Wow, it's December!

Hope you all had a fab Thanksgiving! We sure did. I took a few pics of our "buffet" - I'll post them when I'm at my 'puter. And of course the long weekend was wrapped up with a beautiful we-beat-Georgia-Tech bow! Oh man... I feel redeemed! Our record is AWFUL this year, but if I could only choose *one* game to win, it'd be the Tech game.

And speaking of Georgia... can you believe PETA is after UGA for its treatment of Uga? OMG. I'm a huge, huge, HUGE animal lover but PETA drives me insane. I do think some of their positions are sound, but give me a break. A robotic dog to replace Uga? First of all, NO. Second of all, Uga is arguably the most popular collegiate mascot of all time. He's been on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He's been in movies. And for the love of dogs, Uga is treated better than most humans! I've personally been INSIDE his custom dog house that he sits in during the games. It's like a doggie spa. Seriously? If this is your top "concern" right now, PETA, then I'd say things are going pretty well in the animal world. A robot dog. Seriously. You obviously DON'T get football either.

Anyway... geez. So this weekend I've got a couple of parties lined up. We've got a couples' shower we're attending for Lucky and then I'm co-hosting our annual girls' Dirty Santa party on Sunday afternoon. It's a yearly must! And that's *dirty* as in the claws come out during our gift exchange (the gifts themselves aren't dirty). I'm sure most of y'all have played this in some form or fashion, but here's how we do it...

Guests are instructed to bring a wrapped $25 gift (one worth fighting over!). These are not gag gifts and we prohibit giftcards and bath gels. Yeah, we're pretty serious about it. Also we have everyone bring a dish to share (this makes it a very inexpensive party to throw!).

For the game, we draw numbers and the rules are as follows:

• The girl who draws #1 chooses a gift to open.
• Girl #2 can either open a new gift or take #1's gift. If #2 takes #1's gift, then #1 chooses a new gift to open.
• Girl #3 can take #1 or #2's gift, or open a new gift. If, say, #3 takes #1's gift, then #1 can either take #2's gift or open a new gift. Once a gift has been stolen in a "round," it can't be stolen again till the next round (i.e. #4's turn starts the next round).

So ideally, you want the highest number because you get to go last and have the pick of ALL the gifts. I know some people play where #1 gets to go again at the end, but we don't do that. If you draw #1, tough shit. Better luck next year! And a lot of people also put a limit on the number of times any one gift can be stolen. We don't do that either (except within a round). It can get pretty heated - it's so fun - especially being all girls. There's usually one or two gifts that get stolen round after round and it's a fight to see who will ultimately end up with them! Good times...

Alright, off to get some more work done. Just wanted to say *hi* while I munched on my Lean Cuisine here. Back later!

Are you ready for some football?

OK so who had the best Saturday this past weekend? I did, I did! As I mentioned, kuntry bride, my friend Paige, and I all went up to Athens for Football 101 for women up at UGA. It's a program they started 5 or 6 years ago that has had a lot of success. Basically, the Georgia football coaches put together an entire day of football fun for ladies only... we learn about the game (more than you would ever want to know), we get access to all the private stuff like the locker room and all the fab facilities the football players use everyday. They fed us a great seated lunch at the Georgia Center while Coach Mark Richt answered questions from the audience. (And yes, fellow Dawgs, he's even cuter in person. I got his autograph and he's got big hands. FYI.) Then later in the afternoon we got to throw on some jerseys and go out on the practice fields and put what we learned to work (sorta). Oh and (again, fellow Dawgs) I rode an elevator down with Mike Bobo at one point - just us two. That was kinda funny... we had a bit of awkward small talk. He was the QB when I started at UGA and is now the offensive coordinator.

I gotta tell you, I have a whole new appreciation for our football players. Ninety minutes outside in the heat and I was done. Like forever. After some fun on the field, we walked up campus a bit to the stadium and got to go out on the field to get a player's view. Pretty wicked, indeed. Probably a lil different when it's filled with 100,000 screaming fans, but yeah.... still cool. And we also got to peek inside the boys' locker room at the stadium. Which is cool, because now I can actually picture where they are at halftime when Coach Richt is chewing our boys out pumping our boys up for the second half!

Saturday got me ALL geared up for football season and it's only June... haha! Georgia girls, if you ever get the chance to do this, DO it! It sells out every year and I just happened to get lucky... I was able to snag my boss' tickets by chance this year. It's a very limited event and it sells out wicked fast. Anyway, hope you enjoy the pics (they're kinda lousy because they're all from my phone - we were so unprepared!)...

Waiting in line for a photo opp and autograph from Mark Richt - UGA's head coach.

