TIME SPENT APART

Kenny and I spent the weekend apart this weekend. He stayed in Memphis and I headed to Hattiesburg for a hair appointment. Yes I have been living in Memphis two years and still go to Hattiesburg to get my hair done. I have tried a couple places around here but I can't find anyone that will do it the way I like it and my guy John has been doing my hair for 10 years. I know that this will have to end soon.

Friday night I drove to Hattiesburg, and Kenny and some of our friends went to an event at the Memphis Zoo that I had gotten tickets for through work. It was called the Wild World of Wine and Beer and it was at the China Exhibit. It sounded like it was fun, free food, free alcohol, and a good band. From the phone calls and texts that I got later that night I think everyone had a good time. Sorry there are no pictures.

Saturday, Kenny and our friend Lowe went to go play a round of golf but they got rained out after the first hole so they left and went to their new favorite place....The Cigar Shop on Madison and smoke cigars and watched the basketball games. Doesn't that sound manly.

In Hattiesburg I went to my hair appointment and did some shopping with my sister. Nothing too major because my mom and my sister are coming up here in a couple weeks and we are doing a really big shopping trip. But I did buy some things. That night I went out to dinner with my mom. There is this great sushi place in Hattiesburg that makes fantastic sushi and its really inexpensive. I go there every time I am in Hattiesburg. I love it. We stuffed ourselves and came home and watched Enchanted. Doesn't t that sound like a perfect evening? It was.

Sunday I left pretty early and got back in time to see most of the second half of the Memphis vs. Texas slaughtering. While I am happy for Memphis I am mad because I lost my first place standing in my bracket because I had them losing to Texas. Oh well, this is the first time Memphis has been to the final four in 23 years so you can't help but get caught up in the excitement. The really fun game to watch was the Davidson vs. Kansas. We were going for Kansas because of our brackets but you could not help rooting for Davidson. You could tell they wanted it so bad. It was a pretty low key weekend. One I can appreciate with wedding season about to really get underway.

TONY DUNGY

Last night Kenny and I went and saw Tony Dungy speak at the church we go to, Christ United Methodist. If you don't know Tony Dungy is the Super Bowl winning head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. In the past year Tony has put out a book called Quiet Strength. Kenny received the book from my step mom for Christmas. The book has been such an inspiration to so many people, especially men that a men's bible study has also been written to coincide with the book.

Coach Dungy's speech was very good, and had a great point that really made you think. It was all about the difference in having goals in life and having a purpose in life and how God should be your purpose in life. He was a great speaker. It was really exciting to see such an important person in sports history speak about something so personal to him.

Once the service was over the church had made a big deal about how Coach Dungy would not be signing autographs afterwards and most people left. A few people stayed behind to take some pictures with him and get autographs. Kenny and I just watched from a distance. Kenny had brought his book just in case but we really did not want to bother him or seem pushy.

After a few minutes we left and were headed towards Kenny's car when here comes Tony. He is with some security but no fans were around and Kenny just had to take the oppurtunity. Kenny did not have a pen!!!! So Kenny asked Coach Dungy, "Hey you wouldn't happen to have a pen would you?" Coach Dungy said I do but you are going to have to walk with me because I do not want to get in trouble for signing more autographs. I stayed back as I watched my husband walked off with the Super Bowl winning coach of the Indianapolis Colts. It was really neat.

Kenny had a brief conversation with Tony while he signed Kenny's book and then here comes Kenny grinning ear from ear.

THINGS THAT MAKE ME MAD

1. VEHICLE INSPECTIONS
In Mississippi you had to have vehicle inspections, but the inspection consisted of pulling into any car shop turning on and off your lights, blinkers, high beams, brake lights and honking your horn. In the crazy city of Memphis, getting a passing grade on your vehicle means these things:

• Waiting in line for at least an hour (waisting your lunch break)
• If you are like me getting incredibly nervous when its your turn for fear you might fail
• Nervously following all the inspectors instructions as they test your emergency brake(who uses their emergency break), your emissions, and lots of other things.
• Failing because you have a stupid crack in your windshield at the very bottom that you would never get fixed otherwise because you plan on getting a new car very soon.
• Calling to get the windshield prepared and spending money to have it replaced
• Spending another hour of your life and your lunch break waiting in line so they can pass you now that you got your windshield fixed.

Aagggh! And what really makes me mad is that if you live in Germantown or Collierville or any of those places you do not have to go through all of this. But they are DRIVING ON THE SAME ROADS AS US!

