Surprise Xs Three

I had a rather exciting weekend. I went to a Pampered Chef Party and ordered some new items (the only ones I don’t already own) such as the Stainless Mixing Bowls and the Barbeque Set. The girl who was hosting the party is currently 8 months pregnant so the invitees decided to throw her a surprise baby shower immediately following the PC party. If you have ever been to one of these types of parties, you know that most of them die down pretty quickly as people grab some food and rush out the door once their orders have been placed or in hopes that the host didn’t notice that you didn’t buy anything. You could see in her face that she was concerned about people not leaving. 8 months along I’m sure she was ready to hop back into her PJs and relax. SURPRISE, more friends showed up and a cake, more food, and most important…the gifts! I could tell she was thrilled and we could all tell that she was exhausted so none of us stayed too much longer.
When I got home, I went for a short bike ride then went swimming in the pool for a bit. Ate dinner at a yummy sushi bar then headed out to Helen Back for another surprise party for 2 friends. Both my friends, Chris and Beth, celebrated birthdays on Saturday. Chris’ fiancé, Jenn put the whole thing together, about a month ago and did an excellent job! There were about 20 of us waiting on the back deck for the birthday crew to arrive. Neither of them had a clue and were completely SURPRISEd!

On The Road Again

This week I am helping my sister and her family with their move from Mississippi to Georgia. It's not even 5:30 a.m yet and we are all up packing up the vehicles and are about to hit the road ~yawn~. I'm supposed to be checking the weather right now. Sean (9 months) is the only one that's wide awake right now. He's got way too much energy. Brianna is still snoring on the living room floor (lucky duck). COFFEE PLEASE!

The Stars At Night, Are Big And Bright...

...Deep in the Heart of Texas!

7 of us from my squadron loaded up into 2 vans, during the last week in May, and headed cross-country to San Antonio, Texas. Our main reason for traveling west was to attend our wing (level) Combat Dining in (I'll explain below for the non-military). We also had 2 days of conferences and a fun day at Sea World.

Day 1: Left Ft Walton Beach @ 0700 in 2 Government Vans. Unfortunately we had an agenda to stick to so we couldn't make any unnecessary stops (such as a shopping trip to Ikea in Houston). We stopped in Hammond, Louisiana for lunch. We determined that the best place to eat was at the mall since there's a variety and everyone can get what they want. Never-ever go to the mall in Hammond, LA!! The worst mall I think I've ever been in. 1/2 of the stores were closed and there was only 1 restaurant in the entire mall. We all agreed on Quizzno's instead. We got into San Antonio around 2000 (8:00p.m.), checked in to VOQ (yep, Visiting "Officers" Quarters ~ we have a kick ass commander), then ate dinner and downed a couple of margaritas at Taco Cabana.

Day 2: ~yawn~ Briefings, briefings, and more briefings. Released at 1500 (3:00p.m.). Took a nap then drove downtown. We ate at La Margarita's. Fabulous!!! If you visit San Antonio, go there! After dinner we headed to the famous Riverwalk and had a few beers at Dirty Nellie's. And, you can't go to San Antonio without stopping by the Alamo (which doesn't have a basement ~ from PeeWee's Big Adventure ~ get it).

Day 3: Only had to attend 1 briefing but it was almost 2 hours long ~blah~ We were released for the day to go to Sea World ~yippeee~ Anheuser-Busch is currently honoring Military with free passes to all of their theme parks so we all got in free-of-charge. First stop was at the Hospitality House…mmmm free beer. We spent a perfect Friday afternoon with Shamu and his pals.

Day 4: Breakfast tacos from Taco Cabana, Lunch at the Cheesecake Factory in the North Star Mall, then back to the Q's to get ready for the big night.

[Dining In/Out's are formal Military Dinners. The only difference between a Dining In and a Dining Out are the invitees. Dining In's are for military members "only" from a specific Wing, Group, or Squadron. Dining Out's are for military members and their guests. Most common, these days, is the formal Dining Out where military members will wear their Service/Mess Dress (or service equivalent) and civilian guests will wear Semi Formal attire. Dining In's are now more common in the style of Combat and uniform requirements are some form of battle dress uniform, fatigues, or flight suit with water guns/balloons.]

We met out on an old Army Post not too far North of San Antonio (Camp Bullis) and boarded a duce and a half truck which took us out into the woods where picnic tables were set up under oak trees. We were issued ration cards for 2 free beers and dog tags (coin). Our squadron is geographically separated from the rest of AFIWC (Air Force Information Warfare Center) so we showed up with our Florida gear to feel more at home and to make the others jealous. We decorated our table with a palm tree, beach chair, boogie board and our laid-back attire for after the formal portion. Our guest speaker was Adrian Cronauer (made famous by Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam). What an incredible man! After water wars, food, grog, and our guest speaker, AFIWC put on a USO show complete with skits and music performances. They did an outstanding job! We all had such a blast!

Day 5: Hit the road at 0930 and headed back home, arriving at 2230 (10:30p.m.)

Can you beat 23? (The average is 7)

1. On a standard traffic light, is the green on the top or bottom?

2. How many states are there in the USA?

3. In which hand is the Statue of Liberty's torch?

4. What six colors are on the classic Campbell's soup label?

5. What two numbers on the telephone dial don't have letters by them?

6. When you walk does your left arm swing with your right or left leg?

7. How many matches are in a standard pack?

8. On the United States flag is the top stripe red or white?

9. What is the lowest number on the FM dial?

10. Which way does water go down the drain, counter or clockwise?

11. Which way does a "no smoking" sign's slash run?

12. How many channels on a VHF TV dial?

13. On which side of a women's blouse are the buttons? );

14. Which way do fans rotate?

15. What is on the back of a Canadian dime?

16. How many sides does a stop sign have?

17. Do books have even-numbered pages on the right or left side?

18. How many lug nuts are on a standard car wheel?

19. How many sides are there on a standard pencil?

20. Sleepy, Happy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey, Doc. Who's missing?

21. How many hot dog buns are in a standard package?

22. On which playing card is the card maker's trademark?

23. On which side of a Venetian blind is the cord that adjusts the opening between the slats ?

24. On the back of a Canadian $1 coin, what is in the center?

25. There are 12 buttons on a touch tone phone. What 2 symbols bear no digits?

26. How many curves are there in the standard paper clip?

27. Does a merry-go-round turn counter or clockwise?