Hello, November ...

Well, hello November! I feel like I just said the same thing to October.

Growing up, my mama always said, "time ain't as long as it use to be." I had no idea what that even meant, but believe me ... I know what it means now. I could swear to you October only lasted two-and-a-half weeks & not a day more.

But, it is November ... & I know this because I gave out lots of chocolate on the last night of October. I also may, or may not, have bartered with some children over their Reese's Cup Pumpkins in their candy bags. 

Over the weekend, I also got to celebrate my second favorite holiday ... the ending of Daylight Savings Time, all of the falling back, the extra hour of sleep. Because let's be honest ... nobody appreciates an extra 60 minutes of slumber more than this girl. However, now it will be getting dark at 5:00 & I'll be struggling to stay awake to watch Dancing With the Stars.

You know what they say ... with great privilege comes great sacrifice.

walking the aisle ....

Mama posted a sweet little article on Facebook a few days ago about how to train your child to sit quietly through church. The author suggested having your child spend time at home sitting quiet & still while listening to stories on audio & other quiet activities of the sort. That way, they were accustomed to it... more than just once or twice a week for church. Well, I responded to Mama's post with this comment.... "these are not the methods I remember you using to get me to sit quietly in church."

Mama had a zero tolerance policy for tom foolery in church. Her approach only took once to learn. If me or my 3 older brothers acted up in church we took a long walk with Mama .... down the aisle, out the door, through the foyer, & out to the front yard where there were 2 bushes that had plenty of "switches" ... that I am almost sure the church board had planted for the sole purpose of  teaching children how to sit quietly in church. After that initial walk, all it took for me to sit still was for Mama to look at me out of the corner of her blue eyes & purse her lips. Done!

Now, my mama wasn't the only one that employed this approach. Lots of my little church friends were educated by walking the aisle in the opposite direction of the altar .... & I think we are all probably better for it.

I think the article Mama posted is wonderful advice & probably a kinder, gentler, more PC approach. However, I can also tell you that there wasn't a doubt in my mind how I was expected to behave while I was attending church. And, I'm pretty sure Mama's approach did a lot for the prayer life of me & my little friends. We all knew when one of us took that walk what was waiting on the other side of those doors ... & I'm sure we all whispered a little prayer for one another as one of us was being ushered out.

the music is in our actual bones, i'm afraid ...

music has always been a

big part of my family's life.

mama & her 2 sisters

had a little gospel trio & they traveled

all over singing at churches, camp meetings,

& at revivals.

 

 

anytime mama's family gets together,

the evening usually ends with

everybody gathered around

the piano singing out of hymn books

that are every bit of 100 years old.

it is a wonderful sight & sound! 

 

 

& apparently music runs deep in her family

because i've heard her tell of her mama

having a first cousin who played the bones.

yes, i said bones.

{i mean, i can't even imagine it.}

& those bones just happened to be from a pig.

{again, i just can't imagine}

but, according to mama, it was totally sanitary

because those bones had been

soaked in Clorox & coated in wax.

which leads me to ask you....

is there enough Clorox & wax in the world?!?!

{i think not}

it just gives whole new meaning to

"having music in my bones" ...

does it not?!?!

 

 

as you can imagine, mama passed her love

of music on to me.

however, if i had learned of the whole

"playing of the bones"

at a more impressionable age,

i may have steered away from music all together.

i played piano & flute,

& grew up singing in church ....

{every Sandi Patti song i could possibly fit into my repertoire}

i was even voted my sorority pledge class's song leader
{shocking, I know}

can't you just picture me leading

my 30 sorority pledge sisters in

a moving rendition of

"shades" & "chi omega, now & forever" ?!?

 

 

so, when it came time to wed ....

guess what ...

i found a mister whose love for music ran

just as deep as mine.

my in-laws both attended

east carolina's school of music

& both have careers that are musically related,

as does my mister!

 

 

well, we were watching our home movies

with big brother & priss several months ago

& we noticed something ...

& after a while it became kind of

funny ... then a little bit annoying.

every single birthday party on our

home movies when our two

musically-inclined families sing happy birthday

it ends with a full-on 5 part harmony.

every. single. time.

like we had all met down at the

church Wednesday night

{because all good choirs are supposed to practice on Wednesday nights ....

i'm sure it's in the Bible somewhere}

& we all picked out our parts

& made sure our harmonies fit together just right

before the actual party.

