This morning’s walk was sponsored by the following: 1 can Budweiser, 1 can The Beast, 2 cans Bud Light, a dive-bombing horsefly and a cock-eyed cat.

It was a good morning for a walk, despite the fact that at 6 am it was already 80 degrees and the air was as thick as creamed corn. But that was okay, because I was up before the alarm and ready to go.

The walk was going very well until the dive-bombing horsefly found me. That bugger wouldn’t go away! I’m sure I was quite the sight, flailing my arms about trying to defend myself from his suicidal attacks. Thank God the bombing started on a dead end street. If I had been on my normal jaunt, I probably would’ve flung myself into traffic trying to escape.

Once I rid myself of the kamikazi fly, (may he rest in peace. I hope his tribe appreciated his sacrifice) I headed into the park. Early mornings in the park are so pleasant. Usually, I’m alone…occasionally I pass by an old woman or the clean up crew. Today, it was me, the birds, a couple of critters…and the cock-eyed cat.

Do you remember Bill the Cat from Bloom County? Okay, so today, I met him in person.

During my first trip around the trail, I felt eyes on me. (Turned out it was “eye” not eyes, but that’s neither here nor there) I scanned the woods searching for my voyeur. Was it some creepoid? Was it just one of the cleaning crew? Was it the kamikaze fly back for his revenge?

I walked around the playground and still felt the eyes eye. My hair stood on end as goosebumps exploded across my skin…I turned my head to the right, and standing on top of this giant pile of mulch, I see Bill the Cat.

This poor cock-eyed cat should’ve been a cartoon. Apparently, I wasn’t supposed to “catch” him staring at me, because once I made eye contact (I hope it was the good eye) he freaked, puffed up like a blowfish and took off.

However, he never really left. I felt him staring the rest of my walk. He just found a better hiding place.

Talked to both of the lads yesterday. I still miss them terribly. How sad is that? Well, as their older, wiser, and much better looking sister, I suppose it’s okay for me to miss them.

T minus 2 days til I leave for Hotlanta! Can’t wait! Maybe I’ll start packing tonight. Bwahahahahaha! Who am I kidding.

This morning’s walk was sponsored by the following: 1 can Budweiser, 1 can The Beast, 2 cans Bud Light, a dive-bombing horsefly and a cock-eyed cat.

It was a good morning for a walk, despite the fact that at 6 am it was already 80 degrees and the air was as thick as creamed corn. But that was okay, because I was up before the alarm and ready to go.

The walk was going very well until the dive-bombing horsefly found me. That bugger wouldn’t go away! I’m sure I was quite the sight, flailing my arms about trying to defend myself from his suicidal attacks. Thank God the bombing started on a dead end street. If I had been on my normal jaunt, I probably would’ve flung myself into traffic trying to escape.

Once I rid myself of the kamikazi fly, (may he rest in peace. I hope his tribe appreciated his sacrifice) I headed into the park. Early mornings in the park are so pleasant. Usually, I’m alone…occasionally I pass by an old woman or the clean up crew. Today, it was me, the birds, a couple of critters…and the cock-eyed cat.

Do you remember Bill the Cat from Bloom County? Okay, so today, I met him in person.

During my first trip around the trail, I felt eyes on me. (Turned out it was “eye” not eyes, but that’s neither here nor there) I scanned the woods searching for my voyeur. Was it some creepoid? Was it just one of the cleaning crew? Was it the kamikaze fly back for his revenge?

I walked around the playground and still felt the eyes eye. My hair stood on end as goosebumps exploded across my skin…I turned my head to the right, and standing on top of this giant pile of mulch, I see Bill the Cat.

This poor cock-eyed cat should’ve been a cartoon. Apparently, I wasn’t supposed to “catch” him staring at me, because once I made eye contact (I hope it was the good eye) he freaked, puffed up like a blowfish and took off.

However, he never really left. I felt him staring the rest of my walk. He just found a better hiding place.

Talked to both of the lads yesterday. I still miss them terribly. How sad is that? Well, as their older, wiser, and much better looking sister, I suppose it’s okay for me to miss them.

T minus 2 days til I leave for Hotlanta! Can’t wait! Maybe I’ll start packing tonight. Bwahahahahaha! Who am I kidding.

Italian footballers: Manuele Blasi, Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Gianluca Zambrotta, Fabio Cannavaro.

I’m not sure what Dolce and Gabana is selling here (underwear, I hope) but let me tell ya, I’m thinking about buying whatever it is. Holy moly. No other sport builds ’em like this. Why soccer isn’t the most popular sport in America, I’ll never know.

I mean DAYUM! Talk about having fun on the field. I could watch these guys all day. Especially if they played as is…
Admit it, you’re a soccer fan now. Aren’t you?

I’m hot. Where’s my water…
Here’s one of Fabio Cannavaro all by himself because–well, honestly, isn’t this picture enough of a reason?

When do they start to like each other again?

Who? you ask.

My kids, that’s who.

