And I'm on my way again!

I'm heading out of town again this weekend!

This time, it's for my friend Bess's bachelorette party. I hope everything goes well since I am the MoH and the party planner for this one.

We're heading to Charleston this afternoon, and I am praying for sun tomorrow so that we can lay out on the beach at Folly. Right now it's a 40% chance of rain and thunderstorms for the entire weekend, but I plan on doing a sun dance for good vibes.

I promise I'll take more pictures than I usually do....but only because I'm going to put them in a Charleston themed album for Bess so that she can remember the weekend. Otherwise, I'd probably be a slack ass, as usual.

Y'all have a good weekend!

Hot for Teacher

Angela's post about being a cougar triggered my memory of something weird that happened last night when WEG and I went out to dinner. Two people came in and were seated at the table next to us. I thought nothing of it, assuming that it was a mother and her teenage son. That's what the age difference looked like to me. The boy was definitely a teenager, as I heard the woman keep mentioning his senior year. She, on the other hand, looked like his mother. She had on a conservative skirt and cardigan and a "mom" haircut. She ordered a glass of wine, he had water. And then it got weird. I glanced over and they were not exactly holding hands across the table, but it was sort of the equivalent of playing footsie, except with their hands. I looked at WEG and said "What's going on over there? Do you find that weird?" Apparently he thought that it was a mother and her son, as well.

It continued to be weird, with them playing with each other's hands, all the while her talking about his senior year of high school and fraternity parties she had been to while in college. To say I am baffled by this encounter is an understatement. I didn't hear a whole lot of their conversation, but I know for certain that she wasn't his mother. And, she didn't have any sort of wedding ring on or anything, so she wasn't married. Maybe she just has a thing for younger guys? All I could think of was Mary Kay Letourneau- perhaps, this was his teacher and something developed? I definitely do not know, but all sorts of scenarios have been running through my head- mostly scandalous.

I am both disturbed and intrigued (yes, I can be quite nosey sometimes!). What do you think was going on?

Home, Sweet Home

The American South

Today's post is dedicated to all things Southern. You'll find some quotes and song lyrics that I think really sum up what it means to be from the American South. I can't imagine my life if I had been born anywhere else. You don't get much more Southern than among the cotton fields where I grew up, in a place that has changed little over the span of time. Neighbors are still friendly in the South, especially the rural areas. We talk a little slower, laugh a little harder, and love a little deeper, I think, but yes, I'm biased. Some days I wish I was still that little girl riding the tractor on my daddy's lap or running barefoot through the cornfield, and the following quotes and images always take me back to those days.

Growing up southern is a privilege, really. It's more than where you're born- it's an idea, a state of mind that seems imparted at birth. It's more than loving fried chicken, high school football, and country music. It's being hospitable, being devoted to front porches and sweet tea, and each other. We don't become Southern, we're born that way. -Unknown

We learned in Sunday School, who made the sun shine through. I know who made the moonshine, too, back where I come from. Back where I come from, where I'll be when it's said and done. I'm proud as anyone, that's where I come from. -Kenny Chesney



Honey, just because I talk slow, doesn't mean I'm stupid. -Sweet Home Alabama (the movie)

Painting by Jim Harrison.

The South is the only place in the world where nothing has to be explained to me. -Woodrow Wilson



Oh I wish I were in the land of cotton, old times there are not forgotten. Look away, look away, look away, Dixieland.
Painting by Jim Harrison.

What can be more Southern than to obsess about being Southern? -Elizabeth Arroyo


In the South, the breeze blows softer...neighbors are friendlier, nosier, and more talkative. (By contrast with the Yankee, the Southerner never uses one word when ten or twenty will do)...This is a different place. Our way of thinking is different, as are our ways of seeing, laughing, singing, eating, meeting and parting. Our walk is different, as the old song goes, our talk and our names. Nothing about us is quite the same as in the country to the north and west. What we carry in our memories is different too, and that may explain everything else.
-Charles Kuralt



Song, song of the South. Sweet potato pie, and I shut my mouth. Gone, gone with the wind. Ain't nobody lookin' back again. -Song of the South, by Alabama

Y'all come back now, y'hear?

