A Teacher and Her Love of Books

I have this problem where I own far to many books for my own well being. It has gotten to the point where I have to skirt through and around them for my floor has become a makeshift obstacle course.

I decided on Saturday morning I needed to take action. So, I sorted through the mountains of literature and decided what I was going to keep and what I was going to donate or sell.

This was a difficult purge. Not only do I love to read books, I love how they look. What they stand for. To me, no house is as attractive nor as pleasing as one that includes a library.

I decided to keep all the children/teen books because I figure I can have them in the hypothetical future classroom. That is how I justified keeping a huge tote stuffed to the brim, and I'm sticking with it.

There were some books I decided to sell online. And by some I mean six. Six out of the hundreds. About 1/3rd I'm donating to a used book store. The rest I'm keeping. Really, I just need to be able to organize it in a way that ensures I don't break a leg in the middle of the night.

My question to the universe though, what is a fantastic children's/YA book my future classroom can't live without?

Headed Home

We had to wake up at 7am, which was difficult. Not only because we were up later than the night before, but also because we didn't want to return home to reality.

We sent our luggage to a nice man to go to the front desk while we checked out and got breakfast. We went to the same nice lady that gave us the upgrade to check out. We regaled her with stories of our adventures, trying to prolong our departure as much as possible.

I'm not quite sure one can call what we ate in the morning "breakfast". It was more like dessert in the early hours of the day. Torrie had some kind of french toast chocolate mountain topped with whip cream. I had WAFFLES.

The flight home was not worth writing about. It was uneventful, though enjoyable to reminisce with Torrie about our adventures.

I really can't communicate properly how lucky and happy I felt during my time in Vegas. It was so special and I can't wait for my next trip. Thanks again to MTV Canada and Sony Music Canada for the best birthday present ever.

Saturday Night's Alright With Me

Torrie and I fell asleep Friday night as soon as we got home. Which compared to some Vegas goers would be an early turn in, I know. But you try to run on 3 hours sleep after being overstimulated all day by pretty lights and sounds.

We did wake up early though, so that was good. I was so happy we had all of Saturday to walk around and experience all that is Vegas.

Our day began by heading the opposite way that we went the day before. I will say again that there is an awful lot of walking you can do on The Strip.

We made a team decision to go look at the stalls called Tix For Tonight to see what kind of deals we could get for that evening. We pretty much had our heart set on a Cirque du Soleil show, but there is about 6 that you can choose from so we did have our options open.

It appeared that other people had similar ideas when it came to getting tickets in the early morning. We waited in a line for about 45 minutes, waiting just to enter the building to see what tickets we could get. I was getting hungry considering I could smell the Denny's that was located right beside our lineup. Luckily it wasn't raining at that point.

We chose to see Cirque's show "KA". Which was probably one of the best choices we have ever made.

For breakfast we went to a restaurant located in the shops at the Venetian Grande Hotel Shoppes, called Tintorettos. Both Torrie and I had omelettes, which were delicious, paired with a much needed coffee. Once again the portions in Vegas make it very easy to only eat two meals a day, which was kind to our wallets (though the slots weren't).

Following breakfast we went to places like Treasure Island, Casino Royale, Fashion Show Mall and more. I spent too much money in the mall, but I figured that it was a once in a lifetime sort of thing. I also won like 60 bucks in a Survivor themed slot machine, which I started to play mostly because Survivor is my guilty pleasure.

We got back to the hotel around 6pm, that is how much walking around we did. I then had a swim in the spa tub located in our giant bathroom.

We then headed to the MGM to get our tickets for KA and have dinner. We decided to eat fancy that night, what with me wearing a fancy dress. We went to Wolfgang Pucks Bar and Grill, where we were treated with kindness and served incredible food. Torrie was even quoted saying that "It was probably the best meal I've ever had". He had a rare steak, I had a steak cooked the appropriate amount. I like my steak to be dead.

The Cirque du Soleil show was beyond description. I could attempt to talk about it, tell you all what it was like, however I truly believe it is something you just have to experience. I could have just watched the stage move the whole time and have been happy. It was like some kind of crazy hybrid of Ferngully, Zelda and Madmax. I was in awe the whole time. I have a theatre degree and I didn't spend one moment thinking about what was going on to make everything happen. I was just sucked into the story and the crazy flying people.

I then bought way too much at the KA gift shop, that was conveniently located right outside the doors of the theatre.

We went home with smiles on our faces, though the reality of going home was sinking in. I fell asleep almost immediately, while Torrie stayed up and thought about our day.

THE SHINS! THE VEGAS!

Talk about a view from the top. The Shins concert was on the roof of the Cosmopolitan Hotel. What I learned was that The Shins concert is the first in a series of summer shows, many of which I would enjoy going to. Perhaps I'll have to win another contest. Heh.

