The girls got theirs cut today too so we're gonna share with you our little modeling session we had after our visit to the salon!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
It's That Time Of Year!
Call me pitiful but I only get my hair cut once a year and THIS is that time of year! I don't intentionally wait this length of time, it's just that I will be fine with this cut until 12 months pass and then I'll be sick of it! And I certainly don't have the time to go get a cut just because.
The girls got theirs cut today too so we're gonna share with you our little modeling session we had after our visit to the salon!
The girls got theirs cut today too so we're gonna share with you our little modeling session we had after our visit to the salon!
The Story of Sam
You might remember that my last post about Sam was all pitiful and teary-eyed. Well, I got a little wet in the blinkers this morning, too but for a GOOD reason!
Here's the rest of the story:
A couple of days after posting that story and montage, I got an email/PM from an online friend from a crunchy Mom forum that I LOVE & frequent daily. Turns out my Sam post made her cry! She has just moved here (AL) from NY and had to leave her cats behind. She KNOWS my pain and wrote me to say she'd like to adopt Sam!
So we talked over the weekend and arranged for a Thursday pickup. I emailed (because the office was closed) the rescue office to let them know about the pending adoption! I was so excited! And so was my friend! This was working out so wonderfully!
Monday, I received a call from the rescuer/new-friend who helped receive Sam for adoption. She said, "I hope your friend isn't upset because Sam is already adopted!!!"
Turns out that one of the vets at the Animal Hospital where the adoption center resides, fell in love with Sam and adopted him as her very own! AND AND AND, this vet is a woman that I have met and is friends with many of my friends at church and is an inspirational Christian who has led a Mom's group Bible study I've attended! She is a super-cool lady! And I have to say again...SHE FELL IN LOVE WITH SAM! How perfect is that?
But the story doesn't end there! Monday morning, before anyone read my weekend email, Sam was taken by a DIFFERENT vet at the same hospital and was on TV on the local early morning show during their "pet vet" segment! Take a look and you'll see that he's beautiful and sweet! Awwww...I'm SO glad he's being spoiled and loved on! I wonder what's going on in that little cat brain of his. He has had THE most bizaare of weeks this month.
Of course, the vet who has adopted him got a little upset that Sam went on the air as an animal needing adoption because SHE already "called" him. I'm so glad she was willing to fight for him and not just let him go to anyone who requested him, which she EASILY could have done. I'm sure cats are a dime-a-dozen at the rescue center and if she didn't REALLY want him and just wanted A cat, she could have let someone else get him and she could have gotten another one from the center.
(Oh Sam...you DESERVE the royal treatment! I hope you are happy forever and ever!)
I did have the unfortunate job of calling my friend (who lives a couple of hours away) to tell her the story but she was super-understanding and genuinely happy for our sweet kitty.
I know MOST cats are just average and run-of-the-mill (at least, that's what this dog-lover thinks!) but Sam is special and we'll miss him very much.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Higher Than Average Expectations
Our house has been on the market a little over a week and we are trying really hard not to be bummed by the fact that there hasn't even been a nibble!
Are we expecting too much to think that the house should be getting offers by now?
Here's a little history:
Henry & I had our first for-sale house on the market about a week before it sold. It was a really fast process.
Our second for-sale house sold before we had it on the market and we got exactly what we asked.
My parents, the Gardeners, sold my childhood home within a couple of weeks. They sold their second home (just a couple of years ago) before putting it on the market. Not only that, they were able to close on their house and rent it from the buyer for the amount they had been paying for a house payment while they waited for their new house to be built!
Henry's parents, the Trippes, sold their home a few years ago, the day it went on the market. They had two offers with one of them being $1000 over the asking price.
Do you see now why we have high hopes for this house of ours?
We're optimistic that the reason things haven't moved yet is because the pictures of the house only went online yesterday. SURELY that's why no one has bitten yet, right? I mean this IS the age of online house-searching, isn't it?
(btw, our MLS# is 246624 if you know how to do searches. Send us a buyer!)
OH, we'll be having an Open House the weekend after this one. If you're in the area, PLEASE stop by!
On the house-hunt search, we have seen a handful of very interesting prospects. The price range of these potentiels is HUGE. There are some seriously in-the-running houses in the way-below-our-budget range and some that are in the way-above-our-budget range. I like the variety because at first we thought we'd never find anything we liked but now we're much more excited.
But we gotta sell our house first.
I hope to tell you a really great Sam story before the end of the week. I could tell you now but I'm waiting for a couple of details to be clarified before I write it out. Let me just say that it is a GOOD NEWS STORY!
Lastly, I will let you know that Ray has started a blog. I'm not ready to share the link with all of you yet (no offense) but I will probably do so soon.
Time to doze off. The wonderful movie "Stranger Than Fiction" is on (DVR) so I probably won't go to sleep immediately but zzzs aren't too far away.
Goodnight!
Saturday, September 22, 2007
The Good, The Bad, and The Beautiful
Good : Looks like an online friend of mine is going to adopt Sam this Thursday! WHOO HOO!!
Bad : Today's football game outcomes. Pfft.
Beautiful : Pics from earlier this week...
Bad : Today's football game outcomes. Pfft.
Beautiful : Pics from earlier this week...
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Kitty Cat Roller Coaster
What an emotional day it has been. Soon after the previously posted video was recorded & put online, I received a phone call from the family who had graciously agreed to keep Sam for us, until we settled into a new home. Turns out our "perfect" situation was actually imperfect. Sam was entirely too dominant in a house with other cats and had to come back to us after two nights away.
So our roller coaster ride was something like this...
Sad after realization that we'd need to find a new home for Sam when we started making plans to move in with parents.
Happy because the family that had helped take care of Sam when we vacationed was willing to take him to live with them.
Sad because Daddy of said family didn't know about this arrangement when it was agreed upon and nixed the plans.
