Rites of passage

Remember dying your hair unnatural colors as a teenager? Well neither do I since I'm a brunette and my hair was too dark to take any temporary color, but I do remember helping my blond friends do it. It's cheap, easy, fun & harmless.
Ellie will be 12 in just 4 days. Twelve!
She had already gotten permission her mother to put purple streaks in her hair for Halloween. Then while I was out with Ellie & "Mimi" yesterday Ellie found the purple hair stuff and couldn't get Mimi to buy it for her; my Mom wants no part of unnatural hair coloring! So as my Auntly duty I pleaded her case to Mom, then we came back to my house and applied the buble gum smelling dye.
Dee came by with her youngest Timi while our streaks were processing on the porch.
I was thrilled as usual to get to partake in this aunt/niece bonding moment. If I'd had an aunt put purple streaks in my hair at that age I would have felt like the coolest kid in town. Once again, being on the aunt end of things seems just as fun as if I were on the niece end!
Little Miss Ellie is so thrilled with her new "abnormal" look! It was so fun, and we were pressed for time but it still turned out pretty wicked if you ask me...
...or her!

Scarowinds!

Today I took Miss Cassie to Scarowinds, the Haloween version of our local theme park which is called Carowinds. When I was a kid it was pretty much the biggest deal around. Now that I'm a "grownup" (shudder-gasp!) I'd almost rather take a beating than go there amongst all the unwashed masses, but as an Aunt it is my honor, duty and privilege to take my nieces (and nephew when he gets bigger) there.
Cassie was naturally excited to go see it all for herself, having heard all about it from other kids. They have the entire park decked out for Halloween, scary stuff everywhere.
Carowinds straddles the state line between North & South Carolina and it's a time honored tradition to stand with one foot on each state while you're there; kind of like a way gyppier version of Four Corners out West!
We took 81 pictures today! But look at how cute we are, can you blame us?
Cassie is a bit hesitant to ride the roller coasters but she jumped right in to all that game/gambling/money wasting fun stuff. I was tempted to explain to her what a colossal waste of money those things are, how you always wind up with something totally gyppy and way overpriced; that's a job for Mom or Dad but not for an Aunt so I didn't say a word.
You simply must get cotton candy whenever you have the chance; it's not something you can get from the 7-11. We enjoyed the fiberglass looking stuff with awful sticky gusto!
First she "dipped her toe in" by agreeing to the "Boo Blast", a ride that takes you into a dark building with scary things all over that you shoot with a little plastic gun. Fun!
I love all the tacky tacky useless crap they hock at places like this. Were else are you going to find a baseball hat with hair extensions?
Look at all the delightful confections! No joke here, I really love the sight of all the colorful gummy chemical-y candy.
Seriously, look at all that...
When I was a kid me & Brandon would always buy the candy cigarettes at Carowinds. Nothing makes me feel "older" than remembering back in the day when kids were actually marketed candy cigarettes. By God if you grew up in North Carolina any time during or before the 1980's you were damn well gonna have you some candy cigarettes at some point.
Now, sadly they've been replaced by harmless crickets. Yes, I said crickets and not the fake kind. Here Cassie holds a box of actual crusty crumbly dead crickets. Now that my friends is what you call a novelty item.
The carousel is another way to get geared up for an actual roller coaster.
Did you know American carousels always go counterclockwise and European ones go clockwise? We just like to do everything the opposite way from them I guess.
Here we are on a little Snoopy airplane ride. My plan here was to work her up to at least the Gold Rush, a kiddie roller coaster.
The ride consisted of 10 little two-seater airplanes that spin around by two cables. You have a front rudder you can control allowing you to go as high as you want. Cassie was at the helm and she held it in the road, it was still more scary than I'd expected!
There were cool props & scary little features all over the place. I really would have freaked out to go there when I was little. Halloween AND roller coasters? Come on!
Cassie wanted to take a picture of me too...
Here is a cool old steam engine thing outside of the entrance to the Gold Rush!
Here we are on it getting ready to scream our heads off.
View from atop the roller coaster...
We rode five rides; the Boo Blaster, the carousel, Snoopy airplane thing, the ride formerly known as the Scooby-Doo roller coaster (I refuse to call it by it's new name, something to do with Charlie Brown) and the Gold Rush.
And at the end of the day when they kicked us out we found the car!
Then we found dinner at Lupie's with Mom.
We had a fantastic day. What a delight it is to be an aunt and get to spend time with the kids as much as would have wanted to with my aunts when I was little. It is every bit as good as being a kid again. We're so lucky we only live 20 miles apart! It's much better than the 600 miles that separated me from my extended family growing up.
I find my mind turning to gratefulness very often lately. I am rich with all the things money can not buy; big wonderful loving family, close friends, talent, skill, my ability to take pleasure in little things, health and so much love coming from every direction.
(Just for the record, Scarowinds was expensive; it should be "$carowinds"! Thanks to Brandi & Mom for whipping enough bread on us to make today possible! We really got our $$$ worth!)