Professor Mike Bobo teaching us some plays. This went WAY over our heads. Information overload.

This was a video viewing room where the players watch... videos. Loved the giant Uga! And that "Finish the Drill" motto was EVERYWHERE.

The locker room was seriously the coolest part. Pretty damn swanky. This was one of many "halls" of lockers.

A closer look at some of the lockers. Inside each one (you can't see it here), they had brass plates with every past player that wore that particular number. Lots of history here...

This is the ceiling in the center of the locker room. The halls of lockers extend from every side and this open area is in the middle.

We also got a peek inside the weight room and the head trainer talked about their workouts and a couple of the players came out and did some hefty demonstrations for us. Remind me never to complain about my workouts ever again!

They had countdown clocks to all the big rival games. This one was my favorite.

Here we are outside getting coached by Tereshinski

Huddlin' up. Can you tell which one I am?!

Sanford Stadium

Looks a little different without all the fans!

Hello, 2009!

I am SO glad to see you! I know I hinted toward the fact that the hub and I are glad to give 2008 the boot, so yeah... this New Year's Day is extra *happy*. We had our fill of black-eyed peas today and also some yummalicous cabbage over at my parents'. I know most people do collards, but we've always done cabbage for some reason. Glad to see the Dawgs get in one more good win to close out the season. Wasn't so sure at first, but we came through in the 2nd half. And I was equally pleased to see Georgia Tech get slaughtered at the Chick-fil-A bowl last night. Makes our loss to them this year sting a little less (just a lil).

Anyway, so while I won't dwell on the crap that consumed 2008, it was a big struggle for us financially (like many people) and emotionally (having to put baby stuff on hold while the rest of the world continued to spin). We also had some wrenches thrown at us... the hub getting sued by his former employer (all fine and settled now, but a huge source of stress for us over several months), and losing my sweet gpa in late February... those were a couple of big ones. Getting our townhouse on the market and finally sold made for a VERY long and grueling summer. But we made it out alive, and we're better for it! 2008 had a lot of hardships for us, but we are starting 2009 in what I feel like is the best spot we've ever been in together.

I know I've bored y'all to tears by raving on and on about Dave Ramsey and our Total Money Makeover, but really, jumping head first into his program has changed our lives. I'm such a geeked-out nerd over his whole program. I've gotten several friends on the debt-free bandwagon with me and so has the hub. The funny thing is, he gets more pumped up and geeked out than I do sometimes! But it's truly awesome that we're on the same wavelength here, because that's what will make this work. I've explained Dave's teachings several times, but if you're just catching up, he is all about getting out of debt and living on cash (hmm... what a concept!) and building wealth so that you can live like no one else, give like no one else, and ultimately "change your family tree." His enthusiasm is absolutely contagious and it's pumping hard through our bloodstream right now. Our debt snowball officially starts rolling this month! By getting our butts in gear and getting on a budget (three months now, and going strong!), we've truly learned the meaning of "financial peace." We have done a complete 180 on how we look at money. We've totally relearned the value of the dollar. And the thing is, given how tough this last year has been, we're currently making the least amount of money we've ever made together. Though, I can honestly say I've NEVER been more at peace financially than I am right now. And it simply comes down to the fact that we have a plan. Up until the past few months, we never really had one. But now, every month, we're telling our money where to go instead of wondering where it went. And I cannot even explain to you the tremendous sense of peace that gives me.

And along those lines, it seems that the true *lesson* - if you can call it that - for me personally, all throughout 2008, was this idea of peace. That's one of those words that gets tossed around so haphazardly that we forget what it means. We just got through Christmas... you get all these cards wishing you "peace" and whatnot. We sing about peace for all mankind... but I never really got it till now. It's not about "world peace" or holding two fingers up... it's about inner peace. The peace that passes all understanding. Peace that only Jesus, aka the Prince of Peace, can give us. And it's not just with the money thing... it's with all our current struggles. I feel like 2007 was about learning to put my complete trust and faith in God - with the whole baby thing. And uh, not all my calendar years have been full of themes and lessons in life, by the way... ha. But these last 2 or 3 have been quite a journey for us, so we're soaking up whatever wisdom we can. I had to surrender my infertility struggles over to God because I was starting to lose it on my own. I've never had a hard time trusting in God in general, but I also never had such a really big issue that I tried so hard to control. It's really the first time I can ever remember having to stop and ask God for real help...

So I handed over that burden a while back. That didn't mean I didn't struggle, but I knew it wasn't just my struggle. And now this past year, I feel like I've really come to a peaceful place with it all. The Jesus icing on my God cupcake, I suppose. And yeah, I still struggle - daily. But then I read something like this, and my heart simply bursts...

