McCain and Trump

Went to pick Lucas up from his 3-week camp at Trinity University in San Antonio (yes, if you have deja vu, it's because Drew did this 5 years ago - here's the great train ride back after picking him up), and look who I ran into in the B-terminal! He was posing very kindly for pictures, and actually went and shook people's hands if he caught them snapping his pic. Nice guy!


Lucas was reluctant to leave his friends and asked that I come as late as possible to get him.


Very different from me...I called home at every opportunity begging to come back when they sent me to college camp at 11 years of age. Some older lady took to waiting for me in front of the hall phone so she could send me back to my room in tears, saying that I was upsetting my mother by crying every night. They gave it about 4 or 5 days before someone decided I could/should go home. I'm always so proud that my kids have never gotten homesick. That experience seriously traumatized me to the point where I had to switch an entire set of teachers in the 6th grade. Two schools came together that year, and none of my friends were in my classes, so I cried every day. One teacher made me move my desk into the hall since I was distracting the class, and I went home early every day the first week, except the day my mom was out of town and Papaw refused to come get me. About a week later they just moved me to the hall where all my friends were, and everything was fine...except for the stigma of being a crybaby. I was even terrified when I went to college that I'd be homesick again and not be able to stay - what weird emotional baggage!

Speaking of weird, this was in the bag of clothes Drew bought for college a couple of weeks ago, and given that we checked out in the Big 'n' Tall section, I have a feeling this was on the counter waiting for someone else. I decided that the fabric is so soft, I'll try fashioning it into Alabama Chanin style pajamas...if that's a thing.


And finally, in keeping with the title of the post, my precious Ivanka Trump Tenice pump arrived. The 10 was too large, but the 9.5 fit like a dream. I will be voting for Donald Trump for President simply because his daughter is so brilliant at her shoe collection. I am enamored with that woman and her shoes. Now if only she would make the edgy man-ish loafer I've been longing for...


A better picture with the tiny bow free...


Back to couching the 4th and final panel of my skirt, which will be worn with these beautiful shoes.

Downtown Polevaulting

So I read in Lagniappe about this polevaulting thing that I never heard of before. Apparently Mobile has been doing it for several years, and it's wildly popular with the track and field crowd, who long to break free of their boring stadiums and fly around balconies and traffic lights with a crowd of onlookers. See the guy in the sky?


Here's a guy running straight for us.



And after seeing Trainwreck (hilarious, but RAUNCHY!) at the Crescent, we found they were still going:



How fun is that?! They had hundreds of people from out of town participating - you go, Mobile!

In other news, God sent me a link for a new shoe last night. I got on the internet to log in to my hospital since I was on call, and a page from Nordstrom popped up from nowhere (okay, I know they spam you with ads, but why not have a peeky-poo?). I scrolled through the anniversary sale shoes till a heel from Ivanka Trump caught my eye (love her shoes), and would you believe one of the pictures was this:

Do you get the connection? It's a pointy toe with an ankle strap, which I love, but do you see her skirt? Can you picture it covered in couching? I mean it's the exact same color as mine! God knows I've been working on it all weekend, and He wanted me to have some beautiful shoes to wear with it when I finish - thank you, God! Does God talk to you like that, or am I just really lucky?

And one last thing. I realized today that I have handicapped my children, despite thinking that I raised them to be autonomous free-thinkers. Well, they are, but apparently they don't know how to shop. When I took Drew shopping for some new college clothes, he stuck to me like he was Jake following me around the house. I literally had to say, "Do you see anything you want to try on? Well, pick it up and go try it on!" That's kind of cute to me, because it shows how low-maintenance a woman I am, that I don't shop a lot. But today in the shoe store, he did the same thing. He liked 2 pairs of shoes and seemed frozen with indecision. I said, "Most people want to try a shoe on, and that will help them decide if they want it or not. Go ahead....try it on." I purposely stood back and waited. Do you know the kid could not get the plastic insert out of the shoe?!

It finally hit me that all these years of running in Shoe Station, asking what they like, then ordering them to sit down and rip off their socks while I unpack the shoes and hand them over, has handicapped them. He just could not figure out how to pull that thing out. I finally picked up the other shoe and demonstrated squeezing, lifting at the heel, and pulling backwards, THEN he was successful. So mothers of younger kids, remember there's more to being a grown-up than being able to make your own lunch and take a shower by yourself. You should really know how to unpack new shoes...although re-packing all that paraphernalia is optional, in my opinion.

Camp War Eagle, Among Other Things...

