Atypical Altusian Weekend

People. We had events (plural) to attend.

On Friday night, Eric and I attended our first official AF function since Dining Out at the end of JASOC. This means that Eric had to get all fancied up in his Mess Dress and I got to wear something pretty. Something sparkly. The event was a banquet to honor the nominees and celebrate the recipients of this year's base-wide awards. A paralegal from Eric's office had been nominated so we attended in support of him. It was a good event complete with the comedies and tragedies of anything worth attending. As for comedy, we were all squished into our tables and chairs like sardines. And, as with any AF event, there is a serious amount of "please rise for..." Each time we were asked to stand, the majority of the room had to enter a sort of dance with one another. We had to move with great coordination. No one knew the steps, but we caught on quite quickly; stand from the right, sit from the left. And you better hope you are not sitting next to a lefty at dinner! As for tragedy, our guy did not ultimately win the award, which we were all a little disappointed about. But between the hilarious and the sad, I got to meet several of the people Eric works with as well as a number of the big wigs on base. It is always nice to put faces to the names you hear on a regular basis.

When we got home, I thought Eric and I might enjoy some wine and a movie, but the poor guy seems to have lost some stamina since moving out to the country. Unable to keep up with the pace of a busy work week AND THEN going out to a party, he was zonked out, I'm talking snoring on the couch, by 11. Hey, that's usually my job!

On Saturday we had a big day ahead. A day I have been looking forward to for months. The Miss Altus beauty pageant. OH EM GEE. Originally, a big group of us had planned on going, but the men folk slowly trickled out of the picture. By the time Saturday rolled around, the only guy still on the roster was Eric. And he crumbled under pressure. Opting to play video games and eat pizza instead (a guy's night through and through), he called out at the last minute.

Off I went to Charlies on base where I enjoyed some pre-event beverages and dinner with two lovely ladies, Sarah and Lauren. Suzanne, the fourth lovely lady in our group, was kind enough to agree to pick us up at Charlies and take us to the auditorium downtown. Before I go on with the story, there is something you need to know. I had all of the tickets in my wallet because I was the one who was designated, "responsible enough not to lose them." We are talking some serious pressure for the new-ish girl in town. The stakes were high. I was confident.

Back to the story. Suzanne was supposed to pick us up, but we had a bit of a blip in communication. When we (I'm not naming names) received the text from Suzanne asking where to park, we thought she meant, "where do I park when I get to Charlies?" What she actually meant was, "I am at Charlies waiting for you with my three year old daughter who has to pee."  When we finally realized the error in our interpretation of her texts, Suzanne and her baby had already been waiting in the car a good fifteen minutes for us. Of course this realization resulted in a frenzied escape from Charlies. My frenzied escape resulted in me leaving my wallet on the table. Tickets and all.

I called Eric and asked him to pick up my wallet and bring it to us at the the auditorium. He, too, already had a couple of beverages under the belt and said, "No can do, sweetie." So instead, he called Charlie and asked her to hold my wallet for me while I begged the ladies at the entrance of the pageant to have mercy on the new-ish girl. I love small towns. She remembered me, reminded me where our seats were, and had mercy. We took our seats and settled in for an exciting couple of hours.

Miss Oklahoma talking about Miss America

The pageant was the real-deal complete with swimming suit, evening gown, talent, and interview portions of the competition. We were also graced by the presence of Miss Oklahoma who received first runner up at the 2012 Miss America Pageant. That's right, we were among royalty. My favorite portion of these types of competitions is always the interview. The best that night went a little like this,


Interviewer: "What do you want other people to know about people from the state of Oklahoma?"
Contestant: "I want people to know that people from the state of Oklahoma are polite, nice, and caring, which is not something you can say for the northern states."
Me: "Booooo, oh wait, was that mean? My bad." (okay fine, that last part happened in my head, but come on, really?)

In the end of the competition, some girl was crowned Miss Altus and my crew and I skipped the after party in the Blue Room (we had kids to get to bed, babysitters to relieve, and wallets to recover). Someday, I am going to attend one of those... Nonetheless, I maintain the pageants hosted by the city of Altus are some of the best entertainment you can get around here. I've already marked my calendar for next year!

Aaaaaand fast-forward to the end of the weekend. It was Sunday night and bitter cold. We got our first real snow of the season (not counting a little dusting we were graced with on Christmas morning). We got about four full inches. Enough for Eric to have a one-hour delay for work on Monday. By Monday afternoon it was all gone and by Wednesday, we are supposed to be up to 70 degrees. That is how winter is done in the dust bowl, my friends.

