If she had the proper words to say,

Philip returns home today. He's been gone since last Thursday morning, having traveled to West Virginia to spend some time with his dad and the rest of his family. He drove down to Bismarck, then flew from there into Pittsburgh with just one stopover. His return today will be much lengthier, however: he has three layovers, and he won't be coming in until about 10pm or so (versus the 4pm he arrived there last week).

You may remember that his dad has cancer and is very sick. In addition, his Grandpa (in his 90s) went into the hospital the day before he arrived back home, too. He's texted during the day but called home for an hour or so each night to talk with all of us, and I think the visit has been good for him (well, as good as it can be under those sadder circumstances). He also got to meet up with his life-long best friend and finally see his new twin boys (born in October). I'm ready to see those pictures!

I know he's bringing home some little things. He's got some special candies for the boys, and I think he found the rest of the state quarters we needed in his dad's old change jar. But he surprised me one day with a text, saying only this: "Got your cookie cutters"

Huh? I didn't know what he was talking about at first. But he knew that my neighbor had asked me to make a cake for her baby shower, and we've also had recent discussions about my dismal lack of cookie cutters (ie. having to sub ice cream cones for hearts!), so he took it upon himself to go to a craft store back home that we don't have here (A.C. Moore) and find me all kinds of nifty baby-themed cookie cutters!

Also, we've both been chomping at the bit to get back to watching The Office together. See, after watching all the commercials about the baby episode during the Olympics, we finally decided to give it a go. Of course, we already know that Pam and Jim will get married (I remember those commercials a good while back), and we know they're going to have a baby... but we still dived right in. Except that we were both hating Season One when we started. Yikes, but those first few episodes are so bad; I'm surprised the show was picked up, to be honest. We struggled through, thinking tons of our friends just couldn't be so horridly wrong about the show, and I'm glad we did. Season Two was great, just wonderful. We stayed up until almost 3am the morning he left (and he woke at 6am to get ready for his flights) just to finish up the Season. And, even though we know they'll eventually get together, that was still quite a cliffhanger!

It was very, very tempting the first two days he was gone to watch just an episode or two. Philip even told me to go ahead. But I wanted to wait for him, and I'm glad I have. We'll be furiously watching it over the weekend, I'm sure, trying to get through at least Season Three before he goes back to work. :-)

So, later this afternoon, Philip was in the master bathroom, and I was prancing around the bedroom in my t-shirt and panties. I have no clue why I hadn't put my jeans back on, except that I might've, maybe, been pondering taking a quick nap. Anyway. Philip looks at me kinda funny and says, "Do you know that your panties are on inside-out?"

And I look down. And they are. And they have been for the whole day, even as I attached a pantyliner to them.

And I feel goofy and clueless, but I'm totally, "Meh. I'm not going to bother fixing it back now. I'll leave 'em."

---

Fast-forward about three hours, and Philip has been lounging in a t-shirt and sleep pants. He goes off to pee, and comes back into the office almost immediately. "Wow, I've been going criss-cross!" he says. I look up and see that for the past few hours, he's had his sleep pants on backwards! He only noticed as he tried to go pee!

LOL!

We're a matching set, we are. We call ourselves "Criss-Cross" and "Flip-Flop." :-)

This is probably my new favorite picture of Philip and little John. Before, this picture had held that spot, but I snapped this new one a few weeks ago while we were babysitting for Heather.


Philip "goo's" up close with John.

*melts*

He came home from work just a few minutes ago, and he's already dressed and heading back out for a craving. What is the craving, you ask? Cheese. Specifically, he wants those little pre-cut cubes of cheddar cheese, and he likes the store brand.

I ate a few cubes of cheese a couple of nights ago at bedtime, and he snacked on them with me. I noticed him eating them again after that. Then last night, I saw him grab a string cheese. I guess I got him hooked on cheese lately, but he said that the string cheese last night wasn't nearly as good. He explained to me as he tied his shoes just now that the craving for cubed cheese was so strong that he almost went out to buy some earlier today after his testing.

Cheese. Silly boy. ;-)

*evil grin*

I picked up the phone and dialed Philip at work. As the phone was ringing, I noticed the time - 12:00am exactly. He answered in the Control Center, and I wished him a Happy Birthday. We talked for a few minutes, and then I let him go so that he could give his full attention to an exercise going on.

...

Except that I called the desk then - at 12:04am. An "Airman Hickey" answered the phone, and I explained to him who I was, and that I was calling to inform the flight of Philip's 27th birthday. I gave him my express permission to announce the occasion to any and all flight members, and that any embarrassing displays would be most welcomed.

At 12:06am - just now - the phone rang here. I picked it up, and Philip jokingly told me how much he hates me for telling the flight it's his birthday. Of course, I denied doing such a thing, but he knows me better. I gave in and asked what had happened in just two short minutes, and he told me that Hickey came across the radio for all stations, announcing to all posts that it was the Flight Chief's birthday and that everyone needed to be advised.

I love it. :-D