You gotta see the baby

UPDATE: As we all know, babies have a mind of their own. Seems little Griff decided to stay up most of Friday night and keep Mom and Dad awake. So, we had to take a raincheck. We'll just wait a little while longer...
AND! The waitresses name..............VERA!







I'm very excited. I get to go meet this little fella today. I hope he likes me.

I did my first, and surely not my last, background change today. I was very intimidated at first, but found it to be very easy. So, that means it will now change all the time. It's kind of like having new shoes to wear.

I'm worried about my brother's baseball team, they're in a losing streak right now, hoping for a win today! Come on Tigers.

I joined Twitter. Soon, there will be no secrets in my life. :-)

Here's another all time great make you feel happy song. Just try not to dance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iknEJf9cPeY

Old Gems, New Adventures and a Shout Out!

Steven and I went to lunch today in Old North Charleston. We love this area. One of our favorite bars, Madra Rua is here, as are neat houses and businesses. The girls at work have told me about the "Idle Hour Restaurant" for a long time. It's been around forever, and everyone sings the praises of their burgers. I was always a huge fan of the Woolworth's Lunch Counter, so I can appreciate a good ol' lunch spot. All I can say is that we were not disappointed in the least. It's a small little place with a counter and maybe five booths? The menu hangs on the wall. Each day, there's a new special with a choice of sides. (Today's special: Country Fried Steak) I had a cheeseburger (all the way) and Steven had a hot dog with cheese only. Our food was served on old time (and I'm sure, original) cafeteria-type plates.

The women who worked there were not Flo, Alice or that other gal. (What is her name???) Well, I guess they might have looked like them back when Mel's Diner was on tv....There were old pictures on the wall (again, I'm sure they were originals) and the old time ketchup squirter on the table. Steven's soda was served in the can and my tea never went empty. The gossip in that place was awesome. We were only there for 30 minutes, but I got to hear about someones sixth marriage, the new BBQ joint on Hwy 17 (Oink! is the name) and that the Golden Corral serves breakfast on the weekends. All in all, it was a fun experience, and we will definitely return. The food was delicious and you just can't beat that environment!

Last night, T and J decided to make a lemon meringue pie. I had every intention of hiding while this was happening, but that didn't happen. As they zested the lemon and mixed the pie mix, somehow I got stuck doing the meringue. I've NEVER made a meringue in my life. I dumped the sugar into the egg whites, as T pinched in the cream of tartar. It was then that I read the instructions that said to add the sugar, "slowly." Ugh. I just pretended all was fine and whipped that stuff until it couldn't do anything but be stiff! Their pie turned out gorgeous. I haven't tasted it yet, but I'm happy for them and for myself! My grandmother would be proud!

And finally....I received my very first comment from someone, other than my friends and family. I must give a shout out to one of my favorite bloggers. She loves her Memphis Tigers and I enjoy reading her posts! Granted, I commented her first, but she was nice enough to return the favor. Check her out!! http://meandmygoodlife.blogspot.com/

I have to go figure out how to work Twitter. I need something new to confuse me. :-)

HodgePodge

This has been a good long weekend. It seems that sometimes nothing happens for a long time, and then BAM, everything happens all at once. We had one of those "everythinghappensallatonce" weekends.



We found a great pub in Jacksonville, called "London Bridge." I had researched on line and discovered this pub and the fact that it carried Strongbow ON TAP. If you know me at all, you know I love my Strongbow, and have to go to great lengths to obtain it. (or, rather, Steven has to...) Anyway, to find it on tap is like finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. We spent a lot of time and a lot of money at the London Bridge. We made friends with the staff and even bought a tshirt off the back of a bartender for Taylor.

Of course, the reason we were in Jacksonville was to see Jonny Lang. He was performing at the Florida Theatre, an old refurbished theatre. We've seen him in similar venues.


We were sitting next to a "screamer." Now, I love me some Jonny Lang, but I'm not going to scream every time he breathes. This woman did. Nonetheless, the show was great. If you ever get a chance to see him, do it. He is so talented and puts on a great show. He is worth every penny!!

Can you imagine THIS combination on a marquee??

Back to the HodgePodge..

We woke up Friday morning to a text that our dear friend, Mary, was in labor. We spent the day in anticipation of the newest member of the Reaves family. At 6:46 pm, Griffin Carrington Reaves was born. We were sitting in the London Bridge Pub (again) and celebrated his birth the rest of the evening. Congratulations to Mary, Larry and Baby Grif. We are so happy for them and can't wait to meet the little fella.

We ate at Miyabi last night to celebrate Kristen's 34th birthday. She and Grace are back from Bali. This is the first time we've seen Grace since their wedding, over a year ago.

