So Thankful!

I am healthy. I have my husband home with me. I have my wonderful dog with me. My family is all alive and well, even all 4 grandparents. Everyone in my entire extended family is still married, no divorces. I have a job and a house to live in. I have more food than I can eat. I live in a free country. I have freedom of religion. I have friends. I live in the most perfect climate on earth. I am in the middle of Christmas decorations--my favorite!
Listing everything I'm thankful for puts my life in perspective. I have no reason not to be ridiculously happy. Thank you God for my blessings that I didn't do anything to deserve!

Feeling Sorry for Myself

It's Thanksgiving week, and yet again, I won't be spending it with family. Sadly, my husband and I couldn't get home again this year because the flights were just too expensive. I have the whole week off from school, but he only gets Thursday and Friday off. So, it made no sense to spend $1200 to go home for 3 days.

I've pretty much decided not to cook. I'm just going to treat it like any other day (and that means we will eat frozen pizza unless my husband decides to cook.) I would love to be one of those Donna Reed types who would whip up a ten course meal even though it's just the two of us. My husband and I have never eaten off our fine china, and we've been married for 3 years. I'm just not domestic. I never manage to cook a square meal. It's a big deal around here if I cook spaghetti. Really, I can't even remember the last time I made that.

I could probably win awards for being the worst homemaker ever. The weird thing is that I grew up helping my mom in the kitchen. When I'm home in her kitchen, I love to cook. I think what I miss is having someone around to talk to while whipping up a fantastic meal. If I had a big family, I would love spending all day in the kitchen.

So, it's a sad thanksgiving at our house this year. Don't take family for granted! When you move far away and can't get home to see them, you will really miss it! Give yours a hug for me!

More football !

In honor of tomorrow's big game: The IRON BOWL--Auburn vs. Alabama and some other games of note around the country, here's a delightful forward that my brother sent me. Enjoy!

How Many SEC Students Does It Take To Screw In a Lightbulb........
At VANDERBILT: it takes two, one to change the bulb and one more toexplain how they did it every bit as good as the bulbs changed at Harvard.
At GEORGIA: it takes two, one to change the bulb and one to phone anengineer at Georgia Tech for instructions.
At FLORIDA: it takes four, one to screw in the bulb and three to figureout how to get stoned off the old one.
At ALABAMA: it takes five, one to change it, three to reminisce abouthow The Bear would have done it, and one to throw the old bulb at anNCAA investigator.
At OLE MISS: it takes six, one to change it, two to mix the drinks andthree to find the perfect J. Crew outfit to wear for the occasion.
At LSU: it takes seven, and each one gets credit for five semester hours.
At KENTUCKY: it takes eight, one to screw it in and seven to discuss howmuch brighter it seems to shine during basketball season.
At TENNESSEE: it takes ten, two to figure out how to screw it in, two tobuy an orange lampshade, and six to phone a radio call-in show and talkabout how much they hate Alabama.
At MISSISSIPPI STATE: it takes fifteen, one to screw in the bulb, two tobuy the Skoal, and twelve to yell, "GO TO HELL, OLE MISS".
At AUBURN: it takes one hundred, one to change it, forty-nine to talkabout how they did it better than at Bama, and fifty to get drunk androll toomer's Corner when finished.
At SOUTH CAROLINA: it takes 80,000, one to screw it in and 79,999 todiscuss how this finally will be the year that they have a decentfootball team.
At ARKANSAS: None. There is no electricity in Arkansas.

Planning for the fall football season in the South is radically different than up North. For those who are planning a football trip South, here are some helpful hints.

Women's AccessoriesNORTH: ChapStick in back pocket and a $20 bill in the front pocket.SOUTH: Louis Vuitton duffel with two lipsticks, waterproof mascara, anda fifth of bourbon. Money not necessary - that's what dates are for.

Stadium SizeNORTH: College football stadiums hold 20,000 people.SOUTH: High school football stadiums hold 20,000 people.

FathersNORTH: Expect their daughters to understand Sylvia Plath.SOUTH: Expect their daughters to understand pass interference.

Campus DecorNORTH: Statues of founding fathers.SOUTH: Statues of Heisman trophy winners.

Homecoming QueenNORTH: Also a physics major.SOUTH: Also Miss America.

HeroesNORTH: Rudy GulianiSOUTH: Archie & Peyton Manning

Getting TicketsNORTH: 5 days before the game you walk into the ticket office on campusand purchase tickets.SOUTH: 5 months before the game you walk into the ticket office oncampus and put name on waiting list for tickets.

Friday Classes After a Thursday Night GameNORTH: Students and teachers not sure they're going to the game, becausethey have classes on Friday.SOUTH: Teachers cancel Friday classes because they don't want to see thefew hung over students that might actually make it to class.

ParkingNORTH: An hour before game time, the University opens the campus forgame parking.SOUTH: RVs sporting their school flags begin arriving on Wednesday forthe weekend festivities. The really faithful arrive on Tuesday.

Game Day:NORTH: A few students party in the dorm and watch ESPN on TV.SOUTH: Every student wakes up, has a beer for breakfast, and rushes overto where ESPN is broadcasting "Game Day Live" to get on camera and waveto the idiots up north who wonder why "Game Day Live" is never broadcastfrom their campus.

TailgatingNORTH: Raw meat on a grill, beer with lime in it, listening to localradio station with truck tailgate down.SOUTH: 30-foot custom pig-shaped smoker fires up at dawn. Cookingaccompanied by live performance by "Dave Matthews' Band," who come overduring breaks and ask for a hit off bottle of bourbon.Getting to the

StadiumNORTH: You ask "Where's the stadium?" When you find it, you walk right in.SOUTH: When you're near it, you'll hear it. On game day it becomes thestate's third largest city.

