Pastry Encrustsed Lamb @ Papadakis

 

Spreading Swine Fl All Over Disneyland

 


It was bad enought that this feature existed at Disneyland and that kids would be attracted to it and would put their hands all over the wet, rolling stone. I couldn't help but take this picture of the "cool dad" who had to be right in there w/them. I was really freaked out I guess because I didn't have my ever-present supply of anti-bacterial Purel and I was aghast at all the germ-spreading ops.

I Love Scoreboards!

Snuggie Buggie

Tell me this is not the cutest little snuggie you have ever seen!

John Papadakis and the Wingos

Coast to Coast

We had the BEST time going Coast to Coast w/the basketball Bulldogs! We boarded a charter flight in Starkville on Wednesday and flew to Tampa for a game the next night at the Tampa-St. Pete Times Forum. We were to play DePaul as part of the SEC-Big East Basketball Tournament. We had no idea we would "coast" to victory over DePaul. As soon as the game was over, we flew out to Los Angeles and got to Anaheim in the middle of the night! The next day we spent a wonderful cloudy day at Disneyworld and had no crowds to stand in our way. Disneyworld was decorated for Christmas and it was quite a sight to behold.

Friday night was the highlight of the trip as Greg took us to his favorite LA restaurant, Papadakis Taverna. We were treated to a short version of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" w/the owner explaining Greek words, etc. and dancing and singing and breaking glasses. There was a belly dancer and a tap dancer who was frozen in the 40's! Food was Greek great but there was another caverat: John Papadakis, the owner, was a linebacker for Southern Cal when they played Alabama in the 70's. This game was an eye opener for Bear Bryant and he started recruiting black athletes to Alabama and got a jump on the rest of the SEC. John helped write the book, Turning the Tide, and we got one of our books and had a picture made w/him. The real highlight of the night was when he sang the USC Fight song and challenged us to sing ours. Scott Stricklin proudly led us in a rousing version of "Hail, State!: Too much fun.

Saturday we packed up and got ready to leave on our charter as soon as the game was over and who knew we would beat UCLA in a laugher in front of the tournament's namesake, John Wooden. Ravern had a career day and made 29 points. This earned him SEC Player of the Week honors and that is sooooo well deserved. He seems like such a nice person--as all the dogs are. This trip was well worth the time and trouble to be around fellow Bulldogs and our team.

Better Bulldog Basketball

Saturday's game vs. St. Bonaventure was more like I had expected all the games to be this season.  They hit 16 three's and beat the visitors by 52--a record for Rick Stansbury-coached teams.  Jarvis hurt his dislocated pinkie again and I hope it doesn't continue to plague him.  Dean and I had our pictures made w/the Golden Egg Trophy while in Starkville and it was a great idea to let the fans have that opportunity!  Lots of people want to send Christmas cards w/the Egg Bowl trophy in their hands! 

Speaking of the Egg Bowl, I have had numerous congratulatory calls from people about our win and then random people will come up to me in restaurants and say nice things about out team and its win over the delusionals.  This has actually happened three times in restaurants last week--Little Tea Shop, Swankys and Lennys.  It pays to be in the maroon.

The Perfect Present

Leave it to Jordan and Saunders to come up with the most thrilling Christmas present I have EVER had! Dean could say the same for his gigantic remote control speedboat in "Pickwick yeller" that he is waiting for the weather to clear and he can try out but mine, the autographed, Rick Stansbury Edition of a basketball from my favorite team in the world is over the top--not enough adjectives to describe how I felt when I opened it. Saunders had told me it was fragile and I fell for that and joked it much be a crystal crown or something. I didn't shake it or anything. I just knew it was breakable. You cannot believe how I treasure this ingenious gift and the children who gave it.

2009 Word of the Year: Twitter -- Sphere News, Opinion and Analysis

2009 Word of the Year: Twitter -- Sphere News, Opinion and Analysis

I would like to add "The Blind Side"

From Dixon With Love!

This was the best part of the Egg Bowl when this appeared on the Jumbotron. I thought it was a thank-you note from Dixon only to realize around midnight last night that it was a take-off on "From Dixie w/Love."

What a glorious day in Starkville! This shows the team singing the fight song and alma mater in the endzone with the band. There were still fans in the stands 20 minutes after the game was over. No one gave us much (or really any) chance to win but they didn't know we had the secret weapon. No, not Chris Relf, but Camille! I think we've won the majority of the Egg Bowls she's ever seen. The only two games we won in Starkville this year were won w/her in attendance. If we could get her to move home......