It's been kinda crazy around here! First off, I'm not the only crafty person in the house, as Drew has been wanting to build his own computer for a few years. He's kept a list of components and has been pricing them for over a year, unbeknownst to us, so once he had a few paychecks from his dishwashing job, he ran it all by us, then went ahead with his purchases. Behold what the future electrical engineer created:


After troubleshooting an issue with the power switch (a loose cable was touching the case and apparently shorting out everything - he figured that out by himself before the same situation was portrayed on AMC's Halt and Catch Fire - I'm very proud!), he proved that it worked. Proudest moment of his life so far, I believe, as evidenced by his ripping his shirt off and striking a Herculean pose, though I opted not to include that here for modesty's sake.


And speaking of crafty things, I'm wondering if my AC shirt is fading in the wash. Robbie, have you washed any of your fabric yet? I've washed it a couple of times, and I don't MIND it fading, as I wanted just a faint stencil anyway, but I've always cut out the stenciled part, so this was interesting to see....will follow and let you know.


So he finished his computer a couple of days before we went to Camp War Eagle, which is mandatory orientation and registration for new Auburn students. We drove up on Wednesday after work, and ate at Ariccia, which is a FANTASTIC restaurant inside the Auburn Hotel and Conference Center. I loved it so much, I had to take pictures. What a fancy bread presentation, but why do they provide sea salt? Are you supposed to dip your bread in it? I really think it's for looks, as my mouth puckered up immediately upon tasting bread dipped in oil and salt. But so pretty!


Lovely Caesar salad - about half-eaten - sorry.


Drew's delicious pizza, which is reminiscent of La Pizzeria's here in Mobile, before they closed. This was salami, I believe, and SO TASTY.


And the only minor disappointment was that the tortellini with mushrooms was more of a salad, and less of pasta with Alfredo sauce, which is what I was expecting. Still delicious though, and LOOK at that parmesan cheese! I forgot to capture dessert, which was little doughnuts rolled in sugar that you dip in chocolate, raspberry, or caramel sauce - YUM!


So on with CWE - Drew took a suitcase and was shuttled off on a bus to check into the dorm while I went to lots of parent orientation meetings, which were great.


After a farm-to-table dinner, we got to sit next to the students for a pep rally in the stadium. Have you seen the largest Jumbotron in the nation? Well, this is it!


And here's some fascinating entertainment, a hip-hop dance team called AU Rhythm. The guy who runs in near the end was Drew's student counselor, who started his first year in ROTC - loved this guy!



The next day was academic advising and more meetings, but I had time to walk over to Toomer's for a milkshake. Did I mention the heat index was over 100 degrees? You can't see my hair dripping, can you?


Here's a shot of the famous corner, but they were putting the new oaks in and have the intersection all torn up.


And this is what stress looks like. Racing 500 fellow students to get registered for your perfect class schedule is apparently tough, so they have them work through several worksheets to be sure they're all set. Drew literally got the last seat in one class, just before the guy next to him got locked out of it.


Meanwhile, this joker is at camp in Texas for 3 weeks learning how to build a website, so he can enlarge his current YouTube channel empire.


And after CWE, there were the Blue Angels.


Here's a little sample of a flyover and the crowd. We had nice weather for once.



So I better change for date night! With Lucas gone and Drew working dinner shifts, Dean and I are being empty nesters for a bit - FUN! (Because it's temporary, of course.)

Lake Martin 2015

Um, the lake trip was difficult this year. We booked a house that slept 12 back in February, but the chick emailed me 7 days before vacation that the house was unavailable - whaaaaa?! After losing sleep planning the nasty review for her on HomeAway, we scrambled around and found an old cabin where we'd have to split into 2 parties, and would be the first short-term renters. A tenant had been it for 3 years, and the owner said it was clean and she'd buy us some pots and pans, but we needed to bring all our own towels and paper products, etc. Um, it has some interesting wiring, first of all. This would be the back porch light, operated by a switch outside, plugged into a plug.


And this is what she meant by clean.


I spent about 3 hours sweeping, Cloroxing, running dishes back through the dishwasher, etc. We DID get a refund after the following happened:


This would be my sister's room flooding after a thunderstorm...from one wall to the other wall at 11 PM - nice! Okay, enough negativity. Here's a lovely sunset...


And a little after sunrise - for some reason I woke up around 6 AM every day, so I sat out on the porch and stitched.


Here's Chimney Rock, where a bunch of people were taking their mobility and their lives in their hands by jumping...


After we relocated from the slum cabin, we enjoyed some card games on my Mom's porch...


and some tubing.


Next up, some videos of the action. First, Drew and Parker on the tube - didn't catch their crashes though...



This would be Drew bravely jumping from the slum cabin's awesome boathouse on the first day - no lifejacket!



And we'll end it with my very brave birthday jump...uh, yes, I wore a lifejacket and held my nose!



Have a great 4th of July weekend!