My Big Fat End Of Summer Pool Party

Summer’s drawing to an end. Kids are headed back to school. (yeah!) We didn’t vacation this year, we worked, so I’m a little nostalgic for the summer I missed.  Labor day is right around the corner, and every year with only a few exceptions I’ve thrown my Annual End of Summer Beach Side Pool Party.

This year some things will be a little different and somethings won’t.  And there are a few things, you need to know about. (If you’ve lived in my old home town, Birmingham,  for many years, you’ve no doubt heard tales of this party from someone)

1. I don’t have a pool, never have. This is a bring your own pool party. (Don’t laugh, we’ve had lots of fun with this one)
2. I don’t have a beach in my back yard. I import the sand and put up the volleyball net.
3. I don’t own a huge parking lot, but there are teenagers sans license to park your vehicle in a remote location.
4. Family and friends of family are always dropping in. (The more the merrier) So, bring the kids, and friends or more family.

Those details out of the way. We host a great party. Our menu usually includes, but don’t limit me, barbeque of all kinds (from whole pig, to goat, to gator), seafood (BBQ shrimp, boiled shrimp, taters and corn, crawfish (if we can get em), fried fish (crappie, bream and catfish), Potato Salad, Coleslaw, Aunt Dot’s BBQ Beans, favorite side dishes brought by guests, home made icream, italian cannoli, and gallons of home made iced tea (sweet of course) and home made lemonade. I always mention on my invites to bring along an appetite. All this food is too good to miss.

We have movies for the kids after dark and a live band playing beach music for the grown ups.

This year, my party will be a virtual one. Thanks to Auds over at Barking Mad for the great suggestion and the lousy economy keeping me from traveling for anything but work. (But we’re gonna have fun!, y’all!)

Now, lets get this party started !

I’ve posted the invites and hopefully you’ll all get to meet some of the folks I’ve been reading for a while. (And some great new writers/blogs I’ve found)

Nate and Tricia and little Gwyenth from Confessions of a CF Husband are way over on the North Carolina coast, but I hope they’ll make the virtual trip here to share in our fun. This little family has an awsome,  blessed story, and a future that’s as bright as the full moon. If you haven’t yet met Nate and Tricia, please visit their blog, read their story here, leave a comment or two and remind these two inspirational folks, we’re hoping they’ll be here! I’ve learned so much from Nate and his beautiful family over the past year about faith and hope and true love. I hope that he’ll share some of all of that with you all.

I found Sondra Santos LaBrie of Happy Healty Hip Parents (that’s a mouthful) over on Alltop Moms. She’s a literary marketing pro, and a certified parent educator. Along with a wicked wry sense of humor she boasts a healthy respect for shoes, shoe addiction and chocolate. What more can I say. I’m looking forward to getting to know Sondra and reading more of her great witty book reviews like this one. Hopefully, she’ll drop by with her son and maybe one of the men from her 4 Man Plan.

BooMamma, Alex(Boo) and D. are totally invited, because A) BooMamma is so a Kudzu Queen, and I love reading her stories about being Southern and living in the South.  And B) BooMamma is a relocated Missisppian just like I’m a relocated Alabamian.  And C) this one’s really important, she ‘BLEEDS’ maroon and white (just like ehubby). She’s a fanatical Mississippi State Fan (Go Dawgs! Bell Yeah!). BooMamma has recently been on a trip to Africa and has blogged her southern heart out about the wonderful work Compassion International does. BooMamma is a convicted Christian and one of the sweetest sprits I’ve ever read. I know you’d all enjoy learning more about her,  her takes on the South and life. Remind her to bring the beans!

I read this lady’s blog almost every day, and while I feel I know her, I don’t. Kristen over at We Are THAT Family, her three children and best friend husband remind me of us. A much younger us, when we were starting out. Something’s always afoot at her house, most of it non life threatening and she’s managed to keep her sanity through writing. I’m looking forward to getting to know her better. Kristen is also a deeply convicted, godly mother. I’d really love it if she’d take on the “wildman” for a while and whip him into shape for me.

