How Did I Do At The Debate Last Night?

Bet you didn’t know I was at the debate last night did you? Well…I wasn’t.I was at the next best place: The Political Party at my house! It was a good thing I wasn’t at the debate though because my crowd and I would have been kicked out for yelling, “say ‘maverick’ all ready!!” “Putin, say Putin!” “Break down and cry!” “BINGO!!”

That would not have gone over very well…I’d be posting from a jail cell this morning.

We had our own political party at our house last night. We’re pundits like that. And we’ve even created our own political party slogan: We’re making FUN of politics…I mean making politics FUN again! We all gathered around the television set for the bewitching hour of 8pm Central. We had everything we needed: good drinks, good snacks…and our bingo cards and betting sheets. I had a bingo sheet for both Obama and McCain. I desperately needed McCain to say ‘Putin’ to get Bingo on his sheet, but Obama said ‘Republicans’, which was all I needed to get bingo on his sheet first…the first bingo of the night.

I think I also won when it came to guessing how many times Tom Brokaw would have to say something to the effect of “let’s move on, your time is up”. I guessed six. Poor Tom, he tried to be tough last night, but got walked on.

Where did I miss the mark totally? McCain said ‘my friend’ a grand total of 20 times. Come on! I guessed that he’d say it 63 times! Where were you last night McCain!?! And he said ‘maverick’ not once. I’m positive he was told to cut down on the ‘my friends’ and to not utter the ‘m’ word at all. People are kind of tired of that.

I also didn’t come close to guessing the amount of times Obama would say ‘you know’. I don’t think anybody did in my crowd.

One of the questions was: “will one of the candidates get emotional?” I totally figured McCain would, and there were two times where I thought he was close. I’ve never wanted to see a grown man cry until last night. My man didn’t pull through for me. Another question was: “will one of the candidates lose their cool?” I’m happy to say I did not bet against McCain on that one. I knew he’d hold his temper. There was one time during the debate though when he might as well have lost it and it was the funniest thing all night…and nobody saw this one coming…”that one”. Oh yeah, he said it. And he pointed his finger when he said it. I loved it.

There you have it; our own Political Party. Make plans for your own Political Party for the next debate on 15 October. We might have to break our normal Wednesday night engagement for “that one”.

Gratuitous

I’m finding myself in the most interesting of dilemmas. I have so much swirling around in my head, it would seem that I have hundreds (or at least several) of posts to write on topics that I’m sure would enrapture you. Yet, I can’t seem to formulate the words. Or I think better of it and don’t even begin the typing process.

While I wrestle with myself this week I’m going to provide you with at least something to look at. I’m going to tell you what fun we had this weekend whether you want to read about it or not.

Vicki’s Pleasure Post On What Fun We Had This Weekend
My Gratuitous Photo Essay on the Gold & White (w/a splash of blue) Weekend

As I mentioned on Friday we headed to Atlanta. Our express purpose was to root for Ga Tech, live in the stadium. We were also able to hang out with some really close friends and reunite/make the acquaintance of some past/future really close friends (I’ll explain myself).

John & Cher were once again willing to open up their house to our family. We tend to breeze through about once a year and pillage and destroy spend some quality time together. Usually there is a game of Siedler (Settlers) involved, but we were busy with sports this year. On Saturday, before we headed out to watch the GA Tech Yellow Jackets, we first watched the Yellow Jackets of Forsyth County little league. Here is their favorite fan:

Favorite Fan stayed with a babysitter after this first game and we ventured on to do our best at willing GA Tech to victory over Duke. Here we are kissing Buzz for good luck:

Oh wait, that was just me doing the kissing. Which one of you is actually surprised? (I picked the nose of a lion statue in Munich before so kissing a bee is no big deal.) The kissing must have worked because GA Tech won. 27-0. A resounding victory I must say. Thank you GA Tech for actually passing the ball a couple of times. Your passing game is much better than you realize, and whether you want to admit it or not, the other team will stop you most of the time if you keep trying that run down the middle of the field thing. At least they don’t have Reggie B@ll anymore. Oops.

