Inked!

I know that I was supposed to continue with the story of last weekend but I have to interrupt that story with this breaking news... E and I got inked on Friday night! This is E's second tat but was my first foray into the world of permanently inked things on one's skin. I have to say that I love it! It took me until I was just a month away from my 46th birthday to figure out something that I could live with permanently on my body and here it is...



The needles represent the first pair of needles I ever bought - size 8, 14" Brittany Victorian walnut - that I broke a couple of months ago. I was sick over losing them as they were my favorite an irreplaceable. Now I have the with me always. The color of the yarn is special to me because my two best friends K and D and I call our get-togethers "purpling", which references the poem "Warning" aka "When I'm An Old Woman" by Sandra Martz. I had him put it on my lower left calf.

E got the symbols for Zen and Om on his upper right arm. Check it out...



He wanted a calming color so he had me pick out a nice blue. I think it came out great.

Basking in the post-Pilgrimage glow Part 1

Over the next few days, I'll be sharing photos and memories of this past weekend. I was fortunate enough to be able to spend it in Memphis, Tennessee, and Corinth, Mississippi, celebrating our dear friend DixiePeach. I was joined by my friends PKB, Poppymom, A and S. We didn't think we could possibly top Peach Pilgrimage 2004 but it actually happened.

Day 1 -

Began with a six hour drive that included a couple of stops along the way. First stop was the Artex Factory Outlet in West Point, Mississippi, for some cloth napkins (45 for 10 cents each) and some place mats. Next stop was to pick up Dixie in Corinth and then we headed west towards Memphis to meet PKB and Poppy. Since we were staying at the Peabody hotel that evening, we ditched the cars in the parking garage then headed into the lobby for some drinks and to check out the ducks.



While the ducks marched out of the fountain for the evening, we shared some yummy peach martinis.


This is Dixie, me, and PKB enjoying those drinks. Photo by Poppymom, who - just after this photo was taken - wore PKB's martini.

PKB then got the bright idea that we should walk over to Beale Street while we waited for A and S. She kept saying she wanted a bucket of beer from Silky O'Sullivan's. When we got to Silky's PKB was informed that they didn't sell beer buckets but did sell a bucket called the Diver. Naturally, she ordered that. It came with eight straws and was an odd shade of pink. We were later told that it contains beer, red wine, rum, and grenadine. It actually tastes pretty good but it will make you fully aware that you've been drinking.

We sat at a table outside on the street corner and attracted many amused passersby who had to know what we were drinking. All Dixie would say was, "It's a bucket of hooch. What did you think it was?"

Here's the hooch:


And here's the four of us enjoying the hooch on the street corner:

Poppymom, PKB, Dixie, and me. Photo by some random Beale Street passerby who wanted to stick his straw in the bucket and taste.

Of course, when A and S landed, they called and busted us. Apparently we weren't supposed to start drinking without them. We didn't have the heart to tell them that it was way too late for that.

Next post will be all about our night in the Peabody.

Yay, Al!

You may not know this about me but I love Al Gore. So does E, for that matter. In fact, E calls him the best president we never had.

So imagine how excited I was to hear Al won the Nobel Peace Prize today. I can't think of anyone more deserving this year.

As predicted, the awarding of the Nobel Prize immediately intensified calls for him to enter the Democratic nominating contest for president and speculation over whether he would. The rumors that he would win it had already helped a grassroots movement to draft him into the race raise tens of thousands of dollars for advertisements.

Boy, don't I wish. I'd work hard for that campaign.

Congratulations, Al. You certainly deserve this award. Keep up the fight.

Mitt - the Nit-Wit

During yesterday's Republican Candidates Debate held in Dearborn, Michigan, Mitt Romney was asked if he'd need to get Congress' approval to declare war against Iran.

Here's his answer:

"You sit down with your attorneys and {have them} tell you what you
have to do," Romney said, adding quickly "but obviously the president of the United States has to do what's in the best interest of the United States to protect us against a potential threat."

Given a second chance by moderator Chris Matthews, who asked whether President Bush needed the Congressional approval he received for the Iraq invasion, Romney again offered a legalistic answer.

"You know, we're going to let the lawyers sort out what he needed to do and what he didn't need to do," Romney said.

