WHO DAT turning 30?!?!?!

It’s Benny-Boo! It’s Benny-Boo! Yep, Neighbor Ben turned the big 3-0 today, and to celebrate we headed down to New Orleans for a night on Bourbon Street and a fun afternoon at the Saints game yesterday. We had a blast. It had to be one of the most enjoyable weekends that I can remember having down there.

We started the evening off with dinner and drinks at a restaurant across the street from Galatoire’s. I can’t remember the name of the place, and the food was so-so, but there was no wait, and for a party of seven at 6:30 on a Saturday night, we couldn’t really complain. We then strolled down Bourbon Street until we decided to stop for a drink or two at Tropical Isle – yes, home of the infamous Hand Grenade, and yes, we are all WAY over 21 and definitely not in college anymore. But….. the balcony was pretty empty, and it was nice to just sit for a while and people-watch. :)

The highlight of the night was our next choice of bars… KARAOKE at The Saloon! Fun, fun, fun! We even lucked up on the VIP section with red velvet couches. Classy. I impressed the crowd with my rendition of “Bice Bice Baby” with a little help from some random guy who just happened to know the verses that I didn’t know, so it wasn’t a total embarrassment. Then later Katherine and I sang “Sweet Home Alabama” with, of course, a Mississippi chorus and a “Sweet Home Canada” thrown in for the birthday boy. Ben even got up to sing “Sweet Caroline.” We had so much fun!

Our hotel was right off Bourbon so we walked home after the bar and stopped for a Lucky Dog and a piece of pizza. I mean, who doesn’t love some Bourbon Street food at 1 in the morning. Ugh…

Then we woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for the Saints game yesterday. This was our first game to ever go to, so we had a great time walking to the Superdome and listening to all the jazz bands and tailgating as we went. Unfortunately for Ben, the Saints didn’t win even on his birthday weekend, but it was fun to watch and ended up being a good game regardless.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I fell asleep before 8 last night and didn’t wake up till about 6:30 this morning. I was pooped. I think I can handle a two-day work week though and then I’ll get another five days to rest before getting back to a normal routine next week. Gotta love the holidays! :)

Happy Birthday, Benny-Boo!!

The most wonderful time of the year

This is how I feel now that it's all said and done. What a wonderful Christmas... I'm just so sad that it's over already. We still have all our decorations up, but there are no more presents so the poor tree looks so empty now. It's always a little depressing to look at an empty Christmas tree. Oh, well... if I was smart I'd be out there shopping today for next year, but I don't think I'd remember what I bought if I started this far in advance. So instead we've spent the day putting up away all our great gifts.

We started the Christmas week with the Grey Family Christmas on Sunday. We packed up all the presents (mostly for Ryan Hadley) and headed to Vicksburg. Unfortunately, I, of all people, forgot the stupid camera. I've been kicking myself all week for not being able to share any pictures of Ryan Hadley opening all her goodies and playing with her new toys. She was so precious! We had a great time!

We both took off work on Christmas Eve and spent the day at home. Derek and I did our Christmas together (he spoils me entirely too much - each year is just better than the last), and Katherine came over mid-afternoon to eat breakfast for dinner and exchange gifts. We even watched one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies, "Santa Clause: The Movie" with Dudley Moore. I'm a sucker for '80s Christmas movies, that's for sure. Here's a pic of Bentley with a bow on his head. He loved it, I promise. :)

On Thursday morning we headed to Hattiesburg for the Bice Family Christmas and Granny's 80th birthday. We opened gifts at Granny's and then went to my parents' house to do Christmas with them. It was a day full of present-opening! Trust me, there was no complaining. :)

Here are a couple of family pics from the day...


Mom cooked a delicious dinner for Granny's birthday, and we celebrated with a cake we got from Campbell's bakery and a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne! Apparently my mom and dad bought Granny a bottle for her 60th birthday in 1988 and somehow in the pouring process they spilled almost all of it. I think it was pretty traumatic. Back then a bottle was about $65, which was a mighty expensive bottle of champagne. We were lucky enough to catch the whole event on camera and were able to watch it yesterday on the DVDs that Mom had made last month. It was priceless. So then, of course, it was the perfect time for a toast to Granny's 80th with a new bottle of Dom Perignon. Nice stuff! We were very careful not to spill a drop this time. :)

Here are a few pics from the birthday celebration...

