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Mark and I had a great time this weekend. Dinner at Benihana's was absolutely scrumptious. I rediscovered my love for Midori with this great sake martini they made. The outdoor pool at the Omni was heated. Mark had a fun time tossing me around in it. We would've played longer, but a family with loud and rambunctious preteens came down and invaded. As we were leaving, the parents were joking, "Oh, looks like we've ruined their pool time. Just wait till they have kids. They'll get to ruin someone else's evening." It was said without malice and meant to be funny, but I still didn't appreciate it. Maybe because I get the feeling they would've said the same thing in the same tone had their kids thrown toys at us and splashed us - which they didn't do because we left before they could. I suppose I really need to get used to "wizened" parents and their "just you wait" speeches. When Mark and I have a newborn, it'll be the "look out for the terrible twos" lecture. And then will come the "just you wait until 13". And then "you thought that was bad, wait until college". Etc. etc. But I digress.

While at the Omni, we exchanged gifts. I won't list what I got for Mark because only Mark would really understand, and I already look too much like a weirdo as it is. Mark got me: yummy salsa; chocolate fondue; a beautiful, currently out of print Ansel Adams coffeetable book on the Southwest; and a gorgeous handmade journal. I'm afraid to sully its pages with my scientist's scrawl and mediocre musings.

The drive up to Blackhawk was nice, as was the town itself. We wandered around the casino, figuring out what kind of slots and table games they had (Colorado is a limited-stakes gaming state - that means very few table games and no roulette, much to Mark's dismay). We joined a player's club, and earned enough points for a free breakfast. The hotel also had quite a selection of movies (get your minds out of the gutter, we only watched "Holes"....no, the Disney flick, not the....I said to get your minds out of the gutter).

Sunday we drove to Rocky Mountain National Park by way of some unpaved back roads. And we passed a trail of 20-30 Hummers. I guess Blackhawk is the Sturgis of Hummer Enthusiasts. But RMNP was just gorgeous. Aspens glowing red and gold. Elk being lazy. Mountains imposing. Very nice. Then we stopped into a nice Bavarian restaurant for dinner. I had to keep biting my tongue when our waitress tried to say German words. Spaetlese (SHPAYT-lays-eh) became "spotlezzi" and spaetzle (SHPAYT-zell) became "spatslee". You should've seen the look on her face when I asked for the Berkasteler Kurfurtslay Spaetlese with my proper German pronunciation. I had to point to my selection, and then she said, "Oh, the spotlezzi." (By the way, anyone know how to convince Blogger that there's nothing wrong with an umlaut?)

We finally got home at about 7 last night. And found a message from my darling brother that he would be arriving at 5 AM not 5 PM as originally intended. I felt tired just hearing that message. But I dutifully got up at 5 this morning to welcome my brother and chat with him over a nice breakfast of eggs. Turns out he didn't show up until nearly 8. But, hey, at least I had time to paint my nails. My sleep-deprived lids stopped objecting about an hour or two ago.

So that was my weekend. And, yes, I did get a nice collection of writing ideas this weekend, just as I knew I would. My muse can be predictable that way. I guess I need to plan more romantic getaways with Mark. Aside from the obvious reasons.