We may have gotten Directv for the NFL, but we’re keeping it for the high school football. This is the best show on TV you guys. Are you watching it? You should be watching it.

Tonight! It starts tonight! I love this show so much. (Also, this song. Do you know it? It’s called “Devil Town” by Tony Locca (or Bright Eyes if you prefer) and I listen to it nonstop.)

Sept 1 - Mmmm… raspberry lime paleta.
Sept 2 - The meeting I wasn’t prepared for got canceled, again.
Sept 3 - Really great class on Ecclesiastes.
Sept 4 - Excellent brisket tacos for lunch. In Dallas. With my family.
Sept 5 - Shop shop shop shop shop.
Sept 6 - I survived my high school reunion.
Sept 7 - I smoked my mom at the make up a sentence using randomly drawn magnetic poetry words game.
Sept 8 - Spent the afternoon with my parents at a used bookstore.
Sept 9 - Very productive youth planning day.
Sept 10 - Our first Wednesday night youth service wasn’t a total disaster.
Sept 11 - Lunch and shopping with an excellent friend.
Sept 12 - Kari and Alisa came to visit!
Sept 13 - Pancakes, notecards, babies, celebrity stalking, sangrita, non-dirty TTYD, good talks.
Sept 14 - I spent the entire afternoon watching Pride and Prejudice with one of the kids. Also, milano cookies.
Sept 15 - Cowboys! Monday Night Football!
Sept 16 - I got a second job that I can do in front of the TV for good pay. Excellent.
Sept 17 - We stripped Wednesday nights WAY down and it ran a lot smoother.
Sept 18 - Fun day hanging out with the band at the house.
Sept 19 - When Harry Met Sally came on TV and I laid on the sofa and watched the whole thing.
Sept 20 - I went to a middle school football game and had a blast.
Sept 21 - I had lunch with a ton of junior high boys and didn’t die.
Sept 22 - I made delicious banana chocolate chip mini muffins.
Sept 23 - I finally found a mass text service that is free that I can use for youth updates.
Sept 24 - Great discussion with the junior high girls.
Sept 25 - Good and much-needed coffee with a parent.
Sept 26 - We decided to bail on the laser tag birthday party for Aaron and instead are going on vacation.
Sept 27 - Susan came and hung out!
Sept 28 - I discovered that flying to Puerto Rico is excessively cheaper than flying to Mexico.
Sept 29 - The Condado Plaza came into my life.
Sept 30 - Things are starting to happen on the youth house. Finally.

Do you know what’s happening in this picture?

(That’s me, third from the left.)

It’s homecoming season around here. Yesterday I was talking to some of the girls about dress shopping and dates and football games. But one thing we did not talk about was the mum.

If you didn’t grow up in Texas, you probably don’t know what I’m talking about. But if you did, you just flashed back to giant fake flowers, industrial strength pins, tiny teddy bears and sticky glitter letters.

The mum is a Texas homecoming tradition. They are meant to be a gift from your homecoming date, but can also come from parents, friends, or you can just get one for yourself. A mum is a big fake flower (chrysanthemum), mounted onto a piece of cardboard and covered in ribbons. The ribbons are decorated with school colors, mascots, names, jokes, activities. The have bells, whistles, plastic football helmets… anything you can hang from a flower is fair game.

Girls dress up for school on homecoming and then attach these giant creations to their fancy clothes. This gets tricky, because those things are freakishly heavy. Mine always worked pretty well with giant pins, but some girls had to resort to ropes and balance weights. No, I am not making that up.

We would walk around all day in dresses and heels, hunched over to one side to support the weight of the mum. The ribbon would cut into our shins and rip holes in our pantyhose. It was impossible to sit down while wearing them, so classes were pretty useless.

Mums are insane, y’all. INSANE. Why on earth did we do that to ourselves? They are uncomfortable, heavy, and… oh, yeah. UGLY. Seriously. Whose idea what that? Boys hated buying them, I’m sure, and we stressed ourselves out over who we were getting ours from and what they would look like. All for the privilege of back pain and shoulder strain. Awesome.

