19. Spend at least 24 hours in 10 states (3/10) - Oklahoma

OooOOoo klahoma... where the wind comes sweeping down the plains... but apart from the musical and twisters, what else is Okie state really known for.. farm land and a horrific bombing?? You know what, I need to Google this.. population 3.6 million, member of the bible belt, large Native Indian population, state beverage is milk... and a major producer of natural gas and oil... ahhhh now my trip is suddenly making sense!!

This week I made my way to teeny tiny Velma, Oklahoma to co-present a pre-spud safety meeting for a drilling program we are about to start in town.  Due to the size of Velma (official population 750) I stayed overnight in nearby Duncan - a town that I swear must, at some point in the distant past in become a subsidiary of Halliburton!! There was a Halliburton Lane, Halliburton Blvd, Halliburton Research Centre, Halliburton Credit Union, I could even get a Halliburger at the local bar and grill.. you get the point!! But I think what I was most surprised with was how beautiful the countryside really was in Okie... everything was the most amazing shade of green, rolling hills, small country towns, farms and thousands of fat, happily content looking cows all lazing around chewing their cud... it'll be interesting to see what the change of seasons does to all the beauty when I return in a couple of weeks.

80. Treat Paul to something he's always wanted with my first US paycheck

Paul has been wonderful to me since moving to Houston 18 months ago. To make the move, I had to quit my job and move to Houston accepting the reality that I would be unemployed temporarily... well we thought it would be temporary... with fantastic typical us timing we actually ended up moving to Houston just weeks before the global financial crisis hit and all those job opportunities and interviews I had spent months dutifully setting up suddenly didn't seem to have employment opportunities attached to them. So I sat in Houston being a glorified housewife and wedding planning for the first 12 months of our expatriation assignment rather than being the independent financial contributor that I am used to being... let's just say I wasn't a happy camper being relegated to housework, household budgeting and errand running!!! 

I returned from our wedding and honeymoon in November, ready, willing and completely able to hit the job market hard - luckily for me the US economy was beginning to turn the corner and the market had begun to pick up (or rather the price of oil had strengthened). Within weeks I had an interview for a contract position with Chevron, and only days later I was being offered a 6 month contract with their US Land Drilling and Completions Department... finally a foot in the door!!

Paul and I had an agreement that I could spend my first pay cheque on whatever I liked, kind of like a reward for finally getting a job... Well I always knew that I wanted to spend that first pay cheque on something for him... something that he had been lusting after for months and months, kind of as a thank you for being so good to me throughout my days of unemployment (I beat myself up over it WAY more than he ever did... in fact he wasn't concerned at all with me being a housewife... damn my ambition and deep seated need for independence... I could still be living the easy life right now!!!) I really wanted to buy him the Tag Heuer he had been eyeing off since his Thai knockoff died 18 months ago but unfortunately as I began to do my research I quickly realised they had discontinued that particular design... so I either could risk it and purchase the new model, hoping that he loved it as much as the original OR i could ruin the surprise and ask him what he would like to do.. typical practical me went with option number two... after all who wants to spend that much money on a present that isn't exactly what the recipient wants?!?!?!

I hatched a plan and decided it made more sense to give Paul and option - Sitting, enjoying a frozen margarita at Pappasitos a day or two after my first pay cheque cleared I hit Paul with my plan... ' I want to buy you either your watch (as close as we can get) or your car pod... he surprised me and chose the pod... maybe he's not as impractical as I always suspected.... ;D 

Thus weeks later, the Thule Boxter 611 car pod arrived on our doorstep... and now the massive box lives on our office floor, just waiting to be taken out and used on a cross country road trip... dont worry, that's something we're definitely working on!!! 

79. Find meaningful employment in Houston

Oh scary of most scary things... after months and months of sitting at home being a trailing spouse and housewife... almost 18 months in fact, I am heading back to work tomorrow, albeit not in a permanent capacity at this point and therefore I don't feel I have the right to cross off this task!! Scarily, thought the job is in a foreign country and in an industry that I have no experience in... unless you count listening to the hubby talk continuously about his job as experience ;) Yup tomorrow I start a contract HES consultant role with Chevron's Drilling and Completions division... wish me luck... hopefully it turns into something more permanent and hopefully I enjoy it!!

The Sky Ring between 1500 Louisiana St and 1400 Smith Street - the two Chevron 'Towers' which coincidentally used to be the Enron Buildings... I'll be based in the Smith Street building.. 2 floors down from where Paul's office would be, if he was an office worker!