Musical Ned and Ned, the Clemson Fan

My brother Ned has always loved music.  When he was little he had a drum set.

Good times. 

Later, he had any number of banjos and guitars and keyboards. He couldn't play any of them but he THOUGHT that he could and nobody ever told him any different. He'd play at it and sing to the top of his lungs. Trust me, if it's your birthday then you want Ned there to lead the singing.  He harmonizes nicely up a major third on the last part of Happy Birthday to YOU!

Friends of one of his housemates stopped by the other day on their way home from a band competition. Ned felt compelled to show off his talent and the kids were fun loving and patient.

He's really concentrating...

Ned has NOT always been a Clemson fan.  He's always been partial to the OTHERS from our state, although I can't for the life of me imagine why. Yesterday, he went to see Clemson beat the mud out of those Seminoles from Florida State. I watched on TV hoping that I'd see Hank and Ned but they must have been too good lookin' for the cameras. Hank got one picture...sort of...with his phone but it didn't turn out.

Lorelai met them after the game for ice cream at the student center. (If you've never had Clemson University's world famous student-produced ice cream then you've missed out on a BIG treat.)  She said that Ned looked exhausted...getting up at 6 AM, riding three hours and going to his first college game EVER 'bout wore him slap out.  He says he can't wait to go again....maybe I'll get to go next time.  I felt kind of left out sitting here at home by myself. 

Have a good week, my friends.  It's a topsy turvey one for me...three full days of meetings outside of my building and two of the days in Columbia AND Hank is moving his mother to Green Grove on Tuesday.  I should have a bunch of new blog material by next weekend. See you then, if not before.

Musings...and Restaurant Reviews

1.  Last Sunday we had lunch at Husk, the newest restaurant jewel in the crown of one of the BEST food cities in the world...Charleston.  I am in awe of Chef Sean Brock and his commitment to fresh local ingredients. I do believe Husk may be our new "go to" place.

2.  On the flip side...New Year's Eve EVE, we went to The Woodlands. Located in Summerville, we've been there at least 25 times over the last ten or so years...always a treat...until New Year's Eve Eve. New owner, new chef.  Kudos to the chef. To the owner, DUDE, you'd better do something fast. The service was beyond awful. The female wait person was without a doubt the rudest wait person we have ever encountered...there or anywhere. I called the next day to complain. The dining room manager was apologetic and asked me to send him an e-mail because he wanted to be able to communicate with us and would be extending us an invitation to be his guests at Sunday brunch.  I sent the e-mail.  NO response...no invitation...

My advice to you if you're in the area...don't go to The Woodlands. I'm sad to say that we will not ever darken the door there again.  Sad for The Woodlands that I'm going to tell everybody I know since the restaurant manager declined to follow through as he said he would.

3. Hank and Ned are on their way to Clemson for the basketball game against Florida State.  They hopped a ride with Ned's housemate Bryant and his dad.  I'm sure Ned will be exhausted as he usually gets up about 9 AM and this morning had to get up about 6 AM. It will be well worth it.  Lunch at the Esso Club...ball game...ice cream (the BEST in the world) at the student center, then back toward home. I'm jealous...and I'm kicking myself for not putting a camera in Hank's hand.  This will be Ned's first EVER trip to a college basketball game.

4.  My Saturday...coffee and blogging for awhile this morning.  I have some work to do for a class I'm taking but I just might save that for tomorrow...fiddle dee dee and all that...and go out and shop some.  It's looking like it's going to be a beautiful day here in the lowcountry.

What are you up to?

Quiet Saturdays

When Hank and I were first married, I 'bout drove him crazy on Saturday mornings.  I wanted to go...go shopping, go to the market, go to the movies, go out to eat. When the children came along, I could still keep up a pretty good pace. Early on, they learned to appreciate the wonderful culinary experiences of Charleston as well as the King Street shopping scene. I guess we ought not complain about their fondness for the high life, at least in South Carolina Lowcountry terms. No question...our kids like to live large...but that's beside the point.