I must have been good this year because I couldn't have asked for a more perfect Christmas. It was wonderful all the way around, and I'm so thankful for another year I was able to spend with my incredible family. Merry Day-After-Christmas, everybody! I can't wait to do it again next year. :)

In the spirit of giving ... and taking

We're in recovery mode today from the Dirty Santa party we hosted last night. I don't know that I can listen to the Christmas CD we made one more time, but it was great background music for a great party. We had about 25 guests, and while the weather wasn't quite cool enough to make a fire, it was great deck-sitting weather, so we spent the majority of the time outside. Here are a few pics from the night.

The start of the game... In the end, Derek and I ended up with a gift card to the Bulldog (which was the gift I brought) and a gift card to Newk's, both of which will go to very good use, I'm sure.

Here's Derek with John, the birthday boy. These two go way back to elementary school. Aren't they cute? :)

Here's me with my girls, Allison and Christy. It's only taken a year and a half to get Christy and Ryan to come visit us in Jackson! :) I think they had a great time though, and I'm so glad they were able to come...

Here's Johnny P. blowing out his makeshift birthday cake - a homemade sugar cookie with a match that we turned into a candle. We're pretty creative, I know.

Here's Ryan towards the end of the night doing a very impressive Elvis impersonation. We told him he should go pro with it. :)
In the end, it was a wonderful night with good friends, and Lauchlin and I stayed up entirely too late as usual just catching up. It's a good thing Christmas comes once a year because I'm already worn out! :)

Feliz Navidad!

We had our second annual girls’ ornament swap last night at Cinco de Mayo. It was so much fun! You can’t beat great company, great Mexican food and great margaritas this time of year. Or anytime of year!

There were eight of us, including two who drove in from out of town. A lot has happened in the course of a year… Melanie is expecting her second child, Jessie is expecting her first, Kristin got married, Katie moved back to Vicksburg… it’s crazy to think how everyone’s lives change so much in such a short amount of time. It just gives us one more reason to make this an annual tradition!

I love you girls, and I hope everyone (including Baby Will and Little Girl Smith) has a wonderful Christmas!! Merry, Merry, right Mere? :)

Merry Christmas... Lock your doors!

We had our neighborhood association Christmas party last night down the street. It was a great turnout, and we got to meet some neighbors we’ve never met, as well as some new ones who moved in only a few weeks ago.

Let me preface this story by saying that we absolutely love our neighborhood. The majority of homeowners are couples about our age with either no kids or young ones. We’ve also got a few families that have lived here for 30 or so years, so it’s a great mix. We’ve got doctors, dentists, lawyers, cooks, bankers, teachers, musicians and coaches. It’s our own little piece of “Leave It to Beaver” right here in Northeast Jackson.

But, since it is in the great metropolis known as the city of Jackson, we still need to lock our doors and just be generally aware of anything out of the ordinary. I think we rank as the 14th most dangerous city in the country or some crazy statistic like that, but also included on that list are Atlanta, St. Louis, Birmingham, Memphis and New Orleans, all of which rank higher than we do, and I know plenty of nice people that live in all of those cities… which brings me back to the point of just being cautious wherever you go and not taking your safety for granted. Nine times out of 10, you can quickly figure out where to go and where not to go.

Well, of course this topic comes up during our “informal meeting” at the party last night, and we get into the discussion of general safety tips and using the buddy system with your neighbors by swapping keys or whatever when you go out of town… And of course we dive into the topic of who not to let do your yard work because they might steal your tools… And of course we beat a dead horse with the topic of keeping your eyes open to suspicious activity or any suspicious people in the neighborhood ... All good tips and repeat discussions from previous meetings, but the poor new neighbors who just moved here from Texas looked terrified. At one point, the mom asked, “Is it okay for me to play with the children in our front yard?” Seriously.

So then we had to back the train up and talk about how wonderful our little Fourth of July parade and picnic is and how great is it to live in a neighborhood where you can still walk over and borrow a cup of sugar or milk or whatever and how everyone in the neighborhood is there to help with whatever you might need.

It really is a great place to live, and we’ve never had any problems. Obviously people like living here, so I just hope the new neighbors didn’t wake up this morning questioning their decision of moving here. I guess we’ll know soon enough if we see them playing outside in their front yard. :)

And I thought the elves were busy...

It has begun... Eleven days to go until Christmas, and we couldn't be busier. It's the most wonderful time of the year, and I'm enjoying each and every crowd-fighting, party-going, gift-wrapping filled minute of it. Thursday we decided not to let the snow cancel our plans for dinner out with Drew and Kristin. It was the first annual Grey-Gorney Christmas dinner, and we spent two completely enjoyable hours at Shapley's eating steak, drinking wine and catching up. It was so much fun, and the food was absolutely delicious.