Does this mark the beginning or end of my 28th year?

I think after a lengthy and confusing conversation with my dad, the mathmagician, I can answer this question. Each birthday marks the end, not the beginning, of a year. When I turned 28, it signified that I have been an occupant of Earth for 28 full years. It did not mean that I am starting my 28th year. Though I am unable to articulate why, this thought actually scared me a little. Perhaps you already knew this and it is not alarming. Perhaps no one has a clue what I am talking about. But for me, it was a significant revelation. I've told you before about Altus and revelations...they come at odd times and about strange things...

Regardless, I ended my 28th year on Earth with a bang! First of all, I was able to celebrate the fact that I have two friends with whom I could enjoy lunch on my birthday. This is a big accomplishment and I am ecstatic about it. In Maryland, I ran in packs (wolf-like, I know, but not in a Twilight or Sci-Fi way). I was always surrounded by friends. Friend-making in Altus has been steady, but slow-going; something to which I am unaccustomed. On my birthday, I enjoyed a lovely lunch with Sarah, Robin and baby Caroline at the Grapevine Cafe in Downtown Altus. For the first time I ordered their chicken salad on a croissant, I will never have it any other way. Revelations. The rest of my birthday day was filled with calls, emails, texts, and facebook messages from friends and loved ones. These messages brightened my day and, for the first time in history, I was able to respond to every last one of them. Who says being unemployed doesn't have its perks?

On Monday night, Eric was supposed to make my birthday request, Pad Thai, for dinner. However, I suggested that we postpone the dinner to Friday (instead of a work night), crack open a bottle of wine, and make a date-night out of it. He agreed and we had leftovers instead. After dinner, I heard him banging around in the kitchen, searching through all of the drawers. A few minutes later he walked out with an ice cream cake that he had embellished with Reese's minis (that is love). He sang the birthday song and did a little gig. I made a wish and blew out the candles.

On the weekend after my birthday, Chris, Eric and I met Sarah, her bother, Imran, and her sister-in-law, Betsey, in Dallas. Sarah's birthday was exactly one week after mine so we did a joint celebration out on the town in a real big city. We stayed at The Adolphus and enjoyed dinner at a I-don't-know-how-many-stars restaurant called, Charlie Palmer at The Joule. The hotel and the dinner were about as classy as it gets. The rest of the night was a ton of fun, but I would hardly describe it as classy. We learned a lot about ourselves that weekend. Primarily, that we are more at home in dive bars than in the posh clubs surrounded by lines to get in. Either that or we are incredibly impatient. You can take the kids out of Altus, but you cant take the Altus out of the kids.

All feeling a bit delicate on Sunday, the ride home for Chris, Eric and me was...slow. Once getting home, Eric and I spent the rest of the day doing important things like catching up on our long list of, "movies we want to see."

On Monday, Eric made the best Pad Thai he's ever made. He ended up making it on a Monday anyway because we had decided to have dinner out with friends instead on Friday night (friends who we are happy to still be able to call friends after a major foot-in-mouth faux pas on my part). Let's just say, it's always a good idea to double check who the recipient of your text message is before you press send...but I digress...back to Monday!

We sat at our dining room table (as opposed to on the couch in front of the TV) and enjoyed a meal together. A delicious dinner and face time with Eric was the best birthday present of all.

Four Hergs, One Adventure

Four Hergs, one adventure

In the middle of January, Eric's parents made their pilgrimage to Altus, America. In the weeks before their arrival, I worried that the potentially freezing temperatures the month of January usually offers would make for a pretty icky visit to our fabulous little city. However, mother nature bestowed upon us some gorgeous temperatures and allowed the wind (you know, the stuff that comes sweeping down the plains) to subside for the few days they were here.

On a Friday afternoon, I picked mom & pop H up from the Will Rogers Airport in OKC. They piled into my little car and tried to mentally prepare for the trip home. Hearing that it is a two hour drive home from the airport is different than actually making the two hour drive. Each person I've picked up from OKC usually starts to get excited that we are nearing home when we drive into Lawton. The fun part is telling them we still have an hour to go... But being that this was their first time in Oklahoma, they enjoyed and were fascinated by the views and the (lack of) scenery.