The point is that these days, I want to stay home on Saturdays...except during football season. We're crazy busy during the week...but no more crazy busy than when we were working and raising children, running the road almost every afternoon to lessons and practices and games and competitions. I guess we're just getting old. Last night as Hank was kicked back in his chair and I collapsed on the sofa, I remarked, "Lordy...I don't know why I'm so tired."  Hank confirmed my suspicions by replying, "You're almost 50."

THIS from the man who is almost 53!

I threw a pillow at him. Then I feel asleep by 8:15 while we were watching The Mentalist on DVR.

In my defense, he started snoring before I fell asleep.

Today has been a quiet Saturday.  Hank went to Hometown to start cleaning out things in his mother's house as she prepares to move to Green Grove in a couple of weeks.  I stayed home and wrote two article reviews and created a promotional PowerPoint for a grad course I'm taking.  It's been a busy day...but a quiet day.  I worked in sweats and didn't put on any makeup. I didn't leave the house.  I loved it....except for the writing and creating part, but that's all done. 

Sofa...movie...

Life is good...

What's going on....

Not much...back at work after the exciting winter weather last week.  New semester...new challenges.  Clearly, not much to report so I give you a few random thoughts.

#1:  A fairly high profile individual in our region decided to leave his post last week.  Not sure why exactly.  This afternoon, somebody made mention about some of the comments left online in response to a newspaper article.  I never read the paper online but just logged on to take a look. There are a multitude of opinions.  Nearly every single commenter thinks that he or she is THE expert and most imply that they are "in the know" in some super secret sort of way.  Nary a one owns up to a real identity.  I wouldn't either if I didn't have any better grasp on spelling, grammar, or punctuation...

#2: I hosted the Kappa Kappa Iota meeting this afternoon.  I do so enjoy getting together each month with our little group of ladies.

#3:  Glory HALLELUJAH!  Hank's mother has finally agreed to move to Green Grove.  You have NO IDEA how much easier this is going to make our lives.  She will be four doors down from my mother.

#4:  Legare has posted on his facebook page that he wants "to be a lawyer and gentleman farmer."  All very Jeffersonian, isn't it?  I'm thinking it's not such a reach...he graduates from law school in May and we have a farm.  He could be a country lawyer and live off of the land instead of moving to Charlotte.

#5:  UNC 75     Clemson 65     Go HEELS!  You know we never take sides when these two teams play each other.  Clemson has lost to UNC in Chapel Hill 55 times in a row...an NCAA record for the most consecutive wins at home against a single opponant.

#6:  I know...you're astounded by my knowledge of sports trivia.

What I Did...

Looky here...I find myself not able to report to work until around 11:00 AM because of a weather delay.  I write "not able to report" rather than "not reporting" because I WANT to be at work.  Crazy isn't it, but I've done all that I can do from home.  I need to be in my office. If I had a mac daddy copy machine here at home it wouldn't be so bad...an assistant wouldn't hurt any either.  Most of my fellow principals are probably in their offices already this morning.  Because my school is located on the campus of the community college, I don't have a key to the building. 

Yesterday, I was looking for things to do. Don't get me wrong, I could have cleaned out closets and cabinets but, well...NO!  I had the news on all morning and there were at least two segments on the number that stress hormones do on our bodies. It freaked me out just a little bit. So, I ended up:

Taking a nap;
Reading blogs;
Downloading IPad apps;
Making a delicious crab quiche; and,
Watching most of the BIG game...WAAAAAAAAAR EEEEEEEEEGLE!!!

The power went out while the quiche was in the oven but it was almost done so no harm, no foul. Hank built a lovely fire to keep us warm until the lights came back on. 

I believe I'll go get myself together and just check to see if the building is unlocked...if not, I can run a few errands.

Hope that you have a nice, warm, LOW stress hormone kind of day!  Thanks for those good wishes on my 500 post milestone.

My 500th Post....What Say You??