We had to drive home after the game and miss a bite of the fabulous crawfish quesadillas at Morgan's tent. That was the only disappointment in the wonderful day that actually went our way all day. We won in football and basketball, they lost in football, and Richmond won in both basketball and football.

YESSS!!!!!

The Only Tree in the Forest in Color

On this beautiful Veteran's Day we were going to the Y to work and and when we started putting on our shoes, Cap starting barking for us to take him on a walk to the river and of course, he won! This was the only tree with beautiful colors left in the entire forest and it was a wondrous sight. The RiverWalk in Collierville as you may remember is my favorite spot in the whole town.

Casper's Little Crisis

Last Friday at Pickwick, far from veterinarians, I found poor little Casper sitting in a corner holding his little front paw up and couldn't put it down to walk.  I thought he'd had a stroke or something so I was in panic mode.  I called my vet and they helped me find a vet in nearby Corinth so we were headed there asap.  But FIRST we had to put the jet skis up--that is a stressful situation in the first place as I hate to have those back wheels of the Expedition in the water and have to slowly pull the loaded trailer out of the water.  I hate that.  Then we have to back down our very steep driveway once we get to the house to get them in the garage.  I hate that, too.  All this was complicated by me being overwrought w/worry about Cap.  So we head out to Corinth and before we leave the driveway, Cap and Jack have gotten into a bad fight.  They get along really well but I think Cap was hurting and was very sensitive to Jack's advances.  So I held Cap all the way to Corinth but as we got near, Dean remembered he needed to do something back at the house and we had to turn around and I had to cancel the vet.  We had determnined by this time that we would head onto Starkville and see about a vet there.  I held him and rubbed him and generally gave him all the love I could and when we got to Starkville, he was able to put the foot down and walk normally.   Saturday am we were able to go for a long walk w/Jack and all was miraculously well.  All I could think of was that copy cat, Jack, was going to be in a corner w/his paw up when we got home from the ballgames Saturday. 

Even the Parking Lots in Collierville are Beautiful

This was taken in the parking lot of Schnuck's, one of our grocery stores. I go to the store nearly every afternoon and couldn't help but admire these beauties for about a week so I finally got it together and took my camera to capture them. This brings up another thought: I need a phone w/a camera! If I can talk Dean into taking my hand-me-down Blackberry, I can get a new one w/camera and not have to carry aroundd a separate camera for such occasions as this.

Ginkos on the Square

Collierville is beautiful to me any time of the year but this year after all the rain, the ginkos ablaze on the Square were breathtaking! The blue sky didn't hurt either. Every first of the month, Grace Ward, my long-time neighbor, and I try to meet for lunch and coffee at our favorite spot, Square Beans. This month's lunch was really special as we were able to sit outside under these beautiful ginkos. I treasure these lunches.

YouTube - Anthony Dixon - 252

YouTube - Anthony Dixon - 252

Coaches Tab MSU's Varnado Preseason All-SEC - Mississippi State University Bulldogs Official Athletic Site - mstateathletics.com

Coaches Tab MSU's Varnado Preseason All-SEC - Mississippi State University Bulldogs Official Athletic Site - mstateathletics.com

Anthony Dixon Keeps on Breaking Records

Last weekend we went to Lexington, KY to see our beloved Bulldogs and meet some wonderful friends from West Virginia we've recruited to be Bulldogs, too.  Two amazing surprises occurred and Anthony Dixon had something to do w/each.  First, we won an SEC game on the ROAD and Anthony broke the single game rushing record w/252 yards!  It was a much needed and surprising victory.  Lexington is our favorite road trip becausee it has the nicest fans and the prettiest town.  We stayed downtown and were treated to lots of good food and overlooked a park surrounded by fountains.  We love fountains.  After the game, we had to ride a shuttle full of sadly disappointed Big Blue fans and we were on our best visiting team behavior.  Trust me, we have had our share of disappointments and know how they felt.  The hotel had a bar called the Bigg Blue Martini bar so we thought the Bigg Maroon Martini bar would be a hit in Starkville.  By the time we got there it was too late at night to sample the martinis and after all, it was Halloween and we had lots of costumes to critique. 

