Making New Friends

"Best friends are those who, when you show up at their door with a dead body, say nothing, grab a shovel, and follow you." -Unknown Author

    Well, PDub and I are officially settled in; all of the boxes are unpacked, and the pictures are hung.  The next thing on our list is to make friends.  Our best friends are hundreds of miles away, and typically dead bodies need a good burying before that length of time (not that I would know).  For our game plan, we selected this Memorial Day weekend.  Here, I must take a time-out for a tribute to our troops and what better way to do this than with the use of  Zac Brown Band:

Salute the ones who died
The ones that give their lives
So we don't have to sacrifice
All the things we love....
Like our chicken fried, cold beer, jeans that fit just right, and yes, the radio up!

    On this weekend, our pool opened for the first time this season (of course, I started working out three days prior to this, gotta get that beach body!).  We expected to see and meet plenty of new faces, or at least, that's what we thought.  We are pretty introverted individuals which handicapped our friend-making skills.  Saturday morning, I refrained from being the first one in the pool this season and allowed the youngsters a go at it instead (really PDub wouldn't let me).  We eventually made our way to the pool for a little Vitamin D and some water immersion.  As I watched the kids dive down for their sticks, I couldn't help but reminisce.
    I'm sure most can attest to this but especially my childhood friends.  Nearly everyday of the summer, we were at the country club pool playing gutter ball, underwater tag, and sharks and minnows.  It didn't matter what school or town you came from, you were immediately accepted into this group and close relationships were made.  Even at break time, the clubhouse would be full of kids shoving tables together, eating mini tacos, and playing card games (B.S. was our selection).  At age 25, making friends isn't as easy as it used to be.  I mean PDub didn't even want to play underwater tag with me!
    After failing poolside, we decided to try pew-side.  According to their website, the selected church for the weekend claimed to have a contemporary service with a congregation composed of 100 individuals in their 20s and 30s.  The website was accurate, and we fit in perfectly.  With so many prospective friends, we of course lost all courage and bailed out immediately after the service ended.  From a positive standpoint, we found a church!
    Luckily, my sister-in-law, or Doubles Shark-Whisperer (found this on a PADI Scuba Diver Nickname website...deal with it, my friend), has just moved to Baltimore for a three-month rotation at Johns Hopkins.  I like to call it her new nurse-ing home.  Anyway, she and friends of a friend joined us for a pool/patio picnic on Memorial Day.  As for these friends of a friend, I can officially say that the paperwork is complete, and we have adopted them as our own.  AJacks and KielMac, we welcome you as our first friends!  So we may not have made more friends this weekend, but we did have some good times with Doubles Shark-Whisperer, AJacks (this is so close to Apple Jacks...hehehe), and KielMac.  If you live in the Arlington area and would like to join in my adventures (or just become our friends), please submit your resume (must have own shovel)!

Church of Clarendon

Riesling anyone?

Doubles Shark-Whisperer and PDub

AJacks and KielMac

Texas Pints

    My PDub is in France right now shaking hands with French operators at the refinery, receiving dirty looks from non-English speaking waiters, and avoiding collisions with his rented manual car...Jealous?  I think so.  Anyway, I spoke with him last night via Skype, and yes, we were a little frustrated that there was a lag time in our conversation, overlooking the pure beauty of talking to someone across the the Atlantic Ocean for free.  I have never been to France, so of course, I had several questions about the people, food, and area.
    As an aside, our family lives from meal to meal.  As in, we eat breakfast and are already planning what's for lunch and dinner.  We really don't think about much else.  Therefore, the majority of our conversation was about his meals for the day, and specifically his dinner that evening.  He told me that he was a given a rude look after the waiter asked him what wine he wanted, and he said red.  I guess the waiter snootily asked him what type of red wine.  At this point in the storytelling, I couldn't help but think of the Texas Pints story because you see, this type of answer from PDub isn't a one time thing.  It's happened before...
    Back when we lived in Texas, my fellow beerknurds and I enjoyed going to the Flying Saucer for a few brews.  This downtown bar has over 200 beers and the best pretzels!  Anyway, we would usually start off by ordering the Fire Sale, and on this particular day, any Texas pint was the special, meaning any beer brewed in Texas.  We each went around the table ordering a specific pint, and this ended with PDub ordering: "I'll have a Texas pints, please."  Of course, the conversation came to a halt, and we, including the waitress, looked at PDub in confusion, when really he was the one confused.  Unlike the waiter in France, the Texan waitress smiled and politely asked which one.  He proceeded to tell her, "The fire sale...the Texas pints."  She finally rolled off a list he could choose from, clarifying for my PDub that Texas pints includes several different beers.
    We still bring up the Texas Pints story from time to time and laugh about it.  Living with PDub is never boring!