 

 

so, i think me & the mister

have decided at the next family birthday party

the two of us are going to

sing just as off-key & flat as we possibly can.

just to throw everybody off.

hopefully, we won't be banned

from future happy birthday renditions.

 

the truth hurts, but it is still the truth ...

y'all ...

i have been in denial for years.

mama has been telling me for as long as

i can remember & i have not wanted to admit it.

 

 

i can not be trusted with long hair.

 

 

there! i said it!

 

 

while i have great fantasies of my

hair being long & luxurious like

one of the housewives of orange county,

it just wasn't meant to be.

i've been very open & honest around here about

my lack of hair talent ...

& i finally did something about it.

 

 

after much prayer, soul searching, deliberation,

hemming & hawing...

i got my hair chopped off.

don't worry,

i've had short hair before, but

it is always an emotional decision

when you make a drastic hair change.

 

 

& i did copious research.
because, much like marriage ...
a drastic haircut should not be entered into lightly.

just like i'm sure all of the great scientists do

whenever they are studying whatever it is that they study...
i made a pinterest board!

i searched, studied, & pinned all sorts of

cute little haircuts like it was my job.

 

 

so, tuesday me & mama headed off to the

salon & i announced that the time had

finally come &

i'm not 100% sure, but

i believe i heard mama

give a little shout of praise under her breath.

 

 

& i went from this ...

to this ...



& there you have it ...

my road to accepting the truth.

 

 

celebrating 50 years ...

over the weekend,

mama & daddy celebrated their

50th wedding anniversary!!!

50 entire years!

we had a small reception for them...

so, as you can imagine this weekend was

insanely busy!

after months of planning,

it was great for the party to finally happen!

however, this ....

is how i decided i needed to start

my party preparation friday morning.

sometimes you just have

to know when it's time to pull out the

bag of potato chips you've hidden in the bottom of the pantry

{so no one else will eat them}

& finish off the entire bag.

  amen? amen!

i have to say, that i finally feel
vindicated over the fact that
pinterest was birthed AFTER my wedding &
AFTER i had already had both of my children...
because pinterest could have been the official sponsor of
mama & daddy's party, thank you very much.

I used THIS MANNEQUIN FORM from Amazon.

I found tons of 50th anniversary party supplies HERE!

something that everyone really enjoyed
was a slideshow of family photos
one of my brothers put together.
he was given that assignment because
he can send a fax from his actual computer
which apparently makes him the family's
resident IT guy.
i am sorry to report that he included
a picture of me from middle school
when i had a very unfortunate layered haircut & perm.
over the course of the 2 hour party
i had to see that picture about 47 times because the
pictures were on a continuous loop.
but, the good thing is .... my brother & i look
very much alike so i decided to just tell
everybody it was him & not me.

other than the aforementioned bad hair picture,
the party was just perfect!
my oldest brother said a few words
about how mama & daddy met
and how they've spent their 50 years together.
then their pastor spoke & said such
sweet things about them & prayed
a precious prayer.
it was just perfect!

then i ate my weight in
bacon wrapped scallops ...

which seemed like a wonderful way
to celebrate mama & daddy's 50 years of wedded happiness!

here are a few a lot of party pics ...

{mama & daddy's original cake topper}

{gorgeous centerpiece on the buffet table}



{one of the flower girl's basket & gloves from the wedding}

{mama's rehearsal dress}

& i have to say ...

here's to mama never throwing anything away.

i had plenty to use on the memory table!

mama's birthday & lessons learned ...

today is mama's 71st birthday!

happy birthday, mama!!!!

 

 

 

& God bless you for

 not killing my 3 older brothers & me

before we reached adulthood.

she has survived more than her

share of fist fights, flatulence, & eye rolling

from the 4 of us.

 

my mama is one of the kindest, wisest people i know

& i am blessed to have been

under her tutelage

{i totally just snickered because

tutelage sounds like "toot" ..

see how much i have yet to learn}. 

& while i still can't

sew without a pattern or

make biscuits from scratch i

have learned a few things along the way.

