Party of one.

So I can't remember if this has been discussed or not...

Being the wife of a pilot is an often lonely life. Just like my birthday, Easter, and Memorial Day, I'll be alone on July 4. In years past, you'd find me hanging at some body of water, with a planned visit later to visit a very special birthday girl... my MP. This year, I'll be working. And will come home to an empty house.

Bob and I have been married for a little over a year, and I'm still not used to this lifestyle. Just when I think I am, I throw myself a pity party and regress a smidge. It doesn't help that Bob has been on an irregular schedule for the last 2 months. His training is over and now he's back at the airline with an extremely full schedule.

Sometimes I go back and forth between whether or not I want to be working right now. If I didn't have a job, I could go home and hang with the family, with no urgency (besides Bob and Hank) to come home to. I could take off to where ever (with unemployed BFF, Jess) and not feel guilty about leaving my patients. I fly off to meet Bob for long overnights in parts unknown.

Then I remember how much I adore my job. I think about how much it makes my life meaningful and and important. The things I do at work make a difference in my seniors lives. I think about how miserable I was last summer, unemployed and depressed, just sitting at home.


So tomorrow when you're enjoying family, friends, water, sand, hot dogs, and fireworks, think of me. At work. Making a difference, keeping my patients active and healthy. And then coming home for a pity party. Boo hoo.

Christmas week in pictures.

After attempting to leave Hometown for several days, we finally escaped yesterday. We had to drive to Dallas (4 hours) and catch a flight from there. It was worth it. Someone was very happy to see us.

One of my bffs got her kids a baby bulldog for Christmas and we got to meet her on Christmas night. Theirs died a couple of years ago and the kids wanted another one sooo bad. So, meet Duchess.

Bob was smitten.

Every other year my entire extended family does a massive Christmas Eve function at my g'rents house. This year, Bob was tasked with carving the turkeys. As you can see, Pa trusted Bob with the electric knife, but stood at the ready just in case Bob couldn't handle it. Of course, he did just fine.

Since we were all together on Christmas Eve, we celebrated what would have been my 

Great Grandpa's 100th birthday.

Once all the peeps left, we exchanged gifts as our little family unit. Bob and I are starting a matching Christmas pj's tradition. This year I bought them. Next year he will.

Our stocking haul. We both got tons of crap. We're excellent crap givers. 

Bob got golf sleeves, peanut butter go cups and jelly, hand warmers, a nose hair trimmer, a red solo cup coozie, shaving cream, chapstick, mini tooth brusher things, a "Hot Stuff" spatula, a Pez dispenser (to add to his collection), candy, a "Rules for Husbands" mini book, 

and a mini inflatable unicorn horn.

I got Golf for Dummies, candy, a leg lamp, and the movie "Ted."

But this isn't crap. The leg lamp night light in my stocking... it rocks.

Now that we're back home, we decided we've had enough travel to last us a few days. Its so nice to be all snuggly and warm at home with our favorite kitty!

Small appliance? I think not.

So something happened a few days ago and it's still very much on my mind. Maybe some of you have experienced this...

Thursday we went down to Bob's Aunt and Uncle's house in South Carolina for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a last minute decision since we weren't able to get back to Louisiana for the holiday.

We arrived at their house and they were already cooking. We all hung out in the kitchen, talking, nibbling, cooking. Aunt has a double oven and both were working overtime. I saw casseroles and cookies and pies coming and going from both. All of a sudden it dawned on me... Where's the turkey? There had been a turkey discussion, so I knew there was one involved somewhere. I know there are lots of ways to cook a turkey, so I started asking. Is the turkey being smoked? No. Being fried? No. Being roasted on a spit in the back yard? No. That's when Uncle lead me into the dining room/foyer.

Set up on a large card table, was the largest, most massive microwave I've ever seen. Turns out, it's a 1984 model. So that still begs the question... where's the turkey? IN THE MICROWAVE. They fully cooked a whole turkey IN THE MICROWAVE. Even more fascinating, they wrapped portions of it in aluminum foil. FOIL!! IN THE MICROWAVE. And it didn't blow up. And the turkey fully cooked. IN THE MICROWAVE. I'm obvs still flabbergasted by this.

