The Good Ol' Days

Since when did I move from "just out of college" to an almost-30-something?

Yesterday I met some friends from college for lunch in Hattiesburg before going to watch the Delta Gamma skit preview for alumni. The sororities start Rush (or Recruitment, as they call it now) on Thursday, and it's been years since I've watched the skit, so it was perfect timing for a little reminiscing.

When I was in college, our skit theme was Mardi Gras, and we thought it was pretty cool and creative back then. Our big songs and dances were to Britney Spears and N'Sync. Now they do a DGs in the City skit based on Sex and the City and sing and dance to Beyonce, Usher, Katy Perry and Soulja Boy. My oh my, how times have changed...

After the skit performance, they gave the alumni a chance to give feedback. Most of the alums giving feedback pledged in the mid-2000s. It was then that I felt extremely old and out-of-the loop. I pledged in 1999, more than 10 WHOLE YEARS ago. Until now, I've just generally thought of myself as "just out of college." Whoa, I'm sooo wrong. I won't even think about the fact that these girls going through Rush this year were born in the '90s.

Nevertheless, it was fun to see all those youngins so excited about DG. It brought back many a fond memory, and I'm sure they'll get all the best girls during "recruitment" this year. Meanwhile, I'll just head on back to the nursing home and reminisce about the good ol' days. Ouch, my pride...

Almost Famous

I'm excited to announce that Derek and I have been cast as extras in "The Help" movie! We don't know too many details other than that we'll be filming for one day here in Jackson towards the end of September. We're both in the same two scenes and will play "Jacksonians" around town. I think they're filming a pharmacy scene, a restaurant scene, a movie theater scene and three others that day.

We went to Greenwood last night for our costume fitting. We had to try on four costumes each so the designer could have two solid options for each scene. We won't know which two they choose until the day of the shoot. Some of the costumes were pretty cute, and some were definitely not. They had a hard time finding shoes to fit my size 6 1/2 feet, but they finally put me in a pair of vintage size 6 skinny heels that KILL my feet but are really and truly more than 40 years old.

The day of filming, I'll have to come with my hair in curlers. I don't even own curlers, and I have NO idea how to curl my curly hair, but I'll do my best. They asked Derek to grow his sideburns out and not to get his hair cut between now and then. They'll send a hair stylist from the movie crew to Jackson to give him a real 1960s-style cut the week before.

It's really interesting!

Obviously there's a chance we might end up on the cutting room floor, but just to have the opportunity to see how it all works is exciting. I LOVED this book, and Derek liked it, too, so it'll be fun to be a part of it! Several friends of mine have already been cast as extras, and I was excited to be on the lookout for them once the movie debuts, and now I'll be on the lookout for myself, too. Ha!

Ahhh, Sookie Sookie...

Okay, we're now officially on the "True Blood" bandwagon. We spent ALL weekend (besides a few hours Saturday night for dinner with Drew and Kristin) watching season one, and I am totally obsessed now. An entire season's worth of one-hour episodes means that we dedicated a total of 12 hours to this show over the weekend. That sounds really lazy, but it totally sucked us in. HA! No pun intended there about sucking...

We don't get HBO, so we'll just have to dedicate another entire weekend in the very near future to watching the second season on DVD. In the meantime, I'll be on the lookout for vampires. I think I would befriend one in real life if they were as nice and good-looking as Bill (especially with that charming Southern accent.) Maybe I should head over to Shreveport to make some new friends at Fangtasia.

休暇

For those of you who can't read Japanese, I think the title of this post says "Vacation." That's what translate.com told me it was, but who really knows... In summary, we're planning a vacation to JAPAN in the spring!

My best friend Cassidy and her husband have been living there for two years now, and this might be their last year there before moving elsewhere. While Japan has never really been on our "must see" list, it's a part of the world that we would never have the opportunity to see otherwise.

We're looking at going for 8-10 days in March, and ideally we could time it where we would be there for both our fifth wedding anniversary and Cassidy's 30th birthday. How perfect would that be? From what I hear, that's also the best time to visit because the cherry blossom trees are blooming, which is supposed to be gorgeous.

On the itinerary would be a visit to Tokyo, Mt. Fuji, Buddhist temples, natural hot spring spas, and maybe even Tokyo Disney, just to name a few... What started as a far-fetched idea has now turned into pure excitement as we've talked more seriously about it the past couple of days. AHHH!! Just thinking about it makes me excited! Go ahead and put in your souvenir Hello Kitty requests now.

So, Cassidy, if you're reading this, we're serious about it. We'll see you in the spring! Guess maybe I should learn to like sushi between now and then... :)

Happy Birthday, Baby Brady!

Our sweet little neighbor baby, Brady, turns one today, and it's so hard to believe it's already been a YEAR since this little munchkin moved into the neighborhood. We've watched him grow from birth to a year old, and he loves his Aunt Lizzie and Uncle Durka very, very much. :)

So here's a montage of pics dedicated to that "dreamy" little boy who lives across the street.

He loves the ladies...

He's does a great Baby Stewie impersonation...

He's a Saints fan already...

His daddy thinks he was the Saints' good luck charm so he visited the Lombardi trophy when it came to town...

And he's not a big fan of birthday hats...

Happy First Birthday, Brady Boo! We've loved watching you grow this past year and can't wait until you can walk across the street to visit us on your own! :)

So Long and Farewell...

Charlie Mitchell, my former executive editor at the newspaper is leaving The Vicksburg Post after 24 years. He's heading to Oxford for a new job as assistant dean of the Ole Miss School of Journalism. While I'm very sad to see him go, I know this opportunity will be right up his alley, and I wish him nothing but the best.

On Sunday afternoon I headed out to the "country" for a little going-away party with my old newspaper friends. The guest of honor was decked out in his red and blue in true Hotty Toddy spirit.

I have many a fond memory of Charlie... Every Christmas he would put out motion-sensor singing Christmas decorations in the newsroom. It never failed - anytime anyone would walk past one of them, the whole newsroom would groan at the annoyance. I'm pretty sure batteries started disappearing one-by-one as it got closer to Christmas.

One crazy night at the VFW (that was our own little newspaper hang-out back in the day) I did a spectacular karaoke rendition of "Santa Baby" that he never let me live down. I don't even think he was there that night, but word spread fast, and I'd blush every time I'd walk past his office. He thought it was hilarious.

My friend and co-worker Lauchlin and I worked up the nerve to meet Charlie for lunch one day to discuss some issues we were having at the time. It was a conversation held in confidence, and he assured us that he would take care of it, and he did. That's all it took. He listened.

I was incredibly intimidated by him for the first two years I was there. It was my first job out of college, and I had a lot to learn. He worked with me on some pretty in-depth stories, one in particular about a child abuse case that I followed for a few years. I grew tremendously as a writer in the four years I was there. My last day of work, I got lucky when it was time to leave and he wasn't in his office. I sent him an instant message saying goodbye so I wouldn't cry.

So, farewell, Mr. Mitchell... The newspaper won't be the same without you, but Ole Miss has gained a very valuable asset. Best wishes in your new endeavor.

Continuing the Birthday Celebration...

Derek and I both took Thursday and Friday off work to spend a little quiet time at the lake with the dog as part of the rest of Derek's "birthday week". Clearly, we like to celebrate birthdays big at the Grey house.

Some friends came out to join us late Thursday, and we totally enjoyed our little vacay. We were the ONLY boat on the water. It felt like we were 1,000 miles away. Can't beat that!



It was a great way to spend a couple of days off work, and the best part about long weekends is that when your fun is over, it's not even Sunday yet! :)