On The Oilfield Road Again!

Here we go again.

ThatManILove has received a work assignment in the Bakken Shale in North Dakota. (Why doesn't my industry drill wells in Hawaii?)

So, Thanksgiving morning will find us flying to Denver to spend a couple of days together before he flies up to the beautiful land of North Dakota for his first gig. And it could become sort of his home away from home, like Pennsylvania did last year. One thing's good - he has his cold weather clothes from Pennsylvania. I think it snows in North Dakota!

We’re staying at the Magnolia Hotel Denver . The good thing about booking a hotel on Thanksgiving? They’re having a special! We’re staying in their top room for around $150 per night, and it’s a boutique hotel.

I LOVE it when we find deals like that. I'll post pix, I promise!

I’ll be back home Sunday night - a friend is keeping our dogs and housesitting - and all is well with my world.

Except it’s 10:30 p.m. and I’ve not packed a thing. And our flight is at 7:30 a.m.

Such is mi vida loca!

Happy Thanksgiving, y’all!

And...happy trails, until we meet again!

Contest Winners for the Pennsylvania Contest

This virus is draining me. I don’t think I have one brain cell left! And I don’t even drink...well, okay, sometimes. Maybe.

I totally forgot I have a contest to award! And it's Friday the 13th, so no matter what the boogity woogities tell ya, it is your lucky day!

Last week, we flew into the PA. I asked you bloggers the following question:

Wait. Did I tell you how much you all rock for even indulging me in this game I call life? Well, you do! Rock!!

We are going to:_______(fill in the blank!).

Next time I’ll be a little more specific, but I knew y’all would be creative and funny. And I promised that the funniest answer gets a $50 gift card to his/her choice of stores. And then, I promised that the closest answer gets a $75 give care to his/her choice of stores.

Who won?

Funniest: Sandy at ibeati. Her answer?

We are going to: Intercourse, Pennsylvania or to see my mother in Quakertown but do not tell her you went to Intercourse first!! (I could just see me telling Sandy's mom - "We did Intercourse this morning, then drove to Quakertown.")

Closest: Irish Gumbo

We are going to: Hellinnahandbasket, a small town not too far from Pittsburgh. It’s warm there, I hear. :)

What did we really do?

We went to: Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, (right behind the Trax Farms) ( a place not too far from Pittsburgh) (see why he won?) to a housewarming party at John and Suzan’s new house. It was hotter than Hellinnahandbasket because so many people were there. And it’s a two story house with a basement, people, plenty of room, but packed, packed, packed with people! A steaming success! Okay, it wasn’t that hot, but it was packed! And fun! And the new house is BEAUTIMOUS! Suzan, Becky, John, Cara all worked their butts off to make this party go down.

And I have to give a third award to VodkaMom, because she threatened me and made me laugh. You’ll have to go back to comments to read it. I’m trying really hard to keep things PG13 here.

So, Sandy, Irish, and VodkaMom (you heifer), e-mail me with your choice of stores, and your addresses, and the cards will be in the mail post-haste!

Congratulations!!! One more question...

Do you think that's enough contests for one month?

Shots From Pennsylvania (Yes, Tami, I Was This Close!!!)

Covered Bridge Road near New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. (I was so close to Tami of Pennsylvania Wild Woman but we were unsuccessful in meeting! Oh, well, I'll be back!)
The Elephant and Castle Pub at Grove City, Pennsylvania...and a subsequent bar shot.
Jerry, a fly fisherman from Clarion, PA, showing his cast, on the Neshannock River. I just started taking pictures, and we visited a while. He didn't seem to mind that I was taking pictures, and I promised to send them to him. For you fly fishing enthusiasts, he has a fly fishing blog named Streamside Tales!

We're heading home now, awaiting our Southwest flight at Chicago Midway. Y'all have a great day!

Ask a Question...

We have an engagement this evening, so I'm writing this post a little early (or late, depending on when you read!).

I'm going to open this one up to you...

Ask any question you want* about me** (keep them relatively clean, please) and I'll answer it. I promise. So have fun!

