small town social circles

So. Lets play six degrees of separation...

Eileen's daddy does business with the sister of my coworker who goes to church with the husband of my brother-in-law's childhood best friend from South Carolina who now lives here.  

And the three of us were on treadmills next to each other at the gym the other day.  We all knew each other but we didn't know that each other knew each other. And now we know.

I've done my public service for the day: providing my devoted readers with a bit of a mind twister.  Cheers!

As of Thursday afternoon. we had no plans for the weekend. A snow day, sleepover, playdate, basketball game, campus tour and a new cat later.. we still have another day to go before the work/school week starts!  

Can we handle it!?

Knoxville (or any Southern) Snow is the best. It is pretty. It is fun. It is quite out of the norm. There is a Christmas-like excitement in the air. Everything shuts down at the mere mention of the s-word.  And in most cases, schools close and offices open late.  And. Within hours. It is gone.  

After early dismissal Thursday and a day at home with Mommy on Friday, Eileen was all kinds of stir-crazy. SLEEPOVER! Hannah came over. Movies and nails and tattoos and glitter and reading and dolls. It is possible I have more fun than the kids. 

Saturday we went over to Lucas and Preston's. Pizza, brownies, movies, dogs crazy kids who love each other and mommies who had mommy drinks.  And Lord Help me, I have become MY MOM. It was cold out. Jenny was in sweats. I'd had a long run that afternoon. So I.wore.my.house.shoes.  Now, in my defense, they look like Uggs. BUT STILL. Eh, well, I was comfy. And while I used to be mortified when Mom did it, I now understand it's more about what a good friend it is you're going to visit. 

That goes for Eileen too. She's made loads of new friends in Kindergarten. And will make loads more in her future. But the kiddos we hung with this weekend are the ones who have all known each other since roughly 4-5 months of age. They're all in different schools, but they still have a BLAST together. Crazy to watch. 

Eileen came tearing upstairs last night at L&P's house. THEY'RE TRYING TO KISS ME! AND THEY SAID WE'LL GET MOLES! 

Um, what? 

Oh. right. Because if you kis ssomeone and you're not married, you GET WARTS.  (lets just say if you can read this you're probably super glad that little ancedote is NOT TRUE). 

Spur of the moment we decided to go to the Lady Vols game. We met Kath & Ron, along with Grace and her buddy. Eileen was SUPER excited to go, but somewhat zoned out by the second half.  So we'll have to wait til that attention span grows a bit... but still super fun. Plus the Ladies won. It was a Conference Game and Coach Summit was there. All good stuff.

Heading home I wanted to drive through the new Sorority Village bc I hadn't seen it yet.  Eileen was blown away by the "Mansions" and decided she wants to live in them. And Riley (friend from Kindergarten) HAS to go with her. 

We stopped and took an awesome picture. I'm already plotting 13 years from now when I am sending in this shot along with her Rush (ahem, Recruiting) application.

I know you guys are all still back on that opening part about the 'new cat.'  And you know that this girl is all about dogs, and not usually too concerned with cats. 

This cat will be at Daddy & Sarah's house. And Eileen has been counting the minutes until he arrived. Sarah went to go get him today, and even I was stunned at how pretty he is. So Eileen is staying there tonight. I think if she'd stayed here it would have been the equivalent of Chinese Water Torture - knowing that cat was home and she wasn't with it!

I am picturing Gracie will go B O N K E R S when she comes back here. 

I'd say this is one of my more rambling posts. {shocked face}  .... but a fun one.

 

 

what is wrong with people?

Regardless of your thoughts on gun control. Regardless your thoughts on background checks. Regardless your thoughts on potential ties between mental illness and access to weapons (guns or otherwise).

To think, imply, believe, support a theory that the Sandy Hook Tragedy was a conspiracy? REALLY?  

I don't know enough about it - what this conspiracy supposedly is. Is the government supposed to have done it? Gun Control Supporters? People with purple hair and green eyes? 

I do know it is sickening. The idea of Sandy Hook having been some group's plan for pushing Gun Control. 

I am not totally naive. I have no doubt our government - and any other government anywhere - does things most of us would rather not know. I have no doubt there are facts and truths so horrifying that we'd never again sleep. 

But. 20 children? 20 innocent precious babies? I daresay this isn't some radical Big Brother secret. 

It was one very sick young man who didn't get, or wasn't able to get, the right care. It was a very frightening day when this ill man broke in a way that is incomprehensible to most of us. It was a day that words will never do justice, in which innocence was shattered, families destroyed, and we were all reminded just how fragile life is. 

What it should BECOME is a close look at ways in which to put ourselves back together. To recognize that mental illness is just the same as physical. It should not be ignored, just as cancer should not be ignored. It should be treated with therapy and medicine in the same way cancer patients receieve medicine and can join support groups. 

Guns are not going anywhere. The guns themselves are not evil. They can provide defense, they can provide food, they can provide sport.

This shouldn't be Republican or Democrat. Radical or Conservative.  

It SHOULD be an opportunity to educate. To stop pointing fingers.

We're all entitled to an opinion. Well. This post is mine. Blame gets us nowhere. Acceptance and education takes us miles and miles.