MLK Day Recap

It's nice to think about the fact that America was progressive enough and respectful of Great Black Leaders at one point in time to declare Martin Luther King's birthday a federal holiday.  Kudos to you, Reagan Administration.

On the flip side, the campaign for the federal holiday began not long after his assassination in 1968, so it's really unfortunate that it took 15 years to actually be recognized.  Also unfortunate is that it seems like our country might take 30 years to recognize something of the same nature in the times we're living in right now.  I'm hopeful that this year or next or maybe some time during the Biden administration, we can get Juneteenth recognized as a federal holiday considering the impact it had on so many lives.  Unfortunately, to my own fault but also history classes' fault, I didn't really know about Juneteenth until this past summer. However, I'm determined to celebrate it in the future with festivals and recognition...you now, once we're all allowed to congregate again. 😊

Speaking of last year, this year's MLK Day looked a lot different than it did in 2020.  For starters, the Coronavirus/Covid-19 was something I was aware of and considered a possible threat (not near the extent it turned out to be), but it was still halfway around the world, and I mainly just joked about not catching it with my coworker Deborah or mentioned it here and there with Nathan.  

Shortly before MLK Day in 2020, I'd had two interviews for my job at the Dallas Doge, and I'd convinced them to hire me. 

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Nathan and I knew we'd need a place to put all of our crap once we'd arrive in Dallas, so we took advantage of the three-day weekend by taking an extra day off (the Tuesday after) to make a weekend trip to find a place to live.  We left New Orleans on Saturday, January 18th to make the 7.5 hour drive and stayed at the DoubleTree Hotel right off of 75.  We had a really great hotel room for the weekend, and we had a great and also surreal time checking out places to live in our future city.  I want to say we looked at 4 or 5 apartments, and it was fairly easy to decide.  We also spent time driving around the city, with Nate showing me where he used to live when he went to school here, as well as where he lived before he moved to those apartments (which were now torn down), and hitting up some yummy eats. 

Sadly, when we arrived back here in February and pulled into the Mockingbird Station to enjoy some Old Chicago Pizza and Taproom again with Burt (in town for the night after helping us move), it was closed down. :( 

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We'd had Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom the first time when we mini-vacationed to Denver in April 2017, and we really enjoyed it, so we had it again.  It did not disappoint again.   

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We also enjoyed this Texan beer for the first time, and fell in love with it after that first pint.  We couldn't wait to get back to Dallas to have it again (and again and again and again...).

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We also enjoyed quite a few Trader Joe's yummies and relaxed in the hotel room with fine hotel room movies on cable like Tremors!

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We also dredged through Bad Boys II, which was really really bad, but it was playing because Bad Boys III was near release in the theaters. 

WhichWich's Courtney Cookie!

Nice view 😉

Apparently good hotel bathroom lighting called for a photosesh

We had a really great time, but the best part was realizing that we had a nice apartment to lay our heads in when we returned in just a month.  We departed Dallas on the morning of Tuesday, January 21st, but not before meeting our landlord Pat at a fun two-story coffee shop to sign our lease and pay the deposit.  

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It's weird to think about going to Toasted now, because it's only a hop, skip, and jump from my beloved Trader Joe's on Greenville Ave, and both are only a 5 minute drive from our place.  A year ago they felt so far/disconnected because all of these streets were foreign and hard to map out in mah tiny little brain.

We rolled into the city again a month later on February 20, 2020, after saying goodbye to NOLA, and here we are 11 months down the road.

This MLK day was still really nice, but there was no traveling involved.  Also, there were no Tremors (sorry, Reba!), and not near the "yummy" intake of alcoholic goodies paired with desserts. ('cause you know, health.) BUT there was still a lot of fun.  There was relaxing and playing on our new Quest2 (mini golf and puzzle games) and also planning and plotting by me to get this place even more decorated.  I'm really excited to pick out some more artwork to frame (eyeing three or so of these, or these, or these to hang above our couch, as well as getting some frames for these that I got at Christmas!  

So yeah, not really any pictures taken, but pictures bought-en.  Except not really yet because I'm waiting on a few of the Etsy joe's to get back with me on customization.

What a week...!

