While I was in Kyrgyzstan I rarely followed, or cared, about American politics. JG and I have very different political views. I'm a registered Republican, he's a registered Democrat. (Though he'll argue that I'm actually a Libertarian.) We rarely talk about politics, but we did tonight.
I listened unbiased and, overall, I thought the State of the Union address was well done. I was most impressed with his reiterating of parents' responsibility for their children's education and how we need to foster more respect for teachers. Likewise, when it comes time to visit family on the East Coast, how much more appealing would travel by high-speed rail be? America is most innovative when it's driven by incentive. When the stakes are most high, Americans have dug deep and pulled off the seemingly impossible. The sentiment of his speech was well-timed and I hope fostered renewed commitment for compromise across the aisle. Also, I absolutely loved how the President publicly called out educational institutions who have continued to ban ROTC programs and military recruiters after reiterating his promise of the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.' Also, his salmon joke expressing how there are too many government agencies involved in similar missions was pretty clever. (One when it's in fresh water, another when it's in the ocean, and yet another after it's smoked.)
Now the ugly. His analogy -- an overloaded plane flying without an engine that will eventually crash -- used to illustrate how useless slashing a budget is if the wrong spending cuts are made, was very hard to swallow. Any time I visualize a plane crash, in any context, I see the second plane hitting the Twin Towers live. Fair? Probably not, but I'm sure I'm not the only American who feels this way. Additionally, the President went out of his way talking about budget cuts to point out the Department of Defense would not be immune to fiscal responsibility. Unfortunately, the President did this without clarifying our Nation's security will not be jeopardized. This comes just days after learning China most likely developed its most capable fighter with U.S. stealth technology - one piece of F-117 scrap at a time from the fields of Balkan farmers in 1999. Then later the President said the military needed to have the best possible equipment to do its mission ... begs the question: Is that possible if our budget is cut too?
All the talk about future and budget has made me wonder if we're doing everything possible to maximize our family's wealth by spending and saving wisely. Last year, I would have felt funny using the word 'wealth,' but after six months as a guest in Kyrgyzstan I can argue that the poorest of Americans are wealthy in comparison.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
33 Down
Edward and Zachary sang 'Happy Birthday' to me on the phone. It made me miss them even more. My beautiful flower arrangement JG sent me got even more breathtaking as the flowers started to open up. The Facebook status from Saturday morning: "woke up to the beautiful flowers J.G. Buzanowski sent yesterday. Daffodils, my favorite flower because it reminds me of home - we used to have them growing around the house; tulips, one of the featured flowers at our wedding; and eucalyptus, it reminded me of one family vacation when we got eucalyptus oil to help steam out Zach's congestion. Peach lilies and roses - just gorgeous! Thank you, Darling!"
I'm in disbelief I am 33. Mainly because I feel strongly about wanting to get pregnant before age 35. With JG's upcoming deployment I feel like we're in a "now or never" situation. I was actually a little disappointed I didn't find out I was pregnant while being here for a course in Colorado Springs. JG says if I get pregnant in February the baby would likely be born in October - then all five of us would have birthdays one month after another beginning with Edward's in September.
After dinner tonight we stopped at Walgreens. I was thankful. My head cold from last week re-attacked today. Mucinex D was added to my regiment of Zicam and Day/Night Quils. I even bought NeilMed sinus rinse on the recommendation of a classmate. I think I did it wrong, tho. It seemed more of the liquid was coming out the back of my throat instead of out the other nostril. Gross, eh?
As long as I'm better before JG flies down. I'm so excited! Not only is he coming for my graduation night, he's flying in two days early! We'll even be flying home on the same flight!
Monday, January 17, 2011
Weekends
When I was deployed, I couldn't even imagine what having a two-day weekend was like. What would I do with all that extra time? I had one weekend at home before I left the following weekend for NCO Academy at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs.
After trying to get settled back into my kitchen my first weekend home I reported to work Jan. 3 to get the rest of my return-from-deployment checklist done. That's when I found out I'd be leaving for the Academy in six days. In that time we managed to fit in getting new brakes on the truck, two trips to military clothing sales, a trip to the tailor, two nights at an indoor water park with adjoining arcade, the best spaghetti sauce I ever made, a hearty chili made with roast, a board game night and a visit with my Aunt Daphne & family.
