So a friend of mine is home visiting from Alberta. Since I usually only get to see her once a year or so, I have tried to monopolize her time here as much as possible.

Last night, she suggested that I go to the Rideau Carleton Slots with her and her mom. I worked at 9 am this morning, but I figured that one late night couldn't hurt all that bad... right?

Wrong. I finally strolled into my house at 4:27am. First I stared at my clock in disbelief. I surely couldn't comprehend that we were there for almost 5 hours. Then I tried to force myself into dreamland, but my brain wouldn't shut off, and I kept hearing dings and whistles in my head.

I probably fell asleep around 5:30. And woke up at 7:45. UGH.

As I stared at myself in the mirror while brushing my teeth, trying to figure out why I had no makeup on one eye and a near perfect application on the other, I had an epiphany. I am not 18 anymore. I don't even fall into the same age bracket when filling out most forms. I used to think that those brackets were arbitrarily chosen, but I am starting to think that they divide those 18 year olds who are able to function on 2 hours of sleep from the rest of us. Who feel like absolute dogshit unless a minimum of 6 hours is attained. And I didn't even drink last night. I doubt getting out of bed would have been an option if I had.

While on the topic of casinos, last night I came to the conclusion that I most likely have a mild case of attention deficit disorder (ADD for you hip lingo people). And if I don't, I am left wondering how people who actually do suffer from it manage to go into casinos. Half of the night I was looking all around me, watching lights flash, bells chime, things beeping, and general mayhem of the casino floor. My attention was usually only drawn back to my own machine when it raised a commotion to remind me that it was my hard earned paycheque I was giving away.

The night wasn't a total loss though; I ended up making just over $300. This comes in handy because I spent all but $40 of my paycheque yesterday to buy a waterproof camera to take in a kayak. Oh, and I did this on a penny machine. I was up over $400 at one point... but I never manage to quit when I am so far ahead. I guess that is part of how casinos make their money.

After my shift today I am off to my cottage for the rest of the civic holiday long weekend. To all you non-Canadians: they give us one long weekend per summer month in Canada. I suspect this being a bribe due to the lack of online shopping retailers who ship to Canada. I'll be back with pictures. And hopefully one of my relatives (or me) will do something stupid hilarious so I can regale you with laughter.