Relieved that we were able to keep Sam at the 'for sale' house while we kept trying to find a new situation for him.
Happy because Henry agreed that finding a temp home for Sam would be OK (which we thought would be easier than finding a permanent home.)
Sad because finding a temp home was VERY difficult.
Happy because a sweet friend agreed to keep Sam temporarily.
And that's where we came back to the 'sad' because it didn't work out.
Then, the kids were "happy" because they were able to play with Sam again when he was returned to us.
Then my big heartache... I realized we needed to find a permanent arrangement for Sam because the poor kitty was struggling with all the craziness of the last month. Bless his heart...he felt abandoned at the 'for sale' house, then traumatized by the new location with the other cats, then traumatized again by being returned to us but in a strange location. You can see in the pictures from today that he was sad.
Then the biggest tear-jerker of the whole thing ocurred. A local animal-rescue friend made arrangements with an animal hospital to have him boarded and put up for adoption (about 10 steps up from humane society.) So poor Sam had to be re-crated and driven again to a strange location. Once at the animal hospital, his cat carrier got attacked by a small terrier. When we tried taking him from his carrier, he totally flipped out. So the rescuer closed him back up and took him away.
I cried.
So if you are local, and know someone interested in a super-awesome 2-year-old cat, please contact me and I'll tell you where he is. He really needs a happy, safe, forever home.
Pics from today...(**WARNING** Very Sappy! Henry can't believe I made a montage!)
So our roller coaster ride was something like this...
Sad after realization that we'd need to find a new home for Sam when we started making plans to move in with parents.
Happy because the family that had helped take care of Sam when we vacationed was willing to take him to live with them.
Sad because Daddy of said family didn't know about this arrangement when it was agreed upon and nixed the plans.
Relieved that we were able to keep Sam at the 'for sale' house while we kept trying to find a new situation for him.
Happy because Henry agreed that finding a temp home for Sam would be OK (which we thought would be easier than finding a permanent home.)
Sad because finding a temp home was VERY difficult.
Happy because a sweet friend agreed to keep Sam temporarily.
And that's where we came back to the 'sad' because it didn't work out.
Then, the kids were "happy" because they were able to play with Sam again when he was returned to us.
Then my big heartache... I realized we needed to find a permanent arrangement for Sam because the poor kitty was struggling with all the craziness of the last month. Bless his heart...he felt abandoned at the 'for sale' house, then traumatized by the new location with the other cats, then traumatized again by being returned to us but in a strange location. You can see in the pictures from today that he was sad.
Then the biggest tear-jerker of the whole thing ocurred. A local animal-rescue friend made arrangements with an animal hospital to have him boarded and put up for adoption (about 10 steps up from humane society.) So poor Sam had to be re-crated and driven again to a strange location. Once at the animal hospital, his cat carrier got attacked by a small terrier. When we tried taking him from his carrier, he totally flipped out. So the rescuer closed him back up and took him away.
I cried.
So if you are local, and know someone interested in a super-awesome 2-year-old cat, please contact me and I'll tell you where he is. He really needs a happy, safe, forever home.
Pics from today...(**WARNING** Very Sappy! Henry can't believe I made a montage!)
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Whew!
Another great day of football!
After a few very difficult, "if-you-put-me-down-I-will-scream-out-in-pain" days with Captain, we had a WONDERFUL day today. I was even able to leave him with Henry for a couple of hours to do a Walmart trip, and he didn't throw even the tiniest of fits! YAY! And when I was cleaning the kitchen, he just crawled around on the floor watching me circle the island over and over. We played a little bit of peek-a-boo around the corners and he was happy as could be! And (get this!) when I was loading the dishwasher, that little stinker pulled himself up to standing!!!!! ACK! If he was the first baby, I'd be proud as a peacock but seeing as he's numero cinqo I kinda cringe at the idea of having a toddling tornado whirling through the house so soon. I'll be glad to have the grandparents' eyes & hands in these upcoming months, for sure!
There's a For Sale sign in our yard now! (biting fingernails...)
Still worrying about the cat. He needs a long-term sitter or a new adoptive family very soon...
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Steph's Other Space
I guess I can tell you all now that my sister's real name isn't, Uma! Her name is Stephanie and she finally has a blog of her very own! YAY!
She's lots of fun to read.
I'll be curious to see if any of you recognize how very different we are in so many ways and how oddly the same we are in others.
Go give her some commentin' luv!
She's lots of fun to read.
I'll be curious to see if any of you recognize how very different we are in so many ways and how oddly the same we are in others.
Go give her some commentin' luv!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
More Random Tidbits
When Captain learned how to "gimme five" we all decided he needed to learn more tricks! Would you believe that today he learned how to "show me your tongue" (razzes), "say hey" (waves and says 'haaaaaayy'), "clap yay!" (attempts to put hands together but they're still fisted and he hits top hand on the back of bottom hand, but he says "yay" which is adorable!)
I need a GOOD babysitter to go with me to the "for sale" house tomorrow so I can get something done while Captain is well looked after. The kids can distract him some but he really needs an adult who can REALLY walk him and talk to him and distract him with walks out to the porch and stuff like that. It won't happen, though. Pfft. If only I could have a few hours without kids to finish up the last few little things at the house, I would be soooo happy. Things that should take only a couple of hours are taking DAYS!
Did anyone see this crazy picture of the 9 being knocked off the helmet of a Vandy player?? It's true! Cameras caught the oddity of a decal being busted loose and falling to the ground! See?
I need a GOOD babysitter to go with me to the "for sale" house tomorrow so I can get something done while Captain is well looked after. The kids can distract him some but he really needs an adult who can REALLY walk him and talk to him and distract him with walks out to the porch and stuff like that. It won't happen, though. Pfft. If only I could have a few hours without kids to finish up the last few little things at the house, I would be soooo happy. Things that should take only a couple of hours are taking DAYS!
