A Year in the Life

My dad, close to the same age as Hopson is in the picture below. The day my dad passed away he was 44 years, 1 month & 15 days old.  It's amazing how time offers perspective.  A 20 year old sees their 40+ parents as a little aged.  Yeah, they have their moments when you can see them as they were 20 years ago, but they are still old.  Time has made that 44 years seem younger and younger.  I'm sure my kiddos think Hopson & I are older than dirt.  Hopson & I don't make a habit of acting like we did in our 20's in front of our children.  So, I guess in some ways were are old  mature.  :)  I've been thinking about all the different aspects of this for the last few weeks.  I was so distracted by it one day that I may or may not have accidentally run a red light.   February 15th Hopson will be 44 years, 1 month & 15 days old.  The exact age as my dad was May 7, 1992.  The day of his death.  Hop i...

This is an older pic but it's one of my faves. My favorite daughter, E. Yesterday I posted Rules to Date my Son .  I'm sure some people didn't think it was very funny.  Was it meant to be satirical?  Yes.  Was it meant to be serious?  Yes.  Hopson said I was a little heavy on making my sons' girlfriends miserable.  (Note to self, 1x is plenty.  And, I'm not really going to be that mean, yeesh.)  I don't want or like to be mean.  It takes to much energy.  I like to be the happy me.  :)  See, I'm smiling...sorry, rabbit trail. We are living in an age where there are many who want to feminize men.  We want them to express their feelings.  We want them to be more nurturing.  Well, if a guy is already that way, great.  But if he's not naturally that way, don't try to force him to change.  (Hence Rule #6)  I don't expect the young ladies who date my sons to be more manly.  It's just sill...

Hop & some of his Dance Marathon friends in college.  Everywhere on the web you can find rules to date my daughter.  And, I do mean everywhere.  When you start typing "rules to date" in Google, 4 of the 5 will be female related.  It's true, we do have to watch out for our daughters, but in all honesty, I'm also worried about my sons. The one & only Harry... Sometimes you don't see straight when the love goggles are on.  We've told all our children that if we say something about someone  you bring home to meet us, it's not that we don't like them.  We may see a level of crazy that you can't see through said goggles.  Hopson & I are pretty doggone good at finding crazy.  And no, in this case it's not "it takes one to know one".  We're weird, not crazy; they are two very different things.  But beware to all who come to my home, I'll find out if you're crazy... Henry (on the right) & his friend ...

One looks the same & the other looks very different... 21 years.  No bar crawl; no drinking games. (thank goodness)  Just a nice dinner and flowers for me. Last week Hopson & I celebrated our 21st anniversary.  Wow, 21 years.  That's a long time.  I've been married almost 1/2 of my life.  It's gotten to the point that it's hard to imagine myself as ever being single.  He's like that really comfy pair of broken in slippers.  Nice analogy I know.  :)  But it's true.  A great pair of slippers are warm and soft, and they just make you happy when  you get to put them on.  Hopson will wear his out in public.  They look like camo shoes, so it's easier to get away with wearing them. But, as any couple who has been married over 20 years will tell you, it's not all sunshine and roses.  Marriage is hard work.  It's two people who have been raised in different households coming together to blend tradit...

...or just on your phone? Dear person driving in front of me this morning, I just wanted to let you know that I thought you were either drunk, which, if that's the case, it's a little early to be hitting the sauce; or you were texting/emailing on your phone.  Yes, I'm talking to you in the light green Honda minivan with the 1B***** tag.  (I have the tag number, but won't post the entire thing.)  You may wonder what great methods I used to figure out what you were doing?  Well, I happened to have my hands at 10 & 2 on the steering wheel & was able to use my sense of sight.  Wow is all I can really say.  (I was extremely focused to get where I was going this morning!)   1st, you kinda sorta ran a stop sign just past the high school.  With around 2K students trying to make their way to school, and half of those children being fairly new drivers, I would say you put your life in serious peril.  And when you went down the hill, yo...

