A Message To Students: Please Do Your History Homework

I'll be the first to admit that as a teenager, my social life took precedence over history class all day long.  Fortunately for me, those were the days when we could memorize facts and dates just long enough to regurgitate them onto a test before they self-destructed like the tape on the old Mission Impossible television series. A couple of years later my family made the first of many trips to Washington, D.C., and my perspective on history was changed forever.  There was something life-changing about getting close enough to see and touch artifacts from events that I'd only heard about in class or read about in books.

Much later, in my career as an educator, I had an opportunity to do something that most do not; a chance to go back and have a redo in high school history and government, this time as an inclusion teacher. A few extraordinarily dedicated teachers welcomed me into their classrooms, giving me an opportunity to learn like a kid again, and this time I didn't squander it. Because of them, I was able to support my students in an effective manner.

More importantly, I was able to answer the question, "Why do we have to learn this?" with passionate conviction. The short, simple answer to that question is this.

1-We must know where we've been, in order to know where we're going.

2-If we truly want to honor the sacrifice of those who fought and died for our country, we owe it to them to learn exactly what they were fighting for.

3-Our country is and always has been great. That being said, we've made mistakes in the past, some pretty horrendous. We've mistreated individuals, groups, and entire races of people.  It's important to examine those mistakes in the hope of never repeating them.

If I could share a few words of advice with today's young people this is what I would say:

1. Please stay awake in your history classes.

2. Ask questions.

3. Watch all of the news channels, not just one. Engage your own brains. Fiercely guard against allowing yourselves to be brainwashed into believing only one point of view to the exclusion of all other possibilities.

4. Fact check online, using multiple sources and sites. Make sure you use only reputable sites.  Take the time to educate yourself on the real meaning of "fake news" and how to spot it.   Factcheck.org has a good article on how to do this. Some news organizations (ex. Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Forbes) have been around for over one hundred years, with well-established reputations. They didn't earn those reputations by lying to their readers. With that in mind, it is still never a bad idea to double check the information using other, equally reputable sources.  Sometimes, in spite of their best intentions, journalists make errors, report information erroneously, and/or just "get it wrong".  On those occasions, reputable journalists will issue a retraction and/or an apology.  This is, quite simply, an error, not "fake news".  Sources and individuals who never admit to errors are not to be trusted.

5. Watch video presentations/documentaries, keeping in mind that not all documentaries are created equal.  Some present information as fact, while actually displaying a partial truth or twisted version of facts. It is important to find out who or what organization is presenting the information and make sure that organization does not have a hidden agenda.  Fact check the information to ensure accuracy.

6. Keep in mind that ultimately, the most accurate version of facts is usually (not always, but usually) the one that sounds the most logical, the least inflammatory, sensationalized or far-fetched. Common sense is your friend.

7. Based on your own research, draw your own conclusions, develop a conviction and share it.  Get comfortable with the idea of respectfully speaking out for what you believe in. In today's world, with the bombardment of information and misinformation through social media, we must all get used to speaking out for what we believe in and why we feel the way we do.

8. Please remember and appreciate the gift of the First Amendment: We are all individuals, with differing views and we all have the right to have our views heard in a respectful and peaceful context.  Notice there is no mention that our first amendment rights are only honored when we agree with our neighbors, our friends or our political leaders.  

You are entitled to your opinion regarding political candidates and government policy just as others are.  Some people will disagree with you, just as you will disagree with some people, and that's okay. What is not okay is shaming others for their opinions, or allowing yourselves to be shamed for yours. Our country is being challenged today in a way that it has never been challenged before.  Please pay attention and emotionally invest in your country. Not only does our democracy depend on it, but your way of life and that of your future children depend on it as well.

A Glimpse Of The Past: The Elkmont Area Inside The Great Smoky Mountains National Park

My family and I have vacationed in the Smoky Mountains area all my life; but I never knew about this little area of the national park until right before we visited this past spring, 2013. There is a little slice of the past, frozen in time, in the area known as Elkmont campground. This is a very short summary of the history of the area.

 The village of Elkmont began as a home base of logging operations for the Little River Timber Company. A few years later the company began selling plots of land to wealthy businessmen from Knoxville, who established the "Appalachian Club". These men used the area primarily for hunting and fishing. In 1912, a resort hotel, the Wonderland Hotel, was constructed on a hill overlooking Elkmont. A group of Knoxville businessmen purchased the Wonderland in 1919 and turned it into an exclusive private club, called "The Wonderland Club."

Over the next two decades, the Appalachian Club and Wonderland Club evolved into elite vacation areas for wealthy families living in the Knoxville area. When the national park was created in the 1930s, most of Elkmont's cottage owners were given lifetime leases. These were converted to 20-year leases in 1952, and renewed in 1972. The National Park Service wouldn't renew the leases in 1992, and made plans to remove the hotel and cottages. In 1994, however, the Wonderland Hotel and several dozen of the Elkmont cottages were listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Elkmont Historic District, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This sparked a 15-year debate over what should happen to the historic structures.