The other good news around here is the Ramsey kitten, Stratten.  All kittens are cute but this one is especially adorable.  It is black and white like big brother, Jack, and sweet as he can be.  If I can figure out how to put a movie clip on here you will see for yourself.  He was found and rescued on Red Banks Road and will be ever indebted to Jordan for saving his life. 

We had the opportunity to go to Saunders' softball game tonight and got to see him hit a home run!  The crowd was sparse and I hope I didn't scream too loudly when the ball went OVER the fence at the same field at Johnson Park where Camille make her miraculous catch of a line drive to send our team to the championship game many years ago.

AD's Record-Breaking Day

We were there--He did it in spectacular fashion.  I think we were there for all the others' record-breakers except Jackie Parker and maybe we weren't born yet!

Winning is Everything

1. It makes me and my family and friends in a better mood.
2. It makes me read want to read the paper again.
3. It makes me happy for Dan Mullen and the team.
4. It gives me hope that we can surprise some team this year.
5. It means there won't be doom and gloom all over the Bulldog nation this week.
6. It means the sun has finally come out.
7. It means we are getting close to basketball season.
8. It means the sports writers who love us have something good to write about.
9 It means the sports writers who don't love us will have to write something good.
10. It could mean that Florida hasn't won at Miss. State in Camille's lifetime. Miracles Happen!

Going on a Bear Hunt

 

The Memphis Zoo is rated #1 by Trip Advisor as the nation's best zoo. There is no question that our zoo is the jewel of our city. Yesterday was a beautiful, cloudless day and Dean and I went to see the new Teton Trek exhibit that features a replica of the lodge at Yellowstone complete w/Old Faithful. Three Grizzly bears are there w/a replica of the Teton Mts. in the background. There are beautiful wolves and trumpeter swans. We retraced our steps to the entrance by visiting Northwest Passage which has polar bears that you can see swimming under water. We had to go back to see the pandas before we left and ended our visit at Cat Country. It was late on a fall afternoon and all the animals were frisky and probably glad to see the sun as we were. If you haven't been to the zoo lately, please try to visit soon as the new exhibit is a wow. The architecture and landscaping of the entire zoo is worth the visit. I fondly remember Camille's first outing was to the zoo w/Matt Lea and his mom. Please check out: www.memphiszoo.org

Casper's River Walk

 

They say exercise is an antidote for depression so this morning we started with the best of intentions of going to the Y and work out some stress from the weekend. Casper noticed that we were putting on our walking shoes and started talking like a Huskie suggesting that we take him for a walk to the river. As I may have said before, the Nature Walk to the Wolf River is the best amenity in this whole wonderful town. We haven't seen the sun in more than two weeks so everyone was overdue for a riverwalk. There is not a cloud in the sky and the humidity is low and for about an hour we forgot about football--or basketball for that matter. Camille, wish you were here

Basketball (Men's) - Schedule - Mississippi State University Bulldogs Official Athletic Site - mstateathletics.com

Basketball (Men's) - Schedule - Mississippi State University Bulldogs Official Athletic Site - mstateathletics.com

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View of the Vandy Stadium

Vanderbilt has a very uniquely placed Marriott on campus. From its rooms, high above the field you can watch the game from the comfort of your own private bird's eye view. This really came in handy when the rain started before the game and the boys had already gone out to watch them warm up while Tani and I stayed nice and dry and could watch them from our perch w/binoculars. It helped that we won the game unexpectedly so we didn't have far to go to celebrate.

My View at the Titans Game

I have been a long-time fan of the Titans and their legendary coach, Jeff Fisher. I was thrilled to get to see them in person last weekend in Nashville from a Suite on the 30 yard line. It was a great game experience and an unfortunate loss to the Texans. The civilizated traffic ingress and egress paterns were amazing and we were home in three hours from the stadium at game's end.

Today I Saw a Coyote Run across Byhalia Road

It's getting a little scary around here with random animals coming out of the "Woods."  Today when I was driving home, I saw an apparent coyote run across 4 lanes of traffic from our neighborhood to the Baptist Church.  I thought he was either a wolf or a coyote but Wikipedia convinced me he was a common coyote.  Tomorrow I guess I should be on the lookout for a  rhinocerous.

More Proof the Neighborhood is Haunted!

