Let's Hear It For the Girls!!

LBeau and I raised three boys, and while I wouldn't trade my sons for anything in the world, I'm really getting spoiled by having some girls around.  Girls remember your birthday without getting a text message reminder.

Case in point.  Last Sunday on my birthday we were in Arkansas for a family funeral.  Returning to Birmingham, we stopped in Little Rock to see Ben, Claire and Lucy.  Sweet Claire had baked me a birthday cake, and Lucy got to help blow out the candles.

Point #2.  In the mail the next day was this birthday card from Brent, Katie, Walker and Lauren.  Does anyone think Brent was the one who helped the kids make this cute masterpiece?

I am truly blessed to have two beautiful, thoughtful and creative daughters-in-law.  Therefore, I'm joining Laurie for Favorite Things.  Go check it out.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

My blogging buddy Joyce at From This Side of the Pond started a new meme last week (somehow I missed the first one).  She asks random questions, and we're suppose to supply answers.  Here goes.

1. What is the most amazing weather you've ever seen?

That's a tough one, but I'd probably have to say the Blizzard of 1993 when it was snowing and lightening all at the same time.  We ended up with over a foot of snow and no power for several days, a rarity for Alabama.

Son number one barely made it home for spring break from the University of Arkansas.  All he wanted to do was visit friends and watch college basketball.  He got to do neither.

2. What is a sound or noise you love?

I do love the sound of the ocean.  It's a shame that I can't get to the beach more often.

But my absolutely, positively most favorite sound in the whole world is 70,000 plus Calling the Hogs on a crisp autumn afternoon in Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

3. Do you like seafood? What's your favorite seafood dish?

See #2 above.  How can you love the beach and ocean and not love seafood, unless you're my mother.  Given a choice of steak or seafood, I'll pick the seafood anytime.

It would be hard to say what my favorite seafood dish is.  Whatever is fresh works just fine.  These fresh crabs out of Puget Sound were outstanding in our omelet the next morning.

4. What part of your day requires the most patience?

Probably night time when I'm trying to get to sleep and LBeau is snoring loudly, oblivious to my tossing and turning.

5. What's your favorite shade of blue?

That would be a toss up between sky blue…

…and Mediterranean blue.

6. Do people underestimate you?

A think a lot of my subcontractors probably underestimated me when I first started building and remodeling houses.  After all, that's a "man's" business.  Over the years, I've proven to them that I know what I'm talking about (usually), so we've definitely developed a mutual respect.

7. When was the last time you had butterflies in your stomach?

That's easy.  Last Saturday just before kick off of the Razorback game.  I don't care what team we're playing, I always get butterflies.

8. Insert your own random thought here, and remember...I have a wooden spoon and I'm not afraid to use it.

Since I didn't participate last week, I'm going to use this space to answer the question from last week about how and why I chose my blog name.  When my boys were younger and we went on road trips with them, LBeau was notorious for getting in the slow lane, which often turned out to be an exit only lane.  Then would come the panic to switch lanes, many times in heavy traffic.

I was on a trip with LBeau when I started my blog.  I was inspired to start writing by my youngest son when I relayed something LBeau had done that day.  If you want to read more about it, go HERE.

Now be sure to go visit Joyce for more Wednesday HP musings.

Oh, Deer!!

Arkansas has six seasons—spring, summer, fall, winter, football season and deer season.  Several posts on Facebook in the last few days from friends and family reminded me that it’s now deer season back home.

I grew up in a family of deer hunters.  Daddy and a couple of my uncles always spent the week of my birthday at the Camden Hunting Club.  They were joined on the weekend by my brother and several cousins (Daddy wouldn’t let Tommy skip school to go deer hunting).  Daddy was a charter member of the CHC, a collection of cabins and shacks on land leased from International Paper Company.

Daddy and Uncle Joe on the porch of the Camden Hunting Club mess hall.  Be sure to take note of the wanted poster.

Back in the day, deer season lasted for a week in November, with another week-long hunt in December.  One night during the November hunt was always family night at deer camp.  I loved family night.  The camp cook prepared venison and homemade biscuits, and the wives of all the deer hunters filled in with the rest.  That was some good eatin’.

Today, there’s bow and arrow season and muzzleloader season in addition to modern gun season, which runs for several weeks.  Back in the day, the limit was one buck per hunter, per season.  Today, doe are no longer off limits.

At one point, my mother, her sister, and her sisters-in-law decided it was time to start their own deer camp.  “Deer camp” for these women consisted of a trip to Little Rock for Christmas shopping, a tradition they carried on for many years.

We are heading to Arkansas in a few weeks for Thanksgiving as usual, and it’s a sure bet that a lot of my family will be in the deer woods.  They’ll come in on Thursday night for Thanksgiving dinner, and some of them will venture in on Saturday in time to watch the Hogs play LSU.  Otherwise, they’ll be up before dawn and in their deer stands bright and early waiting for that trophy buck to pass their way.

Brent bagged this 8-point buck in 2003.

Since deer season is a big favorite in my family, I’m linking (a little late) to Laurie’s Favorite Things Saturday.  Head on over and join her for some fun reading.