Sunday Funday

This weekend was one for the books.  Our weather was all over the place.  On Saturday we worked hard with some "hired help" south of the border on backyard project at my house, and raced against a pending thunderstorm to get er' done.  Unfortunately, on the way back out to his house, Jeff got caught in a hail storm that afternoon.  I was luckily 10 minutes behind and managed to miss it.  We rounded out the evening with our "happy" meal of ribeyes, grilled zuchinni and baked potatoes, while we watched lightening pop all around the countryside.

By Sunday, it seemed the clouds had passed though TWC was warning us differently.  We went to church and came home, and as usual on Sundays, ate every leftover in the fridge.  I would embarrass us if I told you what, so I will refrain.  But to describe it as a "combo appetizer" wouldn't quite cover it....

No sooner were the dishes done, did a MONSOON come rushing in out of nowhere!  And as quickly as it came, it was gone.  We watched the clouds disappear from our favorite spot on the front porch, and debated what to plant in the now-naked flower beds!  (We were attacked by fugus this winter people...be careful!  It will taken over every bush!!)  But we are so happy to see green grass....

And this fun bush blooming, a Japanese Snowball.  Planted one early Iron Bowl morning....  Oh course it's going to flourish, all it can do is WIN! (Right?!)  :) 

 So with clear blue skies again, and the thunder rolling on, the front porch debate, as always, led to project ideas....and we remembered Bubba's house down the road.  We always want to build something, or hunt for something, and we've been meaning to snoop around Bubba's house for some good wood, maybe find some treasures.  So off we went....

 Ok, so maybe it's not quite a "house" anymore.  But it was.  Jeff remembers when Bubba's (his cousin-they live right down the street) dad would stay here on the weekends, and it was a camphouse of sorts for the boys to play in.  They'd swim in the pond back behind it, and get in the kind of trouble boys are supposed to get in to on the weekends, I'd imagine.  (I wasn't let in on many details....)

 But it's a heap now.  Not much to salvage at first glance.  Just an old rotten house that Bubba hasn't torn all the way down yet.  But the more I saw, the more I liked.  I can just bet Jeff's son Kyle would have loved this "KEEP OUT" sign in his room (which is why I'm very glad he wasn't with us!!).....and Boy, don't I wish I was here years sooner to save this poor glider from its rusted out death.  I would love one of these!

 But as I very shakily climbed the fallen framework, to take a quick peak (and pic) inside, I got a little more interested.  I was disappointed when Jeff said I couldn't actually try and walk inside, even on the framing, because it was way too rotten.  We'd have to come back later with long boards of our own as scaffolding, but I was intrigued.  First, there's a lot of crap.  And on my way up, there was a lot of briars (with poison in the pricklies.)  But on a positive note, look, just look what I see!

 Jeff saw it too!  This mantle is in excellent condition (considering...).  And the best part is this tiny little house has three dadgum chimneys in it!  So there's three more just like it!  I can see a little sanding, and stain or paint, and hello...headboards!  Or heck, anything!  I just gotta have them, but I literally, physically....can.not.reach.them.  That sucks.  So....Jeffrey will clear it with good ol' Bubba, then with all the toys we've got out there...by gosh, I'm going to get those headboards!  And maybe some window frames, doors, etc too!

 Anyway, for the day, I settled for my sweet thang yanking some wood off the side of the house, and loadin' her up.  At the least, we've got some great potential there for picture frames, maybe a mirror surround.  There's no telling what we'll rig up.

 After dropping off our loot (don't read that like we stole that wood, Bubba would've been totally cool had we asked, I promise....) the skies were still gorgeous.  It's as if we hadn't weathered hail storms, and tornado watches at all.  So we did what we do best, Kubota "Kruisin."  :)  And out in Juniper, Georgia, street traffic typically consists of us on the Kubota, or something like this....  This is cousin Darrell, but whether you know us or not when you pass, please wave.

 Darrell was working on his own little project on Sunday afternoon, clearing some land on just a few thousand acres (that's all) of land he bought, which I'm pretty sure means just another place to play on.  :)  He was using that yellow tractor and my favorite they have...the Big Green Tractor, it's HUGE!

 The tires on the BGT are bigger than me, so Jeffrey found a new little guy just my size!

 Now, back to the farm.  And a recent addition.  Meet Grunt.  He's a big ol' porker, for sure.  Actually, we've recently changed his name to "Squeal" after a little surgical procedure, because "Grunt" seemed a little to, uh, masculine after uh,....  (please tell me you don't need details....)

 Grunt is great.  We've really bonded.  I laugh every time I see him.  I literally will "snort" and I am not lying when I say that fool will snort right back.  That's some pig.  T-EE-RR-II-FF-II-CCC.... (Ok, sorry, I'm a big Charlotte's Webb fan....  Anyway, he's half idiot too.  See how he's a little pinker than normal around the neck?  Who knew a pig could get sunburned?!!?  This week he did....so Mr. R has really slopped up his pen really good now.  Moron.

