Pecan Tour 2006

We have been making the rounds picking up pecans this week. Last year Katrina threw everything off and it was a terrible year, and this year the trees are making up for it. This sack in particular is about 12 pounds and is really only half of our crop. Luckily the Fannin Rd. produce stand cracks pecans for you and then you shell them from there; otherwise we would have not gone to the trouble. We've already shelled at least 10 pounds and this sack is round number 2.

City of Falling Angels

I just finished listening to this book on audio, The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt. I really enjoyed reading his first book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, a few years ago but this book was not nearly as enthralling. That could possibly be because I was listening to an abridged version, but I had thought I would get a lot out of the author himself reading the book to me. Anyway, this is a non fiction book and centers around the 1996 fire at La Fenice opera house in Venice, Italy. Berendt inserted himself into Venice society not long afterward and wrote about the major players in the mystery surrounding arson charges, and other related Venetian scandals. I would recommend this book more as a history lesson and a description of the city of Venice rather than a whodunit. Berendt should have stuck to the States.

Mistletoe Door Decorations

It's pretty late at night and I do have to be at work in the morning, but I am wired after working at the MIstletoe Marketplace Preview Party, which was a lot of fun. It would have been more fun had I not had to work the entire party at the Silent Auction, so I'll have to go again when not working. But anyway, there were a couple of amazing things I saw. (1) The decorations were incredible this year as evidenced by the photo of the doors you see here, leading to some exhibits. (2) Some people were slap-faced drunk at this event and they had hired limousines to drive them around. I saw two stretch limos outside the event. (3) The buffet for the event was incredible and very impressive. (4) The crowd was huge. I will say that in preparation for the event, at about 2 p.m. on Wednesday, there was a huge windy rainstorm, and it caused a lot of water to leak inside the event tent, and knocked over a bunch of things displayed at our silent auction, and got a lot of people (including me) completely soaking wet, and I totally wondered if the event would even happen, but it did, and I think those present would agree it was a success.

Mistletoe Buffet

Tonight was the Mistletoe Preview Party in Jackson, and this is a photo of the buffet - dessert section. The decorations and setup for the caterers for this Preview Party event was nothing short of Martha-Stewart-esque. The only setup I've ever seen that was more elaborate was a midnight buffet on a Carnival cruise. The decorations were everywhere. Crazy Cat bakers is the caterer who did the baking, and Cambi gets credit for chairing the Mistletoe decorations committee.

Mistletoe Silent Auction

Tonight was the Mistletoe Marketplace Preview Party which included the Silent Auction. As one of the co chairs of the silent auction, I have been consumed with the event for the past week. The event went great and I hope it raised a lot of money. This photo was a display of the Savannah Bee company and some luggage from Buy Me Gifts. Both are merchants at Mistletoe Marketplace. My congrats go out to Dorothy my other co chair and Helen our wonderful chairman. Both of them did a terrific job.

White & Nerdy Video - Weird Al

White & Nerdy Video

I am the only nerd I know who has seen this Weird Al Yankovic video more than once, since I DVR the VH1 top 20 countdown each weekend. This video is just flat out funny! It helps if you have ever heard 'Ridin' by Chamillionaire, but that's not a requirement.

Doyle Drama

I'm reading this biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and my interest in him stems from my interest in his creation Sherlock Holmes. During the summers of 2004 and 2005, I read the complete 2-volume Sherlock Holmes Collection - every tale Doyle wrote about Sherlock. This book delves into the diverse ways the English viewed Doyle. On one hand, he was revered for his Holmes fiction, but he was widely regarded as a kook when it came to his later writings on 'spiritualism,' aka believing in ghosts. To flip the coin, Doyle himself believed until the end of his life that his Holmes work was sub-par, and his best writing was that on the subject of spiritualism.
Baker Street Blog - A Great Blog About the World of Holmes & Watson

Destination

I took this photo in Destin this past weekend during our Girls Trip. I shook the camera during this shot, but pictured are Laura, Jennifer, Barbara, Kami & Stacey.