Happy birthday, Abester!

Tomorrow our little bundle of joy turns a year old! Yes, that's right, our sweet, crazy Abe is having a birthday! Crazy is the key word...Abe's antics are limitless. And little definitely is no longer a term we can use to describe Abe.

Exhibit one: WEG's family has a creekhouse down in Yonges Island, SC where he stays when he goes home for the weekend. Well, not too long ago, WEG's father was watching Abe while WEG was fishing. Sweet little (er, big) Abe runs over next door to where the neighbors are building a new home. He proceeds to run up their stairs, in the open door into the house, and knocks over a bucket of paint on their brand new hardwoods. Luckily, the neighbor was really nice about it and brought him back. He said "I don't want to be the annoying neighbor, but could you please make sure your dog doesn't come into our house any more? He knocked over a bucket of paint" Oh goodness, Abe you are a character, and clearly you know no strangers- heck you just make yourself at home whereever you go.

Exhibit two: This past weekend WEG and his friend took their two dogs out to Botany Bay near Edisto Island. They let the dogs run all over the island like madmen while they met up with another friend and his girlfriend. Well, apparently the girl was sitting on her towel on the beach, minding her own business and guess what Abe does. He runs right up to her, hikes his leg, and pees on her. Yes, he peed on her. Again, luckily she was cool about it and laughed it off and went and got in the water to wash off. Abe, in addition to knowing no strangers, you also have impeccable manners.

However, despite all of his craziness and trouble with his listening skills, we still love Abe very much and just keep hoping that he'll grow out of this puppy stage into a well-behaved dog. Right now, he's a bit like Marley from the book, Marley and Me. Just a big, lovable, goofy dog.

So, Happy Birthday, Abe! We love you and wouldn't trade you for the world :-)

Enjoy the journey of Abe's first year:

Just not feelin' it

I may take some heat from you hardcore Gamecock football fans (my friends included) about this post, but I've gotta put it out there.

I've read recent posts how some of you are excited about the upcoming college football season. I've seen the countdowns on facebook. I know it's coming soon- in the blink of an eye it will be here. However, I am just.not.feeling.it. Call me disillusioned and you'd probably be right. Oh sure, I'll go to a few games to tailgate and watch many, many games on TV. And I may get excited about the actual fact that there are games on all the time. But I'm not excited about my Gamecocks. I'm over Steve Spurrier, and I am sick of reading the paper every day, only to find that YET ANOTHER of our football players has been arrested. And then, when Spurrier keeps them on the team, it makes my discontent with our football program that much worse.

We're the laughing stock of the state- ask any Clemson fan. We are ALWAYS in the paper for bad behavior or stupidity on the part of our players, and then they face little to no repercussions. It makes me WANT to see them fail. Yes, I said it. I want to see those thugs fail. Until actions are punished appropriately, I am taking it out on the whole team, not just the individuals commiting the crimes.

I want some new life in our football program. I'm tired of has-beens. And say what you want, Spurrier is a has-been. Holtz was a has-been. I want someone young, someone fresh, someone a-la-Darrin Horn (that's our basketball coach, if you didn't already know). I want someone who is a disciplinarian, who doesn't take any crap. You screw up, you're gone, that simple- Spurrier should take a page from Ray Tanner's book (that's our baseball coach). Tanner doesn't put up with shit. He believes guys make mistakes, but he doesn't reward them for it or turn a blind eye. He removes them from the team- just.that.simple. Nobody should be above the law and the rules, especially not thuggish football players.