What an eventful past week and a half!

I birthed (weird, but we'll go with it) the idea for this blog post a few days ago where this would have been started with "What an eventful past week!" but things got busy and my eyes and brain were tired after work, and so here we are on Saturday evening.

Monday, January 4 - Nate's official first day as an employee with his energy company here in the BigD!  Woohoo!  He's been working for them in a contractor-type position since April 2020, but then was made permanent by his headhunter guy as of October, and then shortly after asked to come on board as a true blue employee.  I don't know what "true blue" means, but again...we'll go with it. ALSO - this was the 12th anniversary of our first date on 1/4/09. ;)

Tuesday, January 5 - My employer (The Doge) informed me that we qualified for the first round of the Covid-19 vaccine, so I hopped on that gravy train and booked my little tushiie to Parkland to get my arm shot-up with who knows what the good stuff. This is pretty crazy considering only frontline health workers, people with pretty serious conditions, and a few over the age of 70 or so were the only ones authorized to get the shot at this point.  Considering I'm going into work either 2 or 3 days every week AND I don't want to risk getting the virus AND I don't want BigNate to get the virus, I didn't hesitate at the chance to go ahead and get it.  I did not feel the shot at all (like for-realz), but then after I got home, I had a little bit of a headache, so I went to bed a tad early.  I woke up mid-slumber with a sore arm, and my arm was PRETTY sore the whole next day.  But then I was back to normal on Thursday.  They went ahead and scheduled me an appt. three weeks later (on 1/26) to get the second dose of the shot.  

Discreet purse shot whilst waiting the 10 min. after the shot was administered to make sure I didn't drop dead.

Wednesday, January 6 - What we all hoped would be a normal, non-exciting congressional session to officially approve the Electoral College votes from the election on 11/3, turned out to be quite the opposite.  Here's a glimpse.  

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Unbelievable.  Saddening.  Sickening. Other wordly.  Before even hardly any of the pictures and footage were released and Nathan remarked to me while sitting at the kitchen table, teleworking (3pm our time) "Some people just broke into the Capitol," I still couldn't have imagined this.

Thursday, January 7 - My brother-in-law turned the big 33!  Still some joy in the chaos and confusion.

Sunday, January 10 - It snowed in the BigD!  Other parts of North TX (and Shreveport - go figure!) received a substantial white covering on the ground and trees and whatnot, but sadly, we didn't.  It definitelly fell and was really pretty floating down from the heavens, but it'd been rainy before that, so it just turned to water on the ground.  Still pretty rad, though!

Monday, January 11 - We signed a renewal on our lease on the ole Gaston!  Not that memorable, but it's kind of crazy that we're about to hit our 1-year mark in Dallas.  (I bet you thought I was going to say "The BigD" there. ;)) Cheers to the nexty year filled with (hopefully!) waaaaay more exploring, waaaaay more socializing, and waaaaay less social distancing, mask wearing, hospitalizations, and death. 

Tuesday, January 12 - My niece, and daughter of said brother-in-law turned the big 4! She's such a cutie! 

A PawPatrol-filled Christmas

Not much eventfulness after Tuesday besides just learning more about the Capitol Riots and Trump officially being banned from Twitter (thank God!), but everyone is worried about Biden's inaugurations, which is scheduled for Wednesday, 1/20.  They're sending in lots of National Guard troops to stand ready, and tons have already been deployed to the Capitol.

So wild.  I remarked to Nathan on Wednesday when he told me about the Capitol chaos..."what country are we living in???!? Seriously??"

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T-minus 2 days 'til 2021

Apparently, Blogger decided to change up it's draft-posting interface while I took a little hiatus, so this is new. You can't see what I'm seeing right now, that is unless you're peeping over my shoulder during my lunch break at work, and if that's the case, kudos to you good sir for your invisibility and your ability to bypass the courthouse marshals, that is...unless you work here, and in that case Darren! Turn off your invisibility powers, and go back to your desk! 

Oh 2020 - just a mere 2 and 1/2 more days of your tomfoolery and then so long forever to your crazy self! What a year! Can I just say that again? Okay. thanks. What a year! 

