First Time....x2

2013_02_23 023, originally uploaded by M'roy.

2014 so far is turning out to be a year of firsts. It also is gearing towards a spontaneous kind of year. I'm loving it so far.

On Saturday our friends' kids stayed over for the night. We volunteered to look after the kids that day because our friends were celebrating a wedding anniversary. Having no close relatives nearby, we thought that it would be nice to let them have time for themselves. It is our belief that husband and wife must spend time alone together for the health of their relationship. I am so glad when I got a call on Friday night as the cats loafed on top of me as I vegetated on the couch watching some tv show asking if I could take in the kids for a few hours. I told him we're eager to take the kids for the rest of the night, handing the hubby the phone so that he could make more convincing. Our friend said he would discuss it with the wifey first and call us back. I knew the wife was willing to leave the kids with us, she was the first one I told that I was willing to get the kids off her hands for the night.

Thus, it happened. My first babysitting "job" overnight where the kids aren't related to me by blood. The kids are 12 and 6 and so it wasn't any trouble at all. The Xbox was a big help, pizza was welcomed and bacon was inhaled. I adore these kids, they've been to the house a few times with their parents and they know the ins and outs of the house. Plus the younger one loves our cats. At 6 years old, he proudly announced he's a cat person!

Their time at home went by smoothly. We brought them to church with us, the older one was doing acolyte duties that Sunday. Of course they got questioning looks when they showed up at church without their parents. So happy I could babysit for friends.

Later after church, the other "first" in my life happened.

A few days before we learned that the Wheel of Fortune mobile is going to conduct auditions in nearby North Bay, at the newly opened Graton Resort and Casino. Since it's only about an hour's drive away we thought it would be fun and totally atypical of us to go and audition. The experience alone would be memorable I thought.

And it was. The line on that Sunday afternoon wasn't nearly as bad. It wrapped around the casino floor, but it moved at a reasonable pace. New to the audition process, I found the whole experience to be fascinating. We were given a piece of paper, a form to fill out, waited in line and then asked to drop our form in a see-through bucket and ushered into a banquet hall. The travelling host was energetic and funny. Then he draw 30 names out of the bucket, 5 at a time and those 5 were to play a Wheel of Fortune game on the stage. The people whose names got called were not guaranteed a slot in the show. I believe they were looking for personality that would be good for tv. The hundreds of names that were not called will get another chance in 2 months when they would draw more names for auditions or chance to get to the show in Los Angeles.

Anyway, it was fun and people were having a good time. I realized that there are indeed so many people addicted and fanatic to the show. I felt out of place there. I am a casual watcher and an average puzzle solver, I had no business being there. As expected I did not get my name called, neither was husband, but we did have the best time.

After the show (another batch of auditioners were being led into the hall), we sat at a penny slot machine. Each of us had $10 to waste on the machine. I lost all of mine and husband's $10 became $55.00 in three spins. Already feeling like a winner we went home with our "winnings" and went searching for some Mexican food.

Fun and tiring weekend.