I think I have OCD, and I think it has kicked in BIG TIME.  I like things orderly.  Everything has a place & should be put into that place.  Unfortunately, I have 4-5 (since Hop is in AU most of the time it's hard to count him as a full time home dweller.) who work against me all the time.  I have been nesting like no body's business, and nothing is too good not to go.  Well, almost nothing.  I always nested every time I was pregnant....  And before you start thinking anything, just banish those thoughts right now, because I'm not pregnant.  No more little babies for this momma.  Give me teenagers. Any-who, so this craziness started right before Christmas.  My closet was a little cluttered, so I spent a few hours cleaning it out.  Oh, it looks so much better, and I felt better.  As we were getting ready to go skiing, I reorganized all our ski gear.  The children had outgrown a lot of the old gear, but I still had i...

The last two weeks have been CrAZy!  Oh wait, our weeks are always crazy.  :)  Because of what we did over Christmas vacation I have some definite opinions about a few things.  I know, hold your comments, I have opinions about pretty much everything.  Here goes... This reminds me of a Christmas Carol. We left Christmas day for Park City, Utah for the fam to take our vacation skiing.  We are usually spring skiers, but because Hop's spring break is different from the other three, Harry had the idea to go at Christmas.  We left the 25th so I didn't really decorate the house for Christmas.  I put out our favorite decorations, but I didn't put out everything, and it was all packed up before we left.  I didn't even wrap any presents.  I love Christmas, so this part was hard for me to swallow. All my peeps skiing on the 26th. We arrive in Utah to it snowing.  It was in the 20's, which is cold but manageable.  My first hic...

Harry 18, Hopson 20, Elizabeth 14 1/2, Henry 12 1/2 I love this time of year.  I love it for all the reasons I've said in dozens of different posts over the years, but I think today I love it because it means all my chicks are here in the nest, and my home feels complete. The other night I was sitting at the computer writing & heard the high pitched tapping sounds of the ping pong being volleyed from one side of the table to the other from up in the playroom.  I stopped and just listened.  I heard brothers talking & laughing like they did when all four were here all the time.  It was a beautiful sound and it made me smile.  It's amazing how things change when just one is gone.  The schedule isn't quite as robust; there's one less mouth to feed; and there's a little less talking and laughter.  So, I love this time of year. I love it that Friday we will all go see a movie like we did when the four were little.  I love it when Hop wil...

My children consider me a commanding officer of the grammar police.  If you misuse a pronoun, a preposition, articles in front of words, a double negative or even a direct object, be prepared to be:  1st, corrected and 2nd,  judged.  Living in the deep south, we are already judged because of our accents, so if you add improper grammar on top of the accent...oy vey!  Yeah, I police mine pretty closely.     I was subbing for Elizabeth's English class & noticed a cute book in her teacher's room titled:   I judge you when you use poor grammar.   The first thing it made me do was giggle, because, yeah, I do judge people (right, wrong or otherwise) who use poor grammar.  I realize that you may be a member of Mensa, but if you are not using correct grammar, I will assume that you are uneducated.  Now, don't get me wrong, I am not perfect, but at least I try to not sound like a country bumpkin.  And, I really want this book. ...

As all moms know, December is CrAzY!  Not only is there the regular schedule to keep up with, but you have added in the seasonal schedule: decorating, cooking, Christmas cards, gift buying & wrapping ~ to just name a few.  Christmas is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, but instead it turns into the most dreaded & miserable time of the year. Ask me how many people I've heard complain about their extended families & having to spend time with them.  Ask me how I felt last night at the Galleria.  You know what, I felt sad.  I saw unhappy people trying to find gifts for people they don't really like with money they probably don't have.  The whole season gets kicked off with Black Friday which has turned into something ugly & selfish.  I don't want to be that way at Christmas.  I want to feel the love of my family.  I want to laugh and make happy memories.  I want to lavish in the simplicity of the king wh...