For now, I'm going to dry my hair, get dressed, and we're hitting the streets of Cranberry, PA!

* excluding contest question

**added later because Bare-Eyed Sun asked "what numerical expression using only three instances of the numeral "4" yields "55"? and immediately made me a liar...'coz that's one I can't answer...immediately, anyway!

We're in Pennsylvania! (Yep, Another Contest!)

After leaving the house at 5:30 a.m., ThatManILove and I finally in Pennsylvania after a full day of flying.

We are going to:________________(fill in the blank!). You must leave your answer in the blog comments.

The funniest answer gets a $50 gift card to your choice of stores!

The closest answer gets a $75 gift card to your choice of stores!

Be creative! Contest ends Monday night at 6 p.m.

Excluded from this contest: SKA, JKA, BAM, KAB. TG, BD and CD. You know who you are and you know I love you!

Fun in Ohio, Then Back to the PA!

I’m in the Marriott at Easton Village in Columbus, OH. If you get a chance to go to Easton Village, do so! It's a delectfully delightful shopping center, complete with a Trader Joe's and Container Store and...okay, I'll stop. I had a meeting in Pittsburgh on Thursday, then have been hanging with my friends John and Suzan. Yesterday, we did a little bit of shopping (I’m shipping it all home, honey!). Then, we went to Smith and Wollensky for supper, and it was absolutely divine.

In a bit, we’ll be heading to Abuelo’s for mexican food - John and Suzan are displaced Texans, and they’re missing mexican food! And, then, I'll have my virgin venture into Trader Joe's...I've read all your lovely rants about it, so I have to go, right? Then, we’ll head back to the beautiful state of Pennsylvania.

When we return to Pennsylvania, we'll head to Trax Farms in Venetia, PA. I took the above shot there. Wonder if those boots will work for hunting? i WISH!

Hopefully I’ll get to meet Tami today, but I'm not sure of her schedule.

And tomorrow, I head back to Texas. I miss ThatManILove and the wonderdogs...and y’all!

Apology and Helping Hands...

It’s been a very stressful month.

First, my employer wanted us to relocate to DFW. All good…I would still handle this area, still keeping my fingers in the Permian Basin pie, still cover the Western US. Then, in the middle of that negotiation, WHILE we’re looking at houses in the Fort Worth area, my employer called and said, “How about moving to Pennsylvania, instead?” After a couple of discussions with ThatManILove, and much prayer and thought, we started investigating Pennsylvania. We'd love to be up there, it's booming, and beautiful - what a way to finish up our careers - how exciting it would be! And I'd get to be close to Vodka Mom and all the great northeast bloggers, which would be a bonus in itself!

In the end, we decided against the move – the houses are some 100% higher, and we’d have to go into debt. And that, we just can’t do. After all the times I've advised people to never turn down a move within a company, I just did it.

All that to tell you why I’ve not been blogging. Hopefully, I’ll get my drive back now and get back to it! Thanks for your patience and not leaving me during this time! And speaking of people, well, here’s yet another way to connect.

Bloggers are amazing people. Bloggers rally together when a friend is in need. Joanie is spending a lot of time out of town at the hospital with John, ThatManSheLoves! John is having chemo treatments, and as you know, hanging out in another town, to be near the hospital and support one you love, well, it’s never cheap.

So we're Paypal-ing to help out Joanie and John. And just this once, if you have $5, $10, $20 or a hundred to spare, you can go to Braja's place and throw some bucks in the Paypal account to help Joanie and John. and make Joanie's days a little easier. Every cent will reach Joanie and be so appreciated. If you’d care to help financially, go on...do it. Please. That's what friends are for...

Have I told you lately that you rock?? Well, you ROCK! And I've missed you all.

Thank You - Thank You Very Much (In an Elvis Kind of Voice)

When ThatManILove and I left Pennsylvania to come home, we found some relationships hard to leave.

