The Wednesday night before Fred's OTS graduation, Fred and I went to dinner with his roommate, Andrew, and his wife, Jane. I was anxious to meet Jane, since Fred had helped me arrange for the two of us to go the spouses/significant others orientation the next morning. Both us, Jane and I, not knowing anyone else kind of latched onto each other. With our phone number in each other's hand, we texted each other, figured out what we were wearing, organized meeting up plans, and attended a few things together. It was so nice to have someone to talk to during the entire OTS graduation experience.
Since Andrew was being stationed at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, they would be right down the road from me! I know how I would feel if I were moving to Washington state, not knowing another soul. So having them be stationed somewhere literally across the country, I tried to do something with Jane within the first few weeks of moving to Biloxi. Our schedules never jived.
Life went on, and my weekends booked up with trips to Hattiesburg for showers and trips home and other things. But I message Jane about two weeks ago... giving her and myself a two-weeks notice... and asked if she would like to do something on May 5. She was up for it. Both of us being indecisive people finally confirmed plans the day before. Lunch, walking around downtown Ocean Springs and checking out local shops, maybe a chick-flick, maybe some dessert. Our game was on.
Finding their apartment was slightly challenging. Not because I am a female but because D'Iberville/Biloxi sucks when it comes to labeling their roads. My make-shift, scrapped down map on a piece of notebook paper clued me in enough to navigate my way to their place. We all, Andrew included, made and ate sandwiches at their place. "Let's eat here and get dessert later. I always want dessert, but I'm always too full, " said Jane. Andrew bummed around on his computer as Jane and I talked about childhood memories and stuff. Then Jane and I left to check out Ocean Springs. Since it was Cinco de Mayo, there were two stages with two bands playing as we went in and out of shops. After that, Jane took us to a frozen yogurt shop called Bops. Oh my goodness, that was exactly what we both wanted and needed. Ah, chocolate brownie and vanilla yogurt and hot fudge... I could not finish it all.
But this was my favorite part of our day. We sat down and just talked and talked. None of the conversation was forced as we jumped from one topic to the next, sometimes before finishing the one topic that we were on. We reminisced about college and classes, more childhood memories, family, our past, our guys, our futures, and shared embarrassing moments and stories. One of the workers walked up to us and said, "Ladies, if you stay here much longer, we are going to have to give you a complimentary cup." We laughed, and then Jane looked at her phone. It was after 1830, and we got there around 1600! Both of us lost track of time, and Jane kept saying, "Wow! It has been a long time since I've talked this long and not been aware of the time. Weird." We went back to her place and said our goodbyes... still talking at the door as her husband yawned us away. She messaged me later on facebook telling me that she thoroughly enjoyed it and would like to do it again. This was awesome. I was not looking forward to it at first, but it turned out to be fun. Too bad that she is leaving in August-September, but we should have a few more times to hang out. Very cool stuff.
Finding their apartment was slightly challenging. Not because I am a female but because D'Iberville/Biloxi sucks when it comes to labeling their roads. My make-shift, scrapped down map on a piece of notebook paper clued me in enough to navigate my way to their place. We all, Andrew included, made and ate sandwiches at their place. "Let's eat here and get dessert later. I always want dessert, but I'm always too full, " said Jane. Andrew bummed around on his computer as Jane and I talked about childhood memories and stuff. Then Jane and I left to check out Ocean Springs. Since it was Cinco de Mayo, there were two stages with two bands playing as we went in and out of shops. After that, Jane took us to a frozen yogurt shop called Bops. Oh my goodness, that was exactly what we both wanted and needed. Ah, chocolate brownie and vanilla yogurt and hot fudge... I could not finish it all.
But this was my favorite part of our day. We sat down and just talked and talked. None of the conversation was forced as we jumped from one topic to the next, sometimes before finishing the one topic that we were on. We reminisced about college and classes, more childhood memories, family, our past, our guys, our futures, and shared embarrassing moments and stories. One of the workers walked up to us and said, "Ladies, if you stay here much longer, we are going to have to give you a complimentary cup." We laughed, and then Jane looked at her phone. It was after 1830, and we got there around 1600! Both of us lost track of time, and Jane kept saying, "Wow! It has been a long time since I've talked this long and not been aware of the time. Weird." We went back to her place and said our goodbyes... still talking at the door as her husband yawned us away. She messaged me later on facebook telling me that she thoroughly enjoyed it and would like to do it again. This was awesome. I was not looking forward to it at first, but it turned out to be fun. Too bad that she is leaving in August-September, but we should have a few more times to hang out. Very cool stuff.
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