Without photographic evidence, you are just going to have to trust me on this.  Last summer Beth called us one morning to come down and see her armadillos in her yard (armadillos are nocturnal) and then we saw deer in her yard as recently as a week ago.  This is not the country.  I noticed my hostas looked like they'd been mowed by a weed eather and then after we saw the deer it became obvious that they were mowed by the deer instead.  I started tellimg my neighbors and they started noticed deer damage in their yard as well.   BUT this is not the real haunted part.  Several years ago we had a mirror fall in our bedroom over a mantle--for no apparent reason--then as I was telling another neighbor about that, she said that her mirror on the same relative wall in her house had recently fallen.  Fine, so mirrors fall, but then when I told a third neighbor (and one of the most down-to-earth ones) about it she said it was probably the neighborhood ghost.  She said she had seen him and recently when her husband was putting the kids to bed, he saw it.  Now he is an attorney w/a local Fortune 500 company so I give him a lot of credibility and accept the fact that they have a ghost.  Meanwhile, we have these 3 bullfrogs in our pond that came from somewhere and I know I didn't put them there.  Not to mention the Pool Parrot, maybe we are just a natural habitat for weird animals as well as people here in the Woods.

I Think Our Neighborhood is Haunted!

So, today when I drove out of the neighborhood  to run errands, I noticed a large object (bird) in a tree in a friend's yard. I called her to come outside and look and it started to fly off w/this gigantic wing span. But he landed on the top of the light pole in her yard and mainaged to stay there long enough for Dean to come home and help id him. I thought he might be a turkey or even an eagle but Beth and others thought it was a big crow or raven or something--turns out he is a big ugly buzzard (kind of like "War Eagle") and is prowling the neighborhood for squshed squrrels and chippies. All I could think of is that if it weren't raining, I would have taken Cap out for a walk this morning  and the gross bird would have flown off w/him like the dog in "The Proposal." My other thoughts on the subject involve inviting Mr. Buzzard up to the pool to meet lovely Polly the Parrot.  When I looked up this creature on wikipedia (my fav) it said they had wingspans of 5 to 6 feet and were 2 to almost 3 feet tall. 

We Were So Busy We Didn't Have Time to Take Pictures!

Camille spent a four-day weekend at home and it was a jam-packed, fun-filled weekend of food, football, friends and family.  We had lunch w/Lauren at Southern Hands, went to Starkville and had dinner at Restaurant Tyler.  We got up Saturday morning in time to go to City Bagel before the tailgate four hours prior to the game.  Our tailgate consisted of sausage balls and wonderful pimento cheese sandwiches cut out in the shape of dog bones.  By noon when it was getting hot we went to Dogwalk and then on to our seats for the game that was going to start two hours later.  As we were gettting ready for kickoff, they sent all the players inside due to lightning in the area so it prolonged the day seemingly forever but we had Walking in Memphises and were happy.  After the game, we went home to fix hamburgers for more people than we had knives and forks for but Camille graciously went to bed at 8 and we had enough forks.  P.S. The recipe for a Walking in Memphis is equal parts of pineapple juice and Parrot Bay (see a pattern here) coconut rum.

Sunday, we woke up early and decided to let Dean choose the breakfast place and true to form, he chose Shipleys.  When we got there, the line was out the door but we were not deterred.  We had to wait on the donut holes because they were still cooking so we got to watch them float in the sugar glaze mixture and then we got to see them drain off the excess glaze and then the absolutely melted in our mouths.

All the way home we discussed lunch and we settled on Dean's Tuna Salad w/a twist---Camille decided to use onion buns and top w/swiss cheese and a tomato for a tuna melt.  Fabulous---t  but we had to run to the mall--We spent wayyyy to much time shopping and then had to hurry home to get Dean away from the Memphis game so we could go meet Elise@Sekisui on Humphreys--Lauren was there as well and then Brent and Cynthia came by to round out the traditional group at Sekisui.  I would have been happy to go home and play on my computer but agreed to go to a movie w/them--We all agreed on "The Proposal" because I had heard Jordan liked it a lot.  We all enjoyed it and and finally got to come home and plan for the next day.