Over a three month period, the employees at the Holiday Inn Express had become a second family to ThatManILove while he was residing in their hotel. I thank God for them every day. How do you express your gratitude in a situation like that, when you know the people that have served you, but you don’t know them well enough to buy them a personal present? We discussed it, and made our decision. Before we left town, we decided to give them each a card, and inside it, a small monetary blessing.

Today, we got a beautiful thank you card in the mail, which in itself was blessing enough, and one we didn't even expect! In the card, each one of them wrote a message and signed the card. Wow! I teared up a little, and then I laughed until I cried.

Here’s what they said.

Your generosity was beyond belief. We thought you might like to know what some of us did with our gifts.
D wrote: I bought a load of wood, took my husband to dinner, and bought us both a hangover for New Year’s Day! Thanks!
R wrote: Thanks for the gift. I got a new windshield. See you soon! Thank You!
A1 wrote: Thanks so much for the card! It helped my infant daughter and I a lot! (She’s a single mom.)
A2 wrote: First month’s rent! Thanks so much for the gift! It really was such a blessing! Take care. (She’s a sweet young lady, going to college, moving from the country into town.)

And then, one that cracked me up:
L wrote: Thank you so much! I used the money for a muzzle for my husband, a gag for my son, and a love seat for the dog! Thanks for the peace and quiet!

I think it's the best thank you card we've ever received. I bet ThatManILove will agree when he sees it.

On the Road Again - into the Snow!

We're leaving Clearfield, in a white out. Total white out. Ten mile an hour down the highway whiteout. And then, 20 minutes down the road, it looks like this.

Craziness.

On a lighter note, here's a cute picture of Zanna running her little heart out on Christmas Day.

Homeward Bound!

ThatManILove had to go to location up on the mountain this morning. My job? To sleep. I’m sort of sick, with a cold, or flu, or something, so I’m racked up on Tylenol Cold and Sinus, AM or PM, whichever is applicable.

I woke up around lunch, and decided to go clean up our vehicle while he’s on the mountain. Took me a bit, but I got it done. Last night we packed up 6 boxes of clothing, etc. to ship home so we won’t be crowded in the Yukon XL en route home. Today, we shipped them home. Thank God for UPS.

Tomorrow morning, we’re Texas Bound, really we are. Bye-bye, VodkaMom, we’ll be back soon to visit y’all! Thanks so much for babysitting, I mean, taking care of MLH while he was up in the PA – y’all freakin’ rock!

I'll be posting and taking photos for your enjoyment all the way home! I know. Y'all just can't wait for the thrills and chills, right?

Hmmmmmph.

One Dog Shy

Our house is one dog shy for a couple of months. We delivered Zanna the Wonder Pup to her hunter trainer on Saturday. She was so cute – at first, a little shy, but not so shy she couldn’t check everything out. She got to see her Mom, and two of her siblings. This is an important part of having a hunting dog, but it was sure hard to drop her off and leave her! We'll miss that little chica.

Here are some pictures of her driving stance. LaToya the Sequoia has a console between the driver and passenger seats, and this has become Zanna’s “place”. She rode and slept on that console, between us, the entire trip. Here's a picture - pardon the Crackberry quality.

It was so funny when ThatManILove came through the door Christmas Eve – Zanna didn’t bark at him. She went right up to him and started jumping up on him, excited to see him. Both ThatManILove and I were SO pleased. Even though she’d only been around him for a couple of weeks before he left for the PA, she remembered. Dogs are amazing.

Saturday night, we met John & Suzan, Gilbert & Sandra (Sandra’s a lurker on this blog, so y’all shout out to her!) for Mexican food at Grapevine, then went to our hotel. We arose bright and early yesterday morning, and went to Love Field to catch our flight to the PA. Which we did, barely. I forgot to allow for the huge holiday travel and associated bag check lines. Eeeeek! We boarded the plane with only 10 minutes to spare. Thank God, that's good enough for Southwest Airlines!