When did they go from this:

To this:

Will they ever like each other again????? Somebody, give me some hope, please. If there is no hope, then we must discuss medication…quickly. And I don’t care if I’m the one getting medicated or if they are… okay, yes I do. I want the medication.

When do they start to like each other again?

Who? you ask.

My kids, that’s who.

When did they go from this:

To this:

Will they ever like each other again????? Somebody, give me some hope, please. If there is no hope, then we must discuss medication…quickly. And I don’t care if I’m the one getting medicated or if they are… okay, yes I do. I want the medication.

We moved to Oxford from Little Rock, 6 years ago. We were just entering our 30s and we had a pretty happening social life, even with two kids under 6–mainly because we lived around family and frankly, you couldn’t keep them away from the first grandbabies.

So, every Friday night, my Mom would pick up the boys and I would meet the girls for our weekly Girl’s Night Out. My girls were a group of teachers. (Hi ladies!) It was a nice mix–a couple of singles, the rest married–only a couple of Moms. We were a great group and no topic was off limits. (By the way, teachers KNOW how to party. They have all that pent up frustration with unruly kids and unreasonable parents…it’s a blast to be around. I miss them terribly.)

The guys would meet us out after 9 and we’d couple up and sometimes we’d stay in the group and sometimes we’d go off on our own.

We did this pretty much every week. We didn’t pull all nighters very often, but on occasion, we’d end the night at a local gay bar dancing our feet off.

We moved to Oxford and that just STOPPED. On a dime. Without warning.

I went through withdrawals. I am a social butterfly–always have been. And though I love my time alone on occasion, I thrive in a crowd of friends.

This town has been hard for us to find a fit because we didn’t go to school here and we’re not Rebel fans. (Go Hogs! Woo Pig Sooie!) We’re not real churchy–hey, that’s the benefit of being catholic, right? LOL and we’re not rolling in the dough. We’re at an odd age…not old, but not young enough to really fit in. Not that we care about fitting in, we care about finding a group of friends to hang with that we enjoy. And sometimes age makes a difference.

Recently, we’ve started finding ourselves among the social again. It’s been a breath of fresh air. I truly have missed the crowds and the camaraderie. It lifts me up…makes me feel better–if not a little tired. LOL

So, this week, I have plans Tuesday-Thursday with tentative plans on Friday. This is after my all night party in Memphis this past Saturday. I almost don’t know what to do with myself. LOL

It’s such a nice feeling to finally have a group that I’m comfortable enough with to go out and enjoy myself. It only took me six years of living here to find it. I just hope I’m not too old to truly enjoy it now! LOL

This morning’s walk was sponsored by bottles today: 1 Mad Dog 2020, 1 Miller Lite, and of course, 1 Bud Light.

I’ll probably never be able to look at Bud Light again without thinking of the lads.

The total distance of today’s walk was 3 miles. I ran for almost a 1/2 mile during the first part of my walk and then I ran for about a quarter mile on the last part of my walk. I hate running, but it makes me feel like I’m accomplishing something.

Besides, I had a big FAT dose of reality last night.

I was looking for pics from the conference in Reno so I could post them today. Well, I found them. And I didn’t recognize the chick staring back at me!

I tried to tell Grant this past weekend how big I was last year but he didn’t believe me. Unfortunately, I now have the pictures to prove it. And that lit a fire under my feet. I’ve lost almost 25 lbs now, but that picture of me from last year is probably 15 lbs heavier than my “before” picture I took in January.

How does that happen? I was an athlete once, dammit. I played basketball, ran track, and played softball. For YEARS. Soccer wasn’t big in my area at the time, if it had been, I would’ve played that, too.

I’m sorry to say, I will be posting very few pictures of last year’s conference. Maybe I will after the fact so we can have a comparison…but probably not.

This morning’s walk was sponsored by bottles today: 1 Mad Dog 2020, 1 Miller Lite, and of course, 1 Bud Light.

I’ll probably never be able to look at Bud Light again without thinking of the lads.

The total distance of today’s walk was 3 miles. I ran for almost a 1/2 mile during the first part of my walk and then I ran for about a quarter mile on the last part of my walk. I hate running, but it makes me feel like I’m accomplishing something.

Besides, I had a big FAT dose of reality last night.

I was looking for pics from the conference in Reno so I could post them today. Well, I found them. And I didn’t recognize the chick staring back at me!

I tried to tell Grant this past weekend how big I was last year but he didn’t believe me. Unfortunately, I now have the pictures to prove it. And that lit a fire under my feet. I’ve lost almost 25 lbs now, but that picture of me from last year is probably 15 lbs heavier than my “before” picture I took in January.

How does that happen? I was an athlete once, dammit. I played basketball, ran track, and played softball. For YEARS. Soccer wasn’t big in my area at the time, if it had been, I would’ve played that, too.

I’m sorry to say, I will be posting very few pictures of last year’s conference. Maybe I will after the fact so we can have a comparison…but probably not.