Oh how I miss you...

At the Flying Saucer...

If this wasn't the reaction to PDub, it should have been....

Home Depot

    To prepare for the big Memorial Day weekend, I decided to head to the Arlington Home Depot to buy some plants.  I had just finished loading my cart with potting soil, my final item on the list, when the strangest character started a conversation with me.  Bottoms up, he was wearing the classic high top Converse shoes, bright red capris (totally would have been in if, say, he were female), a white t-shirt, a black vest with, what, yes, bugs bunny printed all over it, purple and pink hair, and topped off with a traveling hat.  A true character.  Evidently, he had lived in Houston (Montrose area...go figure) but now lives in the Arlington area.  How happy was I to find such a neighbor!
    While he was chit chatting for nearly 10 minutes (tripping over sentences every once and awhile), I was giving all passersby a "save me" look.  Finally, a middle-aged man came to my rescue informing me that our 2 year old girl was in the car and that we needed to get going....my hero!  Even though I would never leave my 2 year old in the car.  Needless to say, the rescue mission was a success, and I was able to check-out and make it to my car in peace.  If any of you want the strange character's e-mail address or his author recommendations, I would be more than willing to send them your way seeing that he wrote them down for me.  Just another day in Virginia...

The Move

    It's been a month now since our big move, and I feel that I should fill you in on what has happened.  We are coming from the tiny town of Dayton, TX forty miles northeast of Houston.  Dayton (7,700 ppl) is slightly smaller than the town we are from.  As in, it doesn't have a Super Wal-Mart or an Applebee's; however, it is closer to a big city.  Of course, Dayton has its true Texas culture with trucks populating the roads, boots on the majority of feet, and words like "y'all" and "reckon" added to the vocabulary.
    I made myself right at home in our 2200 sq. ft. house with goats at the subdivision entrance and cows across the street.  By day, I was a criminalist at Houston Police Department Crime Lab downtown, and by night, I was a vigilante clearing the streets of rif raf....just kidding, please don't call me Dexter...By night, I was teaching little ballerinas dance.  I had it all!  That is until I chose a different road for my life.
    My high school sweetheart, PDub (as he will henceforth be called...I was going to go with PPants, but he would have killed me!), was given the option to transfer to the Washington D.C.-based offices.  I must clarify, Washington D.C. the capitol of the US, not Washington state as in the Twilight movie.  Seriously, we were constantly correcting people!  Anyway, we jumped at the opportunity.
    After downsizing, selling our house, and packing up, we drove the 1,365 miles to our new home.  So here we are in our 715 sq. ft. apartment two blocks from the metro and half a block from good Chinese food.  We may have left a huge house, chicken fried steak, and my job, but this move, I'm trying to convince myself, is for the better.  Oh, how I could use a big Texas potato right about now....

Our home in Texas

Our new home in Virginia

The Beginning

    My fabulous sister-in-law recently recommended that I start blogging.  I simply laughed at her request because my blog experience has been limited to the movie "Julie and Julia."  Currently, my internet usage consists of gmail, Facebook, and Pinterest.  So for me to start blogging (is this even the correct terminology?) is nearly unheard of....nearly...
    I have a lived a quarter of a century and resided in Illinois, Indiana, Texas, and now Virginia all because of my high school sweetheart (don't vomit).  No regrets, I have chosen to become a follower led by my blonde-haired, green-eyed husband.  I must be crazy because statistics show that following such individuals can be both dangerous and fun.  I hope that this blog can help me keep my sanity and entertain those readers with my troubles and especially my adventures...