And finally, today, we finished the weekend with lunch at Mellow Mushroom. Man, they have the best avocado sandwich ever.

Why can't all weekends be 4 days long? Now, it's back to reality: work, being a mom, finding a new car, paying bills, bla bla bla. Here's to a good week for all of us!

A True Feel Good Story

This was too good not to share. My brother sent this to me this morning. It makes you realize there are still some good people in the world. This was on ESPN.com, so thanks to them!





Team's gesture supports grieving opponent
ESPN.com news services





Two missed free throws, ordinarily the cause of a coach's headache, became the symbol of sportsmanship in a Milwaukee boys basketball game earlier this month.
Milwaukee Madison senior Johntell Franklin, who lost his mother, Carlitha, to cancer on Saturday, Feb. 7, decided he wanted to play in that night's game against DeKalb (Ill.) High School after previously indicating he would sit out.
He arrived at the gym in the second quarter, but Franklin's name was not in the scorebook because his coach, Aaron Womack Jr., didn't expect him to be there.
Rules dictated Womack would have to be assessed a technical, but he was prepared to put Franklin in the game anyway. DeKalb coach Dave Rohlman and his players knew of the situation, and told the referees they did not want the call.

As a principal, school, school district staff, and community you should all feel immense pride for the remarkable job that the coaching staff is doing in not only coaching these young men, but teaching them how to be leaders.
--Milwaukee Madison boys basketball coach Aaron Womack Jr.
The referees had no choice. But Rohlman did.
"I gathered my kids and said, 'Who wants to take these free throws?'" Rohlman said, recounting the game to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Darius McNeal put up his hand. I said, 'You realize you're going to miss, right?' He nodded his head."
McNeal, a senior point guard, went to the line. The Milwaukee Madison players stayed by their bench, waiting for the free throws. Instead of seeing the ball go through the net, they saw the ball on the court, rolling over the end line.
"I turned around and saw the ref pick up the ball and hand it back to the player," Womack said in the Journal Sentinel. "And then [McNeal] did the same thing again."
Said Rohlman: "Darius set up for a regular free throw, but he only shot it two or three feet in front of him. It bounced once or twice and just rolled past the basket."
"I did it for the guy who lost his mom," McNeal told the newspaper. "It was the right thing to do."
Womack, overwhelmed by DeKalb's gesture, wrote a letter to the DeKalb Daily Chronicle, which had first reported the story.
"As a principal, school, school district staff, and community you should all feel immense pride for the remarkable job that the coaching staff is doing in not only coaching these young men, but teaching them how to be leaders," Womack wrote.
DeKalb had traveled more than two hours for the game, and waited another two as Womack rushed from the hospital, where he had been with Franklin, to the school to gather his team.
"We were sympathetic to the circumstances and the events," Rohlman said in the Journal Sentinel. "We even told Coach Womack that it'd be OK to call off the game, but he said we had driven 2½ hours to get here and the kids wanted to play. So we said, 'Spend some time with your team and come out when you're ready.'"
The two schools had met twice previously, and this one ended with a Madison victory, but as in the other games, they also a shared pizza dinner "four kids to a pizza, two Madison kids and two DeKalb kids," Womack told the Journal Sentinel.
"That letter became a big deal in DeKalb," Rohlman said in the paper. "We got lots of positive calls and e-mails because of it. Even though we lost the game, it was a true life lesson, and it's not one our kids are going to forget anytime soon."
Womack, in his letter to the DeKalb Daily Chronicle, added this at the end: "I'd like to recognize Darius who stepped up to miss the shot on purpose. He could have been selfish and cared only for his own stats [I hope Coach Rohlman doesn't make him run for missing the free throws]."

An Oldie but a Goodie

I really wanted to blog tonight. I thought about it all day. I came up with nothing. I even asked Steven for ideas. He reminded me that you can't force it. So, with that in mind, I'm not forcing it. But, I will share something that never needs forcing; a list of pet peeves. Are you like me? These are always easy to list!

• I have DirectTV, and every night I am bombarded with the ads for "Mamma Mia," the movie. I get to hear the song over and over and see Meryl Streep jumping on this bed and then butcher the last line at the end of the commercial. (she says, "I should not have let you go" instead of, "I should have never let you go. ARGH)
• People that throw cigarette butts out the car window. They don't want those stinky things in their car ashtray, but it's okay to throw it out into my world? I THINK NOT. Just once, I'd like to see a policeman sitting behind the driver that does this, so they could pull him over and give him one of those "$200 fine for littering" tickets.
• Small paper clips.
• Drivers with road rage. Drivers who constantly change lanes trying to get ahead. Drivers who talk on their cell phones to the point of distraction.
• BLUE TOOTH EARPIECES.
• Improper usage of "your" and "you're."