The turkey was cooked appropriately and tasted very good. I have to say, I still prefer mine fried, but now I have a back up for when the fryer and oven are busy. IN THE MICROWAVE.

Have you ever had a microwaved turkey? I can now say... I have.

Post Thanksgiving Thankfulness.

So now that Thanksgiving is over and done with, and since I missed the majority of November, here's what I've been especially appreciating this month:

1. Recipes passed down from all of my grandmothers and great grandmothers. They are so very helpful and comforting when I'm having a bad day. For example, the last week I've kept my kitchen stocked with chicken and dumplins and peanut butter rice crispies, two of my Mamaw's specialties. It's obvs been a long week.

2. Garden and Gun magazine. I like to be reminded that it's okay to be Southern and to be proud of it. I usually get picked on for my accent and the things I eat. Reading all those articles written by fine Southern peeps makes me feel a heap better, ya'll.

3. World Market. We have quite a bit of stuff in our house from there. I'd say it's my favorite store.

4. Cheese dip. Really from anywhere. And any kind.

5. My snuggly, senile, asshole of a cat, Jack. Captain Snuggles when I need him to be. Feisty when he wants to be. Independent when necessary. It's been a rough 13 years, but we've made it through together.

6. Good hair days. My hair has always been flat, straight, thin, and fine. On those rare days when the humidity is JUST RIGHT, it's not frizzy but has body. Those are great days.

7. My grandparents. They've done more for me than they ever should have. They've bailed me out, cheered me on, and loved me my whole life. As an adult, I appreciate them more than ever. They worked hard and built a business from the ground up, and now they're appreciating the life they made. They inspire me to be more financially responsible, so one day I can do for my grandkids what they've done for me.

8. My Brother Little. He's a moody little shit, but my life would be so incredibly different without him. Even though his bedroom replaced my play room, I still couldn't pick a better brother little. Because of our mutual hatred of talking on the telephone, we rarely have lengthy conversations unless I'm in Hometown. But when we do get together, boy, get ready. Those 5-6 hour talks are amazing.

9. My parents. As different as they are, they've both had a profound affect on my life and still do to this day. It seems like we're all still growing up and ever changing, but our relationships stay constant. There isn't a single second of the day that I can't pick up the phone and tell them anything in the world.

10. Bob. He's my best friend, my cheerleader, my therapist, my first thought in the morning, and my last thought at bedtime. Being together now makes all the previous years seem wasted, although we both know we learned a lot from our past mistakes and relationships. We've been married for (almost) 7 months, and even now, a whole lifetime doesn't seem long enough to be with him. I'm so excited to see what the rest of our life together holds. If the last 10 years (and few months) are any indication, it'll be full of sarcasm, love, and enough snuggling to make even the most hopeless romantic puke for days. And cheese dip. And Jack.

Daddy's girl.

To the coolest guy I've ever known, my Daddy. 

Happy Father's Day!

Memorial Day of memories.

So we spent the weekend in Houston with Bob's sister Carly, her husband Frank, baby SJ, and their parents, Senior and Mary. The boys played golf a couple of days and Carly planned lots of cool excursions to keep us all busy. It was great weekend hanging out with them, we got to see lots of interesting things, and ate lots of good food.

Speaking of good food, if you're in Houston (airport-ish area...IAH, not Hobby), go to Jumbo Geaux's. Omg. Best cajun food outside of Louisiana. It helps that the owners/cooks are from Louisiana, but still. Amazing. Crawfish tacos. Catfish Opelousa. Holy crap. Just go. Pick anything off the menu. You can't go wrong.

Bob was thrilled at his own ingenuity. He attached his golf bag to his carry on. I married a smart one, yes I did.

On the ferris wheel at the Kemah Boardwalk, where we spent quite a lot of time. It's so cool down there. It makes me wish Charlotte had some waterfront.

Sweet SJ coming down the slide at the Houston Children's Museum, which was by far the best children's museum I've ever been in. So very cool.

We went to Johnson Space Center and the whole family landed the shuttle simulator. Here's Bob's turn. Of course, once everyone had completed their turn on the novice level, Bob did it again on the pro level. And landed the damn thing. Show off.

A rocket outside the Saturn V building.

The San Jacinto Monument.