Destin Beach Shot

Me, Laura and Stacey on the beach in Destin this past weekend with our rolled up jeans.

Busters in Destin

Taken this past weekend during the Girls Trip in Destin, Fla. Laura, Diane, Stacey, me, Barbara and Kami at Buster's in Destin. Jennifer took the photo. We were lucky enough to be present during the Alabama/Tennessee game and there were orange-clad and maroon-clad fans making themselves known. It was nuts.

Destin Sunset

This past weekend was Girls Trip 2006 and 7 of us visited Destin, Fla. (One other who lives in Destin also spent time with us.) The weather was terrific and we were even able to lay out on the beach. This sunset photo was taken Saturday night and I thought it would be perfect because there were so many clouds to reflect the light. The sun never did emerge for its moment of glory, but I thought this pastel photo was the best.

Mistletoe Marketplace

I had to mention the upcoming Christmas shopping event, Mistletoe Marketplace. Tickets are still available to many of the events, which will take place November 1-4 at the Mississippi Trademart in Jackson.

RFK

I checked this book out of the library this week, prompted by seeing a trailer of the Christmas movie starring everyone and their mama,'Bobby,' which is scheduled for a Decemer release and is getting Oscar buzz. Everyone learned in school about JFK so I'm curious about the life and death of his little brother. I am only on chapter one of this book, which is by David Heymann, but at 600 pages, I may just hit the highlights.

Veronica Mars

I've managed to go several months on this blog without mentioning my absolute favorite show on TV, Veronica Mars. Season 3 began this past week and I've been lurking on the boards at Television Without Pity. Basically I love the show because Veronica is who I aspire to be. She doesn't care what others think of her, she's a total smart-ass and is smarter than everyone in town. :-)

La Cazuela

I didn' take pictures, but Pete, Nicole, Gail, Jarrod and I had a good time tonight after work at La Cazuela in Jackson. With the state fair nearby, the restaurant was hopping and we had good service as well as food/drinks. I've never had a bad experience at La Cazuela, so it's to be expected.

Razorlight

I just got the new CD Razorlight by the Britpop band of the same name. I have only been exposed to them on the XM radio station U-Pop which plays a lot of British and a litle bit of 'world' music, but I like their sound. I also like the Britpop band Hard Fi, but Razorlight is my favorite of the moment.
Razorlight's Home Page Also I should mention that the same night we bought Razorlight we also picked up Justin Timberlake's new CD and we give it a meh - it's not as good as Justified, but we do like a couple of tracks.

Undefeated Champions

Our "Nosehounds" team won at trivia at Sportsmans Lodge tonight without really trying. We had planned to meet Rebekah and Carl there to play trivia tonight, and it so happened the Southern Miss game was on, so we got to watch the game, see them and play trivia. Anyway, our prize was $50 off our tab, so we ate and drank for cheap, too. The only sad part is the bar is discontinuing trivia on Tuesday nights, so we will retire undefeated champions! Hal & Mal's, here we come. =Edit: Now that I've posted this entry, it looks remarkably similar to last night's post just below. I guess it's life imitating art, which is imitating life.

One of our Fave TV Shows

...is called 'How I Met Your Mother' on CBS on Mondays. The cool part is, you know the ending in advance. Ted starts out telling his kids the story of how he met their mother. Yet the girls he is pursuing on the show he refers to as "Aunt So and So" so you know he doesn't 'end up' with them in the end. So it makes it that much more fun to watch. Check it out - How I Met Your Mother TV Show.

Mississippi State Fair

The Mississippi State Fair begins Wednesday just a couple of blocks from my office. We have already made plans at my office to go there and eat 'fair food' this Friday. And I hope to go with friends sometime before it closes on Oct. 15. My favorite things to do at the fair are the nerdy things - seeing the animals, visiting the antique car show, the plant competition, the art competition and eating junk food. My favorite rides are the cable cars going over the fair and the slides. The real rides are not my thing. As a kid, my brother and I would go each year to the South Mississippi fair in Laurel, and I was always so afraid of the 'headless woman' atttraction. It gave me nightmares.
Miss. State Fair Schedule.

