Dogwood Girl Runs, Writes, Congratulates, Coughs

I know i have been missing in action during most of November. I attribute this to a)NanoWriMO b)Half-marathon training and c) family sickness.

So, i have about 2000 words left on NaNo today. I finished the half on Thursday. This may not seem like much until you drive to Chamblee Marta station (the approximate starting line) and then drive down Ptree Industrial until it turns into Peachtree, and then follow that all the way to downtown Atlanta and then over to Turner Field. Yes, I ran from Chamblee to Turner Field and people, that is a long-ass way.

I am proud of myself for finishing what I started out to do. Sometimes I am not that great with follow-through.

So, writing Nano today and driving back from Auburn to Atlanta. It will be nice to be home.

p.s. Congratulations to all you Tech and Bama fuckers.

Take All The Fun Out of It Why Don't You?

Auburn and Georgia disappointed me so wholly this season that I don't even feel any animosity towards my husband this morning.

That's no fun.

I admit it; I Gained from Todd's Tigers' Loss This Past Weekend

I'm not exactly an SEC football expert. I'm also not really an expert gambler, although I do come from a family that loves to play games and wager - yes, Rollie will probably inherit his great-grandfather's dice - no, i am not kidding, and a Grandma that wouldn't let me win at Sorry!

But for fun, I decided to join the Georgia Sports Blog college football pick'em pool. And somehow, with a few unexpected wins this past weekend, I came up in the top five finishers for the week. (Two first place ties, and three tied for 2nd, so technically, i tied for 2nd.) I jumped from 258 overall, to 174. Not too shabby.

Although I do feel a smidge guilty for benefiting so greatly from the loss of my dear husband's beloved Tigers.

p.s. Brett, did you do this? If so, who are you, and how are you doing?
p.p.s. The user "Dawgter Feelgood" cracks me up.

Dead Souls Walking in Georgia Today

That was the worst half of a football game i have ever witnessed. Completely nightmarish, nauseating, and soul-deadening. I can't even really write about it. I do not even have the energy or heart or strength to think about it until maybe tonight or tomorrow.

Southern Hospitality

Wow. Random Bama fan just contacted me after seeing pictures of our seats for last year's Temporary Annulment Day Game. He wanted to know what his seats look like, where to park, etc. I love that he trusts that Dawgwood Girl will get him there in one piece, even though he is the enemy. Gotta love the SEC. And the power of the internets.

Me? I'm a sweetheart. I gave him all the pertinent information, just like a nice hostess should.

Now, Kelly, you let me know what you thought of our humble lil college town. Hope you and your buddy have fun at the Tide's mother*ing funeral. Y'all come back now, ya hear?*


*I really do hope y'all have a nice time. Be safe.

I Heart Oregon State

That is all. Off to bed.

Experimentation

It wasn't pretty, but it was a W. I'll take it. Go Dawgs!

We had some friends over for the games yesterday and the whole thing kind of snowballed and we ended up with a before-unmet number of children running around. Scarlett and Dash were here, as usual, but then we added in Sheilah's kids, and four of the neighborhood kids and their parents. I think we had nine kids at one point. Plus their parents and some childless friends, adn wow, was it a full house. Sheilah was nice enough to bring an extra TV so the kids could watch a movie upstairs. (Not that tv-watching ever happens like that. It just blares in the background, and it never fails that one poor kid wants to watch, and then cries because everyone else won't be quiet.) And once Garrett and Kayla left and Nolan fell asleep, Rollie ended up being the only boy with five girls. A dearth of riches, for sure, what with the twins, and an older girl, and only one of the females his sister. Everyone knows what this means: Rollie Makeover. (Thanks to Lauren for getting the shot.) And yes, I am aware that we are racking up the photos of Rollie in drag. See, if he ends up going that way, we were cool with it from the beginning, and if he doesn't, we have some great blackmail photos for his teen years.

We are parenting Gods.

More of story unfolded, though, this morning. As Todd and I readied our coffee and the kids ate breakfast, the following discussion occurred:

Todd: Rollie, did I hear that you held hands with T__*? (Tiller had ratted him out a few minutes earlier.)
Rollie: [playing with his cereal]. Yeah. She kissed me.
Todd and I glance at each other.
Rollie: She kissed me a lot.
Todd and I stare at Rollie, mouths gaping open, then glance again at one another and both turn away from the breakfast table, laughing silently, shoulders shaking with the effort at holding the sound in.

