'I think the WHO DAT Nation just crashed Facebook'

WHAT a way to end the weekend! The Saints are Super Bowl bound, and if you happened to log on to FB after the game last night, you could totally feel the love for Drew Brees and the boys. There were a lot of happy Saints fans out there last night. I cannot IMAGINE what it would have been like to be in Nola for that. Wow...

We watched the game across the street with Ben and Tina, and we screamed so loud we made Baby Brady cry, but I think those were really tears of joy. He knew if they hadn't won that his daddy would be crying until next season. :)

I've never been a big football fan, but this year has been different. I've never been more into football than I have this season, and while Brett Favre shares my alma mater, I just really wanted the Saints to go all the way. AND THEY DID!!!! (Although afterward I did just want to give Brett a big ole hug.) I'm so proud of them, and that poor little kicker boy looked like he wanted to just throw up he was so nervous. Bless his heart - he pulled through and won the game!

This Super Bowl I actually plan on watching the game and not just the commercials...

WHO DAT, BABY!!!!!!!!

Dauphin Island Christmas (In January)

Friday we hit the road to Dauphin Island, Ala., for a family reunion/belated Christmas get-together with the extended Turner side of the family. It was an ugly, rainy weekend at the beach but we made the most of it!

We cheered on the Saints as they made their first step towards the Super Bowl. Most of us just watched it on TV, but Uncle Rusy, Uncle Sib and Aunt Terri actually drove to New Orleans and back to go to the game. WHO DAT!

We ate lots and lots of food... and then ate some more, including a tasty fleur de lis king cake...

We played Dirty Santa... The liquor gifts seemed to be the most popular. Go figure. :)

We played Dixie Dice... clearly you don't have to be 21 to get in on the action...

Neil won the pot - over $60 in one dollar bills. Now Baby Ferrell has the beginnings of a college fund! :)

And we tried not to get blown away by the storm at the Gulf Breeze Motel...

It was a fantastically fun family weekend, regardless of the weather. That little island town is still just as pretty and quaint during January as it is during the summer, even with a huge storm a brewin' outside. :)

Desperate Housewife

So, after the Great Arctic Blast of 2010, we're now faced with the Great Water Crisis of 2010. Thanks, El Niño. Apparently the pipe infrastructure in the City of Jackson is too old and weak to sustain a week of temperatures that didn't rise above freezing. As the ice started to thaw on Sunday, the pipes expanded and burst in more than 100 places throughout the city, causing everyone served by the City of Jackson's water system to lose all water pressure and be placed under a boil water notice. The news said that the city hasn't seen this type of stress on the water system since 1989.

Work closed at noon on Monday since there was no way to flush toilets or wash your hands, and it's been closed ever since. I'm going on day four as a housewife, and as sad as it sounds, I'm DESPERATE to get back to work! It's been a chore to wash dishes, do laundry, take showers or anything else water-related because it takes twice as long, not to mention we're supposed to boil the water even to brush our teeth (which we haven't actually done.) One day off was nice, but the entire week is a little much, especially when Derek has cussed me every morning when the alarm has gone off and he's had to get ready to go to work in Flowood, which is not affected by the "water crisis."

Hopefully everything will be back to normal next week, but in the meantime I've actually looked forward to a call from my boss every few days asking me to come in for a couple of hours and write a press release. It's been nice to be productive.

As Neighbor Ben put it - Welcome to Jacktown... the city of crack pipes and cracked pipes. I love this city. :)

The Great Arctic Blast of 2010

I feel like we all need t-shirts that say, “I SURVIVED ARCTIC BLAST ’10.” It’s all the news channels have been focused on for the past week, and while it was indeed a bone-chilling weekend with highs in the lower 20s, we didn’t let the weather stop us from staying busy.

Friday night we headed to Vicksburg after work for Ryan Hadley’s 3rd birthday party. Jennifer’s mom made this fabulous Tinkerbell cake from scratch. Ryan Hadley was too cute, as always!

Saturday morning came bright and early as Derek headed out in the freezing weather to work the Blues Marathon. He was a course marshal, and fortunately his spot was in our neighborhood, so he was just right down the street. He was so bundled up he looked like he was going to ski the slopes in Switzerland – two pairs of pants, long-sleeved t-shirt, vest, fleece pullover and big ski jacket, plus toboggan and gloves. It was a warm 18 degrees at 8 a.m., so with two cups of coffee in hand, he took his post at the corner of Pine Lane and Hartsdale. Soon the snow flurries started to fall. I only walked out there a few times to relieve Derek for bathroom breaks, and it was FRIGID. There was a blues band playing one street over, so that was at least a cool (no pun intended) way to pass the time.

