The Park

My favorite thing to do on the weekends is to take Lydia to the park down the street. I push the trike, and she rides there, then we walk wherever she wants to go. She runs. I chase her. She picks up leaves, pine cones, and sticks, and we go to the lake to look for fish. It is too cool for them now, but when it was warmer we watched them dart from the banks as we approached. I'm so happy that this park will be part of her childhood.

Fall and Halloween

I'm finally semi-caught up. Nothing like a little wine and hot tea with Austin City Limits on in the background to motivate me into posting!

I took Lydia to the pumpkin patch at Saint Peter's Episcopal Church this year. Each fall they cover their side yard with pumpkins and sell them as a fundraiser. Last year Lydia's nanny Sunny took her, and the year before Lydia was too small to leave the house! I can hardly believe this is Lydia's third fall.

Lydia loved seeing all the pumpkins. She chased them, tried to pick up the really big ones, and said "pumpkin" no telling how many times. She wouldn't sit still for a picture. She did really enjoy gathering sticks, too. Imagine that! (She loves picking up sticks).

For Halloween, Lydia wore the same little lamb costume from last year. I swear I wasn't being cheap or lazy. I asked Lydia about lots of costumes (Tinkerbell, Peppa Pig, spider, etc) but the only two she agreed to were lamb and mouse. I get lots of "No" out of this little girl lately.

The Melissa and Doug restickable stickers are some of our favorites these days. Lydia knows so many animal names because of them. Even octopus!

Lydia and Mimi

Lydia and Mommy

An Update

There was a lot of hoopla over nothing for the Ole Miss game on Saturday. Kinda like the entire football season this year...

Anyway. The band did play "Dixie" and they did play "I Saw the Light", they just didn't play them in the "From Dixie with Love" arrangement where one song flows into the other. Big whoop!?

And the game was awesome! The team played lights out. Dexter McCluster set team rushing and all-purpose yards records. I am really looking forward to the LSU match-up on Saturday!

Then on Sunday, I have a family Thanksgiving meal. I have no idea about what I am going to cook. In the Grove this weekend, I had a cheesecake topped with pumpkin pie topped with pecan pie. It was divine. I wonder if I could pull it off?

Mid-Week Mish-mash

To begin, I'd like to say, "Congratulations!" to Susan and Daniel. Susan gave birth to a healthy baby boy early Sunday morning. I can't wait to see their sweet thing in person!

I am heading to Oxford tomorrow morning and will be there for a while. I'm sure I'll need to mow the yard, and I have perennials to divide. Fun stuff. I have to work before the 11:00 AM kickoff of the Tennessee game this weekend. I'll probably miss the pre-game and the kickoff, and I'm not thrilled about it. If you haven't heard, just yesterday, the new Chancellor, Dan Jones, asked the Ole Miss band to stop playing the school's unofficial fight song "From Dixie with Love" because there are folks who chant "the South will rise again" at one point duing that song. I have been going to Ole Miss games for twelve years, and I had no idea until last year that people chant that crap. Some are defending the phrase, saying that it no longer has racist, segregationist undertones; that is it just of a way to express pride and love for our region. I’m not convinced. Couldn't we find another phrase to express those feelings instead of reviving an old Civil War chant? For me, I say good riddance. Maybe my alma mater can finally move on from all of these offensive Old South relics and can learn to be proud of more than our flawed past. How about building our academic future?

Moving on!

Tonight, we are hosting Chip's parents for dinner. I am making Ina's Chicken Stew with Biscuits. It looks delicious. Last night I roasted and diced the chicken and chopped the veggies so that I can throw everything together after work today. I also baked an Almond-Crusted Pound Cake. It is Chip's mom's birthday, and she adores almond desserts. I am a little worried about the cake because it seems dry and crumbly instead of moist and delicious. There are two things I could have done wrong. 1) I didn't sift the cake flour before I measured, so it is possible that I just added too much flour. 2) I overbaked it. The middle wasn't done after 1 hour of baking, so I turned down the oven to 325F and baked for another 10 minutes. Maybe too long? I guess I'll find out tonight. I hope I am nervous over nothing and the cake turns out to be delicious.

Best Wishes, Leah!

Me and Allie

Casey and Me

Me, Allie, and Leah

Casey, Leah, and Me

I had a great weekend in Oxford! My dear friends -- Leah and Brian -- are married and are now honeymooning in Disney World. The entire wedding weekend was just perfect. The rehearsal dinner was delicious, the ceremony was short and sweet (loved it), and the reception and after-party toast was so much fun. Leah and Brian, congratulations and best wishes in your life together!