In 2009, the National Park Service announced plans to restore the Appalachian Clubhouse and 18 cottages and outbuildings in the Appalachian Club area, and remove all other buildings, including the Wonderland Annex (the main hotel collapsed in 2005).

When we visited, a park ranger told us some interesting stories about the area. He said when the owners of the homes were preparing to move, they went to great pains to spruce up their homes for the future visitors that they had been led to believe would be renting the homes from the park service. They waxed the floors, hung new curtains, and some even left letters hanging on the walls addressed to their future guests, welcoming them. It's a shame that these homes sat empty and deteriorating for over twenty years, while a huge debate dragged on over what to do with them.

 I'm glad the decision was finally made to restore some of these sites, but many more are being allowed to be reclaimed by nature. These photos were taken by my son. Many of them are of homes along the Jakes Creek area, which will not be restored. If you want to see it, I suggest that you do it soon.

Let The Good Times Roll!

I've been just dying to share how to make this cute Mardi Gras bag. What a cute way to keep up with all those beads and throws at the Mardi Gras parades, right? Or, you could use this as a centerpiece for your Mardi Gras decor. It's so easy to make.

The muslin bags are sold in packs of 3 for $7.99 at Walmart. I also picked up a package of inkjet transfer paper while I was there. I paid about $10 for a package with 7 sheets, but have since found packs of 18 sheets for about $14.25 through Amazon.
I used a whole sheet for this transfer. The subway art is my own design, available here in my etsy shop. I set my printer to print in mirror image, then printed the sheet using the highest quality ink setting. Let the ink set up for a few minutes, then iron the transfer right onto the bag. Make sure you follow the directions on the transfer package carefully. You'll need to iron a transfer this size about 2 minutes, then let the transfer cool completely before you try to peek off the backing paper.

 Because I can't resist the urge to bedazzle, I went to the discount jewelry store and picked up a few pieces of purple and green jewelry. I used one to pin on the cute purple scarf, then took the others apart and glued the stones onto the bag using Alene's Fabric glue. Let the glue set up for 24 hours and then, Voila! You are ready to let the good times roll in style! One thing to remember. If you embellish with fabric glue, I would advise that you hand wash your item. Hope you enjoy!

I Heart My Mississippi Etsy Team!

If you haven't yet discovered the fabulous world of Etsy, I'm telling you there is no time like the present! Once you get there, make sure to check out the amazing work of the Mississippi artisans and collectors.

Just enter this search term: missetsyteam (no spaces) in the search box.  That's the team tag for Team Etsy Mississippi.  Right now there are almost 550 listings available using that search term alone. We are growing by leaps and bounds, so bookmark the page, visit often, and let's support each other!

We also have a dedicated board on Pinterest, so make sure to follow us there too. 

Here is a quick glimpse of what you'll find:

Instant Gratification And A Halloween Freebie for our Friends

We've reopened our etsy shop, this time adding a section devoted entirely to printables.  The listings that don't require customization are now available via instant download!  (I was personally pretty pumped about this, since I'm an instant gratification kind of gal myself.) 

We'll be adding printable items regularly, but already have several in the store, so pop on over and start shopping! 

Speaking of instant gratification, here's a sheet of cute little Halloween tags that we thought you would enjoy. Help yourself!  To save the image just click on it, then right click and select "view image".  After that, click the little "plus" sign to make the image full size.  Then you just save the full size image to your computer.

 These tags are perfect for dressing up a bag of treats for your favorite tricksters.  See what I mean?

 

Thread a piece of raffia, or seam binding, ribbon or baker's twine through the hole, then tie  the tag to a Halloween "happy" for a co-worker, friend, or family member. 

We have more of these in our etsy shop ready and waiting for you to "instant download"! 

Not My Southern Miss

 I'm a proud USM alum, and a rabid fan of Golden Eagle football. I also happen to like winning.  Having a harsh memory of the years when Southern Miss football was hardly worth a mention,I'm here to tell you that winning is a lot more fun.  So it should come as no surprise that I was doing the happy dance to hear that  Anthony Alford had chosen black and gold as his signature colors for the next four years. 

But beyond that, I was also amazed. This young man had drawn so much attention, and was being courted by huge college football programs across the nation.  Add to that, professional baseball teams tried to entice him with massive amounts of money the likes of which most of us have never dreamed.  Most people finding themselves at the center of this level of adoration tend to have difficulty keeping their egos in check.  Not Anthony.  Throughout the entire process he kept his head on straight, maintaining a quiet, respectful, humble dignity.  He made it clear that he wanted to go to college and get an education.  How many people, young or old, would have had the integrity to make that same decision?