ConcessionsNORTH: Drinks served in a paper cup, filled to the top with soda.SOUTH: Drinks served in a plastic cup, with the home team's mascot onit, filled less than half way with soda, to ensure enough room for bourbon.

When National Anthem is PlayedNORTH! : Stands are less than half full, and less than half of themstand up.SOUTH: 100,000 fans, all standing, sing along in perfect four-part harmony.

The Smell in the Air After the First ScoreNORTH: Nothing changes.SOUTH: Fireworks, with a touch of bourbon.

Commentary (Male)NORTH: "Nice play."SOUTH: "Dammit, you slow sumbitch - tackle him and break his legs."

Commentary (Female)NORTH: "My, this certainly is a violent sport."SOUTH: "Dammit, you slow sumbitch - tackle him and break his legs."

AnnouncersNORTH: Neutral and paid.SOUTH: Announcer harmonizes with the crowd in the fight song, with atear in his eye because he is so proud of his team.

After the GameNORTH: The stadium is empty way before the game ends.SOUTH: Another rack of ribs goes on the smoker, while somebody goes tothe nearest package store for more bourbon, and planning begins for nextweek's game.

Alabama Football

Being an SEC football fan is a little tough when you live in San Diego. No one out here seems to understand that Saturdays in the fall are meant to be spent watching football.
Here's the schedule:

1. Wake up and turn on ESPN gameday to watch Kirk Herbstreet and Lee Courso make thier picks.
2. Start watching your first game either on ESPN or CBS or some other channel.
3. Flip around to the other channels to check out the other games.
4. Then you watch your team's game. This is a very serious time. You can't go to the bathroom or take phone calls until halftime. I usually turn on every TV in the house to the game, so if I am forced to leave the room, I can still hear the game in surround-sound wherever I go in the house.
5. After your team wins or loses, you watch other important games, and you cheer against your team's rivals.
6. At the end of the night, you watch the recap shows on ESPN and think about that one play that would have changed the outcome of the game if your team lost. If your team won, you call all of your friends and talk about what a great game it was.
7. On Sunday, you go to church and talk smack about your team, unless they lost, when you act very contrite.

Now, of course, this shedule is slightly different if you are actually going to a game. If you are in that lucky position, then you wake up at the crack of dawn to go to campus and find a parking spot. You find your tailgate or move around to various tailgates and socialize until it's about an hour before the game. Then you make your way to the stadium. You buy a shaker (pom-pom) to use during the game to emphasize all the chants and cheers that you will be singing along with every other person in the 85,000-capacity-crowded-stadium.

Ok, so yesterday was a bad, bad day for me. Alabama, who was ranked #3 in some polls, #4 in others, lost thier first game yesterday to LSU. I had a bad feeling all week. I knew they were looking tired, and they had lost 2 key players to broken bones. I was predicting a loss, but hoping for a win. The first half made me believe that maybe they could do it. They went into the locker rooms 10-0. LSU must have had a come-to-Jesus halftime speech because they came out a different team. The game went into overtime, and Alabama lost. So depressing.

Then, to top it all off as a horrible night, Auburn beat Georgia. Alabama fans don't just hate Auburn, they want Auburn to suffer. They will cheer for any team against Auburn. Auburn feels the same way about Alabama. If you live in the state of Alabama, you must take sides. You will have friends who like the other team, but you won't watch football with them. Some people marry a fan of the other school, but usually one or the other isn't die-hard about it. In Alabama we call this a mixed marriage.

So, I went to bed feeling miserable. My husband reminded me that this is how he feels every Saturday. He's a Mississippi State fan. They always lose. A true fan stays with their team through rain and sunshine. So, roll tide, roll!!

Why am I so obsessed with Laguna Beach?

There's nothing I love more than watching other people's lives. Why is that? Why am I so fascinated by the trials and tribulations of people that I don't know? I think that's becoming the problem. I'm starting to believe I do know them. Ahh, the allure of reality TV.

Everyone can remember the super-popular-yet-a-total-bitch-girl from their high school. Laguna pegged this girl perfectly with Kristin. I just happened to be that girl's sidekick. I was the Alex H of my high school. I was this girl's tag-a-long. I used her to get to the popular table in the lunchroom, to get invited to some popular events, to be able to talk to the cute guys vying to get next to her. She used me for those times when you have to hang out with other girls.

No other girl in her right mind would have put up with the constant narcissism, the put-downs, the evil, the embarrassment that came along with being her sidekick. She constantly put me down, and I would bounce right back like a boxing bag to be her friend.

Of course we didn't stay in touch after high school. I'm sure she found someone else to use in college. I continued my sidekick ways in college, but the girls never had quite the evil bitchiness of my high school worst enemy/best friend.

One time when I was back home for the summer, I ran into this girl. She told me that she was dating one of the only guys she hadn't noticed (landed) in high school. This guy happened to be my huge senior year crush. She made sure to rub it in that I used to be obsessed with him and now she was dating him.

Time went by, and then I received the wedding invitation. Somehow she had tricked this guy into marrying her. Like a masochist, I went to the wedding. I went armed with a true friend from high school. It was a veritable high school reunion. I really felt sad for the groom. I don't think he knew what he was getting himself into.

Something good did come of my attending this blessed event though. It was at that wedding that my true friend from high school decided she should set me up with her boyfriend's best friend from high school. The rest is history--we're married.

I'd like to think that I've outgrown my sidekick ways. I think I choose friends wisely now. But, I still love to watch Laguna Beach and think about all the small characters--the ones whose names come on the screen with a qualifier, like, "Alex H. --Kristin's friend" That was me in high school. Maybe if I could go back and have a talk with myself I would say, "Be your own person, not a sidekick." I'd be an LC!!