The past few weeks in my garden I've been preparing the soil in my two new 3x3 Grow Beds. The sugar snap pea seedlings are about an inch tall. I'm sure I planted these peas later than I should have, and I really hope I still get a good crop. I built the trellis myself out of bamboo and nylon netting. Eventually I will get some pine straw to place on top of that ugly cardboard.

In front of the peas I planted 4 squashes: 2 Eight Ball Zucchini and 2 Early Summer Golden Crookneck. Those are just putting on their third leaves. I prepared the other Grow Bed this past weekend, and I plan to put in two Big Mama roma tomato plants and two Black Pearl cherry tomato plants. I also have some Sweet Cal Wonder Orange Bell Pepper seeds from Seeds of Change that I want to try out. I'm a big fan of the red/orange/yellow bell peppers, but I can't stand the green ones.

Last night for supper, we made use of some of the Swiss Chard from my garden and frozen corn from my Granny's garden. I made Peppers Stuffed with Quinoa, Corn and Feta Cheese from Deborah Madison's book Vegetarian Suppers. They were delicious, and I'm looking forward to leftovers tonight. I subbed Swiss Chard for the spinach.

These are my first two Molineux (background) and Golden Celebration (foreground) blooms, and Knockout is in full bloom. My first rose bouquets of the season.


We leave on our Napa Valley vacation tomorrow morning, and I really cannot wait to step on the plane. I hope to get in some iPhone posts while I'm there. We'll see... I'd hate to make you all jealous by posting endless photos of chilled glasses of weekday wine and scrumptious plates of fine cuisine. Vacation, here I come!

Girl Talk at The Lyric Oxford

I didn't think we'd find tickets to the sold out Girl Talk show at The Lyric Oxford Friday night (2/13/09). But Brian (Leah's fiance) hooked us up with tickets just a few hours before the show. Brian, thank you so much because Girl Talk was definitely a show not to miss!

Girl Talk (aka Gregg Gillis) does mash-ups. But the thing is, he's really good at it. Think Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" together with Jay-Z's "Roc Boys" and you have my personal favorite Girl Talk song: Set It Off.

I had my reservations about seeing this "live". I mean, how could one dude on stage with a laptop actually be something to watch? But I knew I wanted to check this show out.

The night started out not so great. I think the entire population of Ole Miss sorority & fraternity kids bought tickets, which is part of the reason it sold out so quickly. They were all dressed in 80's outfits (for fun? or maybe some kind of swap? I don't know why), which was hilarious to us because most of them were born in the 90's. Hard to believe. The only good thing about that was that the line at the bar wasn't long because they were (mostly) underage.

We found an EXCELLENT spot upstairs on the balcony, left side of the stage. I wish I had photos to show how close we were, but Leah and I both left our phones in the car. The great thing about being close was that we kinda had a bird's-eye view of what Gillis was doing with the laptop. Before the show started, we got a good look at the set-up. Basically a table weighted down with sandbags so that it wouldn't get pushed off stage with a laptop taped down to it. That's about it.

And now, the show. The good: this show was so much fun! I freaking love to dance, and I don't get to do it enough. Jackson, Mississippi dance clubs = trash, and I will not go in Jackson. I can't even begin to name all the songs in the mash-ups he put together for Friday night's show. Whoomp There It Is, Single Ladies, Tiny Dancer, Jackson Five, Since U Been Gone (and I don't even like that song), Three Six Mafia (they are from Memphis y'all), Nirvana, Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine (yeah). You name it, it was there. By all accounts, Gillis loves pop and hip-hop music and knows how to put it together to get people PUMPED.

Right when the show started he started pulling people up on stage, then of course those kids all started pulling their friends up, etc until the stage was packed with dancing kiddos. Ok, young adults. Whatever. I felt so bad for the four Cobra Security guys up there on stage. There were only two on each side, and two of the guys were holding down the table so it wouldn't fall off the stage. They had their work cut out for them.

The bad: he didn't overlay as many songs live as he does on the record. Like, on the record you can almost always pick out 3 songs at once. Sometimes even 4 or 5. But live, it sounded like there were 3 tops. And sometimes, just one. One's just not impressive.

Because I'm not 20 anymore and because I had to be at work with a nimble brain at 7 AM on Saturday morning, I did not stay the whole time. We left at about 12:30 AM, so I missed the last 30 minutes of the show.