The male equivalent of the mum is the garter, though if memory serves me correctly they were only for the football players. I was never a football player dating kind of girl, so I don’t know for sure. What I do remember is big burly guys wearing garters around their biceps with lace, little plastic footballs and ribbons bearing their numbers and girlfriend’s name. Manly.

It’s my understanding that this is a strictly Texas tradition. Am I right? Did any of you guys do mums in other states? Are you from Texas? Tell me about your mum experience. I’m sure it’s a fond memory.

I have been overwhelmed with awesome new songs lately. It’s been a long time since I heard something that really got to me, and it has resulted in my listening to the same four Ben Folds albums on repeat all day long. Not that I’m complaining. But I’m happy to have some new stuff. (Links will take you to their myspace so you can listen and be amazed.)

1. Sex On Fire - Kings of Leon

Kings of Leon is one of those bands that I have always felt like I should be into. They have all the qualities of a band I love: southern, rootsy alt countryish rock, plaid shirts and long hair. They should be one of my favorites, but I never really got into them. Until I heard this song. It has an unfortunate title, and pretty unfortunate lyrics, too. (I think. He’s pretty hard to understand.) But I LOVE the way it feels. I love the guitar intro and how his voice sounds when he yells his way into the chorus and the way the percussion speeds up every few measures. It’s so cool.

2. Blue Ridge Mountains - Fleet Foxes

I first saw these guys on Letterman (video here), and their performance blew me away. This song is really beautiful and haunting and interesting. I don’t know a lot about this band, but I’m pretty sure I need to buy everything they’ve ever made. There’s all kinds of stuff going on in this song… piano, several guitars, some kind of effect on his voice, I think… it’s crazy and awesome.

3. Cheap and Cheerful - The Kills

The Kills are excellent music to listen to at work when you really need to be productive and knock some stuff out. It’s high energy without being annoying. I like this song in particular because of the line “I want you to be crazy cuz you’re boring, baby, when you’re straight.” I like that a lot.

4. The Garden - Mirah

Oh my gosh, I love this song so much. I first heard it on So You Think You Can Dance, when my season 4 boyfriend Mark danced to it. You can watch that routine here, and you should, because it is cool. There is no way to listen to this song and not bob your head. I love the beat and how crazy her voice sounds over it. Excellent.

5. Communication - The Cardigans

You know the Cardigans as the band who sang that love me love me say that you love me song from Romeo and Juliet that you used to sing along with really loud in the car in high school. (Don’t you? Was that just me?) What you probably don’t know is that they have made several really great records since then. My favorite is called “Long Gone Before Daylight”, and this is the first track. It’s the last thing you would expect if Lovefool is the only song you know of theirs. But give it a few listens and they’ll be a whole different band for you. An awesome band.

Enjoy! What have you been listening to lately? Give me some good stuff, people.

I just cried my eyes out during an episode of Full House.

I am really excited about the striped thermal leggings I just bought.

Milano cookies are the highlight of my day.

I have spent most of the morning looking at celebrity houses on Virtual Globetrotting.

Last night I convinced myself someone had broken in. So I got up my courage and walked out into the hall turning on lights and weilding a GUITAR. I am so intimidating.

I really really like that “Shake It” song by Metro Station. Do you know who is in Metro Station? Miley Cyrus’ brother. Awesome.

I am seriously considering adding fascinators to my wardrobe. What do you think? Do I need some feathers in my life?

I am really torn about whether or not I should continue to tivo The Hills.

Well, it’s official. I’m old.

I spent this past weekend in Dallas for my 10-year high school reunion. I was really nervous, I have to say. I fretted about my outfit, worried about getting there too early, made sure to ride with a group so I didn’t have to walk in alone. Pretty much all the things I did in high school. And do now. Because I am a mature adult.

The reunion? Super fun. I did not expect that. There were tons of people there. It was held at a bar, so everything was really casual and informal. I liked that a lot. As much as I wanted to put on a fancy dress and go to a ballroom and tell everyone about how I invented post-its, I was much more comfortable wearing jeans and drinking beer.

I had a fairly large graduating class, about 350 kids, and I would say about 150 people came to the reunion. Most of them I wasn’t really interested in talking to. But there were several of ‘my’ people there. Do you know what I mean by ‘my’ people? Not my close friends, necessarily, but people who were always on my radar and I really wanted to see. Maybe we dated, or I always had a crush on them, or we were friends in elementary school but not so much after that.

