The day before his birthday

Flat Jason has officially attended his first baby shower. I know it seems kind of like a girls-only thing, but his presence was requested. And he got to hang out with the guys all the way up to the point that they decided to go shoot guns. It was then that I decided it would be best if FJ stayed with the girls, just this once.

He was very disappointed he had to stay. To prove his masculity, FJ guarded Michelle's presents and opted out of any game-playing.

Later, we met AshLee and JR at Cold Stone for some birthday ice cream. The guys that work there are pretty much amazing. They even sang to Flat Jason in honor of his birthday.



We finished eating our ice cream in Peace Park while we watched the squirrels play and the people walk by. It was a gorgeous afternoon.







Later that evening, we headed to KC Country for some line dancing. Our usual crowd was absent, but we were fortunate enough to be invited to join a birthday party. They were celebrating two birthdays, Betty's tonight and Joyce's tomorow. They were very excited to learn that Flat Jason's was tomorrow as well.

Mary Lou and Joyce were both Army wives, so we had a nice chat about the military. Before they left, Mary Lou gave Flat Jason a hug, and Joyce posed with her birthday twin.

Happy Halloween!

Flat Jason and I hosted a small Halloween party at the duplex as Thing 1 and Thing 2 from Dr. Suess's Cat in the Hat. We also had a couple of characters from Gossip Girl, Quail Man and a hobo who needed money for student loans.

We made sure to get some good candy for kids who might stop by. I got Reese's for the chocolate fans and Nerds for the anti-chocolate. More than a dozen kids from the neighborhood stopped by to trick-or-treat. I think my favorite was a little guy dressed as a dragon. We opened the door and he came right in. We would have let him stay, too, but I think his mom wanted to get home.

Later, we broke out the games. We started with a traditional one: bobbing for apples. Then, with a wet face from the apple bucket, everyone got a chance to retrieve a marshmallow from a bowl of flour. The idea is that you have to root around in the flour for the marshmallow and the flour sticks to your face. In hindsight, powdered sugar would probably have been a better choice. It would have been just as messy AND it would have tasted better. Good to know for next time!

We ended the evening looking at funny videos on the internet. I never knew there were so many out there, everything from silly cats to Japanese portapotty pranks. Where have I been all this time? I had everyone beat, though. They'd never heard of Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog. (Watch it!)

Halfway Done!

Wa-Hoo!!! We are officially halfway done with this deployment! From 57 weeks down to 28 weeks. I'm so excited! Sometimes the end seems so far away, but I can see that we're making progress. Thanks to everyone who's been a part of this, from friends and family inviting us to do things and lending a listening ear to restaurant staff who indulge our insanity to complete strangers who read the blog and thank us for Jason's service. We couldn't have made it this far without all the love, support, and prayers.

Man, I feel pretty pumped up. All right! Let's do this second half!

Zidane and the Whistance boys

Instead of biking like normal on Tuesday, Jeremy, Jarrett and I opted to see a movie about Zinedine Zidane, a French footballer, that was playing at the Ragtag.

Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait - It's a movie of the football match between Real Madrid and Villareal in real time. Seventeen cameras were focused on Zidane. It was incredibly interesting to be focused on him instead of where the ball was going; it was a totally different perspective of the game. I imagined him to be running, moving all the time, but instead he actually seemed to stand still and observe the game quite a bit. I really liked watching him explode into action on the big plays. From so many angles, it was a complete picture of him recognizing an opportunity, seizing it and being congratulated by his teammates afterward.

But, I was disappointed. I thought there were too many shots of just his feet standing around, and I hated the abrupt transitions to the grainy television "replays." I also wish we had heard Zidane talking more about what he had seen, felt and remembered about the game instead of the few subtitles that flickered across the screen. And, I would rather have heard the noise of the match and the crowd instead of the boring score that played behind the movie a good chunk of the time. I'm not going to lie, it put Flat Jason to sleep almost instantly.

All things considered, I enjoyed the movie...and my time with the Whistance boys. After the movie, we looked at some paintings in the restaurant that a local artist had painted from photos that her brother took while serving in Iraq.

Homecoming Weekend

M-I-Z-Z-O-U! Homecoming at the University of Missouri, the birthplace of homecoming, really is the best. Festivities had been going on all week.




Todd came down for some fun on Friday. We took Flat Jason to Greek Town to check out house decorations. Each year the fraternities and sororities team up and decorate their house yards. They mostly put on small plays relating to a theme that somehow incorporates winning the upcoming football game. This year's theme was Strength in Stripes, and it looked like the Stripes had taken over the silver screen. We watched versions of the Incredibles, Madagascar and Shrek. The Shrek one was my favorite. I think they did the best job pomping their background and characters.

Then we went to the rally at Deja Vu. I don't know how I missed those as a student because it was awesome! There was such a great sense of camaraderie and Tiger Spirit, especially when they broke out the fight song!

Even though we got in pretty late, we still got up the next morning in time for the parade. (Note the coffee in the photo.) We watched from outside Whitten Hall, near Memorial Union. The Grand Marshal was Juliet Huddy, an MU alum who co-hosts The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet on ABC. I was very impressed with the parade. All of the fraternities and sororities had nice floats. There were tons of bands, including Laura (married-but-single) Mudge's band from Hartville. And since it is an election year, the politicians were out in full force.

After the parade, and a nap, we headed over to the Phi Psi House for some tailgating. We spent most of our time meeting Todd's friends, but we found a fellow Wal-Mart veteran from our era. Ahh...good times. Anyway, we ran into someone who had decided they could make the game and graciously gave us their tickets for free! It was a little weird sitting on the alumni side, but the game was amazing! We beat the Colorado Buffaloes 58-0! And we met one of the nicest Tiger fans ever; he let me borrow a sweatshirt. M-I-Z-Z-O-U!

Here we go round in circles...

Ash and JR met me and FJ at the skating rink...and AJ got us in for free. Shhh! Don't tell!

It was AJ's last week to work. so we came to hang out and skate. It was a crazy, random time. We met a really nice girl named Colleen, who was incredibly articulate, especially for a 12-year-old. It was retro night, so the weird guy in charge of the music, not AJ, was playing '80s music and was totally getting in to singing all the songs. And a sorority group came in and took over the lobby. Strangely enough, they didn't skate all that much. I think they were busy taking pictures with Flat Jason. I've already seen one rogue pic on Facebook. Sigh...that's what happens when I turn my back...the ladies flock to him.

I win!!! and lose...

A couple of weekends ago (yes, I know I'm behind) Flat Jason and I hit the bowling alley with the Sunday evening crew...and it was the most amazing bowling night ever! I got the first strike of the night, I broke 100 AND I WON the game, beating Brian by a good 15 points no less. Brian pretty much sets the standard. He used to play on a league, and even though he's all washed up now (out of practice, you know) he can still pretty much beat the pants off anyone who plays him. Ha ha! Not this time!

We won't talk about the second game...:(