Happy Birthday, Big Girl Jeni!!

As you know, our family doesn't need much of an excuse to celebrate. But we had a great excuse this week...Little Jeni turned 5!

Jeni, who we constantly call Little Jeni because she was named after my grandmother...made it known that she is no longer a little girl- she's now a big girl. Within the same breath of saying hello and hugging me, she informed me that she no longer sucked her thumb and she'd planned to eat most of her peas and even though she had her blanket, she didn't have to have her blanket....all because she's 5.

We spent the evening at my aunt and uncle's home eating pizza, ice cream and cake...telling stories and laughing. Some of us spent some of the evening in a princess tent. It was a wonderful night...and Little Miss was so exhausted she didn't even make it over the bridge before she was sleeping soundly.

By cake and ice cream...I meant, mostly icing.

I think it's safe to say they pretty much adore each other. I've never seen two little girls get along so well...as I knock repeatedly on my wooden desk. They work very hard to make sure the other one doesn't get her feelings hurt.

Jeni wanted to make sure Little Miss didn't feel left out of her birthday celebration- so she even let her blow out her big 5 candle. After she blew it out first, of course.

Big Gully got attacked by some little girls with icing fingers. I believe this was Little Miss's favorite part of the evening!

Sugar?

I'm pretty sure this is the definition of a great birthday celebration...icing on your face. :)

Happy Birthday, Jeni! We love you! (And happy mommyhood anniversary to you, Angie! You're a wonderful mother & I am so glad we can share our girls! Even though mine looks more like you than she does me...)

Family

Although funerals are never pleasant- it does tend to bring family members together that may not have seen each other in quite some time.

This was the case for me. Two years ago I swore I wouldn't be in the same room with my cousin, Johnna until she had been clean and free from drugs for several years. I swore I wouldn't let my daughter around her- because I remember being hurt so badly by promises Johnna would make to me...and I didn't want the same for Little Miss. But sometimes...promises we make to ourselves get broken easier than promises we make to others. The day before Aunt Ruby passed away, I walked over to her house & found Johnna in her yard...planting flowers. She was eleated to look up & see us coming towards her...and I must admit, so was I. My cousin, with all her flaws and f*ck ups (sorry, there is just no other way to put it) is a good-hearted person. She loves her family...but sometimes her addiction sufficates that love & she hurts all of us more than she will ever realize. When she's drug-free, she's a wonderful person. Today, I'm enjoying that drug-free, wonderful person...because tomorrow, she may not be that person.

Anyway...after seeing Johnna for the first time in two years, Little Miss immediately fell for her. I saw the twinkle in both of their eyes and it took me back to the mounds of memories I have with Johnna. From horse rides (before I had my own) to tiger adventures...yes, tigers- she took me to see baby tigers when I was Little Miss's age & the baby tiger took my pacifier. I have photos to prove it. (And yes, I was almost 4 and still carried a pacifier...and look, I'm fine!) Little Miss picked flowers with her, played hide and seek- anything Little Miss asked, Johnna did.

Little Miss also fell for another cousin...one who she actually fell for several years ago.

They actually might've fought for her attention a little...;-)

Remember my aunt who had heart surgery a couple years ago? Can you believe how great she looks?! She's the definition of a fighter. And Tabb, again...she just oozes happiness, doesn't she? :-)

I know some people don't take pictures at/before/after funerals...but we do. We took advantage of Aunt Ruby's beautiful yard, something she was so proud of, and the fact that we were all 'dolled up'. You know, we live in the South- you're hard pressed to get us out of our camo! (I'm just kidding...I don't even own any camo- ok, that's a lie.)

The reason Tabb is oozing happiness...

...simply b/c I'm her favorite...there, I said it.

This is a typical face made by my daddy...I'm not sure what he was saying, but I know Tabb took this picture- which means whatever he was saying is probably not blog-appropriate.

Aunt Ruby's caregivers for many years...her nieces and nephew.

No matter how old Aunt Ruby's girls were...she always called them her girls. And no matter how old I am...I'll always be one of her babies.

Little Miss's favorite snack of the day...

And I have to put this in here...it was buried with my sweet, feisty Aunt Ruby- her coffee-pot. It was on every day, all-day...she drank so much that I'm quite sure she bled coffee.

Thank you, Aunt Ruby...for bringing us all together again.

Most Hilarious/Embarrassing Night Of My Life

Friday night, Little Miss and I had a little bit of a night out on the town. We started our evening some of our favorite little and big girls over at La Fogata. (Yum, just saying the name of that heavenly place makes me hungry.) Little Miss had a great time with her friends- it was a trip to see. They all had either iPhones of iTouches out and played on them just about the entire dinner...only stopping to eat quickly and make a trip to the counter to get ring pops.

After dinner, no one wanted to go home...so the big girls decided to head over to karaoke while the little girls went home to play together. This is where the night began to go down in history as the most hilarious and embarrassing night of my life, thus far.

So you get the picture...the voices of reason (ie: the sober parties) were myself and Mandy Stetson. If you know either of us or have been intoxicated around us, you'll know that we are probably not the best voice of reason. Mostly, we'll point and laugh at you- in the most loving way, of course. The most you can ask out of us is that we try to make sure you don't strip naked in the bar. (But really...no promises.)