 

*when we were teenagers,

mama would confiscate any cassettes

she deemed inappropriate

{madonna's "like a virgin" & micheal jackson's "beat it"

didn't make her approved list}

but it taught me

garbage in, garbage out!

 

*fear of God & fear of parents

is a nice, healthy fear

that all children should experience.

 

* mama encouraged friendships

with kids who weren't "like us" &

taught me we are ALL God's children.

 

* i also learned

whenever someone needs help, you do whatever you can to help.

sometimes that means keeping your mouth shut,

just giving someone a hug, or

a firm talking to.

 

* mama made us all

take piano & be in the middle school band.

we all learned responsibility

& a love for music.

 

* mama was & still is a believer

in thank you notes & apology notes ...

& i learned other people's feelings matter.

 

*there are billions of people in the world ...

& you are not the one the world revolves around.

deal with it!

 

* love God, your husband, & your children ....

in that order ... always in that order.

 

so, thanks for all of the lessons you've taught

along the way, mama!

i still have a lot to learn!

happy birthday!

love you! 

favorite things friday: forever 12...

i am the youngest of 4 children

& i also happen to be the only girl.

 {this is after my brothers decided they would, in fact, let me
sleep inside the house & not in the dog pen as they had previously discussed}

i know what you are thinking ...

but let me assure you,

i was not spoiled to death & didn't get whatever i wanted...

regardless of what my brothers tell you.

as a matter of fact,

i spent most of my childhood

on the wrong end of a lot of wedgies & wet willies.

all 3 of my brothers

have very important & distinguished careers.

one is a lawyer,

one is a mayor of a large city in eastern north carolina,

& and the third runs my father's company.

but, it never fails...

when the 4 of us get together,

we go right back to being 12-year-olds

in the backseat of mama's wood paneled station wagon

giving each other indian sunburns & driving mama crazy.

& i love that we do!

& she probably wouldn't admit it,

but i think mama loves it, too!

mama, the depression, & her pantry ....

on fridays i usually do a

"favorite things friday" post,

but something happened yesterday that was

too good not to share.

 

i was over at mama's & she lured asked me

to organize her pantry while i was there.

now, don't get me wrong, there are few

things i love more than an

organizing project ...

but i was afraid her pantry project

might exceed the limitations of my medication.

however, when your mama asks for help... you help.

 

i did leave word on facebook before i got started

that if i happened to go missing to please

look for me under the big pile of Tupperware in mama's pantry.

{you know, for precautionary measures}

 

i began by asking mama several questions like ...

"why did you keep this?"

or

"how many of these does 1 person need?"

& then she informed me that 

i had not grown up during the Depression like she did,

& that she didn't just throw things away like i did.

so, i figured i better just keep my questions to myself... so i did.

 

after awhile of clearing shelves, sorting, & tossing,

i was able to help mama part ways with a plethora of

plastic food containers using negotiation skills

i learned watching episodes of "hoarders"

{i knew all those hours watching wouldn't be wasted}.

 

& we also decided if ever

the world suffers a paper bag shortage ...

people could just line up at mama's front door

& she could share her bags with all God's children.

 

& y"all, i just know that sometime next week

i'll have need for something

i MADE mama get rid of...

& she'll remind me why i shouldn't throw things away!
 



the good fight ...

i have inherited the

"sorry, you are going to gray early" gene

from my mama.

i am pretty sure she started going gray

as soon as she exited the womb.

don't get me wrong,

her hair is beautiful...

the perfect shade of gray.

she loves her gray hair & she should

because it is stunning & because she is 70.

i, however, am not ready to embrace the gray, as of yet.

i am just 37-years-old &

am fighting the good fight.

to me, it is like the war on terror.

remember the different color terror threat levels

the government came up with after 9/11?

well, about week 6 after getting my roots done

the gray hair terror threat slips up to about a level orange.

i've tried to talk my bestie into

learning how to color my roots

so i could go over to her house & she could foil me

& we could just have so much fun

watching dvr'ed episodes of the real housewives.

but she reminded me of her severe ADD &

we both agreed that wasn't one

of my better ideas.

so, to get the threat level back down to green,

me & mama go to the salon together every 8 weeks ...

just like sally field & julia roberts in steel magnolias

{except mama's never won an Oscar

& i've never been voted one of people magazine's most beautiful people ...

probably because of my premature graying}.