Fast forward to Saturday, September 15th.  Anthony, at age eighteen, had been chosen to start for the first home game of the 2012-13 season. The stands were almost completely filled thanks in part to General Hammond's "Fill To The Top" campaign.  The game was broadcast on national television. No pressure there, right?  Anthony scored on the opening drive and the fans rejoiced.  Unfortunately, as often happens in football and in any other sport, the game soon turned, and ultimately didn't go as we hoped.  This was disappointing, yes.  We were all disappointed, probably none of us more so than Anthony himself.

But, what was inexcusable was the behavior of the Golden Eagle fans booing in the stands as Anthony entered the field.  Many of those fans have tried to justify their behavior, claiming they were booing the coaching, not the player.  Whatever. This post isn't a discussion of coaching decisions, but the coaches weren't out on that field trying to concentrate on running plays over the sound of their own fans booing.  No, that was a true freshman named Anthony Alford who was on the field on the instruction of his coaches, giving everything he had to give.

Anthony Alford is a young man of integrity, a wonderful role model for today's youth.  He makes clear distinctions between what's important in life and what's fleeting, obviously unlike a lot of adults.  He took a giant leap of faith in coming to play football for Southern Miss.  I hope he doesn't regret it. Thousands of  Southern Miss fans let him down yesterday.  Shame on them.

Eggs and Peppers with a Twist! Pinterest Experiment Number One

I'm like every other Pinterest enthusiast; I've been building a vast collection of wonderful recipes and projects, and have big plans to give all of them a try!  One of my criteria for "pinning" a recipe is that it must be fairly simple, with a minimum of ingredients.  This is because, in case I haven't told you, I'm not a big fan of cooking.  Eating, on the other hand?  I'm an Olympian in that department.    Anyway, back to recipes and Pinterest.  A while ago I saw a recipe for eggs cooked inside bell pepper rings and it looked like it fit my criteria, so I pinned it and finally got around to giving it a try.  First, let me give a shout-out to my family for graciously agreeing to be my guinea pigs.

This is a photo of the finished product:

And this is how I did it:
As appealing as the original recipe looked, it seemed to me that it might be even better if I added a little touch of cheddar cheese and bacon...since almost everything is better with cheddar cheese and bacon added to it.  First I sliced the pepper rings about 1/4" thick, and cleaned all the seeds and white insides out.  Then I sauteed them for a few seconds on each side in a hot skillet that I had sprayed with Pam.

                                      
 I broke eggs into each of the rings and cooked them until they were set, then carefully flipped them over.  You can see from the photo that I had a little problem cutting the pepper rings completely straight, so the egg white escaped under the edges, but we didn't lose sleep over that.

Now, this is where the twist comes in.  I put about a tablespoon of Hormel real bacon bits on the eggs, and then topped each egg with 1/4 slice of cheddar cheese.

The cheese got nice and warm, but didn't melt completely, so I put the eggs into the microwave for about 10 seconds, long enough for the cheese to finish melting.

The bacon and cheese added a little extra flavor and protein, so I only served it with some sliced kiwi and a biscuit.  Now, the best news about this dish is the calorie count!  The  bacon bits are only 25 calories per tablespoon, and the cheese was 90 calories per slice, but I quartered the slices so each egg only had about 23 calories worth of cheese.  The total calorie count for one serving (2 egg rings) only came to 236.  Of course that doesn't include the calories for that biscuit, but you could easily substitute a slice or two of low calorie toasted bread.

The family gave this dish a rating of two enthusiastic thumbs up, so I'm happy to say Pinterest experiment number one was a success!

Righteous or Self-Righteous? The Great Chic Fil-A Kerfuffle

I am not a theologian, just a good old southern girl raised by Godly parents.  I generally try to keep my blog posts light, fluffy and cholesterol-free.  However, as a Christian, I've been a little unsettled by this whole Chic Fil'a cluck fest.  It's really just one more symptom of a bigger disease that's been spreading across this nation.  That disease is Self-Righteousness. 

In Acts 1:8 Jesus told the disciples, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."  What a comfort this must have been to the disciples, but along with that comfort came great responsibility.  That responsibility extends to us as Christians today.  We should all be witnesses to the saving power of Jesus, not just on Sunday, but every day and in every aspect of our lives.  

So how do we do that?  Well, thank goodness, we have some instructions.  We just need to remind ourselves to read the manual.  In Matthew 5 we are told about Jesus teaching the disciples at the sermon on the mount, while reminding them that they would encounter resistance and be persecuted for their beliefs.  He said, "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."   

Let your light shine, so you'll be a source of warmth, comfort and reassurance in this cold, dark, and sometimes scary world. Keep in mind that people aren't going to be drawn to your light and your message if they think you are going to club them over the head with a fried chicken sandwich.  Let your light shine, but please be cognizant of the distinction between righteous and self-righteous.  