This reunion was good for me in regards to those people. There were a couple whom I felt I never got a good ending with, if that makes sense. We just kind of moved out of each other’s lives. I know that’s a good thing, but it was nice this weekend to feel like I got some closure with those people. And I didn’t even have to get drunk at a restaurant and borrow a cell phone from a stranger and then drop it in an ice bucket. So that’s good.

Picture time!

This is Callie and Randa. We have been friends since the first grade. Callie’s family lived right down the street from us. My mom drove carpool, and she would go to Callie’s house, wake her up, then go pick up Randa and a couple of other girls and then swing back by and get Callie. Randa used to sing along with the guitar solos when we did karaoke.

This is Kendra. We knew all the words to Mr. Wendell and could quote Cool Runnings like nobody’s business.

This is Ryan. We dated for a month one summer and never talked again. Turns out he does remember all that stuff, and we had a hilarious conversation about it.

This is Kelley and Melanie. They were my BFFs. We are all extremely different people now, but I am glad we can mostly still be friends. It also makes me glad to live in Nashville.

So! Overall, the reunion was a success. I had a great time. It was really fun to see everyone and talk about old memories. It was also really fun to come home. At around midnight, during the afterparty, I texted Aaron and just said, “Thanks for getting me out of this place.” I love those people, but I’m glad they’re not my ‘real life’ people anymore. I had a good high school experience. I still have great friends from those days. But these days are the ones I like the most.

August 1 - I made and edited a video! And it doesn’t suck!
August 2 - We went to see Footloose on stage with a bunch of kids because one of our other kids was in the show. It was fantastic.
August 3 - Our care group meeting turned into a 90s rap singalong.
August 4 - We made all new things for dinner and they were all delicious.
August 5 - Had a good talk with a kid about college and growing up.
August 6 - A bunch of new kids came to dinner and it was really fun.
August 7 - I found two excellent swimsuits for a quarter of what they originally cost.
August 8 - I spent the whole day in a water park and it brought me so much joy.
August 9 - Aaron made me delicious eggs and bacon and tomato slices and toast.
August 10 - I turned 28 and had an awesome surprise party with the church folk.
August 11 - I got my birthday box from my family! I am now the proud owner of a potato peeler that’s shaped like a monkey.
August 12 - Delicious lasagna for dinner.
August 13 - We had a HUGE turnout for our back-to-school cookout.
August 14 - Some of our awesome kids helped us big a big mailing for Remedy Drive.
August 15 - We FINALLY got one of the kids registered for college classes.
August 16 - I bought awesome purple loafers.
August 17 - Today sucked. Nanny passed away.
August 18 - Lots of family time.
August 19 - I spent the whole day going through old family photos.
August 20 - I got to spend some real hang out time with my cousins.
August 21 - We had a really beautiful service for Nanny.
August 22 - I got to eat Le Madeline and shop at NorthPark.
August 23 - Aaron and I had a good dinner and catch up time over delicious burritos.
August 24 - I smoked our whole care group in 31.
August 25 - Wine. And cookies. For dinner.
August 26 - Lunch and shopping with one of my favorite kids.
August 27 - Really interesting ordination class about Proverbs.
August 28 - Sushi lunch date with grown ups!
August 29 - I found some shoes I have been looking at online for weeks, in my size, for half price. It was totally meant to be.
August 30 - Katie and Brandi’s Birthday Cookout Extravaganza was a huge success!
August 31 - Our last Sunday in the cafeteria was sad, but really good.

Sorry to be so complain-y. But it’s been that kind of week.

SUCKY THING THE FIRST

The Hills! It’s so bad this season, y’all. Now I know what you are thinking - it has always been bad. And you are right. But it’s always been more awesomely bad than just bad. Now? Just bad. Boo.