Did anyone see this crazy picture of the 9 being knocked off the helmet of a Vandy player?? It's true! Cameras caught the oddity of a decal being busted loose and falling to the ground! See?
Monday, September 10, 2007
Quick Jots
Captain learned how to "gimme five" today and it thrills the kids to no end!
Our "for sale" house now has new BROWN vinyl shutters and I love the way it looks SO MUCH that I'm a teeny bit sad the house won't be ours much longer. We also got the front door refreshed & shiny and it looks so purty!! Next on the to-do list...new pine straw for the front beds!
We need a temporary home for our cat, Sam. He can't live with us at the Gardeners and our previous arrangement for him to be adopted by another family, fell through. We're now thinking we'd like to find a temp home for him while we're showing the house and get him back after we're settled into a new place. Do you think we can get so lucky as to find an arrangement like this?
Indie's homeschool computer went kaput so she and Ray have to share the laptop. SIgh.
Age 4 is the "learn-how-to-lie" stage and it frustrates me!
I'm starting a Zumba class on the 20th. Any locals wanna try it with me? It's at 7:30 pm. Email me if interested.
Our "for sale" house now has new BROWN vinyl shutters and I love the way it looks SO MUCH that I'm a teeny bit sad the house won't be ours much longer. We also got the front door refreshed & shiny and it looks so purty!! Next on the to-do list...new pine straw for the front beds!
We need a temporary home for our cat, Sam. He can't live with us at the Gardeners and our previous arrangement for him to be adopted by another family, fell through. We're now thinking we'd like to find a temp home for him while we're showing the house and get him back after we're settled into a new place. Do you think we can get so lucky as to find an arrangement like this?
Indie's homeschool computer went kaput so she and Ray have to share the laptop. SIgh.
Age 4 is the "learn-how-to-lie" stage and it frustrates me!
I'm starting a Zumba class on the 20th. Any locals wanna try it with me? It's at 7:30 pm. Email me if interested.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
7 Month Milestone
We haven't quite hit it yet but since I'll be busy doing moving stuff during the week, I thought I'd go ahead and make reference to it.
Here's the development chart at BabyCenter.com
Captain has definitely done the "mastered" skills. He's crawling quite easily (and fast and not caring if objects are in the way...he just crawls right over them!) He's close to waving bye-bye (waves "hey" and says "hey" when he sees one of the kids or grandparents or Henry) is enjoying his new grasp of object permanence which makes peek-a-boo and hiding things more fun (unless it's the remote or phone or something he doesn't need to have.) My biggest concern is that when he's crawling over things, he is already standing up on his feet and leaning forward on his hands. I'm afraid he's going to start pulling up on stuff soon! ACK! TOO SOON!
Saturday, September 08, 2007
All Is Right With The World!
Today was a GOOD day (and late night) of football!
Roll Tide & WAY TO GO BULLS!
Thursday, September 06, 2007
My Brain Hurts
There's just so much flying through the gray matter these days that it almost hurts. Wanna hear about it?
Of course, there's the minor issue of getting a house ready to sell. We're making daily trips to the house to pack & clean & to check on the cat (needs new home by the way!) and the progress is just sooo slow. Thankfully we are seeing good progress but it seems to have taken forever. We also have lots of little fixer-type projects and "the guy" we use for those type things is coming over tomorrow night. I'm truly scared of the cost that might be involved. That fear puts lots of thoughts in my head...
Thankfully, our realtors (we have 2 -- we're cool that way, ya know!) are super-encouraging about the house. Maybe they're just being sales-people?? It really doesn't matter because I need to hear their encouraging comments. Their pricing ideas meshed perfectly with our pricing ideas and that was a big blessing. They also complimented our "space" and this words-of-affirmation love language gal just soaked it up! OH, and they are so excited that we're not living there and have offered to "stage" the house for us! That gives me a nice HGTV-styled, warm, fuzzy feeling! I can't wait to see what they can do!
They also told us of a recent house-selling within a block or so of us and that the new neighborhood school being built being was a major draw. We're hoping to play on that school thing, too! Our house is just perfect for a family with lots of kids! We're hoping that little school (to open in 2009) will keep our house a little safer than most other houses in this "buyers' market."
In other news, we started our own school Tuesday. Day 1 was great. Things went very well. I will admit that I might have been a little too optimistic in thinking that this school year would be easier than last, though. I thought my pregnancy & post-partum months of teaching would be the more difficult of my homeschool experiences but these 2nd-year-pro months are proving that teaching with a teething 6-month-old and chatty 4 year-old might be the biggest of challenges.
Add to that a broken computer with a computer-based curriculum (busted on 2nd day!!) and you can safely deduce that I'm a little whipped. Tomorrow we will limp through another day of no computer but we have to have a better resolution to this problem by Monday. PRAISE GOD for my best friend's hubby being a computer guy! (J -- YOU TOTALLY ROCK! Thank you for all your help!!!) I will say, though, that the computer issue isn't 100% bad because it's giving me an opportunity to do more multi-aged teaching, which is cool. It's amazing how we've been able to incorporate things to make them jive but if I had to do this EVERY day, I don't know if I'd swing it all that well.
In the big picture, everything is going quite well, but the smaller picture shows the kids being a little wonky. The weirdness and activity of all these abnormal situations has started to affect the kids' behaviors. They're getting on each others' nerves a little easier than the norm and they're turning into tattle-telling, whiners that need more parental guidance. They're tired and maybe a little sub-conciously homesick and not really their happiest selves. I think the 'new' of all this is wearing off and they're feeling a little dizzy from the irregularities of each day. I'm hoping things will soon stabilize & we can all get some more rest and into some sort of pattern. When we can get the house completely show-ready, things will be MUCH better. The living arrangement we have is very good so my biggest desire right now is to just get done with the house and get it sold!
I'll share more soon.
