While it’s still blazin’ hot out there, the end of the summer is upon our crew. Grunt started back to work last week and the Circus started back to school this week. These last few weeks of Summer haven’t been too much different than the first. If you didn’t see the post about the first…
Stories
Summer of Seven
It has been a whirlwind summer around here, folks. Rarely has there been a dull moment, and if one did arise, we were quick to nip it in the bud. 🙂 As most summers go, it gets a little quieter around here on the blog than usual. Grunt is a teacher so he’s off during…
A desk that almost got the better of me…
When I started this blog, I worked at my grandparent’s old kitchen table. It has always served me well over the years and not surprisingly, it came through for me then too. There’s just something a little more special about a southern kitchen table. There are kitchen tables and then there are kitchen tables that become anchors for your life.
Saving the All-You-Can-Eat Buffet
I knew I had failed both her and my Pap when she had no idea what the Golden Corral was.
A couple months back, when asked where she wanted to eat, the Circus said, “Olive Garden.” What she didn’t realize was that her uncle had already made up his mind that we were heading to the Golden Corral.
When she announced she didn’t know what that was, I knew I had done my Pap a disservice.
Caftans and Cocktails
That was the text message I sent to one of my best friends, Jason, last week. Caftans and Cocktails. It was 6:41 pm on a Tuesday night. FYI, I had only had two glasses of wine because I know you are thinking something like that could only come from a bottle that’s halfway gone. I…
Do you think we should leave Santa a margarita?
There are times in my life when I know without a shadow of a doubt that I have either failed miserably or am 100% winning the parenting game. Of course, I strive to have more wins than losses, but at the end of the day, or should I say 18 years, I figure I’ll be…
Happy Halloween!
This is one of my absolute favorite days of the year! It’s been even more fun this year because for the first time in a long time, I dressed up! We did a Halloween party this year and I opted to be a witch, but put my own spin on it! I made the tulle…
Freak Show Friday: I guess that’s love.
Over the past month or so, many of our weekends have been spent putting up a new fence around a hayfield at the farm. To be exact, 2,650 feet of fence, which equates to 307 steel posts, 27 wood posts and 8 spools of barb wire. So ya know, a pretty damn long stretch of…
Cooking with Ghosts
I loved her green beans. I can still see them swimming around in the pot with little pools of grease from the pork she used to season them with. The biscuits, an extremely close second though. But then again, the way she cut cucumbers for me and chilled them in ice water made even the…
Ramblings
Affiliate links included in this post. This is one of those posts where I tell you nothing at all, but yet everything at the same time. It won’t send you running for your paintbrush. Or leave you Oooohing and Ahhhing. It’s just a way for me to say, “Hey, this is what’s going on with…
Just a swingin’.
I hadn’t forgotten about them, but I had forgotten about the magic of them. When we pulled into the driveway a few weeks ago and she saw the bright yellow flowers shooting up from the ground, she couldn’t get out to pick one fast enough. In that moment, she became the third generation of our…
Freak Show Friday: Signs You’re Raising a Well-Rounded Child
From the time the Circus was born, all I ever wanted was for her to be a well-rounded kid. I of course want her to be happy and laugh and play, but I also want her to appreciate music of all kinds, love aspects of both the city and the country, appreciate dressing up and…
No house is a home until it has a few good decades on it.
This post is sponsored by Liberty Mutual. While this was a sponsored opportunity, all content and opinions expressed here are my own. In my adult life, there has only been one house I’ve lived in that didn’t start out as a fixer upper. That one house was actually a brand-new construction. We were in that…
A front row seat from a lawnmower.
We were watching In the Heat of the Night when I told him I thought I should learn how to drive the tractor. Sitting in his recliner, with a cigarette between his fingers, he nodded his head. A week later, there was a new riding lawnmower in the toolshed for me. I was not surprised. My…
Embracing the Imperfections
Hey there. 🙂 I’m still here. I’ve been missing your (virtual) faces. I know it’s been over a month since I’ve last posted. I guess you could say I’ve been easing into 2018. Some people may refer to it as laziness. 😉 I’m sure other blogs you follow have by now posted all about their…
A shower of blessings…
There comes a day in every mom’s life when you simply have to do what must be done. You can no longer put it off. You can’t try to weasel your way out of it. You have to put on your best face and smile. Literally. You have to get the freakin’ family photos made….
Simple Home Security with Blink
This post is brought to you by Blink Home Video Security. However, all opinions are 100% mine and I completely own up to being a scaredy cat sometimes. Nearly a year ago, Grunt Labor went on a camping trip. He left on a Thursday after work. Nicky called later that evening to check on me and…
Freak Show Friday: On the contrary.
I went to Walgreen’s last night to get an Amoxicillin prescription filled for the Circus. I handed the pharmacy tech the prescription and she asked if the Circus liked the bubble gum flavor in that medicine. I had to think for a second. I thought, I should know the answer to this, right?! Come on,…
Freak Show Friday: I’m New Redneck.
Yes, you read that title right – it is a brand spanking new Freak Show Friday! This series kind of went on hiatus during the summer so I could spend more time with the Circus, but she started back to preschool this week, so Freak Show Friday is back! I won’t guarantee one every Friday,…
As it turns out, you are enough.
At the beginning of every summer for the past few years, at my command, the Circus, Grunt and I sit down and make a summer bucket list. Since Grunt is a teacher, he doesn’t have to work during the summer, with the exception of a few ball camps. Of course, the Circus has the summer…
Cows, Corn, and College
As each of the grandkids were born, my Pap gave us a cow. Now, I should probably clarify what exactly this means. This does not mean that he gave us a cow as a pet and it was on a leash in our backyard and we went out and petted it anytime we wanted. Although…
Summer Sidenotes
When did life begin to move so fast? I would swear to you that just a year or two ago I had just turned 18 and had my whole life ahead of me – and it seemed like it had taken forever to get to that point. Then I blinked. All photos by Bev Key Photography….
Freak Show Friday: How to Raise a Kid with Personality
The Circus is turning five next month. The personality this kid has got on her is something else and nothing that I ever thought a five year old could possess. I’m already considering pre-checking myself into the local mental health hospital because if this continues and her personality grows as she grows, I don’t know how I’ll…
A 1989 Chevrolet Cheyenne Pickup Truck
I believe it was Rick Bragg who once said that Southerners date events in their lives by the car they were driving at the time. I believe this to be true. It was in a deep red Cadillac Sedan Deville that I got pulled over three times within one month for speeding. Whoever said Grannie…