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

Sometimes I need a little reminder of just how *big* our God is, you know? And though I can hardly compare my little worries with all the suffering that goes on around the world, I've always loved this quote from Mother Theresa...

"In light of heaven, the worst suffering on earth, a life full of the most atrocious tortures on earth, will be seen to be no more serious than one night in an inconvenient hotel."

So yes, while we gladly kicked 2008 to the curb last night, we came out of it having learned so much. A peaceful exit to a rather tumultous year. And we're super excited for what's to come in 2009! As I mentioned, our debt snowball starts rolling this month and we're getting a really good jump start on it. And we'll be getting a fat tax refund this year, so that'll help us kick some major ass on our snowball in the next couple of months! That is definitely our main focus right now, but also we're finally getting back into baby-makin' in 2009. We're going to start our first IUI (turkey baster) cycle right after tax season (probably early May). We've got the money end worked out for 3 rounds of IUI - so we know we're good to move forward on that front. I'm planning to get back on my meds and vitamins in February and I've also got to start monitoring my cycles and whatnot. Yeah, when I say we took a break last year, we really took a break. I just got to the point where I didn't want to bother with the meds or monitoring or anything. I needed a true break from it all. We both did. Anyway, so back on meds and I think I'm going to try the whole basal body temp thing for tracking ovulation. I'm totally over the pee sticks. Not to mention how freaking expensive they are! Then I'm also wanting to do acupuncture alongside IUI, so I will probably go ahead and start that in April. So yes, back in gear!

Now if IUI doesn't work after 3 tries, I will need a third surgery to get my oven in the most *perfect* shape as possible before we move to IVF. And honestly, in my heart of hearts, I just think that's probably where we'll end up. Just a gut feeling. The hub thinks I'm totally being Debbie Downer thinking that, but I'm not - it's just what my gut tells me. And where in the world will we get the money for in vitro? Heck if I know! Well, today I certainly don't know. But right now, I do know three things: We're not borrowing money to do it (*peace*). Our hearts are pulled towards putting all our disposable income toward our debt snowball right now (*trust*). And, we'll figure it out if and when we get there (*faith*). :-)

And then, to wrap up, what would a New Year's post be without resolutions? Alright, mine are kinda general, but they're a big deal to me...

• Raise the bar for myself at work... do my job as though I'm an investor in my firm and not just an employee collecting a paycheck.


• Be consistent with spending time in the word and in prayer in the mornings (something I've always struggled with, but always find rewarding when I do it).


• Get back to a consistent workout schedule (totally slacked off on that in the last few months!).


• Run more and run farther! I'm doing my first 10K in March and yikes, I've got a lot of work to do!


• Be more proactive in general... I can procrastinate with the best of 'em. I need to seek out that most dreaded item on the to-do list each day, whatever it is, and do it first.


• Be more timely with gifts. I'm horrible at this! Instead of saving a gift (whatever the occasion) for the next time I see someone, I just need to mail it to them so they have it on time. That procrastination thing again!

And of course too, to just keep doing what we're doing! Thanks for hanging in with this long-ass post. Phew! I really hope the new year brings along many blessings to all of you. Do you have any major resolutions or goals for '09? May it be a GREAT one for us all!

We all need a little more pink in our lives.

So true, right? I must admit that if I meet you and learn that you *hate* the color pink, we're just not gonna hit it off. Bestest knows... we've had these conversations. I'll say "yeah, there's this girl in my group [or class or office or whatever] and she's nice and all... but she told me she detests pink. I'm just not sure if I can be friends with her." Shallow, much? Perhaps. But girls, it's true. As my friend, Pammy, says... pink is a lifestyle. It's OK if pink is not your favorite. You don't even have to love it. Just don't *hate* it. Alright? As for me, I live in a world of pink with pink sparkles on a bed of freshly cut metallic pink blades of grass. So in celebration of all things PINK...

Welcome, October! National Breast Cancer Awareness month! The month of pink! The month of my birthday! The month where my favorite season begins! My favorite month of the year!!! And did I mention it's pink?!?!

October is special to me for the reasons I mentioned, but it's also a very important month because of the awareness it brings to breast cancer every year. Ten years ago my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She discovered the lump herself while taking her morning shower. The first doctor she saw didn't think much of it, but he had it screened anyway. She had told me what was going on as they were waiting for results. I was up at UGA... it was my junior year. At first I remember thinking, surely this is nothing. The doctor's going to say it's all good and she'll be totally fine. But I distinctly remember sitting alone on one of the UGA buses inbetween classes one afternoon - and I just knew. I don't know why - I hadn't heard back yet from my parents... but I just knew it was cancer. Sure enough my dad called me later that afternoon and told me the news. My mom was too upset to talk. I can't even imagine the feelings she and my dad must've felt when they heard the news first hand. I think I appreciate that fear so much more today, being 10 years older myself.

