Break out the hats, and make yourself a Mint Julep....

It's Derby week here in Kentucky!  I love Derby week!

I am consumed with all things Derby the first week of May. I read everything I can about the horses--their trainer, their jockey, their farm. I study their pictures. I look at the odds. And, I never have a clear cut favorite to win. I'll pick a horse solely for his looks. This year, the horse Hansen is beautiful! I'll want a jockey to win because I just like him. Calvin Borel, for instance. I love him! Or I'll pull for a trainer because he's never had a Derby winning horse. Or because he's a legend in the horse industry and another win would just be perfect. D.Wayne Lukas hasn't won a Derby in 13 years. I would love to see his horse with the garland of roses come Saturday afternoon. I don't usually bet. I want them all to win.

I'm also obsessed with the Derby Hats. Last year, when I went to the Kentucky Oaks, I had just as many pictures of hats as I did the horses. I love seeing all the gorgeous and outrageous Derby hats.

There's something almost magical about the Derby. I get goosebumps when the call to post is made, and I become teary-eyed when they sing "My Old Kentucky Home"...and then I sit glued to the TV, afraid to blink while the horses race.

I don't know if my love affair with the Derby is because I'm a born and bred Kentucky girl, or because my birthday always falls Derby week, or because it's just that addicting...but I truly love this time of year.

Slowing down the clock

I'm channeling my inner Cher this morning. No, I'm not going to sing in a barely there outift on top of a Navy battleship. Yes, you can say, "Oh, Thank God!"

But, the Cher classic, "If I Could Turn Back Time" keeps running through my head. I know it's impossible to go back in time, however, is there a way that we can at least slow it down? Because it's going waaaay to fast!

Last night, I put together and addressed Austin's graduation announcements. And, I admit--I became a little teary-eyed. It doesn't seem possible that my little dark-haired, chunk-a-munk of a toddler is now about to walk the graduation stage. Sigh.

Today is PJ's birthday, it doesn't seem possible that my teeny-tiny premature baby boy is now seventeen. This time next year, I'll be addressing his graduation announcements. Sigh.

Earlier this month, my freckle-face Hankadoo turned eight. How is that even possible? Sigh.

Pumpkin Muffins + The Rock = Labor and Delivery

It’s funny how you can associate two or three things to remember exactly what you were doing xx amount of years ago on a certain date.  I can tell you exactly what Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and pumpkin muffins have in common, and how I spent my day eight years ago today.

April 3, 2004—It was a Saturday. The weather was beautiful. I was nine months pregnant. I was fat, swollen, and very uncomfortable.  Not long after I woke up that morning, I lost my mucus plug. Sorry, TMI--But, when you’re nine months pregnant, that’s a huge deal. I didn’t do that with the other pregnancies, so I was a little freaked out by it. I got on my ivillage message board and asked my chat buddies the question, “Do you go into labor after losing your mucus plug?”

The answers differed. Some girls said they went into labor immediately after, some said they lost their plug and nothing happened for three weeks.  This was not helpful in my quest for information. I wanted to go into labor. I was tired of being fat and pregnant. I missed seeing my feet and ankles. I was tired of my hip and back hurting.

I called my mom, and told her that I was a little crampy feeling, but I didn’t think I’d go into labor. After all, Hank’s due date was still two and a half weeks away.  Joe and I spent the day doing our normal Saturday things like running errands, and window shopping.  I think we walked all over Columbus, Georgia. We had lunch in Atlanta Bread Company. I ate a pumpkin muffin and drank a glass of iced tea. We stopped in Bed, Bath & Beyond to just look around, and I had a very strong contraction!

On the way home, I had another contraction.  I started to think that all the walking I did wasn’t a good idea.  I was more miserable than I had been.  I took a shower, put on my favorite cotton pajama pants and tee shirt that still fit, and settled in for a normal Saturday night at home.  I laid on the couch and couldn’t get comfortable.  I laid on the bed and couldn’t get comfortable. I still didn’t think I was in early labor, but I thought I better call Labor & Delivery to find out where in the hospital they were located, just in case I needed to go later that night. For the record, I wasn’t a total dingbat, I had never been to L & D because all my appointments had been on the first floor in the Family Practice Clinic.  The nurse at L & D told me they like for you to wait until contractions get to around a 6 on the pain chart before coming in. I gave her my name, and told her I may or may not be in later.  