October!

It's October what? Slow down, time!

It seems like I just said goodbye to the pond & the pool. Next thing you know, Halloween is drawing neigh & neigher.
Even though things have been crazy, the good kind of crazy, it's no excuse for slack writing. I stand before you ready to redouble my writing efforts.
I just got four long awaited yoga DVDs; after doing the same one for two years I am pretty excited. Two of them are in some weird UK format that I can't play, I'll just have to deal with that later this week. I have been doing the other two 6 out of the last seven days and I am in love! I'm also sore; you know that good "I've been working out real hard" kind of sore? It's delightful. If not for writing, natural remedy and yoga I would have long ago lost my marbles.
I'm helping Bran again this week, which is both fun & taxing. I call it doing my indentured sister servitude but I really enjoy it. Brandi can really light a fire under your ass but in a good way! Tomorrow is the last day I'll be helping her with this upcoming show with STJ. We have so much left to do, but rest assured, our will be done.
So, just stopping by for a quick visit. I'm off to get a shower and "go to ground" for a night!

Go Mom, it's your Birthday!

My Mom's birthday was September 15th and she deserves such a big awesome blog post that I couldn't even do it...or so I thought.
Here she is cooking with her mother (my Mimi) in Mississippi on our last visit. Sam & Dorris, cookin' up a famous pot roast. Mmmmm..

I love this picture of my eyes because you can really see the resemblance to my Mom. I have her exact eyes & eyebrows, which are my favorite parts, so everyday when I look in the mirror I think "Thanks Mom".
Here is her Dad driving the grand kids around his Mississippi farm. Her grandparents' farm was just up the road from here. Her favorite thing growing up was to go stay at Granny & Grandad's farm where she could enjoy all manner of fun activities such as cow feeding, .22 shooting, fishing or cotton picking to name just a few.
This is the house her family moved into when she was about 10. When I was a kid I loved staying in her bedroom and imagining what she was like "back in the olden days" when she was a kid!

I know we all love our Moms, I'm not trying to one-up anybody about theirs...but my Mom is pretty much the coolest ever. Deal with it.
When she was in college, she'd had enough of Mississippi and moved to New York City to be a foxy stewardess for Eastern; they hired all the gorgeous tall brunettes, like her.
Then she moved to Alaska with my Dad where they made history getting married in McGrath in a log cabin, surrounded by drunken Eskimos. None of their family were there and it was a pretty unconventional scene, unlike the weddings of all their siblings. Maybe this is why I never had wedding fantasies; you can't top my parent's Alaskan, drunk Eskimo having, wolfskin wedding present giving, real silver dollars ring exchanging, incredible wedding.
When I was a kid I admired her beauty & charms so much that I can not recall a single incident where I felt embarrassed by her. You always hear about kids being embarrassed by their parents, but I never felt that way...ever. She would pick me up from nursery school in her big green Cadillac and I was always so excited to see her and proud to be seen with her; I felt like a rock star.
She is the absolute best nursemaid ever. Real nurturing is a fine art that can't be taught and Mom has it. And that's one more thing I have to thank her for, I learned from the best. I suffered many childhood illnesses and I remember spending quite a bit of time being sick, but she so lavished me with love & care during these times as to actually make being sick just a little bit enjoyable.
I'm grown now (as much as I'll ever be anyway) and I'm exactly half her age, and she still takes care of me whenever I need it just like when I was five.
And if all that wasn't enough, she is absolutely hilarious to boot! We have as much fun together as I have with any of my friends, really.
She is now a Mimi her own self and she's the best at that too. I so enjoy watching her with my sister's kids. Kids love her. Old people love her, everybody loves Sam! She is the best gold hoop earring wearing, knee driving, word mixing up, people charming, bargain finding, Blue Willow collecting, fine Southern food cooking, sick people taking care of, conflict resolving irresistible Southern Belle ever!
I love my Mom.