We sent out Christmas cards with photos this year. I always thought this would be something we'd never do until we had cute little cherubs' faces to grace the card, but this year is what it is. Also, I'm narcissistic and I thought "Everyone's had a rough year. Maybe they'll smile at getting a card from us where we're dancing and laughing, and their holidays will be merry and bright!" Not really. But we did make it weird in typical Nathourtney fashion in taking a jab at the usual photo cards. AND and we included a puzzle for curious minds to solve.

(I redacted our last name from the card.  I swear we know how to center text correctly.)

So far only 3 people (out of almost 50) have solved it. I don't credit our mad puzzle-making skills for this, but more so that 40-something people saw the front of the card, thought "I don't get it. These people are weird," and then turned the card over to discover some ancient hieroglyphics strung across the bottom and proceeded to toss said card in the trash. 

Well, you know what I say to those 40-something people...

YOU LOSE!!

Okay, I've got a confession. *cue Usher* When I just typed out "hieroglyphics," I was convinced I spelled it incorrectly, but I didn't get the little red squiggly underneath it.  So I thought this new interface doesn't spell check.  Then I found an arrow and clicked on it, and switched from HTML view to Compose view, and now Blogger looks normal!  Hooray!  

Also, apparently I know how to spell "hieroglyphics" correctly because I checked Google, AND I don't have a squiggle. But I did misspell "invisibility" up there, so there's that.

Do you think 2021 will be like switching Blogger back to Compose view after a harrowing year of HTML view?  I sure do hope so.

I know I can't complain much.  I've got a man who loves me, a cat who loves me relies on me for food every day, a nice place to lay my head at night in a city I've dreamed for a few years of living in, a job that pays, and a heart that beats regularly, for which I am oh so grateful for.

but

man, this year's been a toughie.

I've had the urge to write more these past few days/weeks, so maybe you'll get a few more ramblings from me here and there, but that's it for now.  I'd like to write more, but it's back to the grind, and I fear that if I leave this unpublished 'til later, later might not come for who knows how long.  And then I'd have to go back up there and change the number of days that it's been after 2021 started and it'll all just be a big ole mess.

Updates and Mercy

It's been 487 days, and she's back with a bang, folks!

Not really...I just think that writing is therapeutic...cathartic...good exercise for my fingers something, so here goes.

I'll spare you (you=no one) the nitty gritty details of the past 487 days, but a lot has happened.  Tom Hanks died. Queen Elizabeth had a baby.  You know, the normal stuff that takes place over the course of a year and some change. In all seriousness,

• Nate the Great graduated! (A to the men! No doubts whatsoever in my mind, but SO glad he's done dealing with the college stuff from this place, and also SO SO glad that the funds in our savings account is no longer being slowly slurped away by that place!)
• We moved to Dallas!
• Coronavirus struck the earth, and we've all been on lockdown for the past ~6ish weeks give or take.

So yeah, I think that's all the blog post I have in me for now.  See you in another 487 days. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAxtVMuDYD8

(If you don't click that, you're dead to me.)

No, but really.  We're super excited to finally be living in Dallas.  We seriously considered the idea not long after we decided to sell our half of the granola company, but then things didn't align properly (aka the stars), and so it was pushed aside.  And then we'd keep talking about making it a reality but this, that, and the other would get in the way or convince us to hold off on it for now and then we almost bought a house in Shreveport, but then thank god we didn't because we decided to move to New Orleans for a job offer for me and then we were living in the big NOLA and then Nate had school to finish, and then...I've been rambling enough already, and this post was supposed to be about my most recent read.

Hah! Did you miss me? (again, you=no one)

But we're here*, and even though we were really only able to explore the city for a good week or two (after all the unboxing and "ughhhh where the hell are we going to put all. this. stuff?"), we're really REALLY excited about getting here and the next chapter of our lives.

Speaking of chapters... 

via GIPHY

I thought it might be fun for me to at least pretend that I should jump on the ole blogger every few weeks or so when I finish a book to A) document it and give my review of it, as well as B) make some kind of excuse to really just get my butt back to blogging/documenting life.  I mean, I've already rambled on for how long and look where were at.

