Kim & Charles' Wedding

Today was [Todd's sister] Kim's wedding to Charles G. in Monroe LA, and it was just beautiful. The wedding chapel and reception hall was nicely decorated, and the ceremony was traditional and brief. The first photo is of the gorgeous cake done by Kim's friend Sherry.














This is the happy couple exiting to a shower of bubbles.








Kim being escorted by her father, Mike, down the aisle. Kim looked absolutely gorgeous today!














This shot is post-wedding, at the photographer's studio, of Kim and Charles with the bayou in the background, and I just love this shot! Todd gets kudos for it - he framed it and snapped it. I especially love the cypress tree.

About Monroe Louisiana

So we are in Monroe for Todd's sister Kim's wedding this weekend. Two things about Monroe: the tap water resembles tea, and there is a cricket infestation. We slept with several crickets in our room last night, and there are swarms of them outside all over the place. I lost count of how many crickets I picked up and put outside our room. The little buggers just congregated at the threshold, ready to hop back in as soon as we opened the door. I give up. This photo is of about 10 crickets at the threshold of our hotel room door.

Baby Shower for Me

Last Sunday my friends were sweet enough to host a baby shower for me, and we had a great time. The Curtain Climber got some great gifts!





















The photo of me with the hostesses who were sweet enough to put this together - from left to right are Kim, Rebekah, Jennifer, Laura, me, Julie, Stacey and Beverly. Then the photo of me with the moms - from left to right is me, Todd's sister Gretchen, my mom, and Todds mother Mary Lou.

Laura's Shower

We had a wedding shower for Laura last weekend. Her wedding is in two weeks and the shower was at Jennifer's house. The girls-only shower was a lot of fun and we all got to catch up with girlfriends.

Southern Miss/Tennessee Game

One of the highlights of our weekend was being part of the 106,000 people who attended the Southern Miss/Tennessee football game on Saturday, Sept. 8. We were part of the 3,500 Southern Miss fans in attendance, and we were surprised at how good our seats were. We were on the lower level in the corner of the end zone, but we were all together and weren't way up at the top. It was great to meet our fellow fans - unfortunately the seats at Neyland Stadium are too small for the average butt, so we were practically sitting in each others' laps the entire game, plus it was hot and sweaty weather. We were treated well for the most part by TN fans, too. Bottled water costs $3.50 at this stadium, and a chicken sandwich, $6. Oh, and the game. Southern Miss kept the lead for a while in the first and second quarters, and I kept taking photos of the scoreboard to prove it. The shot here of the scoreboard shows the Southern Miss lead 16-10 at one point. We had to park in downtown Knoxville and walk to the game, and Knoxville itself is very hilly; especially around the stadium. I was pretty taxed trying to haul my increased weight up and down the hills while maintaining balance!

Traveling Observation

This weekend we traveled - and since we recently traveled on a three business related trips for me, I have these observations. All of these things actually happened this weekend:

When Work is Paying: Tip a skycap to take your bags to the counter.
When You're Paying: Park as close as possible and roll own bags in.

When Work is Paying: Buy drink whenever you are thirsty.
When You're Paying: Get free bottled water from airline attendant; keep bottle; refill it at water fountain.

When Work is Paying: Each go to different food court stop and get whatever you want.
When You're Paying: Split entree from the sandwich place; each get own fries.

When Work is Paying: Buy local newspaper.
When You're Paying: Wait to be the last people to leave the plane so you can scavenge the newspapers people left in their seats and piece together your own, section by section.

When Work is Paying: Buy several snacks at hotel snack bar.
When You're Paying: Pack four granola bars before leaving the house. Horde extra peanuts and Biscoff cookies Delta doles out. Find unopened Biscoff cookies when scavenging for newspapers, and do a victory dance.

Asheville Culture

This weekend on our trip to Asheville, we witnessed culture and horticulture. We went to the Asheville Drum Circle, an event held downtown each Friday night. Dozens of individuals bring their own bongo-type drums downtown, sit in a circle in a park, and bang out a rhythm for 3 full hours. Dozens more people dance to the beat in either a stupor or a frenzy; I couldn't tell. That was fun to see. Then we went to the local Farmer's Market and I saw some heirloom tomatoes that I have never seen before. The maroon ones on the left are Cherokee Black tomatoes, and the red and yellow ones are called Candy Striper. I can vouch for the sweet taste of the Cherokee Blacks - we had BLTs that were superb later that day. The third photo is of my father and me. The weather was outstanding in Asheville - low humidity and high 80s. People there thought it was oppressive but it felt good to us.

Girls Night Out at Shappleys

The Friday night of Labor Day weekend, several of us girls went to dinner in Jackson for a 'special occasion.' I'll keep the details of that occasion off this page. Laurie was nice enough to secure a limousine and we all had a great dinner at Shappleys. I took these photos in the limo. In the first photo are Staci, Julie, Stacey,l Rosemary and Laurie. In the second photo, Deborah, Lynn and me.