Maybe there is no need to worry about the drag pictures, after all. Or, maybe we should be extremely worried about our very adventurous young hero. Maybe he's going to like to experiment.

I joke, but i don't know if I'm ready for all of this. Rewind, rewind! Rewind, Dammit!

It's not working.

*All names have been changed to protect the identities of those involved.

It's Here

Game day! Oh, and my husband, the Auburn Tiger, is not a welcher. Behold!


That's Simon down there at the bottom, checking out the goods.

A Few Things

Talking about it makes it better.

I can't believe I have a niece who is one year old.

Todd has one week to purchase and install my new UGA flag. Sex withheld until installation complete.

My favorite movie of all time is most definitely The Black Stallion. And it holds up well to time, too. You are making fun of me, but it was Oscar-nominated for Cinematography (Caleb Deschanel, who is Zoey and Emily's Daddy, i believe) and Mickey Rooney was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. The only sad thing about it is that Kelly Reno, the kid who plays Alec, never really did anything else and ended up a cab driver in NYC. That being said, if i ever got into his cab, he would feel like a rock star after my reaction. Um, the kids and I watched The Black Stallion last night.

Britt A. from high school is purchasing a ticket for me to attend the GA Auburn game. I will explain this another time, when I don't have to drive to Montgomery for a birthday party, but know(shon) this: It does not bode well for the Auburn Tigers.

SEVEN DAYS!!!!!!

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can't Lose!

I've written numerous times about my mixed marriage. The kids are completely on the fence. They see a G on a car in front of me and yell, "Bulldogs!" or "Georgia for you, Mama!" or they see that AU on a car and say, "Auburn!" Course, Rollie says, "Aubrun," and Tiller actually says, "Bullgogs." Which is really cute.

If they see a G and Todd is in the car, they will ask? "Daddy? You like Bulldogs, right?" And we are good parents, who try to consider if certain things we say might interfere with a child's self-esteem; Who knows if Todd telling Rollie that he doesn't like GA, when Rollie likes both UGA and Auburn, will harm R's burgeoning self-worth?

So we lie.

The standard answer for this from Todd is "Yes, I like them. I like Auburn the best, and then my second favorite team is whoever is playing Bama that week, and then Georgia." Very diplomatic, and not really untrue.

Standard answer from me is also the truth: "Yes, I like Bullgogs first." "Then Tigers, mama?" I think for a minute.

"Well, Bulldogs first, then Panthers, then Tigers.

Everyone in the car, even my 2-year-old, look at me like I am crazy.

"Panthers? Who are Panthers, mama?"

"Dillon Panthers, baby. Dillon Panthers."

Yeah, I seriously have a Friday Night Lights problem, and it's not just about the hot Coach Taylor, either. I cried last night watching them win state in the first season finale. No, I'm not kidding.

Plus, it gives me satisfaction to choose a fictional high school football team over Todd's Tigers. Always the rivalry exists.

30 Saturdays

Just 30 more Saturdays until the first UGA game of the season. Woohoo! Some guy from the AJC thinks we might be a preseason #1; My favorite bulldog bloggers hope that isn't the case. Seems that they think that Richt performs much better as an underdog.

Fall should be good. I will also be an aunt by then. And hopefully i will have somewhere to live by then. More on that later.

What Tire Spells

After opening gifts at my in-laws last night, Rollie was sitting around the table with Todd, Todd's father, and Todd's brother Lyle and his wife. Rollie was playing with a Cars drawing tablet that included pencils, crayons, paints, and stickers. It also has a workbook section, where he can practice writing and spelling.

Rollie was trying to sound out and write the word "Tire," with Todd's help.

"T . . . ," Rollie said, looking at Todd for help.
"Sound it out," Todd said. "What sound does T make?"
Rollie: "Tuh."
Todd: "Okay, 'tuh.' Then, 'I.' What sound does 'I' make?"
Rollie: "Ih."
Aunt Denise: "Long 'I' sound, Rollie."
Rollie: "I."
Todd: "Right. Ok, 'R.' What sound does 'r' make?"
Rollie: "Ruh."
Todd: "Right. So, put it together." Rollie looks like his brain is
hurting.
Todd: "Sound it out. Tuh - I- Ruh. Tigh-ruh.
Rollie stares at Todd with a look of concentration on his face, then
realization dawns. "Tigh- roll! Roll Tide, Roll! Right down the toilet
bowl!"

