MacGuyver who?

What happens when you are at trivia and your necklace breaks?  You search all over the floor for the several, small missing pieces.  Then you decide that its impossible for you to fix yourself.  Enter this guy:

And his super fancy pocket knife.  With small and large phillips head and flat head screwdrivers, scissors, bottle openers, tweezers, pliers, clippers, rakes, guns, shovels, etc.  Then there was a tense moment when Katy pulled out HER knife and the two went head to head.  I was just glad my necklace got fixed!  Thanks, JM!

March Birthday Babies...

This past weekend was my birthday.  I'm still waiting on gifts from a few of you, but no worries, I accept gifts all month long.  Even into April.  Actually, all year long.  Just get me a gift, ok?

My group of friends, the Gang, is big enough that there is pretty much a birthday every month.  Which means we are constantly coming up with fun and interesting ways to celebrate.  Usually, the birthday person gets to pick the place to eat, or maybe the movie, but March is different.  There were a whole bunch of us born in March.  Me, Meghann, Will and Awesome McAwesome.   

Since it was all the cool people, and Awesome, we felt it was important to step out of the box, if you will, to celebrate our birthdays.  So we stepped out far enough to get tickets to the RiverKings hockey game in Southaven on Saturday night.  It was the last game of the season, not only was it Fan Appreciation Night, but it was also World Turtle Day, a fact that I am very sad I didn't know until the day was almost over.  I wasn't really able to fully celebrate any turtles, and now I have to wait till next year. 

It was a long and fun day.  First, we headed off to Southaven to do a bit of shopping.  Awesome's favorite part?  Meeting his friend, the giraffe.  I think he felt like this giraffe would add a whole lot of class to his bachelor pad.  Did I type "class"?  I meant "klass". 

Then on to the hockey game:

Birthday girl Meghann and non-birthday boy Andrew



We wanted "glass" seats but we had to settle for the second row.  Will is in the green hat, Katy beside him (shout-out to Katy for being cool enough to own her own hockey jersey), Laura Beth hiding, then Coleman. 



Crazy excitement on the ice, people. 

Rommates and Birthday girls!



Meghann is all, "no more pictures", to the paparazzi.   Its exhausting being so photogenic and popular.  We should know. 

 I was in charge of the event planning.  I was unable to procure glass seats but I did get us each a shout-out on the score board.  They offered to let someone ride the zamboni machine, but I'm pretty sure the lady might have thought this was for a 9-year old's birthday, so I declined, to the absolute disgust of Awesome who is still mad at me.  Also, while my name was spelled correctly on the actual scoreboard, in this picture, my name looks like, "JASKA" which, coincidentally, is the new spelling of my name. 

 During one of the breaks, they had a competition where you threw old hockey pucks onto the ice into a small bucket in the middle.  If you made it, you won $75.00.  No one made it.  But we had lots of laughs watching Josh, Will and Coleman throw out their arms. 

Best way to pick up hundreds of orange hockey pucks from the ice?  Grab a kid, strap on a helmet on a kid, give them a bucket and let them have at it.  If only cleaning my house were so easy, but Parker leeps refusing to wear the helmet. 

Awesome was the happiest birthday boy in the world when he caught this freebie t-shirt.  He literally turned to me and said, "this is the best thing that's ever happened!".  Which made his face, 30 seconds later, when he opened the shirt and read the back, even funnier.  I kinda feel bad at laughing at someone else's misery.  But not when its Awesome's.  He considered throwing it back, hoping to actually get a RiverKings shirt, but ultimately, passed it on down to Will who did really wanted it. 

Here is the entire group:  Me, Meghann, Will, Awesome Mc, Laura Beth, Coleman, Andrew and Katy.  There was a ton of grumbling about this picture, and at some point, part of my soul died when I realized I'd officially became my mother, but I'm glad I have a good picture of a really fun birthday!  Several of our Gang were missing, and the RiverKings lost, but it was still a really great birthday!