Here are two of the great Atlanta Institutions:

Thanks for that pic, Cher! Whether you meant to or not that’s great juxtaposition. And neither Du nor John can confirm or deny knowing anything about removing one of those “T”s “back in the day”… (don’t ever ask them about the Margaret Mitchell house).

After the game we hung out by the Delt house while Zach grilled us some mighty spicy wursts and a delish filet mignon on the tiniest grill I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of this. Too bad, because you’d be amazed at how much meat fit on this thing. While we were noshing the kids were busy exploring:

Not a real firetruck anymore. Some Delts bought it in Chesterfield (where is that?) and drove it down here. It was already yellow. I’d say that was a pretty good purchase.

When I was hanging out at the Delt house, back in the day, I never in a million years thought I’d see our kids climbing on a tree right outside. And there they are. What change time brings.

Sunday morning we rose bright and early to meet up with Zach and his very pregnant wife, Eva. This was our first time meeting Eva and we definitely hope it’s not the last. Zach, Du & John (in order of appearance) were really good friends in college and it would be great to get them together more often now that we live a little closer (if only for a year).

The breakfast was followed by church and then a quick lunch to say goodbye until next time!

I love this picture. I think I want it blown up to poster size, or life size or something.

Busy, but a good busy

It’s been busy around here lately. What am I saying…it’s always busy around here. This past week though everything happened at once. Here was my Wednesday:

Morning and all that that entails
Drop Mo off at vet to see if he’s all better
Head to Wal-Mart to pick up several things
Head to grocery store only to be stuck in a traffic jam for about 10 minutes
Shop
Once home feed girls a quick lunch
Gymnastics
Race home to be able to watch the triplets
Make dinner for a family while embroidering four sets of burp cloths while the triplets are here
Give triplets back to mom
Run dinner down the street
Race over to the vet to pick up Mo
Take Mo home (actually I basically just toss him in the door and slam it shut)
Head over to church for a quick dinner (at which Ashlyn screamed through the whole thing)
Head over to a meeting with the ladies who lunch
Go home
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NO school done whatsoever. Well, we did listen to our AWANA verses during breakfast.

It seems like my whole week has been that busy. But it’s been a good busy. It’s kept me out of (bloggy) trouble. Yesterday I took some time for myself though and actually got my hair cut and colored. I must be doing something right because this is the third time this year I’ve had my hair done. It’s a good year if I get it done around twice. I know.

That’s not a bra, it’s a tank, or undershirt, or whatever it’s called. I’m blond at the roots again!

Here are some thoughts for the weekend:

Submit your post to Best Posts of the Week!
Remember that flattery and gossip are two sides of the same coin. Flattery is telling someone to their face what you wouldn’t say if they weren’t there. And gossip is talking about someone and saying things you wouldn’t say to their face, whether those things are unfavorable or not. Both flattery and gossip are ugly and are sins. God called us to be encouragers, which doesn’t include either.
Go Jackets! Bust their a…. butts! We’ll be at the GA Tech game this weekend, and whether they win or lose, it’s so fun to see a game live. I’ll be hoarse when it’s over, but there’s nothing like it. My husband is just glad we’re not playing UVA or I might end up shouting Wahoo instead of Bzzzz. (It’s a story that I may tell sometime).
Have a great weekend!

Story Time, Monkeying Around

Levity, that’s what’s needed around here! What better way to prepare for the weekend than with a Story Time, Interactive Style that includes animals. We all like animals…isn’t that why that cat blog is so popular (you know, the one that posts pictures of cats saying funny things?). And we like them even more when they’re babies and oh so cute.

So! To participate in this Story Time here’s what you do.

Put on your thinking caps
Look at the picture below
Come up with cute/funny caption/story for picture below
Leave that in the comments section
Come back later and laugh at all comments left

We went to the zoo this past weekend and came across this:

I had to include both pictures because they completely tell the story (to me) and are just too sweet. Now get to commenting!

