She's back!!

Gooood morrrrning, Poppers! Your gurl Halle is back after spending 5 days in Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma. Before I dive wig-first into the Happenings, I simply MUST send a special air kiss out to my BFF FitnessNerd for his guest post. FN, thanks so much for keeping the Poppers in the know in my absence. Halle loves Loves LOVES the slideshow from the Bag Ladies Calendar Launch. *kiss kiss*


So last Thursday, yours truly rolled out of bed at the super-early hour of 10:00 a.m. to begin the long trek to Louisiana. I was supposed to be on the road at 7:00 a.m., but ummm, Miss Thang had a few adult beverages on Wednesday night which made for a rough morning. Fortunately, before I headed to the Calendar Launch party I had packed everything and laid all my travelling clothes out, so I threw on my clothes and a hat, flung my suitcase and duffel bag in the back of my Jeep and hit the road.


The drive itself was uneventful (after my hangover subsided {Halle LOVES Excedrin}) and with the company of Cher, Madonna, Mary J., Tina, Celine and some of FN's travelling mix CDs I made it to Alexandria, Louisiana at 11:30 p.m. I spent some time catching up with my Mom, my sister and my nephews and we crashed out around 2:00 a.m. Friday morning, we were up at 7:00 a.m. and out the door at 8:00 to meet my Dad at my parents house in Leesville. Mom, Dad and the nephews headed over to Texas and after cooking up two batches of jambalaya, I headed back to my sister's house to pick her up. My sister and I had some pretty decent conversations on the drive and I'm glad I got to catch up with her.




Saturday, I got to spend time with my cousins fishing, playing golf and shooting some hoops. Most of Halle's friends would probably be surprised to find out that I actually do enjoy things like fishing, hunting, racing dirt-bikes, rough-housing and working on cars; hey, I grew up in the south...even though I knew at a VERY early age that I'm gay, it wasn't something you talked about. I did everything I could to fit in. After all of the afternoon events, my Dad and I spent some quality time talking while we fixed barbecue brisket, chicken quarters, crawfish etoufee' and burgers, brats and dogs. I get my cooking skills from Dad, so if I ever cook anything for you, you have him to thank.


Saturday night, we all gathered at one of the cabins and had a sing-a-long and the second generation of the "browns" (which includes me) got to share childhood memories about our cousins, uncles, aunts and grandparents. It was at times hilarious and at others, emotional but it was great to express what everyone meant to us and to realize just how deep our connections run. Halle's closer to her friends than she is to her family, but she loves her fam nevertheless. Sunday we got up for breakfast, said our goodbyes and made our way back to Louisiana. I drove all day yesterday and made it back to Indy at 9:30 last night.


I'd love to share some photos of my family, but alas, this:






is the only picture I took.





I understand that Circle City INPride '08 was an overall success, so if you had an opportunity to be there, be sure to thank your Indy Pride Board Members and the President, Scott Van Kirk. You can thank Halle for the weather...I sent up some prayers to Cher and she apparently came through. ;-)



While I was travelling, I did receive text and multimedia messages from my Indy Mom and Blanche. Here's one of the pics I received:




If you have any Pride pics or comments you'd like to share, please send them to HallePino@yahoo.com.



On a more serious note, a drag queen ('s costume) has come up missing. If you see Miss Jackie O. walking around, would you please let Halle know? Jackie O. has a long (well, not really) history in Indy. She's travelled Indy on the Bag Lady Bus Tour '07, was seen on a recent parade float, was featured in Nuvo and even met Mayor Ballard's wife. We miss Miss MISS her and pray for her safe return. Here's a picture on the last day she was seen:



Again, please report any sightings to me at HallePino@yahoo.com. We'll follow up on any leads and we may even come up with a reward of some sort for her safe return. We miss her so. She is Jackie O.



Well, Poppers, your gurl's gonna wrap this one up. I know this one has a bit of a different tone, but I'll be back to my spicy self in a day or so. On the solo drive back to Indy yesterday, I spent a lot of time reflecting on my life to this point. I can honestly say that the last two-ish years have been the happiest of my life and I have FitnessNerd, Blanche, Maestro and (Indy) Mom to thank for that. They're my family and I just adore them.

*kiss kiss*

Halle