It's Always Rainy in Cleveland...

Last night was a fun night out in Cleveland.  HSquared, a local clothing store, had their semi-annual Fashion Show at Grover's Corner downtown.  This is their third one and my friends and I have gone to all of them.  A couple of my friends, Laura Beth and Corley, have even walked the runway!  Corley walked it last night and Laura Beth walked in the inaugural show.  My friends, the models!

And other night, this would have been enough excitement for me, but last night Cleveland downtown was kicking!  The Cleveland Young Professionals group had their first social, a Crawfish Social at Mosquito Burrito.  So, after looking at some really pretty clothes, we headed across the street to get some food and meet some professional people.  Lots of my friends were already there by the time I walked in, but it was beginning to sprinkle outside.  Awesome McAwesome allowed me to borrow a rain jacket and showed me some of the hail damage to his Awesomemobile from his stay in Jackson last week.  As soon as I got the jacket, everyone decided to go inside anyway, so it was all for naught. 

I got to catch up with my friend Julianne about work-related craziness, and saw a few other people.  Most of the crowd had cleared out about the time the rain started, so I missed seeing a lot of people.  But we wound up eating dinner at MB and sort of took over the entire place.  We discussed our weekend plans-- we are headed to Southaven tomorrow to see the RiverKings hockey game- our "March" birthday's outing.  I was telling one of the girls who works at MB about our trip and she asked if this "group" was the same group she seems me out with a lot.  And I replied yes.  And she said, "you are lucky to have such a good group of friends."  And she is so right!

Here are some pictures from the evening.  My photography skills leave a lot to be desired!



This pretty model is Brianna, and she is a fellow handbeller.  She stands next to me and she is a very good ringer!





Chris and Julianne Bailey to the left.  Julianne works for DHS in our Indianola office and I taught her everything she knows about child support.  Not that I know much!  My friend Andrew is in the back of the picture, ignoring me!





This is Will.  His look of disgust in this picture has less to do with being photographed for my blog and more to do with the fact that he doesn't have a nickname in this blog.  Maybe I'll solicit suggestions from the readers?





From left: Will, Laura Beth, Corley, and Katy at Mosquito Burrito.  Corley walked the runway and Laura Beth opted to help backstage this show, so Katy was my date! 



Always the favorite...

A few weeks ago, I went to Memphis for one of Betsy's wedding showers.  I am so very proud of Betsy, she's obviously outkicked her coverage (as my dad would say) and found this great guy to marry.  And I've enjoyed being able to spend lots of time with her, get dressed up, go to some fancy parties, enjoy watching my sister be happy during this exciting time. 

But I'm not going to lie-- I'm a bit petty sometimes, and its occassionally hard to not be be overlooked.  I have, at times, felt left out, and a bit depressed.  I don't need for anything really (that Chanel bag isn't, upon reflection, a necessity), but its not always fun to watch someone get all sorts of great gifts and parties thrown for them while you sit there.  Its why we buy presents for older siblings when a baby is born.  I'm only slightly more mature than that!

Luckily, for me, I have a mom who understands this.  She knows this is a hard time for me.  And a couple weeks ago, when we were in Memphis, and watching Betsy open some more fantastic gifts, I must have looked a little forlorn.  Because she turned to me, and brightly said, "Jessica!  I have some things for you! A couple presents.  You are going to love it!"  Seeing visions of early birthday gifts or stacks of books off my Amazon wishlist, I felt encouraged.  Happy.  Here was my sweet mom who understands that, while I try not to be materialistic, its hard to watch someone get tons of presents at all different showers/parties, and not feel left out.  I just knew that my mom understands.  She get's me, y'all. 

So, after all the presents were unwrapped and the cake was eaten, we went outside to her vehicle so she could give me her "gifts".  The first was a book.  Not bad, right?  Well, this was my book.  She was just giving it back to me.  So, not a real gift.  And then she gave me some stuff I'd left behind when I last came to visit.  And then some clothes my aunt had sent to me.