2. THE HILLS
Yes I realize this is very different than the thing listed before it but it is also something that I am very angry with. Last night was the premiere of the mini season they are doing. And boy was I DISAPPOINTED! When this show started three years ago it was so good. It was so interesting to see what life was like for Lauren and her friends working at fun places like Teen Vogue and the PR firm Bolt House. But through the years and the seasons of this show it has gotten fake and faker. Till we arrived last night at a show that should of not been dubbed reality television at all. The episode had Lauren getting in these crazy predicaments that if you ask me made her look extremely irresponsible. The entire thing came off as totally staged and pathetic. I am really sad and angry about it and considering boycotting the show.

(although I will probably not)

I WAS TAGGED

Tracy tagged me so I do not want to disappoint her. So here are five things about me!

1. I am obsessed with food. I love all food and I am an extremely UN-picky eater. I also get a great joy out of cooking for people. It does not have to be fancy but I love to see people enjoying something I put effort into. Kenny and I are were actually talking about it the other day and we can really only count two or three things that were not very good that I have cooked since we got married. Tonight I am making shrimp and grits for my first time so wish me luck!

2. I have a very real phobia of cockroaches. We are talking hyperventilation, crying and hysteria. If you don't believe me then call my sister. She will tell you of many a phone call I have made to her and scared her to death because I was so hystericalover a roach. I grew up in Mississippi where we have these huge tree roaches and they fly. I cannot even see cockroaches on tv or movies. I had to cover my eyes in Enchanted when the roaches were helping her clean, because I was feeling panicky.

3. I once was almost a missing child. Here's a story. My family was on vacation in Florida with friends of ours and we were supposed to go to the pier behind the condo building for a boatride on a friends boat. My friend Anna and I went ahead of the family and we went to the wrong pier.....across the very busy road and two miles down the beach. Needless to say our parents freaked. They thought someone had kidnapped us. We are talking roadblocks, tons of police, helicopters, and they were abut to start searching the water when we showed back up. My dad still tells that story and says my mom and dad have never been so scared.

4.Despite my sister and I's relationship now we used to hate eachother. I used to be very mean to her. I can remember making her and her best friend Keri (who was the Proxy in my wedding) get behind a chair in the corner and threatening them with a butter knife if they moved. How crazy is that!

5.When I was little I was a really big cry baby. I cried about everything. You might say I was a little bit of anxious child. If I broke my crayon...I cried....If I lost my pencil....I cried.....when my mom left for work....I cried. I cried about EVERYTHING. After working in a pre-school for two years in college I now know that those pre-school teachers probably dreaded me everyday, because I know children that I would just roll my eyes at everytime they cried over something silly. I guess God is paying me back.

Now that I have read back over things I would like to thank Tracy for tagging me again. Anyone who reads this will most likely come to the conclusion that I am nuts. Good thing I am completely normal right Kenny and Annie (wink wink)

BRACKETS ARE HARD

So March Madness started today. And since I have been dating Kenny I cannot think of one year that we have not done brackets. Since the cut off was today I filled out my bracket last night. I really try to go with my gut instinct. It's when you start researching that it gets so overwhelming.

In college, it was easier because we were paying attention to basketball so much more because we were going to games and watching different teams play. But now I just take lucky guesses. I might read the little pop ups about each team but that is pretty much all I go from. In the past Kenny has told me if I made a ridiculous choice on a game or if I had too many upsets. But ALSO in the past, those very same bad choices I had made came true and since I had changed them I lost the points. So this year I took Kenny's advice on a couple games but mostly I just stuck with my decisions.

Kenny will vouch for me that in past years I have done very well in these brackets. I have a theory that girls really do better on these because of our guessing. We might like what color jerseys they have or maybe our cousin went to Georgia so we will choose them to advance. Honestly the hardest part is not advancing your alma mater because the chance of them beating Memphis is not so good. But if I have to lose in the bracket competition to see the Bulldawgs go all the way that is something I am willing to sacrifice.

GO DAWGS!

ANOTHER PICTURE I FORGOT TO POST

In this picture: Kenny, Hank, Daniel Bauer, Mary(our friend Greg's fiance) and Benton Landers.

(are you happy pissed off third wheel)

WEDDING SEASON HAS BEGUN

Kenny and I headed to Starkville for a good friend of ours Daniel Anderson's and Kristen Bland's wedding this weekend. Kenny was a groomsman. I love going to Starkville. It really is like going back to the safest and friendliest place. Whenever we go I always insist that we eat at certain places. Starkville has some of the best food. My two favorite places are The Grill, which we ate lunch at on Saturday and City Bagel which we ate lunch at on Sunday before we went home. Anyway, all of this is besides the point.