We were SO blessed that the cancer was discovered early. After surgery, several rounds of chemo and radiation, my mom made a full recovery and is still cancer-free today. How amazing. And I'm constantly reminded of how blessed we are when I look around and see other loved ones lost to the disease. My mother's best friend lost her sister to breast cancer recently. It was so heartbreaking for all of us. It was most gut-wrenching to see an elderly mother having to bury her daughter. No parent should have to do that. It's just not supposed to work that way, right? But it's all around us - it affects us all. And so I'm especially thankful for campaigns like this that shove it in our faces and make us think and make us act. I'm sure we'll all have heard more than we care to hear about breast cancer and get over-dosed on pink ribbons this month, but do take the time to get educated and spread the word to your loved ones. Even take a few extra dollars this month to give towards finding a cure. And of course... go out and sport that PINK!!! :-)

Our Total Money Makeover

So we had an awesome weekend, did you? The Dawgs won. Yeah, barely, but hey - a W is a W. We actually missed most of the game, however, because we were at Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover Live event at the Gwinnett Arena on Saturday. Did any of you other peaches go? It was amazing and incredibly motivating! As I've mentioned here and there - 2008 has been a totally cruddy year financially for us. And it's not for just one specific reason or event, but it's due to several unforseen circumstances and lots of well, stupid past decisions on our part. But I'm just not a person who lives in the past, full of regrets. Yeah, this and that happened and sure, we did stupid stuff - but here we are, and it is what it is - so let's figure how to fix it!

I've been a fan of Dave Ramsey for a while. He's spoken at our church several times and I'm sure some of y'all know he does a radio show. We even started to follow his money makeover program a while back - remember I mentioned his cash envelope system? We did great for a while, but just weren't disciplined enough and eventually fell off the wagon. Ohhh, but girls, we are BACK on it! The Live event was so over-the-top motivating and we are going hard core to get debt free. That's his whole thing - to live debt free and build wealth.

We joined one of his Financial Peace University classes that meets once a week. Our first class was Sunday - yeah, we didn't waste any time. All I can say is we are pumped! He is still on tour and if he's coming to a city near you, I highly, highly recommend checking it out! Yes, it's a long afternoon - but it FLIES by. He's hilarious and so entertaining. Even if you have little or no debt, you can learn so much from him. All he teaches is common sense, but it's just very different from what we hear everyday in this society of consumerism.

His money makeover is a series of baby steps. We're making some quick decisions and working fast through Baby Step #1 - which is to put $1,000 in an emergency fund. He wants you to get #1 done fast - in a month or less - so you can quickly move on to Baby Step #2, the debt snowball. That's the biggie - where you attack your consumer debt. It is really cool how it works, so I'll let y'all know once we hit step #2 and give updates on our progress!

The first big step of our own we took this weekend... we did a little "plastic surgery," as Dave calls it...


Bye bye, credit cards! Weeeeeeeee!!!

We learned so much, but one of the best principles we learned this weekend was ordering our money...

1. Give.

2. Save.

3. Pay bills.

Wow - and all this time it's been... 1. Pay bills, and if there's anything left we'll give and save. And the amazing thing was that the sermon at church on Sunday totally reinforced this. Coincidence? It was really the sermon that drove home the idea of giving first. Our pastor literally echoed Dave and said: Give, Save, Live on the rest. OK I get it! God doesn't need our money, but throughout the Bible it says that wherever your money is, that too is where your heart is. By unclenching our fist around our money and giving it to God, we're trusting in him. And dude, God knows his stuffs - so this sounds like a plan. So anyway, yesterday I called the church and increased our giving to 10%. Anyone looking at our budget would think we're insane for doing that... but we did it! It was scary at first... but I'm excited about it. And it comes out automatically from our account - that's probably a good thing! Otherwise it could mysteriously turn into a pair of new shoes! A really good pair of shoes too.... damn. ;-)

OK girlz, enough money talk. Just wanted y'all to know where we were at the moment. More fun topics to follow, pinky swear. Hope y'all are having a great week!

And now I can breathe!