CAbi

My friend Laura is selling this clothing line and the things I have ordered have been of high quality and cute.
CAbi Clothing Online.

Attic View

This is a view out the attic of a new house we're remodeling. The brick house was built in the 1940s and we have found lots of neat things inside it - in the attic is a large wood chest that something was shipped in, and it was shipped to the address of the house - the address is still visible on the side of the crate. Also, the tenant who recently moved left behind some neat knick-knacks. If you've seen decorations in our house, you've seen knick knacks from every tenant who ever left something behind. Todd calls our decorating style "eclectic," but I call it "leftovers!"

The best things that were ever left behind by people moving out have been a collection of DVD movies, a set of bunk beds, an old set of Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society going back generations, and a laminated map of the world. The worst things ever left behind by a mover include: a pound of raw hamburger meat on the counter, dozens of old moldy mattresses, and a voluminous set of 33 record albums (33 record type, not quantity) from the 'folk' and 'world' genres.

Mike's Retirement

Todd's dad Mike retired after 34 years with his company on Thursday. This is a photo of his retirement party. They had every type of food imaginable and lots of decorations in honor of Mike's interests. He also got a very nice retirement gift from the office. The next day, he was out fishing all afternoon. He has been looking forward to retiring for a long time and I hope he enjoys it.

Mike's House - Touch of Spring

Todd's dad Mike retired Thursday after 34 years with his company. Since Mike lives in a different town than us, Todd went to visit him for the retirement party and took this photo of MIke at his front door. Todd was admiring the pristine floral arrangment Mike put together in his front yard.

Mama Loves Cats

I had to put this photo in of Mama (Todd's maternal grandmother) with one of her birthday gifts, a drawing of two cats. Mama *loves* cats and talks all the time about her cat Socks that she had to give up when she moved into the nursing home. This was her favorite birthday gift out of all of them - she couldn't wait to put it up on her wall at the nursing home.

Pan Asia

Friday night, for our friend Vanessa's birthday, we ate at my favorite restaurant, Pan Asia, in Ridgeland. The stir fry bar rocks - I recommend the tofu. Julie rates their martinis incredibly high. Vanessa had the fish, and Todd the chicken. Pan Asia's web site is www.pan-asia.com. Now that I've posted this, I see the graphic looks like absolutely nothing. I am unable to capture any graphic from their site.

Tallpine Wreck

The house I grew up in, as it stood the Saturday after Hurricane Katrina. That day, the workers were there removing the pine trees from the roof and yard.

Tallpine Redeaux

This is the house where I grew up as it looks today. It has risen not literally from the ashes, but from an actual pile of crap following Hurricane Katrina. Although Hattiesburg is 90 miles from the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the winds were still strong when they passed through Hattiesburg on Aug. 29, 2005, causing 8 pine trees to fall on the house. My mother, who was in the house, survived. Luckily she did not lose absolutely everything, as so many people on the Coast and in New Orleans did. However, the roof was breached in many places and everything in the attic came down. Also, every piece of sheetrock and insulation was wet and strewn about everywhere. Anyway, she sold the house in April and it has been remodeled with a new roof, new fence and no telling what on the inside since I haven't seen that part. My mother is most dismayed because her 30 years of landscaping was actually scraped clean with a Bobcat. That doesn't explain entirely why the yard looks so bad...the uprooted pine trees caused a lot of the bald patches you see. So my final comment is, I hate the front door, but otherwise the house looks all right.

S-O-U-T-H-E-R-N

The past two weekends, we have traveled to Hattiesburg to see the home football games at Southern Miss. This is one of the campus street signs. Both games have been victories and worth the trip. Also on the trip, I have been able to visit with my mother, which has been good.

Downtown Chimney Rock

My brother Breck, his wife Jen, and Todd exploring downtown Chimney Rock, N.C.

Chimney Rock Gorge

We got this great view of the mountains from within the Chimney Rock Gorge in N.C. Since it was a Saturday, there was a small festival in the gorge, with people selling homemade goods. I bought some organic cat snacks, which my cats promptly decided were quite beneath them, thank you very much. That was $4 wasted.