Camille had already decided to ditch a certain jacket that she "didn't love" so when we hit the mall early Monday am to get a pedicure I was able to drop her off and then head to the store to return the jacket.  By this time Barnes and Noble was open so I could get us coffee and tea. As soon as the toes were dry we headed to Aunt Terry's for bbq lunch.  As soon as we could we left and headed back to the mall for some shoe shopping and then to Sephora for a certain brush.  We then had the brilliant idea to go to Sonic(because the Jackson State Sonic Boom was fresh on our minds)  and get some refreshing drinks for all of us including Dean who was glued to the tv at home.  P. S.after 2 p.m. every afternoon it is happy hour at Sonic so we got all our refreshing drinks for a total of $4.14-- In the meantime we had found time to go buy a new camera but didn't have time to put it together--hopefully Camille can do that herself--I would hate to have to make a trip up there for just that!  After packing it was time to head to the airport for the traditional tearful goodbye.  Armed w/the new e-ticket on the blackberry check in was a breeze and it wasn't long before Camille got back to DC and unpacked.  At least I have Jordan and Saunders here to keep me from being sad and it won't be long til Thanksgiving when Camille will be home again.  PS, we didn't get to go to the pool but BJ reported the parrot was back in his special crepe mrytle tree.  I have failed to mention Lindsay so far but she did have a birthday last week and we are playing her alma mater this week at Auburn.  Whew----I am "wore out."

A Picture of Polly

Because I was taking this photo from afar, I don't have perspective for you to see that this parrot is in a tree at the pool, but trust me!

Bring Your Parrot to Work Day Sunday August 30, 2009

It must have been because someone did.  BJ and I went to the Pool Sunday for a last dose of Vitamin D and we heard this screech.  BJ said it sounded like a bird and I said, "Naaw, it's someone moving their chair."  We heard it again and BJ looked up into the crepe myrtle tree and saw this beautiful monster parrot. I immediately thought it was someone's lost pet but when we asked the very tan guy in the chair across the pool from us he if it was his parrot  and he said, "Yes."  He is a man of few words but lots of Vitamin D because he is always at the pool and seems to study for some kind of test (hint:FEDEX pilot) and uses a blue highlighter to study his materials and then gets mad when the kids at the pool splash and get his stuff wet. Because of the highlighter, we had knicknamed him "old blue" but now he is the official "Parrothead of the Woods Pool."  He was there w/said parrot before we got there and we had to leave before he did so we are not sure how he transported the parrot to and from the pool.  This picture was zoomed from afar as we didn't think the man would be happy w/us taking a picture of his beloved pool partner parrot.

Green Chile Roasting

Green Chile Time in Tennessee

It's always a treat when we decide to order fresh green chiles from Hatch, NM. Hatch is to green chile as Vidalia is to onion. They are harvested in late August and shipped practically fresh from the field second day air. The process goes like this: We wash them to get rid of any dirt that may be left on them and then roast them on the grill until they turn nearly black. From the grill they go into a paper bag for further steaming. We peel and seed them by running each pepper under running water and then each batch is put into a quart freezer bag for freezing. All those chiles in the picture only made five quarts of green chile! We can't wait to make green chile enchiladas for all our chili-loving children.

2009 Mississippi State Football Gameday Central - This Week's Game - Mississippi State University Bulldogs Official Athletic Site - mstateathletics.com

2009 Mississippi State Football Gameday Central - This Week's Game - Mississippi State University Bulldogs Official Athletic Site - mstateathletics.com

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Las Vegas

My New Alma Mater?????

I have yet to get a grip on the proposed name change for my beloved alma mater, the "W." I can see reasons pro and con for a name change. The word, "women" in the name is somewhat limiting but I do not think the name change will increase enrollment in droves. Sally Reneau was a young girl in the late 19th century who lobbied the state legislature to found the school and it was the oldest state supported school for girls in the country. There is a dorm named for her on campus and I am not sure how they came to the point of choosing her as the namesake of the university. I hope this will be beneficial in the long run as I would hate to see the university close its doors forever.

Inside a Lock

I have never wondered what a lock looked looked like from the inside but that was another reason I was scared to go on a jet ski adventure that included being in a lock. However, it was not as bad as I feared but I am claustrophobic.

Office Disaster

Oops, was that a BEFORE or AFTER picture of the office??????

Bloody Mary Bar

I discovered this concept of a Bloody Mary bar in Chattanooga while waiting on Dean to finish the river run from Knoxville. People were going to the bar and getting iced tea glasses full of vodka and iced and I thought that was a little strange until I turned around and found this long bar they were going to to make their own Bloodies. I thought it might be a good party idea for a brunch. That is a bowl of celery sticks in the background. This was the highlight of the trip.