Of course, there's the minor issue of getting a house ready to sell. We're making daily trips to the house to pack & clean & to check on the cat (needs new home by the way!) and the progress is just sooo slow. Thankfully we are seeing good progress but it seems to have taken forever. We also have lots of little fixer-type projects and "the guy" we use for those type things is coming over tomorrow night. I'm truly scared of the cost that might be involved. That fear puts lots of thoughts in my head...
Thankfully, our realtors (we have 2 -- we're cool that way, ya know!) are super-encouraging about the house. Maybe they're just being sales-people?? It really doesn't matter because I need to hear their encouraging comments. Their pricing ideas meshed perfectly with our pricing ideas and that was a big blessing. They also complimented our "space" and this words-of-affirmation love language gal just soaked it up! OH, and they are so excited that we're not living there and have offered to "stage" the house for us! That gives me a nice HGTV-styled, warm, fuzzy feeling! I can't wait to see what they can do!
They also told us of a recent house-selling within a block or so of us and that the new neighborhood school being built being was a major draw. We're hoping to play on that school thing, too! Our house is just perfect for a family with lots of kids! We're hoping that little school (to open in 2009) will keep our house a little safer than most other houses in this "buyers' market."
In other news, we started our own school Tuesday. Day 1 was great. Things went very well. I will admit that I might have been a little too optimistic in thinking that this school year would be easier than last, though. I thought my pregnancy & post-partum months of teaching would be the more difficult of my homeschool experiences but these 2nd-year-pro months are proving that teaching with a teething 6-month-old and chatty 4 year-old might be the biggest of challenges.
Add to that a broken computer with a computer-based curriculum (busted on 2nd day!!) and you can safely deduce that I'm a little whipped. Tomorrow we will limp through another day of no computer but we have to have a better resolution to this problem by Monday. PRAISE GOD for my best friend's hubby being a computer guy! (J -- YOU TOTALLY ROCK! Thank you for all your help!!!) I will say, though, that the computer issue isn't 100% bad because it's giving me an opportunity to do more multi-aged teaching, which is cool. It's amazing how we've been able to incorporate things to make them jive but if I had to do this EVERY day, I don't know if I'd swing it all that well.
In the big picture, everything is going quite well, but the smaller picture shows the kids being a little wonky. The weirdness and activity of all these abnormal situations has started to affect the kids' behaviors. They're getting on each others' nerves a little easier than the norm and they're turning into tattle-telling, whiners that need more parental guidance. They're tired and maybe a little sub-conciously homesick and not really their happiest selves. I think the 'new' of all this is wearing off and they're feeling a little dizzy from the irregularities of each day. I'm hoping things will soon stabilize & we can all get some more rest and into some sort of pattern. When we can get the house completely show-ready, things will be MUCH better. The living arrangement we have is very good so my biggest desire right now is to just get done with the house and get it sold!
I'll share more soon.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
An Uma Sample - Being Bama
This was written on my sister's myspace blog. She's Bama through and through!
I love that she wrote this a couple of days before Bama's season opener...
Uma's words:
This SI guy pretty much said it all (that's why he gets paid the big bucks!) But since most of you don't have enough spare time and/or stomach to read 8 pages dedicated to why Bama fans are so pumped at this point, I'll state my case using a forward that made the rounds a while back. Just to prove that this tradition stuff is still relevant to us younger folk and not just the geezers, I'll try to make a point-by-point remark on how this applies to even a 29-year-old like me...
ALABAMA FOOTBALL IS:
1. It is Wallace Wade, It is Bear Bryant. It is Gene Stallings. It is NOT Bill Curry. (Okay, so Bill Curry was a LITTLE before my time but I loved Gene about like he was my own flesh and blood. I cried when he coached his last game because even then I knew he was a dying breed. Other than JoPa, there really aren't any still around quite like him. And his son Johnny embodies everything I love about Alabama football. I remember seeing him working at the Bryant Museum while I was a student at UA. If you make some kind of inappropriate comment about Johnny on this blog, I will hunt you down…)
2. It is definitely NOT Dennis Franchione. (Wow, does anybody remember how we rallied around this idiot? He was a good coach for sure but like it's been said before, I think he's learning that UA makes the coach and not vice versa. And one reason I'm proud to be a Bama fan? We took turns smashing the Fran bobbleheads and gave the proceeds to charity. Hook 'em Horns!)
3. It is the Sugar Bowl. (So we haven't been in a while but our memories there are sweeter than anybody's. And yes, I WAS THERE when we beat Miami in '93!)
4. It is the Rose Bowl. (How many other SEC schools can say that? Um, none. Check your facts folks… Bama was ridin' the rails to Pasadena back with most folks were just starting to field teams. And for any of you with Southern pride, you should take a peek at how the national media covered those games. In all honesty, I'll retire my shaker once I see Bama win a ring in the Rose Bowl because it won't ever get any better than that.)
5. It is hearing Keith Jackson call an Alabama game. (It's knowing who Keith Jackson is from something other than those catchy Gatorade commercials. I can sit here at this computer and almost hear him calling a game… just FYI, he came out of semi-retirement just to call the Bama-UCLA game in Pasadena in 2000)
6. It is watching George Teague run down Lamar Thomas in the 1993 Sugar Bowl then rewinding it and watching it again. (Man, George Teague was/is my all-time favorite player. Not only was he from da gump, I got to meet him back when he was a freshman and I followed him ever since. He did NOT disappoint. My favorite Teague play from that Sugar Bowl was the pick he returned for a TD. Man, I swear he did that just for me! And to boot, it was Teague that took out TO on the Dallas star!)
7. It is hearing the first notes of Sweet Home Alabama. (Well, I can't say that I love this song and I'm not real sure why a team predominantly consisting of African-Americans has this as one of their "theme" songs but it seems less annoying/cheesy than Eye of the Tiger. [Oops, did I type that?!?!] I love to hear this song though when we're on the road! But you're a true Bama fan if Dixieland Delight has become music to your ears!)