Source...and get you a copy while you're there

I finished Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy last night, and I'll go ahead and let the cat** out of the bag (so he can breathe again), and let you know that I'd give it 5/5 stars!

It was a really interesting read about capital punishment and equal rights with an emphasis on death row, as well as how messed up our criminal justice system is, all while interweaving real life stories of men and women and kids (who became men and women) who were helped by Mr. Stevenson and the Equal Justice Initiative, or EJI.

The Civil Rights Movement and civil rights in general are something that I feel I've always been drawn to.  I always have felt that Rosa Parks in particular was someone I have looked up to, not to mention MLKjr, and after Nate and I visited the Civil Rights Museum and Lorraine Motel in Memphis this past August, I don't think I'll ever view that time period the same.  (Sidenote:  I highly recommend everyone go.  It's so well done, and overall, one of the best museums I've ever been to.)

Back to it - this book is so good, but also is heavy at times.  Some nights after I'd put it down, I'd just stare at Nate and say something like "I just don't understand how they can treat people like this." So if you're looking for a lighthearted beach read come July when your toes are submerged in the surf....who am I kidding, we will STILL be on Covid-19 lockdown come July.  All that to say, everyone should definitely read it, and we should all give our whole paycheck every month to the EJI because man..those people, Bryan Stevenson in particular, are saints.

Enough for now seeing that it's Sunday at 5 til' 5, and dinner ain't gonna make itself. 

*If you know this movie and love it (like you should), email me so that we can be BFFs.
**The cat already has enough trouble trying to breathe through his crusty, runny nose.

Going to the Big D...and I do mean Dallas

(For those who were not so lucky to have parents that raised them in the heart of 90's country music...I apologize if you clicked the link...and I apologize even more if you got the reference without even clicking.  kindred spirits.)

So it's Memorial Day weekend, which means three things:  cook-outs, lake days, and no work on Monday! <--the best part seeing that Natedawg and I don't own a grill or a boat.  Oh and it's also been storming like a mother since this morning and tu Madre Nature plans to carry on with more of the same through tomorrow (Monday).

Nathan and I decided earlier this week to head to Dallas on Saturday to get out of town like the wild and crazy kids we are.  Nathan's car's been having some spotty A/C issues, so when I posed him with the question of "my car or your car?", he mentioned the A/C, but it honestly hasn't been too bad because it comes and goes, and I figured it wouldn't be that bad.  Do you sense the haunting foreshadow-y nature in my voice yet?  I didn't want to risk taking my car because it's a '98, and while she does well around town, she's had a past of pooping out when you get about an hour and a half away on road trips.  And then those road trips turn into road trips from hell.  So I voiced my vote for Nathan's car.

Off we went, headed west and would you know that that damn A/C didn't come on AT ALL.  Three amazing hours of just warm air blowing, sweaty backs, hot greasy faces, frizzy, poofy hair, etc.  We couldn't roll the windows down until we got off the interstate because road trips are for talking and laughing and goofing around.  And you can't hear any of that if the wind is 70 miles per hour in your ear. Young love at its finest.

All that to say...we finally made it and I apologize to the poor souls who witnessed us busting into Chipotle looking like we'd just come off a hot morning on our boat, but probably wreaked of body odor and fun and didn't have swimsuits or a boat anywhere in sight.  I'm sure we were a pretty picture.  Actually, I know we were because I busted up in that bathroom upon arrival, whipped out my hairbrush, and eventually had to shrug and say "Well, the odds of running into someone I know are pretty slim..."

All in all, we still had a great time, and after we starting hitting up our main spots (i.e. Half Price Books, Fry's, and Trader Joe's), the A/C decided to be a trooper and be spotty here and there.  Then on the way back home, it worked for the first 30 minutes of the trip! (Insert many hallelujahs)  So much so that I had to put on my cardigan at one point.

And then it shut off.  And it remained off the remaining two and a half hours of the drive home.  I proceeded to chastise myself for the next two and half hours for ever being a namby pamby and putting on my cardigan in the first place.

Happy Memorial Day weekend it was! (and I still have tomorrow to make lofty plans to mark things off my to-do list, but will probably just read blogs, and my new book, and think about all the red, white, and blue cupcakes I didn't purchase at Sam's today.)