Thanks to a combination of media spin, politicians, and the internet, there is an awful lot of vitriol being spewed in our world.  But, this is really nothing new.  The disciples and followers of Jesus caught all kinds of grief after Jesus ascended to Heaven.  They kept the faith despite great persecution.  Peter wrote his fellow followers a  letter of encouragement.  In I Peter 3: 15 he reminded them  "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect."

With prayer and constant vigilance, we can set ourselves apart, guard against being manipulated,  resist the urge to return evil with evil, and keep our light shining.  My nephew wrote a blog post on this subject that I'd like to share.  Hope you'll take the time to read it:  A Word of Warning for Christians on Chic Fil'a Day

A Father's Day Confession: We're Not Normal....

It's true.  We aren't normal, or at least that's what we've been told on occasion.  And...after observing a variety of family dynamics over the past few decades or so, I'm beginning to think it may be true.  We can thank our parents for that, though.  They taught us, by example, that family always comes through for each other through the joyous times in our lives, the scary times, the sad times, and the down right catastrophic times.  They also taught us to find joy and thankfulness even in the midst of catastrophe.  They taught us that life's way too short to let a petty disagreement come between family members.

Our Mom and Dad are the epitomy of selflessness.  They loved and still love all of us unconditionally, and were humble enough to let us think, in all the years we were growing up, that everybody's family was just like ours.  We're older and wiser now, though, and have seen enough tragedy in this world to realize just how blessed we are.

I'm going to let this slide show speak for itself today.  It's in honor of our Dad on Father's Day, and it's also a tribute to our relationship with our parents and the love that they still share with each other after 60 years of marriage.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!  We love you very much!

Patience Under Pressure? That's My Mom

I've written about my family several times, so those of you who take a minute to read my blog already know that God saw fit to give me an exceptional family.   As we were growing up, my sister and I never saw our parents argue.  I suppose they did, but we just never knew about it.  They also rarely lost their tempers with us, which wasn't all that hard where my sister was concerned.  I'm guessing patience took a little more prayer where I was concerned, since I was a little on the rambunctious side in my younger years.  If you don't recall, just go back and read the Koolaid-Gate story.

See the photo at the top of this entry?  That's me on the left,  the little copycat watching my sister like a hawk.  Whatever she was doing with her hand certainly seemed like the thing to do.  Although I don't remember specifically, I'm guessing this photo was taken a split second before my left hand flew up to cup my own face.  After all, if my sister was doing it, it must be cool.  That beautiful lady behind us?  That's our mother.  Do you see how calm and serene she looks?  I don't know how, but she always looked like that, and I'm happy to say she still wears that same sweet expression to this day.

Now if you were to ask my mother, she would deny that I was a "high-strung" child.  Bless her, she has such a selective memory, or maybe she has simply chosen to block out some of the more memorable escapades.   But...there is one little episode that was so outrageous that it sticks out to this day, even in her memory.

I was in college, but had gone home for a weekend to go shopping with Mom at the New Orleans Lake Forrest Plaza.  That mall was brand new at the time, and had all kinds of great places to shop.  Maison Blanche and D.H. Holmes anchored dozens of great little pricey boutique shops, all built around an ice skating rink, which was a novelty in itself in the deep South.  I spotted a white one piece "jumpsuit" with a wide, stretchy red elastic belt.  Now don't laugh.  A get-up like that was quite stylish back then, in an Austin Powers kind of way....I promise!  I tried it on, and it fit me like a glove. A quick glance at the price tag landed it right back on the rack, though.  We continued to shop 'til we were almost ready to drop, then decided to stop for a quick lunch.

While we were eating I decided I'd break some pretty big news.  Remember I told you I was in college?  Well, I was almost done.  In fact, I had only one term left before graduating, but had decided I'd had enough of college.  I'm ashamed to say, but the fact that my parents had picked up the tab for my entire education never really occurred to me.  In fact, I was a little surprised that my mother didn't seem to take my news too well.  For some reason she thought my backup plan for supporting myself...which included the phrase "Would you like fries with that?"...was not my most sound career decision.  We had quite a heated discussion, and both of us shed a few tears.

Then, in a moment which can only be described as sheer genius, my mother played quite a trump card.  She said, "If you'll stay in school, I'll buy you that white jumpsuit".  I think I considered her offer for...oh...about a half second...before flashing a big smile, and saying "OK!!"  We finished our shopping and both of us headed home quite happy..me with a snazzy new jumpsuit, and her without a college dropout for a daughter.

Now, before you label me as the most shallow woman on the face of the earth, let me assure you that I've matured quite a bit in the past few decades.  I went on to graduate a few months after that, raised two children of my own, and have spent the past 30-something years teaching.  I don't kid myself that I've been the patient woman that my mother is.  But I can say that she has set the bar quite high, and I continually strive to be the kind of mother to my children that she is to me and my sister.