I missed having a jubilant moment yesterday afternoon.  Not for a moment did I realize that my post about the devil dog was my 500th post.

MY 500TH POST!!!!!

I feel like I should have a party.

As it stands...I am home during a "winter storm."   Many of you would laugh but here in the South Carolina Lowcountry, a little sleet and some freezing rain shuts us down almost completely.

I'm not complaining...although I did have a full agenda planned for the day and in anticipation of said full agenda, worked about nine hours over the course of the weekend.

What to do...what to do? 

Perhaps a movie?  Maybe I should pull out that quilt I haven't worked on in two years.

But I digress...

I've Written 500 Posts!!!

What say you, my dear blog friends?

The Two Sides of Precious

Precious is our dog.  The little maltese we got for Lorelai back when she was about ten.  Precious is getting on up there and she is cranky.  Come to think of it, she's always been cranky.  She loves Hank and Lorelai.  Hank is her best friend...the one who caters to her every whim.  Lorelai loves on her a bunch.  Precious does not love Legare or me, and we do not love her.  We tolerate her and she tolerates us. 

I did a post last week showing you the painting of our first dog, Hampton.  Legare's friend, Robert, who gave him the painting, knows that there are two sides of Precious and brought Hank and me gifts of our own, courtesy of his very own paintbrush.

Guess which one was for me??

Yes indeed...the DEVIL DOG version.  Wonderful, aren't they??

A New Blog: Sweet Tea with Cindy

Hop on over to see new blogger Cindy at her place...Sweet Tea with Cindy.  She's a good ol' southern gal transplanted up yonder to Yankeeland.  Tell her I sent you!

My Son Has a Thing for Crooks

Crook's Corner, that is.  Are you familiar? 

Crook's Corner is a wonderful restaurant in Chapel Hill, a veritable institution.  Legare talks about it ALL the time and loves to try to replicate the recipes.  New Year's Eve, his friend Robert was here and another friend, Katherine, from back in the Furman days came to eat supper with us. 

Cheese Pork was the dish of the day...along with braised leeks and cabbage and mashed rutabegas and french bread. It was tasty..very very tasty. 

Think boneless pork chops from Whole Foods dredged in flour and swiss cheese and pan fried, then topped off with a madeira sauce.

 

I made Cranberry Lime Margarita-tinis and the boys did the cooking. 

I got tickled because they used their smartphones and the laptop as recipe books. 

At one point, we had the IPod playing music and the TV going with the Chick-fil-A Bowl all at the same time. 

And then there was the mess in the kitchen.  They have no clue how to clean as they go.  Hank would say that Legare gets that particular genetic flaw from moi.

And then there was the mess in the kitchen. They have no clue how to clean as they go. Hank would say that Legare gets that particular genetic flaw from moi.

Uh Oh...Since they did such a good job with the meal, Hank and I did the cleaning up.  It was WELL worth the effort.

The Preppy Possum Christmas Present

Legare's pal Robert came up with a very creative gift this year.  He had his good friend and Asheboro, North Carolina artist Nikki Cherry of The Preppy Possum create a painting of the dog that we had when Legare was little...Legare's first pet...a big old droopy bassett hound named Hampton. Hank and I were in on the surprise as we had to provide a photo of Hampton.  Robert came to spend a few days with us so Nikki drove him down and presented the painting to Legare in person.  Go over to her website and clink on her Facebook link.  If you do that, you'll get updates on her latest work and where she's having shows.  Nikki is cute as a button, so if you're aware of any shows happening in your area, I know she'd love to know about them so that she could wrangle herself an invitation...or just show up!!  That's how we roll here in the Land of Belle.

Go visit Nikki...I'm counting on you!!!

The King's Speech - GO NOW

Stop what you're doing and go see The King's Speech. 

Colin Firth is magnificent...if there isn't an Academy Award nomination in his future then I just don't know who will be more deserving. 

This is without a doubt the performance of his career and hands down...the BEST movie I have seen in years.