Things I learned on my trip to Kansas:

1. I can drive SUVs competently! Thank that one trip I got pulled over for speeding in TN and my mom made me drive her Vue the rest of my visit. Avis only had certain cars to rent one-way, I got stuck with a Santa Fe with IL plates.

2. Jared pays some serious attention; thanks to a FB status update, I got a stuffed narwhal for my birthday 

3. Being land-locked doesn't actually bug me all that much, scenery-wise. In fact, the rolling hills and occasional rivers were quite pretty, and I saw bison!

4. A/C is fucking critical to my survival. I did not realize how hot Kansas gets, even in spring. Central a/c or a window unit in the bedroom would be a must if I move.

5. Even people who can cook can have terrible kitchens. That boy needs a serious dish sponge and a cookie sheet, for pete's sake.

So my trip was awesome, and I would go back in a heartbeat. Pretty much sums everything up, but I could expound if anyone cared. Or just because I want to! Flying and driving all day Thursday was exhausting, but I'm really glad I flew into Kansas City and got to drive all the way to Manhattan/Ft. Riley and see all the scenery and back roads. Jared has a pretty nice duplex in a decent neighborhood, and the town itself is survivable. Where there's a Target, I can manage lol. It was nice being able to go out and do whatever on Friday instead of being stuck there, glad I got the rental even if it was a massive gas-hog compared to my Queen. He worked kinda late Thursday and Friday, but it was fun being able to make fajitas for dinner Friday night like a good girlfriend. The boy hates the gushy insides of tomatoes as much as I do; definitely a keeper. I also made cookies, and then orange sweet rolls for breakfast on Saturday. We pretty much were just lazy & cuddly all weekend, except when we returned the rental in Topeka Saturday afternoon and stopped at the casino for dinner on the way home. He had to deal with my low blood sugar episodes, both in driving (he fails Being Followed 101 sooo hard) and in trying to decide on food, and we both survived. We managed to watch a few movies in between all the sex and food and sleep, but I don't really remember which ones they were lol. We talked about frivolous things and serious things, and generally just got to experience some relationship normalcy for a few days. It sucks being so long-distance, but it helps that we were used to it as friends for years beforehand. I'd love the chance to actually see him on a daily basis, much less live with him. Kinda scary to think about already, but idk how to gauge time in this relationship. Does it start from the hurricane, or the fiasco in Tallahassee, or his holiday visit? Perhaps V-day weekend in February, or his birthday in March when we said the L-word? It feels like forever and no time all at once. It feels silly thinking of moving in together already, but we know its a looong ways off. His lease is up in March, and the place isn't pet friendly; my dogs are my life, and he wants them too. I'd also like real a/c, a basement, and a garage so the tornadoes don't scare me so much. It was so hard to drag myself out of his arms & into the shower so I could leave Sunday. It rained, even Kansas was sad to see me go. He was too busy to ever show me the base, but in a moment of lunacy I agreed he can take me flying next visit. I'm terrified of helicopters, but I guess I gotta trust him sometime. It's still weird thinking of myself as a military girlfriend, but I have enough other friends in uniform that I guess it doesn't make me that much more emotionally involved in miliary-related going-ons. I'm thankful he's not set to deploy til mid-2013, it gives us time to see where this is going before having to deal with that big of a stressor. Blahhh. So many thoughts, sooo not cohesive. I love him. I loved my trip to Oz. I wanna go back already. 

Is this real life? How can I be so happy?

More than just alive, I'm back in FL and for the first time in months I have internet access besides my work pc. I don't really feel like work internet counts, even on my lunch break I feel...supervised. Ugh. God bless smartphones, at least I could email and Facebook semi-freely, but I've missed the real interwebs. 

So much has changed, so many thoughts locked in my head this whole time that I couldn't blog out like I used to do. Feels like its been ages since I could, probably since the hurricane. Everything went to hell after that, but I guess its all working out for the better in a roundabout fashion. Not thrilled about being back home instead of in OBX, but sometimes you gotta do the smart thing financially even if it fucking sucks. Miss my girls, miss the beach, miss my freedom. But the new job is decent and being around for my nephews and my mom is nice. Living with my dad drives me fucking batty, but for now I'll tough it out I guess. Things got super serious with my army boy, wish he was still in AL instead of KS so I could see him more often but oh well. Kinda nice having old friends around, but running into old friends-gone-bad and all the family drama gets old fast. I'll survive, though. Always have, too stubborn not to. My poor Mississippi Queen probably won't, at the rate things are going, but better for her to crap out on me here than anywhere else I suppose.

Buhhh. Sooo many thoughts. Too many for right now. 

So back on like the 25th, my two dogs and I fled Irene's wrath and headed down to the Middle of Nowhere, Alabama to see an old friend before visiting my family in the Tampa Bay area and heading back to paradise. After 15 hours of driving, I got to see Jared for the first time since last summer before he got stationed in AL for his flight training. Still not really sure how to feel about that visit; on the one hand I really enjoyed it, but on the other hand I highly doubt I'll get to enjoy it again. We've only ever been just friends, and rarely gotten to see each other in person, since I moved away in the summer after 10th grade after living next door to him since mid-4th grade. We've kept in touch online and whatnot, so much so that it wasn't awkward at all showing up on his doorstep a hot mess after fleeing a hurricane. Predictably, things got more than friendly in the two and a half days I stayed there, and lord knows I didn't mind that one bit lol. I just know he's got this idea in his head that he shouldn't bother getting involved with anyone til he's out of the military and I don't wanna start feeling more-than-friendly about him just to get let down. Tricky stuff, love and sex. 

Florida was nice for the little while I was there. I got to see my mom, my godson, and two of my best friends; even though I only managed a meal with Jen and Lisa, it was still great to see them again, and anytime spent getting to see Gabriel in real life leaves a smile on my face :) He is such a happy, happy baby! And he doesn't freak when I pick him up, which makes me happy, since I wouldn't blame him at all for forgetting me after being gone half his short little life. Mom and I hit all the good shopping I could get done in FL that didn't get to happen that weekend like we'd been planning for VA Beach; still need to reschedule that trip, but first we need to recover from the hurricane. I stopped in DB to get my purple microwave from Jon before heading back home, god that was awkward. He wanted to do lunch or something, spend some time together, and was jealous that I'd taken off to AL instead of weathering the hurricane in DB with him. Uhh, hell no man. We're over, done, kaput. Just friends. My dogs and I do not want to sleep on your couch, excuse me my couch that you've had for two years now, and still be vaguely in the potential path of the storm. Just...no. Ugh.

Irene flooded our yard here at home, and the bottom floor of the house as well. The dock is in two pieces, not that it wasn't already in bad shape before the storm lol. I'm stuck living in the guest loft for the time being, until we can convince our shitty landlord to rip up the mildewing carpet downstairs so I can safely move back down there. Some of my furniture needs to be replaced as well, mainly the dresser and bookcase-turned-tv stand. Colington Road is a mess in general, though Sound Feet fared pretty well out on the beach. V&J opted to weather the storm here, and saved most of the light stuff from the foot of water that snuck into the house. Thank goodness for them, or I'd have lost a lot of little dumb stuff like pajamas and blankets and my collection of books. We'll recover eventually, as will everyone else here on the beach. John's boss's house is a total loss, so we have two of their four dogs staying with us on top of our five. It's a crazy life lol. Kylie is coming over tomorrow evening to cut and dye my hair, hope it doesn't overwhelm her! I can't wait to have a new look finally, it's only been allll summer. 

So yep, that's life. I survived Irene, more or less. We'll have to wait and see if my tender emotions can handle the aftermath of my little hurrication or not.