Never too old to laugh about poo!

Why is poop so funny? I spend a lot of my day talking about it and I've never been embarrassed about it but sometimes patients say some funny things! I had a sweet old lady in her 80's this week tell me ever since she ate some spinach last week her poop has come out...with a burst! I usually am so good about not laughing but it was too funny. I had to giggle. Then she started giggling. It was great! Her son, probably in his 60's, sat in a chair in the corner like a bump on a log...I guess he didn't think it was funny. We loved it. What a good job God has given me!

363 More Days Until Black Friday

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend! Thursday we spent at my parent's house with both sides of my family. The Slick pig turkey was awesome and I am totally sold now on the idea! Here's picture of my dad's side of the family minus one of his brothers and his family who left before we broke out the old tripod for a family photo.

Friday I woke Wes up early to go to Walmart where we bought a memory card for $12.88-ahh, the rush of a good deal on Black Friday!! Then we joined my mom's side of the family for our traditional day-after-Thanksgiving-shopping-trip or also known as Wes's favorite day of the year to be part of my family! We love going shopping to get in the Christmas rush. When we were in middle school, my grandparents started taking the grandkids shopping on this day so we could pick out our own presents. My parents, and sometimes my aunt and uncle, join us too. We're still doing it even though we're all in our late 20's and two of us have husbands! In younger days, my grandad would secure a place in line as soon as we entered the Gap or American Eagle. He would let people in front of him for the hour we shopped explaining to each one what we were doing until we were ready to pay! Now since they are older, my grandparents like to pick a bench in the mall and we come find them with our purchases, but they are still such good sports and absolutely love the day! One year, before we all had cell phones, we used Walkie Talkies to communicate. My grandmother brings bags full of bottled waters and crackers to snack on. The first year Wes came, I'm not quite sure what he thought. He'd never been shopping on that day. We ended up at Value City about midnight that year and he kept leaning on racks and falling asleep. He said he kept wondering when the day would end. I think he's grown to like the day now though!

Yesterday morning we watched the Redcoats practice at Wes' school which turned out to be so fun! We had a great crowd of GAC families come out to watch. Here are some pictures of the band.

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever...to Him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever." Psalm 136:1, 4

Keep your seats everyone...the Redcoats are coming!!!

That's right, the Redcoat band is stopping to practice at GAC on their way to the North Ave Trade School this Saturday morning. My students are pretty excited. Hopefully a lot of them will be in town and come to watch. The band director came by yesterday to check out the field and stayed long enough to conduct my 5th grade band class! They were on cloud nine.

why I'm a teacher: school holidays

Just when I think there's no way I can teach for 30 years (or 40+ at a private school), another holiday rolls around! Of course, I have plenty of my own schoolwork to do that I've neglected all semester. Anyone got a great idea for a research project? Add on the "honey do" list and the break is pretty much taken up - but it's nice to be productive working on things for Blakely and myself rather than for my job.

"Imported" Turkey

So yes, we are spending Thanksgiving with my family who, as Patrick calls it, imports their turkey...from Tennessee. I know this seems ultra redneck but the past few years, Patrick has brought our Thanksgiving turkey with him from a bar-b-que restaurant in Murfreesboro fantastically named ...The Slick Pig!! Apparently they smoke one heck of a turkey. This will be my first experience to savor the flavor. But as my dad always says, "we Moore's like our 'que" so it fits my family! I can't imagine driving 4 hours smelling a smoked turkey in the passenger seat but P doesn't seem to mind.
Here's a review I found if you ever happen to be in Nashville or Murfreesboro...
http://www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/Columns/Dining/2006/11/02/Smoke_Em_if_You_Got_Em/index.shtml

Happy Birthday Amy

Last night I had a great girls' night with my friends Amy and Kim. Amy is a missionary in Brazil and she just got back to Georgia for awhile. It was Amy's birthday. The three of us grew up together in church so we've celebrated many birthdays together. In fact, we were remembering Amy's sweet sixteen party where her parents picked us all up in a limo and we spent the night in a hotel at the Cobb Galleria-we really had a big time that night! It made us realize we've been celebrating birthdays together over 10 years now. Are we getting old when we all wanted to pick up cheesecake to go from the Cheesecake Factory and sit with blankets on Kim's couch last night rather than wait forever for a table and eat there? Anyways, we had a great time and I'm so thankful for their friendships! I didn't take a picture last night to post because I realized I was wearing a sweater I have had since high school, which was ironic because I know Kim and Amy have seen me wear that sweater a billion times, but when I got to Kim's, she was wearing pajama pants that I have seen her wear a billion times. So I'll post a picture from our trip to Nashville last year when the three of us went to visit my brother. Here we are in front of a red carpet event we just happened to come up on! We stood and watched a lot of famous people enter the event and it was so fun! We saw Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks. Here's a picture of them from where we were!