• Randy Jackson on "American Idol." Greenlee on AMC. (although, she's now over the cliff) Vicki on "Real Housewives of Orange County." Victor Newman. Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo. Tom Brady. The Patriots. The Yankees.
• Breaking a nail right after a manicure.
• Rudeness, bigotry, prejudice, selfishness. (had to throw a serious one in there)
• The Family Guy. (am I the only one in the world that doesn't like that show?)
• Remakes of songs that should never be re-made. (Greatest Love of All, I will always love you, and Unforgettable. It should have never been a duet with Nat and Natalie)
• Gum Poppers.
• When Steven licks the lid of the yogurt/pudding container. Yeow!
• The "swing out wide"(left) to turn right.
• Trucks that drive through neighborhoods that say, "no trucks."
• People that back into their parking space. (the only exception is at a concert where there is a lot of traffic upon leaving) WHY are they in such a hurry to get out of that space?
• The flip flop sandal stickers people are posting on their cars these days.
• I really get annoyed when my spacing screws up on my blog. How DO I get that right?
• But more than any.. right now I hide when the FREECREDITREPORT.COM commercial comes on. The Renaissance Fair commercial makes my head spin. I even pulled the blanket over my head so as not to see it. That dude moves his head back and forth with this dumb little look on his face and it just makes me cringeeeeee.

Another Musical Fave

Happy Monday. Yeah, yeah, sorry for that oxymoron...

Tonight, I'm sharing another of my all time favorite songs. I think this one is definitely in my Top 10. Yes, I'm sure it is. It's probably in my Top 5. Every time I hear it, I get goose bumps. I think that's a good indicator.

Back in the day, I had a Michael Jackson poster, and enjoyed "Off the Wall." I listened to it on my RECORD PLAYER. (remember those???) Look at how cute he is here? I even saw him in concert with his brothers in 1986. He didn't sing this song, as it hadn't yet been released, but it was still a memorable concert.

Anyway, back to today's song. It makes me think, makes me cry, and makes me feel good, all rolled up into one song. The video is fantastic, and probably one of the few in which MJ didn't appear. Take the time to watch, listen and enjoy!!

"Man in the Mirror"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twd7BN0V68s

If you had another chance...

Both my parents are deceased. My mother died in December of 1995 and my father in May of 2001. It goes without saying that I think of them all the time, and often wish for a chance to see them or speak to them again. There are all the obvious questions I would ask. (Are you proud of me?) There are so many things I would want them to see and experience (my children, Steven, my nephews, my house, etc.) But, recently, I've started to think about all the things, BESIDES the obvious, that they've missed.

Some of the things I wish they COULD have seen or experienced:

• The University of Missouri hosting the NCAA baseball regional. (my brother is the head coach at MU.)






• Satellite Radio (all that country music, the Frank Sinatra channel!)






• The election and inauguration of Barack Obama. (I know my dad would have cried)






• Vodka/RedBull (Dick would have especially loved this)






• The Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl. (still in shock about this one)





• The Harry Potter Books, from the first to the last.




• Digital Cameras (wow, they could have deleted all those fuzzy pictures)




• Ipods, cell phones and automatic car door openers




• Will Ferrell




• Lance Armstrong winning the Tour De France, over and over; Michael Phelps' 8 Gold Medals, the Red Sox finally winning the world series, the Cardinals winning again, World Cup festivities, now that I understand it all




• Movies like Slumdog Millionaire and Billy Elliott

Of course, on the opposite spectrum are many things that I'm glad they never had to see. For some reason, this list was much easier to compile:

• Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.




• Monday Night Football moving to Sunday nights.




• The DC Snipers, Scott/Laci Peterson, the death of Princess Diana




• The Tsunami




• the war in Iraq

• athletes carrying guns, athletes shooting the guns, athletes doing drugs




• those horrible new Burger King commercials, the Alltell commercial and "Dancing with the Stars. " (although, truthfully, my mom probably would have loved this one)




• More than anything, 9/11.

So much happens each and every day, and when I look at a list such as this, it's overwhelming to realize how very much they have missed. And, it reiterates how very much I miss them.

• 

A Thing of the Past?

I've had the same checkbook cover for about five years now. Steven bought me a fun Robbie Williams checkbook cover for my birthday, years ago, and I have worn that thing into the ground. It has traveled with me to nail appointments, hair appointments. It sat with me while I've struggled to pay bills, and took joy at sending birthday, graduation, wedding and Christmas presents via the glorious check. Robbie has served me well. But, lately, he's starting to look a little worse for wear.

