Dallas, the Reserves, and all that...

We got back to El Paso last night after our long weekend in Dallas, really Arlington. It was an interesting weekend, but good in the end. The drive was not nearly as bad as we expected it to be, and the hotel was fine, no frills, but a place to crash, which is exactly what we needed. We didn't get to sleep until really late because we had to find something to eat, and I was NOT up for delivery pizza, which is Thak's default setting. He did eventually find a grocery store, and get some stuff to make sandwiches and salads, and we ate dinner at midnight.

The following morning, I woke up not feeling good, though. It turned out I was extremely dehydrated, but after hydrating all day long and eating a lot of veggies and fruits, I was feeling better enough to venture out. I went to Wal Mart for hair products since the humidity in Dallas will really frizz the crap out of your hair, especially if you've spent the past two years in the desert. Thak had let me take his iPhone while he was at drill, so I searched for a Wal Mart in the GPS app, and we headed out. We got like half a mile from our hotel, and right there in front of us was Cowboys Stadium!! Look to our right, and there's Rangers Ballpark! It was awesome! The Wal Mart we went to was actually right across the street from Cowboys Stadium. Let me tell you, that place is HUGE!! It looks like a giant spaceship. It's absolutely beautiful, though. I personally love the way the Vikings get a win every time they visit.

That day was interesting. Thak got off work really late, because the unit tried to cram like 3 weeks' worth of stuff into a day, so by the time he got back to the hotel, it was late, so we ate dinner and went to bed so we could get a lot of sleep and hopefully feel all the way better on Saturday.

Saturday was good. Me and the kids got up at 5:30 to take Thak to the Reserve Center, so that we could have the car to go to the farmers' market in downtown Grand Prairie. After we dropped Thak off, we went back to the hotel, and we all fell asleep until about 9 am, then left for the farmers' market when we woke up. The farmers' market was good. We got a lot of good quality produce, including a big basket of fresh okra!! The quality of the produce was so much better than anything we can get here in EP. We also bought a delicious looking loaf of apple bread to take out to our friends' house that afternoon. After we got back, Thak called and said family day was kicking off soon at the Reserve Center, so we needed to head over. I got the kids all ready, and we got in the car, only to find that the car wouldn't start. Thak got a ride to the hotel from one of the guys on his team, and they found that some safety switch in the clutch had been tripped, so they just had to un-trip it, and everything was fine.

Then we headed to the Reserve Center, and the kids and I got our first taste of Reservist life! It's definitely different than Active Duty. A lot of the soldiers (not all, but a lot) look more like civilians, and if everyone's in civvies, forget about being able to pick out the soldiers from the civilians! You simply can't do it! It's crazy! Everyone's really chill, though, and super nice. It's fun. We liked it there, although Thak is having a harder time with the adjustment to the Reserve way. He puts on that uniform, and he's in Active Duty mentality, and that's just not what's needed in this unit. He'll get used to it, though. He always does. He was just Active Duty for 14 years, and that's a pretty long-standing habit to break. Family Day at the unit was fun, though. The kids had a great time, and everyone really loved Chai. The food was good, too.

After we got done at the Reserve Center, we went out to our friends' house outside of Ft. Worth and had a barbecue. That was awesome. It was great to get out of the hotel room, and for Erin to play with other little girls her age, and to get to swim in the pool (Orren loved it, too!). The guys played with guns and fireworks and open flames (the grill), and the kids ran amok, and us moms just kind of hung out and caught up on the gossip. It was just what we needed.

The following morning, Thak went back to the Reserve Center for a half day of work, and me and the kids stayed back to pack up the room and get ready to get on the road. We got a later start than we'd have liked to as far as the trip went, but we made good time. We got into El Paso about 10 hours after we left Arlington. Aside from Thak thinking he lost his wallet in Odessa (and subsequently finding it in the glove compartment) and his orders blowing across a parking lot in Pecos (but they were caught by Thak and someone else), and the road that goes to our house being closed and us having to take a massive detour once we got back to EP, it was a smooth trip home. We got home at 10 pm, Erin went to school this morning, and Thak went to work.

All in all, drill weekend was a success. We'll post pics soon. We have to get some of them from our friend, but we'll post them when we have them.