Chimney Rock N.C.

Over Labor Day Weekend, we traveled to North Carolina, visited with my father, and got this view of the amazing Chimney Rock. Those of us who share my genetics were too seasick to navigate the winding roads which lead to the rock, so we didn't actually go there. Also I should mention that this area of North Carolina is near Lake Lure, which is where the movie Dirty Dancing was filmed.

We Have Access

For the past few weeks, we have had never ending trouble with our cable internet access to this computer, so that explains the long time between posts. We're back online now. We have given up on 'wireless' and have decided that 'wired' is the way to go!

Night Trippers

The crew who is driving Melissa to Connecticut includes her brother Chris (in back on right), friend Hunter (back left), and Jake (front right). Chris and Hunter will begin driving Melissa's car all night tonight to make it to Dollywood tomorrow. Melissa and Jake will begin driving the moving truck tomorrow morning and try to make it most of the way to Connecticut. Cosmo is not a dependable driver, so Melissa says he will be sedated for the trip.

Moving Day

Our 'roommates,' Cosmo and Melissa, moved out today to begin their journey in Connecticut. We will miss you!

Tree House Demolition

Today Todd began the last task of fixing up our house that is a big 'visible' task - tearing down the unsightly tree house in the back yard. This tree house has been an eyesore from the day we moved in, but other projects took priority. Maybe we'll put an arbor or just a flowerbed there.

Slate Steps

One of the last things Todd has done to improve our house is to cover our front concrete porch and steps in slate tile. He did a lot of the work himself and we are thrilled with the results. I won't publish the 'before' photo!

Fans on Cell Phones

I took this photo as soon as we (from left to right, [other] Todd, Rob and Todd and I) got into the stands at Saturday's Saints preseason game. After 30 minutes of waiting at the security checkpoint, we were admitted at about 5:50 - 10 minutes before gametime. I can't complain, though, since some people did not make it into the game until 7 p.m. Anyway, as we found our seats, there were plenty of other seats around us in the same section, but gradually the entire section filled up. The stadium is horseshoe-shaped and we were at the bottom of the U. At any rate, the three of them proceeded to whip out cell phones almost immediately. Both Todds were on the phone when this photo was taken.

Saturday's Saints Game

I attended the NFL pre-season game Saturday between the Saints and the Colts. This was a big event for Jackson. There were 58,000 tickets sold for the 60,000-seat Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium. Some of the big names on the field were the Colts' Peyton Manning and the Saints' first round draft pick Reggie Bush. This photo was taken in the first quarter, but the crowd continued filing in until well into the 2nd quarter, so the stadium appeared to be full by halftime. It was reported that long lines to go through security kept people in the parking lot a lot longer than anticipated.

S is for Silence

I recently finished reading Sue Grafton's latest entertaining mystery. I have to admit I have also read A through R as well :-)

Freakonomics

Todd and I both recently finished Freakonomics and enjoyed the book. It creates endless conversation fodder, whether you buy into the theories or not. There's also a thought-provoking Freakonomics blog.

Freakonomics Web Site

Freakonomics Blog

Barefoot Wine

I'm going to get a plug in for Barefoot Wine, the generous company that furnished all the beverages for a business event that I went to last week. This photo is a print available on their web site. Stacey was gracious enough to take me with her as her guest to the event, which featured a reception at the Governors Mansion and dinner at the Old Capitol Inn. So anyway, back to the wine tasting. Upon entering this event, a glass of sparkling wine was put in our hands. When we were seated, we noticed three wine glasses at each place setting. Sure enough, these wine glasses were filled almost to the brim before the night was over. Some of the ladies at the dinner were having trouble standing up at the end! I was the designated driver so I only literally tasted each wine. My favorites were the burgundy and the sparkling wine.

CyberCat Rocks

I have to put a plug in for our computer guru, Cybercat. We returned from our recent trip to Panama only to accidentally delete all 200 photos taken from our computer. Aak! Cybercat helped us out by making a house call and recovering all the photos, saving not only our marriage, but our memories of the trip. To reach this all-knowing guru, call 601 713 0887. There's nothing he can't do.

