Holiday Weekend

It's almost over, unfortunately! Friday was a nice day. We got up, had breakfast and cleaned up things a bit. Then we grilled some burgers and hotdogs and played Rook all afternoon and evening on the patio. We made some delicious margaritas. I have finally found a mixer I like! That might not be a good thing...!

Yesterday we went to Jimmy's aunt & uncle's house and I stayed in the pool. Jimmy, Layke and Seth were poops because they didn't swim. That water sure did feel good! It wasn't really that hot here, which is surprising. The 4th of July is usually so hot that it's miserable. We stayed until the middle of the afternoon, then came home, napped, and then last night we had the ribs and such that Jimmy had smoked. He's really good with that smoker!

Today it is raining. It hasn't rained here in a while. I have started cleaning in my room. Where does all the dirt and dust come from?? And the stuff. I have more stuff! I've thrown away quite a bit and I'm not halfway finished. I want to clean out the bookcase, which will be a major undertaking. I took down my curtains because I hate them. To me it's better to not have anything but blinds up instead of curtains I hate! I'm going to look for a new bedroom suite. Not sure I can afford one right now, but I'm going to look.

This blog is about as interesting as wet cardboard. Nothing to say much and I'm in a blah mood. I'll do better the next time.

July 2, 1977

This morning I was driving down the road and it hit me that today was July 2. I got engaged on July 2! And it was THIRTY-TWO years ago! Holy cow!

I don't remember a whole lot about the day. Jimmy was rushing around, getting ready for a jazz band performance in our town's main mall. He came into my bedroom, dropped a ring box in my lap and flew into the bathroom and started fixing his hair. (Oh, how vain he was about that beautiful blonde hair!) I remember sitting there with my heart pounding and I opened the box. There was a beautiful solitaire ring in there, white gold, and I was just shaking! I can't remember what he said, but he poked his head out of the bathroom and I said, "Well, at least come and put it on me!" He did, and we left to go to our town's 4th of July celebration.

Details of that day are blurry, but I remember showing that ring off to everybody! It's not like we hadn't talked about marriage, but this made it official! If it doesn't sound real romantic, keep in mind that Jimmy was 17 years old! LOL! No romantic dinner with candles and wine for us!

Another thing I remember is going to Guntersville to the lake where his family was having a picnic. It was either the next day or actually on the 4th. I remember his Paw Paw Eason being there and me showing him my ring. And I remember that Paw Paw asked me if I had heard that song, "Margaritaville"!

So, that's how Jimmy and I got engaged. Awesome, huh? ;)

Monday again...ALREADY!!!

Jeffrey Steele

Gavin DeGraw

Preston, LoCash Cowboys

Another weekend blazed by me. Whew, they seem to get faster and faster.

Friday night Jimmy and I went on a "date", something we rarely get to do. Date=going out by ourselves, FYI. We went to Red Lobster in Gadsden. I think I love seafood better than any kind of food. We got there and a couple from Albertville was sitting out front. I worked with the man and sat in meetings with him for years and I worked a few years on a charity thing with the woman, but I swear, they acted as if they couldn't quite place me. Rather than be offended, I got tickled about it. I told Jimmy that I must make one heck of an impression on people! They kept looking over at me surrepticiously, so I know they were thinking, "Where do I know her from??" I just ordered my drink and sat there and sipped it while we waited for our table, secretly relishing the fact that their minds were on overdrive trying to figure it out!

We were given the very back booth in the restaurant, which was nice. We ordered and Jimmy had not had any carbohydrates in quite a while, so he was stuffing in the cheese biscuits. Well, about the time I grabbed the basket and told him he was going to make himself sick, the waiter came, overheard me, and sat another full basket of biscuits in front of Jimmy, making some comment along the lines of he'd just put those there for him. He must have thought I was a Royal Bitch.