 I have noticed that over the years I've become a little cynical about some things.  I was sitting in the doctors office today (for 2 hours!  Insert frownie face here.)  and was flipping through one of the different magazines they had on the table in the waiting room.  It was a style & gossip magazine & a few questions started floating through my head. Why are certain people considered celebrities & why do we care about every aspect of their lives so much?  I find it a little ridiculous. First off, they are people.  They do a lot of the same things we all do each day.  Second, they sometimes make bad choices.  (and keep making those choices...a lot)  I'm not saying those choices make them bad people, I'm just saying they consciously put themselves in situations that are not flattering & then some of them have the audacity to be mad because they are in the press about it. Why do we care so much what the celebrities ar...

My children are pyromaniacs, but then again, aren't most children?  Mine come by it naturally.  My sister & I used to stick our fingers in candles to play with the wax & Hopson used to set rice fields on fire after they had been harvested on his family's farm growing up.  (yeah, I know, Hopson wins...)  But, playing with candles has always been a fascination of mine.  I just can't help it. Our kitchen, which I spend most of my time in, smells like rotten pumpkins right now.  Yuck!  My centerpiece that was on my table had three pumpkins & I didn't know the bottom had become rotten until yesterday.  In case you've never smelled rotten pumpkins, it's gross.  I've scrubbed my kitchen down, but I still get whiffs of it every now & then.  Bleh!  Because of the smell, I picked up some fragrance spray that I like at the grocery store.  It has a nice fresh smell to it. When I brought it home, Henry discovered it ...

It's a Jagged Little Pill Yes, I know it's a song by Alanis Morrisette, but it so applies to this post. Have you ever so totally messed up something that you relive your embarrassment and shame over and over and over again?  See, I told you the song title applied.  It's like a jagged pill that you swallow over and over.  (or at least I tend to relive mistakes in my mind...maybe I'm crazy, but that's another posting for another time.) Henry had one of those moments yesterday.  Luckily, it wasn't life threatening, but it was something that was very public & ended the advancement of his team in a competition.  I think, as parents, we tend to want to shield our children from failure and embarrassment.  No one wants their children to fail, but can I tell you, the lesson your child learns from that failure will be one that they remember for a lifetime. A few things that you need to know about Hen before I lay out what #4 did... Henry has b...

So, this past weekend the entire fam went to Oxford to visit the grandparents & go to to the Auburn/Ole Miss football game.  It was nice to spend more than 10 minutes with Hop, and it's always nice to be spoiled by my in-laws.  Tickets, check.  Very warm clothes, check.  Tailgating, check, and as far as tailgating goes, The Grove is iconic...and...a little crowded...and...a little rowdy.  We passed about 7 different Elvis impersonators.  (hilarious)  Most tents are decorated to the hilt.  (love it)  The food is second to none.  (my pants are a little tighter today.)  It's funny because when the game starts, there are about as many people in the Grove watching the game on TV as there are in the game.  It's great! Our game plans were varied and interesting.  Hopson wanted to say in the Grove to watch the game on TV.  Hop, Harry & nephew Garner all went into the game & sat in the Auburn section.  We...

Holy Schomly...my daughter is an internet published photographer!  And not just by me on this blog or on her webpage ...see, I know what you're thinking.  :)  Now, don't get me wrong, I love to use her photography, but as her biggest fan & biggest critic, she really does have an eye. There are wonderfully talented people in my community.  Artists, artisans, home decorators, fashion consultants, writers, and the list keeps going.  It really is amazing as I stop and think about it.  There are many of them who use their talent, not only to make something more beautiful, but a chance to share about the One who gave them the talent.  It's pretty cool. One of those people is Buffy York.  Buffy started a very popular blog called The Style Gathering , and features a talented Godly friend, Laura DiFatta, as one of her guest writers.  How Elizabeth came to meet Buffy, and now be a photographer for her is, to me, a pretty cool story. This past...