After warming up by the fire Saturday afternoon, we went out downtown with some friends for the Blues Crawl, a pub crawl after the marathon that featured blues bands at several downtown bars. We only made it to two of those bars – George Street and F. Jones Corner, but the music was great, and we had a lot of fun.

We decided that IHOP would be a good way to end the night, and it was until we had to argue with the waitress about overcharging us for my side Caesar salad. By the way, who in their right mind orders a Caesar salad at IHOP? I thought it sounded like a great idea at the time, but not so much when it actually arrived. G.R.O.S.S.

Sunday we spent at home, staying warm and resting up for a busy week ahead. It’s actually supposed to warm up this week into the 40s, I think. Temperatures that warm will feel like springtime after the ARCTIC BLAST last week! :)

29 and Holding...

I’ve always thought it was neat that my age is directly correlated to the year. I was born in 1980, so I turned 1 in 1981, I turned 21 in 2001, and so on and so on… Each new decade represents a new decade of my life, so it’s a perfect time for reflection.

This year, we not only start the 20teens, but I will move into my 30s. It just sounds like such a HUGE jump from 29 to 30, but I’m okay with it. I always thought I’d be upset to move on out of my 20s, but I don’t think I will be when it comes down to it. I’ve grown up a lot in the past 10 years (obviously, I’m sure we all have), but I really feel like I’ve learned a lot about myself and have finally grown into the adult I’m proud to be.

Here’s a short summary of my life in the 2000s… started college, had entirely too much fun in college, made some wonderful friends, got my heart broken, dated a few wrong guys, went on many a road trip, drank a lot of beer, got serious about college, adopted the coolest cat ever, made a 4.0 once, met the right guy, graduated college, moved away from Hattiesburg for the first time, lived on my own for the first time, got my first job, sustained a long-distance relationship for two years, made a lot of trips to Oxford, bought my first house, traveled to New York, got a beautiful and King Kong-sized dog, got married, traveled to Mexico, welcomed a niece, saw most of my favorite bands - some way more than once, bought a new car, got a new job, bought a new house, moved to Jackson, made some great new friends, traveled to San Diego, bought many a bridesmaid dress, watched most of my friends get married, drank a lot of wine, started this blog, traveled to Denver, took a few beach trips, lost a few loved ones, watched my grandparents get older, felt grateful for all the blessings in my life and welcomed a new decade…

That’s a lot of changes in 10 years, and that's just a short summary. I’ll welcome 30 with a smile in just a few months. It’s not like I can turn the clock back, and honestly I wouldn’t want to anyways. Life is all about living, and I look forward to what the future holds.

Brrr...

I don't know how you people up North do it. It's bone-chilling cold here this week, and I can barely stand it. Lows in the teens at night with highs in the 30s. Geez... I think my new Snuggie will get some good use this week.

We're used to short-sleeved Christmas Days around here, so a freeze warning all week is pretty unusual, especially when it's supposed to get THAT cold. The forecast shows snow on Thursday, but it's snowing today, which was not in the forecast.

It may be global warming... blah, blah, blah, but all I know is we picked a fantastic week to run out of firewood!

Welcoming the New Year

Happy 2010! We rang in the new decade with a lot of fun Thursday night. We started out at home with a visit from Baby Brady, our little Baby New Year. Then we headed to Sportsman's for a while. Poor Derek had a touch of a stomach bug, so I had to get my new year's kiss early so he could go home and go to bed.

After tucking him in, we headed back out to a party down the road at one of Claire's friends' houses where I made some new friends... :)

A few jello shots and glasses of champagne later, we came home just after midnight. On New Year's Day, I fried some chicken and made some mashed potatoes, black-eyed peas and cabbage to make the champagne headache go away. Ugh...

Saturday night we enjoyed our "second annual" Grey-Gor holiday dinner with Drew and Kristin at Ely's. We decided that we'd come back to the house after dinner and play Dance Dance Revolution. It was hilarious to say the least...

Then, of course, a Wii night wouldn't be complete without Rock Band, and this time we really broke in our new Beatles Rock Band. SO much fun!

You'd think we'd be worn out by then, but no, not the Greys... we decided to try out F. Jones Corner, the new late night bar downtown with Claire and Josh. We took a cab, and the place was PACKED. It's a really cool bar that feels like it's set back in time. There were people from all walks of life there, including some old local blues legends. It was pretty cool, and the music was incredible.

After a couple of hours, it was finally time to call it a night (which was a good idea since it was 4 a.m.), but the bar was still just as packed when we left. I'd love to go back there, but unfortunately the place isn't really even open until about midnight (WAY past my usual bedtime) so we'll reserve it for just every once in a while.

So, in summary... we thoroughly enjoyed welcoming the new decade with old friends, meeting new friends, and starting the year off in a great way overall. It's also a good thing there were a few extra days to the weekend to recover from all our fun. :)