Nobody in my in-laws' household was about to tell him for a second that he was wrong. We just laughed.

A Little Sad

No Bulldogs to pull for today. But you better believe I'm pulling for Oklahoma, Pitt, and [throwing up in my mouth a little bit] the Vols. BC could beat VT and that would be okay with me, too. Don't know what I'm talking about? This will explain better than I possibly could.

Iron Bowl

Todd and I took the kids over to his parents' house on Lake Martin, where we did second Thanksgiving dinner (yes, we are complete Hobbits) on Friday with his brother Wade, brother Lyle, and Lyle's wife Denise. Wade was on our shit list for not bringing my new niece, Luci, with him, but he made up for it by bringing her over on Sunday. I ate too much.

On Saturday, Todd and I had to get a new tire for the van, so we got up early to drive to the nearest Wal-Mart, which was in Alexander City ("Alex City" to easter Alabamians in the know). Dear God. Oh, the humanity of a small-town Alabama Wal-Mart on the day of the Iron Bowl! You couldn't walk five feet without someone uttering a "Roll Tide" or "War Eagle" at someone else. People looked at me like I was a Martian, presumably because I was not wearing crimson, blue, or orange, and well. . . why is she not wearing one of those? I think it may have been inconceivable to them that there were other states outside of their own that day. On the day of the Iron Bowl, Auburn, Alabama is the center of the universe. I would be lying if I said that I didn't actually care who won. I pull for Auburn when there is no harm in it, and I have definitely adopted my husband's disdain for the Tide. Good God, there is nothing scarier than a female, middle-aged, bleached-blonde Alabama fan in person. Oh, yeah. And my trivia girls and I have a bit of wager with the Alabama graduate who runs our trivia at Graveyard Tavern. He will be footing the bill for our drinks this evening. I have no kids tomorrow. He should be frightened, very frightened.

After that, we had lunch with his parents and the kids, then headed into Auburn to pick up my friend Brett. Brett and I went to high school and college together and he is one of my oldest, dearest friends. I just don't get to see him as often as I'd like, because he lives in Seattle. Brett has his own family ties to Auburn, so he was in town for the game, but is a Georgia fan, so we decided to meet up for tailgating and watching of the Tech game, and also Ky/Tn.

Despite the fact that Kentucky couldn't pull off the win over Tennessee to send GA to the SEC Championship (which I guess actually gives us a higher bowl berth? Whatever. I am over trying to wrap my little brain around the BCS.), I had an awesome time watching with Brett, and with all of the Auburn and Alabama fans who may not have cared about the outcome of the game, but pulled for Kentucky with me, anyway. SEC fans are the best. They get it.

Afterwards, Brett headed to the game, and Todd and I went over to Iain's in Opelika to watch the game. Mostly, i drank while they watched the game. We started tailgating around 2 pm and we stayed up til 2 a.m., when I stopped dancing and passed out on the foldout with my snoring Todd, and four dogs.

Sunday was hell. Okay, except for the part where I finally got to meet my first ever niece. She is adorable and cute and little and she doesn't talk back or run into things and bust her head open. Oh, and my brother-in-law Wade makes a kick ass spaghetti with meatballs. Perfect cure for a hangover, and totally got me well enough to drive two chilluns back to Atlanta. That drive usually takes two hours, but because of Thanksgiving traffic, it took 3.5 hrs plus. I now know what my hell is: Driving in the dark fog and mist, for all eternity with two children screaming, crying, fighting, and singing, while the car lurches forward in 10 mph spurts and headlights blind me in rearview and my head throbs and my stomach churns and I am so desperate for sleep that I almost, almost pull over at Hogansville to get a motel room, just to put me out of my misery, but it would take me another 30 minutes just to get to the exit ramp, so I might as well push on.

UGA at #4. How the fuck did that happen?

More Iron Bowl pics.

Thank God for Football

Otherwise, I'd be really bored at my parents' for Thanksgiving.