I gave her a huge hug and told her how much it meant to me for her to give me a gift, since she knows how down I've been lately.  And she smiles, and pulls out her purse.  To hand me my "gift".

Two Cadbury Eggs. 

Um, thanks, Mom.  Not exactly what I thought you might have for me. But thank you, nonetheless.  And then she says, "I know how much you love Cadbury Eggs, so I got you TWO!"  The family members nearby nearly hurt themselves laughing. 
I do love Cadbury Eggs.  I'm not much of a chocolate person but I love these things.  And I thank my mom for thinking of me.  One Egg would have just hurt my feelings, but TWO?  You rock, Mom!!

I filtered this picture so it would be cool and hipter.  Not boring and normal like myself.
 I'd already eaten one of the Eggs!

Sweet Brother Sick...

I'm a Rebel fan.  That's not surprising to anyone who reads this blog.  I love my Rebels through thick and thin.  And lately, its been pretty thin.  At least thin on the wins.  The past few years, my Rebels have been through a tough time in pretty much everything.  It actually corresponds nicely with my life.  Another subject for a good thesis. 

I've watched a whole lot of Rebel sports this year and it always seems like for the important games, I am watching or listening by myself.  And Saturday, watching Ole Miss win the SEC Basketball Tournament was no different.  I watched it accompanied by Parker, Atticus and Mr. McCarty.  At the end, I was so worked up and nervous, I was pacing around the living room, having two puppy dogs following me.  Everytime I jumped, they jumped.  It was fun. 

All of my family likes to watch Ole Miss sports, but certainly the most well-known fan from the Carr Family is Nicholas.  He loves it.  He gets it honestly, from his Dad.  But Nick has taken it to the next level.  Not only is he a fan, he likes to be a well-documented fan.  He likes being on tv.  It started years ago when Nick and Dad used to go to the SEC baseball tournament and sit right behind the dug out.  I'd see people for weeks after the tournament who'd mention they saw the boys on tv.  Then one year, there was a picture of Dexter McCluster high fiving people and Nick was right up in the middle of melee.  This picture was all over the place for a while.  A couple football games had close ups of him sitting in the student section.  Then he became a basketball super fan-- holding up those obnoxious big head posters, getting to games early to get front row tickets, etc. 

Now, he is a basketball game staple.  He's on there at least a couple times a game.  It never fails.  When Betsy watches ball games with Peter and his family in Nashville, they look for Nick.  I get Facebook messages and texts from people after all games, mentioning that they saw Nick.  I look for him at every game and get a message from my mom or someone when he first appears. Dad and I saw Nick at the two games last weekend on the tv that we watched together.  Its getting kind of ridiculous!

Here are some screen shots of Nick's pretty face on tv:





This one is my contact picture for him on my phone. Usually, he's so stoic when watching the game-- much like his Daddy.  You can never tell if we are winning or losing based on Nick.  That's why I love this picture-- he is smiling and looks really, really happy!









I'd never seen this till Betsy sent it to me this morning.  Creepy. 



Today I get this message from my friend Penny:

I love it!  "Is sick going to mo?"  This is a great, nonsensical mesage.  And yet, I totally understood what she meant.  Was Nick going to Missouri to watch the Rebels play in the first round of the NCAA tournament?  Yes, Penny, sick is going to mo.  I called him later as I realized it had been forever since I'd talked to him and, as expected, he and two friends were literally leaving Oxford at that moment headed to Missouri.  Oh to be young and have enough energy to drive all day, stay in a random hotel, cheer for the Rebels and then drive back.  If I did that now, I'd have to take a week off from work to recover from all the lack of sleep and body aches. 

I hope he has fun and I hope he gets me a Rebels win for my birthday! 

Cheer loud, Sick!!!

Friday Night Fun...