With only a little drama at Chicago (we pulled away from the airport, only to pull right back in and deplane due to a mechanical failure, then change planes entirely), we were soon on our way to the PA. (Southwest Airlines Seriously Rocks. Just saying. It would have taken Crapinental 2 days to get us out of that airport, and they would have blamed that mechanical failure on God's Will or weather, no refunds, no boarding, sorry.) We arrived in Pittsburgh around 6 p.m., got our baggage, and went to supper at Outback.

And now, we’re in Clearfield, PA. We’re going to pack up ThatManILove’s things and ship some home. In the next couple of days, we’ll be driving back to Texas, where we’ll celebrate our anniversary.

And for those inquiring minds that want to know, are ThatManILove and I Sync’d up? Oh, yes. And we're glad to finally be together again. All is well in our world.

All is well.

Sync'd - the Alternative Punk'd

Nobody told me that there would have to be a synchronization period before ThatManILove and I would be back to our “oneness”. I think I've been punk'd. Where the hell is Ashton?

I guess 3 1/2 months is a long time to be apart.

After Christmas Day with our Littles (as in Big Brothers Big Sisters), we took Zack and Zanna to the dog park. Then, we decided to go to the late late movie – the four of us. It was fun. Until we got home and ThatManILove and Younger Son decided to have a “discussion,” eventually drawing us all in. Nothing like a little conflict on Christmas Night. Elder Son intervened and brought some clarity to the situation. Finally, everybody kissed and made up.

Since then, our house has been the setting for a comedy of errors.

This morning, I decided to let MLH sleep in. So, I got up with the dogs at 5:45 a.m.. They did their “business” and I begged them for a few more hours of sleep. They complied, until about 9:45 a.m., when they told me they were “Starving, Mom! Just starving! You never feed us! Where’s the number to PETA?”

(What. What? Your dogs don’t talk, I take it? Well, B.S. You have to channel your inner Dog Whisperer. Mine is called Cesarina. She’s a short Hispanic chica who does some mean rollerblading. She has zero problema being the pack leader, if you get my drift.)

Back to this other crap.

I decided to let ThatManILove catch up on some ZZZZ’s ‘cause that’s how I roll. When he woke up, we ran the dogs for a bit, and then decided on flights back to the PA. I started some laundry, threw a roast in the oven for supper, and decided I needed to take a break…

Just about the time ThatManILove decided we needed to be 100% packed at 2 in the afternoon so we would be ready to roll to Dallas at 9 a.m. tomorrow. I mean, he was getting all antsy about it!

MLH: I think we need to pack, really, Jane.(he only calls me that when he’s mad.)

Jane: Dude. I can so pack in twenty minutes. I’m getting good at it since you’ve been gone.
(for you newer readers, he usually packs for me - and he's damn good at it!)

MLH: Since all my stuff is still in the PA, we’ll both pack in the same bag.

Janie: Let’s see. I have to take 6 days worth of clothes, and makeup, and all that entails, and we’re going to pack in the same bag. Guess it’s going to be pretty warm up in the PA. Think shorts and T-shirts should do it?

MLH: Jane.

Janie: I’m really needing a nap. I haven’t had any down time in forever. Are you good with that?

MLH: I want us to get packed.

Right.

Later, I’m folding clothes and I hear him talking. I realize that he’s talking…to me. From three rooms away. I go into the bedroom, where he’s watching TV.

Janie: Hey, Babe, are you talking to me?

MLH: Yes. Do you know where my socks are? I can’t find any! Y'all have to quit putting my laundry where I can't find it.

Janie: They’re in this drawer, this drawer, and this drawer.

MLH: I’ve got to get all this cleaned up and organized.

Janie: Nothing’s changed since you left for the PA. Nobody's worn your laundry, honey.

Then, supper.

MLH: Do you know where the wine corkscrew is?

Janie: No. That's another coincidence - there’s been no wine consumed here since you left, so it would be pretty safe to say you had it last.

MLH tears into every drawer looking for the corkscrew, griping the entire time. Finally he finds it, in the implement drawer. Later, at the table…

MLH: You know, I’m really not feeling a “welcome home.”