Ahhh... too big major exhales! The shower on Saturday went off without a hitch, and I also finished this really big project at work I've been hammering out the last several days. I had to come in to the office yesterday to crank through it and I wrapped it all up in a nice bow early this morning. Now that I'm over those two humps, I feel much more relaxed. Work is still crazy busy - our last two major deadlines of the year are approaching, but I got that one big monkey off my back now, so I'm feeling purty good.

Did y'all have fabu weekends? We didn't make it to the game of course since we were in shower mode all day Saturday. We just had Larry Munson on the radio while we got la casa in tip-top shape. Belly and Charlie got shipped off to grandma and grandpa's for the day and Gertie stayed for the festivities. She is a spaz around her brother, Charlie, but when she's alone she is totally chill. And she's the only one of our three that doesn't try to jump on people. So she was the lucky girl who got to stay and hang out for the party.

I was actually rather calm all day Saturday, despite my long-ass to-do list. I usually have to down glass of wine about two hours prior to any hosting duties to prevent freaking out, but I was pretty darn relaxed for whatever reason. No wine required. MIL and FIL came in town for the shower (the groom is a childhood friend of the hub's, so they were on the guest list). It was great to visit with them even though it was less than 24 hours. Here are a few pics of the setup...



The wine station - a rather popular spot. You just never know who's gonna drink what. Especially at a shower because it's really the bride and groom's guest list, not yours. We just did beer and wine. Neither the hub nor I drink beer so I never know what kind or how much to get. I always consult my beer-drinking friends. But this crowd turned out to be wine people, so we have a bunch of Bud Light in our fridge now with nowhere to go. And it'll sit there till someone else takes it because it sure won't get consumed in my household.




My food table turned out nice... I'm so darn picky with the setup. I think I switched it up some more even after taking this pic... I'm extremely anal about how the heighth of everything balances out. I suppose it's the libra in me. That or the crazy.



And my cutie favors were a hit! Most of them were taken, but the good girl that I am saved my Wally World receipt and I'm totally returning the leftover ones. I gotta check their return policy... anyone know if they'll take back candy like that? They're those movie theatre size candy boxes.

I had several other cute little extras I wanted to do but as I mentioned earlier, time just didn't allow. The hub had altered some popular movie DVD covers with the bride and groom's faces. (It was a movie-themed shower, remember.) We were going to print those out and display them, but yeah... didn't happen. I also had planned on displaying some funny movie quotes around the house, giving the food funny names - spoofing titles or actors and whatnot... oh and I was going to do wine tags with movie couples' names (like... Sally Albright and another for Harry Burns). Oh well... mopping the floor was higher on my to-do list.

The funniest thing about the shower though was the mix of people. Don't know if I mentioned it earlier, but the bride's family is huge. She's one of 8 kids, so in a family that big, there are bound to be some freaks. I had met some of her fam back in July at their engagement party, but not all of them. So the eldest (I think) brother came to the shower along with the bride's parents and as SOON as he came in the door I could tell that he was high as a kite. The hub actually answered the door and I was back in the kitchen, but I could see the front door. Well bride's parents do the normal obligatory small talk with the hub at the door, but brother (who I think is 40ish?) immediately darts (and I do mean DARTS) for the kitchen. There are several of us hovering around the kitchen island (the wine station - I told you it was popular), but he just kind of maneuvers his way around us to grab some cheese and crackers and then jumps over to the wine and starts rummaging through it to see which one he wants. Hurriedly pours himself a very full glass and then takes off. Like seriously didn't say a word or make eye contact with any of us in the kitchen. No "pardon me" or "hey, I'm so-and-so" or "oh, this looks good..." Nothing. Never seen this guy in my life. It was beyond weird!

So five minutes into his stay we've already figured out he must be the black sheep. Oh dear... He didn't cause any trouble but it was pretty entertaining, to say the least. I believe he had two entire bottles of wine all to himself over the course of the evening (thank God for 2-buck chuck). And I think he hit on every unrelated female there that moved. I was busy playing hostess, so I really didn't catch any of that - thank goodness. He was apparently very interested in seeing my SIL (who was also there) "later." As in later that night? It was all very odd... and I totally didn't notice this during the shower, but afterwards we were all talking and apparently, black sheep brother, bride's parents, and one of the sisters mysteriously disappeared out the front door for 15 or 20 minutes mid-shower, and then came back in the house in a much more mellowed-out kinda mood! OMG! I find this just hilarious given that my sheltered self has never ever seen an illegal drug in life. And here we have party guests getting lit in my front yard. Too freaking funny... I suppose you've figured out by now that the bride's parents are total hippies. They are perfectly nice and loving people, but yeah - total hippies. And it's even funnier because the groom's parents are ultra-conservative. Oh this wedding is gonna be awesome!