8. It is the desire to beat Auburn at any competitive event that exists. (It's true… we've gone to watch the girls soccer team play Auburn)
9. It is the houndstooth hat. (Let's face it, it's the houndtooth ANYTHING. The marketing guys really missed out when Steve Spurrier didn't take the job. Those houndstooth visors would still be on backorder.)
10. It is having enough pride to fight for your school but having enough class not to. (Ask my family, I've come close to blows a few times but I've always decided it was *ahem* not the classiest or, more importantly, the most Christian thing to do!)
11. It is cheering the same amount for a first down as a second and 6 or on fourth and 1. (Seriously, nothing feels better than cheering your lungs out and feeling like you were a part of causing that other team's false start or delay of game. It makes me feel like the 12th man. And you can ask anyone at our church, I'm ALWAYS hoarse on Sunday mornings in the fall, no matter the opponent or outcome.)
12. It is watching Cornelius Bennett give Notre Dame quarterback Steve Beuerlein a concussion on that October day in Birmingham in 1986. (Okay, so again this was before my time but I DO know exactly what play this is and I even know how to pronounce that dude's last name. I also know that the original Daniel Moore painting of this play hangs in the Bryant Museum and every true Bama fan dreams about hanging it in THEIR house someday!)
13. It is determining who you are going to date and marry by which team they swear allegiance to. (Not only that, but you also plan your wedding and/or pregnancies around football! We had just enough time to squeeze in a wedding and honeymoon before we made it back home to see Bama kick off the season against Vanderbilt. I don't have enough time to write the whole story but basically my oldest son was born just a few hours after a UA game that I was at! We never made that "mistake" again… our next kid was born in May!)
14. It is watching the Bear on the jumbotron before a game in Bryant-Denny Stadium and almost seeing him lean against the goalpost in the end zone. (It's also knowing most, if not all, of what the Bear says in those clips because you've memorized it… not because it's audible!)
15. It is spending a day at The Bryant Museum and still not seeing everything. (I love this place… I even got to spend some time in the research library once and decided that working there would be one of the coolest history-related jobs ever!)
16. It is watching The Bear get number 315 against Auburn. (Again, a little before my time but I know the scene well as it is commemorated in a Daniel Moore print hanging in my parent's house. And I swear, my oldest boy used to stare at that thing and raise his fist in a little Roll Tide fashion when he was only about a year old!)
17. It is watching The Bear get number 323 against Illinois. (And it's feeling really sad when a guy like Bobby Bowden surpasses that milestone.)
18. It is hearing Paul Kennedy do the play by play when Van Tiffin kicked the 52 yard field goal against Auburn in 1985. (Wow, this one actually isn't before my time… which makes me old! I remember this play and the Paul Kennedy call. I most vividly remember my dad breaking our ceiling fan when he jumped out of his chair celebrate that kick! And I also remember my MALE cousin crying because he had just "switched" over to Auburn that year… GOOD STUFF!)
19. It is knowing how many days until the start of a season year round. (Since I had kids, the offseason seems a lot shorter than it used to!)
20. It is driving down Colonial Drive to see Bryant-Denny Stadium, not the sorority girls. (Well, I'm not at all interested in the sorority girls obviously! And we usually walk up from the south endzone so we miss the pretty new promenade off of Colonial that pays homage to all the greats. Still, BDS looks good from any direction… it looks like HOME!)
21. It is getting chills up and down your entire body when ever you hear anything about the 1993 Sugar Bowl and the pride you feel because that night tradition ruled. (I can't explain how awesome it was to be there. That Miami team represented all I hate about college football nowadays. They were pompous punks and thugs who ran their mouth up and down Bourbon Street all week long. Then we ran the ball up and down them in the Superdome. I love the David Palmer quote before that game 'Everybody says Miami can beat anybody. But we're not just anybody… we're Alabama.' If you love and respect the game [and you're not an Auburn fan], you felt like all was right in the world after that game.)
22. It is hearing the Bear's voice and having all the hair on the back of your neck stand up because you know no matter what he said, it was something special. (It's being able to admit you usually couldn't tell WHAT the heck he just said but loving it just the same!)< SPAN>
23. It is hearing the Million Dollar Band play "Yea Alabama"and knowing it does just not get any better. (It's having your 3-year-old know the words to Yea Alabama. It's also knowing that it's 'Yea Alabama, Drown 'Em Tide', not 'Yea Alabama, Crimson Tide')
24. It is imagining hearing Penn State Quaterback Chuck Fusina ask Alabama linebacker Barry Krauss "How close is it"? and hearing Krauss say "About an inch, you'd better pass", right before fourth down during The Goal Line Stand in the 1979 Sugar Bowl. (It is being born in 1978 and still knowing exactly what The Goal Line Stand is!)
25. It is almost coming to tears whenever Alabama loses to Tennessee or Auburn. (It IS crying at the games, sometimes even when we win, and it being okay because I'm a girl! It's even better when you look around and see others crying, too!)
26. It is "The Kick". It is "The Goal Line Stand". It is "The Desperation Block". (It is watching an amazing play and knowing someday it will probably be a Daniel Moore painting referred to simply as "The _____"…)
27. It is Joe 'Willie' Namath. (It is him being so good that you're not even embarrassed the dude used to wear pantyhose and once appeared drunk on national TV while trying to kiss a sideline reporter!)
28. It is purposely not wearing any clothes with the colors orange and blue. (Seriously, I have to rearrange the shampoo bottles in my shower so that their orange packaging is not next to my blue Noxema pump… talk about neurotic!)
29. It is the third Saturday in October. (And knowing that we're SUPPOSED to play and beat UT on that day!)
30. It is not needing an alarm clock on game days, you sit bolt upright in the bed long before the alarm goes off because you know that it is gameday, you can sleep after the bowl game. (It's knowing you don't have to set an alarm clock because Bama almost always plays at night because we're primetime, baby!)
