Vacay for John's b'day

John and I are heading out in the morning for a weekend trip to Gatlinburg. His birthday is Friday, so it will be a nice little trip. I have really huge butterflies, though. You'll probably laugh when I tell you why. It's because we're boarding Ali and Bama, and we have NEVER left them for this long! We're dropping them off in the morning, and I won't be able to pick them up until Monday afternoon. At first I thought we'd be able to pick them up Sunday afternoon, but Ashlee told me that they quit having Sunday pickups because so many people weren't showing up to get their pets. Can you believe that? I'd be there waiting to get my pups. These animals are my babies. They depend on John and me, and they love us. I couldn't just forget them!

We took them to the vet yesterday for their annual checkups. Bama has real fear of the vet's office. I know that he has never been mistreated or intentionally hurt, but he certainly remembers that it is NOT a place he likes. From the minute we walk in until we walk out, he shakes. Because of that, he got his visit over first so John could take him outside. When they went into the exam room and the door was shut, Ali was all ears. She stared at the door with her ears on full alert the whole time. Ali is not a vocal dog, except when she's playing with Bama, but when her big brother was taken into that room, she began to whine. They both did very well with their shots and drops. Bama, my big boy, weighed in at 15.6 lbs, and Ali was 6 lbs....exactly what they were last year.

OK...gotta go load the car. Y'all have a GREAT weekend, and I'll post when we get back.

Oh yeah, we'll be in Tennessee when Auburn is up there playing the Vols. There will be WAY too much urnge.

ROLL TIDE!!

Lookin' at a BUSY week!

Before getting into the week ahead, I have to make my weekly comments about the football weekend. John and I went to Tuscaloosa, but we ended up not going to the game. Yeah, shocker of ALL shockers...I willingly did not go to the game! Somebody better call a doctor. Fast. 'Cause that ain't normal behavior for this football lovin' gal! hahaha

There is a very good reason, though. And as much as I would have LOVED to have sung along with the crowd to Rammer Jammer, we had so much fun doing what we did. So, what DID we do, you ask? Susan had called and said they were considering staying at the condo to watch the game since the weather forecast was for tons of rain. They asked us to come over and hang out before the game, so we did. And it rained. About 1:45, I said something to John about us heading to campus. He said he'd just as soon stay at the condo and watch the game instead of sitting in the rain. "Sounds fine to me," I replied. Tim looked at me and asked if I was okay. LOL So we stayed there and watched the game with some of the best friends in the entire world. Of course, the rain ended about the time the game began.

Susan and Tim are more than friends...they are family, but they are the family we chose, not the ones we were born in to. It never matters what we do when we get together. We always have a good time. We have spent 10 days together chaperoning 20+ kids in Europe; we have spent two hours sitting on the porch at the lake talking. And it has all been great. They are such special people, and we thank God for bringing our lives together. :)

Susan and I walked over to Alumni Hall during halftime of the LSU-Miss St game. I got a new T-shirt for John and one for me (like we NEED more T-shirts) and I got a cute gray zip-front sweater with a script A for myself. Now, I need a 3/4 sleeve white top to go under it. After our game, we walked over to Iguana Grill for dinner (yummy!) and then we stopped in Kinnucan's. Susan and I both got a pair of HOUNDSTOOTH flip flops! Too cute!!

It was another GREAT day to be a Bama fan, with the exception of the injury to Don'ta Hightower. I am truly hoping that his knee is merely sprained or bruised, but from the look on his face as he was being carted off the field, I'm not so sure. There haven't been any "official" reports that I have seen, and I'm not going to believe anything I read on message boards or hear on TV until I can see that it is from Coach Saban.

Our awesome DEFENSE stopped the much-vaunted Ryan Mallett and the Arkansas offense. It was a slow start, but after our guys got their motors warmed up, they didn't stop. Our OFFENSE really shined, too! Greg McElroy is doing a fabulous job of being the field commander, and it seems as if the entire team has really and truly gelled. It is so different from just a few years ago. I know that the season is still new and that there is still LOTS of ball to be played, but it seems like our team has what it takes.

OK...so on to the busy week ahead...