Friday we got into town and checked into our hotel. We stayed at the Hotel Chester. I have never actually stayed there until now. But I would recommend it because of location alone. We really did not drive to many places this weekend. The rehearsal dinner was at the Veranda. It was a lot of fun and the bride and groom were super nice and let the televisions stay on so everyone could watch the Mississippi State basketball game. We were in Starkville after all. The game was pretty intense with overtimes and then the tornado hit the dome and the game had to halted. Luckily we pulled out a win. After dinner, Kenny and I met up with some friends that were in town for the wedding at Mugshots. That bar has not changed a bit. It was nice though because it was spring break so it was not as crowded as it normally would of been.

Saturday we met up with Dan (the groom) and a lot of people that were in town at The Grill(my fave) I got to have the cheese sticks AND steak on a stick. It was so delicious.

The wedding that night was beautiful. They had it at the Hunter Henry center. It was a lot of fun. Once again they were really cool and let us watch the basketball game against Georgia. Unfortunately we did not win that one. But Kristen(the bride) looked beautiful. They had taken dancing lessons and their first dance was really good. It even included a huge dip with a kiss. It was quite impressive. Their band was also a lot of fun to. After the wedding, everyone went out to the Bistro. That is a bar that HAS gone through a lot of changes since I left Starkville. I had been there during football season. But I am still surprised at how different it looks.

When we got home Sunday afternoon, we were exhuasted. We napped the late afternoon away and then went to bed really early. I think we might have gotten to old for all the college town bar hopping. But it is still nice to do it every once in a while.

SO FUNNY

My friend Susan that I work with (I have a lot of friends named Susan) introduced me to the funniest site yesterday. It is called Garfield Minus Garfield. They take Garfield comic strips and take everything out of the comic except for Jon Arbuckle and his bubbles. It makes Jon look so depressed and crazy. Here is how the website describes it:

Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb.

Go to this site. It really is so funny. I have include one of the strips as a tease.

GOOD LUCK LOWE!

Our good friend Michael Lowe pictured here with his fiance Lauren on New Years Eve, is going on a whirl-wind excursion to Myrtle Beach tomorrow (Wednesday). Hope all goes well Lowe! Good Luck!

SNOW COME.....SNOW GO

So I am sure everyone knows that it snowed a good bit here in Memphis on Friday and Friday night. I was happy because we got to leave work early because Memphis freaks out at the slightest snowflake. Friday night we just stayed inside and watched movies. But it was really coming down hard and Saturday morning we had a good accumulation and plenty to play in for a while before the sun and 60 degree weather melted it all away.

So Kenny and Lena got suited up to go play. Here they are in their matching coats.In Kenny's defense he did protest a little bit to dressing up our 70lb lab but who can resist when you have a snow jacket for your dog and then it snows! Kenny eventually took off the jacket and let her play naked because that's what man dogs do. Whatevs!

Once the snow was gone our weekend was pretty uneventful. We ran some errands during the day on Saturday and ended popping one of our tires that we had to have replaced and then yelled at some kids for throwing snowballs at our car. Yes I know you think snowballs but they were more like ice and if you had heard the noise when they hit. I got a preview of what Kenny is going to be like as a really really pissed off dad. I will have to warn our children. Just kidding, I am sure Kenny will be a great dad. Saturday night we went to dinner with Lauren and Lowe and Shelton. For dessert we headed to one of Kenny and I's favorite spots, the Cheesecake Corner. If you have never been there you have got to go. Every night they make different flavors of cheesecake and they are so delicious. Everyone but me got the chocolate and peanut butter that night. I got the sweet potato and it was one of the best slices I have ever had there.

Sunday morning we got up and did some things around the house and went to brunch. I really had my heart set on having brunch at this new place in Midtown called Cafe Eclectic.  I was so mad when we saw that it was closed.  How are you closed on Sunday if you serve breakfast?  So we went to Bosco's instead.  It was excellent and had  live entertainment.  After that we went and saw Juno.  I know we are a little behind.  But can I just tell you how amazing this movie and Ellen Page are. This movie is soooo funny. And so smart. Everything they say you want to memorize and repeat it so you can call it your own. I can't wait to see it again.