We were enjoying our crab legs and I swear, the kid in the booth across the aisle, one back from us, puked all over everything. Thank goodness I couldn't see anything, but Jimmy was giving me the play-by-play. ICK. Some poor guy dressed in a hazmat type suit came out and scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed. He earned his money that night! I heard the little boy, about 3 years old, say, "I yucked." I cracked up because that's what Seth or Layke used to say!

Saturday morning we got up early and headed down to Jamoka's and then went on to Trade Day. That's a flea market for those of you who may not know. There are always so many cute puppies there, and as usual, I saw some little English bulldogs that I just loved. They were absolutely adorable! We picked up a few odds and ends and then headed home to the sporting goods store.

Jimmy had told me about something that Frog Togs makes called a Chilly Pad. You wet it and it feels 20 degrees cooler than the air temperature. I was going to an outdoor concert on Sunday, so he wanted me to have one of them. After a few more errands, we landed at home where we stayed the rest of the evening.

Sunday morning I got up and headed for Huntsville where I met Debbie at the Cracker Barrel. I was sitting on the porch waiting for her when she called and told me she was getting pulled over. She got a ticket. What a way to start a trip!

After our lunch at Cracker Barrel, we parked her car in the airport parking and I drove us on to Franklin, TN. Debbie's GPS, "Bo-Bo", guided us right to the park where we were going. We drug our cooler and our chairs across the street and found a spot to sit. There was NO shade whatsoever. It was a jillion degrees. We didn't see anybody we knew, so we just settled in. Later on we would see Cheryl and we moved our chairs to the other side.

LoCash Cowboys came on first. They are such cuties. They do a fun show. After they finished, it was time for Jeffrey Steele. He sang a few songs, then introduced his surprise guest, Gavin DeGraw! He's awesome! He sang a few songs while playing the keyboard. Then Jeffrey came back and rocked out until about 9 o'clock. The man sang nearly THREE hours and I didn't see him take a sip of water and he did not take any kind of break. It was an incredible show. We're going back next year. Better take care of that Chilly Pad. Looks like I'll be needing it again!

I drove home this morning and got to work around 11:30. I had forgotten my round brush, so my hair is pitiful. My cooler, which was setting on top of my suitcase yesterday, leaked all into it and all over my clothes. So Debbie lended me some pants to wear on the trip home. Thankfully I had ironed and hung my work clothes, so I was able to change into them when I got to work. I used 50 sunblock yesterday, but you can still definitely tell I've been in the sun. That's an oddity for me. I'm a Southern Belle who believes in staying lily white. Not gonna happen this year! After my trip in August I'll be even browner!!

I'm in a slump

Last night I was so tired that I went to bed early to read. Well, I was just miserable, so I decided a hot shower would do the trick. Wrong. I was just clean and miserable. This morning I woke up feeling not-so-lovely, but I drug around and got ready for work. Even with taking my shower last night, I was still out the door later than usual.


The city gave a retirement brunch for one of our department heads this morning. It was nice and the guy will be missed. Of course I ate a plate of stuff. I don't feel that bad. I have to be dying not to eat, unfortunately.

Lunchtime consisted of driving home, letting the bird out of the cage, and flopping on the couch to watch One Life To Live. I actually fell asleep, but woke up in time to get back to work.

So I'm slumping toward quittin' time and it cannot get here fast enough. Only 20 minutes left, thank the Good Lord.

Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Happy Father's Day!

Me and my "baby daddy", Jimmy! LOL!!!

Today I celebrate my wonderful husband, Jimmy. He is an excellent father to our three kids, who are now young adults. I hope he has a most enjoyable and relaxing day!

I never knew my father. He passed away when I was four months old. Everyone who knew him said he was a fine man. He was 36 years old, had been married to my mother for 15 months, and was principal of the local elementary school. He had been in WWII, serving in Patton's Third Army. He attended and graduated from the University of Alabama after returning from the war. He minored in Spanish and mother said that when they went on a vacation to Mexico he was jabbering to everyone. My daughter Rachel has a propensity for foreign languages. She must get it from him!

