Let the Gator Growl!

Austin and I just returned from Gainesville, Florida (A.K.A. "The Mother Land") where we were in attendance at the 2008 Gator Growl pep rally and the UF/UK homecoming game.
First up: Gator Growl. Now, for you poor souls out there who are ignorant of what Gator Growl is, allow me to enlighten you. Not only is it a pep rally in support of the greatest football team on the planet, it is also the largest student run pep rally in the WORLD. We had incredible seats on the 50 yard line (too bad we can't swing that sort of thing on game day!) for the momentous occassion. This years event consisted of comedian Jon Reep (of "Last Comic Standing" and The "That Thing Got a Hemi?" Dodge truck commercial fame), many student created skits, and last, but CERTAINLY not least, the Steve Miller Band.

The coolest thing of all that we saw there though:, Mr. Two-Bits was sitting one section over. If you don't know who Mr. Two-Bits (George Edmondson) is....well I feel sorry for you. He's only the coolest 80+ year old in college football! He's retiring (again) this year from leading 60,000 of my very best friends in the age old "Two bit, four bits, six bits, a dollar....all for the GATORS, stand up and holler!" cheer at each and every home game. The man is an icon. I'd venture to say that Mr. Two-Bits could take on Bear Bryant for beloved college football legend (I know...I just threw every Bama fan into a huff right then.....they're usually mad about something though, so we'll just ignore it!). They have even made Albert a "Mr. Two-Bits" suit to wear next year to lead the crowd in the cheer when George gives up his place.
On Saturday, Austin and I headed to The Swamp for the football game. We had seats in the "sunshine section", which is referred to as such because I don't think you can get any closer to the sun without burning up! They were in the north end zone...and I LOVED them! We had actual seats, you could see EVERYTHING, and we were only about 30 seconds from bathrooms and concessions! :) Anyone who knows me well knows that those are my two priorities when in a stadium setting! We were also on the aisle, which meant that we could come and go at will without having to frog hop over twenty-six hundred people. When Florida came out and blocked Kentucky's first punt and then took all of 3 seconds to score a touchdown (and then repeated the same deal again about 2 minutes later!) we knew we were in for a fantastic win! The old boys of F-L-O-R-I-D-A put on quite the scoring clinic on that fine day.

After all was said and done, we were happy, tired, and ready to get home to the kids. To George "Mr. Two Bits" Edmondson: Thank you for 60 years and no matter what, I will ALWAYS stand up and holler for the Florida Gators!

I posted more pics on my myspace page: www.myspace.com/alrg8r click on VIEW PICS

We're Like a Fine Wine....We Just Get Better With Age!

Ten years.....let me say that one more time....It's been TEN YEARS since I graduated from Walton Senior High School. Of course, I graduated when I was 12, so I'm still what you might call a "spring chicken". :) Even still, ten years is a long time to be out of school! We started off the weekend with the homecoming parade.....a few of us showed up to participate, including Chandler and Hannah. We learned a valuable lesson during this parade.....one must conserve ones' candy when participating in a parade. We all were a bit overzealous when distributing candy (well...I was using the suckers I had for target practice!) and were all out around the mid point of the parade. This resulted in the Class of '98 float being pretty unpopular with the kiddos by the end of the parade. Oh well....they just don't know the amount of "cool" they were in the presence of!

Later that night, we all gathered at the ole alma mater for the homecoming football game. The night began with a light mist, which soon turned into actual rain. We were determined to stick it out for the Braves, so golf umbrellas arose in spades. We were optimistic about the game since it was homecoming. This optimism was quickly shattered when the Baker Gators scored almost immediately on us and then we turned the ball over on the kick off right after. The Blue and White boys pulled through eventually (so I was told!). Carrie Ann and I left at half time due to soaking wet rear ends. As soon as we got to the car to head to the Bell Farm for the c/o 98 cookout, the rain quit. If nothing else, at least we were able to get the fire going by the time most everyone got out there....because as you all know, there's nothing like a flame to draw a crowd in DeFuniak.

Saturday night was the big event. We all gathered at Bogey's....all dressed up....probably more than any of us have done since our senior prom! The food was good, the music great, and the company...even better! It was great to see everyone....it's really strange to me that everyone is married/has kids/has a real job/etc. I just figured that I was the only one who grew and changed and that everyone else just froze in time when graduation night came and went. Who knew that they all had lives too????!!! I'm glad I went and I hope that we can all stay in touch a little better. For those who were unable to come to this one....go ahead and mark your calendar for the 20 year reunion.....we had a blast this time, and I can only imagine that it'll just keep getting better!

