Hospitals are Fun - Who Knew?

In my small town, there are not many things to do on a sweltering end-of-July day. So, where do my boys like to hang out on a day such as this? Our new hospital, of course! Why? "They have free wi-fi and good coffee!" they will tell you.

Is there a career in medicine in their future? More likely, video game design.

The wi-fi is for them, and the coffee is for me. They have learned that, if they mention coffee, it increases the chance that I'll take them where they want to go. And, by the way, I don't care if there is a heat index of 109 outside. I love my coffee! Inside the hospital it's quite cool, so I can sit and drink away while the boys play games at lego.com  or www.spongebobwhatever until my computer battery runs out. As an added bonus, I always run into someone I know (from church usually - we are good presbyterians) who works there, so I get the chance to do some "visiting."

Would you like to take a guess at how we rounded out our Friday?

Yes, we went to a bull riding tournament/contest (or whatever it's called). A first for all four of us. The event was a fundraiser for a local medical clinic, and Mr. Perfect was a sponsor. It was actually pretty entertaining - the crowd as much as the contestants. (Why, young "country girls" do you need to wear boots when it is 96 and humid at 8:00 in the evening? I guess they do look better with your Daisy Dukes than a comfortable pair of flip flops would.) Sorry, I have no pictures of the actual bull riding as I was too busy swatting killer gnats to take more than this one photo.

Mr. Perfect, is it just me, or is your neck turning a peculiar shade of red?


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Here Comes a Busy Weekend

Until our house is built, one of my favorite pastimes is finding ways to avoid our rental house. I am so excited to say that this weekend will be perfect for it. Tonight, we will travel to some small So Georgia town that I've never heard of to watch our high school football team. 

 Go Crusaders!

Saturday, after sleeping late, we will go to the seemingly unavoidable Wal-mart to find a gift for Boy 1 to take to a bowling birthday party. Parties at the bowling lanes seem to be quite popular here. There are not a lot of options, and the kids seem to really enjoy it. I imagine we'll probably have one there in December for Boy 1. Boy 2 will insist on playing a few arcade games before we leave to run errands. Afterwards, we'll pick Boy 1 up from said party.

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We will visit one of Mr. Perfect's aunts for a while. They are all so sweet, and his parents, sister and niece are driving over, as well.
Somewhere along the way, I MUST catch at least part of the UGA v. So Carolina game. Here's hoping the Dawgs crush the Gamecocks!

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Finally, I'm going to a Pampered Chef party at a new friend's house.

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I've never been inside her home, but I have been to her pool for a party, and it's absolutely lovely. So is she and her entire family - especially her beautiful, sweet little girl who I think Boy 2 is a little sweet on. (He's far too young for that now, but in a few years I'll be thrilled if his taste in girls is still that good.)


I'll be actively ignoring the fact that it's still hot as stink here and clinging to the knowledge that cooler weather will be here soon.

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Any-hoo, I hope you all have exciting plans for the weekend. What will you be doing?

Forward Thinking

   "Forward Thinking" is usually a liberal buzzword (bleck!), but the forward thinking I'm guilty of this morning is of fall. Yes, autumn. I wonder if they have that here in So Georgia.  Here's what I'd like to see in a few weeks:

Image by Bill Swindaman via Flickr

Here's what I'm going to see:

Pine trees are nice, but most of the pine trees around here were planted in rows. They're harvested about every 20 years, and then the lot will be either replanted or turned to farmland. The problem is that they are planted so close together that they don't grow to be nice, full trees. They look like brown and green q-tips.  

   I have been ready to pull out our fall clothes since mid-July, and I suspect it will be mid-October before I actually need to do it. Yesterday made it even worse - we watched our first football games of the season. Somehow, that just makes me think of fall. One annoyance of our little school is that the football season starts August 26 and ends November 5. It will barely be cool by then! Maybe our team will make the playoffs, so we can get a few extra games.

Last fall in So Georgia (before we moved). I miss you, my fall clothes!

