Go upside their head

After a blow-out at Paulson last Saturday (and the preceding Saturday blow-outs), I'd have to say that Eagle fans are significantly pumped up.

I know one man in particular who definitely is (see: below).

Our guys are traveling North this week (North Carolina, that is) to take on Elon. I know this will come as a shock, but my father has some specific thoughts about Elon and some specific feelings about Saturday.

I shall now give him the computer generated floor. :-)

GO EAGLES! BEAT ELON!

What we did

Friday marked the end of my second wonderful week at GSU!


If you saw my to-do list (and on that note, if you DO see it can you let me know where it is), you would see "write post about new job" scrawled across it. Pending the results of my to-do list search and rescue mission, I will hopefully be crossing that off this week!

When I left work on Friday I headed home to freshen up and then over to the Hagan's where I would spend the majority of my waking hours this weekend. I am a frequent flier over there any way, but there was a special reason for my presence this time around.

The note on the back door will reveal a clue as to why.




Yes, little Marls was making her first Boro appearance since she left us the first day of August. (And she was bringing one of our favorites with her!)

Marsha and I had to leave before Marlee and her friend Maddie made it in from The Classic City to head to the BA Homecoming Game.


As always, Moesha was a sideline photog, and I was her loyal assistant. My duties include carrying (a very cute) bag full of camera paraphernalia, shielding her from padded/helmeted high schoolers charging toward her, and sometimes I (along with two very cute little UGA sophomores) pose so she can test out her flash.


As an added bonus this week, we got to stay after the game and take pictures at the Homecoming Dance where booty shaking and teenage awkwardness were in abundance.


Some of these kids have moves I've never seen.

After the dance we went back out to the Hagan's where a crowd was forming. Becca and her crew (including our dear Kayla!) greeted us and we played games, chatted, looked at the night's pictures, and stayed up way too late. I always think that when Marlee's home - if we get to bed before sunrise we are doing good.

Saturday I slept in a little, caught up on some cereal eating and Tivo, then headed back out to see Marls and the gang. We lounged around some more and then hit the town for some shopping and - a personal favorite - some yogurt intake.


I threw in a few iced animal cookies that day. I was feeling kinda crazy.


Our dear Paul Son joined us. We couldn't get him to fully commit to the yogurt, but he did enjoy a handful of sample cups.


Saturday night I went to an outside church service that was really neat and special.


Then it was time once again for to head back out to Moesha's. I know this will be hard to believe, but we embarked on some more game playing. We are such playas.


A new fave was on the agenda - Speed Scrabble! So fun and quite educational. I learn all kind of words I didn't know existed.




Maddie loved it!


As did Jake. When he loves something - like me taking pictures of him, for example - he always covers his face.


Then I say things like, "I don't know how someone so cute can be so against having their picture taken." And he will concede.


Paul LOVES having his picture taken as well. He can't help but smile.


There were lots of smiles that night, actually. See cute Mitchell for example. (Marlee was smiling on the inside.)


Rebecca and I are like, addicted, to smiling. Impossible to wipe them off.


By the end we were exhausted from all the fun.


Just as one should be at the end of a fun-filled weekend. :-)

Fly all over these felines

One day I am going to write a post talking about my new job at GSU that I heart with a passion, but combining that with a very passionate gameday commercial from Big Al might be more than the little blog can take.

One pumped-up GSU post at a time. That truly is the safest path - lest we blow up with glee.

With no game last week, the anticipation of this week's game is eliciting an ever-growing excitement around these parts. Not to mention that after their game 2 weeks ago, Georgia Southern moved to the #1 spot in the FCS.

That's what we're talkin' bout.

Also breaking records....this guy.


In an unprecedented event, Alan was able to get this baby recorded within about 15 takes. That has happened about zero times in history.

Here's to all of this good fortune continuing at Paulson Stadium on Saturday!

GO EAGLES! BEAT WESTERN CAROLINA!

Catching up

It has been kind of crazy over here the past week.

CRAZY FUN that is. :-)

4 major things have occurred in the last 5 days.

On Saturday GSU had their first home game. We celebrated by enjoying our fellow Eagle friends, eating like it was our last meal, yelling, high-fiving, and winning!












TAILGATE HIGHLIGHT ALERT:


My sweet and incredible friend Dana and her sweet family came by! Made me so happy. How cute is this little engaged couple above??





On Sunday we enjoyed a nice after-church meal at Cracker Barrel with my uncle who was in town to visit my grandmother for her birthday! (More on that in a minute.)

I chose breakfast for lunch and it was one of the best decisions I made that day.


My grandmother has a slight obsession with people looking at each other in pictures. She finds looking at the camera and smiling to be very lame. For Iris, it's all about the "look at me like we love each other" pose.


Tara Tyson, I know you are reading this and laughing - included this one just for you!

Monday was a very exciting day! I officially joined the staff of Georgia Southern. I will probably do a job update post of it's own soon, but I will tell you this - so far....loving it. LOVING it. :-)



Tuesday marked a very special occasion. Iris "The Gramster" Tyson turned 90!!!


We went over to her little assisted living home to visit and gave her some cards.


This was so sweet to me. My grandmother has pretty severe dementia at this point. She still knows us all and still is sharp as a tack when it comes to quick wit and humor, but her short term memory is pretty much non-existent.

Mama gave her a card but because of the bad lighting and small words, Gram was having a hard time reading it. She handed it to Mama and she started reading it for her. On the side of the card there was a verse. Deb started trying to read it, but had a hard time seeing the words herself.

"The earth is the Lord's..." Deb read then paused to try and read the next line. Without skipping a beat, Iris finished it, "....and the fullness thereof."


She might not remember what happened 2 days ago, yesterday, or even 10 minutes ago - but those verses are hidden deep in her heart and mind and come forth with no effort at all. Oh that we might all have His word buried so deep in our hearts that even failing memory can't take it from us!

This particular card said "Happy 90th Birthday!" Iris, not remembering she is 90, was floored to be informed of her age.

Casually reading...


"Wait. I'm 90?!?!"


"There is no way I'm 90. Someone miscounted."


Sorry, Grammy. Birth certificates don't lie. You are 90!


And we love you!!


And another picture for my cousin - T, you got the coveted spot on the TV! I've always claimed to be her fave, but it might just be her eldest granddaughter afterall. :-) I wouldn't blame her! :-)



Whew!

Between partying it up on the football field, visiting with fam, starting new jobs, and celebrating 9 decades of life, we are pooped!



Hope ya'll are having a good week!

10 years

I was a senior in high school.

I was joint enrolled at GSU so my schedule looked different each day. That particular day I had one morning class up at my high school, followed by a long morning break until my class out at the college after lunch.

I had left school about 9:30, come home, and was sitting in front of the computer when my AIM chat popped up. It was a friend telling me to turn on the TV.


It was about 10:45am. By that point, both towers had fallen. In the time it took me to leave school and turn on my TV, the world had changed forever. The country had suffered unimaginable loss.

I remember calling my dad immediately. "What does this mean???" I asked frantically. A loaded question for which he had no answer. No one could comprehend it.

It is true that we will never understand....but we will never, ever forget.

“Now, we have inscribed a new memory alongside those others. It’s a memory of tragedy and shock, of loss and mourning. But not only of loss and mourning. It’s also a memory of bravery and self-sacrifice, and the love that lays down its life for a friend–even a friend whose name it never knew. “
~President George W. Bush~