31. It is walking into a stadium and knowing Alabama will win the game no matter who they are playing just because that's the way it is supposed to be. (It's also knowing that no matter the odds, you feel like you're a national championship contender at the beginning of every season until you lose that first game… then crying if you do lose that first game!)
32. It is saying "Offense wins games, Defense wins national titles. (1993 Sugar Bowl is all I have to say about that.)
33. It is getting to the stadium hours before the game just to be there. (My hubby used to complain that I wanted to be in the stadium when it opened a whole TWO HOURS before kick-off but I think he's come around. It's such a serene time before the game and it beats sitting in a lawn chair!)
34. It is walking into another team's stadium and having those fans hate you because you are from Alabama. (I LOVE road games… and our hometown is like living at an away game!)
35. It is the pride that a father has when he brings his children to a game so they may cherish the tradition. (Man, probably the reason I love Bama football so much is because years ago I went with my dad and it was usually just the two of us. Now I'm on the other side of that equation and I LOVE taking my kid(s) with us.L/J)
36. It is beating LSU in Baton Rouge. (I have never been to Baton Rouge. Jeff and I talked about going back in 1998 and I KICK MYSELF for not going. That was one of the most awesome Bama games ever… The Tide don't lose in Baton Rouge!)
37. It is the pride you take in being every team's rival. (You know it's true… who doesn't seem to live to hate Alabama except us Bama fans?)
38. It is pulling for any team that is playing Auburn. (I plead the 5th)
39. It is pulling for any team that is playing Tennessee. (That was tough when they played A&M a few years back! I couldn't watch!)
40. It is hoping for the stadium to blow up when Auburn plays Tennessee. (Okay, not really blows up. I just tell everyone I'm cheering for the refs… that seems less violent!)
41. It is knowing that the SEC Championship is a birthright. (Call us Esau cause it feels like we sold that one to Jacob!)
42. It is being respected and feared at the same time. (I believe at the heart of it all, it's fear that drives the anti-Saban movement)
43. It is knowing what "Mama Called" means. (And knowing who said it… that would be Bear Bryant for all you Aubs)
44. It is beating the Gators twice a year. (1999 was a GOOD year, wasn't it?. It's even whoopin' Florida under one of the worst college coaches ever!)
45. It is the most bowl appearances and victories in NCAA history. (It's true… check your facts. But we need to stop letting other teams gain ground!)
46. It is having 21 Southeastern Conference Titles. (Truth is, this is Alabama and we don't even care about SEC championships! I'm surprised we've even kept count.)
47. It is having 12 National Titles. (It is knowing that in all honesty, it should be more like 13 or 14.)
48. It is class. (Nothing gets under folks' skin more than saying we have class. Truth is, I don't know that anyone in college football has much class now.)
49. It is tradition. (You can't argue with tradition… we have it and I can back that up with stats if you'd like. We're Dixie's football pride, Crimson Tide.)
50. It is Alabama Football. (It is getting chillbumps when you hear 'THIS IS ALABAMA FOOTBALL!' over the PA system at BDS, even if 100+ degrees!)
Believe me, if I had more time, I'd expound upon all the reasons I think Bama deserves to be back but I'm just too exhausted to be eloquent at this point. And let's face it, I'm not going to convert anyone anyway so why try? We're the few, the proud and I'm cool with that. Let it begin… ROLL TIDE!
I love that she wrote this a couple of days before Bama's season opener...
Uma's words:
This SI guy pretty much said it all (that's why he gets paid the big bucks!) But since most of you don't have enough spare time and/or stomach to read 8 pages dedicated to why Bama fans are so pumped at this point, I'll state my case using a forward that made the rounds a while back. Just to prove that this tradition stuff is still relevant to us younger folk and not just the geezers, I'll try to make a point-by-point remark on how this applies to even a 29-year-old like me...
ALABAMA FOOTBALL IS:
1. It is Wallace Wade, It is Bear Bryant. It is Gene Stallings. It is NOT Bill Curry. (Okay, so Bill Curry was a LITTLE before my time but I loved Gene about like he was my own flesh and blood. I cried when he coached his last game because even then I knew he was a dying breed. Other than JoPa, there really aren't any still around quite like him. And his son Johnny embodies everything I love about Alabama football. I remember seeing him working at the Bryant Museum while I was a student at UA. If you make some kind of inappropriate comment about Johnny on this blog, I will hunt you down…)
2. It is definitely NOT Dennis Franchione. (Wow, does anybody remember how we rallied around this idiot? He was a good coach for sure but like it's been said before, I think he's learning that UA makes the coach and not vice versa. And one reason I'm proud to be a Bama fan? We took turns smashing the Fran bobbleheads and gave the proceeds to charity. Hook 'em Horns!)
3. It is the Sugar Bowl. (So we haven't been in a while but our memories there are sweeter than anybody's. And yes, I WAS THERE when we beat Miami in '93!)
4. It is the Rose Bowl. (How many other SEC schools can say that? Um, none. Check your facts folks… Bama was ridin' the rails to Pasadena back with most folks were just starting to field teams. And for any of you with Southern pride, you should take a peek at how the national media covered those games. In all honesty, I'll retire my shaker once I see Bama win a ring in the Rose Bowl because it won't ever get any better than that.)
5. It is hearing Keith Jackson call an Alabama game. (It's knowing who Keith Jackson is from something other than those catchy Gatorade commercials. I can sit here at this computer and almost hear him calling a game… just FYI, he came out of semi-retirement just to call the Bama-UCLA game in Pasadena in 2000)
6. It is watching George Teague run down Lamar Thomas in the 1993 Sugar Bowl then rewinding it and watching it again. (Man, George Teague was/is my all-time favorite player. Not only was he from da gump, I got to meet him back when he was a freshman and I followed him ever since. He did NOT disappoint. My favorite Teague play from that Sugar Bowl was the pick he returned for a TD. Man, I swear he did that just for me! And to boot, it was Teague that took out TO on the Dallas star!)