My Kids are Zombies

   I'm ashamed to admit this, but my children are officially tv zombies. It's been so hot here in South Georgia this summer, and we have not adjusted to it yet, so Boy 1 and Boy 2 have spent a lot of time in front of Nickelodeon and The Disney Channel. Their favorite show is The Penguins of Madagascar. In case you don't know about this hilarious show, it's a spinoff of the Madagascar movies. The great thing is that it will keep the adults laughing without being the least bit inappropriate.

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A close runner-up to the Penguins is Disney's Phineas and Ferb. It's about two brothers and the crazy things they do over their summer vacation.

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My husband and I agree that both of these shows are shows that we're happy for the boys to watch, and, if we HAVE to watch with them, we don't mind.
    Now that school is starting back up, I'm glad that our "No TV During the Week" policy will go back into effect.  However, it's a little sad to me that those familiar penguin voices and Phineas and Ferb tunes won't be a regular (and unending) part of my day anymore. Thank you Nick and Disney for getting us through this first hellaciously (is that a word?) hot summer down south.

Committing Commerce

   Hi, there. As of last night, I absolutely could not stand the thought of sitting in this house one more day. There isn't a lot to do here in our new town that does not involve being outside. And, since it's so hot, we have pretty much been sitting in the house doing nothing but watching tv and playing with Legos.  Here are a few of the boys' creations:

A Lego City

A Lego Helicopter and Helo-pad  

   I decided that the boys and I needed a day trip to Savannah to do some shopping. I hit Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Sam's Club and Toys 'r Us (or "Toys for Us" as Boy 2 calls it). We even went to Chick-fil-A - twice! Oh, how I miss CFA! I could have literally spent all day looking around in BB&B. I went there to buy some T-discs for my new Tassimo coffee maker my in-laws gave me for my birthday. 

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I think I actually stopped in mid-sentence in awe as I walked in the door and saw HOW MUCH STUFF was in that store. I've forgotten what it's like to have a selection. Of course I had a fist-full of those 20% off coupons I'm constantly receiving in the mail. They are worth saving.


   Adjusting to the limited number of quality buying opportunities that a small town offers has been tough. (Now, if you're looking for something made in China that only costs $1, we have 4 different stores for that.) I haven't needed to do a lot of shopping, but it was nice in our former town to be able to run out and get whatever I needed whenever I needed it. Plus, I LOVE shopping and have really missed  it. Savannah is 90 miles away, and I can drive there in about 90 minutes. It's not too far if I have the better part of the day to spend, but I definitely can't just go whenever I feel like it. 


   I'm thinking that I need to do a couple of things when it comes to the shopping transition into my new surroundings. First, I need to do a better job of keeping track of what we need so that I can take care of all of it in one big day trip to Savannah. I'm the queen of lists, so this won't be a problem. Second, I need to become the master of on-line shopping.  I'm a long-time Land's End customer, but I need to expand my horizons.  Any suggestions? 


   The upside of all of this is that we have been spending WAY less money since we moved than we used to, which is nice. I plan to keep it that way. You just don't need as much "stuff" in a small town - less pressure and simpler living.


   Any-hoo. Time to tuck in the boys (45 minutes late). I hope that wherever you are, you're keeping cool. And, let me know if you have any on-line stores that you recommend.

Good night, ya'll.

My First Post

I've been trying to think of some clever thought to post for my very first blog entry, but it seems that I've drawn a blank (had too many glasses of wine). So, I'll just pretend that I've been doing this for years and go with it. I know it's summertime and all, but I just cannot get over how hot it is here in South Georgia! Really, how am I supposed to meet my future great friends if every time I walk out of the house I'm a mess? It's so humid here that every bit of makeup slides right off my face before I can walk across the driveway to the golden chariot (mini-van). My only consolation is the knowledge that my wonderful future friends are the kind of quality gals that will understand, because their makeup has also slid off of their faces. I guess there's always the ten weeks of winter that I'm told will begin around Christmas when I can stop perspiring (sweating like a pink pig) and really "shine."

I just read about a great super-cute apron giveaway on another blog, Five Great Kiddos. Here's the link: http://fivegreatkiddos.blogspot.com/2010/07/not-your-grandmas-apron-giveaway.html You should definitely check out her blog.