Walking in Memphis

 

Since we explored Nashville already over the Christmas holidays, we decided to check out Memphis on our way home yesterday. I confess that I have spend the better part of my day reading about, thinking over, and editing my photos of our experiencing Memphis. So here it is, this bluesy, confusy city on the Mississippi...home of bbq, BB King, Graceland, The National Civil Rights Museum, Beale Street and more....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elmwood

 

 

 

 

Though it is actually a massive oak tree you see me standing under, this is Elmwood Cemetery, a garden-like setting founded by genteel Southern men in 1852. It is the final resting place of some 70,000 people with room for 20,000 more. Soldiers from every major American War since the Revolutionary War lie here as well as victims of a Yellow Fever epidemic, and those who died in the worst Maritime disaster in American History (interesting tidbit...and you thought it was the Titanic.)

As you you will see, garden cemetery's are my secret source of fascination. I guess it was the walks our class used to take with Miss Tait to Greendale Cemetery, which was just up the block from our school. Or maybe I just have a ghoulish side.

I Have Always liked Robin Roberts

From the days when we first had cable before Mattie was born and she was an ESPN announcer, I couldn't help liking her (which was good considering Robb frequently watched the same sports show three times a day). And I have always like GMA (I am not a TODAY show fan and never have been). So I'm feeling for Robin and hoping she does well with this.

Update

Morning, blog friends...I know you need your fix, so I'll just say that I am at the library, eating a morning glory muffin, drinking the great house blend coffee, surfing and dinkin' around. I don't know what I am doing for the rest of the day...might get together with friends, might go shopping, and will most certainly spend the next couple of hours loading pics from yesterday, which we spent, taking our sweet time traveling back from Nashville where, we had met up with Robb's parents late Sunday night. I know you are all jealous of my in-laws, and you should be! It has been almost three years since I spent more than a day and a half away from my kids. I miss them, but I am alive with the possibilities!

Culinary Creativity

So the kids are leaving on Sunday to spend a week at their grandparents...

NOTE: I may not blog next week because I won't have to escape from my life periodically to have "conversations" with grown-ups.

Anyway, so since they are leaving, we decided not to get any more groceries at the beginning of this week, but instead, to make do with what we have already. (And next week, Robb and I will make 2 am runs to Taco Bell and eat otherwise crazy things whenever we feel hungry.)

I have to say, I'm pretty good at this. I'm not bragging, but if Bobby Flay and I had a Throw Down with a nearly bare pantry and a fridge full of leftovers, I would kick his hiney.

Examples? last night, I made chicken gravy and biscuits. My mouth is actually watering at the thought of that gravy...which began with finely chopped onions,carrots and celery, sauteed in butter, and ended with roux thickening.

The night before, I made a bread pudding consisting of three crumbly berry flavored bagels, 2 crusts of bread, 2 packages of hersheys hot chocolate mix, 2 tablespoons of vermouth, 2 eggs, a splash of milk, and two tablespoons of leftover cooked mixed berries.

Wanna know another super cheap meal? A cup of rice, a can of rotel, black beans, and a frozen hamburger...Served with a box of Jiffy cornbread. Throw it in a tortilla the next day for lunch.

So, I am out of sugar now. And all snack foods. And most of the oatmeal. And a lot of other stuff. But I feel confident that with a can of tomato juice and a sprig of parsley, I can whip up something else...at least until the coffee gives out....

Someone who wouldn't hurt a fly....

....must be a big ol' wuss.

Do you know who I miss?

I miss Mattie's imaginary friends:

Curtsy-a pink lion who had hands, not paws, and she could say "Hi."

The Stinker-the bad, bad, bad character who did naughty things

and

The Skunk Family-nice enough on their own terms, but you didn't want to get too close.

They were an everyday part of the family for a time, and then one day, you realize they are gone. I miss the little buggers.

News story about my parent's church

This is a newspaper story about the church where I grew up. Instead of VBS this year, they decided to do a week of community projects to help local people. My mom has organized the baby-quilt making, which I am really proud of her for. You never know how these little seeds of love can sprout!