Yeah so entertaining if nothing else... the shower was great. We were all pooped, including Gertie... It is hard work being a party girl, you know!


Alright... there's still work to be done, so I best get to it. I will pop back later with my party menu and my total budget. I stayed on budget and the food was so fab and easy to do, so I will share. Hope your weeks are off to a great start!

:: One year ago today ::

Hello, Uga VII.

For your viewing pleasure (and mine since I obviously missed it), here's a little recap of Uga VII's introduction at the home opener this past weekend. Watch closely around 1:37 - the band scares the crap out of him - too freaking hilarious!



What a cute little rookie! He'll get the hang of it soon enough...

Game Day Gorgeous.

While it lasted anyway...

How freakin' cute is my sash?

More pics later. Back to work...

Recovering.

Somebody let Buford Betty have too many Blue Bayou's yesterday afternoon without eating anything except half of a Luna Bar. Though I slightly recall eating a hot dog at one point from the hot dog man downtown... not altogether sure about that. We didn't end up getting tickets. Wait, no we did. One of our friends that we went up with - his little sister came with and she scored like 4 tickets for face value - quite a feat. (She was cute and had big boobs - that always helps.) But it was hot as hell and we ultimately decided an air-conditioned bar sounded rather appealling, so we sold the tickets. I say *we* as if I was involved in all of this... no. I was at Bissett's downing Blue Bayou's this whole time and talking to two random dudes about the "good ole days" at UGA. At some point my high school came up and that started the "oh do you know so-and-so" conversation. And (Blue Bayou talking here), "oh yes I do! He totally liked me but would never ask me out. He totally missed out - that's all I gotta say." So what do we do? We start trying to call him. Brilliant.

We then started bar hopping to find a good spot to watch the game. Which there really are none because it's just packed everywhere. And all the bars have changed names multiple times since we were there so I have no freaking clue where we were. Plus I couldn't really see straight, so I really couldn't tell you. I remember seeing little helmets runnning around on a TV screen, but I didn't catch one single play of the game. Kinda bummed we missed the whole introduction of Uga VII. But seeing as my vision was skewed, I probably wouldn't have appreciated it. I remember when Uga V handed over his duties to Uga VI... 1999 maybe? I was in tears. Remember that day, bestest?! They showed a whole tribute video to Uga V and all that good stuff. So I hate that I missed all that.

Anyway, fast forward a bit and the Blue Bayou's finally caught up with me. I told the hub - I gotta go lay down in the car, like right now. So we got the keys from our buddy and I did just that. The hub said we were in there for like half an hour before our friends joined us to go home. I had no idea of time at this point - I was just glad to be horizontal. And ultimately, since Buford Betty apparently can't handle her liquor, the Blue Bayou's made a repeat appearance. Although the room (er, car) was spinning, I think I managed to be quite a tidy little up-chucker. The hub was such a sport. Well you know what - he should be. It was he afterall who kept ordering more drinks. That's right - his fault! ;-) And naturally, I felt way better after rejecting that hot blue mess. I know my body was like, WTF? Because while I love me a glass of wine here and there and the occassional margarita when I can justify the calories... I just don't drink that much. So really there was no way for this to end pretty.

We were supposed to go over to another friend's house last night for a Labor Day weekend cookout. Yeah, the hub went... but at 6pm I was face down on the bed in a bath robe. And I didn't move till the hub got back home around midnight and I had him make me a roast beef sandwich. I figured I needed some actual food in me. Still not sure about the alleged hot dog... so it's possible I had nothing to eat from like 10 o'clock in the morning to midnight yesterday (besides that half of a Luna Bar). Went back to bed and fell back asleep around 2 or so... got back up this morning around 7:30am. Which is like my normal out of bed time on weekends. Even though I feel lousy, I feel guilty staying in bed. I have mental issues.

So I'm recovering. I actually feel pretty OK. I just have that kind of dull bleh feeling in my stomach and a slight headache. And I'm exhausted. Unmotivated. Which is not good considering my to-do list is like off the charts since we're hosting this shower next weekend. Perhaps another cup of coffee and I'll get it together...

But anyway, three cheers for the Dawgs! I'll post some pics soon. I did get some good pics while I still had some sense. I fear what's on my friend's camera though. I distinctly remember several camera flashes going off while I was horizontal in the back seat of the car. Not good.

On our way to see the Dawgs play...

Excuse me, but...

...how freaking awesome is my Dawg sash?!

I am rather proud considering it's only like the 3rd thing I've ever sewn. Can you tell I modeled it after J. Crew's sash that goes with the Lyndsey dress? Remember when they sold those sashes a la carte in a million different colors a few years ago? Yeah I have like all of them. And now I have a Dawg version! Woof woof!