I think that Senator Robert Byrd needs to loan Ol' Nit-Wit Mitt his copy of the pocket Constitution so that Mitt can bone up on the country's most important document.

According to Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution:

The Congress shall have power to. . .
To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;

That power is not granted to the Executive Branch to which the office of the President belongs.

Apparently Fred Thompson isn't the only Republican candidate lacking in the intelligence area.

Recovering from the weekend

LSU almost let Florida taze them on Saturday. LSU (the #1 team in the freakin' nation) let Florida lead the whole game until the last minute and a half, when LSU managed to score a touchdown and lead by four points. No one of the 92,000+ fans left that stadium until the clock ticked all the way down to zero. I think I held my breath for the entire three hours. In fact, not more than 10 minutes into the game, I declared that I couldn't watch another minute and went in the back to play games on the computer. But being the nosy Cajun that I am, I turned on the little TV back there and watch out of the corner of my eye. The poor cat got introduced to the chaos that is the Barefoot household when there is a tight LSU game on. But there was much celebrating when LSU finally pulled it off.

I spent all day yesterday fighting the migraine from hell caused by the fact that my sinuses would not drain for anything. I tried coaxing them with Vicks Sinex and Benedryl to no avail. I ended up with my head between two pillows trying to sleep it off. It was about 7 pm when my sinuses finally gave up, having been subjected to some of each sinus med we had in the house. I'm sure my liver is pretty upset over all of that.

Tonight E and I have a date to clean up the kitchen, including the refrigerator. Whoo. Freakin. Hoo. Our exciting life just rolls right along.

Happy Friday!

I must admit that Friday kind of sneaked up on me. Yesterday I had this "Wow! It's Thursday." moment. Rarely does the end of the week come quickly for me so I'm pretty stoked about this one.

I've got a bunch of stuff creeping around in my head, so today you guys get dots.

• How could Larry Craig think the judge was going to overturn his guilty plea when he had a month in which he talked to his attorney and helped lay out a very specific plea agreement? Dude, just resign. Because of you, they're redoing the bathroom stalls in the Minneapolis Airport and making the walls lower to the floor so you can't pass your hand under. Dumbass.


• In just two weeks, I will be on my way to Peach Pilgrimage 2007. Why? Because DixiePeach is coming home for a visit and several of us are heading over to see her. Poppy Mom will be there as well as my friend PKB. We are going to spend the weekend knitting, eating, and shopping. We haven't seen Dix in three years so we are very excited.


• Those danged dogs are still harassing poor little Gus. I've about had enough. It's time to teach the spoiled brats some manners. We're going to be working on sit and stay. They're going to get a reminder of who the true alpha in that house is.


• Knitting classes have been slow and I'm bummed out about that. Not only could we use the extra money but I really love teaching. I hope it picks up again soon.


• E and I have tons of housecleaning to get done. My brother and my BIL are coming for a visit in a week and a half and the house is a wreck. And we have to buy a new vacuum cleaner because E's old one finally bit the dust.


• Where is the cooler weather, for crying out loud? It's October already. I know it's Louisiana but, geez, could we have some lower than 90 temperatures sometime soon?

Well, that's all I've got for now. Y'all have a great weekend.

LSU is playing Florida on Saturday

And I just can't resist posting this graphic.



Ok so I totally stole that from my brother's blog but I just had to do it.

LSU #1

Ah, the smell of new cat

There is controlled chaos in our house. The cat isn't at all sure that he likes the dogs. The two little dogs have put him on ignore for the most part. However, Nate has appointed himself the cat supervisor. Every time Gus moves, Nate feels the need to be there. Now I know Nate well. He wants to play with the cat. That's why he keeps jumping around him and yapping. But Nate is about four times the size of the cat and it really pissed the cat off. Kudos to Gus though. He doesn't run from the dogs. He stands his ground and growls and swats, if necessary. The dogs, especially Sophie, are extra clingy because they are afraid we'll love the cat more than them (as if that could ever happen!). But dogs are like perpetual three year olds and logic doesn't work on them.

We've been keeping them separate during the day while we're at work. Gus gets the back of the house and the dogs get the front. It works well. Gus has decided he likes the bed.

I know that in a week or two all of this will be ironed out. But that yapping is about to drive me nuts.