Good gravy the rumors have been flying around this city faster than a forest fire.  I should know because I heard someone ask me if I had heard what was going on.  First of all, yes I know what the rumor is & second, no it's not true.  I know you wondering what this is all about.  I'm going to give you a few minutes to... ...think... ...a little more... ...you know what it is... ...it's the one thing that can make the most rational person totally crazy... ...think a little more... ...it's little league sports. Here's my take on little league sports, of any kind, both girls and boys. Little league sports are to teach basic knowledge of the game.  In football it's blocking & tackling; baseball/softball it's hitting & fielding; basketball it's dribbling & shooting;  lacrosse it's throwing, catching & shooting.  Your football player learns that a 42 draw is the tailback (or fullback) going through the hole on the right si...

BBQ the Bucs Big & Midge #1 on your plate & #1 in your heart Every  year to raise money for Relay for Life our local high school hosts a huge event called BBQ the Bucs.  (This is one of our big rivals.)  Teams sign up to compete in the category of their choice:  hamburgers, chicken or steak.  The competition is judged and winners are announced.  Who will be king of the grill?   This is the 2nd year that Harry has competed with his friend Anthony.  The name of their team is Big & Midge.  You understand the name when you see the picture of them together.  :)  Harry and Anthony have been friends, I think, since they were 2.  Old friends are special, and theirs has always been an easy going friendship.  We love Ant.   Last year Big & Midge came in 2nd.  Harry was not very happy with that.  He felt team Big & Midge deserved to win.  Since they didn't, those two redouble...

Well, it is a great day in our house.  Another child will be leaving the nest & heading down to the loveliest village on the plains in the fall of 2015.  Harry received his college acceptance "letter" today.  I have letter in quotation marks because you now find out if you get into college by logging onto the school website.  It's very endearing...said no parent ever.  How am I supposed to have a picture of his smiling face with said letter?  Should I take it with him holding his phone or in front of the computer?  I need paper.  (Kinda like I need a real human voice...)  I need to see the words: "Congratulations Harrison!  You've been accepted for the incoming freshman class to Auburn University". I am excited for him, paper acceptance or no.  He has no idea what he is about to step into, but I know he and Auburn are going to get along splendidly.  Things have changed a lot in Auburn, but the spirit remains the same. ...

...Because our automated menu has changed. No, no, nonono.  Do you know how much I despise automated menus???  Um, A WHOLE LOT!  I really hate the ones that have the condescending voice with them.  "Ok, let me see if I can help you."  (Charter...)  No you can't help me because you can't talk to me!  You know who I want to talk to?  A real person, who speaks great English, because I live in America!  I've just started pressing '00' to get to a customer service representative every time I hear a d*%n automated voice.  I don't care if the company thinks it's faster, more efficient or better for their bottom line, I need a person. A real living breathing human, who can laugh at me if I do something totally stupid. I actually changed credit card companies a few  years ago because I always got an automated answering service & it took 20 minutes to speak to a real person.  It didn't take 20 minutes because I was on hold, it to...

...and some of us try really hard to get it.  Once in a while we'll catch it, and the rest of the time we chase it. I have realized that I'm a mediocre photographer at best.  Like that blind squirrel, I will occasionally find a nut.  When I take that one really great picture, you better believe that I will get it printed & share it!  I used to think I had potential...but sadly, I don't.  I'm just going to keep hoping I get lucky, and celebrate when I do. You might be wondering what helped me realize my mediocrity?  It was my daughter, Elizabeth.  A few years ago I was taking pictures at one of Hop's football games & she wanted my camera to take pictures.  I thought, ok, why not?  She was only 12, and it was a chance for her to learn a few things about basic point and shoot photography.  I didn't see my camera for the rest of the night.  Now that I really think about it, I didn't see my camera a lot.  I was fine with...