Trivia Champs!

I did not take my camera, but Tuesday night our Nosehounds team won the Jackpot Trivia at Sportsman's Lodge in Jackson! Players include me, Todd, Carl, Rebekah, James and Skye. We will defend our title forthwith. Sportsman's does not have a web site that I can find so I can't even provide a link.

The Happy Couple

The wedding of our friends Jeff and Grace in Panama was held at the Iglesia de Santa Marta in Panama City, a beautiful, and thankfully air-conditioned, cathedral. Here Jeff and Grace are pictured leaving the church at the conclusion of the ceremony.

C'mon Ride It

The night before the wedding of our friends Jeff and Grace in Panama, a party bus cruised around town with a live band aboard and a ton of dark and light rum. This party bus is a modified American school bus with one side carved out open to the elements. It would never pass safety regulations in the U.S. Anyway, the musicians played extremely loud 'Carnival' music. Nonstop dancing and music for hours. It was loads of fun. People looked at us wherever the bus went - it must have been impossible to look away. Picture a pep rally on the inside of a school bus, for hours!

Which is the Monkey?

During our recent trip to Panama for the wedding of our friends Jeff & Grace, we went on a Panama Canal boat tour and made a stop at Isla de Monos - Monkey Island. The 'wild' monkeys would come up to the boat to take a treat (bread) out of one's hand. I didn't touch any monkeys because I hate monkeys, flat out. But Todd agreed to be photographed with one. See if you can guess which is Todd and which is the monkey! :-)

Four for Floating

On our recent trip to Panama for the wedding of our friends Jeff & Grace, we took a boat trip on the Panama Canal. The motorboat sped around the big, slow-moving ships, giving us a spectacularly close view. Pictured are me, Todd, and fellow Mississippians Tony and Sheila - who were essentially on their honeymoon themselves, as they had gotten married the Friday before going on the trip.

Miraflores Locks, Panama Canal

Duing our recent trip to Panama, the country, for the wedding of our friends Jeff and Grace, we visited Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal. It takes a big ship 30 minutes or so to go through the locks, or 'water elevators,' as they repeatedly refer to them as. We stayed on the observation deck and watched a huge ship go by - it was neat to be so close to the ship itself. Pictured are Tony, Sheila, Todd, Bobby and Grace at the locks.

Gamboa Resort

In early August we visited Panama City, Panama. This photo, of the nearby Gamboa Eco-Resort in the middle of a rainforest, was one of the most beautiful and inviting places we saw. This terrific view is from the open-air lobby. Almost everything is open-air there. It's not as hot as you would think in August because it's the "rainy season" (read: their version of winter). Sure, it rained every day, but it didn't get much higher in temperature than 88 or so.

Panama City Panorama

In early August we visited Panama, the country, for vacation and the wedding of our friends Jeff & Grace. We stayed in the very modern and nice Panama City, seen here from a big hill overlooking the city.

Vacation in Panama

In early August we took a trip to Panama, the country, for the wedding of our friends Jeff & Grace. They are pictured here with Todd on the night of our arrival in Panama City at a great Spanish restaurant.

World War II Memorial

During my trip to Washington D.C. last week, the one landmark I made a point to see was the new World War II memorial. It was a tourist hotspot that day, with even a huge group of Japanese students there.

RFK Stadium

It was hot as hell at the old RFK Stadium on Thursday July 27 as the Washington Nationals took on the S.F. Giants. Lots of seats are in the shade, but our group sat in full sun. The Nationals won.

Counterparts

I just returned from a conference in Washington DC - it was a conference of people who do the same work that I do in other states - and had the privilege of meeting my counterparts from New York, Indiana, Florida, Wisconsin, Washington and more. Those are the states represented here - pictured are Laura, Karen, Bret, Monique, Kristin, Megan and me at '1789' restaurant in Georgetown.

Georgetown U

Last week I went to Washington DC for a conference and had some free time one afternoon, and explored the campus of Georgetown University. This is the administration building.