The Walton County Fair

Ahhh....the smell of cotton candy, the music of the merry-go-round, and of course, Walton County's finest all convening upon one location at the same time.....it's a glorious sight to behold. Top it all off with the sheep showin' and the greased pig contest and you have the ingredients for a night o'fun at the fair! The Shoafs were in attendance in full force this year. We perused the booth exhibits, checked out the local artwork, and bemoaned my decision to NOT enter my now-famous blueberry jam into the fair competition. (because we ALL know that I would have walked away with a purple ribbon attached to it.....but probably not "best in show". More like a purple heart commendation for anyone brave enough to eat it!!) Hannah entered another decorated pumpkin this year. We had high hopes since she was reigning pre-K champ from last year. I was really looking forward to that $15 check to offset the cost of her "unlimited ride" armband. Alas, all we got this year was a participation ribbon. I am SURE that this is due to the fact that the judges just felt sorry for the other kids and didn't want to give Hannah the blue ribbon EVERY year...even though she CLEARLY deserved it!!! :) Me? Biased? NOOOOOOO! SHe didn't care though....I think that she actually likes her red/white/blue participation ribbon much more than her plain ole blue ribbon from last year. More colorful!

We checked out all manner of farm animal next. Hannah was impressed with the selection of critters to look at. They offered to let her pet a pig, but she respectfully declined (and by that, I mean she said, "no way, jose!". Chandler was pretty cool with the animal surroundings. He never really missed a step in his animal cracker snacking. Heaven forbid something come between the boy and his food!

Hannah received her very first fair stamp that night, which entitled her to ride any ride as much as her little heart wished. We began the evening on the merry-go-round, and then moved on to the whale ride, dumbo, airplanes, a HUGE pink slide (that she rode down with Austin), and discovered the wonderful world of roller coasters. My heart was in my throat the whole time she was on that thing, but she was a pro. I guess all children are born with a gene that kicks in on roller coaster, making them fling their arms in the air and scream, "WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Chandler, by the way, rode the stroller ride......free of charge. We thought about letting him ride the merry-go-round, but he seemed content to hang out with Austin or myself, so we just let him do that.

We ran into the Geoghagan clan and after some bribery with a pink princess ring for Gracie, she and Hannah made the ride circuit again. Follow it all up with corndogs, french fries, cotton candy, and candy apples and I believe you have a FAB-U-LOUS evening! Chandler did get his first taste of candy apple and judging by the pics....I'd venture to say he liked it a little!

It's Beginning to Feel Alot Like Fall

We made our trip to the pumpkin patch today! The First Methodist Church has a fabulous assortment of pumpkins that they sell each year by Walgreens. We got some last year and had such a great time decorating them that we couldn't wait to hit the patch again this year! Hannah picked out every scraggly, warty, pathetic looking pumpkin in the place and pronounced them hers. She's such a beautiful little soul! I did let her get a white pumpkin, so she was happy, even though I made her put all of her scrubs back. We got several pumpkins this year and are going to spend an afternoon this coming week painting them. Chandler thought he was in paradise. A land full of round, brightly colored balls to play with....does it get any better than that for a one-year-old??? We had a great time and will update the blog with painting pics and the final products :)

Photography

Here are some pictures I took the other day. I am loving this camera more and more! I have decided that one day when I have time (hahahahahahahahahaha) I want to do a photography workshop or something. I am falling in love with this hobby and just want to learn more! Austin keeps throwing out terms like aperture and ISO and lens filter....it's all Greek to me now, but hopefully, I'll start to be able to utilize all that stuff!

My First Go-Round at 29

Today was my first 29th birthday. I say it was my first because I am going to turn 29 again next year. I plan on going back down to about 20, back up to 29 again, and back down until the good Lord is ready to call me home! Hopefully I'll make the trip up and down through my 20's quite a few times!!! I don't think I'll ever be ready for 30, but I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I fully intend to make the very best outta my last year in this age decade! I had a great day and look forward to extending my birthday celebration into tomorrow night with dinner at the Old Bay Steamer. The food is so good...it'll make your tongue beat your brains out! :)

My desk at work was apparently vandalized by horrible people who just refused to allow me to pretend that I wasn't getting older today.

Austin had a dozen roses sent to me at work.

I got a boston creme cake at family night tonight (thanks Aunt Connie!) and lots of cards, fabulous gifts, and alot of love (even though I questioned that love during the "happy birthday" singing tonight!!! Just kidding...I actually demanded that everyone come inside and sing to me. Held the boston creme cake ransom to back up my demands!) Thanks to everyone for the phone calls, songs, goodies and well wishes. I'd like to extend a special thank you to my coworkers who serenaded me and danced for me this morning (although it's not NEAR as good as MY "happy birthday mr. president" dance!!!). Pat Dailey...you still owe me diamonds and chocolate! :)