Bless Your Heart

remodel

so i’m trying out a new comment system by enetation. let’s hope it works. it supports all the smilies code. so if you type ;) you’ll actually get a graphic smiley. i’m so high tech now. ha! what do you think?

sweatiest cities

old spice has ranked the sweatiest cities in the u.s. i’m living in #16.

they base this on humidity etc. and the assumption that you’re walking around for an hour a day outside. when it’s that hot out, you’ll find me in the sub-artic a/c!!

1. San Antonio, TX

2. Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX

3. New Orleans, LA

4. Houston, TX

5. West Palm Beach, FL

6. Orlando, FL

7. Memphis, TN

8. Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL

9. Phoenix, AZ

10. Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, FL

11. Oklahoma City, OK

12. Birmingham, AL

13. Atlanta, GA

14. Nashville, TN

15. St. Louis, MO

16. Charlotte, NC

17. Raleigh/Durham, NC

18. Kansas City, MO

19. Greenville/Spartanburg, SC

20. Washington, D.C

thanks to becky for the link.

thanks pyra!

fortune magazine thinks pyra labs is the coolest media company of 2002. i have to agree. if it wasn’t for them you wouldn’t be reading this as they’re the ones who created blogger. who knew it’s all made possible by a few people in an apartment??

this or that?

1. Popcorn at the movies: buttered or not? that’s not really butter you know. i like my popcorn with reeses pieces or junior mints mixed in.

2. Sometimes you feel like a nut..sometimes you don’t…Mounds or Almond Joy? mounds. mmmm coconut

3. Chips or pretzels? neither. i really prefer crackers and cheese

4. Milky Way or Snickers? neither. not a candy bar fan.

5. M&M’s or Reese’s Pieces? both please =)

6. McDonald’s or Burger King? neither. if i gotta do fast food i like chick fil a or qdoba.

7. Vanilla Coke or Pepsi Twist? yummy swanky vanilla coke

8. Hostess Twinkies or Cupcakes? cupcakes!

9. Hershey’s Kisses or Hugs? hugs…i LOVE white chocolate! i prefer the ones without the almonds, though!

10. Original Mountain Dew or Code Red? ew. neither. i’ll have a dr pepper please.

wow! who knew i was so picky??

the junk food edition of this or that

peeve

it’s “intents & purposes” people. not “intensive purposes” or even “intense purposes”. just had to clarify. it also drives me nuts when people say “where are you at?” what’s the “at” for? also- “needless to say”. if it’s needless to say then don’t say it. i get it. ok. i’m done. there are just certain sayings that get on my nerves. oh- cent instead of cents. like “that costs 39 cent” cents is plural. it’s ok to use it. am i the only one who notices this kind of thing?

altered crazy china fun

last night my mom, my sister morgan, and i all headed over to may’s alterations to get our bridesmaid’s dresses fitted. amy- another bridesmaid- met us there so we could make sure the lengths were all the same on the dresses. may, the owner, is amazing. she did all the alterations for my wedding last year and we were so pleased we came back. she had my wedding gown finished in 2 days! and there was beadwork involved! i don’t think she sleeps. i tell ya though, her store set up does not make you feel pretty. all the flourescent lighting and all. i looked sickly. but i was so psyched because when i first got the dress it stopped a couple inches short of zipping all the way. last night my mom zipped me right up no problem. woohoo! it just needs to be taken in at the waist a little and we’re all set. when my mom was unzipping me she goes “aw shanny you’ve gotten your deodorant all over this dress.” what? all over the back by the zipper? that’s impossible, i’m thinking as my mom’s beating the marks off my back. once i get out of it and look i realize what she’s done and show her. she’d been rubbing off the chalk lines may just made as an alteration guide!

oh, and poor sweet morgan. she’s 12 years old and is 5 feet 7 inches tall, thin as a rail with no boobies yet. so her dress pokes out where boobies should be. instead of basically re-making the bodice and making it flat, may’s inserting these little pads to give it shape and fill up the space. morgan’s all embarrassed to have to walk around with “falsies’!