My mother is a blessing to her husband (our Dad!), her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and a multitude of friends and extended family.   She is having a milestone birthday this summer, and we are going to celebrate in style...(so don't argue, Mom!).  Until then, though, I wanted the world to know that I love her a bunch.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Sixty Years Ago Today

My Dad was in the Army, and stationed at Fort Jackson when he and my Mom married.
They had planned a small wedding, but my Dad's leave got cancelled at the last minute,
so they had to postpone the wedding.  A couple of weeks later, Dad managed to get a 48 hour leave,
so he drove all night to get home, he and my mother went over to the local Methodist church
and got married, then the both of them drove back overnight to Fort Jackson.  Mom was 19 years old,
and I believe that was probably one of the first times she had been away from home.
I remember asking her one time several years ago,"Weren't you homesick?"  and I'll never forget what she said.
"No, I was never homesick, because I was with your Daddy.  I was home".
That little wedding took place 60 years ago today;  I thank God every day for them and the love they share,  and the example they've set for me, my sister, and our families.
Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!! We love you both and appreciate you more than you'll ever know!

ShoppePro.com and Our New Website!.....well, almost.

This may not be a newsflash to those of you who know me best, but I have been known to have a bit of an impulse control problem.   Not about everything now mind you.  For example, I never jump into the deep end of a pool without first testing the water.  (In fact, after testing the water, I generally tend to forfeit jumping into the pool at all.  See, that would be a lot like exercise, which is another thing I don't impulsively jump into.)  BUT, I digress.  

There are certain facets of my life in which I leap before looking, however, which leads me to the topic of this post.  My sister and I have a new website!  We have decided to go with Shoppepro.com, which is a fabulous e-commerce site that targets entrepreneurial women like us.  I wish I could tell you I'd found Shoppepro first, but the impulse-control impaired portion of my brain would not allow me to be patient and wait until I found the site that was a perfect fit for us.  I foolishly assumed, since I have a little bit of photoshop knowledge, that designing a website would be a piece of cake.  As a result, we have two domain names, both hosted by other domain hosts.   After four false starts with other web hosts, three major glitches  from a different e-commerce site, two downloads of website building software, and too many failed attempts at building a website template to count, I am officially humbled by the skills of website designers. 

The moral of this story is simple:  Do a little bit of homework before jumping into the deep end of website design and domain hosting.  There is a perfect site for you, and I am grateful to have found ours in Shoppepro.  They wrote the manual on how to be user-friendly, and they included no codes of any kind!  Their customer service is also second to none!   So far I've only had to contact tech support twice, and they were very prompt in responding to my questions.

So....back to our new website.  Our address is www.jbguess.com.  We are still under construction so you'll see links to our etsy shops.  Bookmark the link and visit often, though, because we'll be adding all kinds of new goodies.

Thanks ShoppePro!!....and thank goodness for free trials.

Swearing Off Resolutions & Some Exciting News!

Well friends, it's official. I cannot keep a New Year's resolution for the life of me. If you recall, I had set myself an "annual goal" to post here on my blog at least once weekly. (I also set a goal to clean out all my closets, but we aren't EVEN going there.)

Fast forward to August 18th, with a long expanse of uncharacteristic quiet between May 3rd and today. We had a few bumps in the road last spring, and I lost my bloggy mojo for a while....hence the lengthy silence from me, the woman of many words.

I've learned a little something about myself. It really doesn't matter if they are called annual goals or resolutions or promises. If I try to hold myself to some kind of commitment around the first of the year....chances are it just ain't gonna happen.

Now, on to the awesome news! J. B. Guess & Co. is now J.B. Guess & Co., LLC! My sis and I are partners and we have expanded our product lines. In fact, we now have two etsy shops to accommodate the different categories of items. The original J. B. Guess & Co. is still on vacation, but will be active within the next day or so. Hope you'll pop over because we have new gift items that are exceptionally unique and cool, in my humble opinion.

The new shop is called Mimi & Pinks Fun Stuff For You! and it's live now.
We carry paper and party goods in this shop. You'll find cute bottle labels, and stickers for parties, showers, weddings, and identifying baby items...and yes, some of our items are a little on the snarky side! Oh, by the way, speaking of snarky....we're moving Snarkalicious Greetings to the Mimi & Pinks site.

The coasters and tiles will still be at J. B. Guess & Co. I'll let you know when it's back up and running. I promise to also fill you in on how we came up with the names for our shops. There is a story there, of course.

So the purpose of tonight's post is to make two official announcements:
Announcement #1-We're back in business with bells on!
Announcement #2- Aside from saying "Please pass the black-eyed peas and cabbage" I'm through with New Year's proclamations of any kind. Do me a favor and remind me of that around Dec. 31st, okay? Thanks.