• I decided it must be time to retire Robbie and replace him with another cover. I have discovered recently that the "standard" checkbook cover is very quickly becoming a thing of the past. Remember the days when the banks would give you the cheap covers for free? They were either this horrible brown I'm showing, or another horrid blue or green color. (I think of them as accountant colors---boring!!) And, when you ordered new checks, they would always send a cover. Well, let me tell you, no more.

So, off I went in search of a checkbook cover that would reflect my fun loving (!) personality. Really, all I wanted was a vinyl cover with something sassy on it. Well, that's almost impossible to find. (sassy + google = trouble) You can find plenty of cloth covers. There are plenty of homemade covers on Etsy, complete with the hand sewn label. There are stripes, polka dots, animals, leaves, initials, flowers, cartoon characters, and all varieties of sports teams. But, there are very few exciting, yet classic, vinyl covers.


How does one choose from all these choices? And, why spend all this time on something that doesn't even get used that often anymore? I mean, if this was an ATM/debit card cover, then I could understand the time spent, and consider it a wise investment. But, who writes a check anymore? Honestly!


Speaking of "honestly," check out this cover! That would intimidate the heck outta the folks at the checkout, eh?

WalMart, Dirty Cats, Bacon and Oysters

What a lovely weekend so far! After a particularly crappy week, it was nice to start the weekend on Thursday evening. We went to a new place, Pearlz. Pearlz is a little oyster bar, and the oysters were delicious! It was fun to see the soccer folks, eat some oysters, tuna, and have a couple oyster shooters!!

Friday was an adventure. Steven and I never go to WalMart. I've basically decided to boycott the place, and have been avoiding it for years. But, on Friday, we were heading out of town and needed to pick up just a few items. The dreaded WM was on the way out, so we figured we'd just give it a whirl. What a nightmare! The Goose Creek WM is filled with the ugliest people in all the world. I kid you not. Everyone was scowling and miserable. The lines were SO long. The parking lot was crazy. I felt like I was in a time warp. NEVER AGAIN. I will drive out of my way to never go there.

After that 30 minutes of hell, we drove to Columbia to spend the evening with M and L. L created this masterpiece entitled, "Bacon Explosion." He found this recipe on line, it's basically bacon wrapped in sausage and rolled into a roast-looking thing. It was a true work of art. It looked and tasted FANTASTIC. I do think I felt my arteries harden as I ate it.

And finally, DIRTY CATS. I should say, dirty CAT. We have a big fat white cat. I do mean big and I do mean fat. However, today he wasn't very white. He spent the day outside and must have decided it was a good idea to roll around in some dirt. He came inside covered in dirt and looking like a black cat. And, how does one clean a cat? Why, the vaccuum, of course!

This one just wanted to taste some of that Bacon Explosion.

Thursday Day Opinion

Happy Thursday! Thursday is my favorite day of the week; there's just so much potential around the corner!!

Last week, I mentioned one of my all time most HATED songs. This Thursday, please enjoy one of my all time most LOVED. This song always makes me giggle at some point. (I have no idea why, I guess it's the use of the word,"rub?") But, the beat is good, the video is classic (LOVE the big J G letters) and it makes me want to get up and dance. Heck, I could do my standard Robot to it!

Take a listen!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUvtlmlBbDg

(Johnny-look at the beginning of the video. I think he's wearing our shoes!)

Stuck in the Pokey

When people think of jail cells, or prison, they probably have something like this come to mind.

When I think of walls closing in on me, often times I picture my work environment. I've been staring at the same beige colored wall for thirteen years now. Day in, day out, same old beige. I do have a little bit of window up high; it serves to tease me with the changing weather, seasons and an occasional squirrel scrambling past. You will see the Satellite Radio in here, it's my link to the outside world.

Weeks like this one, and these walls do feel like a jail cell. I find myself sighing a lot and questioning if I'm doing the right things with my life.

I admit, I've been feeling pretty down in the dumps this week. (Heck, I didn't even post a "Post Super Bowl" blog, I must have been down!!) But, I think I'm starting to come out of it. I've had a little bit of a prison break this week. Steven brought me some very sunny flowers, and they immediately brightened my mood. (he also brought me a bag of Munchos. LOVE that man.)

Today, it was freezing cold. But, I needed to get away from the beige wall , the drama of the office, and the plethora of cobwebs. Steven asked if I wanted to go out for lunch. The only place I wanted to go was to one of my favorite spots, the Duck Pond. The ducks were everywhere today, coooold and HUNGRY. (btw, ducks love Kix Cereal) They were honking at us and begging for any food we could offer. They were appreciative of everything we gave them and when we were finished, they just waddled away content. Spending the time away from the beige wall and seeing these fellas made the prison sentence a bit more tolerable.

And heck, if I start feeling those walls close in, I'll just think of this fella looking at me.