7. It is hearing the first notes of Sweet Home Alabama. (Well, I can't say that I love this song and I'm not real sure why a team predominantly consisting of African-Americans has this as one of their "theme" songs but it seems less annoying/cheesy than Eye of the Tiger. [Oops, did I type that?!?!] I love to hear this song though when we're on the road! But you're a true Bama fan if Dixieland Delight has become music to your ears!)
8. It is the desire to beat Auburn at any competitive event that exists. (It's true… we've gone to watch the girls soccer team play Auburn)
9. It is the houndstooth hat. (Let's face it, it's the houndtooth ANYTHING. The marketing guys really missed out when Steve Spurrier didn't take the job. Those houndstooth visors would still be on backorder.)
10. It is having enough pride to fight for your school but having enough class not to. (Ask my family, I've come close to blows a few times but I've always decided it was *ahem* not the classiest or, more importantly, the most Christian thing to do!)
11. It is cheering the same amount for a first down as a second and 6 or on fourth and 1. (Seriously, nothing feels better than cheering your lungs out and feeling like you were a part of causing that other team's false start or delay of game. It makes me feel like the 12th man. And you can ask anyone at our church, I'm ALWAYS hoarse on Sunday mornings in the fall, no matter the opponent or outcome.)
12. It is watching Cornelius Bennett give Notre Dame quarterback Steve Beuerlein a concussion on that October day in Birmingham in 1986. (Okay, so again this was before my time but I DO know exactly what play this is and I even know how to pronounce that dude's last name. I also know that the original Daniel Moore painting of this play hangs in the Bryant Museum and every true Bama fan dreams about hanging it in THEIR house someday!)
13. It is determining who you are going to date and marry by which team they swear allegiance to. (Not only that, but you also plan your wedding and/or pregnancies around football! We had just enough time to squeeze in a wedding and honeymoon before we made it back home to see Bama kick off the season against Vanderbilt. I don't have enough time to write the whole story but basically my oldest son was born just a few hours after a UA game that I was at! We never made that "mistake" again… our next kid was born in May!)
14. It is watching the Bear on the jumbotron before a game in Bryant-Denny Stadium and almost seeing him lean against the goalpost in the end zone. (It's also knowing most, if not all, of what the Bear says in those clips because you've memorized it… not because it's audible!)
15. It is spending a day at The Bryant Museum and still not seeing everything. (I love this place… I even got to spend some time in the research library once and decided that working there would be one of the coolest history-related jobs ever!)
16. It is watching The Bear get number 315 against Auburn. (Again, a little before my time but I know the scene well as it is commemorated in a Daniel Moore print hanging in my parent's house. And I swear, my oldest boy used to stare at that thing and raise his fist in a little Roll Tide fashion when he was only about a year old!)
17. It is watching The Bear get number 323 against Illinois. (And it's feeling really sad when a guy like Bobby Bowden surpasses that milestone.)
18. It is hearing Paul Kennedy do the play by play when Van Tiffin kicked the 52 yard field goal against Auburn in 1985. (Wow, this one actually isn't before my time… which makes me old! I remember this play and the Paul Kennedy call. I most vividly remember my dad breaking our ceiling fan when he jumped out of his chair celebrate that kick! And I also remember my MALE cousin crying because he had just "switched" over to Auburn that year… GOOD STUFF!)
19. It is knowing how many days until the start of a season year round. (Since I had kids, the offseason seems a lot shorter than it used to!)
20. It is driving down Colonial Drive to see Bryant-Denny Stadium, not the sorority girls. (Well, I'm not at all interested in the sorority girls obviously! And we usually walk up from the south endzone so we miss the pretty new promenade off of Colonial that pays homage to all the greats. Still, BDS looks good from any direction… it looks like HOME!)
21. It is getting chills up and down your entire body when ever you hear anything about the 1993 Sugar Bowl and the pride you feel because that night tradition ruled. (I can't explain how awesome it was to be there. That Miami team represented all I hate about college football nowadays. They were pompous punks and thugs who ran their mouth up and down Bourbon Street all week long. Then we ran the ball up and down them in the Superdome. I love the David Palmer quote before that game 'Everybody says Miami can beat anybody. But we're not just anybody… we're Alabama.' If you love and respect the game [and you're not an Auburn fan], you felt like all was right in the world after that game.)
22. It is hearing the Bear's voice and having all the hair on the back of your neck stand up because you know no matter what he said, it was something special. (It's being able to admit you usually couldn't tell WHAT the heck he just said but loving it just the same!)< SPAN>
23. It is hearing the Million Dollar Band play "Yea Alabama"and knowing it does just not get any better. (It's having your 3-year-old know the words to Yea Alabama. It's also knowing that it's 'Yea Alabama, Drown 'Em Tide', not 'Yea Alabama, Crimson Tide')
24. It is imagining hearing Penn State Quaterback Chuck Fusina ask Alabama linebacker Barry Krauss "How close is it"? and hearing Krauss say "About an inch, you'd better pass", right before fourth down during The Goal Line Stand in the 1979 Sugar Bowl. (It is being born in 1978 and still knowing exactly what The Goal Line Stand is!)
25. It is almost coming to tears whenever Alabama loses to Tennessee or Auburn. (It IS crying at the games, sometimes even when we win, and it being okay because I'm a girl! It's even better when you look around and see others crying, too!)
26. It is "The Kick". It is "The Goal Line Stand". It is "The Desperation Block". (It is watching an amazing play and knowing someday it will probably be a Daniel Moore painting referred to simply as "The _____"…)
27. It is Joe 'Willie' Namath. (It is him being so good that you're not even embarrassed the dude used to wear pantyhose and once appeared drunk on national TV while trying to kiss a sideline reporter!)
