5 months.

The last time I blogged was the end of January during a rare Southern snowstorm. I use the word "storm" lightly, as it was more an ice/snow mix that makes us Southerners lose our minds and ability to drive.

Don't worry, Miss Summer has finally arrived in all her sweaty glory.  She is in the middle of her "hot as hades" stage, coupled with hissy fit thunder storms in the evening.

Mind you, I never complained about the cold when we were having it.  I knew Summer would take her toll on me, like she is now.

Since I last blogged, our family managed to survive Sass's senior year. She is now an official high school graduate, headed to college in the fall!  We couldn't be more proud.  She shocked us all and actually chose the college closest to home, East Carolina University.  That has definitely made the transition to college a lot easier on this ol' mama, though I'm sure a few tears will still be shed on move-in day.

Yesterday was my first official day of summer vacation. although it was rather busy with errands.  Today was much nicer, spent by the pool or with Netflix.

That Netflix, he's such a good friend.

I was told by Mama that tomorrow we will be "putting up corn". This is something she does every year, by going to my Aunt Connie's at the crack of dawn, getting corn from her fields, and bringing it home to shuck, silk and blanch, in order to freeze for future eatin'.

I'll let you know how it goes;-)

Fat pants, thin mints and *gasp* snow???

Finally…Friday night!

Fat pants on? 

Check!

Thin mints opened?

Check!

Date with Dateline in the works?

Check!

My how times have changed over the years:)

The Hubs has to work super early tomorrow morning, so he is already out for the count…which only means one thing: I get the TV/computer to myself without feeling guilty!!!

Not that I'm excited about that or anything.

Seriously, The Hubs and I have created a Friday night ritual over the past year where we use Friday nights to wind down from the week with some kind of take out, lounging on the couch and watching some sort of Dateline or 20/20 show.

Nothing says date night like watching a TV news show about how a husband (almost) got away with his wife's murder.

Good times.

Tonight, Sugar, who usually spends Friday nights with Grandma and Pop, decided to forgo non-stop Disney and Nickelodeon and slum with me at our no-cable-no-satellite abode.

She's currently torturing me with Spy Kids 3, which I thought I would never have to watch again once Sass grew out of her "I-want-to-be-a-spy" stage.

Thank you, Netflix, thank you.

Anywho, this has been a strange week.

Starting with SNOW on Tuesday night…that resulted in a snow day (no school/work) on Wednesday.

It was wonderful!  All 1/2 inch of it! My in-laws in Minnesota probably think I'm crazy, but when you only get the white stuff once every couple of years, you act the fool over it!

And, yes, we probably could have gone to school that day.  I saw all the griping on FB about how silly it was to cancel school for 1/2 an inch of snow, but, take into consideration that people here aren't used to driving in these conditions. God forbid a school bus or high schooler crash on their way to school because of the road conditions….then there would be griping about why school hadn't been canceled!

You know who you are;)

Plus, as I mentioned above, this happens so infrequently, give us our hour to shine…our time to wear ill-equipped clothing and hand-me-down ski-bibs. 

Our time to make snow cream, snow angels and memories of something that will only happen a handful of times in a Southern kids childhood.

Ladies first?

I had the privilege to grow up in a large extended family.  My mama had 8 brothers and sisters and my daddy had 11 siblings.

I was rich in cousins, aunts and uncles to say the least.  Most of my treasured childhood memories revolve around time spent at Grandma's house with my cousins.

Of these memories, I would bet a great deal took place on Sundays.  Sunday dinners (that's the lunch meal in the South--evening meal is supper, FYI) have long been a tradition in my family for as long as I can remember.

Every Sunday after church, most of my extended family still meets at the "homeplace", now my Mama and Daddy's house (they bought and moved into Grandma's house once she passed), for lunch.

The house is small (1000 sq feet?) but the family is large!  Somehow, we manage to feed and entertain roughly 20 people every Sunday on a feast of your favorite country foods: collards, potato salad, butter beans, casseroles, ham, mashed potatoes, chicken, string beans, etc.

And, in old school fashioned, the men still eat first.

Yes, you read that right.

In 2013, the men are still served first at my Mama's house on Sundays.

Now that's some deep rooted tradition.

There is a small part of me that balks at such practices--it's outdated and unnecessary now, but I also treasure it, because it was started by my Grandma Doris, who always made sure her "boys" were well fed, not necessarily on Sundays, but before working the fields, while the women would stay and work at home.

The matriarchs of my family, my Mama and Aunt Kay, continue with this practice and who am I to stop them???

They do most of the cooking:)

The men could do a dish or two every now and then though....I'm sure there would be no complaints there...

Until then, I wait my turn, look through the sales papers and catch up on the latest family happenings. Hurry up, fellows, and don't eat all the collards!

Sweet tea and....Jesus?

This weekend I had the awesome opportunity to get away with a few girlfriends and take a road trip to Stone Mountain, Georgia for The Country Living Home Fair.

It was ah-mazing!  And by amazing, I mean if you like all things rustic, country in that artisan kind of way.

I have a hard time with the term "country" when describing decor.  I have all too fond childhood memories of blue gingham curtains, hunter green and mauve wall-paper border and Holly Hobby wooden cut outs (no offense, mama).

The Country Living Home Fair, however, did an excellent job of choosing vendors that represent the passion and heart of the magazine they publish. Such as The Go Girl Shoppe.

http://www.gogirlshoppe.com

They hail right here from good ol' NC...Raleigh/Durham to be exact!  I bought the majority of my purchases from this vendor.  Here is my favorite purchase of their's this weekend:

I can't wait to find the perfect place to hang it!

This sign is perfect for me, because there aren't too many mornings that I don't run through the Bojangles drive thru for a large sweet tea. My drives to work are also my "quiet" time (Read: no kids in the car) that I meditate and pray for the day:)

I wish I had taken more pictures but that was frowned upon by many of the vendors...and let's be honest...homegirl still doesn't have a smart phone and lugging my DSLR around that place wasn't going to happen!

I hope to make this trip a tradition--it was a wonderful excuse to get out of town, recharge my batteries and discover some great finds!