Like me, Mir is “overeducated and underappreciated” or so she says. (I’m not buying it for a minute) She’s one of the busiest writers I know. When she’s not being interviewd by a major magazine, she’s working on her weekly column at one of 4 or 5 other blogs. Her latest gig is with Scholastic Books and I’m really going to enjoy reading her Kitchen Table Reviews. Mir and her hubby “Otto” and kids Chickadee and Monkey are within a few hours of us. I’d love it if they’d drop in on our party. Mir too shares my addiction (um, healthy respect) to shoes and chocolate.  And she grew her own herbs this year! Bring us some rosemary for the piggy Mir!

By now, you all know how totally addicted I am to Mommy Pie, Sandiego Momma and Foolery. These west coast chicks rock. And I hope, even though Deb has an aversion to flying and MP’s last flight wasn’t exactly all roses, that they’d find a way to spend the holiday weekend with us. What fun! Its guaranteed a laugh a minute! Dates, husbands, and kids are all welcome at the Nest. Y’all come on!

When ever I feel my sentences are running on too long, I pop by Rocks In My Dryer, have a read with Shannon and I feel cured. Shannon’s got a thing for proper english usage and punctuation and though she’d have a field day with my writing, I’d love to have her as my editor. She also was in Africa with Compassion International and I’d love to her some of her stories. Of course, she’s a good southern gal, moved west, but Shannon, hubby and all four of her wonderful children would surely add life to any party!

Now, this was all Auds fault. Even though she hates lobster, I’m going to try to convince her to join us at our Big Fat Pool Party! Besides, there’s no lobster here in Mississippi!  Auds and the complete cast of Casa Barking Mad, will keep you in stiches. (not the medical kind, the ones you get in your side from laughing so hard) There’s always something going on up in Maine but, since she hasn’t been South in a while, maybe she’ll bring the crew on down for the weekend.  Oh and Auds, bring the sunscreen would ya ?

It’s gonna be a lot of fun here in a couple of weeks! Don’t forget to bring your pool!

LAISSEZ LES BONTEMPS ROULE!

Confessions of A Dot Mom Mogul

Since I’m feeling the need to expound loquaciously (yeah go look that one up) today, I’ve decided to share with you my true confessions.  Before you ask, I know the microphone is on (shame Jesse Jackson didn’t seem to know that) and some of this could be pretty scary.

Butts Are Us

I’m a smoker. Not a reformed smoker. Not a quitter. I smoke cigarettes. Fags, coffin nails, what ever you choose to call em. I smoke em. Now, I won’t tell you I haven’t tried to quit. In fact, back in 1996 I was a quitter. I had put them down, successfully, and was well on my way to being a healthy person. What happened with this new leaf I’d turned over ? Can’t tell you anything, but I got stupid again. I was working on my thesis, some academic blather, an exposition on the morality of the medical industry in our times. Well, looking out the window from the third floor of the library carrel where I was working, I spotted some undergrads standing around, chatting and lighting up a cig. I could taste it from three floors up, through brick and glass. The urge was incredible. Now, mind you, I had been a quitter for well over 3 years by this time. But, I immediately packed up my bag, raced down the stairwell, outside and begged for one of them to let me “bum” one. Healthy living gone to hell in a hatbox 101.

Now, I’ve tried to quit again since. Tried the patch, the gum, the pills. Nothing has helped. Smoking is my pacifier. Its my Valium. I continue to try. There are days when I can go all day without one. And then ehubby comes through the door and BAM. Like someone threw a bucket of water on me, I have, I mean HAVE to have a smoke.  I need to try harder. I don’t want to live forever, but I do want to live healthier while I’m here. There I said it.