During that week I met three awesome NCOs. The newly-promoted staff sergeant in our finance office who helped me with my return travel voucher who knows everything there is to know about military travel, pay and benefits; the technical sergeant photographer who just returned from a one-year remote deployment to Afghanistan who you can tell cares about the job and the people he works with including me and I had only known the gentleman for five minutes; and the staff sergeant serving as the command chief's aide who made it possible for another chief on base to give us our NCO Academy pre-pep-talk Jan. 3 as to not interfere with our family's planned mini-vacation.
There are, I think, nine other NCOs from Fairchild AFB here in Colorado Springs. I've met more Fairchild members here and on my deployment combined versus actual people at Fairchild. Crazy, huh?
I'm still adjusting to the time change which is making afternoons difficult to stay awake so I usually drink coffee all day - but I'm dehydrated, I can tell. We're also at a high elevation here and the instructors have been warning us about how we'll feel it when we exercise this week at PT.
Attending the Academy right away is really the best thing for my family and my office. I couldn't imagine being settled and in the grove for two months then come here in March like I was originally scheduled - disrupting whatever routines and responsibilities I would have adjusted to and/or taken over.
The only real disappointment with timing was that the second-row concert tickets I bought JG for his birthday to see Sarah McLachlan the first week of February I'll miss and JG says he doesn't want to go without me. I'm trying to convince him otherwise - we'll see what happens.
JG is planning to fly down to my NCO Academy graduation. I can't wait to see him again. Although we've been spending a lot of quality time on skype this weekend, it's just not the same as actually being there.
As far as the Academy goes I figured I could just blend right in and be under the radar for the next six weeks as I readjusted to being back in the U.S. Well, first day of class they made me the "flight commander" of our 14-person flight based on my date of rank - Dec. 1, 2006. I was very surprised they didn't give the yellow rope to people with line numbers for higher rank of master sergeant.
This weekend was busy - mostly catching up on rest and fun. Friday night I went out with some flight members - Chipotle, Green Hornet and out for drinks; Saturday was the headache reminding me I had too much; Sunday was Panera, waxing, nails and a haircut to ensure my hair fits properly under my flight cap for Tuesday's inspection. And, today, I'm getting my uniform ready and completing two writing assignments.
I plan to take a week of leave when I get home to study for promotion and then again when JG's mom flies out the first week of April. JG and I will be able to do an overnight trip somewhere to celebrate our anniversary. I can't wait! That's probably the best thing about being at the Academy now is that we are assured spending that special day together.
After trying to get settled back into my kitchen my first weekend home I reported to work Jan. 3 to get the rest of my return-from-deployment checklist done. That's when I found out I'd be leaving for the Academy in six days. In that time we managed to fit in getting new brakes on the truck, two trips to military clothing sales, a trip to the tailor, two nights at an indoor water park with adjoining arcade, the best spaghetti sauce I ever made, a hearty chili made with roast, a board game night and a visit with my Aunt Daphne & family.
During that week I met three awesome NCOs. The newly-promoted staff sergeant in our finance office who helped me with my return travel voucher who knows everything there is to know about military travel, pay and benefits; the technical sergeant photographer who just returned from a one-year remote deployment to Afghanistan who you can tell cares about the job and the people he works with including me and I had only known the gentleman for five minutes; and the staff sergeant serving as the command chief's aide who made it possible for another chief on base to give us our NCO Academy pre-pep-talk Jan. 3 as to not interfere with our family's planned mini-vacation.
There are, I think, nine other NCOs from Fairchild AFB here in Colorado Springs. I've met more Fairchild members here and on my deployment combined versus actual people at Fairchild. Crazy, huh?
I'm still adjusting to the time change which is making afternoons difficult to stay awake so I usually drink coffee all day - but I'm dehydrated, I can tell. We're also at a high elevation here and the instructors have been warning us about how we'll feel it when we exercise this week at PT.
Attending the Academy right away is really the best thing for my family and my office. I couldn't imagine being settled and in the grove for two months then come here in March like I was originally scheduled - disrupting whatever routines and responsibilities I would have adjusted to and/or taken over.
The only real disappointment with timing was that the second-row concert tickets I bought JG for his birthday to see Sarah McLachlan the first week of February I'll miss and JG says he doesn't want to go without me. I'm trying to convince him otherwise - we'll see what happens.
JG is planning to fly down to my NCO Academy graduation. I can't wait to see him again. Although we've been spending a lot of quality time on skype this weekend, it's just not the same as actually being there.
As far as the Academy goes I figured I could just blend right in and be under the radar for the next six weeks as I readjusted to being back in the U.S. Well, first day of class they made me the "flight commander" of our 14-person flight based on my date of rank - Dec. 1, 2006. I was very surprised they didn't give the yellow rope to people with line numbers for higher rank of master sergeant.
