Roaring Tigers

Last weekend, the husband and I hopped a flight to attend our first Clemson football game with our freshman Tiger. It was a sea of bright orange beneath mostly clear skies and mild temps by the 3:30 kick off, absolutely lovely weather for game day. The Tigers walloped the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 52-3.

As you can see, we had some excellent seats between the 40-50 yard line that I bought on Stub Hub. We were squeezed in like sardines since stadium designers must have the same tiny behiney mentality as the folks who design airline seats. But it was fine we were all snugged in together since the temps hovered in upper 50s to low 60s throughout the game.

After Clemson scores, the ROTC cadets do push ups. Then the guy in the Tiger mascot costume does push ups on his special orange board.

Before the game, I went with our daughter and one of her new best buds to eat lunch at a local restaurant run by the Amish (see their prayer paper place settings) that specializes in "home cooking". Afterwards, we tailgated a bit with new friends before getting to our seats in time to enjoy the pre-game festivities.

Claus he's the man

Santa Claus has come to town. At least at my house. Since we won't be celebrating Thanksgiving here, I was pleased as punch to have the husband help me store the pumpkin collection and bring out St Nick on Saturday. 

No surface or place is safe when it comes to spreading my 28 yrs worth of Santa collecting around the house. Kitchen, bar, dining room, family room, living room, bathrooms, bedrooms, patio... he's EVERYWHERE!

I still have a few items to fetch - new candles for the dining table holders, one of those nice ornament display thingies for my favorite huge Radko Santa on the bookshelf, etc. But it's mostly done. The light company came Thursday afternoon to wrap twelve trees in our front and back yard, candy-cane style just like last year. Which I totally love. However, I realize it's a bit early for most folks and so I unplugged them to spare the neighbors until the day after Thanksgiving. That's when the Christmas wreath goes up on the front gate and we officially kick off our exterior display of holiday cheer!

Housewifeing

After several days of 80+ degree temps, me sweating while doing my daily pool and patio chores, a cold front blew in early this afternoon. Cool temps = chili weather. Plus some Sweet Alabama Pecan Bread, a recipe my cousin posted on FB that she swears is easy and amazing. So I decided to give it a try with the husband since he'll eat pretty much anything. It's nice being married to an omnivore.

I took the terriers for a mini groom this afternoon because I'm sick and tired of them tracking dirt into the house and inevitably onto the master bed. They have this bad habit of mucking around in the few parts of the yard where there isn't a lot of grass. They get mud stuck on their feet fur. Then they come inside and hop up onto the master bed, a favorite lounging spot, where they proceed to pluck out the mud with their teeth and spit it out onto the bed covering. This became a problem last fall, so I purchased a mud colored blanket to toss across the duvet to keep it as clean as possible despite their best efforts to make it filthy. It mostly works.

When I returned from the grooming run, the holiday light company was here installing our display on the trees. And I immediately felt bad because I was positive they were coming NEXT week... which gave me and the husband this weekend to trim the water sprouts off the trees that were getting lights. Alas, they're about finished now. 

I'm sure the neighbors think we're nuts, with the Christmas lights going up on Nov 7. So once the light guys leave, I'll go outside and unplug the timer. I don't mind the lights going up early. But my early is the day after Thanksgiving, not a full three weeks before Turkey Day.

The weather outside is frightfully warm

I'm sitting here at my desk drinking a cup of cocoa, pretending the high didn't creep up to 83 today. That I didn't break a sweat running a few errands in a t-shirt, shorts and sandals, looking for some early holiday goodies to give the baby (our college freshman) when we see her next week for our first Clemson football game. I don't want to rush through the holiday season because I love it dearly, and yet I'm in a hurry for the weather to cool down and STAY THERE.

Adios, Autumn

I'm a perpetual early bird when it comes to decorating for the various holidays. My pumpkin collection went up in August, like always. Last night and this morning, I packed it all in bins for storage. Next up - Ol' St. Nick! That is, as soon as everything gets a good dusting in advance of Santa Claus coming to town.

Down by the sea

I spent most of this week at Sea Island, Georgia, attending a work-related commitment with my husband. The first couple days felt like summer, with the heat and humidity. And a few mosquito bites. But then it finally cooled off Thursday evening and Friday was glorious. I rode 12 miles without breaking a sweat, enjoying the homes, history and natural beauty of the island.

Unlike other upscale coastal retreats, there was a wide variety of housing styles to appreciate. I saw colonial, modern, Spanish, Cape Cod, and even something that looked like it could have belonged in New Orleans' French Quarter.

The plate of delicious cookies in our room was just the icing on a very thickly frosted cake at this amazing resort.