Yesterday I finally finished all my shopping, and it feels GREAT. I'm so glad I don't have to fight the crowds and the traffic next weekend. It's a jungle out there when it's time for Christmas shopping, and I'll gladly stay home while all the crazies fight over parking spots at Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Last night we went to Vicksburg for a Christmas party at Katie's house in honor of Neil's birthday. Her house was decorated to a tee, and we had a great time. Here are a few pics from the night.

The Grey kids...

Neil blowing out his birthday candles...

The sisters-in-law...

We headed back home this morning, and I did some grocery shopping and spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the house to get ready for our party this weekend. Why is it that the best time of the year always flies by so fast? We've got a to-list that stretches to the floor with a few more Christmas parties thrown in this week. I'd have plenty of time to get everything done if only work didn't get in the way of the fun stuff. Maybe next year I'll save up my vacation time and take the whole month of December off... :)

Winter Wonderland (for a few hours)

It snowed in Mississippi today! This is a special occasion... one that happens once in every few years but NEVER in December, so it might as well be a White Christmas for us, even if it's still 13 days away. It didn't really start coming down thick until about 9:30 this morning here. And the sad part is it stopped about 11 and now has turned to slush. But just about all schools and workplaces (including mine - I'm shocked) closed this afternoon because of the likelihood of ice on the roads by 5. So it's kind of a snow day for us! I'll take a free couple of hours any time I can get it! And, again to my amazement, my work isn't opening until 10:30 tomorrow morning, so the shock continues.

Mississippi as a whole just shuts down in the snow, but only because we really don't know how to drive in it. To be honest, I don't even think we have the trucks or equipment to sand the roads, so we just have to wait it out until the ice melts. A little backwards, yes, but whatever. It just happens so infrequently that it causes everybody to freak out a little. We had a few flurries a couple of times last January, and before that I think it was spring break one year in high school that it snowed. Crazy...

Unfortunately our plans for dinner and Christmas lights in Canton with Drew and Kristin tonight might be cancelled because of the weather, but we can always reschedule. It's a great afternoon to curl up by the fire. I might even break my not-before-5 rule and have a glass of wine.

I posted a pic of Bentley playing in what's left of the snow in the backyard. He's in doggie heaven right now slipping and sliding all over the place. Bless his heart. He's so sheltered. :)

A Bunch of Bices

We hit the road Friday afternoon for Huntsville, Alabama, to visit Grandma. We planned this trip a few months ago with my aunt and uncle and Oklahoma cousins as our Thanksgiving/Christmas get-together. Everyone was able to come except for my cousin Gef and his family. We missed them, but hopefully our next reunion will include the whole family!

We rolled into town about 6 on Friday night. Grandma lives in Decatur, which is about 30 miles away from Huntsville, but thanks to a kids’ soccer tournament booking up the hotel there where we usually stay, we decided that Huntsville would be a good place for us to spend the weekend. Everyone was pretty worn out from the drive, so we kept the evening low-key with takeout from across the street and some indoor swimming with my cousin Lisa’s kids, Kayden and Reed. They are so adorable. I just wanted to pack them up in my suitcase and bring them back to Jackson. :)

After we all changed into our comfy clothes, we had an impromptu room party where we watched some old family videos from when we all were kids visiting Grandma and Grandpa. My mom had our old home movies transferred over to DVD, and they are absolutely priceless. The first DVD is all old 8mm film with no sound. I was just a toddler in most of the clips. It’s a weird feeling to see yourself on video that long ago.

Saturday we did some shopping before heading to Buffalo Wild Wings for a late lunch and to catch the Alabama-Florida game on the big screen. Grandma has always been an Alabama fan and she wasn’t going to miss that game, even if she had to watch it at a loud bar. It was quite a sight. Here’s a photo of me with my cousin, Julie. She’ll probably post it on her blog, too. :)

After the game, we decided the best way to end the night would be with a nice, competitive game of bowling. It was fun for all of us. Poor Reed wore himself out and took a power nap on Julie’s shoulder before waking up with even more energy than before. And, just to re-emphasize how non-athletic I am, Kayden, the five-year-old bowling prodigy, beat me at both games. But I have a feeling I would have done better if I had had bumpers on my lane, too! :)

Here are some pics from our adventures at the bowling alley.

My favorite… Grandma with her two sons.

We had a wonderful visit and couldn’t have had more fun catching up with family. It’s really a shame we don’t get to see each other more often. But I guess that just gives us an excuse to start planning the next get-together! Love y’all, Bices! Let’s do it again soon! :)

I have to fuss...