 So as we're checking on all the creatures in Robinsonville, and Wilbur...I mean Grunt was in the spotlight...Jeff chose to, shall we say, "pre-marinade" Grunt....?  Now we've got a great Jack Daniels BBQ marinade we've used....but a Miller Lite boston butt....huh.  And people be warned, this pig is a lush!

All we could do was crack up!  I can't wait to taste this sausage!  Jeff, you are evil and you must be destroyed!  (Please look at Grunt and his tongue...)

 After Grunt's dance with the devil, the child started straight up making fun of us.

 Cacklin.  Even smirking at us.

 ***Note:  No animals were harmed in the making of these pictures...And we did wash Grunt's beer down with a Aquifina.  :) 

Next up on your Planet Earth tour, the duuunkeys.  I know you've missed them.  Tilly and her baby.  The baby I haven't figured out yet.  Like maybe her head got stuck in the birth canal.  Or something.  she just looks....different. 

 And Frank, how can we not love that face.  Like, all up in my camera, face.  I will forever think of waffles, dragons, and a giant green oger when I see you.

 I am so happy we are friends now.

 I am also happy I am friends with this guy.  We can have a stinky kuboka riding farm day, feeding animals, or cleaning the house, or grocery shopping, or doing yard work, but then like Friday night, we can have a late night date night at our favorite sushi place.  We can have those "Come to Jesus" moments with the best of them, because we're both as stubborn as Frank there, but when they're over, I'm more comfortable than I've ever been, and I smile when I realize over and over again how cool it is to be in love with my best friend. 

And how fortunate he is I look past all that grey hair.

Okay, okay, and how lucky I am he looks past that bird's nest on the top of my head.

But seriously, could he have framed that picture any worse???



The OOC Outtakes...

Blazer...my homegirl.

 Not sure what Jess had just said, but obviously it had me concerned...

 Aw, 61.  You are definitely NOT the night owl of the group!

 If only I'd come out of my shell.

 AK to Blazer:  Your hair is so messy.  Let me fix it.

Jess to Rigsby:  You smell sooo good.

 Jess:  Jennifer, you're on my toe! 

Ashley:  Anyone want chapstick from my secret pocket?

Rigsby:  Now I smell something!

Jenn:  It wasn't me!

 Snack time happened 22 out of 24 hours of the day.

 Intently listening to a good TT story, I'm sure......

 that Ginny apparently found hilarious...but Jess...not so much?

 We'll call this lopsided love.

 This is a world only few understand, or venture to visit.  But these two rule it.  And rule it well.



OOC Weekend 2011

Last weekend eight of my favorite people in the whole wide world got together for one of my favorite weekends in the whole year...OOC Baby!  Our annual college roommate reunion, with all 9 of us in attendance from AL, GA, TN, and NC, all made it in to Seagrove where Ginny played hostess with the mostess in this bee-u-ti-ful house!  You know those cute little Sister Schubert rolls in the freezer section you just can't get enough of?  This would be her beach house.  HELL-O!

Now tell me this doesn't make you smile, how stinkin' cute are we!

Thursday night began at a staple for us dating back to college, the good ol' Red Bar in Seaside. 

And as soon as we got back to the hizzy, it was time to bust out some prizes!  Jess surprised us with some fun ornaments (you'll never guess...but they were owls!)  And TT gave us the our coveted OOC tshirts (yes, we are now that group that has tshirts made for reunions, and they are freaking awesome!) and our OOC CD mix '11...which we rock out to all weekend.

Friday started with bellinis and lunch at the Great Southern Cafe in Seaside, where we soaked up some much needed sunshine and toasted to what else?  US!

 My favorite two things in the world...crab cakes and fried green tomates!

My traveling buddy to FL...thanks for the ride, and the great company!  (And for that teeny tiny stop we made!)  :)  love you!!

 Next it was a little shopping to burn off some calories, and dollar bills....

 Back at the house, this sweet treat had been patiently waiting on us (and we'd been just dying for the perfect time to cut into it!)  and it was calling our name!  I love that the Decker's just "happen to see this in the bakery"...hmm, in red and yellow, with an owl, and OOC....the stars just must have been aligned.  Thanks Deckers!!

 Friday afternoon was a little too windy for beach time, so we suited up pool side for some quality time....and of course a group picture.  Ashley, where are your shades?

 Just as we arrive back at the house, we are greeted by none other than The Sister herself, supervising the delivery of a couch.  She's straight out of Andalusia, and as sweet as her orange rolls.  She didn't even flinch when we attacked her for a group picture! 

 Saturday afternoon before dinner, we surprised Lil' Gin with some prizes for Baby Jackson, who will be here in less that 4 weeks!  We were just thankful it wasn't this weekend!  I'm pretty sure TT thought she could handle an at-home delivery, but I'm not sure how Ginny would have felt about that!