This weekend was busy - mostly catching up on rest and fun. Friday night I went out with some flight members - Chipotle, Green Hornet and out for drinks; Saturday was the headache reminding me I had too much; Sunday was Panera, waxing, nails and a haircut to ensure my hair fits properly under my flight cap for Tuesday's inspection. And, today, I'm getting my uniform ready and completing two writing assignments.
I plan to take a week of leave when I get home to study for promotion and then again when JG's mom flies out the first week of April. JG and I will be able to do an overnight trip somewhere to celebrate our anniversary. I can't wait! That's probably the best thing about being at the Academy now is that we are assured spending that special day together.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Cookie Sheet
I've been home six days. The longer I'm home, the longer I feel I've been gone. The last few days have been trying. The boys have been wonderful - and other than having to raise my voice only a couple times transitioning with them has been easy. JG and I are fumbling through the motions. Right now, I know he's upset with me because there wasn't any cuddling before bed.
We had Sunday breakfast at Frank's Diner. The boys were really excited to take me and the food was amazing. We sat at the bar and we watched all the food being cooked. Everything was delicious. Nothing could have been cooked better than what it was. We all had a great time.
Then we went to the commissary where I used great restraint - pardoning the produce aisle. I was rushing as quick as I could, knowing JG wanted to get home to the Giants game. Sometimes being and aisle or two ahead of the cart. I kept brushing off the annoyance of not having a place to put my picks, and we were finally at the end of the aisles. A baby whole turkey into the basket, then I trod down the outside meat row and JG disappears. The kids had been sent in time out at the front of the store while we finished up and for ten minutes I was holding three packs of meat pacing butcher's row looking up the aisles for a glimpse of JG.
When we finally joined again I lost it, in the line, in the checkout, in the truck, in my kitchen. We were discussing what went wrong and why at the commissary in the middle of me cleaning out and washing the inside of the fridge and washing the fruits and veggies we just purchased. I had thick cuts of blade steak to marinade for dinner and I couldn't find my cookie sheet. This wasn't just any cookie sheet. Practically, this is *the* cookie sheet in my kitchen. Restaurant quality. About a quarter of an inch thick with a one-inch lip ... steel. I got it from my girlfriend, Cheryl, who at the time had teenage sons, told me that I had to burp Zachary when he was a baby. Not one baby class I went to as a mom to be said I had to burb the baby. Well, it's missing. I sobbed and I sobbed and I sobbed to the point that JG took me to Williams Sonoma to buy a new cookie sheet. A wok, a wok utensil, a cutting board and mineral oil later I came home and made Yakisoba - the sauce from stratch. It was yum, tho, I've never had Yakisoba so i don't know how close it is to the real thing. In the store, JG asked me if the cookie sheet missing bothered me so much because it had sentimental value and I said yes.
Me blowing up like TNT about missing each other at the commissary really upset JG. I don't blame him. Despite being upset with me he was wonderful to dropped his game and show me the understanding and kindness to replace a kitchen necessity for me even though I had harped on all the negative things about the commissary shopping trip. JG said he'd be 'over it' in the morning. I hope so. I'd like to make it up to him.
We had Sunday breakfast at Frank's Diner. The boys were really excited to take me and the food was amazing. We sat at the bar and we watched all the food being cooked. Everything was delicious. Nothing could have been cooked better than what it was. We all had a great time.
Then we went to the commissary where I used great restraint - pardoning the produce aisle. I was rushing as quick as I could, knowing JG wanted to get home to the Giants game. Sometimes being and aisle or two ahead of the cart. I kept brushing off the annoyance of not having a place to put my picks, and we were finally at the end of the aisles. A baby whole turkey into the basket, then I trod down the outside meat row and JG disappears. The kids had been sent in time out at the front of the store while we finished up and for ten minutes I was holding three packs of meat pacing butcher's row looking up the aisles for a glimpse of JG.