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In other news, I’m reading The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory. I can’t put the book down. I’ve read The Constant Princess and The Other Boleyn Girl(didn’t see the movie) and this book is on par with the those. It’s fascinating to think about what life might have been like in King Henry VIII’s court. A bit scary I must say. I keep wondering to myself, “Will I see these people in Heaven and get to ask them all these questions I have running around my head? Will they answer me?” The next book I’ll read is The Virgin’s Lover. Then The Queen’s Fool and The Other Queen.

I’ve also been embroidering some. I haven’t really done much since we moved. I’ve got fabric to make the girls’ Christmas dresses, and it looks like I better get sewing on those. The holidays will be here before I know it. To monogram or not to monogram their dresses…that is the question.

Easiest Lesson (of a really hard lesson) to Learn

THE PROBLEM

If you’re like me, a lot of the talk around this mortgage lending/Wall Street crisis gets confusing. What exactly is happening? When and why did this mess start? But it’s important to stay up to date and informed about what’s happening. My blogging buddy, Kerith, found the perfect video that explains it. You won’t have any questions after watching this. It’s the quickest 10 minutes you’ll spend learning about the largest financial crisis to hit our country since 9/11.

THE SOLUTION

Now, if you feel as I do, that the way out of this mess isn’t a bailout then read this:

Bankruptcy, Not Bailout, Is The Answer

Don’t be a pansy. Go get your learnin’ on!

Family Traditions

When I waxed nostalgic about Pensacola I mentioned a little something about a little house that would forever be a part of my childhood. Today, I explain.

I get my sense of humor and all things mischievous from my mother (I mean this in the most loving way, Mom!) And she gets it from her father. Who got it from his…you get the idea. I’m a kidder who comes from a long line of kidders. If we can crack a joke, pull a prank or even just laugh about something we will. If your mom got detention for stealing blackberries out of some kid’s locker and then throwing them into the classroom she’s supposed to be studying in (but got kicked out for passing notes); or convinced her sister she was adopted; or hugged all over her brother while they were cruising down the strip to make it look like he was already taken, then you know what kind of childhood I had. To this day she and her siblings don’t wave goodbye and blow kisses to each other as they depart from visits. No, they shoot each other the bird to see who can flip it first.

Growing up she would tell us off the wall things and we would believe her. Don’t all children believe everything their parents tell them? So why would I believe anything else when she would tell us that a midget family lived in this house:

As a kid I didn’t know anything about perspective, so the fact that the bushes rise to almost the height of the first story meant nothing to me. So she brought that to our attention telling us they built the house to accommodate the owners. Nor did I notice that those windows were boarded up. But I believe those were clear when we were young because as we would drive by she would say, “that’s the midget family’s house! Look! Do you see them inside?” And our little minds believed and our little eyes did see. I would swear up and down that I had seen some movement in that house.

And the fact that there were no other houses near this one didn’t phase me. Nor did the fact that there is a huge water pipe sticking out of the attic wall…

But to my defense my mother was probably speeding by it so we wouldn’t have time to think about placement and perspective.

Why did my mother do this to us? Well, because it’s a pretty awesome trick to play on kids for one. I wish we still lived down there so I could pass this one down. And second, her father played the same trick on her when she was a kid. As they would drive down the street he would point out the window and say, “look kids! Do you see the midget family living in that house?” And their little minds believed, and their little eyes saw. I wonder how many other kids throughout the years have grown up believing a little family lived in that little house. And when did I come to realize the ruse? I don’t remember. Mom, can you comment on that?

Here’s the prankster, caught in the act of getting these pictures for me:

What makes this prank so endearing is that my great-grandfather–my mother’s father’s father, helped build that structure around the pipes at the water works plant. Yes, all three of them (my mom, my aunt and my uncle) climbed the fence in order to take pictures next to the house their grandfather helped build.

I’ve got to start taking my daughters by there whenever we go down to visit. After all, I’ll just be carrying on an old family tradition…