I am so glad I got to go to this show! The crowd was great. Everyone was TOTALLY into it. There was barely a still body in the place. I had so much fun!!

Ole Miss Presidential Debate 2008

The scene in Oxford last week was unbelieveable. So much excitement and fun!

Jenny Lewis on Wednesday night was AWESOME. Go out and buy her new album Acid Tounge today, because it rocks. And she rocked it. I'm not sure that I've ever seen anyone have that much fun on stage.

Neko Case on Thursday was fabulous. I've never heard a voice quite like hers. She has so much soul!

Neko Case at The Lyric Oxford

After the show, I saw the Red Bull bus outside of the Library Sports Bar. Ha!

Then Friday brought the big "Rock the Vote" celebration in the Grove at Ole Miss. Chip and I went back and forth from the Oxford Square to the Grove a few times, enjoying every minute of it. Some of the things we saw:

The back of Andrea Miller of MSNBC. Sorry I couldn't get a better angle... Hardball with Chris Matthews was recording live from the Ole Miss Student Union all afternoon. I was seriously hoping Rachel Maddow would be there, too. She wasn't!

Then I saw Howard Dean! Here he is taking a photo with Dr. Conlon. She is a MIS professor at Ole Miss. Dr. Conlon taught me everything I know about SQL. I loved her class! She was super excited to meet Dr. Dean. Her husband, an economics professor, spoke with Dr. Dean for quite a while.

And here I am with Howard Dean. His tie was really cool. It said Obama'08 very tiny across the whole thing.

We toured the Grove and saw all sorts of people wearing buttons, stickers, signs, hats, and costumes professing their love for their candidate of choice. These rednecks are for Obama. In the background are mini-wind turbines set up by Power Vote.

Before we left, I took a photo in front of the Obama tent.

We went up to the Square at about 5:30 PM to set up our chairs for the debate. The city of Oxford blocked off one side of the Square and set up two large screens for the community to watch the debate. The crowd was great. Excited. Polite. I didn't get any photos, though. I was dog-tired from walking all over town and just collapsed in my lawn chair until the debate started. The debate was great. I loved watching it in a mixed crowd like that. From the sound of folks' clapping or cheering, I could tell the debate was pretty much a draw. Maybe the Obama voters were a tiny bit louder. Just a tiny bit.

Most of my readers could care less about what happened on Saturday, but I have to mention it. Chip and I went to the sports bar at 11:00 AM to watch the Rebels take on the #4 Florida Gators in Gainsville. Kick off was at 11:30 AM, and what a game! You can read the highlights here. Rebels beat the Gators 31-30. Who-hoo! What a great weekend to be a Rebel fan!

What's Blooming at a Shower Fresh Garden?

Fall is in the air this week at a Shower Fresh Garden. I can hardly believe it! Monday and Tuesday the high was in the mid 70s. Low was in the low 60s. Isn't that wonderful? Here in Mississippi, we've had summers where September was still in the high 90s. Even on my wedding day in late September 2004 we had hot, muggy weather.

My anniversary is coming up soon. Chip and I are planning to go to Oxford to celebrate the beginning of our fifth year of marriage. Oxford is where we spent our first years together and where we got married. We're planning a dinner for two at City Grocery, then meeting up with friends at the Neko Case show at Oxford's new Lyric theather. Then Friday is the day of the big debate. Yes, the really, really big Presidential Debate. I'm beyond excited that we get to be in town on such a historic day for Ole Miss, Oxford, and the USA! I'll try to take good photos to share with all of you. I might see some TV news reporters. Maybe I'll even get to shake the hand of future President Obama!

I am ready for fall gardening. I'm making a list of perennials I want to try. My veronicas turned black (disease?), so I want to replace them with something new. Maybe liatris (aka gayfeather or blazing star)? Photo from White Flower Farm (not my yard)... Many of my flowers are still blooming their hearts out. The new hydrangeas look really pretty. I am beyond happy about these shrubs. Next year I want to try to get the blooms to stay purple because I love purple.
Purple heart is blooming its heart out, and the bumblebees are happy. This guy gathered all the pollen he could carry.

Catmint and liriope (monkey grass to us Southerners) are also blooming this time of year.

Coleus and dwarf orange zinnias complement the Ole Miss "M" flag in the backyard. Mexican purple sage opened its blooms last week as the verbena winds down.

Mexican petunia continues to put on a show.
I have put out a few mums, as the geraniums I bought back in March for the front door were looking a little worse for wear. Pink mums for me.