From my mom, the Auburn fan...

Sorry, she just couldn't help herself...

From the weather service:

In the event of a rash of tornadoes sweeping through the state of Alabama, we are asking all Alabamians to take shelter at Bryant-Denny Stadium located inTuscaloosa, Alabama.

We are fairly certain a touchdown will not occur there.

Oh isn't she the jokester... I'm sure you Bama girls will LOVE that one! Hehehehe...

Well, southern fried football is officially upon us! The hub and I are heading up to the UGA game tomorrow and I cannot wait!!! We don't have tickets, but we're just going to go and see if we can snag some cheap ones. If not, we'll just enjoy the fanfare and watch the game downtown or something. And I am gonna be collegiate cute to boot... I'll be wearing this dress...





...with my fabu silver Bonanno's (courtesy of bestest)...




And I got some fabric today at JoAnn's to make a Dawg-a-riffic sash for my black dress...



Goooooo Dawgs! Woo hoooooo!

SEC Football: Is there anything better?!

Well the answer is no, so don't try to convince me otherwise. We beat each other up year after year because we have so many killer teams. Georgia's schedule this year is really tough, as usual... I really don't like being ranked #1 - it's a curse if you ask me. But we'll see how things pan out in the next few months! Anyway, I just got this email with some football funnies - and amazingly, I hadn't seen these before. So I just had to share!

And just a warning - we in the South take our college football very seriously. Yeah, we all have NFL teams, but I couldn't tell you the first thing about the Atlanta Falcons. Haven't been to a Falcons game since... hell I don't even know. I couldn't care less about the NFL. It's all so commercial to me. College footall is where it's at down here! I can't even describe the sense of pride you feel when your team comes running out on the field and the stadium just ROARS. Gotta love it! Hopefully the spacing is not too screwy - I copied and pasted this from an email. Enjoy, and GO DAWGS!

SEC Football

Planning for the fall football season in the South is radically different than up North. For those who are planning a football trip South, here are some helpful hints.

Women's Accessories:
NORTH: Chap Stick in back pocket and a $20 bill in the front pocket.
SOUTH: Louis Vuitton duffel with two lipsticks, waterproof mascara, and a fifth of bourbon. Money not necessary - that's what dates are for.

Stadium Size:
NORTH: College football stadiums hold 20,000 people.
SOUTH: High school football stadiums hold 20,000 people.

Fathers:
NORTH: Expect their daughters to understand Sylvia Plath.
SOUTH: Expect their daughters to understand pass interference.

Campus Decor:
NORTH: Statues of founding fathers.
SOUTH: Statues of Heisman trophy winners.

Homecoming Queen:
NORTH: Also a physics major.
SOUTH: Also Miss America .

Heroes:
NORTH: Rudy Giuliani.
SOUTH: Herschel Walker & Peyton Manning.

Getting Tickets:
NORTH: 5 days before the game you walk into the ticket office on campus.
SOUTH: 5 months before the game you walk into the ticket office on campus, make a large financial contribution, and put name on a waiting list for tickets.

Friday Classes After a Thursday Night Game:
NORTH: Students and teachers not sure they're going to the game, because they have classes on Friday.
SOUTH: Teachers cancel Friday classes because they don't want to see the few hung over students that might actually make it to class.

Parking:
NORTH: An hour before game time, the University opens the campus for game parking.
SOUTH: RV's sporting their school flags begin arriving on Wednesday for the weekend festivities. The really faithful arrive on Tuesday.

Game Day:
NORTH: A few students party in the dorm and watch ESPN on TV.
SOUTH: Every student wakes up, has a beer for breakfast, and waves to the idiots up north who wonder why 'Game Day Live' is never broadcast from their campus.

Tailgating:
NORTH: Raw meat on a grill, beer with lime in it, listening to local radio station with truck tailgate down.
SOUTH: 30-foot custom pig-shaped smoker fires up at dawn. Cooking accompanied by live performance from the Dave Matthews Band, who come over during breaks and ask for a hit off bottle of bourbon.

Getting to the Stadium:
NORTH: You ask 'Where's the stadium?' When you find it, you walk right in.
SOUTH: When you're near it, you'll hear it. On game day it is the state's third largest city.

Concessions:
NORTH: Drinks served in a paper cup, filled to the top with soda.
SOUTH: Drinks served in a plastic cup, with the home team's mascot on it, filled less than half way with soda, to ensure enough room for bourbon.

When National Anthem is Played:
NORTH: Stands are less than half full, and less than half of them stand up.
SOUTH: 100,000 fans, all standing, sing along in perfect four-part harmony.