I am watching USC ream AZ State. It is kinda gettin' me excited about a couple more days of football. I'm hoping that my clueless [about football] mother-in-law will schedule her Thanksgiving dinner for some time other than those where I would like to watch games. Like, say, a possibly upset of LSU by Arkansas. Yes, I'm a poor married soul who has to do two Thanksgivings. In two states. And one of them is Alabama.

Then on Saturday, I will be in a football frenzy of
a) Georgia hopefully not thinking Tech will be a cakewalk.
b) 2nd Favorite Team Kentucky hopefully putting a whomp on my Mama's Vols. [Yes, nothing trashier than "your Mama's a Vol!"]
c) Tailgating with husband for Iron Bowl. Should be an interesting Saturday. We actually won't be going to the game itself, just watching outside with friends. Todd knows better than to take me, his Bulldog wife, to an Auburn game, though, as they are 0-3 with the Bulldog wife in attendance. And yes, two of those were between the hedges.

Pictures of Temporary Annulment Day

For my Auburn friends who want to relive the day as much as I do, my Georgia/Auburn set on Flickr.

The Afterglow

. . . Of victory is a beautiful thing. The fun part is that I don't even have to be an asshole, or an obnoxious winner. I just sit and smile at my husband the Auburn fan, and he knows exactly what I'm thinking. I haven't been able to get this smile off my face all morning.

What 1 A.M. Looks Like

I had forgotten. This is what it looks like when Todd and I plan to go directly home after his Loud Music and Beers Book Club at the Flatiron, but then we decide to have one more beer at the Glenwood while waiting for our cab. We run into friends from college and old coworkers. Suicidal Tendencies on the jukebox. It gets a little messy. Good times had by all.

Of course, I am not feeling so awesome right now, and Todd is already War Eagling me, and I am choking down my first cup of coffee and we have to drive to Athens. There are big things on the line here, folks, both in the big football picture for the Dawgs, but also on the home front. We're talking bragging rights for a year, which is a very long time when you are on the losing team. And there's a little punishment in the works for the loser this year, but more on that after we see the outcome this evening.

Go Dawgs!!!

Breaking News!

Worst Day in a Long Time Becomes One of Best Days of Year for Beleaguered Mom, Gator Haters Everywhere

An Atlanta mother of two, sick, and caring for her children and grandfather for the weekend, was pleasantly surprised when her self-described "Worst day ever" became fucking awesome as the Georgia Bulldogs unexpectedly defeated the Florida Gators in Jacksonville this afternoon.

Says Dogwood Girl: "Hell, yeah! Diarrhea be damned, I'm having another beer!"

Membership Revoked

I think I’m going to preemptively turn in my girls’ club membership, because after people read this, it will probably be revoked.

Todd is out of town. He went camping. In Perote. Yes, that is a real place. Pronounced “Pee-Rote.” It is somewhere in the wilds of Alabama. Okay, peeps, here’s the deal. I had tivoed Gossip Girl, America’s Next Top Model, and numerous The Hills and Real World episodes.

Maybe this is Freaky Friday – Todd goes to the middle of nowhere, no electricity or power, where he will not see football all day long. I watch football all day long. Color me Jamie Lee Curtis. Todd is Lindsay, of course.

I just spent the day between about 2:30 and now (11:13) watching football. I did nap for thirty minutes around 3pm. But other than that, I watched football. That is not unusual for me, as Todd and I often spend Fall Saturdays watching football. But tonight, you would think I would be doing the bottle of wine, husband out of town, guilty pleasure Tivo thing. Nope.

Football. I Could. Not. Turn. It. off.

LSU Kentucky. No, wait. KENTUCKY/LSU. Fucking awesome. I had Tiller and Rollie in their pjs yelling “Go Wildcats!” and “Big D!” on that last LSU possession. I even chose to watch those three overtimes over the Bulldogs game. Unheard of, but I really like Kentucky. I think they are a classy act, and I LOVE an underdog and an upset. And I kind of think LSU fans are pompous fuckwads this year, too, for the most part; Heberts and Lambremonts excused. I like to watch an LSU Tiger looking all stunned in the face paint. Good stuff.