When we finally joined again I lost it, in the line, in the checkout, in the truck, in my kitchen. We were discussing what went wrong and why at the commissary in the middle of me cleaning out and washing the inside of the fridge and washing the fruits and veggies we just purchased. I had thick cuts of blade steak to marinade for dinner and I couldn't find my cookie sheet. This wasn't just any cookie sheet. Practically, this is *the* cookie sheet in my kitchen. Restaurant quality. About a quarter of an inch thick with a one-inch lip ... steel. I got it from my girlfriend, Cheryl, who at the time had teenage sons, told me that I had to burp Zachary when he was a baby. Not one baby class I went to as a mom to be said I had to burb the baby. Well, it's missing. I sobbed and I sobbed and I sobbed to the point that JG took me to Williams Sonoma to buy a new cookie sheet. A wok, a wok utensil, a cutting board and mineral oil later I came home and made Yakisoba - the sauce from stratch. It was yum, tho, I've never had Yakisoba so i don't know how close it is to the real thing. In the store, JG asked me if the cookie sheet missing bothered me so much because it had sentimental value and I said yes.
Me blowing up like TNT about missing each other at the commissary really upset JG. I don't blame him. Despite being upset with me he was wonderful to dropped his game and show me the understanding and kindness to replace a kitchen necessity for me even though I had harped on all the negative things about the commissary shopping trip. JG said he'd be 'over it' in the morning. I hope so. I'd like to make it up to him.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
I'm home!
It's before 5 a.m. of day three at home. JG is on his way to take Mike (the broadcaster) to the airport and Nate (the photographer) is still stuck in Kyrgyzstan. The white and red roses JG handed me after our first December kiss are showing the signs of being in a vase on my kitchen counter. It's only five hours to the new year in Bishkek. Luckily the time change means procrastination and I have all day to figure out what I want to cook for dinner tonight. I got the initial cooking itch out my first day home, but we'll get back to that.
First, I love American internet. This morning I just took Facebook Scrabble turns. Outside the U.S. or Canada you're not allowed - now I can appreciate the copyright issues having previous experience as a trademark and licensing special for the Air Force (JG brought me the Gillette razor to show me the end result of all the negotiations I had with their company and gave Edward an Air Force monster truck for Christmas.)
I love Scrabble. One of the things I was really excited about doing before I left Manas was helping my friend Karly break in the Chapel's new Scrabble board. And, JG got me a scrabble shirt for Christmas. It's very clever because there's no "Scrabble" anywhere, just the alphabet with their point value for the game. "Z-10" looked funny in print and for a minute I doubted that was the value of the letter. I was corrected.
So, if you have Scrabble games in the works on Facebook they fortiet you after 60 days of non-play. But, Heather started a Scrabble game while I was gone and you can't forfiet a game you don't start so I had one Scrabble turn on Facebook waiting for me - a four-way game with her, JG and my mother-in-law.
If I haven't mentioned it yet, JG had a patch made on his last deployment to look like a Scrabble tile and had it sewn on the microfiber towel to cover an Army trademark. (No Air Force license at that time.) It was a "J" to represent the first letter of our names - 8 points if you were wondering.
I had debated on whether or not I wanted to take a shower before I left Kyrgyzstan. I knew the KC-135 would be cold (story coming on that too, wait for it) but at the same time I didn't want to look like an unprofessional dirt bag so I did shower the morning we left - it was a Tuesday. I was careful not to put the towel in my bag - I just folded it and put it in the pouch and carried it separately to the truck. The morning we left.
Nate was nice enough to bring Mike and I to 'Ops Town' at 0500 and when we pulled up to the operations group building I realized I dropped my towel when I got into the truck. By this time I had already a lump in my throat at the thought of saying goodbye to Nate. The night before I had to say goodbye to Karly - I cried when I hugged her, I cried on the walk to Shooters (a recreation center at the Transit Center) and tears were still streaming down my face as Super Troopers played. I told Nate this on the way back to Ops Town and he said not to worry because I won't be crying when I said goodbye to him. I said that I had a lump in my throat all morning, he protested and I said "don't fuck with me" as the tears started.
Nate and I butted heads a couple times on the deployment - despite that we became really good friends. So, you can understand me saying "I hate you" while crying giving him a hug goodbye conveyed more than any other phrase. If I had to fight my way out of a dark alley Nate would be a close-second to Batman if I got to pick backup.
So - Mike and I end up on the KC-135 with more than a dozen other folks wanting to get home. For some their final destination was RAF (Royal Air Force) Mildenhall where the aircrew would take their crew rest for the night before flying into Fairchild Air Force Base. What we didn't know was that Spokane was going to receive nine more inches of snow while we were crew resting. Mike was expecting to fly out the next day - getting back to his family before his originally-scheduled flight leaving Manas. Since we had offered to bring him to the airport we just had him crash at the house - Heather was kind enough to give up her bedroom downstairs and spend the night at a friends.
