A Southern Accent

Self Portrait Reflection Through a Window Nine years of marriage didn't used to sound like a lot of time together, back when marriages lasted forever and "till death do you part" was actually taken seriously. But I'm proud of our nine years together. We've managed to overcome some pretty big obstacles, parenting, four surgeries and my craziness that flairs up now and again. We're really not what you'd call a typical couple, by any means. We have seventeen years between us in age. When I was born, he was hitch-hiking his way across the US to get to San Francisco, where they wore flowers in their hair. Two weeks ago, when Walker stayed one evening with my mom, we decided to catch up on some housework with delivery pizza for dinner. As Mike was folding clothes, and I was touching up some paint on the ceiling in the family room, I looked at him and said, "Look at us. We are sooo not typical." Mike says, "Yeah, but it works for us....

I decided last night I could wait no longer. The Halloween box had to come down and we needed to sprinkle a little spooky dust around the house. I focused on the mantel, taking the existing, eclectic arrangement of knickknacks currently there, keeping some of it, and adding some fun items from around the house and my special Halloween box to kick-off the season around here. Here's a picture of the before, so you can see what I kept to create my spooky mantel scene: I kept the bronze bird up in front, the silhouette of Mike as a little boy, the black letter blocks (turned on their sides), the cream ceramic piece, the owl and the candle in the back. I added in some of my goodies from my Halloween box, some old books from the bookshelf, a little chest from the bedroom and some candles from the hall and came up with this! I'm a big believer in shopping the house, and most of the Halloween items I have came from HomeGoods and The Dollar Store, so the w...

Mostly random things to talk about today. We have our first parent-teacher conference today at Walker's school. Evidently, my little angel is a bit of an impulsive, aggressive, all-boy, all-the-time kindergartner. We've been working on it and he is getting better. That which is praised on the ball field, isn't quite what they expect in class, so he's having to find that balance. Which makes me feel like an awful parent because my child isn't the perfect little one in class. Like I'm doing something wrong, then I realize maybe it's not wrong, he's just learning and growing. Parenting is hard. And I have a feeling it gets harder. But it's worth it for my little snuggle bunny. Speaking of snuggle bunnies, we bought Walker a kids Snuggie back from Charleston and Mike didn't think he would like it. Walker has been inseparable from that thing since he opened it. He even put it back on over his clothes after he got dressed this morning and wore it u...

Mike and I celebrated nine years of marriage last week with a long weekend in Charleston, SC. We had a wonderful weekend of fine food, relaxing strolls and successful shopping! Carriage Ride Through Charleston It was oh so relaxing. Mike kept saying "I wish Walker was here." I kept saying, "Shut up and stop reminding me." We both missed our little guy a lot. I had to keep reminding him that a happy marriage makes for a happy child. Bike Rickshaw Tour of Charleston We actually decided this weekend that we are quite boring people (as we blew off our Saturday evening dinner reservations to instead grab burgers, hang out in our hotel room and watch football/read). I'm not going to bore you with all the details but the food was amazing. Let's just say Mike ate friend chicken livers twice while we were there. I had shrimp and grits, a B.L.F.G.T. (bacon, lettuce, fried green tomato) sandwich, sushi, coconut pie... And by the time we left, th...

  I'm excited to announce that my best friend is expecting! She's announced it on Facebook and everyone knows that's the official word these days, right? This is how she announced it: Daria is "16 and pregnant. One of these things is true." Only Daria. So, that means I now have an excuse to talk about baby stuff! And I hope to help with the shower, nursery decorations and new mommie advice! I already bought her the Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy. I loved that book when I was pregnant - the advice is invaluable. Things like knowing that the first ultrasound isn't what the movies make it look like and how incredible those frozen things they give you in the hospital to help with the pain are. I wish they had blogs back when my little guy was born. I guess they did, but I didn't know about them. I could have used some advice when my little guy cried every night from 6:00 - 8:00, when he wouldn't sleep at night, when he'd get a cold or...

My son's schedule has kept me on my toes this weekend. I seriously don't know how you people with more than one child do it. Walker and I went to the UNC football game in Chapel Hill that started at noon with my mom and nephew, then were planning to go to a classmate's birthday party in downtown Durham. During the game, he decided he wanted to skip the birthday party and instead, go to his soccer game. This meant we had to leave Chapel Hill no later than 1:30, to get back home, put on soccer gear and get to the soccer game by 2:20. Our car was parked in a lot at University Mall, and we took the bus into campus. Problem was, after I dragged Walker from Kenan Stadium to the buses at halftime, we realized they weren't running anymore. But, you can't explain to a five-year old that they missed their first soccer game of the season because the buses weren't running yet. This is where my mentality of "never say no" came into good use. I picked up my Bla...

My husband is a wuss when it comes to animals. You’d never guess it looking at him, but he is such a pansy when it comes to our brood, which now includes one cat, one dog, one hamster and two frogs. I don’t think I’ve ever referenced my devil cat on the blog, but I do have one. I rarely see him, so he and I don’t talk much anymore. I got him right out of college and he’s 13 years old now, but he never comes out of hiding unless my husband shakes his treat can, then proceeds to give him half the bottle because he is whining. He attacks our house guests (ask our friends Ashley and Jack) and he snarls at strangers. He won’t let Walker look at him without growling and hissing and he basically lives in the upstairs part of our house so Lucy can’t get to him. Last night, Lucy got upstairs by accident and I thought we were going to have a homicide in the other room before I could get in there and separate the two. Then there’s the crazy dog, which you’ve heard much about. Mike still refus...