Louisiana Weekend Away

It has been a while and I had promised Ashley this weekend for a while now so off we went! Micah and I left Thursday night a little sad because our faithful sidekick Leslie could not get out of work to go with us. It just was not the same. But there were a lot of giggles and fun along the way and it was some much needed time to ourselves. She is a great copilot and quite frankly at nine years old has to make less bathroom stops then my regular copilot...sorry Les but its true! :) We were not able to leave until I got out of rehearsals that night so it was a late start. Around 1 am we decided to stop in Jackson MS for the night because her throat was sore from talking so much and I was worn out. We were very blessed in the fact that we managed to skirt all the storms that night and not have so much as a drop of rain on us. Was a cool lightening storm though. We got up the next morning around 8 and Micah picked breakfast...she wanted the continental at the hotel. Very thrifty of her but I have to give Leslie this one...you are a way better food picker! Back into the car where our new motto became "Cause we are girls and we can!" Which gave us an excuse to eat candy for lunch. Gonna pay for it when I get dressed Monday I feel it. We made it into Fort Polk around 2:00 and checked in and then went on post (see I am not calling it base anymore!) 5 minutes in and I get pulled over by the MP for speeding....28 in a 25, they don’t play. But they were really nice and they let me go. We found the house and started unloading. Oh I forgot about the pic! LOL So we brought a bunch of stuff that Ashley didnt get to take on the move. There was summer clothes, a stereo, a chair..yes a chair and a few other things but there was this enormous picture that would not fit in the trunk...due to the chair so we put it in the back seat. Micah fought that dang picture the entire trip. Moving it this way and that way and banging it and then it squeaked against the window. If she were allowed to curse she would have used them all on that poor picture. She was very happy to see it unloaded. Once we settled in, of course our first concern as always was food and making plans for dinner that night. We went shopping in town and then went to pick up Aaron at "work". I got the tour of the place which was very, very cool. I wish I had been allowed to take pics. But they are pretty serious about no cameras and it makes sense. Lets see I got to see the helicopters, humvees, his office, his office that he was locked in on his first day...lets just say the military doesnt know about hazing laws :) I got to see the top secret bar...that was the coolest. And a few other things I won’t mention for fear of getting in trouble. Needless to say Micah and I were impressed. We went back to the house to drop him off so that we could check out the PX, the neatest shopping spot ever, and then over to the commissary for groceries. I so love all the different names. We decided to stay in for the night. Micah and I were a little tired anyway and knew the next day would be a busy one. We cooked a ton of appetizers and just hung out and talked until we could not stay awake any longer. The next morning we got up and went to the Cajun Fest on post. Let me just say WOW. It was so much fun being on that side of an event. Not having to run around and work was great. There was awesome Cajun music, A gumbo contest, lots of kids games and rides and things, FOOD....gumbo, corndogs, crawdads, gator sauce (Aaron and I decided it is what you get when you squeeze a gator real hard then pour it over rice), beignets, hot tamales, hot dogs, burgers, and all kinds of other goodies. Needless to say I was stuffed. Kind of gave me the idea to have a crawdad cookoff the Thursday before Meat on the Mississippi what do you guys think??Anyway, we were worn out and a little sunburnt so we headed in for cold showers and naps. Then got up and raced to get ready for the play we were going to. The theatre on post was doing "The Brothers Grimm" let me start by saying they have an amazing theatre that I was so jealous of. And let me end it there. Because it truly was Grimm....to the exent that we left at intermission. We dropped off their friend Terria because she was not feeling well. (She is a really great friend of Ashley’s whose husband is over the post but currently in Iraq). So then we went to the bowling alley...again right there on post (THEY HAVE IT MADE!!) It was Cosmic bowling and we met up with their friends Marion and Throy (he is currently in charge on post) I had met them on our last trip there and they are tons of fun. She reminds me so much of my friend Julie’s mom. We had a blast, the music was great, the lanes were fun, it is so amazing how the whole place is like one big family reunion all the time. Kids run around and play without any concern. It is such a great place and I would so move there if I could. Micah eventually gave out on us and parked at the snack counter for a while until we finished up our games and then we all headed back to the house. I had to get up the next morning to make that wonderful 9 hour drive home. It was really tough to leave. I know this was probably the last time I will get to see Aaron before he heads overseas. He is such a great guy. I could not have picked any better for my little sister. I hate to see him go over but I admire him for it. Have you ever really stopped to think about what it takes to pick up and leave your family, home and all of your comforts to go over and sit in a giant sandbox. To be told what to do and when to do it 24/7. To be extremely hot or cold all the time. To never know when someone is out to get you. And all for the sake of what? Giving us our freedoms that we take for granted? Going over there and never knowing if you are coming home or not?For us to sit here and stab one another in the back, hurt one another and create our own hells. Its very sad. I guess as you can tell the 9 hour car trip gave me some time to do so soul searching. I have made a lot of mistakes lately. I have to do some reprioritizing and I have to let go of some baggage I have been toting around. There comes a time when the past has to be the past and slates have to be wiped clean. More over I think there comes a time when you have to realize that no two people are alike and you can’t categorize them all based ..xperience. I have some work to do on me. A good friend of mine told me a while back that until you learn to live by yourself you have no business with anyone else. He was right but he should have added until you can learn to live WITH yourself. Didn’t mean for this blog to go sentimental. But I am a little sad tonight. Was a great weekend though and some much needed time with my favorite little sister :)