Charlotta and Home Again

Charlotte was loverly.  

I learned things.

I saw a presentation with a photo of Pam Anderson in it, followed by a presentation explaining a methodology for using metaheuristics to set a policy at food banks to equally distribute food to hungry persons in NC.  

Variety.  The spice of life.

Speaking of spices (very loosely, and don't think this is a segue, I'm not going anywhere with this.) I bought a vanilla bean for the first time today.

Just like this one, but without the 3pack.
And without Amazon's help.

I don't have any idea about what to use it for.  I've always wanted them, but even on Amazon they're selling 3 for $28.  This one I bought was $2.  Three cheers for the discount-grocery-store-that-I-was-formerly-afraid-to-go-into-but-now-love.  Here here! (hear hear?)  

ASIDE: I still don't look in the freezer.  Something about the huge "COME SEE WHAT'S IN OUR FREEZER" sign and one too many scary movies has me unable to open the door even with my hand on the latch.  Sometimes I shake.  Okay, not really, but it's close.

Something else I've bought recently at my scratch-and-dent grocery?  My new favorite cereal: Honey Graham O's!

ASIDE: Am I the only person who thinks Graham is hard to spell, and difficult in general?  

Clearly it's also available from Amazon.
But it's a 12pack.
I've done the never-ending-breakfast-food thing before,
it's not pretty.

p.s.- I'm still considering doing it.  This cereal is 'da bomb!

Whew.  We've already covered a lot of ground in this short post, and I'm half tempted to call it a night and go to bed.  But there's other things left to say, more words lodged in my fingertips that need to get out.  Problem is, I don't know exactly what they are.  

Things are weird today.  I'm tired of Handsome's job today, if I'm just being honest.  He knows this.  He also knows that I'm extremely proud of him and so grateful for his hardworking ways.  But I'm just wishing it wasn't another 24-hour shift thing.  Now that fewer than 137 miles separate us, I want to see him.  It's those pesky last 4.2 that are getting in my way tonight.

While in Charlotta, I had lunch with a friend of mine who is a Marine-wife.  She told me about fellow Marine-wives who have their babies while their husbands are deployed, and the new dad misses generally the first 2 months of the baby's life, not to mention all 40 weeks of pregnancy.  While my situation is still not everything I wish it were (and really, could it ever be?) conversations like that remind me that it's not like a lot of others.  Again, what I said on Veteran's day - the families and those who serve are making a lot of sacrifices.  Be grateful.

I have more to say, but since I'm happily home again, I've got home things (I'd call them chores, but that's just depressing to me right now) to take care of.  It's so nice to be home.  It did take some adjusting on my part today, to get back into the swing of reality.  But I love reality so much more.  I love meals I've cooked myself and seeing my handsome husband for at least those 23 minutes in the morning between shifts.  I love my crazy dog needing to go out all the time and the as-yet-un-done projects piling up in the office.  I love my scratch-and-dent grocery, and going to bed at a decent hour.  

What are your favorite parts about coming back home?

Doing laundry while it still seems novel,

TFW