So, there you have it. I'm fed up. I don't care if I go to a game this year at this point. In fact, I might not. I enjoy the tailgating and will go for that when the mood strikes me, but I'm not wasting my hard-earned money on a ticket to see a bunch of thugs take the field after they've been out getting wasted on Thursday night in Five Points. And yes, this happens- I've seen it with my own eyes. In fact, it's so bad that one bar has a shot named after a football player that is a frequent customer in that bar. Really?!? Is that the image we wish to portray? I guess so since the behavior is being condoned.

Well, Gamecock Football and Coach Spurrier, you're this.close to losing a fan permanently. I'm a Gamecock to the core, but I'll just pull for the other sports. My money and my time are not going to a program that is corrupt.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Catching up!

Wow, it's been almost a week since I have blogged- clearly I have been busy!

Unfortunately I have no pictures from the weekend as I did not take my camera out one single time- I know, I know- TYPICAL!

Friday night we went to dinner with friends and had sushi then went out for a few drinks. Nothing too crazy because Saturday we got up and drove to Fripp Island for the day and night. We had lunch with WEG's family and I went out to the beach for a bit while WEG helped his dad do some things around the beach house. Then we rode around on the golf cart, ate some supper, and watched the fireworks display that Fripp puts on. Pretty low-key, but relaxing!

On Sunday morning we drove over to Edisto to go out on the boat with WEG's sister and her boyfriend and another friend. We drove over to Botany Bay and anchored down and spent the afternoon out there. It was overcast at first, but eventually the sun came out. On Sunday evening we went over to another beach house at Edisto that belongs to one of WEG's friends and just hung out and went to a bar for a bit. Clearly I consumed a little too much because I didn't feel so hot on Monday, when I helped WEG get the pontoon ready to haul back to Columbia.

After doing that, we went and saw his brother's wife and their little girl for a bit- she is ADORABLE and was fascinated with my toenail polish (which is NEON- which I didn't quite realize when I bought it!) Then we went over and saw WEG's parents before making the trek back to Columbia.

Now I'm gearing up for this weekend. I'm heading to Conway for one of my best friend's little boy's 2 year old birthday party. The theme is "Breakfast on the Farm" and it's on Saturday morning. I'm heading down on Friday morning to help get everything ready and keep Joy sane! I got Sawyer the cutest little frog rainboots and a frog raincoat for his present. My boss's grandson, who is just slightly older than Sawyer, loves his and wants to wear them all the time. I hope these are as big a hit!

Well, that's all I have for now. If you made it this far through my long re-cap, congratulations!

America, America, God shed His grace on thee....

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend (hopefully a long one!) celebrating Independence Day and our freedom. I truly believe we live in the greatest country in the world, and that is because of men who fought so long ago in the Revolutionary War. We are where we are today because of the great document, the Declaration of Independence, that was signed in 1776. Just a little sidenote- did y'all know that most of the signers of the Declaration actually signed it on August 2nd, and not July 4th. July 4th is the date on the document, though, so that is why we celebrate on this particular day. Wikipedia also tells me that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4th, 1826- the 50th anniversary of America. Weird coincidence, huh?

In any case, however you celebrate this holiday, I hope you enjoy it. I'd love to hear your traditions. My family doesn't have any set traditions. My dad's side does have a family reunion on a local lake, but I haven't been to that in many years, and this year is no exception.

WEG and I are heading down to Fripp Island on Saturday morning because he has to work on Friday and the traffic that afternoon would be unbearable. So, we'll go down there on Saturday and spend the day and night with his family, then head over to Edisto Island on Sunday morning to spend the day there and see some of his friends, go out on the pontoon, etc. And then we'll come back on Monday because we both have the day off.

I'm so excited for this four day weekend! It will be the first time I've been out of town to enjoy a weekend that didn't have to do with a wedding. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed all of those trips, but this one will be more low-key and a chance to relax with WEG since we don't have a lot of opportunities to do that this summer.

So have a happy and safe 4th of July and I'll be back in action on Tuesday!