Since it was a Friday, Eric was still at work when we got into town. I drove them through Altus and brought them to our house, which they could pick out once we were on the street form the zillions of pictures we've sent/posted. I gave them a tour and then we sat out on the back porch and had some snacks & refreshments while we enjoyed the balmy January weather and waited for Eric.

We sure packed a lot of fun and adventure (and car time) into their one little weekend in Altus. On Friday night we went out to dinner at the Quartz Mountain Resort & Restaurant, which Eric and I had raved was, "probably the best restaurant you are going to find (not actually) in Altus." Eric and I both felt the food was only okay that night, and his parents were too nice to comment otherwise. At least in taking them there they got to see the beautiful mountains, Lake Altus, and a very lovely sunset. After dinner, we took a little walk outside by the water and were treated to a breathtaking starry sky; big sky country = millions of stars country, it really is a beautiful thing to see.

On Saturday morning, Eric stepped into his dad's breakfast cookin' slippers and whipped up a lovely breakfast. Then, tummies full, we took in the sites of downtown A-town. We hit all the usual antique/boutique hotspots. One shop owner, who Jerry engaged in conversation, remarked that when she traveled to the DC area, she was taken aback by all of the scenery (read, buildings, trees, foliage, what have you) and that she finds it is kind of nice to be able to "see where you're going." Conversations like these are good for me to hear. They remind me that as much as this place can get to me and drive me crazy, it is actually what some people prefer. They really are more comfortable with wide, open spaces.

Prison at Ft. Sill where Geronimo was held

After mom & pop H had their fill of downtown, we drove out to Ft. Sill in Lawton. Rumor had it the museums on Ft. Sill were worth seeing. That excursion seemed right up Big Jer's alley, so we saved the Ft. Sill trip for their visit. The museum was actually pretty large and impressive. Divided into several buildings and historical sites, we got to see an interesting collection of American Indian history and artwork (mostly focused on the US Army's interactions with (and against) Native people), the prison where they held Geronimo and other prisoners of war, Geronimo's grave site, and a large collection of the Army's tanks and their bombs and their bombs and their guns. You tell me which part you think Eric & Jerry enjoyed most and which part Lourdes and I liked best, I'll give you one guess...

Where's Waldo (Eric)?

An inspirational message on the wall at Meers

By the time we finished looking at all of the above and more, we had worked up pretty significant appetites. Meers was the only cure. To Meers we went! Or tried to go, but we got lost on Ft. Still. We found a gate, which was closed and then we got lost again! About an hour later, we finally weaved our way off that massive military base and found our way to Meers. By that time, we were really starving. Of course, per the usual, we were greeted by a long long (too many longs) line at Meers, but we got there just in the nick of time as it grew exponentially as we waited. We were finally seated a good three hours after we first felt the pangs of hunger, man, life is tough. Jerry and Lourdes, like those that have come before them, were not disappointed in the Meerscheeseburgers, the Meersbeers, or the Meerscobler. Tummies full again, we made our way back to Altus. 

Sunday was game day. It pains me to talk about it now, but at that time the Ravens' Superbowl hopes were alive and well. We had planned a little gathering for the Ravens v. Texans game so that our friends could meet our family. I made a big lasagna (I suggest you try this, 'twas a hit) and we had a plethora of snackums and schneckens. The game was stressful to watch, but the party was fun. And in the end, the Ravens got that "W," like I said, still hurts.

Mom & pop H were leaving on Monday out of OKC. How time flies when you are having fun! We couldn't believe it was already time to return them to Will Rogers. We had just enough time on Monday morning to take Jerry & Lourdes on a tour of Altus AFB complete with a stop at Eric's swanky office. They enjoyed seeing where the magic happens; its hard not to feel proud of Eric when you see that place. We made the long trek to the airport and before we knew it, were saying our goodbyes. Our time for Altusian adventure had run out.

Now Eric and I can say that we've hosted both of our parents in our own home. It is always an interesting shift in roles since for so long, we have been the guests/occupants of their homes. It is a pleasure to do it. It is nice to feel like you have a little bit of a opportunity to take care of the people who have taken care of you for so long (and in our cases, it really was so long). Of course, just like with my parents, the phrase "take care" is only relative. Eric's parents continued to take care of us, even as guests, by gifting us with so many of the tools and gadgets we need to continue to build our home and progress on our many projects.

To Lourdes & Jerry, we were so happy you made the trip and the house felt so empty after you were gone. We look forward to having you as guests in our home again be it in Altus or at the next stop on this crazy ride.