I'm no Lucky Charm

I had my whole half of the hall amazed and a little confused that I've never gotten a lottery ticket before today. It seems it was a rite of passage for most at age 18, and for others its a hidden habit that keeps their significant other guessing where all that "new stuff" came from.

"Papa" Jack bought them for us at lunch today when he went in the 7eleven for his afternoon smokes, and Amber hollered at him from the car, "Papa, bring us a souvenir!" So, what did we get? Lottery tickets. Amber and Kara won a total of $21 which was split 50/50 with Jack. 

  

Amber was the big winner of the day, winning $20 on her scratch off card. Lucky duck!

Unfortunately, I was no lucky charm...

Speaking of Lucky Charms...

...It was one of my guilty pleasures at Gee.

The perfect meal when nothing else was edible, or the perfect dessert to cap off a meal. I'll never buy a box, though, because it would take me 2 years to finish the whole box. 

Favorite part of the Lucky Charms...

...You guessed it. :)

(Click the Marshmallows to see where they rank
on the awful-for-you-meter.)

Famous people are human too

I sat down on the plane on Friday a little disheveled and quite hungry. Thankfully, I had purchased a salad from Green Leafe before I hopped on the plane... too bad the dressing had completely spilled out into the bag by the time I pulled it out to eat.

I was in the middle seat between to full-grown, not-tiny men, which made my little claustrophobic self be a little on edge. You know what happens when I'm on edge... I try to make light of the situation and small talk with others. So I began this hour long conversation with the man in 17C. He was reading up on his new scuba diving Gekko watch, and so I asked where he was scuba diving and began talking about travel in general. He talked about all these countries he'd been to with work (predominately African), and I began to wonder what line of work this man was in. I could tell by his comments (although very humble), that he seemed to be someone rather important. He gave me his name on a napkin with the name of the best Ethiopian restaurant he recommended in the DC area, which he said was a favorite of his friend who was ambassador to Ethiopia for many years.

He was a very gentle man with kind eyes, and he seemed to be genuinely interested in my little life. Little did I know that he's known around the world as being anything but gentle.To me, he will always be the nice man in 17C, but for you... his name is Cofer Black.

Would you have recognized him? He spent 30 years in Africa and South Asia as a CIA agent, and he led the search for Osama Bin Laden after the attack on 9/11. Most people would recognize him for his association with BlackWater USA, the Black part is from his name.

I think he was happy to have a normal conversation with a person who knew nothing of his fame. He could just be normal. I like to think that's what his wink meant when we parted ways at the end of the journey.

Two adventurous weekends in a row & POTHOLES

Surprise!!! 

I can finally tell you!! I went home this weekend to surprise my Daddy for his birthday! I was itching to tell you before, but I knew if it was in any way indicated on the blog, it would ruin the surprise my mom and sisters have been working so hard to keep quiet.

It was so nice to go back to Lexington for a bit. I must say, though, it's amazing how much more "rural town" it feels after such a short time in this bustling metropolis.

I flew out Friday after work, and was graciously picked up from the airport by my long-time best friend Courtney and her brilliant husband Alex. :) Yes, I brag on you too, Alex. Everyone had worked very hard to keep Daddy up til 11:30, but he was determined he was going to bed, so I walked in to surprise him right after he got under the covers. haha! I think it was a delightful surprise, and everyone had fun with it!

The weekend was a whirlwind with our constantly expanding family, but it was quite fun and refreshing to see everyone!

Saturday we had a big lunch of Hudson's BBQ and marvelous sides a la Modenna's kitchen with all of my family (including the "bonus" daughter Courtney and our precious foster child). The lemon cake mom made was off the chain, and I decorated it to be so pretty!

 

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

 

Our new little (soon to be linebacker) addition! Isn't he precious?!

  

Dad's "bonus" daughter and my Bestie, Courtney, aka Snort (and no, she doesn't snort).

  

In case you didn't note the boots in the opening picture... And thanks for all your responses. They're keepers!

  

  

Two of my favorite men in the whole wide world!

Amendment to post on Thursday for those of you that inquired:

Potholes are ridiculous, I mean, RIDICULOUS, up here after weeks of snow, ice, and plows. I hit one that night that was so large it covered the entire left half of the lane I was in, and it was deep enough that the underneath of my car hit the ground when I couldn't avoid missing it. It was crazy. And, no, I couldn't swerve to miss it as there was a median to my left and a car to my right, and it was a dimly lit area of the curve which meant I hit it going about 35 mph. Uhh, NOT good for my car. It was one of those days where I thought about trading my darling civic in for a CRV with 4-wheel drive and a higher suspension. So, although potholes won't be the death of me, I'm hoping and praying they won't be the death of my little honda. 

Stay tuned tomorrow for my interesting airplane story. Here's a hint... I sat next to a famous person. Intrigued?