 Saturday we spent all day on the beach, in the sun sun sun!  It was perfect weather!  Once we cleaned our stinky selves up, we managed a few more photos (shocked?) before heading off to our final dinner.

 We stopped by Erika Powell's, another one of our sorority sister's home, for cocktails before dinner, where I basically kidnapped her child, Sloane.  She's a living doll, I'm pretty sure her first full sentence was "I love you JennJenn."  (I hate no one heard it.)  Her mama's cool too, so we took her and another friend Allison to dinner with us.

 Dinner was at Borago, and you must go.  I ordered 5 things and ate it all.  Not really, but I could have.  But the shirmp risotto made me smile. 

 10 outta 10 for the weekend.  Hands down.  Hooty hoot.  I'm just sayin.  And Blazer, I am already counting down the days for OOC '12 in Flo-town.  Yall make my world go 'round.  Love you.

A Double-Header

This Monday was jam-packed! And in the best way possible! I called it a double-header Wish Day, because Terri and I had two wishes to grant...get-er-done, baby!

First up was Miss Vivian, who is every Disney princess imaginable all balled up in one oh-so-cute 3-year old! Her family moved here less than a year ago, and within weeks she was diagnosed with Wilm's tumor (a malignant kidney cancer in children) and that has been 100% of their focus from that moment). **Sidebar**When we met her family in December, her mom still didn't know where the mall was after 9 months! Clearly, they need some *happy* in their lives! So we sent her and her sweet family off to Disney World with a super fun party, and invited her pre-school class to join us to celebrate!

As always, we had the most perfect cake ever, to celebrate this princess!

We had Vivi's party at Monkey Joe's, which is the perfect place for parties! It's FULL OF bouncy thingys, and my favorite of the day was definitely the princess castle of course!

We could barely contain Miss Priss, or all her friends! We finally figured out how to round everyone up, when we mentioned "pizza" and "cake"...that'll do it every time!

We opened lots of fun princess-y prizes for Miss Vivi, and then sang "Happy Wish Day!" to her, as she blew out her candles to make her wish come true!! Vivian lights up a room, and she and her brothers are so covered with love from their parents; there isn't a more deserving family out there, I can promise you that! I cannot wait to get together with her family when they return to hear all about her trip! Happy Wish Day, Vivi!

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(Insert a mad-dash through the rain, across town, with balloons, cupcakes, and LOTS of gifts)

We also had the honor of hosting a Wish Party for a very special young lady, Jacquiline. She's so shy, right? This 17 year old is the perfect combination of sarcasm and wit and beauty and brains. We definitely were making wise cracks at each other all night. Though her Lupus diagnosis (a disease affecting her immune system) is why we've been brought together, I'm hoping emailing and facebook will keep us there!

When Jackie was asked what her BIGGEST WISH in the world would be, she simply said "to have a laptop of my own." More specifically, a silver one with black accents, with a large screen (for her deteriorating eyesight) so needless to say we knew exactly what to do! So as you can see, we came fully armed with LOTS of prizes!We met her whole family for a celebration dinner at her favorite restaurant, The Olive Garden, and ordered everything on the menu! And for dessert...red velvet cupcakes....her favorite of course! (Though it seems we like the icing the most, ha!)And after a very patient young lady waited for an eternity staring at all those gifts....we tore into them! First up was the printer/scanner/fax/copier! Followed by her Dell laptop with a HUGE screen (silver, of course), a laptop desk, a DIGITAL camera (cool!) with card and case, extra print catridges and paper for her printer, lots of CDs and cases, headphones, wireless mouse, a computer bag, and MAW t-shirt....ok, that's all I can remember....CRAZY, right?!?!I was so impressed how much time she took to read each personal note from all the MAW volunteers at headquarters on the card they asked me to give her. (What child does that?!) In fact, she found the card at the bottom of one bag and said, "Hey, you're supposed to read the card first!" Good girl, your mama taught you right! (I always look at the check...kidding, mom.)Terri and I managed to squeeze in a picture here, see we were there. And tired. And oh so happy. **Sidebar here** I asked Jackie what she wanted her laptop for. She said not really for games and stuff, but pretty much for online homework assignments. Again, what child would say that!? I'm so impressed with her!Her whole family was so emotional, and grateful for the evening, but I do understand why, I really do. Make-A-Wish is providing something they may not be able to financially, or frankly just isn't a priority at the time when you're focusing on health concerns. But what I don't think they'll ever understand is how emotional, and grateful I am for the evening as well. I go home feeling so much fuller, and alive, and humbled. NOT because I did a good deed, but because I see families happy I know have been burdened so long, I see kids laughing who have been stuck with needles, and I am reminded in those precious moments that God is Good.