Though it was freezing (isn't Vegas supposed to be warm?) it was a ton of fun. We got there and unfortunately The Shins didn't begin right away because of rain. Torrie and I made some very nice friends when we were huddled somewhat uncomfortably close underneath some kind of shower contraption that I had first mistaken as a heater. The rain did stop though, and the set began. The band had great energy and made sure to joke around about the weather. I personally love "Simple Song" so I was super happy when they began to play it. James Mercer had a very cool stage presence, he was relaxed but it was still clear he was having a lot of fun. If I had any musical talent at all, I would aspire to be like Jessica Dobson. It was such a cool atmosphere with so many huge fans. I heard so many people say that they had came from all over the place to Vegas to see the band specifically. I felt so lucky to be there with Torrie, on top of an incredibly tall hotel looking at the lights of Vegas, listening to The Shins, thanks so Sony Music and MTV Canada. Click here for the wikipedia page about The Shins, and here The Shins setlist that they played in Vegas and you can see for yourself what we had the pleasure of hearing. It was truly a magical time, even though I wished I had worn pants.

First Day in The Vegas

I have this issue where I get really enthusiastic and excited about anything that is out of the ordinary. One might think that this is a good quality, however when one is trying to sleep before waking up at 3:30 am to catch a flight to Las Vegas.

I think I probably slept two hours. My boyfriend, whom was accompanying me on the trip--probably got less.

We were still able to wake up at the appropriate time, though I'm pretty sure I was just running on autopilot.

We caught our flight at 6am, had a stopover in Seattle and then arrived in Vegas around 10:45. I still was in shock. The weirdest thing was that Torrie and I hadn't seen each other since my birthday on Sunday. We weren't going to Vegas at that point, and then when we saw each other again we were heading to Nevada. I was so grateful to MTV and Sony, as well as just fate in general. It sounds hockey but if it had happened on any other weekend we wouldn't have been able to go. Honestly it was like the stars aligned in order for us to go.

When we got there I had a case of total overstimulation. There was literally way too much to look at. The cab driver gave us a coupon book which became my primary concern during the taxi ride to our hotel. Torrie was a little bit less overwhelmed so he was able to look at the sights.

The sheer size of Vegas is just shocking. Everything looks so close together because it is so huge. However, once you start traveling you realize that it is actually not as close as you would think.

We headed to Caesar's Palace first so we could get our room set up.

When we arrived in the lobby it was absolutely incredible. Neither Torrie or I had ever been to Vegas so our mouths and eyes were wide open.

The lady at the desk was very helpful, as well as incredibly nice. I gave her the whole story about how it had been my birthday, I had won the contest and we were both Vegas Virgins. Because she was so nice, she gave us a complimentary upgrade. Little did I know that that meant we would be staying in a king sized bed, on the twenty sixth floor, with a bathroom the size of my apartment.

Thank you, kind lady. Thank you so much.

The first day was spent primarily looking around and walking. We went to the MGM Grand, Planet Hollywood, Cosmopolitan and as many other hotels as we could look at. We ended up eating at a place called the "Studio Cafe" at MGM.

Let me just say one thing. The food in Vegas is designed to give you some kind of health issue. The portions are ridiculous. Just incredibly enormous. And delicious. I'm a foody, so it was glorious.

I am also a napper. I enjoy naps on a daily basis. I don't function so well on less than 7 hours of sleep. My boyfriend does not have this affliction, but even he was pretty tired come 4 pm. We decided to head back to the hotel and spend one precious hour hanging out in the king sized bed. I immediately fell asleep. At least when I woke up I was rejuvenated enough to get ready and go to the Cosmopolitan to enjoy the musical soundings of The Shins, courtesy of my friends at MTV and Sony Music.

Best Birthday Yet

It isn't often that I receive phone calls from Ontario so needless to say I was curious when the area code popped up on my cell phone. I had been entering the MTV Canada and Sony Music flyaway contest to see The Shins in Las Vegas for probably about two weeks, every day. Not that I expected to win though.

I answered the phone with my tried and true customer service voice (you know the one, its about an octave higher than regular) hoping that I wouldn't have some kind of telemarketer telling me "this is your captain speaking".

"Hello" I said.

"Hi, is this Kim Phillips?" said a nice sounding lady on the other line. This seemed promising.

"Yes, I'm Kim"

"Hi Kim, I'm calling from MTV Canada. Do you remember entering a contest to go to Vegas and see The Shins?"

OH MY GOD HOLY MOTHER OF MAN I SURE DO REMEMBER ENTERING I ENTERED EVERY DAY!..... "Yes, I do think I remember"

"Well I am here to tell you that you won! I see it was your birthday yesterday, happy birthday!"

There was no more keeping my cool. "OH MY GOSH. HOLY. OH. REALLY?"

"Yes! Can you go this Friday? Do you have someone you can take?"

"I think so! YES. Of course yes. Okay. Yes."

By this time I was just sitting in the middle of my bed shaking. The homework I had been attempting to do was not going to get accomplished, I could guarantee that.

It went from there in a whirlwind sort of fashion. The nice lady on the phone basically became my best friend and we corresponded through email making sure that we could set everything up for Friday.

What did I win? Well. Round trip airfare for two to Vegas, leaving Friday and returning Sunday. 500 dollars spending money and 2 tickets to see the Shins at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, and two nights stay at Caesars Palace.