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Roll Tide Roll

Well, what a great football season it is shaping up to be. Our team is undefeated, although last week, we certainly got a scare against Arkansas. And this week we have the clash of the Titans with Alabama playing Florida. If Florida is halfway as much out for revenge as we were last year in the SEC Championship game, we're in trouble. 

I made a scrapbook page about football. It tells the story about how hopelessly obsessed I am with it:

It is true that I am a big Alabama football fan. I watch all the games, I read the sports page, I listen to sports talk radio. I love to discuss the fine points with my brother and my dad. Last year, I got to experience what every college football fan dreams of; my team won the national championship. And like Jim says, after that, what else matters? This year should just be fun, and we should be happy whatever happens. And although I tell myself that is true, I really can’t be quite that cool about it. We won our first few games this year without much trouble. Then we had to play our SEC opener against Arkansas. I asked the whole family over to watch on our big screen TV.  Arkansas got out to a quick two touchdown lead. All the seats in the living room were taken, but I couldn’t sit still anyway. Jim says that I always get up and do my laundry when Alabama is having a tough time, and that’s what I did. Then I just went in my room and told myself that it would be over in about an hour and life would go on just fine. Pretty soon I heard them in the next room sounding a little happier. I peeked around the corner and saw that we were catching up. I inched up closer to the TV with each play, and when we finally went ahead, you needed ear plugs to drown out the cheers. And do you know what reward we get for such a thrilling come from behind win? We get to play Florida this week! I’ve read the sports page and listened to talk radio, and I’m sure I’ll have all my laundry done in record time.

Let's hope we got out all the jitters and can come out on all cylinders against those Gators tomorrow!

Weekend With Friends

Last weekend we went to visit our friends in the Florida Panhandle. We had so much fun hanging out by the pond, taking long walks, eating delicious food and watching football. That's the life as far as I'm concerned. They are way out in the country and I don't have Internet access. This is really good for me, but I do miss it. Here's the page I made about the weekend.

I made another page this weekend about my impatiens. They come up from seed every year and I just transplant them, saving me the time and expense of buying flats of annuals for my shady areas. I'm not sure that the seedlings bloom as well as the ones from the nursery, though. This year we dug out a new bed where the grass wasn't growing well, and I put the free impatiens there. They did pretty well I guess.

I just love this new stamped alphabet from Katie Pertiet. It reminds me of my paper scrapping days. And the yard is much happier today because we got some rain; I think it's the first rain here in the month of September!

Happy Birthday Jonathan!

It's official. We no longer have a teenager. Our youngest turns 20 today. And he is quite the young man, all settled into school and living in a rental house with some friends. Here's a page I made about a recent visit to his bachelor pad.

We went to visit after you had been moved in for a week. You had put all your furniture together, mowed the yard, and cooked out on the grill. You hung pictures and trimmed the bushes. You told Dad, “I just love home improvement projects; they’re so rewarding.” Forgive me while I have a sobfest. You are so grown up.  

We are so blessed to have you, my sweet son. Hope your birthday is the best.

All supplies Digital Scrapbooking.

I'm Still Alive!

I don't know why I've been going through a non-blogging phase lately. But I'm back, and here's some of what's been going on.

A couple of weekends ago, we went back to the beach with Mark's sister and her husband. We stayed at a beautiful place in Panama City. The condo had a wrap around balcony and this was our view from it:

It was amazing. We had a great little club next door that had food and live music. And we went out to Captain Anderson's restaurant one night, which was our favorite eating place on those high school beach trips. Very nostalgic. We also went to a new shopping venue, Pier Park, which was lots of fun. It also reminded me of our high school trips because it has an amusement park with a ferris wheel just like the old Miracle Strip Amusement Park. Well, maybe not just like that rickety old thing!

Last weekend, David "met the parents." He went home with his girlfriend Katy who was celebrating her 22nd birthday. It seemed to go very well. I made them stop for a photo before they left.

I'm taking some Photoshop classes at lynda.com and practiced some on this photo. 

And I read this fantastic book. 

And have to say I'm so proud of our Crimson Tide for their win against Penn State. Just can't wait till Mark Ingram and Marcelle Darius get back out on the field! Till next time!

All scrapbook supplies from Digital Scrapbooking.

Family photo

Thanks to my brother Jeff; this photo came from his camera. It's me and my family minus one son, my mom, my sister Jane, and Jeff and Jana and their daughter Beth. We were at the beach in Panama City and had gone out to dinner. A nice lady took this shot of us as we were leaving!

 

I'm ready for a fun long weekend; hope yours is great!

Happy Birthday Matt!

 

Today my sweet oldest son is 25! He is coming back from a weekend trip with friends to have birthday cake with some of the family. Thanks my love for the tremendous blessing you are to your dad and me.

Lazy Saturday

 It's hot outside and I'm inside scrapbooking and staying cool. This is a photo I took of Jon the day we moved him and David to school. While going through his stuff, he found this old sword that he got on a high school band trip. So silly and so grown up at the same time! You can see the supplies I used here. Hope your day is good!

 

He's Employed!

It's a jungle out there. It's so hard for a new college graduate to find a job. Since Jesse finished classwork in May, he has worked at a tent selling Oriental rugs and at a short lived stint at a car wash. I won't go into details; let's just say these jobs helped him pay his bills. Last week, he finally got an interview for a job at a bank. Mark had to take him shopping for clothes, and he really looked sharp in them. Two days after the interview, they offered him the job. We are all very happy for him! 

 

Jesse Graduated!

We went to Tuscaloosa again yesterday for Jesse's graduation. He got a Bachelor of Arts degree and graduated cum laude. It was such a proud moment for us. I made this page using photos of Jesse and his girlfriend Ashley that I took after the ceremony.

 

Finally--The Running Post

 

It's time to say it. I've been running for a few weeks now. I have always stayed in pretty good shape, but I never believed I could run for exercise. I've been inspired by Gretchen McElveen and Cathy Zielske to try it out. Cathy recommended reading John Bingham's work, and I'm reading his book The Courage to Start, which has some sage advice from a seasoned runner on everything from common beginning mistakes to how running has changed him not only physically but emotionally too.   

So what I have learned in these weeks is:

1) I'm still not sure I can do this. My heart and lungs are taking to it a lot better than my joints. I was doing great until this week, when I started having some left knee pain. I think I have zeroed in on the problem, though, and I'm doing some exercises. So far, so good, but this is still a wait-and-see proposition. 

2) As much as I hate to get up at 5:30, running in 95-degree heat just isn't smart. 

3) Small victories count. Just to get out there is really saying something. Some days are better than others, and I need to learn to be content with whatever my body can do on any given day.

4) My husband is supportive! Yes, he is always supportive, but I was afraid he would frown at this, because he thinks running is hard on you as you get older. But he is celebrating my successes and cheering me through the painful moments. And he likes my more toned physique!

5) Running on the open road in the wee hours is just exhilarating. It's relatively cool, the birds are chirping, and it's just a great time to think. 

If you haven't tried this, I would encourage you to give it a shot. Just move your body to the extent you can. When John Bingham started running, he was in his mid-forties and 100 pounds overweight. The first time he put on running shoes, he ran to the end of his driveway. That was it. But he had a small victory over himself that led to a changed life.  

If my knee doesn't fail me, you will be hearing more about this I'm sure!