Two Out of [Four] Ain't Bad

Eh, for kicks, I did another song title post. And you can hear the song here. Though I promise to do the other two later so I'm all caught up :). But you see, I visited four cities on my last trip to the South. So, I will start with two in this post and finish it up with the other two later on.

Of course, before I start that, I should mention that, because I was out of the state, I missed Mary's birthday. But I didn't forget it. So, I made her a candy-bar poster and took it to work on the 7th and surprised her with it. She laughed so hard. It was awesome. Okay, so it's a little risque, but it was so fun to write and think up. And so fun to hunt down the candy bars to make it work :).




I took the red-eye again down to Florida. Thankfully, everything was on time this time! No cancelled flights; no airport-floor sleeping. That's always a great sign :). And I had worked my bootie off the few days I had before leaving to max out my hours at work. So I was exhausted when I got on the plane. And I slept. Not comfortably, of course. But I slept. I had a layover in Houston, and then I slept on the plane to Tampa again. That time I slept pretty soundly. This is the way to fly! Sleep through the whole flight :). Makes it seem faster! So, I landed in Tampa around 11 a.m. Tampa time, and Julie, Jon, Alysha, and Shayla were waiting for me. We got into their cool new van and headed to the Cheesecake Factory where we ate delicious food and enjoyed each other's company. Then it was off to Julie's house, which was about an hour and a half to two hours away. We all pretty much laughed and joked the whole way. Upon arriving at the house, Julie and I went and slept for 2 hours! We were so tired! When we woke up, we headed to Wal-Mart and got some odds and ends. Then it was home to relax, shower, and then play Mexican Train. You know what? I just realized I have already given this run-down! Hahaha. Oh well. I am the Nilla, after all. Anyone who has known me for any length of time knows to expect repetition :). Okay, so Mexican Train is awesome. I need to buy it. That is my next order of business. On Friday, we got up early and went garaging. Then I met Julie's friend Randi and we played more Mexican Train. And we went to Publix for the sole purpose of getting Publix brand frozen yogurt :). And we laughed the whole way home while we talked about words that irritate us. What a random, but fun, conversation! (Julie thinks Randi and I are crazy... But seriously, Mary and I had already had this very conversation in Washington before this trip!) Friday night was dinner and hanging out with Randi, her husband, and their two girls. Then it was more Mexican Train for me, Jon, Julie, and Alysha. And then it was time for bed. Of course, Julie and I would lay awake talking for a while each night. The next morning was Saturday, and we had made arrangements to meet up with Randi and go garaging again. And so we did. I got a few odds and ends and scored a cheese grater for my sister for a quarter. Woohoo! We made a Wal-Mart run when we were done (oh yeah, and we also got some fast-food breakfast). Back at the house, I napped for an hour, then I read. I got a shower, and then Julie and I started working on cheese fondue and all it's fixin's. And it turned out awesomely! We had so much more food than we thought we would!!! And, true to Nilla form, here are pictures :).


And even more fondue... Chocolate!!!


Oh yeah, Jon and Julie's friends Christie and Korley came over again. They were there for the 80s party in May. We sat around talking and laughing and playing Apples to Apples again. And though Julie had said she couldn't stay up until 2 a.m. like we all did last time, that's exactly what happened again. So, waking up at 7:30 the next morning to get on the road to meet Julie's mom halfway was not a lot of fun. I was so tired. And I'll admit it. I'm not nice in the mornings. So I had to sit grumpy in the back until I was over my mad ;). But then it was fun. And Julie even climbed in back for the last 15 minutes or so and hung with me in the back. Hahahaha.... And we got a picture, or two together. Please excuse my giant's head in the second one. Good grief, I look like a giant in that picture!




We met Julie's mom in Perry, I think. We ate lunch at McDonald's and then had to head on. Alysha and I went with Meemaw to Dothan, while Jon, Julie, and Shayla returned home. It was sad :(.


It was a nice drive chatting with Julie's mom. I ran in briefly and said hi to Julie's dad while we dropped off Alysha. Then Julie's mom took me to my dad's work and I got his car and took it on home. Here's my dad's new car... Nifty, huh :)?


Okay, so I lied. I actually went to the library first. And I visited with Ms. Hilda and Julia-Ann. It was a nice visit. I do love Ms. Hilda, who is getting quite fiesty!

I went to my dad's and got a shower and then went and picked him up. It's always fun to be with my dad. We know how to go back and forth and give each other a hard time. And it's fun :). I love my dad. Even though I know I'm a pain in the butt when I throw away all the lids for the glass spice jars he was saving :). We spent the evening watching a movie and talking. I slept well that night. I was exhausted. On Monday, I spent the day at the house -- throwing out 1977 ground oregano :). I did go to Wal-Mart toward the late afternoon, where I ran into Anne! Monday night I just watched some more tv with my dad and we ate dinner. Just relaxing stuff. On Tuesday, I met up with Anne at the mall to eat Chick-Fil-A, since I can't really get that around here. We just spent an hour visiting and catching up. It's nice to do that with friends :).


Oh, and for those of you who don't know... Anne was my first boss back in 1998. I worked in the Children's Room at the library, and she was the Children's Librarian. She was an awesome boss. I can remember sitting on the floor with her chatting. (Although I will admit it kind of grosses me out to think about that nasty library carpet before it was replaced and the fact that we sat on it!) Anyway, so it was a nice visit. After I got home, my dad and I went and got him onto the family plan for the cell phone. So yay! Now he can talk to us for free anytime... If he remembers to keep the phone turned on! (I'm putting subtle hints throughout this post to see if I can subliminally get him to turn on his phone ;)). Tuesday night, I met up with Donna at Troy Dothan. She and I went down to a new Mexican Restaurant. We visited and enjoyed a nice dinner (thanks Donna!) and then went back to the university to watch a movie for the international film festival. Let's just say we will always have that memory of the British movie with the boy in the dress. Hahahaha... We took a picture (with Olga -- who I met years ago at HLML and who now works at Troy Dothan's library) together before we all left.


Wednesday brought a cooler day to Dothan. We had to go back to Best Buy to discuss a cell phone issue. But we are square. I had lunch plans with Julia-Ann and was able to visit with some other people while I was there. Julia-Ann and I went to Chick-Fil-A and enjoyed yummy food and great conversation :). I'm so glad I got to get to know Julia-Ann so well while I was in Tuscaloosa and she would stay at my apartment once a month when she had her weekend class. It's neat to have good friends :). Back at the library, I visited with Kristin! Gotta love Kristin. I've known her for, goodness, going on 11 years! Same as Julie. We all worked at HLML together once upon a time. So we took some pictures together and laughed like crazy, 'cuz we always do when we're together :). And she always has some awesome 80s treat for me! This time it was a Cabbage Patch Kids book! Woohoo!


Wednesday night, my dad and I went over to Patrick's house and my dad visited his dad while I visited with Patrick and his fiancee. Patrick also grew up in Panama, and as things turned out, he ended up in Dothan. We never hung out in Panama, but we all became the Panama kids of Dothan back around 1999 to 2002. I hadn't seen Patrick in about 3 or 4 years, so it was good to connect with him again. We all went to Beef O'Brady's, one of our old Dothan haunts from back in the day. It was a nice visit.


Then I went home to spend the last evening with my dad in Dothan. It's always sad to know I will be leaving my dad. I know he is sad, and that makes me sad. I sure do love my daddy. So on that note, here is a picture of him on one of his motorcycles :). And then I'll continue my trip in my next blog post :).