I went home to Newton this weekend-- first time home in a while.  At least the first time without a doctor's appointment, surgery scheduled or a pair of crutches accompanying me.  Its been a busy few weeks and work has been sorta crazy lately.  Right now, I am faced with some options about work and I needed to get away for a few days, and get some advice from my parents about what to do.  So I called my dad and let him know that Parker and I are headed home last Friday and he can take me to eat a birthday dinner at Zack's.  But on the way home, I get a better offer and was able to switch my birthday dinner to Saturday night.  I called a couple friends and we decided to go eat dinner.  A whole lot more fun than hanging with the parents. 

I headed over to my friend Sonji's house, arrving a bit late, as usual.  Now you readers have met the Rose family before, but I am in too much of a hurry to try to find any of those posts.  And you all know, they are one of my most favorite families.  Ever.  Like, I love this family.  Wish I could be adopted by them!  I kinda have been, but it would be nice to make it official.  Seriously, Sonji and Clay and I went to high school together and they have two fantastic kiddos and they let me come hang around, eat cake at birthdays, watch tv, laugh, be silly, etc.  I do feel like part of the family when I am around.  I'm just not around enough. 

I pulled up the driveway and parked, and as I was walking away from the vehicle, I automatically locked my doors with my key fob.  When I walked in the door, Sonji immediately said, "um, did you just LOCK your doors?  In my driveway?  In Hickory?"  And I deserved her ridicule- I don't know what I was thinking.  Her house and driveway are super secluded and super safe.  In fact, in the event of a zombiepocalyse, I am headed to their house.  Actually, I'm headed to North Alabama to our friend Adam's house, but my second stop would be the Rose house.  If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. 

We were meeting our friend Becky and her husband and step son for dinner.  Now, Becky is another one of those awesome people blessed with a couple great kiddos,  Anna and Triston.  Unfortunately for me, they weren't around this weekend.  Luckily for me, Gatlin and Bentley Rose were. 

We picked up the kids from their grandmother, Mrs. Barbara's house, and headed out to Beulah Hubbard to Nelda's.  Nelda's is a local favorite- in the middle of nowhere, a gas station/convenience store/restaurant mix.  With really good food.  We used to go there a lot in high school because some of my friends lived out that way but its literally been at least a decade since I've been. 


We had a great time on the ride to Nelda's-- the cute kids in the backseat just made my day.  We talked about school and favorite subjects and conduct grades.  Gatlin loves reading, which he obviously gets from his Aunt Jess cause she likes to read too! 

I mean, ADORABLE, right?  Gatlin and Bentley.  Couldn't love these kids anymore than I do!

Here we are at Nelda's.  It might not look like much but it was really good.  Becky and Chad had been at the cabin all day fishing.  Apparently they caught like 124 fish or something?  That seems like a whole lot to me, but what do I know about fishing? 

Chad's son Eli and Gatlin are big buddies (as my dad would say).  You can see the convenience store area of Nelda's in the back.  Its a one-stop shop, people. 

Good enough to eat the entire thing.  Bentley didn't believe me when I showed her how you can eat the tail. 
She was a bit distrusting of me. 

Got a spare business card?  Put one here!  A lot of places in Newton have these bulletin boards and when I was younger,
I used to love reading the cards.  I vowed to place my business card on every single bulletin board I could
when I was older.  Luckily for everyone, the State won't give me business cards!

We went to the Garvin's camphouse to hang out for a while after dinner.  There was all sorts of climbing ladders, throwing kickballs, shoes flying, screaming, dancing, etc.  And the kids were there, too. 

Tiredest babies!

