A Weekend Away and a windy flight home!

"The Boys" (original Twin Hickory poker group) playing a round in our
room. (JR, Vinny, Don & Keith)

Laurie and I watching Sandy on a poker machine.

The wives- me, Sandy, Laurie & Lisa.

Keith enjoying expenisve Won-Ton soup at the
very pricey sushi restaurant we dined at.

Our very good friends Steve & Adrienne, who
came from P'cola to see us!

Keith and I have been in Biloxi, Mississippi this weekend. Keith's poker buddies from Richmond asked us to join them there to celebrate Don's 50th birthday. Keith's parents came into town to stay with Justin and Kendall while we were away (and they were kept hopping the entire time). Keith and I flew out Thursday and returned last night- just in time to see the Saints win the playoff game :)

While casino's aren't my "thing", it was fun to see the crew and to get away. We even spent Friday in the sun, poolside! I got to read a whole bunch, we had some great meals together and, a huge bonus was our very good friends from Pensacola (Steve & Adrienne) came over to have dinner with us on Thursday night.

Storms were making their way through the southeast yesterday. Biloxi's airport is small, there are six gates. Five of the six gates were flights heading to Atlanta. We flew down through Atlanta, but I booked us home through Memphis for some reason. With the storms, Atlanta was delayed to the point that they couldn't get all flights in, and as luck would have it (for us, at least), our flight was the only one to make it out all afternoon. That little airport was mayhem with the many delayed then eventually cancelled Atlanta flights. We got to Memphis on time and with plenty of bumps, wondering if our flight to Raleigh would take place. We joked that if it didn't, we could go stay at Graceland for the night. Truth be told, I would've FREAKED if I couldn't get home...four days away from my kids is my maximum...I was missing them :-) We were so grateful to find out that our flight was in fact leaving- and on time to boot. It was one of the roughest flights I've been on in a long while, very bumpy. I began to panic at first, but got used to the bumps and drops and tilting wings, dug into my book and alas, the time passed quickly. The landing was definitely the roughest I've ever experienced. The winds were ferocious, by the time we made the 15 minute drive home, they had picked up considerably. We found out this morning from a neighbor that the airport was closed last night due to the winds about a half hour after we landed. Whew!!

Tonight, we asked the Wooleries where we could take them to dinner to show our thanks for the safe-keeping of our kids while we were away. They chose the Melting Pot (this made our kids smile). We just got back, it was fun and very yummy. We are sad to see Keith's parents depart tomorrow, but happy for our getaway!