Janie: Are you kidding me? (And that’s all I’m going to say about that conversation.)

Later on, I’m counting the 18 Robert Earl Keen tickets to the concert we’re going to miss, trying to decide to mail them to the attendees, or to give them to John and Suzan for distribution, or split them up between Mike and Pam and John and Suzan for further distribution between all the people that are going without us to the concert, or go by Bass Performance Hall and put them at WillCall, or what. I have tickets all over rows D and E, and trying to figure out who gets what.

MLH: Girl. How many times are you going to count those tickets?

Janie: I’m just trying to figure it all out since I don’t quite have a fix on who’s taking who.

MLH: You need to go pack, seriously, Jane.

I finish with the tickets, and go into the bedroom to start packing, and…

He sleeps. And he looks so dang cute when he’s curled up like that, with his head resting on his hands. Arrrrrrrrgh!

We gotta get sync’d up before we head to the PA – or that ride home will be the longest in the history of rock and roll.

En Route To La Casa!

ThatManILove is driving right now (12:36 p.m. CST) from Clearview, PA to Pittsburgh, PA. A storm is right behind him, and they're shutting down roads right and left. The Highway Department just detoured him to Clarion, PA., which is only 70 miles from Pittsburgh. He's driving 40-45 mph, and weather is setting in.

Hopefully, he'll get to the airport in time to catch his 7:50 EST flight to....(wait for it!)...HOME! Woohoo!!! A Christmas Eve flight!

We're all praying and anxiously waiting! I think our sons are going to force Christmas for tomorrow night, they're so excited to see The Man. Surely they'll let him take a nap first! They're sleeping at our house, too, so weather willing, we'll all be together for the first time in ages. It will be fun, and I'm sure all the guitars will be pulled out of cases and plugged into amps.

Then, the plan will be to go to Dallas after Christmas, take Zanna the Wonder Pup to her trainer, and board a plane back to the PA. We'll go get the truck and all of MLH's stuff, and drive back home. It's our anniversary on the 28th, but at least we'll be together.

On another note, Zanna barked at Elder Son when he came over earlier in the week. I thought I was rocking the casbah getting her socialized...but I guess I forgot the "men" part of that exercise! Oh, well, I did as well as I could! Hope she doesn't bark at ThatManILove when he walks through the door - or tries to get into "her" bed!

Thanks for bearing with me these last 3 1/2 months, listening to all my whining and gritching. I promise to be better...and soon! ;)

Merry, blessed Christmas and Happy New Year to each and every one of you!

Whiny Gritchy Moany

Okay.

Time for truth.

When your man’s been gone since the beginning of time, and it’s decision time about coming home or going there for Christmas, how would you handle it?

I feel like crying.

Shouting. Throwing a temper tantrum.

Saying “Fluck, fluck, fluckity fluck!” about a million times.

The rig finally got on the mountain late today…so they’re all up there, 12 degrees and wind chill feeling like -4 in Clearfield, PA, which is the closest town – can you imagine how cold it is up on that mountain? I know they have light plants, but Lord have mercy on all of them.

A decision will be made probably tomorrow as to Christmas and where our family will best be located for that holiday so we can all be together. Our sons are frustrated with the lack of decisions. Me? Don't even ask.

Meanwhile, if y’all pull another meme like you did yesterday, my pix won’t be as pretty. My hair will be flat out screaming from pulling it out in desperation!

Okay.

Thanks for listening to all that crap. I feel better now.

Wordless Wednesday from an OilPatch Gal

Clearfield Corners

It’s time for ThatManILove to come home. Seriously. The PA and the cold are Wearing. Him. Out. And he is in wait mode for some equipment to go to location.

Today, he called the office and talked to Mark, a VP in my company.

TMIL: Hey, Mark!

Mark: Hey, how’s it going up there?

TMIL: Great. Guess what I'm doing?

Mark: I don’t know. What?

TMIL: I’m stuck up in the upper northeast corner of my hotel room, and the only thing that’s holding me up here is static electricity. Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to hang on to myself.