 

 

& every eight weeks mama

tries to pep talk me about the gray

& how the Bible says it is a crowning glory.

i appreciate her encouraging words, but
that's one crown i'm just not ready to accept quite yet.

the week that was ...

i mentioned last week

that my family spends the

week of july 4th aaallllll together

at my parents' river cottage ....

i have 3 older brothers.

the oldest 2 are married & have 3 kids each,

my youngest brother

is a polygamist of sorts...

he's married to his fishing boat, deer stand, & duck blind.

then there's me & my mister

& our 2 kids.

{so that's 17 of us ... if you don't count

the fishing boat, deer stand, & the duck blind}

thought i'd give you a few of the highlights:

* probably the biggest event was when this happened ...

my 72-year-old father

decided he wanted to waterski.

i immediately went on record

that i thought this was a bad idea

& then broke out in a verse of

"jesus take the wheel"

because singing loudly seemed

more appropriate for the situation

than curling up in the fetal position & rocking back & forth

{being subtle is not my spiritual gift, apparently}.

mama was in full support of the idea &

told us all that

"if george bush can jump out of an airplane

on his 80th birthday, then your daddy can waterski!"

{which was not a comfort, at all}

& whatdoyaknow!!!

my daddy did it!

lesson learned?

daddy will do just about anything

to prove us all wrong

& the old guy's still got it!

* then mama had fun teaching some

of the younger kids to make "real" biscuits.

they were amazed

that an exploding can was not involved

in the entire process, i'm sure!

the granddaughters repaid her

by trying to teach her how to play cups

{which is not a drinking game, although it kinda sounds like one}.

& let me tell you,

there's nothing like waking up

to fists & solo cups slamming repeatedly

on the kitchen table at 7:00 in the morning!

* one of our family traditions

is going to the croaker festival every year

during our week together.

& every year it feels like the hottest day of the year

& the humidity is usually a comfortable 99.9%.

it keeps me close to Jesus

because it's such a great reminder

how miserably hot hell is going to be.

BUT this year was beautiful!

we found a nice shady spot &

the breeze was just right...
{i just hope my relationship with
the Lord doesn't suffer
because of the comfortable weather!}

besides priss falling off of the pier,

a few inaugural jellyfish stings for the younger girls,

& listening to my oldest brother

tell the kids about having to

drink water from the sink when he was "comin' up"

because "we didn't have water bottles back then" ...

we all had a blast & lots of

fun memories were made!

curtain friends for pinkie ...

i have a confession...

i have been procrastinating horribly!

i have been planning on "making" curtains

for our sitting room {where pinkie lives...

doesn't she look lonely sitting in front of those

curtainless windows?!?!}.

i say "making" because ...

#1... let's be honest, my mama is the brains

behind every sewing project i undertake.

{she is like my sewing sensei!}

& #2 ... i bought premade panels that aren't long enough

so WE are adding fabric along the top of each panel.

said too short panels ...

fabric & trim ...

i've had the panels, trim, & fabric for over a year ...

what i haven't had ... the gumption to get it done!!!

well, gumption was got & mama was available so ...

the measuring, figuring, cutting, pinning, sewing commenced!!!!

{mama's figuring}

{mama took this picture of me sewing

so "people would believe i helped"}

& here's pinkie with her new curtain friends...

doesn't she look like

a happy little lady

all framed in curtains?!?!

before ....

after ...



favorite things friday: mama ...

hope everyone has had a

GREAT week!!!

it's friday ....

 

Mother's Day is this weekend .... don't forget

to celebrate your mama!!!!

{i have been making very loud

announcements every morning this week

to be sure my household remembers!!!!}

 

one of my favorite things is my mama!!!

 {hey, mama!}

{that's her on the far left ... not the middle}

 

& i love to celebrate mother's day with her.

when i was in college i worked at

a home décor shop &

when i was told i couldn't have mother's day

off i politely handed in my resignation.

{i'm sooo hard core, i know}

i have 3 older brothers &
we are so blessed to have a mama
who is literally the nicest person i know.
how she is still so kind
after raising the 4 of us is miraculous
& how the 4 of us didn't drive her
crazy is beyond me.

love you, mama!
happy mother's day!!!!