The Smell in the Air After the First Score:
NORTH: Nothing changes.
SOUTH: Fireworks, with a touch of bourbon.

Commentary (Male):
NORTH: 'Nice play.'
SOUTH: 'Dammit, you slow sumbitch - tackle him and break his legs.'

Commentary (Female):
NORTH: 'My, this certainly is a violent sport.'
SOUTH: 'Dammit, you slow sumbitch - tackle him and break his legs.'

Announcers:
NORTH: Neutral and paid.
SOUTH: Announcer harmonizes with the crowd in the fight song, with a tear in his eye because he is so proud of his team.

After the Game:
NORTH: The stadium is empty way before the game ends.
SOUTH: Another rack of ribs goes on the smoker, while somebody goes to the nearest package store for more bourbon, and planning begins for next week's game.

HOW MANY SEC STUDENTS DOES IT TAKE TO CHANGE A LIGHT BULB?

At VANDERBILT: It takes two, one to change the bulb and one more to explain how they did it every bit as good as the bulbs changed at Harvard.

At GEORGIA: It takes two, one to change the bulb and one to stabilize the rolling beer cooler the bulb changer is using for a ladder.

At FLORIDA : It takes four, one to screw in the bulb and three to figure out how to get stoned off the old one. [All while wearing jean shorts, I'm sure.]

At ALABAMA : It takes five, one to change it, three to reminisce about how The Bear would have done it, and one to throw the old bulb at an NCAA investigator.

At OLE MISS: It takes six, one to change it, two to mix the drinks and three to find the perfect J. Crew outfit to wear for the occasion.

At LSU: It takes seven, and each one gets credit for five Semester hours.

At KENTUCKY : It takes eight, one to screw it in and seven to discuss how much brighter it seems to shine during basketball season.

At TENNESSEE: It takes ten, two to figure out how to screw it in, two to buy an orange lamp shade, and six to phone a radio call-in show and talk about how much they hate Alabama.

At MISSISSIPPI STATE : It takes fifteen, one to screw in the bulb, two to buy the Skoal, and twelve to yell, 'GO TO HELL, OLE MISS'.

At AUBURN: It takes one hundred, one to change it, forty-nine to talk about how they did it better than at Bama and Georgia, and fifty to get drunk and roll Toomer's Corner when finished.

At SOUTH CAROLINA : It takes 80,000, one to screw it in and 79,999 to discuss how this finally will be the year that they have a decent football team.

At ARKANSAS : None. There is no electricity in Arkansas.

Happy Green Beer Day!

This is one "holiday" that pretty much gets overlooked by me... I even totally forgot to wear any green today! (And I've already been pinched once.) Thanks to tax season, I've never really been able to celebrate it. Not that I really care - I'm not huge on going out and drinking, which really, what else is this holiday for but to down ridiculous amounts of green beer? And I don't even like beer. But have one for me if you're feeling lucky today!

So our Dawgs - this is NUTS - won the SEC basketball championship this weekend that I mentioned earlier. I don't follow college basketball at all (we're a football school), but I know enough to know that we suck at it. So winning the championship is insane! A true worst-to-first Cinderella story. Pretty cool. Go Dawgs!

Well this weekend I stayed in - as I promised myself I'd do - and I got SO much done! I was one domestic diva. I was especially productive yesterday from the time I got up till the time I got in bed. I only sat down to eat. OK, and for a little while to blog yesterday... but I was eating at the same time! But listen to what all I got done!!! I completely pulled everything out of our pantry and reorganized it. I threw out four bags of trash - just from the pantry! It looks so amazing now. I love it. Then I went upstairs to my office and got that picked up. It had become a total disaster. Paper and ribbon scraps all over the floor... omg it was a mess. Bills and junk scattered - made myself sit down and go through all those and get them sorted or tossed out. And then I (finally!) completely cleaned out the "nursery" - which had become the full room version of a drunk drawer over time. We've always referred to that room as the nursery because we designed it as such when we (meaning the builders) built the house. So yeah, I was rockin' out to my ipod and tossin' stuff left and right. I came across some fun stuff that had been buried in all the rubble. I took a bunch of pics - I'll have to post those when I get home tonight.

And while doing all this, I was running laundry non-stop. I had 2+ weeks worth and it was bad. I'm still not quite done. A couple of more loads to go... But yeah, I got so much done and felt so good about it. I opened the door to the nursery before I left this a.m. and just sighed a happy sigh - it feels so good to see the floor in there!

Alright, back to work. Yoga tonight. Then I'll catch up with you all later!