Alumni is really just a nice word for old

North Harrison's Relay for Life team sponsored an "Alumni basketball game" last night. Brad & I both went to NH. I'm class of 94 & he was class of 95. Go Cougars!! His cousin, Daniel, was class of 97 & he played basketball while he was in school. So he was invited to play in the game. And I didn't even know anything about it until I saw it on facebook (God Bless the internet...) & Alicia said we should come watch the game with her. (She's class of 97 as well... I've been trying to tell ya'll we've known each other for for-eva!)

Announcing the players

Sam watched intently at the beginning of the game. He kept yelling, "DADDY! DADDY!" while Daniel was on the court. And it was SO cute because of course Daniel could hear him so he would look up & wave. Awww...
I love Jake's face when he tries to say 'cheese'. He leans back & shows off those teeth!
Brad was able to come with me too!

Action shot! Daniel did really good! I think he had 4 points & at least 1 assist!

Daniel's #1 fan!

Brad is always good entertainment for the kiddos.

Jake got a little too close to the camera on this one!

Obviously it's been a looong time since we sat on those bleachers. I used to go back to watch Erin play ball, but she's been out of school for 5 years now. So those seats are a little hard on the rear. Brad & Alicia decided to kick back to take the pressure off their booties.

How cute!

Sam got hold of my camera & I let him take a few pics. The following are photos by Sam:

I don't know who has more fun. Brad or the kids?!

Then we had a saliva situtation. Jake is teething & slobbers like a maniac. Uhm - well - some of that slobber landed on my leg. I don't do slobber...

Rides on top of Brad's shoulders after the game all around!

Our alumni vip!!

Good job, Daniel! And thanks for asking us to go! It's always nice to go back to good 'ole North Harrison - but it always make feel a little - uhm, old...

My poor, poor driveway - the aftermath

Remember how I told you the story about my poor driveway? Well, I'm all about the follow-up, so I thought it would only be fair to tell you the conclusion to the story.

The snow has almost gone away now. And the driveway has transformed itself into a trail of mud & mush.

This is the sad little pile of gravel Brad took such care by putting in front of the shed so he could re-distribute easily. This is the huge, ugly pile of gravel in the freakin' yard. My vote is to use THIS to put back down on the driveway.

See? No gravel...

And the boundaries of the driveway are no longer clear. The driveway is starting to ooze into the yard.

And it's smushy. And gushy. And when I drive on it, it spits little pieces of gray particles on my car...

And I've tried to explain how the driveway is steep at the end. And it's hard to see in the picture. But I am at the bottom of it. At the top of the pic below the trees is the road we live on. The road is actually eye level with the windows in our house.And now the steep part at the end looks like this: And some of the gravel found a new home over beside the mail box on top of where I have day-lillies planted around the wooden post. I wonder what effect it will have on them? Oh, the humanity!

And I have no idea how all this happened. I mean, it's not like I asked for it to snow...

I'm a sucker for the kiddos!

The Carl Casper show was this weekend in Louisville. (My nephew, Derik, & his dad were going to have a car they restored in the show.) And I knew we probably wouldn't be able to find the time to go. Friday night I had a show. Saturday, Brad was going to work at the barn & then we had plans to go bowling. (& we didn't even eat with the birthday crew because they were eating "too early" for Brad to get away...). Sunday, again the plan was for Brad to work at the barn.

Saturday afternoon, Brad got a text from Derik. "Hey Brad. Are you & Jaime going to come to Carl Casper's to see my car?!" Uhhm-immediately I was guilt stricken. Most of the time, I think the boys don't really care if we attend their stuff or not (games, etc.). But of cousre, the Carl Casper show is a special thing. So I told Brad we needed to try & go. (& if any males are reading - the pics are for you. Us people with ovaries don't really care. It's a 1969 Chevelle Derik & his dad restored...) So on Sunday morning, I asked Brad if he could get away from the barn for a few hours in the afternoon to go over & see Derik's car. Of course -there was some resistance. I mean, afterall - they were putting an engine back in a tractor that has been broken down for at least a year. If I've taught you NOTHING else about farming - know this: it doesn't matter HOW long something has been broken, damaged, etc. When they're ready to fix it - its gotta be fixed now, now, now! So after transferring some of my guilt onto B-rad, he relented into going over with me to the car show.

And the kicker of the deal? We had to be back home before 4:00 because a man we rent land from had died & Brad & Brian had to go to the funeral home. So we had approximately 2 hours to spend at the show.

We paid $6 to park & $28 to get in. And Brad had a good point. We paid all that money to go see a car we could drive 2 miles to go to his dad's and see for free?!

But, ya know - I love my niece & nephews & I do anything I can for them. And if us spending $34 for a couple of hours made Derik happy? It was worth every.single.penny...

15 people bowling for 2 birthdays

Our bff's kids' birthdays are both in the month of February. Matt's son, Taylor, was born on Feb. 1st (same day as B-rad, by the way...) & Carrie's son, Tyler, was born on Feb. 24th. They hosted a little 'bowling extravaganza' to celebrate both their birthdays last night.

Typical...

It was Carrie's fam & me & B-rad. But with her 2 siblings & their kids & boyfriends/girlfriends, we had quite the crew. And we did our best to take over the bowling alley. We had to use 3 lanes. And I didn't really take too many pics. There were just SO many people! (And I had to concentrate on my game & get into 'the zone'.)
B-rad & me.

Me & my gal pal, Carrie.

Thanks again for inviting us. Once again, I was able to show off my non-bowling skills. I will say that I beat Carrie's niece, Claire. Sure she's only 9 & got to use the bumpers...but a 'w's a 'w'...