It wasn’t too long before I decided that I was definitely in labor.  I had Joe & the boys get my bag together.  Then we waited. I wasn’t about to go to the hospital until I knew for sure that Hank was well on his way.  I wanted it to be a one-time only time. I didn’t want to be one of those poor people that go to the hospital, and get sent back home.  

We kept waiting. The boys were wired. I was tired and very anxious. Joe was excited, in a calm way. My contractions were getting strong, and close together. But, since we were in the middle of watching a movie, I was hoping I could wait until it was over before we packed up and left.  

As soon as the credits rolled on “Walking Tall” I looked at Joe and said, “Let’s go!”             

That was around midnight.  Nine hours later, on Sunday, April 4, 2004 our sweet baby boy made his grand debut.

So, there you have it… I will always associate pumpkin muffins, Bed, Bath & Beyond and the movie ‘Walking Tall’ with going into labor.

My weekend...

 Tomorrow, my friend Saundra and I are going to see "The Hunger Games"....and I can't wait. I've been re-reading the book this week in anticipation. Yes, I'm a nerd. I admit it. I absolutely loved the book, and I've heard the movie is amazing. Plus, I have to support my peeps. Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss) and Josh Hutcherson (Peeta) are both fellow Kentuckians!

While I'm at the movies, Joe and Hankadoo will be off to a WWE event. We bought Hank tickests for his upcoming birthday. And, if that wasn't enough-- I scored a meet & greet before the show. He knows he's going, but he has no idea about the activities beforehand. He's going to be one stoked little boy, that's for sure! I almost wish I was going, too. Just to see his face and reaction. I'm hoping he gets some cool pictures and maybe a few autographs.

And, like every other weekend in the history of man, I will be doing laundry.

Have a great weekend!!

Basketball in Kentucky

The majority of Kentucky natives are die hard basketball fans. They live and breathe for the Kentucky Wildcats. They can tell you everything about the team from the three-point shot percentages to the players favorite foods. They revolve their schedule and entire life around when UK is playing.

I am in the extremely small percentage of Kentuckians who could not care one way or another about UK basketball. Yes, I have Kentucky tee shirts...but that's more about supporting my state than a team. I have watched maybe 30 minutes of UK basketball this entire season. And, since March Madness is among us, the Wildcat hysteria is in full swing.

Tomorrow night the mighty UK Wildcats play the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Yes, two Kentucky schools playing against each other in the NCAA tournament. And, while most people will be wearing Wildcat colors, chanting 'Go Big Blue'... I will be wearing red and yelling, "Go Big Red'...

I tend to cheer for the underdog. And while it's very unlikely, I'd love to see WKU take down the Cats.

Hello, My Name is Stupid...

We all do stupid things. It's part of life. But, to what degree we take our stupidity is another animal.

When I decided to cut my own bangs, that was mildly stupid. I knew better. Did it anyway. And, they looked awful.

When I smashed my hand with a piece of office equipment and had to have xrays to rule out a broken pinky finger--that was moderately stupid. Yes, it was an accident. But, I picked the binding machine up wrong. I'm the poster child for what not to do in our office.

My latest dose of stupid---not backing up the thousands of pictures on the computer. And, now our computer has crashed. My pictures may be gone forever. This is extremely stupid. Our computer guru isn't sure if he'll be able to save the pictures or not. It's not looking good. I've tried not to think about it, but I know I need to face reality and admit that my stupidity may have lost something very valuable.

Counting our blessings

 Yesterday, I wrote about how we had severe weather warnings, tornadoes coming, etc. As the day progressed, the weather alerts kept getting upgraded. Our weather alert went to a level 9. Level 10 is the highest. The schools started dismissing classes early, businesses started closing early. We closed county government at three o'clock. I picked up Hankadoo from after-school, and ran into Big Lots for flashlights, then we came home and settled in for what could be a very scary afternoon/night. I turned the TV on, put the batteries in the flashlight, and made space in the laundry room in case we needed to seek shelter. We sat and watched the weather, we looked out the doors and windows, we heard the warning sirens several times. We had rain and wind. After a few minutes of regular spring weather, the skies cleared, and we had a beautiful rainbow over our town.

A small town an hour and a half north of here wasn't so lucky.

This is a picture of the tornado that struck Henryville, Indiana. It pretty much wiped the town off the map. Houses were leveled, businesses blown off their foundations. The destuction is everywhere. My heart breaks for this community. And, I know that it could have been very well been us. It could have been our high school gym destroyed. It could have been my friends who died in the storm. It could have been my loved ones who lost their homes.

As I sit and drink my coffee this morning, I'm counting my blessings. As well as everyone else in our area.