and shop-vac were put to good use!

We were lucky, though. Others on Long Island had really serious flooding that ruined property and cars. I'm glad we live on the North Shore, which is much higher up than the South Shore. Fortunately for John and Noreen (we went out to lunch with them Wednesday, with little John), they had no flooding at all.

General Updates

There are two guys downstairs putting up sheet rock over the crummy old ceiling. Whatever they do, it's a big improvement. They've been working steadily since 3:30--3 hours.

My sil Noreen's mom passed away this weekend. Mike is at the wake. I stayed home because of the work being done but will go to the funeral tomorrow. Eileen has suffered from dementia for several years and has been in a home. She fell and broke her hip last week, then went into a coma. Sad as it is that she died, at least she didn't linger, suffering, for too long.

I lost a pound so far on this diet. Still not so sure about it.

My raccoons visit every evening around 9 pm. I'm not sure how long the babies stay with Mama. One of them is a little aggressive to the others and his mother. They snort like pigs when they growl. But they are still adorable.