Tomorrow is our Open House at school. Yeah, this is the 8th week of school. Why we are having it SO late is beyond me, but I just do what I'm told. Each year, we all dread Open House because it makes for SUCH a long day. I'll leave home around 6 AM, and I won't get home until after 8 PM. I could come home between the end of school and the beginning of Open House, but that would be 40 minutes of driving. I'd just a soon stay in town. Right after school, I'll get my classroom ready for the parents, and then some of us will go grab a bite for dinner.

When I taught special ed, there would be nights when we (the spe. ed. teachers) would have NO parents whatsoever. That was always so discouraging. Especially when so many of the parents never even came for their child's IEP meeting. It is sad when kids don't have anyone who can or will take an active roll in their lives. True, some parents couldn't come due to jobs, illnesses, etc., but in the 13 years I taught special ed, I can honestly say that there were some parents whom I never met. Sad.

On Tuesday, the pups have to go to the vet for their yearly checkup. Not a fun time for them. Or me. Luckily, their appointment is at 5, so John should be home and can ride with us. Last year, the minute I pulled into the parking lot, Bama groaned. YES, GROANED! He jumped into the back seat, so I had to open the back door to get him out. Then Ali ran to the other side of the car. I was trying to keep Bama from jumping back in and trying to get Ali out...I'm sure it looked like chaos. It was. After I got them out of the car and into the office, someone else came in. Bama managed to slip out of his collar and almost made it out the door. If he had, I know that he'd have been waiting on the steps by the time I got home.

On Wednesday, we'll need to pack because we're going to Gatlinburg for the weekend. Well, until Saturday. Woo hoo!! We've had this planned for MONTHS, and I am SO excited!

Since we're going to be gone from Thursday until Saturday, that meant we had to find something to do with Ali and Bama. At first, we were going to offer to pay Jess and Lance to keep them for us. When I sent her a message to ask, she said that they had planned on asking us to keep Scruffy Pup and Chipper that same weekend because THEY are going to Tennessee for the AU-UT game. (Had I realized that game was being played in Tennessee that weekend, I would have scheduled our trip for another weekend in an effort to avoid a huge crowd. Oh well!)

We debated our options, but we finally decided to board them at Southern Star Farms. Ashlee, who is a teacher assistant for me, works there, and she has assured me that they will be very well taken care of. I don't worry about Ali quite so much because she seems to adjust to change better than Bama, but Bama...well, he mopes when we have to leave to go to work. I talked to the owner, Amber, and she said they'd spend a lot of time playing with him so that he would forget he was supposed to be sad. :) I'm sure I'll call to check on them. They ARE my babies!! LOL

Southern Star Farms in an alpaca farm. After I first talked to Ashlee, I went to the website to look around. In addition to farming alpacas and grooming/boarding animals, they have a store with products made from alpaca wool. One of the first things I saw on the website was a houndstooth scarf, and I fell in love! I ended up going out there Friday and buying two of them..one for me, and one for Susan. (It was her birthday present...for her birthday this past JANUARY! Yeah, a tiny bit late, but I had to find the perfect gift. LOL) I can't wait until it is cool enough to wear it.

I guess that's about it for today. I'm considering making a quick trip to Talbot's at the mall in Auburn to see if they have the perfect shirt to go under my new gray sweater. :)

I'm quite sure I won't be around this week, so have a GREAT one, and

ROLL TIDE!!

Hey, HOGS...We just beat the hell outta you!
Rammer Jammer, Yellow Hammer! Give 'em HELL, Alabama!

I'm scared. I'm really, really scared! ;)

OK, so no, I'm not really, really scared, but I am really, really surprised. See, I am seeing SUNSHINE for the first time in, oh, eight months. Oh, shut up! It SEEMS like it's been eight months! Besides, this IS my blog, and I can lie or exaggerate if I want to. hahaha

It looked like we were in for another day of torrential rains, but so far it has been dry here. That doesn't mean that it won't start pouring down in the next five minutes. I've quit checking the weather forecasts. I just make sure I have an umbrella in my car every morning before I leave for work. After the severe drought we had for the last couple of years, I'm not going to complain. I would like it if it rained only at night, though. I hate having to get out in rain.