The kids had wanted to wait to have Christmas when I got home. My first obstacle was getting through the inprocessing line with the maintainers who flew home. While waiting to get my blood drawn I sent JG, the boys, Heather and Mike home until I was finished - which only ended up being ten minutes after they left. As antsy as I was I decided to start walking home. I almost slipped and fell a few times and I waved off three motorists who stopped to ask if I needed a ride. The plow trucks hadn't caught up with the new snowfall. JG asked me if I was crazy for walking home. We parked for a few minutes and I got my second December kiss. The roads were horrible and thankful to be done with the mile drive. Then Mike realizes he left a bag behind so JG ended up making three trips to the deployment reception center. After we had our family Christmas with a special guest photographer Heather left to give Mike space to decompress. I cooked mashed potatoes and roasted chicken with carrots and gravy - and became increasingly frustrated with how the kitchen morphed into a place that I couldn't find anything in. The same reality followed me when making bacon, omelets and blueberry pancakes the next day.
We got Mike off to the airport without incident. I gave him a quick, teary hug at the truck and was thankful Edward distracted me from further tears while I tried to help him find a toy lost in the back seat. Then Zach and JG come back out to the curb .... with Mike's luggage. His flight was postponed until 0600 the next day. I felt so badly for his family who was counting on him being home in less than 12 hours and it was heartbreaking listening to Mike break the news as we fought our way out of the airport craziness. Defeated, we went to have hot chocolate at Starbucks then visited Walmart and later met Heather and the Airman JG supervises and her Mom for dinner then went back to our house to play Apples to Apples. JG made mojitos and white Russians. I had three and right after Heather and the ladies left I crashed for the night. The next morning JG took Mike to the airport at 0430 - and a second goodbye hug proved easier than the first. If I had known this I would have said goodbye to Karly and Nate on two occasions before actually leaving.
As I've written the blog this morning I made baked spaghetti for breakfast and declared needing a break from my missed hobby. JG treated me to lunch today at Red Lobster. Cheddar biscuits rock. And, I'm continuing the theme of eating seafood and fish that I've lacked eating the last six months. At Rusty Moose last night i had seared ahi tuna salad and today for lunch i had lobster bisque, lobster stuffed mushrooms and salmon, steak and shrimp. I watched over-cooked lobster tails being served every Sunday and had refrained so today was a victory in having perfectly cooked lobster meat. Also, I haven't had fresh mushrooms in six months either - not even the pizza hut on manas served fresh mushrooms. So, lots of boxes checked.
We returned a camera lens, picked up comic book boxes and visited a 'First Night' Spokane festival on the way home. The kids walked away with cardboard dinosaurs, some paper rodent on a skate board and a festive hat from the crafting stations. I was nodding off in the truck on the way home and went to bed right away - like before 6 p.m. with JG laying next to me reading comics. We both woke up to a Happy New Year text from his sister Julie who lives on the East Coast and realized the kids were still awake and we needed to get them settled. About an hour left to the new year in our time zone. I'll be able to make it now. Maybe I'll even get 'lucky.'
First, I love American internet. This morning I just took Facebook Scrabble turns. Outside the U.S. or Canada you're not allowed - now I can appreciate the copyright issues having previous experience as a trademark and licensing special for the Air Force (JG brought me the Gillette razor to show me the end result of all the negotiations I had with their company and gave Edward an Air Force monster truck for Christmas.)
I love Scrabble. One of the things I was really excited about doing before I left Manas was helping my friend Karly break in the Chapel's new Scrabble board. And, JG got me a scrabble shirt for Christmas. It's very clever because there's no "Scrabble" anywhere, just the alphabet with their point value for the game. "Z-10" looked funny in print and for a minute I doubted that was the value of the letter. I was corrected.
So, if you have Scrabble games in the works on Facebook they fortiet you after 60 days of non-play. But, Heather started a Scrabble game while I was gone and you can't forfiet a game you don't start so I had one Scrabble turn on Facebook waiting for me - a four-way game with her, JG and my mother-in-law.
If I haven't mentioned it yet, JG had a patch made on his last deployment to look like a Scrabble tile and had it sewn on the microfiber towel to cover an Army trademark. (No Air Force license at that time.) It was a "J" to represent the first letter of our names - 8 points if you were wondering.
I had debated on whether or not I wanted to take a shower before I left Kyrgyzstan. I knew the KC-135 would be cold (story coming on that too, wait for it) but at the same time I didn't want to look like an unprofessional dirt bag so I did shower the morning we left - it was a Tuesday. I was careful not to put the towel in my bag - I just folded it and put it in the pouch and carried it separately to the truck. The morning we left.