Where in the heck does Brad have me living?

So ya'll know I let the faithful & loyal steeds, Sparky & Sonny, stay in the basement when it's real cold outside. But I'm still an animal lover & all, so I keep their food dish outside full of food because there's another kitty that comes up that eats the food. He won't let us get near him, but he will happily mooch cat food from us.

Last night, I realized that there was something on the porch eating the food that was not the other kitty. I couldn't figure out what it was. It was dark & my view was blocked by the wicker couch outside. All I could see was a big, fluffy, black lookin' tail thingie. And it looked kinda spikey so I thought, 'is it a freakin' porcupine?!' So I sat on the couch looking out the window trying to figure out what it was. And I tapped on the glass to scare it to make it move. And then I saw white on its head. And a white stripe down its back. Holy freakin' crap - it was a SKUNK!
And I apologize because the pics are so dark. It was well after 10pm & the flash would just reflect off the glass & the pics were white. And Flower (I named him Flower. From Bambi? Hellooooo?!) would eat food for a bit, then go away. So I got all brave - kinda. I opened the door to pull the food dish more in the middle of the porch so I could check this dude out. Of course, I was WAY too scared to walk out there because I didn't wanna get sprayed. So I took our flag pole & stuck it out the door into the food dish & pushed it out. See his little wet prints on the deck?

In the meantime, Sparky must've been getting jealous. Because I heard a cry come from the basement. (Which subsequently scared the crap outta me because he started doing that when I was running around trying to get the food dish pushed out farther.) Notice the gate at the bootom of the steps? Yea, he jumped it...that's the point of it being there - so they're not at the top of the stairs crying...

Then he was having no part of me closing the door on him. He kept pushing his head against the door. Then he stuck is paw out. See it at the bottom of the pic wrapped around the door?

And after much waiting (& ya'll know that was killin' me!) Flower came out to eat more food. And I wish the dang pics were lighter. 'Cuz this skunk was a little thing. Like maybe a teenage skunk?

And I realize we live out in the country. And they tell me all the time there are coyotes out in the field (& that fuh-reaks me out), but to have a skunk on my front porch?! Nu uh, I did NOT sign up for that!

Hap-py Birthday to my blog!

One year ago today, I started this crazy idea of "blogging". My very first blog post is so funny to read now! http://thefarmingmcafees.blogspot.com/2009/02/ok-im-jumping-on-bandwagon.html I never dreamed that Brad & I would do anything that anyone would care about. But darn it, I'm a giver & I'm shameless & what better way to be both of those things than on the internet?!

I emailed the 2 people I knew who would probably be faithful readers & it has snowballed (no pun intended with the 900' of snow we have right now!) from there!

I really do love it! It's such a great way for me to vent, share & make people laugh...(I hope)! I have fellow bloggers (they stalk me & I, in turn, stalk them... hello? remember I'm a giver!!) that have become friends & I'm also excited because I think people I don't even know stalk me. Please - don't stalk me quietly from the shadows! Make a comment, follow me, whatever! Let me know you're out there! (ginmommy & robin's nest...I heart ya!)

Happy birthday to my little baby, my blog!

I admit it, I did cry - but just a little...

Erin went wedding dress shopping Saturday & invited me to tag along! I was SO excited! Not only to see her try on dresses, but also to be able to give my un-solicited opinion. (Actually, she wanted my opinion. Know how I know? 'Cuz I would tell her - 'that's just my opinion' And she'd say, "I know - that's why I wanted you here!") Ah, be still my heart!

Lora & I met her, the matron of honor & one of the bridesmaids at David's Bridal in Clarksville. And the tafeta was a flowin'. She tried on soooo many dresses. But hey-that's the name of the game right? Keep going until you find just the right one! This very first one we all fell in love with. So I spoke up (surprised?!), and said, "Hey! This is just the first one! Let's keep going!" What I liked about the afternoon was that is was very democratic. We all got to cast our vote. And for all the dresses, we all agreed - AND even Erin agreed with us! Whew!

And we got bored just waiting...waiting...waiting for Erin to get herself out of the previous dress & into the new one. So we had to invent things to keep us busy. Erin wants a tiara for her wedding day. Lora found one sitting on this stand next to us so she slapped it on.
And if you think I'm going to show you the actual dress she picked out? Well, tsk, tsk...you don't know me at all! (Plus, I think Erin may actually hunt me down & kill me!!)

And the sales girl was so busy, bless her heart. Erin had picked out several dresses on-line & the girl pulled those for her to try on. But she had several brides she was trying to help at once which was slowin' the process WAY down. So Stefany & Kaela decided to go seek out some more dresses that Erin may like. And Erin was a great sport through the whole thing. Like I said, soooo many dresses!

It takes a whole crew to get in & outta those things!

We had a system. We all liked the 1st dress. Then we veto'ed a bunch. Then she tried on one that we were split about. We liked it, but liked #1 better - & we referred to that next one as dress #2. So she kept going. Then we'd find another one that we really liked. So we'd decide, "ok, do we like it better than #1 or #2?" And that's how we wittled them down. There was a method to our madness.

And this is when the waterworks started for me. She finally tried on what ended up being THE dress. And we all agreed that it was in the top 2 (& little did she know, I had already decided it was getting my vote for THE one!). So we made her try on the very first dress she started with again. And the sales lady chick put the veil & tiara on her. And I totally started to tear up! (Again, this isn't THE dress. This is dress #1. Don't try to trick me, people!)

She just looked so pretty & grown up & like a bride with the veil on!

And then she told me, "Quit crying! I'M not even crying!" And this is why I love her...she's all about the tough love, like me...