SUCKY THING THE SECOND

Our church meets in an elementary school. (That’s not the sucky part.) We, the youth group, meet in the cafeteria of the school. Recently the school board decided not to let churches use the classrooms anymore. What that means for us is that we have to hand the cafeteria over to the babies and children, leaving us homeless. This Sunday is our last week, and I have exactly five days to figure out a whole new plan for our group. I want to believe that we can move what we do to a weeknight and keep up the amazing momentum we’ve been building. But the truth is, if there’s nothing going on for parents at the same time, it’s hard to get non-driving kids to youth. And that sucks.

SUCKY THING THE THIRD

I wanted to show you guys a picture of my whole family in their matching plaid shorts that Nanny made, but I can’t find it. This is the best I can do (sorry, mom). Please note the matching hats.

SUCKY THING THE FOURTH

One of my most favorite kids is moving. This sucks for more than just the obvious reasons. This is a kid who had a hard time in high school but made it though. A kid with whom I have put in a million hours this summer to get prepared and registered for community college. A kid who is working hard to separate herself from her old life and her old friends and find a new way to live. A kid whose parents gave up parenting her several years ago. And, now, a kid whose dad has recently decided to act the part by issuing her an ultimatum. Whose dad made that decision three days before she was set to begin college, and weeks too late to get her registered where he is. A kid who has a support system for the first time in her life and who now has to start over in a new place. It’s weeks like these that make me wish I had some kind of legal means to make decisions for these kids.

SUCKY THING THE FIFTH

We are out of lime popsicles. I blame Aaron.

Hello, internet. It’s been a while.

I’ve had a rough couple of weeks. My grandma passed away last weekend after a two week stint in the hospital fighting a variety of infections and organ failures before her body just couldn’t take it anymore. So I spent all of last week at my parents’ house in Dallas, doing the family thing and working on a picture slideshow and walking my laptop all around the house hoping to pick up a wireless connection somewhere.

I am sad. Because, y’all? My Nanny was awesome. I feel like I need to write some kind of poignant tribute about her life, but I don’t have that in me. She was crazy and funny and full of life and a fighter. Sappy isn’t fitting.

This is the woman who made 12 pairs of matching plaid bermuda shorts for a family golf tournament. The one who gave Aaron a roll of green felt as a gift and refused to tell him why. The one who, every year until she physically couldn’t do it anymore, made eggs and ham and piles of Texas toast for us every Christmas morning. And by us, I mean her six kids, eleven grandkids and eleven great-grandkids. That’s not even counting the spouses and assorted friends and other people who always seemed to find their way to her house. That’s a lot of toast.

She had the biggest heart of anyone I have ever known. She had room for everyone, and she took care of all of us. At the funeral, the pastor, who was one of her past Sunday school students, said we are all ‘disciples’ of Nanny. And he was right. She showed us what unconditional love looks like. She gave us all a place and a home.

As I have gotten older I have started to see how lucky we are. Growing up, you think everyone else is like you. It was a long time before I realized that not everyone has family get-togethers that involve upwards of 50 people, oceans of Dr. Pepper and more than one chocolate pie per person. We may have a lot of drama and issues and volume, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

But we wouldn’t have been able to hold it together without Nanny. She was the driving force behind all of it, and the backbone behind all of us. We are sad, but we are good. We have each other.

And… I’m being sappy. Sorry! But I am sad. Also, I am sad for you, because chances are if you are reading this you didn’t know her. And that sucks for you. Because she was awesome.

Do you ever find yourself in a mood you can’t define? I have been feeling really random lately. Sad, kind of, and emotional. Not depressed. Hopeful. Wistful. I don’t know. It’s a lot of things.

I’ve been looking for some new music and not having much luck. I’ve tried a few different things but nothing has struck the right chord with me. (Like that? Chord? Music? I think our band should be called the Chordvettes, like chords in our music.)

Then my friend Scott posted about a show he went to last weekend. I have heard good things about Brook Fraser, but he seemed to like this William Fitzsimmons guy better, so I decided to give him a shot. Scott has yet to steer me wrong.

You guys. YOU GUYS. The mood I’m in? That’s exactly what this music sounds like. William Fitzsimmons is my new boyfriend. (I had to move on from SYTYCD Mark now that the show is over and he’s not in my living room every week.) The combination of the acoustic guitar and his voice and the beats behind it all are exactly how I am feeling right now. Excellent.