Bama had a great game yesterday! Yeah, I know that North Texas wasn't a challenge to us, but it is nice to finally beat a team by 46 points when we should beat them by a huge amount. Over the last few years, Bama has been famous for letting those kinds of teams hang around, and sad to say, some of them have beat us. Being able to play that well allowed the coaching staff to play some of the younger guys. Star Jackson did a great job playing QB. He made some mistakes, but this is the first time he's played an extensive amount of time. He had a few plays at the end of the first half, and except for a couple of series, he played the entire second half. The future for Crimson Tide football is looking bright!

After watching the Tennessee-Florida game, I think Florida can be beat. They certainly didn't dominate the way I thought they would. I didn't watch much of the Arkansas-Georgia game because that's when the Auburn-West Virginia game was on, but dang, Arky and UGA put up some points! I'm glad Georgia won, but that just means that Arkansas will be hungry when we play them Saturday. The Auburn-West Virginia game...sorry, friends and family who are Auburn fans...you must admit that y'all were dang lucky. Six turnovers is about the only reason you won. And the fact that WV went away from running Noel Devine (WHY???) Now, before you blast me or call me obnoxious, I know that every team--Bama included--gets those lucky games. That's the way it goes sometimes.

John should be home soon. I'll be glad! It's been awfully quiet around here this weekend. (SHUT UP! I know everybody and his brother heard me yelling during the games!) I MEANT that I haven't had anyone to talk to. Ali and Bama just aren't great conversationalists. LOL

That's about it for today. Hope you have a GREAT week! Take care, and

ROLL TIDE!!!

Just time for a quick HI!

I'm about to have to head out, but since I haven't posted all week, I thought I'd just make a quick one to say hi! We're having our homecoming game tonight at Ben Russell, and I have to work the main gate. Selling tickets. At $6 a pop. That means I have to DO MATH. I went into English instead of math for a reason. I am very good at English (not to brag, but I am) and I stink at math. I have no proof, but I'm quite sure that Mr. Kilgore passed me in Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 just so I could get my two math credits and he'd never have to see me in his class again. (Yeah, this was in the dark ages...no middle ages...when students only need two math credits for a college prep diploma. [I'm not old enough to be from the dark ages. Yet.]) Anyway, it shouldn't be too bad. I did learn my 6s in multiplication. And I will have my trusty phone which does have a trusty calculator.

We only had a half day today. After the kids were dismissed, Kristen, Melissa, Julie, and her intern (cannot remember her first name!!!) went to eat and then I came in a took a two-hour nap. I was so hoping that when I woke up, this darned sinus headache would be gone. Alas, it isn't. Yesterday it was so much better. I was hoping I was about to see the last of it, but this morning, it was back in full force. It's just that time of year. :(

The pups and I are going to have a fairly quite weekend here at home alone. This is our weekend to stay with John's mom, but since I'm having to work the game, he's got it on his own. Once the Bama game is over tomorrow, I plan on cleaning the house before watching the Auburn game. I hope I can get everything done between the two games because on Sunday I need to do a little birthday shopping for some special people. :)

OK...gotta run (much to Bama's dismay.) Have a GREAT weekend, and

ROLL TIDE!!!

Love me some football!

Ah! Opening day of football at BDS. Nothing can be better than being surrounded by 92,000 people wearing crimson and/or white! As I've said before, I am not the "typical" female because I don't particularly care for all of the fussiness of being all girly. Never have been...never will. Now, if you are a girly-girl, that's fine. We can be friends, but I'll get really aggravated at you if you are still primping when it is time to go. :)




John and I drove up to Tuscaloosa yesterday. We left early enough to stop at THE original Dreamland Ribs for lunch. Oh yum!! There are Dreamland franchises around now, but none of them even come close to the original. There is no way to duplicate the taste of the ribs because none of the franchises have grills that are anywhere close to being "seasoned." After a slab and some tea, we headed to campus.



When we got to the campus, we walked over to our old tailgate spot in front of Foster Auditorium. That is where Gov. George Wallace made his famous (infamous??) "stand in the school house door" during the time of integration. No one is tailgating there this year because they are doing renovations to Foster. There had been some talk of tearing the old gym down, but I'm glad they decided to renovate. While I don't agree with Gov. Wallace's stand, there is still historical significance. I cannot tell you the number of people, both black and white, who, over the years, have stopped there and taken pictures. We did talk to Butch, whose group tailgates across the street from our old spot.

