Another Weekend at Nellis and The Strip

Episode № 107 details our recent weekend in Las Vegas, and updates you on the state of our PCS.

Transcript

Episode № 107 Another Weekend at Nellis and The Strip

Welcome back! 

Lady Jupiter Podcast is the audio accompaniment to LadyJupiter.com a lifestyle blog where I write about my family’s military life, our home life, and other tiny details that I just like to share. I’m happy that you’re here with me.

In this episode I’ll share an update on our life as affected by the U.S. military, then continue with a blog update, and wrap up with something domestic.

You've probably noticed a significant degradation in my audio quality. At the time of recording I don't have a good recording space at all, so literally being outdoors is the best that I can get. I apologize in advance. 

Today in our military-affected lives I have nothing significant to update!

Since last episode...I shipped a box to our new address, then received the balance from selling our last residence.

I visited the clinic for a routine medication refill appointment, and started moving out of our friend’s empty house (because they’re here now), and started moving into and sleeping in a furnished apartment on base. 

I shipped some sweaters that I bought when I was cold, plus curtains and canning jars.

Mister Jupiter had his fini flight (which just signals the end of one flying assignment; not always the end of a flying career - that’ll be later).

He held his last Commander’s Call at Nellis, and a family member came to Arkansas to watch Kid Jupiter in my place.

**plane**

Once the boys were managed, I flew to Las Vegas to meet up with Mister Jupiter, picking up his SEL’s wife along the way. I definitely impressed myself by driving from Harry Reid to Nellis, to the Class Six, to the hotel without any phone navigation. Also, I left my phone mount in my car in Arkansas, so I was forced to rely on my memory and to read signs. It wasn’t a disaster!

Then we attended patch night, and by “we” I mean that Mister Jupiter let me know when I was welcome to join. It may sound rude in the context of unwelcome versus welcome - but it’s not that at all. Patch Night is for patches, and I am not a patch - this is well known. When the patch-specific events have concluded, then the doors are literally open and non-patches (like myself) can mingle.

We mingled until we realized that the O Club was inundated with captains, and that we were aging out of the party. That’s not all bad. When you only know two people at a huge party, it’s easy to walk back to the hotel and eat all of the pretzel crisps while watching The Fifth Element on AMC.

The next day was our Family Day - well, for our squadron at least. Some of Mister Jupiter’s family was in town with us. We took a taxi to New York New York so they could ride the roller coaster. I love roller coasters, but I’ve been on that one and I just wasn’t in the mood, so I was the pack mule instead and everyone emptied their pockets into my purse, and I scrolled Reddit while they were away.

Afterward, we walked to TopGolf and rented a bay for an hour. I did great - as in that each ball I hit went in the right direction. Zero black eyes or awkward conversations about my basic understanding of golf.

I might figure it out one day. But I’m in no rush.

Then we had an excellent dinner in Caesar’s at Stanton Social Prime. Mister Jupiter and I ordered oysters, shared a steak with each other, and shared two appetizers with the table - mushrooms and their take on french onion soup dumplings. The food was amazing, and the atmosphere was dim and romantic. Upon exit my super tall leather skirt was tight like a sausage casing - I was just as happy to take it off as I was to zip it up in the first place.

Later that night we checked into our Night Cabana at the Venus pool at Caesar’s. It was perfect because we had a large space near the pool - and zero expectations otherwise. I wore a bikini top and pants, and only put my feet in the water for a bit. We played low stakes Beer Pong (where you still try to land ping-pong balls in cups, but drink freely otherwise). 

Table top Jenga happened, and the topple was all good fun.

**Jenga**

Nobody did anything dumb, and we saw a lot of friends. It was just right.

The next day was graduation. Mister Jupiter went out for brunch while I slowly willed myself into to this existential plane. 

As soon as I was ready to be in public, I had a wristband waiting for me at the pool, so I just grabbed a coffee and did what I wanted - burn my tongue on coffee while freezing my feet in the pool. 

That sounds silly if you haven’t spent a few summer weekends at Caesar’s. The pool water is abnormally cold, and the Americanos at Pronto are very hot. 

Anyhoo - I parted at a medium-reasonable hour. My problem is that Mister Jupiter takes ten minutes to get ready when I need two hours…plus I need him for zippers. Last year I actually traversed Caesars with a partially zipped zipper on my gown because I couldn’t do it myself. This time I showered the night before, then I dressed my top half before he left - just so we could get the full zipper before he was off to do Commander stuff. This would have been easy if certain undergarments worked as intended. They didn’t, it was fine. 

When he left the room I was fully zipped and a little ready. I finished the panty hose, shoes, makeup, and added a small purse. I don’t do anything with my hair because I just don’t care much about it. If it’s clean, I’m happy. 

After the graduation ceremony, instead of going to bed, I bought dumplings and cucumber salad to share. We shared those nibbles with friends, then walked around the tables to see who was gambling.

I don’t really gamble. Nothing moral about it, it’s just that I lose as the house predicts. I have been “up” a few times, but nothing significant. So when friends are ready to gamble, I wish them well and walk to the nearest Sephora. Instead of throwing away money, I simply come home with new products - this year it was lipstick and perfume.

The morning after the big graduation ceremony, Mister Jupiter and I both got up earlier than we liked. He got my rental car from valet, while I got dressed and packed my bag.

Then I did the usual outbound ritual of gassing up the rental at Sinclair on the way to the rental car center, drop off the car, get on the airport shuttle, get through security and locate my gate ALL BEFORE my first cup of coffee. Whew.

For today’s LadyJupiter.com update — the site is still up and running.

And lastly something domestic.

I just wanted to share how convenient TLF is for us now. The frequent packing and moving isn’t fun, but that’s just because we’re attempting to be mobile with a lot of stuff. It’s clear that the easiest solution is to be as light as possible as soon as possible, but that wasn’t really an option for us. 

If there were zero ceremonies for us while living out of suitcases that would be easy, but that wasn’t our reality. Hence the frequent shipping. We needed to move with Mister Jupiter’s mess dress until he didn’t need it, and I could ship it. The next week I was able to ship out my dresses and matching shoes after wearing them for a special event - and so on. 

TLF is convenient because we all sleep in the large bedroom, which gives me an entire second bedroom to use as a shipping center. The full size refrigerator is nice, but the lack of a pantry is only a little problematic. Really, the problem is the ants that sneak in from the kitchen window at night. Unluckily for them, I discovered their little habit early, and I quickly sprayed 409 around the window and let it dry. That chemical barrier was a huge success, then we only had to rinse any foods immediately to prevent temptations, but most importantly we had to be very mindful about the dry goods on the counter top that acted as a pantry. Honestly it was easy, but I was constantly cleaning that kitchen to keep the ants in check. 

I walked over to the post office most days, it was only a three minute walk…but some days I still drove over because my allergies were trying to kill me. Being allergic to grass is a real downer when it’s summertime and people are frequently mowing. Since the evenings are light and warm, I taught Kid Jupiter that we walk each night, at 7pm. We leash up Mike Dog and I take my boys for a walk around the building. When Mister Jupiter was able to move in with us, we adults could take turns staying in TLF with Mike, and the other would walk to the shoppette with Kid Jupiter for treats.

Typically we don’t really do treats, especially ultra-processed convenience store stuff - but everything is crazy, and we’ve been without our usual comforts for weeks. If Kid Jupiter wants to try something, I usually buy it just to know if he will eat foods beyond cheese and apple sauce. 

And that’s it for today’s episode.

Show notes and transcript are available anytime; swing by LadyJupiter.com/podcast.
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I will talk to you when I can record next. 

—Bye for now!