I finally broke down and went to the doctor's office after work yesterday to try to get rid of this cold I've had for going on a month now. I was in and out of there in an hour, complete with my valuable three minutes with the actual doctor, and you know how much I had to pay for a simple, stupid office visit? Eighty dollars! That was honestly just for the basic visit... no tests, no shots, nothing else. RIDICULOUS. Apparently with my insurance you have to meet a $500 deductible for medical services regardless. Even for a trip to the regular after-hours clinic!

Here I was thinking that working for the state had such great insurance benefits, but really it's only "great" if you have some major catastrophic issue or surgery or have a baby! It doesn't help the normal people who just need to see a doctor to get some antibiotics and some cough medicine to get rid of this crud!!!!! SO frustrating.... Oh, and I forgot that since I AM a state employee, I did get a discount. It knocked off a whopping $17 off my total charges. Amazing.

I know I should be grateful that my job provides insurance coverage in this day and age, but I can't help but get frustrated and totally understand why people just don't go to the doctor. So my responsible decision to actually see a doctor and get some non-over-the-counter medicine to get rid of a basic sinus infection turned into a $160 investment. Who can afford that?!

I'm off my soap box now, but I just had to share my frustrations. Health care is just too expensive. Period. I'll try my best to stick to Nyquil and Sudafed next time. Geez...

A trip down Santa Claus Memory Lane...

The Grey house is now abuzz with Christmas spirit after spending all day Friday decorating. It looks like Santa and all his elves just took up residence at our house, and I’m totally okay with that. We started with the nativity scene, then the flower arrangement outside, then the wreaths, then the ornament trees for the bathroom, then the decorative kitchen towels, then the ornaments on the chandelier, then the mistletoe, then the stockings and finally the garland and lights on the mantle and the tree and all its bright lights and sparkling ornaments. This is our third married Christmas together. Check out us as babies back in Christmas 2006. Thank goodness we replaced the gaudy light-up star in this picture with a new one.

I’m still a little traumatized from the Great Tree Disaster of ’07, so I made sure we picked out a super straight tree and that the trunk was completely secured in the stand. It doesn’t make for a fun December when you’re constantly walking on tiptoes in fear of the tree crashing to the ground. Last year about two hours after we finished decorating the tree and were admiring its beauty over a nice glass of wine…. it fell. Both the dog and the cat were in the other room, so it was just a fluke accident.

We lost about half of our ornaments from when we got married (the photo above is from the Christmas brunch and ornament shower the December before our wedding in March). Talk about upsetting. I know they’re just ornaments and most of them are easily replaceable, but I cried like a baby when we were cleaning up all the broken pieces. We salvaged a few special ones – like the crystal champagne bottle my parents bought us with our wedding date on it and amazingly enough all three of our “Our First Christmas” ornaments. But overall, we lost some nice ones. And some expensive ones. We’ve managed to rebuild our collection thanks to the day-after-Christmas sales last year, and I think that surely that was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. Still, I’m knocking on wood as we speak just in case. Here's a pic of this year's Christmas tree.

On another note, I’m considering myself a local celebrity today after making it into the Vicksburg Post two years after leaving my job there. I don’t think my name ever made it into the paper while I was working there except as a byline or maybe when my wedding announcement was printed. My old editor, Charlie, wrote a column about Christmas at the newspaper, and I got a nice, embarrassing shout-out. You can read all about it for yourself here, but let’s just say it had something to do with a pretty red velvet dress and Santa hat I was wearing at our office Christmas party at the VFW and a karaoke machine calling my name. I think there was an Elvis impersonator there that night too. That’s all I’m saying. :)

Thanksgiving Part Two: The Other 'Burg

We continued our Thanksgiving celebration with lunch at Katie’s house in Vicksburg on Saturday for the Grey family. And what a family Thanksgiving it was! We had relatives from just about all sides including Mamaw and J.W., Uncle Rusty and Lionel, Neil’s mom Vicky and cousins Wes and Elise. There were 16 ½ people there including Ryan Hadley, and you should have seen the spread of food. Here's Ryan Hadley with Grandee.

It was a great get-together, and we all stuffed ourselves silly. I’ve eaten so much these past few days that I think I’d be fine if I didn’t eat at all this week. I’m sad to say that the last of the leftover turkey went to work with Derek for lunch today, so we’re officially out of Thanksgiving leftovers, which is not necessarily a bad thing considering the amount of food we had! Here's Chef Neil carving the turkey he fried.

After lunch, Derek and I drove out to the lake to spend the night visiting with Rusty and Lionel. We had a good time catching up and relaxing by the fire.

It’s amazing how a four-day weekend can really wear you out more than a regular one, but I guess that’s the beauty of the holidays. And to think it’s only just begun… We’ve officially switched into Christmas mode at our house, so stay tuned. I’m sure there will be a month’s worth of bloggable moments to come. :)