Even though I didn't have a father in my life, I had two grandfathers who loved me and stood in the gap. My Paw Paw Smith was a farmer and a county road crew worker. He and my Maw Maw lived on a farm and I spent countless hours there when I was young. My Grandpaw Thrasher was a retired police chief and was a contractor. He and my Grandmaw lavished me with love. My daddy was their youngest child. Just one example of how they spoiled me...I was living in Jacksonville for the summer while my mother finished up her graduate degree. I DESPISED going to summer school. I was an A student and repeating all the work I had done the previous school year was boring me to tears! I remember my grandfathers both told me that if I would go and stay just one more week, I would have a surprise waiting when I got home.

The next week I arrived home and what did I have? A shetland pony! Not just any shetland pony, but one that was brown with a white mane and tail, just like I had always wanted! Grandpaw Thrasher had bought him and my Paw Paw Smith was housing him on his farm. I remember how I loved that pony, whose name was Thunder.

Well, that's just a little bit of a blog for Father's Day. I'm going to go and spend some time with my kids' daddy now!

TGIF

Well, it's been a rather quick week. The cold/allergies I had sure took a toll, but I'm about over them. Tuesday afternoon I went home at lunch and slept the rest of the day. Exciting anniversary, huh? Ah, we can celebrate any time!

The most exciting thing to happen to me this week happened yesterday. I was at work, paying bills, and I had bb.com up on the computer. Well, Bo got online and was posting back and forth with people. Suddenly he posted that the first three persons to call his SayNow number would get to talk to him live! I had my iphone in my pocket and I just so happened to have SayNow saved as a contact. I pressed the button right quick and imagine how surprised I was to hear a recording say I was next in line to talk! I flew out the back door of the library, praying the connection would hold, and I heard Bo come on the line. I said hello and he did too, and I told him my screen name. He laughed and said, "Hey, Lisa" and something to the effect that I was fast!

My goodness, my heart was beating out of my body, but soon I calmed right down. Bo is so easy to talk to that he immediately put me at ease. He told me to make sure and spread the word that this was REAL, that it wasn't a recording! We talked about several things- his kids, last week, how he's always been "country" (he said he didn't know what the thing was with people, that he had always been country) and that he listened to country radio; he told me about how he wanted to stay connected with the fans and that he wasn't doing things on a huge scale, he was playing small venues. He said he wanted to be a good husband and daddy. I told him how much I admired him for that. He spoke of how sad it is that huge artists are in the news for beating their girlfriends/spouses and things such as that. Let's see...I told him I was at work and really shouldn't be on the internet, but oh well! We chit chatted a little more and were about to hang up and I told him that last week was my 30th anniversary gift from my husband, that I can always remember their anniversary on the 15th because mine is on the 16th. He told me he was glad I came and for me to be sure to thank Jimmy and give him love for letting me come up and spend last week with him. Then my stupid phone dropped the call!! I'm so glad I got that much time in, though. He went back on line and posted that he lost me, he didn't hang up, he promised! He's such a sweet person.

That's just one way my ordinary life is sometimes extraordinary! I usually keep my Bo posts to my Bo blog (http://www.boonthebrain.blogspot.com/), but this was something totally out of the ordinary for me! I also have recapped every day I spent in Nashville and posted pictures over there. I'm doing it every corresponding day this week, so I'm up to Friday. I've got to work on it, then I'll have two more days of CMA Fest to blog about! Check it out if you're so inclined.

It was 30 years ago today...

I married my true love on this day 30 years ago. Where has the time gone? We were such kids, yet thought we were so grown. Throughout the years we've had good times and bad, but we went through them together and came out stronger. I cannot imagine life without him.

My most vivid memory from that day was how he looked at me during the wedding ceremony. And he still gives me that same, sweet look and smile today. I adore him.