so after may’s we walked down the strip mall to china fun restaurant. it was no fun. it was so small and nasty looking. we high tailed it out of there and ended up at crazy buffet with convenient locations to serve you on albemarle road and in florida! it was good, i haven’t had chinese in forever, but dag- now i know why they call it crazy. you’d be crazy to pay $16 for a chinese buffet! you just can’t get your money’s worth. and they charged morgan full price and all she ate was egg drop soup, a bowl of fruit and a bowl of ice cream! crazy! no china fun!

mel & davis

this is a picture of melissa and davis her baby taken in september, before she lost her hair. i promise i’ll start writing about more happy things. although, i think there’s not much sweeter than a mom and her baby.

the date project

kate and kane are both waxing poetic about being single. they made me think of this cool site about this single guy and his adventures in dating. it’s very interesting. it makes me glad i’m not single and nostalgic for dating all at the same time.

i’ll fly away

saturday my mom & i went to melissa’s parents’ house with some food to see the family. that was really tough. you see, i’m good friends with mel’s sisters stacey & julie. stacey is having the hardest time because she’s a cancer survivor herself. she was also diagnosed when she was pregnant, just like mel. stace had non-hodgkins lymphoma. the baby was born and she’s just fine. stace was really sick for a while, went through radical chemo and emerged cancer free and has been cancer free for 3 & 1/2 years now. she made it. mel didn’t. see why this has been so hard? stace is suffering from survivor’s guilt. and the rest of the family is just suffering. that poor family. they are all so great and such good people. the one good thing is that mel’s 1 year old davis is just wonderful. and mel’s mother asked me to finish his scrapbook for him so he’ll remember her. what an honor that will be.

her service was sunday. it was just beautiful. they played sweet melissa by the allman brothers band, don’t leave nobody but the baby off the o brother where art thou soundtrack and they closed with i’ll fly away. it was perfect. at the end of the service little davis stood up and walked over to me, layed his hand on my arm then walked like a man down the center aisle of the chapel. it was so symbolic and moving.

Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch – I’ll Fly Away

Some glad morning when this life is o’er,

I’ll fly away;

To a home on God’s celestial shore,

I’ll fly away (I’ll fly away).

[Chorus]

I’ll fly away, Oh Glory

I’ll fly away; (in the morning)

When I die, Hallelujah, by and by,

I’ll fly away (I’ll fly away).

When the shadows of this life have gone,

I’ll fly away;

Like a bird from prison bars has flown,

I’ll fly away (I’ll fly away)

[Chorus]

I’ll fly away, Oh Glory

I’ll fly away; (in the morning)

When I die, Hallelujah, by and by,

I’ll fly away (I’ll fly away).

Just a few more weary days and then,

I’ll fly away;

To a land where joy shall never end,

I’ll fly away (I’ll fly away)

[Chorus]

I’ll fly away, Oh Glory

I’ll fly away; (in the morning)

When I die, Hallelujah, by and by,

I’ll fly away (I’ll fly away).

melissa

Crossroads, seem to come and go, yeah.

The gypsy flies from coast to coast

Knowing many, loving none,

Bearing sorrow havin’ fun,

But back home he’ll always run

To sweet Melissa… mmm…

Freight train, each car looks the same, all the same.

And no one knows the Gypsy’s name

No one hears his lonely sigh,

There are no blankets where he lies.

In all his deepest dreams the Gypsy flies

with sweet Melissa… mmm…

Again the morning’s come,

Again he’s on the run,

Sunbeams shining through his hair,

Appearing not to have a care.

Well, pick up your gear and Gypsy roll on, roll on.

Crossroads, will you ever let him go? (Lord, Lord)

Will you hide the dead man’s ghost,

Or will he lie, beneath the clay,

or will his spirit roll away?

But I know that he won’t stay without Melissa.

Yes I know that he won’t stay without Melissa.

Melissa

by Gregg Allman

Copyright 1972 & 1974 No Exit Music Co., Inc. and Sherlyn Music