It was nice to get out of the movie and still have so much daylight left in the day. Kenny sat out on the porch and smoked a cigar while I watched Jon and Kate Plus 8 and we just had a lazy afternoon and evening. Then we ended up getting sucked into this older movie called Sleepers. It was disturbing but very good. I am definitely feeling daylights saving time though. It was hard getting up this morning with it so dark out.

HEARTBREAKING NEWS FOR ALL DIRTY DANCERS

A lot of news outlets are reporting today that Patrick Swayze has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and only has a few weeks to live. For any girl this is awful news. What girl has not watched Dirty Dancing over and over. Even Kenny knows that the famous quote "Nobody puts Baby in a corner" is coined from the movie Dirty Dancing. I remember being little and my mom not allowing me to watch Dirty Dancing but I stole the soundtrack from my mom ( on cassette tape mind you) and listened to it on my walkman all the time.

And don't forget about Ghost. The famous pottery wheel scene. So good! I still get teary eyed. And don't all boys love Swayze in Roadhouse. Maybe not but I thought they did. I could be wrong. But Patrick Swayze has a special place in America's heart and in movie history. If and when something happens to him he will be missed.

I WANT A ROYAL FAMILY

Last night before we started the movie Gone Baby Gone (which was awesome) Kenny turned the channel to this 20/20 special that was on that was called The Royal Family:Behind the Palace Walls. And I just have to tell you how interesting this show was. It followed the Queen and the Royal Family for a year and had more of a documentary style of filming. I just finished watching the rest of it while I was at home for lunch. And I am so jealous. I wish we had a royal family. I know it sounds silly but the first family(is that what you call them?) is not the same.

I think the history and tradition behind the royal family is so intriguing. This show featured all sorts aspects of how things are done for the queen and the family and how the household and their property is run.  They went behind the scenes to show us how an official dinner is prepared for, how the family jewels are kept, or how an outing that the Queen is going to make is planned.

The show featured the visit that she made to the United States this past year when she attended the Kentucky Derby and they filmed the White House all the preparations that were done for her arrival. It was funny because they showed a hotel in Virginia that the Queen was going to be staying in and they had gotten a brand new toilet for the room because they felt she deserved a new toilet.

" And then there are these two to think about.  Could not mention the Royal Family without these two.  Is it just me or is Harry getting way cuter than William.  Especially with this whole secret bravery thing Harry has got going on with sneaking into Afghanistan. I am loving the coat tails. Not something we see too much here.

FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER

Kenny and I had such a good weekend.  Friday night we met up with our friends Rebekah and Andrew Gilpin that live in Jackson. They were in town to go to the Rascal Flatts concert with Joe and Tracy. We all met up at Sauces. The food was so delicious and we had such a good time catching up with the Gilpins since we had not seen them in so long.

After stuffing ourselves they headed off to the concert and Kenny and I walked around downtown for a little while. Downtown was so packed Friday night. I heard it was because something called the Gin Show was in town. As in Cotton Gins and all the delta farmers come in town for it. I am sure there were also a lot of people in town for the concert too. But downtown was hopping. After taking our stroll we stopped by Lauren and Lowe's house so the boys could smoke a cigar and Lauren and I could chat. I had not seen her in forever. I also got to see my favorite baby, Shelton. She is in such a fun stage right now. She is standing and crawling and is so playful. I am not sure why Kenny looks like he is half asleep in this picture. Maybe it was the She-Crab soup at dinner. But isn't she adorable?!

Saturday, the weather was so gorgeous outside. It was 70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. It just made you happy when you went outside. But Kenny did some shopping and I did some grocery shopping. I had decided to bake some cookies and was also making re stuffed potatoes for dinner that night. Saturday night we went over to our friends Denny and Jo Ann Moss, another one of our couple friends we had not seen in forever. Jo Ann and I used to spend 8 hours a day staring at each other because we worked together at Morgan Keegan and our desks were connected but then she found a new job so I have not gotten to see her as much. Sorry I did not take any pictures that night. But Denny grilled steaks and it was a very very delicious meal.

Sunday Kenny and I headed off to the Morgan Keegan tennis tournament. It was my day to be in the suite. So we got there pretty early and made sure everything was okay in there as far as the bar and the food went. Then we just watched the doubles championship and the men's championship.I did not know the two men in the finals but they were both very good and it was an exciting match.The tournament raises money for St. Jude(always a great cause) and this picture is the guy from St.Jude and the men's champion with the check. Sorry the picture is so grainy. I guess Kenny was trying to zoom in too much. After that we just went home and relaxed and watch a movie. It was such a nice weekend with the weather being so perfect and all the friends that we got to see.