The singing in the bar was surprisingly pretty good...but it was the most depressing of depressing country music known to man. (And I love me some country music...but this was too much.) So, one of our party decided that Mandy and I (note: the only sober people, besides the bartenders, in the place) should liven up the place.

"You can rap, right Eden?"

"Huh?" I said, instantly terrified.

"Yea..you can...do some Beastie Boys or something!"

"What? Who? No, no..."

"Let's do 'Baby Got Back'!"

Okay, so I know I can do Baby Got Back b/c I've been known to rock out to that song with Little Miss while mopping the floor...or cooking dinner...or driving well, just about anywhere. So we sign up to do that song...and just as we put our names in, I realize that I went to high school with both the bartenders. I thought to myself, well...maybe they don't recognize me....and that thought was interrupted by waves from both of them. Crap.

By the time our name was called, our friend- who's birthday it happened to be- decided to join us. She had no qualms about jumping right up on stage and reading every single word off the prompter. (Her enunciation and pronunciation were incredible, considering she'd had quite a few birthday drinks and had never heard the song before.)

My palms were sweaty and I had cotton-mouth like nobody's business. It became quite clear to my why I'm not the performer in the family. If it was up to me to get onstage every night and bring home the bacon, we'd have to go steal a pig. (ba-dum-chi)

I'm quite certain the karaoke-man, who didn't care for me or Mandy, never turned our microphone on b/c I couldn't hear myself to save my life. By the time we finished and got back to our seats, I was greeted by a friendly face...a mother of a girl I'd gone to high school with.

"Hey! That was so cute what ya'll did up there....what, what was that? What do you call that?" said in a thick, Southern accent. (thick as in, how Britney Spears sounds when she's trying to be southern, not British)

"It's umm, rap music...the song was called 'Baby Got Back'" I explained.

"Ohhh, uh huuuh...I've never heard of that. I will have to look it up on the internet."

"Yea...you should. It's about girls with huge asses," I said with a smile.

"Oh...well. Well, that was really cute! Bye, now!" she said flustered, while walking away from me as fast as possible.

A few minutes passed and the birthday-girl decided she wanted to sing another upbeat song. What's more upbeat that 50 Cent? I got all excited for her b/c I didn't think I'd have to join her onstage...wrong.

Hands down the most hilarious moment of the night occurred with the birthday-girl began to recite the lyrics to 'In The Club' and instead of saying 'Look Mami I got the X if you into taking drugs' she said "Look Miami...I got the X cuz I'm into have SEX!!" I thought I was going to fall over. Neither Mandy nor I could even begin to be her hype-girls b/c we were laughing so hard we couldn't even catch our breath. (In fact, I'm laughing pretty hard right now while I'm typing this...my dogs think I've lost it.)

Did I mention it was snowing that particular night? It was...in North Carolina...snowing. I think that's a sign that I should never ever do kareoke again.

Oh and can I tell you how happy I am that no one had a video camera that particular night? The thought of me on youtube absolutely terrifies me.

Just Like Mom

My mom is the busiest person I know. She puts her family and loved ones before herself, always. I've gotten in more than a few arguments with her over her never-ending list of 'to-dos' for other people...especially when she's feeling under the weather.

A few years ago when she had her gallbladder removed, she was forced to take some time off...doctor's orders, no ifs, ands or buts about it. As soon as she felt good enough to walk to the bathroom, she figured she could vacuum and dust the entire house. (Because, that's totally the same thing as getting up to pee!) I fussed with her...she said 'I know, I know' and continued on about her day. (Noting not to tell me the next time she vacuumed.)

My whole life I've been told how much I resemble my father, from my physical appearance to my accent. But today I realized, I'm exactly like my mother.

I can't sleep, no matter how sick I am, if the trash can is full, if the sink is full of dirty dishes or if the floor has not been swept.

I stayed home all day yesterday for the first time since we moved into our new home. (Feeding horses 15 minutes away from our house twice a day keeps me quite busy- but I wouldn't change it for the world.) I stayed home because I had a touch of strep/throat infection and bronchitis. My daddy refused to let me venture out into the below-freezing temperatures to feed my boys so my body could get enough rest to get well.

I watched movies with Little Miss- but suddenly couldn't focus on Cinderella because I knew the cat's litter hadn't been scooped since the previous night...somehow when I returned to the couch, I'd not only cleaned out the litterbox, but the whole bathroom, my bedroom & the playroom. I mean, I had all this time on my hands...I needed to put it to good use!

Mom, you are the only person in the entire world that I aspire to be like...even when I don't mean to. You are my hero...and I love being just like you.

Oh, North Carolina

North Carolina is full of mailboxes...
...roads less traveled...with lots of flower gardens...

...bird houses waiting for little girls to fill them with seeds...

...fun places to pretend you're a fairy-princess...

...wild grapes- that taste amazing...

...and Grandaddy's who are tall enough to pick them, and feed them to their grand kids.

...North Carolina- you're no big city of dreams...but you're everything in between.