I tell ya what...even though tailgating had gotten to be a headache (because about 95% of the work was done by about 50% of the people) I miss it. I miss hanging out with friends, watching the other games on TV, snacking...all of it! Susan and I have decided that we're doing something for a couple of the games this year!



After our visit with Butch, we walked back across the quad and over to Ferguson Center (now called The Ferg by the younger "kids".) We hung out there watching Tennessee until it was time to walk to the stadium.



Since they are doing the renovations to the stadium (Bryant-Denney will hold around 101,000 when completed), our seats got moved to the north endzone. I REALLY like them! I hope they don't decide to move us around after the renovations are complete.



I took my camera yesterday to see if I could get any halfway decent pictures. I got some that were actually pretty good. My dream is to someday have a GOOD camera and to take some classes so that I can do an even better job at this little hobby. I've added some of the pictures below.

The coach working with James Carpenter is Willie Carl Martin. Coach Martin was one of our former teachers/coaches at Ben Russell. Our only state championship in football was won during his tenure as head coach. I always look for him. One of these days, I'm going to go down to field level and try to say HI!



The Million Dollar Band doing the pregame show. The band is so named because during one of Bama's early years when the team didn't do so well, a reporter made a comment to a manager about Bama not having a very good did and he asked what they did have at Alabama. The manager replied, "A million dollar band." The name stuck, and I am proud to say that I was a member of the color guard during my freshman year at Bama.


The team prepares to take the field. This is one of the most exciting points of every game to me. The PA is blaring, the cheerleaders and Big Al are standing ready, and then on the screen, we see Coach Saban and the team walking down the tunnel. They gather at the opening of the tunnel until Saban gives them the go ahead. The cheerleaders lead them onto the field, the band is playing "Yea Alabama" and 92,000+ are singing along. Chills run all over me!

Greg McElroy getting ready for a play in the 1st quarter. He has done a very good job so far this year. He set a school record yesterday of 14 consecutive passes. After Julio went out with a bruised knee, the Double Mac Attack--McElroy to Mike McCoy--worked beautifully!

Javier Arenas prepares to take a punt in the 3rd quarter. He is such an exciting player to watch. He hasn't broken a punt or a kick off return. Yet. The Bama faithful believe that he will before the season is over. Go Javey!

My wonderful hubby and me just before the end of the game. I had a really hard time breaking him out of the "nervous hospital" but there was no trouble getting him back in following the game. I did have to feed him a mustard biscuit and some "big uns" though. Carl was really glad his roomie made it back safe and sound. Well, safe, anyway. LOL (If you have never seen Slingblade, that will make no sense to you.)

My favorite way to see the clock: triple zeroes and the most points on the side of the guys in Crimson!

We won't be going next weekend. John will be going to stay with his mom, and the pups and I will be hanging out here. I have to work the Ben Russell game on Friday night. But I can promise you that the TVs will be tuned to football all day long. :)

Hope you had a GREAT weekend and that you will have a GREAT week!

ROLL TIDE!!!

TGIF

What a LONG week! But it is over, and I'm ready for the weekend. Not sure what time we'll be leaving for T-town tomorrow, but it won't be soon enough for me. If I had to move somewhere and it couldn't be the lake, it would be Tuscaloosa. I love that town. Not too big; not too small; just right. Plus, there is LOTS of crimson and houndstooth to be found. LOL

Today was another pep rally day at school. Boy, the kids were wired. I don't know what it is that makes them think that pep rally days are supposed to be "do nothing" days. None of our teachers ever give them that impression. I know that students didn't act that way 25 years ago. The only time that we had an "off" day was on homecoming, and that was only a half day.

Speaking of homecoming...ours is next week. We're going back to the traditional get-out-of-school-half-day-for-the-parade method, and I'm really glad. For the last 4 or 5 years, we've had our parade on Thursday night, and then Friday was just a normal school day, with the exception of a pep rally.

I don't know about you, but some of my most fun high school memories are from our school's homecoming. We worked on floats for the entire week, and then Friday was the parade. I remember a couple of years that we would have a movie in the auditorium before getting out for the parade. The pep rally always took place downtown under the red light. (Yeah, Oakman was...and is...very small. We had only one red light.) The whole town turned out for it. Lots of fun memories!

