VEGAS TRIP

I don't get Vegas.  I've been there twice--once to recruit a current staff member (who couldn't get to us in Traverse City fast enough so I traveled to meet him) and most recently to accompany my daughter to a buying show for our family business that she and my wife run.

While there we were in and out of casinos more times than I care to remember (you can't get anywhere without going through a casino).  As you'll notice in the photo, we didn't exactly stay at the Bellagio!  But I digress...

Every time I see a commercial for casinos people are amazingly happy--it's a party atmosphere. But every time I went into a real casino I rarely saw happiness.  I saw numbness.  I saw "zombiness."  I saw despair.  But laughter, happiness--even joy?  They were in short supply.  

However, my daughter Krissie and I shared a few moments of hilarity.  I spent $40 to connect to wireless internet in our hotel room.  For all the aggravation we put up with trying to connect they should have paid us.  When I walked in to see Krissie holding my laptop up to the window, rotating it counter-clockwise in hopes of "catching the connection" (here it comes...there it goes)--well, we laughed ourselves sick as she struggled to get an online order placed. 

Somewhere in this there is probably a profound spiritual lesson.  I will let you know when I find it.  For now, I treasure those moments of laughter and love--even in a crazy place like Vegas.  It was so good to see our son and daughter=in-law, who recently moved to Salt Lake City.  And it was good to see our daughter do her thing as a buyer for our family business.  

I love my kids.  I love my wife.  I enjoyed our family business trip, but it's really family that I treasure.   I'm so glad to be home.