Dawgs. God’almighty, they just about broke my heart last week, but they pulled this one out. Knowshon looked stellar in that last quarter. Me likey. I kind of want to make out with Richt when he does stuff like yell at the boys for celebrating too much on the field, and I though him apologizing to Vandy before the media or the fans could even start bitching about it was just another example of what a class act he is. So proud of him as coach. And, hey, if they're gonna have an off season, a rebuilder, or what have you, this is as good a season as any, because the upset factor is keeping me pretty entertained.

Speaking of, Cal. Ha! Little freshman QB was doing okay, but he really choked there on that last play. The annoying part of this whole thing is that fucking Ohio State will move into the number one slot, and I hate them solely on my knowledge of one single Ohio State fan acquaintance. Buckeye Boy is more of a fuckwad than the whole LSU fandom united. Props to T’s Auburn boys for pulling out a tough one against Arkansas, too.

The really sad part is that even when I did watch some of my Tivo stuff, I watched Friday Night Lights. Nope, not kidding.

All in all, good football Saturday. Would’ve been better with a little company.

Oh, wait. . . I gots me a bottle of wine. Which just might secure retainment of my membership card, because I bet I’m the only football fan in Georgia that watched that much ball today while drinking red wine, rather than bourbon or beer. Maybe I'll start the Bulldog Wine Club.

One last football footnote: (God, that’s cute. “Football footnote.”) Must convince Nessie to go see Band of Horses with me tomorrow. Ben Bridwell likes him some Dawgball.

I'm post-dating this. Totally forgot to publish it on Saturday. Wish I had made BOH, but just wasn't feeling like braving a 99X crowd.

Experiencing Indigestion

It has taken me almost an entire week to digest the loss to Tennessee. I still can't really believe it and remember it almost as if it were a very bad dream, a night terror.

I just couldn't bring myself to comment on it at all. I will say that my mother was a very humble loser and did not lord it over us on Sunday the way I thought she would. I think the spanking was so bad that she actually pitied us.

I am not even really looking forward to tomorrow. The Vandy game is completely losable. I don't know if my weak stomach can take anymore.

We are Way Cute When We Drink

Most of the time i feel like Dogwood Girl is a great outlet for me, a healthy exercise in purging my sick mind and all that. But lately? It is just another damn thing that I am not getting done. Who needs something else to make them feel guilty? I am not going to let it get me down. I will post when I can post.

But some things require taking the time. Like when one of your bestest friends, the one that introduced you to your husband, which resulted in your life becoming boring and parental, and yet you still love her, is getting married and you spend the weekend with the girls, acting trashy and pretending that you don't have children or husbands. Much fun.

In case you haven't visited the town, Helen is totally kooky, touristy, and a total fucking riot. Here's a town where everyone drank the Kool Aid and decided to make their little town a theme park. With beer river tubing and taffy and Ye Olde Fudge.

We spent the weekend in a cabin, with a pool table, a panoramic view of Mt. Yonah, a hot tub, rocking chairs, four couches, and three tvs. Anyone who knows me can tell you that if you put me up with a pool table, a stocked bar, an IPod, and a hot tub, I might never leave. I watched Auburn beat out those detestable Gators while pounding beers, playing pool, and hot tubbing. It was awesome. We are even mature enough that we could afford a place where everyone had a bed. I shared a King with my little sis and I barely knew she was there.


This was the first Bachelorette party I have been to, i realized later, at which only the Bride-to-be was a Bachelorette. The rest of us were all Matrons. That is a little disturbing. Didn't get in the way of the shenanigans, though. And as Lisa and I informed the others, we are still way cute when we drink. You can see evidence of this in the following picture, as Leelee exudes cuteness:


















High points, other than aforementioned view and hot tub, were the excellent meals, and the company. Great group of girls. Okay, it's a tossup - Girls vs. very frightening, nightmare-inducing Deer Anus Cyclops Head. It could go either way.













More pics:
Keri, Robbie, and Nessie:


















Robbie solo, and with her very cool future Sis-in-law, Katie:


















Et moi, basking in the heat of the tub and two beautiful field goals against the Fucking Florida Gators (Yes, this Bulldog hates them just. that. much.) And to top off a great weekend, on the way home, i met a couple of bikers on Harleys at the gas station. One of them asked me to go for a ride with him. He was cute in a pushing-50s, Marlboro-Man-gravelly-voice kind of way. I was tempted. It was a great day.