Mark: (roars for freaking minutes.) Cold up there, is it?

TMIL: Freakin’ 18 degrees!

Ummmm. Yeah. Maybe you had to be there.

Almost Wordless Wednesday - Funky Consignment Store!

In Pennsylvania, we were going down the road and I saw this fox. And then, I looked again, and saw it was a Savvy Fox. I will admit, I've never seen THAT kind of consignment store.

What Did You Say???

Okay.

I’m not a happy girl. Well, I am, just because I pretty much try to stay that way.

But here’s the dealio – I’m at home in Midland, flew home tonight, and ThatManILove is STILL in Pennsylvania. Our best laid plans went astray. I did get to spend some good time with him, on location, doing work, but still, we were together, had fun, sang songs going down the road (and we sound great together, if I do say so myself.)

We will meet Friday morning in Fort Worth, and be together for Christmas parties all weekend in the Metroplex, and then…he goes back to the PA. Vodka Mom, I may need to wedge him into your family for a week or so – he’s getting pretty homesick.

Anyway, here’s a story. May be a little offensive, but just love me through it and build a bridge, okay? I was a cool 38 years old when I came into relationship with the Lord, and he’s still doing a work on me. When I get stressed, or scared, sometimes my mouth overloads my a$$, and that’s a lot. Not that it happens a lot, just that I have a lot of a$$. Just sayin’. But anyway, back to my mouth - when I’m under stress, and something happens, I can curse with the rest of them. It’s like a switch turns on, and I go for a second, then, BAM! I’m back to being sweet, sweet, sweet. (And for those of you that have seen my head rotating and green bile projectiling out my pie-hole, please don’t pick now to throw your two cents worth in. I’m telling this story. Do you hear me? Good. Because all the rest of the readers think I am an angel.)

This morning, we got up early, repacked everything, took the laundry down to the hotel front desk to send it out, and walked out to go to the airport. It was COLD. Seriously COLD. And dumb me, grabbed my coat, had it over my shoulder, not wanting to take it back to Texas, because I knew it would be knocking 80 when I got home, temperature-wise. Hands full of luggage, camera, stuff, and couldn’t put that coat on. And ThatManILove is taking his sweet time unlocking the truck. Did I tell you it was COLD? Like in the 20's. Freezing.

Janie: Sh!t. D@mn! H3ll! Pi$$! (and I thought I said it under my breath.) It’s cold as a witch’s you know what out here!

ThatManILove: Honey. Think you might interject a few more expletives into that sentence?

Janie: Ummmm. Dang. I didn’t even realize I said anything. (Liar, liar, pants on fire!)

ThatManILove: Well, that was pretty entertaining. I just wondered.

Janie: Well, I could have added that phrase I read on somebody’s blog lately.

ThatManILove: What was that?

Janie: It was “fluck, fluck, fluckity-fluck.”

ThatManILove: Whaaaaaaaaaat?

We both cracked up, and headed to the airport. Ees a berry goot ting he lubs me.

Speaking of love, my Brother Scott has a new design featuring a pix of he and my nephew, as well as a cute post of the WonderGrandGirl...go tell him hi!

We Ain't A-Skeered of No Woods!

The crazy things I get into, I swear.

Monday, we were up in the Pennsylvania woods on the wellsite. I promised the flowback guys I would make them some stew, and I did so. I sat in the trailer looking out the window, I saw two hunters walk out of the woods. Nosy girl that I am, I ran outside and started talking to them. Needless to say, they were shocked to see a woman on location, but were very friendly. I went and got ThatManILove, and we stood outside in the cold and visited with them. Their names were Pete and Donnie. Nice guys from different parts of Pennsylvania. They invited us to come by their deer camp.

Yesterday, on the same location, Pete came by again, to say hi and bring us some paperwork. He asked us to come by their deer camp again, and ThatManILove decided we’d do so. By this time, it is colder than a witch’s you know what, and snowing. Nasty weather. We leave about an hour after Pete, and head down the mountain. In four wheel drive, and low gear. Five miles took about 30 minutes. I’m telling you, it was one icy son of a gun going down that mountain.