Of course, today there is so much stuff that has to be done and accounted for that it is really hard to have fun at school. Oh, sure, I know that the purpose of school isn't to have fun, but I truly don't see how one or two days a year can hurt. I never gripe when the seniors take their unofficial senior skip day. If they aren't in danger of failing, one day won't hurt.

OK...so that's enough for now. I'm gonna try to convince John that we need to go to La Posada. I'm feeling the need for some salsa. :)

Have a GREAT weekend, and

ROLL TIDE!!

Isn't it the weekend yet?

I love having days off, but I really prefer them to fall at the END of the week instead of the beginning of the week. Anytime we're off on a Monday, the rest of the week seems to last F.O.R.E.V.E.R. This week has been no exception. It feels like it should be Friday already.

If I'm scheduling an off day, I always schedule it for Friday. That way I have something to look forward to all week long. :) What is going to be a whole lot of fun is Veteran's Day. It's on a Wednesday, so that means going to work Monday and Tuesday, being off on Wednesday, and going back to work Thursday and Friday. Ugh.

John has been sick since the weekend. Friday night he was starting to get sneezy, so he took some Benadryl. He seemed better Saturday, so when we went to the store, we didn't pick up anything for him. By Sunday, he was miserable. Coughing, sneezing, congestion, runny nose...Why is it that whenever a person is so congested he can't breathe, his nose will still run like crazy? Anyway, we had decided to go to the Sweet Tater Festival (no offense, but it was not worth the time or the $4.) While we were out, we stopped to get him something to take. He still feels like poo, though. And for the last two and a half days, I've fought a sinus headache that just will not go away. I love this time of year. LOL

I'm really looking forward to the game Saturday. (I think I've already said that in my last post...) Hopefully, Tracy and I can meet up and REALLY meet one another! I've followed her blog for over a year now, so it would be so much fun to actually meet. :) Danny and Linda got a room and invited us to stay with them, so we won't have to drive home after the game. (THANK YOU!!!) We've driven home before after night games, and it is NOT fun at all. I struggle to stay awake to keep John company, but I can never quite make it all the way.

Wow. I just checked the time. It's just barely after 6, but it seems so much later. Think I'm gonna go take a Tylenol Sinus nighttime (or whatever we have in there) and crash. John has already crashed. Poor sweetheart!

Have a GREAT day! Thank goodness tomorrow IS Thursday!

Whoop Whoop!

And it was another great win for BAMA! True, there were LOTS of mistakes (um hum...McClain for one) that could have cost us the game, but the team played hard and overcame those mistakes. We can't do that once we get into the meat of our schedule, though.

I'm looking forward to the first home game Saturday night. We're playing Florida International, so I really hope it's one of those games that we have won early. The first "big" home game will be the last weekend of the month when the Razorbacks come in to town. That will also open up SEC play for us.

We had a great weekend at the lake, as always. We got to spend time with family, and of course, we had some delicious grub! And now it's back home and back to work. :(

About to head to bed and to finish watching Miami and Florida State. Have a GREAT week!

Put your game face on...It's GAME DAY!

Today's post is a video of highlights from the 2008 season. RAMMER JAMMER!

ROLL TIDE!!

Put your game face on, Part 6

Alabama vs. Tennessee -- Many people debate whether the rivalry between Alabama and Auburn or between Alabama and Tennessee is bigger. At one time, there was no doubt that it was the Alabama-Auburn rivalry, but over the last few years, I think the Alabama-Tennessee rivalry outweighs the other one. They both use "urnge" as their color, and I don't like "urnge." :)

ROLL TIDE!!!

Put your game face on, Part 5

There are two videos today. Both are from 1999 when Bama beat Florida twice. We were at the 1999 SECCG with Susan and Tim. All any of us have to say is "Who's ya daddy?" and the others know exactly what we mean.

ROLL TIDE!!

Put your game face on, Part 4

The 1993 Sugar Bowl -- Alabama vs. Miami

Bama wasn't supposed to have a prayer in this game. Guess we showed 'em. My cousin, Bryne Diehl, was the punter on the team. He wore number 12.

ROLL TIDE!!

Put your game face on, Part 3

1985 Iron Bowl -- Van Tiffin kicked a 52 yard field goal with 6 seconds on the clock to beat Auburn. It was my first Iron Bowl. I was a freshman and on the color guard of the MDB.

ROLL TIDE!!