Hey Now You’re A Rock Star, Get The Show On

I have a list in my sidebar called Hot Wire©. That’s the list of blogs that I read with great regularity. (Yes, I am regular, no Activia needed here) I have with some remorse read Dooce©, Pioneer Woman, Motherhood Uncensored, John Chow and several other “Rock star” blogs. When I do peruse these “wonders” of the blogosphere,  I generally read them as though I were a graduate of the “Evelyn Woods” Speed Reading School. There is nothing, I said NOTHING more annoying to me than a good blogger, gone bad. When introspection turns to narcissism. And verbosity turns to redundancy. How many times can you bitch about the weather in lower Mississippi and pregnancy? How many times do we need to know you’ve suffered postpartum depression and/or chronic depression and need Zoloft, Prozac and a therapist to deal with the effects. At least respond to one or two of the gazillion comments you receive from all your wannabes. Let the blogosphere know you are human and not some posting bot. I feel for ya, I really do. But geez, you must have a life….find something else to bitch, nosh or give us a protracted verbal vision of !

On The Other Hand

While there are many of the blogs in my list that I thoroughly revel in. There are a few, that I find myself drawn to. In no particular order, I suggest a stop by these, I think you’ll find that they are each Magically Delicious in their own way.

Drama Pond’s Drama Mamma is pondering the meaning of existence and blogging. (Such a good GRIT (girl raised in the south)), She’s one of the charter members of the Kudzu Queens. You can read more about them here on this blog.

Laurie at Foolery claims to be a dullard. She’s anything but! Check out her Blog•Hus shoes. She’s stylin!

Barking Mad is the blog home of Auds, clearly the most transparent, candid bloggers I’ve met. She’ll make you laugh til you cry, or cry til you laugh. I’ve almost peed my pants reading her blog several times. She’s an American married to a Brit and her humor is raucous. Just imagine a husband who thinks the four food groups are composed enitrely of chocolate !

Then of course there’s Mommie Pie who’s wit and humor is without compare. One part Sex and The City, one part Donna Reed, she adds charisma and grace to my otherwise uneventful days. She’s our hostess with the mostest for  Blogernot 2008. Drop by and find out what all the fuss is about!

Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries. Don’t Take It Serious; It’s Too Mysterious.

This is my obligitory post on that conference which shall remain nameless. You all know  which one I’m talking about. I’m not speaking at that conference either. I haven’t bought new shoes, new clothes or an airline ticket. Heck, I didn’t even buy a new laptop. Megan did. (That girl’s gone blond on me and I had such high hopes for this GRIT*)  I haven’t had my hair cut, colored or permed, my nails done or my toes french manicured. No Brazilian wax for me this month and certainly, no visits to the tanning bed. I haven’t received a swag bag, a goody bag or a trash bag. And heaven knows, I have no life, so a Second Life experience of the nameless conference is just not in the stars. We won’t even talk about my missing imagination and lack of patience with techy stuff.

I’m not a big shot writer for the nameless site, I’m not a rock star mommy blogger, I haven’t been on morning TV, Oprah, or the evening news. My book remains unfinished, unloved, and unread. (hence unpublished) My blog and my life remain undetected by Redbook, Cosmo and More Magazine.

I guess Dr. Phil would say I have deep psychological issues. I say,  like the song writer Lew Brown,

People are queer, they’re always crowing, scrambling and rushing about;

Why don’t they stop someday, address themselves this way?

Why are we here? Where are we going? It’s time that we found out.

We’re not here to stay; we’re on a short holiday.

Sense of humor intact. Bladder protection pads ready, I’m adding street cred to my resume. Meet me at Bloghernot 2008.

We’ve Got A Lot Of What It Takes To Get Along!

Now take a good look at my photodouble.

Now THAT’S what I’m talkin’ about!

Editors Note* GRIT=Girl Raised In The South. This article has been fueled by vast amounts of coffee and in every way reflects the views of its owner. No animals or bloggers were harmed in the writing of this article. Please enjoy in the spirit in which it has been written.  Peace Out.