So I guess here we go:
REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD
After Nate's graduation, I had to leave early on Friday morning to get back to work, so that meant Nate and Annie got to drive the 12 hours without me. Turned out Annie did just fine on the road, sleeping the majority of the time.
My boss, Scott, told me that when Nate was about an hour out, I was more than welcome to leave work. So around 3 p.m. I left Dr Pepper Ballpark to meet my road warriors at the apartment.
When they arrived, I showed Annie and Nate where the dog park in our complex was and then I went back up to get Todd. Speaking of Todd, I did not mention to him that they were coming to McKinney. By the time Todd and I hit the grass outside our building, the excitement began. He saw Nate sitting on the bench and Annie through the gate. He was actually so excited, he wiggled through the bars before I could even take him off of his leash. Todd was also "screaming" so loud when he saw Nate I was afraid everyone in the complex was going to come out to see what all the commotion was about.
They played for at least an hour while Nate and I just relaxed and watched. It was way cute too because you could tell Todd and Annie really missed each other.
MCKINNEY MAGIC
So my boss was nice enough, again, to give me some time off to explore the new city I call home with Nate. So, we decided to spend the day in downtown McKinney. Let me tell you, it's a great downtown. It has been recently updated to become more of a "hang out" than just a warn down, down town. They have numerous shops and restaurants, as well as other odd and end shops, not to mention live music and a ton of free events on the weekends.
We ate at a really nice European inspired restaurant that had great food. Then, we just explored every store we could just to see what was down there.
I think Nate's favorite was an old style candy shop, that's right people, floor to ceiling candy.
My favorite had to be an amazing bookstore, it had old books everywhere, including a second edition U.S. Constitution. I loved the smell, the feel of the place and it even had a furry little dog friend that welcomed everyone.
Glad down town McKinney is a fun, chill place to go, perfect for friends and to take people when they visit.
JOB PERKS
One of the major perks to my job is the fact we have season tickets to the Texas Rangers, and lucky for me I got them when Nate was in town. We get four tickets when we get our seats so I invited my new friend/co-worker Gab and her husband Andrew.
We had a great time on our third baseline, three rows up seats and enjoyed another perk, entrance to the private club and restaurant at the ballpark. Not to mention, Nate was a very happy camper.
Another perk to my job is some of the events we are invited too. The one while Nate was in town was the Silver Dollar Ball, to help raise money for the American Cancer Society. The RoughRiders donated money so me, some fellow co-workers, and their significant others all got go.
We enjoyed free food, drinks, poker, music, and did I mention Dallas Cowboy football players? That's right, we were two tables away from some of the stars of the cowboys including Leonard Davis, tight end Jason Witten, and Marc Colombo. Leonard Davis, during the silent auction, bought a real long horn for 10k, and even got in a bidding war for a private 100 person concert, but lost by a bid of 41k...yes that's right, $41,000.
After the silent auction, the dancing began with music from country singer Neil McCoy. It was great to see everyone out there, especially the football player wives, they were loving life. About half way through, Neil asked Colombo, Davis and a few other Cowboys to serenade the crowd and they did, it was AWESOME!
Not to mention a great memory for me and Nate, I mean it's not everyday you go hang out with Cowboys and some of the upper ups of the Dallas community.
NEW FRIENDS AND PHOTO SHOOTS
Another task I had was helping my co-worker and new friend Rob out for his upcoming wedding. Him and his fiance, Kristy, wanted to do photos for their table numbers and they asked me to do them for them. I felt honored and had a really great time shooting them.
Nate got to come along and even helped watch their dog, who also got to be in some of the photos. After the shoot, we then grabbed some Tex-Mex in downtown Frisco. It was a really fun night and I was so happy Nate got to meet and hang with them before he had to leave.
BASEBALL, BASEBALL, BASEBALL
While Nate was here he got in a lot of baseball games including that Rangers game with Gab and Andrew. We had a long home stand with the RoughRiders so Nate got to sit and watch they game while I worked, good thing he loves baseball.
My boss, once again being great, got Nate founders tickets so he also got all the food and beverages he wanted while he was there. Finally, on the last night Nate was in town his cousins were able to join him for a game, I was happy they got to spend some time together.
SEE YOU LATER...
Two weeks went really, really, really fast.
That same Friday Nate got to watch the games with his cousins, we left Texas for Kansas. We drove the entire night, ok Nate did, and got to our hotel at 6 a.m. Saturday morning. Then, at 9 a.m. that same day, Nate came to Whitefield with me to help my senior editors finish up their yearbook. We left the school at 4 p.m. then headed over to our friends, to see them and their new baby boy.
By the time we got back to the hotel it was time to go to sleep because I had to be at the air port by 6:30 the next morning. Yes, I wasn't even in Kansas City for 24 hours but it was worth the extra time I got to spend with Nate.
Sunday came, I flew back to Dallas and Nate spent the morning with his family (it was mothers day) and then headed to Salina, KS for RandL progression and to get ready for deployment. This past week was full of completing his will, and finalizing all the important "life" things and drill.
Not going to lie, it's weird that we are now at the "deployment ready" phase, it still feels like he just started flight school. This also means that it's just me and the puppies holding down the fort in Texas until after the deployment is over. Yes, we might get a long weekend in there once or twice before Nate goes over seas but it's better to not hold your breath in these situations. Oh well, this next year and a half is just a blip on the timeline of life and I am sure it will go really, really fast.
THE END
So, there it is, the quick recap of everything that has been going on in life. As for this week, we have the longest home stand for the RoughRiders, seven home games in a row, which means my work week is 12 days long, 7 of them being over 12 hour days.
Yesterday was the longest day, even though it was the most fun because we had RoughRiders Kids' Day. We had over 1,000 kids come out to play games, hang with the players and mascots, and eat way to many hot dogs. The players even had a blast, letting their 6-year-old selves truly shine.
Well, time for me to take the puppies out and, as lame as it is, get some sleep. Another early morning and late baseball game evening tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment