We all know what's happening in the news right now. Admittedly, I'm not a big news-follower so all of my details aren't crystal clear, but I'm pretty sure I get the gist of it: One of Penn State's assistant coaches allegedly sexually abused multiple young boys between the ages of 8 and 15. And if I'm not mistaken, multiple people knew about it, including legendary coach, Joe Paterno.
Now, I think that as an "educator" of sorts, Joe Paterno had a duty to report. Sure, he says he reported it to his immediate superior, but evidently nothing ever came of it. Until recently, that is, and I'm really not even sure what unleashed the media firestorm as of late. Regardless, what has happened is, without doubt, despicable.
I do feel, though, that we're putting an unreasonable amount of attention on Joe Paterno. Yes, he was wrong. I think he practically became an accomplice when he "washed his hands of it" and turned the other cheek. How he could continue working with that individual is beyond me.
But.
It wasn't Joe Paterno abusing the children, it was Sandusky... (Jerry, I believe?). And I feel like we've kind of overlooked him in favor of a whirlwind of emotions caused by the firing of a beloved coach. Some people have rushed to his defence, most notably the students of Penn State rallying outside his house.* Some have hurled insult after insult at JoePa for his lack of action. The insults may be deserved, but frankly, I'm ready to see some insults and accusations thrown at Sandusky.
*Sidenote: its reactions like this-- rushing to the defense of a long-sung hero-- that keep victims from coming forward to begin with, in my humble opinion.
Now, Sandusky "maintains his innocence" and I guess in this country your innocent until proven guilty. If he is innocent, this is a nightmare that he and his family may never wake up from. If he's guilty, though... I hope this doesn't go the way of Casey Anthony, a more guilty-until-miraculously-proven-innocent route.
So that's my soap box for the day. Yeah, it turns out that JoePa's not some spotless grandfather figure. Sure, we're disappointed in him. What's worse-- the Bear would be disappointed in him. But I'm ready to start pointing a finger or two-- and maybe not the one you're thinking of-- at Jerry Sandusky.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Hallo-weanie
Can we talk?
I know there will be groans all around from the young at heart, but I’ve got to be honest: I’m not a fan of Halloween.
People everywhere are looking forward to lots and lots of Halloween festivities. But me? I’m glad to have a wedding to go to that allows me the excuse, “Oh no, I wish I could come to your raging Halloween party, but I’ve got this wedding to go to… Shucks!” (and, obviously, I’m genuinely excited to see one of my best friends tie the knot with his lovely bride—it seems like just yesterday that he brought her to my house over Christmas break… but I digress).
Halloween’s just never been that big of a deal to me. As a child, we would dress up and trick-or-treat, but we lived just west of Po-Dunk and my main benefactors were my grandparents and my babysitter. And this usually resulted in a plastic pumpkin full of fruit and those undistinguishable orange and black candies.
I’ve never been allowed to watch scary movies, and for good reason—the one time I went rogue and watched ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark?’ I had nightmares for weeks. As a result, I still don’t subscribe to the horror genre. I would rather polish the silver and scrub the baseboards than sit through a Paranormal Activity-like movie. I’ve never even seen Scream, and, among my generation, that’s unheard of. So, no Halloween movie marathons for me. This only further exasperates my distaste for Halloween as I am now forced to avoid ABC Family’s “13 Nights of Horror” or whatever. Look, “Hocus Pocus” scared me as a child and it scares me now. Disney or not.
Even the opportunity to dress up doesn’t thrill me. Frankly, I collapse under the pressure to come up with a clever costume. I’m not looking for an excuse to wear thigh-high stockings and bloomers, so that cuts out costume stores with ceiling-high stacks of custom costumes for the “modern woman”: slutty pirate, slutty witch, slutty cheerleader, slutty demon… let’s cut through all this red tape and just be slutty, huh? In my humble opinion, I’d rather be bundled up on a cold October night… but what do I know?
Don’t get me wrong—I love fall. I love pumpkins and mums, and nothing makes me smile like driving down a country road shrouded in trees of orange, red, and yellow. I love houses decorated with hay bales and country scarecrows and the fact that everything in Starbucks is currently pumpkin-flavored. I like a good fall-scented candle and a juicy caramel-covered apple; I’ll even throw caution to the wind and enjoy a hayride once in a blue moon, provided that it’s not a “haunted hayride.” The crisp, cool air… the sound of Kirk Herbstreit and Lou Holtz in my living room every weekend… a smorgasbord of new tailgating treats… These are the kind of fall celebrations I can get into. Not the ghouls, goblins, and undead.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
practically perfect.
Every now and then, at the end of the day, I can't help but grin about how good life is... or, I should say, how good the Giver of Life is. Today's one of those days. This weekend has been practically perfect in every way, if I do say so myself-- as you can see, I'm choosing not to acknowledge a little something-something that went down in the Bayou. Let's just not talk about it.
Friday, Alex showed up around 7. Perfect timing-- I had just woken up from my afternoon nap. A much needed nap after two days of subbing for 8th graders. We-- of course-- pulled a new recipe off of Pinterest and got started tag teaming the eats right away. Taco stuffed pasta shells. Probably my favorite Pinterest find so far. While our food baked, we whipped up a French toast casserole for the next morning (Paula Dean insists that it sit overnight, and I don't argue with Paula) and caught up on Modern Family.
Once we pulled our shells out of the oven, we settled on How Do You Know?, a promising movie with Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson, and Jack Nicholson. Or so we thought. There's not a likable character in the movie and the plot never seems to really take off, so it's impossible to really connect with the movie. About an hour in, the funniest part of the movie was our jokes about how awful the movie was.
Saturday morning, Dad and Al had a little male bonding over ESPN while I hit the gym. They hardly even noticed when I lunged across the room, dripping sweat and grunting. Dad only acknowledged me long enough to suggest I bring them drinks. Men.
After a work out and a much-needed shower, Alex and I headed to the pumpkin patch downtown. Listen, this was the first time I'd carved a pumpkin since I was in a single digit age group. Read: Big Deal. I wandered around that patch for nearly half an hour pondering over the perfect pumpkin. Alex settled quickly on a tall, skinny pumpkin, an obvious pick for him. But on that ideal fall day, I was on a mission for an ideal pumpkin. Eventually, I settled on a shorter, squattier pumpkin that I thought was pretty much perfect.
At home, Mom had made brunswick stew for lunch-- always a hit. So we chowed down on that while we watched the first half of a football game that we won't mention here. During halftime, we headed outside for the carving of the pumpkins. As it turns out, I'm a pretty speedy pumpkin carver, so after I finished my own little work of art, I spent my time taking pictures of Alex carving his pumpkin. So you can look forward to an Alex + Pumpkin album on Facebook any day now. It took longer than halftime to finish up our pumpkins, but as it turns out... that's probably for the best.
Next up, I got started on the apple dip for the Alabama game. Alex watched the first half of the game at my house, and I worked on a sewing project for Mom's deck. If you caught the first half of the Bama-Tennessee game, you might can appreciate that it was lucky I had something to keep me out of the room while my Bama boyfriend tried not to pull every hair out of his head. At halftime, we headed to the Brazeltons, and that seemed to make all the difference in Bama's performance. So you're welcome for that, Bama fans.
This morning, we went to church-- Mom's my Sunday school teacher, and it's been a lot of fun to watch the college and career class grow. She's developed quite the little crew of Snead students, which is fairly impressive considering Snead State is two cities over.
After church, we headed for Oneonta for some family time. I've pretty much been looking forward to this little event for weeks. We celebrated my grandmother's birthday-- her 40th, I think-- and spent the day catching up and laughing. And laughing and laughing and laughing. Mallory provided a good deal of the entertainment as she has learned that when she applauds, the room applauds her back. So every few minutes, she'd clap her little hands and scream, and we'd all clap back and yell, "Yayyyyy!" And that little sasspot would collapse in giggles. I might be a little biased, but she's basically the cutest baby on this entire planet.
From there, the parents and I headed to my other grandmother's house for a little visit, where Dad and I promptly started pillaging her stuff. Sometimes we fancy ourselves something close to treasure hunters, so we climbed up in the attic-- I climbed tights and boots and all, thank you very much-- and rummaged through boxes in search of my Papaw's old wide-brimmed hats. The hats were never found, but I did claim a couple of antique suitcases. I also managed to convince my grandmother that her old wedding bands-- the thin one from her engagement at age 15 and the wider one from later in her marriage-- would look lovely on my naked hands. So it was a pretty successful visit indeed.
For the rest of the night, I've laid in bed and watched TV. And I'm not even embarrassed to say that. I watched ABC's new show 'Once Upon A Time,' and I was not disappointed in the least. In fact, I'm really looking forward to another episode. Like now. Patience was never my strong suit.
And now Boyfriend has called, and that signifies the end of my day. So goodnight, friends.
Friday, Alex showed up around 7. Perfect timing-- I had just woken up from my afternoon nap. A much needed nap after two days of subbing for 8th graders. We-- of course-- pulled a new recipe off of Pinterest and got started tag teaming the eats right away. Taco stuffed pasta shells. Probably my favorite Pinterest find so far. While our food baked, we whipped up a French toast casserole for the next morning (Paula Dean insists that it sit overnight, and I don't argue with Paula) and caught up on Modern Family.
Once we pulled our shells out of the oven, we settled on How Do You Know?, a promising movie with Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson, and Jack Nicholson. Or so we thought. There's not a likable character in the movie and the plot never seems to really take off, so it's impossible to really connect with the movie. About an hour in, the funniest part of the movie was our jokes about how awful the movie was.
Saturday morning, Dad and Al had a little male bonding over ESPN while I hit the gym. They hardly even noticed when I lunged across the room, dripping sweat and grunting. Dad only acknowledged me long enough to suggest I bring them drinks. Men.
After a work out and a much-needed shower, Alex and I headed to the pumpkin patch downtown. Listen, this was the first time I'd carved a pumpkin since I was in a single digit age group. Read: Big Deal. I wandered around that patch for nearly half an hour pondering over the perfect pumpkin. Alex settled quickly on a tall, skinny pumpkin, an obvious pick for him. But on that ideal fall day, I was on a mission for an ideal pumpkin. Eventually, I settled on a shorter, squattier pumpkin that I thought was pretty much perfect.
At home, Mom had made brunswick stew for lunch-- always a hit. So we chowed down on that while we watched the first half of a football game that we won't mention here. During halftime, we headed outside for the carving of the pumpkins. As it turns out, I'm a pretty speedy pumpkin carver, so after I finished my own little work of art, I spent my time taking pictures of Alex carving his pumpkin. So you can look forward to an Alex + Pumpkin album on Facebook any day now. It took longer than halftime to finish up our pumpkins, but as it turns out... that's probably for the best.
Next up, I got started on the apple dip for the Alabama game. Alex watched the first half of the game at my house, and I worked on a sewing project for Mom's deck. If you caught the first half of the Bama-Tennessee game, you might can appreciate that it was lucky I had something to keep me out of the room while my Bama boyfriend tried not to pull every hair out of his head. At halftime, we headed to the Brazeltons, and that seemed to make all the difference in Bama's performance. So you're welcome for that, Bama fans.
This morning, we went to church-- Mom's my Sunday school teacher, and it's been a lot of fun to watch the college and career class grow. She's developed quite the little crew of Snead students, which is fairly impressive considering Snead State is two cities over.
After church, we headed for Oneonta for some family time. I've pretty much been looking forward to this little event for weeks. We celebrated my grandmother's birthday-- her 40th, I think-- and spent the day catching up and laughing. And laughing and laughing and laughing. Mallory provided a good deal of the entertainment as she has learned that when she applauds, the room applauds her back. So every few minutes, she'd clap her little hands and scream, and we'd all clap back and yell, "Yayyyyy!" And that little sasspot would collapse in giggles. I might be a little biased, but she's basically the cutest baby on this entire planet.
From there, the parents and I headed to my other grandmother's house for a little visit, where Dad and I promptly started pillaging her stuff. Sometimes we fancy ourselves something close to treasure hunters, so we climbed up in the attic-- I climbed tights and boots and all, thank you very much-- and rummaged through boxes in search of my Papaw's old wide-brimmed hats. The hats were never found, but I did claim a couple of antique suitcases. I also managed to convince my grandmother that her old wedding bands-- the thin one from her engagement at age 15 and the wider one from later in her marriage-- would look lovely on my naked hands. So it was a pretty successful visit indeed.
For the rest of the night, I've laid in bed and watched TV. And I'm not even embarrassed to say that. I watched ABC's new show 'Once Upon A Time,' and I was not disappointed in the least. In fact, I'm really looking forward to another episode. Like now. Patience was never my strong suit.
And now Boyfriend has called, and that signifies the end of my day. So goodnight, friends.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
thoughts & things
I wish I had something really thoughtful and clever to share, but alas. I do not.
Instead, I will delight you with thoughts that run through my head as I watch the next-to-last episode of this season's Project Runway.
Pinterest is taking over my life. But unlike Facebook, it's actually been really productive. Instead of perusing album after album of my friends pictures, I'm bookmarking cute ideas and new recipes and then-- here's the good part!-- I'm actually DOING them. I had this big plan to upload pictures and do a very bloggy-blog about recipes and projects with step by step instructions and so on, but I'm like the world's laziest picture uploader... so... we'll see if that ever comes to fruition. In the meantime, I've gotten a thousand pictures of mini Twix cheesecakes on my phone just waiting for the opportunity to be blogged. I have at least gone back and made comments on the recipes I've made (with lots and lots of help from Boyfriend, who actually really enjoys tag teaming a meal, a trait he gets from his lovely parents) so that re-pinners can learn from my experiments. For instance, this will come as a shock, but... the mini cheesecakes would have been better with full-fat cream cheese.
I did circuit training tonight because-- duh-- I'm eating mini cheesecakes on the weekends-- and it nearly killed me. I fully expect to be crippled by morning. If you're unfamiliar with circuit training, it's basically five different moves for 30 seconds each with no rest in between, rest 20 second, repeat two more times. We'll call that a block. Then you jog for 30 seconds, run for 30 seconds for 5 minutes. Then it's back to a different block with the same formula: 5 moves, 30 seconds each, no rest in between until all five moves are complete.... and back to the jog-run switcheroo. You get the drift. You do 3 circuits of workout blocks and 5-minute cardio blocks. Then I hit the elliptical for 25 minutes because last week's episode of Project Runway had come on and I didn't want to leave it and I didn't want to just sit in my sweat. And believe me-- I'm a sweater. Girls that can work out and still have a bouncy-beautiful ponytail just disgust me. When I'm done working out, I have strings of wet hair sticking to my neck and a bun on top of my head that's dripping. Cute, huh?
I talked to Alex about being a "running couple" one day. He vetoed that idea. I'm thinking it has to do with the sweat problem...
I subbed today and actually got to teach, which is rare for a sub, and I loved it. Loved. It. Usually, we subs are stuck with a video and a worksheet. Well, today was no exception, but by the time 7th period rolled around, the projector and the VCR were no longer speaking for whatever reason. As luck would have it, the subject matter was something of a specialty of mine.
My dad and I have always been very into sci-fi/fantasy kind of stuff, much to my mother's chagrin and a lifetime of eye rolls. So it's no surprise that Greek mythology has always been a big part of the literature of my life. And today I got the chance to actually teach a class about something that's really interesting (when appreciated as literature-- don't freak out). And for one of the first times in a teaching situation, I really felt like I connected with the students. They were engaged, they asked questions, they put the pieces together. It was fantastic-- a truly proud moment for me. For a split second, I considered that I should pursue (yet another) degree in secondary education. Fortunately, it occurred to me that I wouldn't be able to only teach the things I'm interested in, so that dream ended there.. But maybe I'll land a guest speaking gig from time to time.
When I got home from the gym, my dad had brought me dinner from Gunter's Landing, including a fantastic French onion soup and their signature salad, and-- drum roll, please-- a chocolate covered apple. I mean, hello-- could I be more spoiled? It was pretty much the perfect way to end my day-- my favorite pajama pants, my giant armchair, delicious dinner and a delightful dessert (I saved half for breakfast tomorrow!), and my favorite reality TV-- ahhhh, I wish everyday could be so good.
And now, after a long day of teaching and a hard work out, I'm going to reward myself with some pinning and then hit the hay. And I won't be mad if I'm snoozing by 10.
Instead, I will delight you with thoughts that run through my head as I watch the next-to-last episode of this season's Project Runway.
Pinterest is taking over my life. But unlike Facebook, it's actually been really productive. Instead of perusing album after album of my friends pictures, I'm bookmarking cute ideas and new recipes and then-- here's the good part!-- I'm actually DOING them. I had this big plan to upload pictures and do a very bloggy-blog about recipes and projects with step by step instructions and so on, but I'm like the world's laziest picture uploader... so... we'll see if that ever comes to fruition. In the meantime, I've gotten a thousand pictures of mini Twix cheesecakes on my phone just waiting for the opportunity to be blogged. I have at least gone back and made comments on the recipes I've made (with lots and lots of help from Boyfriend, who actually really enjoys tag teaming a meal, a trait he gets from his lovely parents) so that re-pinners can learn from my experiments. For instance, this will come as a shock, but... the mini cheesecakes would have been better with full-fat cream cheese.
I did circuit training tonight because-- duh-- I'm eating mini cheesecakes on the weekends-- and it nearly killed me. I fully expect to be crippled by morning. If you're unfamiliar with circuit training, it's basically five different moves for 30 seconds each with no rest in between, rest 20 second, repeat two more times. We'll call that a block. Then you jog for 30 seconds, run for 30 seconds for 5 minutes. Then it's back to a different block with the same formula: 5 moves, 30 seconds each, no rest in between until all five moves are complete.... and back to the jog-run switcheroo. You get the drift. You do 3 circuits of workout blocks and 5-minute cardio blocks. Then I hit the elliptical for 25 minutes because last week's episode of Project Runway had come on and I didn't want to leave it and I didn't want to just sit in my sweat. And believe me-- I'm a sweater. Girls that can work out and still have a bouncy-beautiful ponytail just disgust me. When I'm done working out, I have strings of wet hair sticking to my neck and a bun on top of my head that's dripping. Cute, huh?
I talked to Alex about being a "running couple" one day. He vetoed that idea. I'm thinking it has to do with the sweat problem...
I subbed today and actually got to teach, which is rare for a sub, and I loved it. Loved. It. Usually, we subs are stuck with a video and a worksheet. Well, today was no exception, but by the time 7th period rolled around, the projector and the VCR were no longer speaking for whatever reason. As luck would have it, the subject matter was something of a specialty of mine.
My dad and I have always been very into sci-fi/fantasy kind of stuff, much to my mother's chagrin and a lifetime of eye rolls. So it's no surprise that Greek mythology has always been a big part of the literature of my life. And today I got the chance to actually teach a class about something that's really interesting (when appreciated as literature-- don't freak out). And for one of the first times in a teaching situation, I really felt like I connected with the students. They were engaged, they asked questions, they put the pieces together. It was fantastic-- a truly proud moment for me. For a split second, I considered that I should pursue (yet another) degree in secondary education. Fortunately, it occurred to me that I wouldn't be able to only teach the things I'm interested in, so that dream ended there.. But maybe I'll land a guest speaking gig from time to time.
When I got home from the gym, my dad had brought me dinner from Gunter's Landing, including a fantastic French onion soup and their signature salad, and-- drum roll, please-- a chocolate covered apple. I mean, hello-- could I be more spoiled? It was pretty much the perfect way to end my day-- my favorite pajama pants, my giant armchair, delicious dinner and a delightful dessert (I saved half for breakfast tomorrow!), and my favorite reality TV-- ahhhh, I wish everyday could be so good.
And now, after a long day of teaching and a hard work out, I'm going to reward myself with some pinning and then hit the hay. And I won't be mad if I'm snoozing by 10.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
homecoming.
This Friday, the Guntersville Wildcats celebrated their annual homecoming football game with a definitive victory over the DAR Patriots. There was a parade, a queen, and revelry all around... but this Guntersville alum wasn't there.
I was having my very own homecoming of a different kind.
Saturday morning, as I flew down 280, I called my mom with a big, "Good morning and War Eagle! I'm heading home!" Home to the Loveliest Village on the Plains, that is.
This is the second year in a row that the pledge sisters and I have gathered at Jo's apartment for a girls' weekend on the campus where we all met. I've been looking forward to it for weeks, and I must say, it didn't disappoint.
I started off Saturday morning with a chicken biscuit and a Diet Dr. Pepper from McDonald's, so it was a good day right away. And as soon as I pulled on to 280, I joined the Auburn Family caravan. Every car on that endless 4-lane highway was decked out with Auburn flags flying from car windows, Aubie tails hanging from trunks (admittedly, a decoration I've never really understood because it doesn't turn your car into a quasi Aubie so much as look like you stuffed unconscious Aubie into your trunk... but to each their own. It's the spirit that counts, I guess), personalized license plates and an Auburn sticker. There was no doubt where we were all headed, and those that were just out running Saturday morning errands were passed by a weaving snake of Auburn fans, one by one.
As I rolled past the first official Auburn University sign, I rolled my windows down and jacked my music up. After a year, I was finally home again.
When I got to Jo's, all the girls were still lazing around in their PJ's after a night out on the town. Saturday morning mimosas were the perfect compliment to a morning of doing each other's make-up, borrowing each other's clothes, and catching up on every detail of each girl's life.
The weather was perfect with a cloudless sky, warm sun, and cool breeze, and by 2:00, we were officially established at our tailgate on campus. Barbeque, brownies, dips, and cold drinks abounded as we played corn hole, latter ball, and War Eagle'd every passing fan.
When the moment came to enter the stadium, I got chills and a smile I couldn't suppress. It's really beyond words how I love that town, that team, that stadium... that moment. You walk into the concrete colossus where you're separated from the sun for just a minute before walking up the tunnel and emerging into the stadium, where a blanket of green grass and thousands of "family members" wait to cheer with you. Ah, there are those chills again.
Chasley's family scored us prime seats in the lower bowl on the 40-yard line, so we settled in just time to see Nova take flight from the flag pole. Let me tell you-- if you've never seen that beautiful bird soar around the stadium to the soundtrack of thousand screaming War Eagle, you can just go ahead and add that to your bucket list right this very moment.
So okay-- real talk. That game was ugly. Painful even. Every time the refs gathered with the teams, I couldn't help but think he was saying, "Now you guys get the ball and take it that way, and you other guys try to stop them. Got it?" But as football fans around the nation love to say, a W is a W, and I'll take it either way.
After the game, we stood by and cheered as the football players jumped into the student section to cheer with their adoring fans. We hugged and swayed as we sang the Alma Mater. Okay, none of us know the Alma Mater, but we hugged and swayed and hummed along. And as we walked through campus, we War Eagle'd complete strangers and cheered that, "It's great to be an Auburn Tiger." And the truth is, it is.
Even if we don't win every game. Even if we didn't win a single game. It would still warm my heart and thrill my soul to walk through that campus, to relive those memories-- those of one of the happiest chapters of my life. It's hard to be the feeling of being a proud alum. You can believe that my Auburn University diploma will hang proudly wherever I end up. And along with it, I hope there are pictures of me and my girls on that campus... no matter how many new buildings spring up or how many businesses close their doors or how many games or won or lost.
From the hollowed walls we'll part,
And bid thee sad adieu;
Thy sacred trust we'll bear with us
The ages through.
We hail thee, Auburn, and we vow
To work for thy just fame,
And hold in memory as we do now
Thy cherished name.
And that, my dear good friends, are a few of the actual Alma Mater lyrics. How fitting indeed.
I was having my very own homecoming of a different kind.
Saturday morning, as I flew down 280, I called my mom with a big, "Good morning and War Eagle! I'm heading home!" Home to the Loveliest Village on the Plains, that is.
This is the second year in a row that the pledge sisters and I have gathered at Jo's apartment for a girls' weekend on the campus where we all met. I've been looking forward to it for weeks, and I must say, it didn't disappoint.
I started off Saturday morning with a chicken biscuit and a Diet Dr. Pepper from McDonald's, so it was a good day right away. And as soon as I pulled on to 280, I joined the Auburn Family caravan. Every car on that endless 4-lane highway was decked out with Auburn flags flying from car windows, Aubie tails hanging from trunks (admittedly, a decoration I've never really understood because it doesn't turn your car into a quasi Aubie so much as look like you stuffed unconscious Aubie into your trunk... but to each their own. It's the spirit that counts, I guess), personalized license plates and an Auburn sticker. There was no doubt where we were all headed, and those that were just out running Saturday morning errands were passed by a weaving snake of Auburn fans, one by one.
As I rolled past the first official Auburn University sign, I rolled my windows down and jacked my music up. After a year, I was finally home again.
When I got to Jo's, all the girls were still lazing around in their PJ's after a night out on the town. Saturday morning mimosas were the perfect compliment to a morning of doing each other's make-up, borrowing each other's clothes, and catching up on every detail of each girl's life.
The weather was perfect with a cloudless sky, warm sun, and cool breeze, and by 2:00, we were officially established at our tailgate on campus. Barbeque, brownies, dips, and cold drinks abounded as we played corn hole, latter ball, and War Eagle'd every passing fan.
When the moment came to enter the stadium, I got chills and a smile I couldn't suppress. It's really beyond words how I love that town, that team, that stadium... that moment. You walk into the concrete colossus where you're separated from the sun for just a minute before walking up the tunnel and emerging into the stadium, where a blanket of green grass and thousands of "family members" wait to cheer with you. Ah, there are those chills again.
Chasley's family scored us prime seats in the lower bowl on the 40-yard line, so we settled in just time to see Nova take flight from the flag pole. Let me tell you-- if you've never seen that beautiful bird soar around the stadium to the soundtrack of thousand screaming War Eagle, you can just go ahead and add that to your bucket list right this very moment.
So okay-- real talk. That game was ugly. Painful even. Every time the refs gathered with the teams, I couldn't help but think he was saying, "Now you guys get the ball and take it that way, and you other guys try to stop them. Got it?" But as football fans around the nation love to say, a W is a W, and I'll take it either way.
After the game, we stood by and cheered as the football players jumped into the student section to cheer with their adoring fans. We hugged and swayed as we sang the Alma Mater. Okay, none of us know the Alma Mater, but we hugged and swayed and hummed along. And as we walked through campus, we War Eagle'd complete strangers and cheered that, "It's great to be an Auburn Tiger." And the truth is, it is.
Even if we don't win every game. Even if we didn't win a single game. It would still warm my heart and thrill my soul to walk through that campus, to relive those memories-- those of one of the happiest chapters of my life. It's hard to be the feeling of being a proud alum. You can believe that my Auburn University diploma will hang proudly wherever I end up. And along with it, I hope there are pictures of me and my girls on that campus... no matter how many new buildings spring up or how many businesses close their doors or how many games or won or lost.
From the hollowed walls we'll part,
And bid thee sad adieu;
Thy sacred trust we'll bear with us
The ages through.
We hail thee, Auburn, and we vow
To work for thy just fame,
And hold in memory as we do now
Thy cherished name.
And that, my dear good friends, are a few of the actual Alma Mater lyrics. How fitting indeed.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
A day in the life.
Before the semester began, I plopped down at the kitchen table where Mom was sitting and Dad was lounging behind the kitchen counter, and declared that I was going to have to come up with a hobby. I had already plunged through 4 books in two weeks, and I was having a hard time focusing my eyes on anything outside of a one-foot radius after squinting at book after book for hours on end.
So I agreed to teach Extended Day as well as extend my substitute teaching range to the elementary schools. And then I took up violin. And joined the gym.
Then there's my practicum hours once a week when I'm the counselor's intern at the middle school. And there's the drive to Tuscaloosa on Wednesday mornings, class from 4-5 and clinic from 5-8 and individual supervision meeting from 8-9 on Wednesday nights, and the drive back home on Thursday mornings.
And it just so happens that Alex and I have joint-custody of our relationship, swapping weekends back and forth between Birmingham and Guntersville with a few trips to Nashville, Tuscaloosa, Huntsville, Muscle Shoals and so on thrown in here and there. These little trips take away from the general "relaxation" feel of a weekend-- somehow driving hours on end never seems to give me that good rest I need. Although, I do often find it hard to keep my eyes open once I hit those county roads.
When you add football season on top of that, I'm just all booked up. Even weekends when Al comes to me are filled to the brim with tailgating galore-- cooking, baking, traveling, and making merry with friends from all around. Auburn games with my friends, Bama games with his. And it is truly, truly very fun-- but, again, not exactly restful. Although, I may or may not have snoozed through the second half of the Bama-Florida game at Eric and Molly's house-- but trust me, they did more than enough cheering with or without me.
So tonight is a rare night when I didn't have a dinner date with a long lost friend or a hair appointment or work out buddy to meet. Since I took care of getting my oil changed and tires rotated yesterday, I thought I would make tonight equally as productive. Yesterday, my plan for tonight was to come home from teaching Extended Day, put my workout clothes on, work on a sewing project that's taking up a considerable amount of our basement floor, and then hit the elliptical while I watched Biggest Loser (fitting, yes?).
Well, my intentions were good... and they say it's the thought that counts.
In reality, I came home, shed my dress pants and let the exhaustion of 7 hours of teaching kids about bullying and 3 hours of managing thezoo extended day classroom roll off my body. I hopped into my work out clothes-- intentions still good!-- and sat down to dinner with my mom before heading down to work on my sewing project. I sat down on my bed for a minute-- just ONE minute!-- the next thing I know, Macy is snuggled up next to me and we're halfway into Biggest Loser's NFL week. My man Tebow is leading the workout, and I'm lost in an internal struggle of how I would break it off with Alex in the even that Tim Tebow asked me out (just kidding, dear... or am I?). I did get out of bed just long enough to guide my mom-- rookie gym rat-- through a workout, during which time I ran on the elliptical. So it wasn't a total waste-- but it wasn't even a third of what I had planned.
But you know what? I'm seriously enjoying a little down time with my cat and my favorite reality TV show. And if it wasn't for the presence of sweet Alex, I would think this was a preview of my future: cat lady with a reality television addiction.
Who am I kidding? This is a preview of my future. It just happens to include Alex. Lucky guy.
So I agreed to teach Extended Day as well as extend my substitute teaching range to the elementary schools. And then I took up violin. And joined the gym.
Then there's my practicum hours once a week when I'm the counselor's intern at the middle school. And there's the drive to Tuscaloosa on Wednesday mornings, class from 4-5 and clinic from 5-8 and individual supervision meeting from 8-9 on Wednesday nights, and the drive back home on Thursday mornings.
And it just so happens that Alex and I have joint-custody of our relationship, swapping weekends back and forth between Birmingham and Guntersville with a few trips to Nashville, Tuscaloosa, Huntsville, Muscle Shoals and so on thrown in here and there. These little trips take away from the general "relaxation" feel of a weekend-- somehow driving hours on end never seems to give me that good rest I need. Although, I do often find it hard to keep my eyes open once I hit those county roads.
When you add football season on top of that, I'm just all booked up. Even weekends when Al comes to me are filled to the brim with tailgating galore-- cooking, baking, traveling, and making merry with friends from all around. Auburn games with my friends, Bama games with his. And it is truly, truly very fun-- but, again, not exactly restful. Although, I may or may not have snoozed through the second half of the Bama-Florida game at Eric and Molly's house-- but trust me, they did more than enough cheering with or without me.
So tonight is a rare night when I didn't have a dinner date with a long lost friend or a hair appointment or work out buddy to meet. Since I took care of getting my oil changed and tires rotated yesterday, I thought I would make tonight equally as productive. Yesterday, my plan for tonight was to come home from teaching Extended Day, put my workout clothes on, work on a sewing project that's taking up a considerable amount of our basement floor, and then hit the elliptical while I watched Biggest Loser (fitting, yes?).
Well, my intentions were good... and they say it's the thought that counts.
In reality, I came home, shed my dress pants and let the exhaustion of 7 hours of teaching kids about bullying and 3 hours of managing the
But you know what? I'm seriously enjoying a little down time with my cat and my favorite reality TV show. And if it wasn't for the presence of sweet Alex, I would think this was a preview of my future: cat lady with a reality television addiction.
Who am I kidding? This is a preview of my future. It just happens to include Alex. Lucky guy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)