next time she comes we'll probably discuss Homer and the Iliad

I just returned from dropping Joanna off at the airport. We had some minor technical difficulties in the parking lot due to signs that said <---arrivals and departures ---> when technically we were arriving AT THE SAME TIME that Joanna was departing. Sometimes we confuse ourselves.

We spent most of the visit discussing the border relations in Pakistan, the political climate in Uganda, and how people really don't discuss socioeconomics as much as they should. You know, the hard hitting topics of the day.

Either that or she showed me the Wobble dance, we ate more pasta than we care to admit, and we had a pillow fight with Christopher. (He started it but we finished it!) 

I took her on a tour of Fort Campbell. It was the first time I had driven myself around so it was basically as much of a tour for me as it was for her. It makes me sad to report that Fort Campbell is not nearly as exciting a place to be a tour guide as Fort Drum was. At Fort Drum I was able to give detailed descriptions of the surroundings ("That's the headquarters for the 2nd Brigade 15th SQTRL where they develop top secret weapons operations." Yada yada).  Here the most I was able to say was, "Well, that looks like an office. Those are barracks over there. Oh look! There are some soldiers! And some more office buildings." Every time I used real Army lingo she thought I was making it up. I had to convince her that I certainly wouldn't have made up a phrase like motor pool. After the tour we went to the arts and crafts center. We got lost. (Raise your hand if you're not surprised!) After thirty minutes of driving up, down and all around we arrive at the A & C building only to discover that they're not open on Mondays. So that wasn't the most successful of our endeavors. On the bright side, Joanna can now hold her head high when asked if she's ever been to an operating Army post. Not many people where we come from are able to say that.

I learned something about Joanna and people of high military rank- she's not impressed. Come to think of it, she's not as impressed with uniforms in general as I am. Sunday night at church I pulled her sleeve and pointed out Ken the Commander (I know! We go to church with a very high up!) and you know what she said? "Oh." It wasn't even like, "Oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!" It was just, "Oh." Really? That's all you have to say? 

This morning we tried Skyping with Autumn. First Joanna forgot her password. Then Skype wouldn't connect. Then we decided to gchat instead but Autumn's computer was typing numbers when she pushed the letter keys. Clearly technology was against us. On top of all that we didn't end up talking until an hour later than planned due to confusion over the time zones. To be on the safe side we texted Autumn at 9:40 to ask what time it was there and she responded with, "hahahaha guys, there is no time difference. We're on the east coast so it's 10:40 for me too." Turns out she thought I was in Virginia still which is totally understandable seeing how I can seldom remember where I live these days. Eventually things lined up enough that Joanna and I were able to sit on the couch and talk to Autumn on speaker phone. We talked about Mary Kate and Ashley movies vs. James Bond movies so like I said, HARD HITTING TOPICS.

One of my favorite moments from the visit was when we were eating supper and we started laughing hysterically over NOTHING. And when I saw nothing I do mean NOTHING. We could barely breathe. Christopher, quite unaccustomed to such behavior, had no idea what was going on which made the whole thing better. The only thing we could do was welcome him to the world of girls.* 

* We were preparing him for when we have 5 daughters. He'll thank us in a few years.