Nate was nice enough to bring Mike and I to 'Ops Town' at 0500 and when we pulled up to the operations group building I realized I dropped my towel when I got into the truck. By this time I had already a lump in my throat at the thought of saying goodbye to Nate. The night before I had to say goodbye to Karly - I cried when I hugged her, I cried on the walk to Shooters (a recreation center at the Transit Center) and tears were still streaming down my face as Super Troopers played. I told Nate this on the way back to Ops Town and he said not to worry because I won't be crying when I said goodbye to him. I said that I had a lump in my throat all morning, he protested and I said "don't fuck with me" as the tears started.
Nate and I butted heads a couple times on the deployment - despite that we became really good friends. So, you can understand me saying "I hate you" while crying giving him a hug goodbye conveyed more than any other phrase. If I had to fight my way out of a dark alley Nate would be a close-second to Batman if I got to pick backup.
So - Mike and I end up on the KC-135 with more than a dozen other folks wanting to get home. For some their final destination was RAF (Royal Air Force) Mildenhall where the aircrew would take their crew rest for the night before flying into Fairchild Air Force Base. What we didn't know was that Spokane was going to receive nine more inches of snow while we were crew resting. Mike was expecting to fly out the next day - getting back to his family before his originally-scheduled flight leaving Manas. Since we had offered to bring him to the airport we just had him crash at the house - Heather was kind enough to give up her bedroom downstairs and spend the night at a friends.
The kids had wanted to wait to have Christmas when I got home. My first obstacle was getting through the inprocessing line with the maintainers who flew home. While waiting to get my blood drawn I sent JG, the boys, Heather and Mike home until I was finished - which only ended up being ten minutes after they left. As antsy as I was I decided to start walking home. I almost slipped and fell a few times and I waved off three motorists who stopped to ask if I needed a ride. The plow trucks hadn't caught up with the new snowfall. JG asked me if I was crazy for walking home. We parked for a few minutes and I got my second December kiss. The roads were horrible and thankful to be done with the mile drive. Then Mike realizes he left a bag behind so JG ended up making three trips to the deployment reception center. After we had our family Christmas with a special guest photographer Heather left to give Mike space to decompress. I cooked mashed potatoes and roasted chicken with carrots and gravy - and became increasingly frustrated with how the kitchen morphed into a place that I couldn't find anything in. The same reality followed me when making bacon, omelets and blueberry pancakes the next day.
We got Mike off to the airport without incident. I gave him a quick, teary hug at the truck and was thankful Edward distracted me from further tears while I tried to help him find a toy lost in the back seat. Then Zach and JG come back out to the curb .... with Mike's luggage. His flight was postponed until 0600 the next day. I felt so badly for his family who was counting on him being home in less than 12 hours and it was heartbreaking listening to Mike break the news as we fought our way out of the airport craziness. Defeated, we went to have hot chocolate at Starbucks then visited Walmart and later met Heather and the Airman JG supervises and her Mom for dinner then went back to our house to play Apples to Apples. JG made mojitos and white Russians. I had three and right after Heather and the ladies left I crashed for the night. The next morning JG took Mike to the airport at 0430 - and a second goodbye hug proved easier than the first. If I had known this I would have said goodbye to Karly and Nate on two occasions before actually leaving.
As I've written the blog this morning I made baked spaghetti for breakfast and declared needing a break from my missed hobby. JG treated me to lunch today at Red Lobster. Cheddar biscuits rock. And, I'm continuing the theme of eating seafood and fish that I've lacked eating the last six months. At Rusty Moose last night i had seared ahi tuna salad and today for lunch i had lobster bisque, lobster stuffed mushrooms and salmon, steak and shrimp. I watched over-cooked lobster tails being served every Sunday and had refrained so today was a victory in having perfectly cooked lobster meat. Also, I haven't had fresh mushrooms in six months either - not even the pizza hut on manas served fresh mushrooms. So, lots of boxes checked.
We returned a camera lens, picked up comic book boxes and visited a 'First Night' Spokane festival on the way home. The kids walked away with cardboard dinosaurs, some paper rodent on a skate board and a festive hat from the crafting stations. I was nodding off in the truck on the way home and went to bed right away - like before 6 p.m. with JG laying next to me reading comics. We both woke up to a Happy New Year text from his sister Julie who lives on the East Coast and realized the kids were still awake and we needed to get them settled. About an hour left to the new year in our time zone. I'll be able to make it now. Maybe I'll even get 'lucky.'
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