Mario Kart

Our awesome friend Matt came down this weekend to audition with the Brimingham Orchestra. We loved having him here!! Just a bummer that Treesa, his wife, couldn't come too. Anyway, before he left he got Mario Kart for us and the kids. It's a hit! Seriously, this is going to make me a worse driver; I'm going to start wanting to zap people that pass me on the road.
Check out Hannah's racing headband...

The Shoe Tree

Just off Highway 72, approximately halfway between Memphis and Huntsville, and precisely between mile marker 5 and 6, lives the fabled shoe tree. Once thought to be extinct, scientists are baffled by its sudden re-appearance in Northern Mississippi. "According to botanical recoreds, product-specific trees all withered in the plague of mass disillusionment of the late 1920's." says horticultural expert Dr. Smarty-plants. "Now we can hope that other species, such as the money-tree, book-tree, non-battery-operated-toy-tree, and comfy-bra-tree may still be in existence somewhere." Local residents of the town Iuka, self-appellated Iukeans, have their own theories. "It's just a buncha teenagers tossin' old shoes up in tha' tree. No good." Says the town skeptic. Others are more believing. "Every spring me and my family walk down to the shoe tree and pick us a couple new shoes for the year. We alway leave our old shoes by the roots for the shoe elves to mend." Elves or teens aside, there is no denying that this has been a good year for the shoe tree. There are matching sets and even a few buds of baby shoes dangling in the lower branches, a sure sign of a thriving legend.

Three decades

I did it. I actually turned thirty, despite all the tantrums and sulking and denial, the inevitable happened. And thanks to some great friends both in Huntsville and Memphis, I am convinced that although it is the end of my slightly irresponsible and reckless 'tweens, it is not, however, the end of everything. After all, even a hobbit doesn't officially come of age until thirty-three.
So I cajoled almost everyone into throwing me a series of birthday parties and had a blast. I have got some seriously GREAT friends out there.
We had a Rock Band party (after a docile book group meeting) Thursday in Huntsville. Here's the band: Lisa, Sharon, Dana, Shante, Marie, Natalie and me. Dana was the mastermind and got everyone together. THANKS!!!

The cute bass chick herself.

Dana can really shred the guitar. That is, once she figures out what those buttons are for!

Friday I had a family party with my parents and brother Tim in Memphis. My dad had thoughtfully littered the house with every "thirty" decoration Party City had to offer.

The best was the party blowers. Oh, and the awesome shades.

It SNOWED Saturday in Memphis! But that didn't deter these party girls. Catherine, Joleen, Susan, Jamie, Valerie and Lindsay all braved the weather. That's some seriously great friends!

Jamie made the most amazing cake I have ever eaten in my entire life ever ever ever. And it was Word Girl, too!

We made Joleen hold up the piñata so we could kick it. Amazingly, none of us took this opportunity to "accidentally" kick Joleen.

THANKS EVERYONE! you're next, Valerie!