New Year in Pictures, Destin, Biloxi, Processing for the Next Poker Event & Cat Stick.

So I didn't get out a blog-post-a-day after all. I got pretty damn close though.. I was 2 short. I can live with 2 short. I am going to make a greater effort to update while on the road this year. I found it all to be so overwhelming last fall that unfortunately, the blog fell to the back burner.

Today's entry will be mostly in pictures.  Either to sum up my travels, or share something I found funny. Anyone who has ever spent more than ten minutes in my company knows that I photograph EVERYTHING.  With that being said, let's start with the really bizarre. Every day I checked my blog hits, and the traffic sources. The "day" on my blog starts over around 8 pm for some odd reason. This screen shot was taken about two hours into the new "day" today.

Four separate people wanted to see Tunica Mississippi residents, NAKED.
I don't even need to explain why this is disturbing.

New Years Eve ended up being an impromptu trip to Destin, FL with my Mom to visit my sister and her boyfriend Marvin.  It was our first time meeting him, and I can say with no uncertainty that I absolutely adore him.  He's good to my sister, he's funny, he's well mannered and he's smart. I give him 2 thumbs up. I hope they get married and give me nieces and nephews.

Bex and Marvin at the Cactus Flower Cafe in Navarre, FL. Marvin is being deeply entertained by...

This guy. Who just randomly approached our table and started talking
excessively about sidebets and housecleaning. Anywhere else,
this might be scary.. in the South, it's consider "hospitable".

Bex gave me an iPad2 for Christmas, which is beyond awesome. I've wanted an iPad since they first came out.. an even more so on the road, and now having one to play with is even more delightful than anticipated. 

Mom at a cool Irish Pub called McGuire's in Fort Walton Beach, FL.
They claimed to have over $1 million in $1 bills stapled to the walls and ceilings.

I had the traditional Irish Shepherd's Pie. It was fantastic, and worth every penny of the $16.99.
P.S. Thanks for dinner, Bex and Marvin!

I only went to the beach a couple of times, but while I was there, I struck cosmic gold. I had just finished reading Cracked.com's article on the 6 greatest discoveries science can't explain, only to step out of my car and find what I classify as the 7th.

To you, this probably looks like a bamboo shoot stuffed with feathers. Because, well, it is.
To me, it looks like the single greatest Christmas present I could have gotten CatCat.

It passed the initial taste test.

He managed to shove it under the door, and then fought bitterly to retrieve it.

Now in Biloxi, it's still his favorite toy.
Score one for Me!

Anyway, after a few days on the beach.. I was then off to New Orleans to drop Mom off for her return trip to Memphis, and to pick up my roommate Amy Brady. I decided to stop on Bourbon St for lunch, only to realize it was the day of the Sugar Bowl. I run good. 3 billion people, all drunk and running around in team colors, descended on Bourbon St about the same time I was far enough down the road to not turn back. Over an hour and a half later, I made it to the end of the relatively short street, full of creative adjectives about New Orleans.

We eventually made it back to Biloxi, got checked in at the Studio Six and crashed. 

Sleeping is a joint effort, 'round here. Apparently boobs make an excellent catbed.

Today was an 8 am "cattle call" for gaming.  Basically, all of us had to be at the office to process bright and early.. and because I lingered to provide shuttle service to the dealers who don't have cars, I drew the absolute last number for processing.. and got to hang out for more than a few hours. It isn't like I had anything else to do though. 1 pm, paperwork.. 3 pm mass drug test.  Nothing gets you acquainted with your new coworkers like organized urination.

From the literal job description for my job.
Must be able to constantly sit.
This one might be a challenge, boys and girls.

Normally tomorrow would just be wasted time.. with only a 4 pm meeting, and not actually starting work until Friday, but Scott is coming down to stay the weekend with me. It'll be nice to actually visit with him BEFORE starting work. Then, Sunday, if all goes as planned.. Steven is going to come down and spend a few days with me as well. I'm a lucky girl who has friends willing to drive 6 hours to hang out with her. It couldn't possibly have ANYTHING to do with the free hotel room on the beach, while a major poker tournament is going on, right? ;)

Every year on New Years Day, I take an extreme closeup face/hair picture in natural lighting.. so that someday I can put them all together in a book and figure out exactly when everything fell apart. Or at least, when the wrinkles really set in.  I'll be 32 in exactly six months. Though I won't bore you with all of them, the first picture is from New Years Day 1999. I have no idea why I did such horrible things to my eyebrows back then. Or dyed my hair that color. The second is from 2012. Age. It's amazing how small, and yet radical the changes are.

19.

31.

2011 was a fantastic year for me. I have no complaints. Well, no major ones. It was one of the best, most transitional, most exciting and most challenging of my life. I am enjoying aging (so far) and growing as a person. Sure, I have the same resolutions as everyone else.. lose weight, be more charitable, be healthier, show more kindness.. etc. For the most part, though, I am blissfully happy. At least, more often than not.  For 2012, I was to do all of the above resolutions .. and add a few more. I'd like to become entirely debt free, and save 6 months of expenses for emergencies. I'd like to fall blissfully in love, or at least.. deeply in lust. I'd like to go see new and exciting places, and simultaneously spend more time at home.  I have a list I'm compiling, which includes more, but that will have to wait for another blog post. For now, I'm off to bed. <3