Hey FYI

If I ever take a break from blogging without advanced warning...like a week or more...you have permission to call 911 because there is literally something wrong.

Some of you are random posters, but I am one of those die-hards who thinks in blog-post-format (You know what I mean..that sudden urge to narrate while you pick out fruit at the grocery store...). So I just want you to be clear...if I'm not posting, you need to start praying for me because something is very wrong.

This is a test of the emergency blog system. This is only a test.

Long Deep Breath.....

Do you ever just take a long deep breath, knowing

God's in His Heaven,
All's right in the world.

I can now.

What a relief.

Another Interesting Marketing claim...

So I haven't watched tv much lately, so tonight the commercials are striking me as a little odd...

A woman just claimed for Activia Yogurt, "Bloating and irregularity have to be the worst feeling in the world..."


Really? Worse than say, the feeling of having your nose hairs plucked? Bikini Wax? Sinus Infection? Multiple Paper cuts? uh....natural childbirth????

I just needed to ask.

The weirdest side effects since

gas with an oily discharge.....

I just saw a commercial for this drug used to treat restless leg syndrome. The side effects include (and I quote)

There have been reports of patients taking certain medications to treat Parkinson’s disease or RLS, including MIRAPEX, that have reported problems with gambling, compulsive eating, and increased sex drive.


well, all-righty-then.

Cross-Country Cousins

Oh, yeah....we had fun.

Anybody know how to make my widget smaller?

Underground Ozarks

I found this funny website while looking for info for my poor brother who was driving around with three cranky kids and the bad directions I so confidently gave him earlier (It seems like he would know by now that I suck at giving directions...but that's a confession for another time). Not sure that they are up for any of these adventures right now, but maybe when they are older!

What's in your Wallet?

You know those dumb Capitol One commercials? That's not what this post is about. It's actually more just for girls...and the real question is, what is in your purse? I just reached into mine and pulled out a wet pair of underpants (Charleigh's, not mine) and thought, "I wonder if other people have a wet pair of Dora The Explorer undies in their purses?"

Here are some of the other odd items I have currently:

an all-purpose tool which once caused me to be put on the list of dangerous people in airports

a smashed granola bar and two Twizzlers

sparkly fish stickers

Chik-fil-a coupons

a copy of Mud-house Sabbath by Lauren Winner

A hair-pick. I haven't had a perm in about 15 years, but I carry a hair-pick.

The CD's my friend Candice made for me

19 envelopes full of grocery coupons

Sara's copy of their marriage survey for our next pre-marital session

My other pair of glasses...which are handy because sometimes I forget to wear my other ones and have trouble seeing the garage sale signs.

Notice I don't have any makeup, not even a chapstick. Nor do I have any medication. Or wet wipes. Or kleenex. Or band-aids (they used them all). Or feminine products. I am basically worthless in an emergency, unless you need a knife.

So what goofy things are in your purse?

The Bird Funeral

Yesterday, the kids found a young robin crouching in the yard. They tried to leave it alone, but the neighbor's cats were prowling around like roaring lions, seeking something to devour. So they got a box and put it inside and proceeded to flutter around it off and on for the rest of the day. Somehow, I got dragged into helping find worms for it, and the little thing would chirp and ask for more every few minutes. It really ingratiated itself to me when I found out they like flies, which I swept up from my floor (it's gross, but true) and fed to her. We searched for the nest from which it had fallen with no success. I set the box out front last night hoping that without all us pesky humans around, the mother might return to feed it and give us some hint where the nest is. I realized of course, that putting it out there also meant it was in the range of those pesky cats, but I decided, with Darwinian resolve, to see what would happen. I gave it a handful of flies and tucked it into a nest made of a coffee filter and said goodnight.

I awoke this morning with the bird on my mind and I went out in my pajamas to find the box empty. Of course the cats had gotten it. I knew I should have been relieved, but I wasn't.

When the kids went out to play, they found the bird in the neighbor's yard. Ugh. I hate that cats kill things and don't eat them....nasty. I procured a check-box for a casket and let the kids bury it in the dirt under the sandbox, where just yesterday, we were digging up worms. I did not partake in their little ceremony, but here are the photos from the bird funeral.