More company.

I get myself recovered from having MIL here for 2 weeks. (Not staying with us, but she did keep Andrew 2 days when he had RSV and couldn't go to daycare). She left on a Monday. My friend, Angela, came the following Thursday and was here until Sunday. NOW, my cousin and her family are coming in from Kentucky Sunday night and will be staying with us Monday night and going home Tuesday. Very quick trip for them. I'm looking forward to seeing them since the last time we saw them was in October in DC for her brother's wedding. I think that will be all our company until March when my parents come up for a weekend. I'll probably be company in April when I (hopefully) go to Florida to see my family and my best friend who will be at her parents' house from California. I really go to see her since she does live in California. My parents understand that. I should probably do some straightening up or something since R & E will be here day after tomorrow. I should probably also check to see how much transcription work I have this weekend....

You might be a true Pensacolian if you...

~ Know that a Blue Angel is a pilot, not a heavenly being. True, true.

~ Don't even give a screaming roadside preacher a second glance. Ha!

~ Accept that you are the only people in the country who toss mullet AND eat them. Mmmm, mullet.

~ Support Frank Patti unconditionally.* What other choice is there now?
~ Know which bathroom to go into at McGuire's Irish Pub.

~ Pour your Bushwhacker out on the boardwalk, to avoid Pensacola Christian College students.

~ Know that, when traveling on I-110 and you get static over the radio, the "Hot Doughnuts Now" light is on at Krispy Kreme.

~ Know these street names in order and know they are actually the same
road: Saufley Field Road, Michigan Avenue, Beverly Parkway, Brent Lane,
Bayou Boulevard, and Perry Avenue, and, don't forget Mobile Highway,
Cervantes Street, Scenic Highway, Highway 90. Added bonus if you can
explain it to a visitor or tourist! Ha! I've driven from one end of the other on both of those!

~ Eat fried mullet. Yum. My dad's is the best.

~ Cried when you learned that J's bakery was closing and you celebrated upon its reopening. Not quite, BUT I could go for an iced cookie right about now, a smiley face, por favor.

~ Think a graffiti covered bridge is actually a local landmark, instead of a vandalized eyesore. I should go by that bridge next time I'm home.

~ Kissed the moose.

~ Know the Oyster Bar is closed on Tuesdays.

~ Start most of your directions by saying "turn left at Jerry's Drive-In."

~ Know not to wear a tie to Mesquite Charlie's. Oh yum.

~ Must drive on at least three roads undergoing construction wherever you go. Ha!

~ Call a drive to Nine Mile Road a "road trip." It just about is.

~ Still call a certain intersection "The Circle."

~ Still call the corner of Garden and Alcaniz "The Sheraton."

~ Know that you had better pull over for funeral processions. Definitely. This brought tears to my eyes when my Grandpa died.

~ Know that, when arriving in Gulf Breeze from the 3-Mile Bridge, you immediately do the posted 35-mph speed limit and honor that speed limit through Gulf Breeze proper. Yup.

~ Have gotten a speeding ticket in Gulf Breeze. Nope.

~ Go to the beach over the Navarre bridge instead of the Gulf Breeze bridge, to save a buck in tolls.

~ Prefer county commission or school board meetings to WWF Smackdown, because there's more action. Ha!

~ Subscribe to the News Journal only to keep up with the latest on the Escambia County School Board.

~ Explain to visitors that it is not the harbor they smell, but the Main Street sewage treatment plant. (That's right, folks, it's right there on MAIN Street.) Look for the little house.

~ Would never drive to the beach to the Blue Angels show, preferring to go by boat instead. Ah, haven't made it to a Blue Angels show at the beach. Did see one on base, though.

~ Arrange your social calendar around Blue Angels weekends.

~ Think the four seasons are "almost summer, summer, still summer, and Christmas." Amen!

~ Know Roy Jones has a chicken house.

~ Call Scenic Highway "The Bluffs." Yep.

~ Moved back to Pensacola more than three times. Haven't done that even once...

~ Have been asked to join every world religion while enjoying an evening in Seville Square.

~ Attend Thursday night summer concerts in the park, enduring blazing heat and 98% humidity.

~ Know the correct pronunciation of Texar Drive, Reus, Bobe, and Brainerd Streets. You mean some people don't?

~ Still call Perdido Beach "Gulf Beach."

~ Have waited in line for over an hour when a new chain restaurant comes to town.

~ Know at least 3 people involved in the Sandshaker scandal.

~Have witnessed at least 5 cars running a red light at any given intersection. Only everytime I go home.

~You own a generator and have a year's supply of water and gas stockpiled for next year's hurricane season. That would be my parents.

~ Remember when Pensacola Beach didn't resemble Beirut. This, I do.

~Continue to rebuild after every hurricane because why would you live anywhere else?

Good News!

My niece, Jessica Caitlin, was born Tuesday, January 3. She's a sweetheart.

Andrew is now 3. His birthday was January 4. We had a party for him on the 31st. We had a great time.

My friend, Angela, arrived on the 5th. We've been hanging out and talking. A lot of talking.

Last, and truly the best, my brother and his wife are pregnant! They've been TTC for their first child for over 2 years. I am SO, SO excited for them! Congratulations J & A!

I'm a freak.

I hate 'weather,' especially if there's a chance it will be bad weather. At the moment, we're about to have some severe thunderstorms rolling through. I'm home with Andrew while Clayton is out driving a car in it. I have 3 different weather things up as well as Desktop Weather. Yup. I'm a freak.

I go back to work tomorrow. Andrew goes back to daycare. He's been out for a week sick. I kept him out today because I had a holiday today and because my MIL was going back to Argentina today. Her flight was supposed to leave at 5:52 this afternoon, but when we got to the airport (at 3:30) it had been delayed to 7:10. I just checked the airport website and it was just now boarding. They're supposed to leave at 800 now. I hope they get to leave with the storm that's about to roll through. Supposed to be getting wind gusts up to about 40 mph. Yuck. This is so not January weather. This is more like spring weather. Whew. That one shook the house. Not fun.