28. It is purposely not wearing any clothes with the colors orange and blue. (Seriously, I have to rearrange the shampoo bottles in my shower so that their orange packaging is not next to my blue Noxema pump… talk about neurotic!)
29. It is the third Saturday in October. (And knowing that we're SUPPOSED to play and beat UT on that day!)
30. It is not needing an alarm clock on game days, you sit bolt upright in the bed long before the alarm goes off because you know that it is gameday, you can sleep after the bowl game. (It's knowing you don't have to set an alarm clock because Bama almost always plays at night because we're primetime, baby!)
31. It is walking into a stadium and knowing Alabama will win the game no matter who they are playing just because that's the way it is supposed to be. (It's also knowing that no matter the odds, you feel like you're a national championship contender at the beginning of every season until you lose that first game… then crying if you do lose that first game!)
32. It is saying "Offense wins games, Defense wins national titles. (1993 Sugar Bowl is all I have to say about that.)
33. It is getting to the stadium hours before the game just to be there. (My hubby used to complain that I wanted to be in the stadium when it opened a whole TWO HOURS before kick-off but I think he's come around. It's such a serene time before the game and it beats sitting in a lawn chair!)
34. It is walking into another team's stadium and having those fans hate you because you are from Alabama. (I LOVE road games… and our hometown is like living at an away game!)
35. It is the pride that a father has when he brings his children to a game so they may cherish the tradition. (Man, probably the reason I love Bama football so much is because years ago I went with my dad and it was usually just the two of us. Now I'm on the other side of that equation and I LOVE taking my kid(s) with us.L/J)
36. It is beating LSU in Baton Rouge. (I have never been to Baton Rouge. Jeff and I talked about going back in 1998 and I KICK MYSELF for not going. That was one of the most awesome Bama games ever… The Tide don't lose in Baton Rouge!)
37. It is the pride you take in being every team's rival. (You know it's true… who doesn't seem to live to hate Alabama except us Bama fans?)
38. It is pulling for any team that is playing Auburn. (I plead the 5th)
39. It is pulling for any team that is playing Tennessee. (That was tough when they played A&M a few years back! I couldn't watch!)
40. It is hoping for the stadium to blow up when Auburn plays Tennessee. (Okay, not really blows up. I just tell everyone I'm cheering for the refs… that seems less violent!)
41. It is knowing that the SEC Championship is a birthright. (Call us Esau cause it feels like we sold that one to Jacob!)
42. It is being respected and feared at the same time. (I believe at the heart of it all, it's fear that drives the anti-Saban movement)
43. It is knowing what "Mama Called" means. (And knowing who said it… that would be Bear Bryant for all you Aubs)
44. It is beating the Gators twice a year. (1999 was a GOOD year, wasn't it?. It's even whoopin' Florida under one of the worst college coaches ever!)
45. It is the most bowl appearances and victories in NCAA history. (It's true… check your facts. But we need to stop letting other teams gain ground!)
46. It is having 21 Southeastern Conference Titles. (Truth is, this is Alabama and we don't even care about SEC championships! I'm surprised we've even kept count.)
47. It is having 12 National Titles. (It is knowing that in all honesty, it should be more like 13 or 14.)
48. It is class. (Nothing gets under folks' skin more than saying we have class. Truth is, I don't know that anyone in college football has much class now.)
49. It is tradition. (You can't argue with tradition… we have it and I can back that up with stats if you'd like. We're Dixie's football pride, Crimson Tide.)
50. It is Alabama Football. (It is getting chillbumps when you hear 'THIS IS ALABAMA FOOTBALL!' over the PA system at BDS, even if 100+ degrees!)
Believe me, if I had more time, I'd expound upon all the reasons I think Bama deserves to be back but I'm just too exhausted to be eloquent at this point. And let's face it, I'm not going to convert anyone anyway so why try? We're the few, the proud and I'm cool with that. Let it begin… ROLL TIDE!
Back In Butterville - Scattered Thoughts
We've moved in with the folks! It's going VERY well and we are sooo grateful.
In case you were wondering, it takes LOTS of boxes even to move just a few things.
There is no way we'd be able to put our house up for sale if the Gardeners weren't willing to let us live here. We started school today and I just can't imagine doing school in the house back up in Bridgeport while trying to get/keep it show-ready.
If you are a pray-er, would you please pray for a quick sell for us? A sign will probably be in our yard by the weekend!
Thoughts are a little scattered right now but I wanted to make a little post so you'd know I was still alive.
OOh....my sis, Uma told me that she started a blog today! She didn't give me the URL (cuz I had to cut her off -- sorry, sis!) but I'm hoping to see it soon. Maybe she'll let me share it! She's hilarious and I know you guys would love reading her.
Captain's crawling (even more today than yesterday!) He's so doggone cute. Can't wait to take some new pictures and show y'all.
Lastly, look at this Harvard article discussing the latest "babies need touch" research.
In case you were wondering, it takes LOTS of boxes even to move just a few things.
There is no way we'd be able to put our house up for sale if the Gardeners weren't willing to let us live here. We started school today and I just can't imagine doing school in the house back up in Bridgeport while trying to get/keep it show-ready.
If you are a pray-er, would you please pray for a quick sell for us? A sign will probably be in our yard by the weekend!
Thoughts are a little scattered right now but I wanted to make a little post so you'd know I was still alive.
OOh....my sis, Uma told me that she started a blog today! She didn't give me the URL (cuz I had to cut her off -- sorry, sis!) but I'm hoping to see it soon. Maybe she'll let me share it! She's hilarious and I know you guys would love reading her.
Captain's crawling (even more today than yesterday!) He's so doggone cute. Can't wait to take some new pictures and show y'all.
Lastly, look at this Harvard article discussing the latest "babies need touch" research.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