Saying Goodbye To a King

Dear J'Bo,

I remember the day we brought you home. You looked like a big, blond, four-legged powder puff. We put you down in our house, and you proceeded to investigate every corner, as if you were casing the joint to see if it met your expectations. As I recall, it took about 5 minutes for you to get yourself into a bit of a sticky wicket. We'd had an unwelcome visit from a mouse, and I'd completely forgotten about hiding a couple of glue boards behind the furniture. Of course you found them, and they found you...with a vengeance. That "too close" encounter led to your first trim.

You soon settled in and began to hold court in true pekingese fashion. You claimed my eldest son as "your boy", and would not hear of any young female coming near him. You loudly proclaimed that you were the boss to anyone who would listen.

Your short, stubby little legs served you well, especially when you wanted to play your favorite game of chase. You invariably decided to play this game when we were trying to get out the door on school mornings. I still have vivid visions of you dashing madly down the street, furry ears flapping in the breeze, tongue hanging out in a wild doggie grin, with two little boys running full steam after you screaming at the top of their lungs for you to stop!! That never did work, yet they would fall for your game again... and again... and again.

You were a bossy boy, and you loved to have the last word. If you had something to say, by golly, you were going to say it. We'd tell you to hush, and you would, but only after one last soft..."woof". You loved nothing more than telling off the neighbor dogs, even if the neighbor dogs outweighed you three to one. We always said you thought you were a rottweiler, and apparently, so did the bigger dogs in the neighborhood. They always backed down and gave you a wary look like they thought you were a little bit of a loose cannon. You could almost hear them saying, "Better not mess with him. He'll cut you."

And so it went. You were king of the hill, and wore your banner proudly. Of course, as always happens, your back and legs eventually began to fail you, but your attitude never faltered. Even after you were forced to slow down, and ultimately came to depend on the humans in your life to carry you everywhere you went, you still reminded us of your royal position in the family. Make no mistake about it. You were still in charge. Baby Jayne and Yogi, your canine siblings, deferred to you even when you reached the point where you were helpless to defend your position in the family.

We knew you were getting older, and talked often about it. We tried to prepare ourselves, because we knew the day would come. But no matter how hard we tried, we found that there was only so much we could do in order to prepare to say goodbye to you, our little king. One recent afternoon, after 14 and 1/2 years, you suddenly made it clear that you were ready. We just surrounded you, laughing through our tears at the multitude of memories, and told you it would be okay as you took your last breath cradled in the loving arms of your boy.

I still wake up at night with a startle, worried that you haven't informed me of your need to go outside. Your boy still looks for you when he walks in the door from work. The stabbing pain is beginning to gradually fade into a dull ache as the holes in our hearts slowly heal, but in their place will be a special little spot where the love and memories will forever reside.

And...in the back yard two little dogs sit, keeping watch, next to a small mound covered with smooth white stones...still deferring to their brother, the king.

Love,

Mom

Chicken Fiesta Soup and the New Weight Watchers

I am no stranger to dieting. I've tried almost every weight management strategy known to man, with a few notable exceptions. I say "almost", because there are a few diet strategies I have steadfastly refused to try. Among those are the placement of bands in locations where bands do not naturally occur, the stapling of any portion of my body (including my ears), and the surgical bypassing of certain portions of my digestive tract that God felt were important enough that they should not be bypassed.

Pretty short list, huh? Well, now you get the picture. Like so many, I have struggled with my weight for most of my adult life. I've tried Atkins (in which I discovered I'm not really all that crazy about meat anyway), Sugar Busters (lasted about 2 hours), the Carbohydrate Addicts diet (yes, I'll willingly admit I'm a carb addict...next!), the hot dog and boiled egg diet (which came with it's own unique set of side effects), and the colon cleanse (trust me, you'd really rather I didn't blog about that one).

Twenty-five years ago, needing to drop about 25 lbs, I decided to go with a friend to a Weight Watchers meeting. The meetings were held in the fellowship hall of an Episcopal church, and were led by a sweet lady by the name of Mildred, who would begin each meeting by introducing herself and telling her story. Mildred had lost 125 lbs on Weight Watchers. Sometimes she would bring her "before" photos, and sometimes she would bring a pair of slacks that she wore pre-Weight Watchers. She could fit her entire post Weight-Watchers self in one leg of those slacks. Mildred was very inspirational. I never got tired of hearing her tell her story, and I also loved hearing her say, at every single meeting, that we could have a hamburger from Burger King and stay on plan.

It became my routine to go to my Weight Watchers meeting each Tuesday night (always wearing the same outfit, because I knew how much it weighed). After the meeting, I would drive through the Burger King on the way home and treat myself to a Whopper. Within about 4 months I had lost that 25 lbs, plus a few more, and had won the coveted Lifetime membership. With that membership came a gold "key to the future", and a little plastic card to carry in my wallet. I'll always remember that night, because I was so gratified by my accomplishment, but also for the little extra tidbit of info that Mildred provided in that meeting. As always, she encouraged the members to treat themselves to that Burger King burger, but, for the first time, she followed that comment with, "Not a Whopper, though....just a regular hamburger!" Really???? Oops. The very next month I discovered that I was expecting my first child, and with that news, I stopped going to my meetings. I did not, however, give up those Burger King Whoppers.