"I need to get back to Atlanta," I said.

"I live in Atlanta," he replied with a devilish grin. "I'll take you home."

"I can't. I gotta get back to the husband and kids."

"Ma'am, I'm so sorry. I didn't see your ring. I didn't know you were married."

"That's okay," I said. "You made my day!"

And it did. We're still cute, girls, even when we're not drinking. And chivalry is not dead. At least not in the hills of North Georgia.

"The Stadium is Worse Than Bonkers!"

This is kind of a sad day for me as a Bulldog fan. Tonight is the first game in my lifetime that won't be called by Larry Munson.

This article is a good overview of his career, and includes some of his greatest calls. My first recollection of Larry calling a game was about 1984. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was twelve years old and it was a cold and rainy day in Georgia. I played soccer on Saturdays at the Roswell soccer fields. By high school, we would call these fields and their parking, just off the high school campus, "The Water Tower." As in, "meet me at the Water Tower," or the more exciting, "Fight at the Water Tower after school today." Good times. I think we were waiting for my game to begin, sitting in the warmth and dryness of mom's red station wagon. I'm not sure if Lisa was there, and I have no idea where Dad was, but Mom and I listened intently to Larry's voice on the radio as the cold rain poured down.

"So we'll try to kick one a hundred thousand miles. We're holding it on our own 49-and-a-half ... gonna try to kick it sixty yards plus a foot-and-a-half ... and Butler kicked a long one ... a long one ... Oh my God! Oh my God! ... The stadium is worse than bonkers!" - calling Kevin Butler's field goal in the final seconds to win over Clemson in 1984"

You would have to know my mom to have any idea of the response this elicited from her; Words cannot do it justice.

I know a man needs to settle down, but Larry will be missed.

The Strut

That's the name of the festival in my neighborhood. I miss the days when we lived within walking distance of the village, where we could come and go throughout the day, drink as we please, and not worry about it. I also miss my nanny. Oh, wait. We've never had a nanny.

Todd and I woke up at 6 a.m., in time to grab a snack and a coffee, get the kids going, and break up a cat and dog fight, before leaving for the 5k. We thought we were running late, and we were so early that they gave us numbers 10 and 11 - Gotta love my slacker neighborhood. It was nice to be in a small race, with neighbors and people I know. It was Todd's first race, and we were both pleased with the weather, and the fact that we both beat the Dachsund running the race. It's the small things. Also, the shirt is the coolest!

I wasn't happy that we had to head over to Grant Park to get brunch, but we hit Ria's for a brunch without kids. Awesome. Love me some kid-free meals.

Afterwards, we headed back home to start the grill, put on the beans and hit the showers. My sister and Mom were around after watching the kids for the morning. (Best sister EVER for coming over at 6:15 a.m. to watch the kids.) Matt, Ned, Nessie, and Scarlett showed up, and we started the margaritas at about noon, then watched the Auburn game. (Yikes.) I listened to Larry on the radio while the kids ran around. Afterwards, mom and Lisa went home and we all went up to check out the Strut. I got an supercool, ultra cheap creepy shrinkydink necklace for 3$! And a handmade bib for my niece Luci. V. pretty.

Amazingly, i had two margaritas and one beer all day until after bringing the kids home and putting them to bed (they were pooped.) I'll be honest. I could have really tied one on. But these days, I am more likely to drive my kids safely around (okay, except for the mailman roadie incident!) and then pound some beers on the couch.

I know. Totally glamorous.

Seriously. It was a good day.

New. Favorite. Band.

From an interview with Band of Horses' Ben Bridwell on Pitchfork.

Pitchfork: Is there anything else that you want to get off your chest?

BB: College football starts in about fifty days.

Pitchfork: You're not soaking up the baseball season?

BB: I am, actually. We haven't been near it. When we were in Seattle for those three weeks I got to watch some Mariners games.

Pitchfork: So the M's are your team?

BB: Yeah, the Mariners are my favorite pro baseball team, and the Georgia Bulldogs are my favorite college football.

Holy Shit. And more:

Bridwell, the songwriting force behind Horses' acclaimed debut Everything All the Time, lives in a ranch-style home that will soon be smartly appointed with Georgia Bulldogs football memorabilia. He's just moved in, so only the oblong G doormat is in place. A framed photo of the all-white English bulldog "Uga," wearing a red t-shirt and performing a leaping chomp at a nervous Auburn wideout from the end zone sideline, sits on the hearth waiting to be hung.