We get to the bottom of the mountain, turn a hard right per Pete’s directions, and end up on this skinny road. On the left of the road is the river, I think, it was soooo dark and hard to see. On the right? Sometimes a railroad, sometimes a steep valley. Dark. Very dark. Road was muddy and slippery and only one car wide. One of those bad boys. Longest two miles of my life, and no.place.to.turn.around.

By the time we got to the end of that road to their deer camp, I swear to God I was hearing the music from “Deliverance”.

We drive up, and three guys we don’t know are smoking on the front porch of an awesome two story deer camp. We get out, go up to the porch, and introduce ourselves. Silence. We ask for Pete. Oh, they say. He’s inside. Go on in. (Don’t you know those guys had to wonder who the freakos were with the Texas license plates and the funny accents?)

Being the gentleman he is, ThatManILove opens the door for me.

Oh, no, I say. I’m not going in a deer camp before you. These guys are tired and are probably in their pink flowered pajamas. MLH looks at me with that look that says, “Oh, my lovely wife, you really are oh-so wise” and smiles, going in first. Pete comes and meets us, and brings us inside the cabin proper.

I met 11 tired hunters. Guys of all ages, from New York, Connecticut, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. They were so nice! Retired NY policeman, a retired roofing contractor, one tire shop owner, one scratch golfer, lawyer, I don't know what else. They treated me like a queen, and ThatManILove like a king. They tried to feed us supper, did card tricks for me, told us jokes, we all laughed so hard. They were great.

It was so much fun – and proof that most people are nice, wherever you go, even tried and true hunters when you invade their MAN CAVE. They’ve invited us back next year, and I hope we go!

But the best part? When we were heading back to the hotel in Clearfield, ThatManILove said the sweetest thing.

"We get to do cool stuff like that because guys LOVE you. You are so real, and you love the things they love, and you just connect with them. That was so much fun!"

Yup. And that's why I love ThatManILove.

He's not a-skeered of a little adventure!

Meet Vodka Mom!

It is snowing up here in Pennsylvania! And before I forget, JillJillBoBill wins the at this moment undisclosed prize from Pennsylvania for guessing correctly the mystery blogger.

Mystery Blogger from Pennsylvania happens to be Vodka Mom! We tried to meet for 3 days, unsuccessfully, due to my husband’s work. She was very, very patient with her soon to be oilfield buddies! But finally, yesterday, ThatManILove and I came down from the wellsite early and were able to go to State College and meet Vodka Mom! We had a drink at Outback, and visited, and had a simply marvelous time. Vodka Mom is so funny, we all just hit it off immediately. She flipped out her wallet photos, and her kiddos are beautiful. Mr. Vodka was at the hunting lease, so we’ll have to meet him next time. And the Golden Child, her youngest, was wearing out Vodka Mom's cell phone. It was precious. I can't wait to meet them all!

And as you can see by this picture, Vodka Mom really does drink cranberry with her vodka! Isn’t she beautiful? (I’m the large tall one with the rained on hair. She’s the tiny compact going to the gym perfect hair little one. Heifer*.) And me? What is that in my hand? Why, that’s a freakin’ Shirley Temple. I promise it is. Okay, I lied, it’s the “Wallaby Darned”, otherwise known as the Peach Bellini. And I liked it wayyyyy too much. Until it gave me brain freeze. But, yeah. Good stuff, this meeting. Good stuff, I say. And the best thing is that if ThatManILove has to stay in the PA much longer, he has found himself a new adopted family.

And Jilly? Next weekend, girlfriend. I’ll be in Dallas. Sunday morning brunch somewhere, husbands included – Trulucks, maybe? Not your house, I know, you’re all cooked up. But somewhere, somehow, somewhen (is that a word?) we will meet.

*Vodka Mom knows that "heifer" is a term of endearment. So don't y'all be going and getting your panties in a wad on her behalf, ya hear?