City Lights

I am happy to say that the stomach flu finally subsided towards the end of the week, and I was back to myself in time to enjoy the weekend. Friday night Dereck brought home "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," and for all you skeptics out there, it is awesome. Really, we had to watch it Friday and then finish it on Saturday night because, I am sad to admit this, the food theme made me feel sick. Even typing that is funny to me since it seems unrealistic that an animated movie about food could make someone sick, but here I am as living proof. Blame it on really good graphics. That said, get in touch with your inner child and rent it. There is a talking monkey named Steve, and he basically made the movie for me.

Saturday morning I was finally feeling good enough to venture out of my little dark room of sickness and head towards St. Louis. Dereck and I like to use the weekends as a time for us to get away from Ft. Leonard Wood and relax, minus the school stress for him and the routine for me. St. Louis was the winner this time for the simple fact that it had a David's Bridal, and with Lydia getting married in April, I really needed to figure out what size bridesmaid dress I needed. Then, as we were driving down I-44, Dereck and I were joking about things St. Louis-famous, and it hit us like a ton of bricks- The Budweiser Brewery. Being a good Alabama girl for the time I was there, I have been to the Jack Daniels Distillery and thought it was a great tour even though I am not a fan of either Jack or Bud- but a free tour is a free tour! So, Dereck looked up the info, and we could easily make an afternoon one after stopping at a St. Louis Bread Co. for lunch (or Panera outside of the city). We ate in this super neat area of town that seemed to be the intersection of young artsy kids, rich old people, and hobos for good measure. No joke, the hobos kept coming in and out of the place and no one seemed to care, especially Dereck and me since we happily poor and newlywed. I imagine a hobo would feel quite cheated if he tried to pit pocket me.

Saturday was also awesome because it finally felt like it was almost, perhaps, just maybe, above freezing. I never thought that the sound of 30 degrees could have me so excited, but I am learning to take what I am given by Missouri weather. When we got the Budweiser Brewery we learned that we were just in time for the next tour, so off we went, learning all about how to make beer. Even though Budweiser has German roots, I am still pretty sure that my ancestors were all rolling in their graves to hear that I was so disloyal. The absolute highlight of the tour was seeing the giant horses and dalmatians from the commercials. The dogs really do hangout with the horses all the time, and they used to be guard dogs for deliveries. Who knew? They even know how to run out and work the crowd for petting and photos- I think they have a pretty sweet life between that and parades of adoring little kids and adults alike. The frattie patties in front of me were pretty stoked about the entire tour and kept making bets on how much Bud they could down in a timed contest. Dereck simply asked me why they all had work boots, khakis, North Face fleeces, and Costa Del Mar shades on the back of their necks (he missed the whole Greek life thing of "normal" college as I like to call it).

We managed to wrap up the venture by going to David's Bridal- God bless all people who work, visit, or deal with that store. The whole trip was traumatizing to Dereck to be around so many females, dresses, and accessories, and all I could think as we left was how happy I was to have a huge check mark next to that item in the books. And, like I mentioned above, we finished the awesome movie with Steve the talking monkey.

Sunday we tried a new church off-post since Chapels sometimes leave something to be desired. Now, I am not knocking Chapels as I basically grew up in one and my Grandpa was a Chaplain, but sometimes you need to be weaned off the milk for more sustaining meat. We tried a First-Baptist of Waynesville, and true to the Baptist Creed (I am sure this exists somewhere deep between the lines), we sang all the verses to Amazing Grace. Joking aside, it was a good church and service, and we just might be making a return trip next week, you never know. After lunch and changing into more comfortable clothes, we headed to the library so Dereck could study. Normally I am pretty good about sitting still if there is something I need to get done, but since I didn't, I ended up wandering the stacks for a good while.

Here are the important things you need to know from the Fort Leonard Wood library. 1) You can rent paintings that they have hung on a wall. That's right. Should your barracks plain cinder block walls be bothering you, you can check out art work from the front desk. Your choices include ducks, ponds, clowns, and flowers, so pick wisely. 2) There is a surprisingly extensive foreign language section full of books that somehow made it out of the 70s and 80s in one piece. I perused the German section for a good while enjoying titles like "The Philosophers and their Philosophies" and "Making Your Garden Greener." 3) The Teen section has lots of books about vampires and dragons. Those must be the cool thing now-a-days. 4)The magazine portion includes some with questionable covers like GQ, at kiddie eye level. 5) There are a ton of TV shows I have never even heard of, as evidenced by the digital entertainment section. 6) I am mighty good at tearing pieces of paper in half- this really has nothing to do with the library, but Dereck needed help doing it, and I figured it fell under the wifely duty realm.

Then, to round out the day, we went to the commissary to get some much needed groceries. I like the variety of people there- from the crazy looking man that cuts our Cajun-style turkey that smells up every corner of a kitchen and Dereck has to have, to the teenage kids that work for tips by bagging and pushing buggies, to the men shopping alone without that starry look of fear, to the poor mom with six screaming kids, three buggies full, and a cell phone ringing, then to the newlyweds trying to figure out what the heck to make for dinner- the commissary has it all. I am super proud to say that Dereck and I made a real dinner complete with chicken, corn, and sweet potatoes that I managed to not explode in the microwave. It's all in the small victories of the day.

Today I went to a spin class at the gym on post, and while it is a rapid departure from what I did at Gold's in Bham, it is $2, and who can beat $2? It was nice to be around the network of women who all know each other and the friendly chatter. I even met a woman who is running the Mercedes-Benz half in Bham this year (I had my t-shirt from last year on), and another one who is from Bham. People always say the Army is a small world, and it would be cliche if it wasn't true every other minute. Even in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the US, I am never far from the familiar.