Gatlin is the oldest child, and he is the sweetest, most precious kid you will EVER meet. Much like myself growing up. And he sometimes gets frustrated with his younger, funny, silly, crazy sister. Much like my life now. In the car, Gatlin got a bit frustrated with Bentley and had to vent a little bit. So we got to talking about crazy sisters', and I suggested we could trade for a while. You know, see how the other half lives. We discussed this for a while-- I let him know about the wedding, how we'd been planning it, and, if he were to trade with me, he'd have to be the Maid of Honor, wear a candy apple red dress (it could be tailored to fit him), and how he'd need to plan the upcoming Bachelorette Party. Which was perfect cause he'd just asked his momma to take him to the beach. Gatlin was seriously considering my offer but ultimately decided he'd keep his sister (the devil you know, I guess!). A few minutes later, Bentley did something or other to annoy Gatlin, and he looked straight at me, and said, very seriously, "What color did you say that dress was?".



Priceless. And Gatlin, if you ever do decide to trade, I'll give you a really good deal on a Big Brother as well.

Mosquitos, McCarty's, and morbid pictures...

Friday night, Awesome McAwesome got a craving for fish tacos from the local eatery, Mosquito Burrito.  He didn't want to go alone, so he said to himself, "Awesome, who is sitting at home with nothing to do on a Friday night and would be willing to go eat dinner with me?"  And he answered himself, "Duh, Jessica.  She's totally sitting at home by herself watching Star Trek: The Next Generation cause she doesn't have a life.  I'll call her." 

And sure enough, I was available.  After all, I've got that Star Trek episode tivoed so I can pause it. 

We were able to get our friend Laura Beth to go as well.  Laura Beth has a much cooler social life than either me or Awesome, so I'm assuming that someone cancelled on her last minute which is why she was free. 

If you haven't eaten at Mosquito Burrito, you obviously haven't visited the Delta lately.  Mosquito Burrito is the cool, international cousin to Hey Joe's, which I've written about here.  It serves burritos, tacos, nachos and salads, and its very good.  One of those watch-them-make-your-food places like Moe's without the annoying "Welcome to Moe's" every seven seconds.  I've been there several times and I have enjoyed my meal everytime.  Its also cool and funky and interesting like a lot of places in Cleveland and it makes me, an old, boring person, feel cool and hip when I eat there.  I just feel cool and hip, it doesn't actually MAKE me cool and hip.  It doesn't work miracles. 

File photo: I do NOT take pictures that look this good!

So Friday night, last minute, the three of us go eat dinner and it winds up being a really fun, relaxed evening.  We sat around and discussed everything from Laura Beth's secret desire to form an all girls punk band (I'm still waiting for my invite on that one.  I play a mean punk handbell.) to scary photographs; from ridiculous college stories and Awesome's mom's pottery to our exes and pulling pranks (though not on our exes- we are so above that) and everything in between. 

We even brought our own decorations to the place.  Obviously, in the Delta, all the klassy-with-a-k people bring their own McCarty's pottery when they go places.  Its like people who bring their own salad dressing.  Awesome bought this lovely hanging pendant for his mom at McCarty's and it was "delivered" by our friend in the middle of dinner.  Laura Beth bought a similar one.  I, however, was not able to buy one, even though I'd really love one (Birthday Gift Suggestion Alert!).  And McAwesome, being a good friend, decided to bring it in the restaurant and set it on the table instead of placing it in his vehicle.  Thereby ensuring I was able to be good and envious of his gift by the end of the night.  He really is such a kind and thoughtful person.  I kept dropping hints about how he could give his mom a card instead, and give the pendant to someone who'se birthday was, say, coming up, but he obviously never picked up the hint. 

The globe light with my cell phone inside it, using the flashlight app.  Looks pretty, right?

I actually did take this picture.  Looks almost as good as the picture above? Maybe?  Anyway, there is a theory we discussed at length that the burrito's sorta "fold" into a really nice pocket that will stand up on its own, so this is what I was trying to do.  It didn't work so well, but the food tasted just as yummy anyway!

It was one of those really fun, really random nights where your cheeks hurt from laughing and you linger when its time to say goodbye because you are enjoying yourself so much.  We stood outside for a long time and continued our conversation and laughed while this super hyper kid ran around climbing random trees in the middle of the walking track downtown till it was finally time to say goodbye.  It was a great night- good food, good conversation and good memories.