Yesterday turned out to be our best day here so far. Definitely a much-needed, fun break for both of us! We went to the Thunder Valley casino out by where he works. We both agree that since it’s going to take months to save up for a place anyway, we might as well have a life at times while we’re waiting.

I came to believe something stripped me of my powers, between getting sick and not being able to influence much lately, although I did recently win a T-shirt and a couple of CDs. Then Tom reminded me that I always have trouble when we first move, which has seemed to be the case in the past. I remember how bad I was when we first went to Oregon as far as influencing things for the better was concerned. I could still sense trouble coming, but I couldn’t do much to prevent it.

First Tom showed me the “Emerald City,” the newer part of Roseville. The weather was perfect, cool and cloudy. A nice change from the bright sun and intense heat. While they have your typical tooth houses everywhere, they sure were gorgeous! It’s like they built the whole section at the same time. Everything was brand new. All the houses, the businesses, everything. I love those 2-story stucco houses with tile roofs. Since we could never go rural again anyway and have some acreage around us, some of these tooth houses may be worth a little noise as long as it wasn’t so extreme that I was getting woke up regularly or having my concentration distracted from my work. Even parts of Lincoln and Rocklin were appealing. We both know we don’t want to live in Sacramento. Tomorrow we’re going to call one of the places for rent just to get an idea of what they go for. We’re paying a little over $1200 here, so while we could pay that much, most places want you to make your rent a few times over. We would prefer to find a place not as dumpy as Oregon, but not too ritzy either which would leave us with hardly any extra money. We’d prefer to keep it around $800 so we have money leftover.

Anyway, the casino was gorgeous! Crowded, but full of all kinds of bright, colorful slot machines and other games. Much nicer than Arizona’s Harrah’s. Like most Western casinos, it was on an Indian reservation, but I don’t know what tribe it is.

I was doubly shocked by one of the women who worked there who told me I was very pretty and had very pretty eyes. While I’ve received compliments on my eyes and hair all my life, that’s not something you expect to hear at nearly 42 years of age. And I’m especially not used to hearing it from someone who wasn’t half bad-looking herself. She was tall, dark and lovely with the straight, thin hair I wish I had. It sure beats getting compliments from guys, especially those old, balding, potbellied perverts.

I first tried to influence a nickel machine we put a couple of bucks into to no avail. Then we went to a Denny’s-like restaurant and had an awesome breakfast. He got a ham and cheese omelet and I got steak, eggs, hash browns and pancakes. Next, I tried to influence a penny machine but had no success there either, so it was off to check out the gift shop and admire this shiny pink gem hanging on a purple ribbon. After a few minutes of that and another bathroom stop, Tom encouraged me to try influencing him at poker, and I found that I could! I only won $20, but it was nice for a change and loads of fun. I found it easier to concentrate on the credit amount rather than the cards he was trying to get.

Then I got to get a good laugh at the Klammers this morning when I checked and saw that they froze!