My Cup Runneth Over

I have been conspicuously absent from the intraweb recently, but I have a great excuse! I've been spending lots of time at my sister's, helping her get ready for her great big huge fabulous Halloween & Vine juried art show in California coming up soon. Go Bran!
I can't tell you where I was on what day, but I've been over there lots and spent the night a few times. In fact I return "On the morrow!" as I love to tell her.
I provide moral support, entertainment, problem solving, crepe paper collar sewing, "hunting & gathering" and lots and lots and LOTS of sanding!
Can you see the joint compound dust on my face? I was just covered the other day and wanted to preserve the moment in pictures.
Note the sanding; I dislike 150 grit sanding sponges, they are not coarse enough. I had a great idea to try out tomorrow though...I'll cut one of the 60 grit sanding sponges in half, kind of a butterfly cut to make it thinner. It will get into the crevices better that way.
I was trying to get a picture to illustrate how filthy I was, but what can I say? I still look like a smokin' fox. When you've got it, flaunt it!
Sanding, painting, sanding and more sanding on the gorgeous back deck. And thank Gods for this fabulous September weather!
Bran workin' on a Warty Jack.
Love the unbridled enthusiasm!
One of the nights I was there Philip & Misty came over for Jim's scrumptious dinner with their respective daughters. Here they are in the front yard before dinner.
Tomorrow I am getting up, feeding someone's cat, picking up some real paint from the art store and heading back!
Godspeed for me!

White Trash #6

It's that time of year again. Time for everyone to celebrate white trash culture as only we in the South care to; in costume, drinking beer and listening to hilarious parody bands perform live!
Iron Cordoba & Nasty Productions did White Trash #6 Saturday night at The Chop Shop, opening soon in North Davidson. No, I will not call it "NoDa". Can't do it.
A good time was certainly had by all.
Vanessa was representin' Jones County Mississippi in her Kathy Ezell costume. Kathy Ezell is one of her infamous aunts.
How cute is Vanessa though? She got a trophy & everything!

Here's a headliner I made & painted with the Stars & Bars long ago. It is still hot fo real.
Vanessa Hodge & Kerrie Clayton classin' the place up. Have you ever seem anyone rock a Rebel flag bikini top so successfully?
Oh how I love ll my redneck boys...
Dave Alvey is particularly good at pulling off the look. Dave, you've never looked hotter.
I am just a sucker for a redneck.
Here Vanessa-I mean Kathy Ezell is breakin' down some situation for a captive audience.
Here are my two favorite red head girls, Hayley Farrington & Vanessa Hodge! Look at all that fringe!
And Jay Tilyard himself of both Iron Cordoba & the Chop Shop. Ever the entertainer. He's been doing this stuff since we met in high school. It's good for some things to never change.
Class abounds, I think this is Paul Finner. This was right be3fore they played Motley Crue's "Girls Girls Girls". If I had my way they would have covered Shout At The Devil or Live Wire, something from one of the Crue's two good albums. Alas it was still fun.
Here is Linda Nulsen showing up to support The Boy (Jay). She is a hoot & a half, plus she WON the wet t-shirt contest to boot! Jay was mortified, everyone else were delighted.
No caption needed, I just LOVE this picture of Vanessa.
We all partied way past my bed time.
I got to see friends like Hayley (haven't seen in 7 years!) and many more who I don't see often enough, and all in all it was a joyful event. You just can't make new old friends.
It was totally worth it.