So.....twenty-five years later, and carrying almost double what I needed to lose the first time, I decided to take the plunge and give Weight Watchers another try. I'd lost my key to the future, but had managed to hang on to that plastic card, so I whipped that baby out and proudly showed it to the cute little girl who was handling registration. As it turned out, my little card created quite the stir. The Weight Watchers ladies had never seen a card like mine, and they were quite impressed that I had managed to keep up with it all these years. I briefly pondered the possibility of loaning it to the Smithsonian, but decided that I would rather use it to save myself the thirty dollar registration fee.

Like so many things, the 21st century Weight Watchers is new and improved. It revolves around a point system, which is really simple to follow, especially with a nifty little points calculator. The meetings are led by a cute, bubbly lady by the name of Kristi, who has lost 82 lbs and gone from a size 18 to a size 2. I haven't seen Kristi's pre-Weight Watchers slacks yet, but I have seen her "before" photos, which are very inspirational. I've been listening intently for some mention of Burger King, but so far have heard nothing. I'll tell you this, though. One of the first things out of Kristi's mouth at that first meeting was, "If you want a Krispy Kreme doughnut, have yourself a Krispy Kreme doughnut....5 points". Wonder if that's for a regular glazed doughnut, or an eclair? Oh yeah. I think I'm going to like it here.

I've been Weight Watching for 2 weeks now, and have lost 5.5 of the 43 lbs. I'm hoping to shed.

One of my family's new favorite foods is Weight Watcher's Chicken Fiesta Soup. I triple this recipe and freeze it. Indulge yourself!

Weight Watchers Chicken Fiesta Soup

1 can fat free low sodium chicken broth
1 10 oz. can chicken, or 5 chicken tenders, boiled and chopped
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 can kidney beans
2 cans whole kernel corn
1/2 lb 2% Velveeta

Mix first 5 ingredients and heat until boiling. Reduce heat, and add cubed cheese. Stir until cheese is melted.

1 cup = 1 point

I Have Great Friends...and They're Funny, Too!

Those of you who know me best know that I love to laugh, and thank goodness life presents plenty of opportunities for laughter! I'm not ashamed or embarrassed to laugh at myself, and it's a good thing, since I am a bit of a goofball. I also have some wonderful friends, online and off, who share my twisted sense of humor. Laughter among friends really is the best form of therapy, too, don't you think?

Have you ever heard that saying, "If you want to appear intelligent, you need to surround yourself with intelligent people"? Well, as luck would have it, my friends are funny, which comes in very handy in view of the fact that I create funny greeting cards. (Now, in saying that, I don't want you think my friends aren't intelligent, because they are...so don't go telling them I said otherwise.)

Most of my buddies know I create snarkalicious greeting cards. They realize that I pretty much keep my nose to the ground, constantly sniffing around in my pursuit of wittily wicked inspiration, and they readily give me the green light to take their words and run with them. Here are just a couple of examples. This card came about about as a result of a life observation made by my friend, Pat.

This next card was created a while back, and came to me during a conversation with my friend, Bren. She was actually referring to a family pet in making this observation, but it occurred to me that this philosophy has some merit where human beings are concerned as well.

The last card was inspired by a conversation between myself and my friend, Stacey, about those awkward moments when we run into someone at a store, have a nice conversation which always ends with a "we need to get together and catch up", and parting ways all while completely clueless as to that individual's identity. Now if this has never happened to you, then you can just do us all a favor and keep that little tidbit of info to yourself....because I can guarantee you that it will happen, and when it does I'll be around to make a card about it.

Thanks Bren,Pat and Stacey! These cards will be making their maiden voyages to you!

"What The Heck????" or "Last Time I Checked This Was Still the Deep South"

I've already filled you all in on the unique traditions that take place when winter weather strikes in the deep South, so I won't go into all that again. If you happened to have missed that post, you can read all about it here. I did want to mention, however, that I've heard quite the wide variety of rationales for the bizarre weather we've been experiencing. Here are just a couple of the most annoying ones:

Rationale #1: The Saints won the Super Bowl, so hell has, in fact, frozen over. I happen to reject this theory, primarily because I happen to like living in the South very much and flat refuse to refer to it as hell. (don't throw this back at me in August, when the temperature exceeds 100 degrees and the humidity hits the "wet blanket" level. I'm not a big fan of sweating, and tend to get grouchy when my clothes start sticking to me.)