And also:

They serve micheladas-- cold beers with soy sauce, Tabasco, and half-limes.

Dear God. This might be love.

Okay, I really liked Band of Horses already. (They were number one on my Top Ten of 2006 list.) But the convergence of good music and SEC football fandom (and my Bulldogs, no less!) really gets me excited in an altogether freaky way.

Thanks to Todd for recognizing this momentous item, giving me the heads up, and being okay with me daydreaming about watching football with Ben all day and then going to watch Band of Horses that night. I will try to make said daydream include a victory over Tech or Florida, rather than Todd's lil' tigers. I'm nice that way.

Vocabulary

One of the most entertaining parts of the parenting thing is the rapidity with which a child's vocabulary grows; They really are little sponges, constantly soaking up everything around them, both good and bad. It is fun to watch, and a little scary, as they mirror the very things that you say and do, day in and day out, very closely. Things that adults say sound benign, but out of the mouths of babes . . . yikes.

I have written about the divided household we are running here; I am a Georgia fan, Todd is an Auburn fan, and the kids are confused. Add to the confusion trying to explain that we still love Grandma, even though she is a Vols fan, and that Uncle Mark is a Gator fan, and we hate Gators, but that he is still a good person. SEC families are a tricky road to navigate with children.

Rollie and I were having a discussion the other day about how we can like both Dawgs and Tigers, but that Dawgs are a little bit better. My mother overheard this and told Rollie that Vols were better than both. I thought that I had deprogrammed the child after this conversation, but evidently I was wrong. On the way home from dinner the next night, Rollie said out of nowhere:

"Mama, I like Gators."

"No, you don't."

"But I like Vols. . ."

"No, Rollie, you don't like Vols. They are yucky."

A pregnant pause from the backseat. I looked in the rear view mirror to see Rollie frowning and deep in thought. I was still looking at his reflection in the mirror when he lifted his face to look right at the back of my head and yelled "Vols, Damn it!"

[sigh]

Where to start? What is more offensive? The fact that he learned his first four-letter word, or the fact that he thinks he likes Tennessee?

"Rollie, where did you learn that word?"

"From Grandma."

"No, Rollie, the other word. Where did you learn that one?"

"Papaw Cecil said it when he was at the door."

I think it would be best for the child if he just didn't see Grandma and Papaw anymore.

We Are All Some Sexy Motherfuckers

Todd made a little fun of me for tearing up while Prince did his Super Bowl half-time show finale. But seriously, like, have you never seen Purple Rain?

That performance brings back all the pain and the Mom and Dad stuff, and feelings about Apollonia, and always being second best to Morris Day and The Time, and taking it out on Wendy and Lisa, and on the song they wrote, and on the rest of The Revolution, like Dr. Guy, and you could just let it destroy you, how angry your are, wearing your purple and being short and driving a motorcycle to compensate for it.

But when Prince performs that on stage, it is total catharsis. For all of us. We are all forgiven and cleansed and now we're hanging out in Miami with the NFL, and a marching band, and wearing some Aunt Jemima thing on our head, and a suit bordering frighteningly on Florida Gator colors, and you know what? We can pull it off, cause we're Sexy Motherfuckers.

Love me some Prince.

Guilty Admission

I have a confession to make. Last night, when we were doing the usual spooning, foreplay, married sex thing, I couldn't help feeling guilty. I just couldn't stop thinking about this. I felt so guilty for enjoying every second of that video, huddled by the laptop with my headphones on, trying to conceal the irrepressible smile on my face, guilty for thinking that "Welcome to the Jungle" was pure genius, and how great is it that it lasted so long that they had to use the extended version?

Know what is better than an orgasm? Seeing Brandon Cox thrown down, and him getting up and losing his cool.

I am so sorry, baby. I had to say it.

Sweet Afterglow of Victory

Well, the annual "Temporarily Annul the Marriage Day" went better this year than last.

Georgia 37
Auburn 15

This season still sucks for a GA fan, and the sting of that god-awful Tennessee game and losses to Vandy and KY will never fade, but this does give one hope for next season. It can work.