Rationale #2: "Must be global warming". Now mind you, that phrase has been thrown around hundreds, if not thousands of times this winter. Moreover, every single human being who utters those words thinks he or she is the only one who has come up with something so uniquely clever.
If I had a penny for every time I've heard this comment I'd be sitting on a nice little nest egg today. Generally speaking, I'm just not a big fan of snide politically-based sarcasm unless, of course, it's coming from me. Yes, that is a double standard, and that's all I'm going to say on that topic.
The bottom line here is, that this winter things have just been weird all over. We had another snow day last week. This time it snowed pretty hard all day, which was really beautiful, since down here we usually look at grey skies, brown lawns and bare trees all winter.

A fat, crimson cardinal has set up residence in my backyard. He hangs out on my back porch every morning, looking for bugs that were attracted overnight by the back porch light. He is rather anti-social, though, and won't cooperate when I try to get his picture. On the recent snow day, I spotted him sitting in the tree like a bright red dot in an expanse of white, and decided to get a photograph of him. I stalked that little critter all morning, and every time I thought I had gotten into a good position to get his photograph, off he would fly. I finally gave up and settled for a couple of photos from the back porch.

Who knows what the remainder of the winter will bring? Last night we had a hailstorm, so we're beginning to become somewhat accustomed to having ice fall from the sky in one form or another. One thing is a given though; before too long the weather will warm up, the humidity will rise, and our clothes will start sticking to us again. When that day comes, I for one will quite likely find myself flinging snide politically-based sarcasm and longing for the weird winter of 2010 again.

One World One Heart Winner!

First, I would like to thank you all for stopping by to visit my blog. I've had a blast participating in this event! A huge thanks also to Lisa for her inspiration to start this project, and for her willingness to take on such a huge task. You've made the world a more intimate place for all of us.

I am absolutely thrilled to announce that the winner of my blog giveaway is.....KATHY from Vegas! Kathy has a great shop on etsy and goes by the username of Calkat! Her blog is
Calkat The Jewelry Junkie. Kathy is also a Saints fan, which is always a plus in my book!
I'll be emailing Cathy to let her know that she is a winner. Thanks to all of you again for visiting, and hope you'll stop by again. I will definitely be participating in this one of a kind event again!

Pray For Kate!

This little girl is Kate McRae. Kate is six years old. She has a Mom and Dad who love her very much, as well as an older sister and younger brother. Kate is fighting the battle of her life against a very grown-up disease. She was diagnosed last summer with a very malignant, aggressive brain tumor called a supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumor or sPNET.

Kate has already undergone surgery and 5 rounds of chemotherapy. However, these procedures failed to completely destroy the tumor. Yesterday Kate was checked back in to the hospital for her 6th and most intense round of chemotherapy treatment. The treatment is so intense that they’ll need to be in the hospital anywhere from 4-6 weeks. They’ll be taking her system down to a place where they can reintroduce good stem cells that they harvested months ago and the hope is to reset the body with positive, healthy, cancer free cells! It will be one of the longest stays in the hospital since her brain surgery last July and they will all need huge prayer and huge encouragement during this time.

I'm asking for your help with a couple of things:

1-Kate is in desperate need of the miraculous healing that can only be provided through our Lord Jesus. Please join me and countless others in prayer for the complete healing of this precious child of God. You may visit Kate's website here:
http://prayforkate.com/

2-Please copy this photo, and any info that you might need, and use it to spread word of this child's needs to your own online network. Put it on your blog, twitter messages asking for prayer for #KateMcrae, and post the prayer request on your facebook page. Be sure to add a link to http://prayforkate.com in all messages.

I do not know this family personally, but learned of their situation through the Twitter page of a local pastor here in Hattiesburg (Tony Merida). I've been praying for Kate and her family, and following this child's progress for several months; through this journey I cannot help but be grateful that our God, through modern technology, has seen fit to make it possible for us to be touched by others who we would otherwise never know, and also to reach thousands for good.

Well, the wonderful "One World One Heart" event isn't over yet, but I just wanted to add a huge thanks to all of you who took the time to stop by and leave a comment on my blog! It's just been delightful reading your comments and also visiting your blogs.

As you may have noticed, the "Houx Dat" Nation is electrified tonight, in anticipation of tomorrow's big game! We have gumbo at the ready, and tons of munchies on hand, including a big black and gold King Cake ! I even designed shirts for our family to mark the occasion. All we need now is a great game, hopefully ending with the Vince Lombardi trophy going home to New Orleans where it belongs!

I'm still going to send out a set of these photographs to a lucky camper at the end of the event, but have also decided to add a "mid-event" drawing Monday, Feb. 8th for an additional set of these photos... IF the Saints come through with a big win tomorrow night! So, everybody, put on your black and gold and give a big cheer. GEAUX SAINTS!!!!

****UPDATE**** Woo Hooo!!!! In honor of the big win, I submitted all names to random.org this morning. The winner of the Super Bowl mid-event drawing is...drum roll please......Monica of GiddyGreetings.com! Congratulations, Monica, and thanks for commenting on my blog!