Conquering Fears

I got home early today which was awesome since I have been working really long hours lately. My last patient cancelled and I was so glad because she apparently had a cyst in a place I don't particularly love to examine. So Wes and I just got back from a walk in a neighborhood next to ours. I have to admit, I was pretty nervous walking. It was the first time we had walked there since our dog Haley got attacked by a German Shepherd a few months ago. The dog was on a leash but the owner was not holding it and he had no control over his dog. It came out of nowhere and attacked her. It was the scariest moment of my life so far and Wes and I had nightmares about it for awhile after. Thank God Haley was fine though after our trip to the emergency vet. She had trouble walking for a little bit and we had to carry her up and down the stairs in a Rubbermaid container, but her scar from the bite has completely healed now.

We got Haley from a rescue group two years ago and our sweet little mutt has had a rough time! We think she may have been a rescue dog from Katrina because a lot of dogs were in the shelters here at that time and apparently she was matted and in awful shape when they found her. It was risky adopting her because she was going through heartworm treatment but after spending a little time with her, we knew she was perfect for us. She survived heartworms and later had awful food allergies and had to wear what we called "a cone" so she wouldn't bite herself for months. Now she eats duck and potato! After we had her awhile, we had her spayed and during the surgery, the vet found out she had already been spayed but the scar had disappeared. Poor dog-went through it twice! The latest thing is that she has tendinitis (yes Wes, I did spell it correctly). We love her so much and after all that she has been through at least Haley has never experienced the "reverse sneeze" like our poodle friend Georgie Sullivan! That is the craziest diagnosis I have ever heard!

Cone Head:

Injured

Football Weekend...and I didn't have to watch one play!

So I don't even try to pretend I'm interested in football games anymore. I come from a long line of UGA fans although I think I am one of the few who actually went there. Growing up, mama and I always went shopping while my dad and brother went to Kansas City Chiefs and Falcons football games. During my years of high school band, the football games were a blur. Most of the time, I spent making up dances in the stands with Heather...trying to avoid messing up Lassiter's "decorum" as all you band kids will remember. In college, I had fun at the UGA games but mostly just spending time with my friends and sporting cute red and black outfits for school spirit. Now that we've graduated, we like to go to a couple UGA games a year mostly to have fun tailgating and seeing our friends and family. Wes' entire family has season tickets so this works out well. I love being on campus but could take or leave the actual game. Last year, my mom and mother-in-law had a blast shopping while our whole family went to the UGA/Tech game. So I believe God has a sense of humor, and I think he laughs at the fact that I am in a forever fall Friday night football position as a band director's wife! I love it when people come to the GAC games so I can talk and avoid actually watching. This Friday, Katy and Chris Golden, Wes' parents, and my parents all came to the game! Yeah! Then Saturday we spent with Wes' family in Athens and left before game time because we didn't have tickets. So...I loved my "football" weekend! Here's a picture of our family at last year's UGA/Tech game and my mama and mother-in-law who will both appreciate this post!

fourthmeal.com

So from a nutrition major, who spends a lot of her time convincing patients who claim they "never feel full" that Ryan's is not the best place to have dinner, this is totally outrageous. But, Patrick and I have found it funny to check out fast food chains' websites lately. Here's a few. I can't believe how elaborate they are. I mean, who goes to these??!!
http://www.slush44.com/index.jsp

http://www.fourthmeal.com/

and my personal favorite http://www.neworangefish.com/ (Yes, I did frequent this little seafood place often growing up and sorry to say I did ask for "extra crispies")
Oh...when I spellchecked this, "crispies" came up misspelled!

Wedding March

Saturday I went shopping with my friend Katy who just got married a few months ago and it made me think about all the great weddings we went to this summer. I thought I'd do a tribute post to all our friends who have tied the knot...so here's the wedding march!

In May, we had Kate and George Koulouris-a fun Greek wedding. Kate was one of my first friends when my family moved to GA in the 4th grade! Here are Kate and George with my dear friends Margaret and Heather (and me).

In June, we had my sweet friend and UGA roomie Margaret and her husband Daron Dickens. Margaret was my maid of honor and it was such a blessing to be co-matons with Kate in her wedding. Marge and Daron win the award for the most unique rehearsal dinner... we played games and had a spinning wheel where you spun for a door prize! Here's a picture of Marge's mom, Peggy, spinning the wheel so you can see it:
Kate and I are here with another friend, Amanda Josey, who also got married this past September. Unfortunately, my cousin's wedding was the same day so I missed Amanda's. She is now married to Jamey Short.

In August, we had Wes' good friend and UGA roommate Matt Altmix and his new wife Katy. Here's Wes with best bud and roommate Matt Siple, his new daughter Lelia, and the new groom, Matt Altmix.

In August, we went to Augusta for Chris and Katy Golden's wedding. Wes and Chris went to high school and church together in Augusta. Chris and Katy ended up going to our church when we moved to Atlanta so we've gotten to know them well lately. I wish we had a better picture. Wes is in the background of this one; he and Chris have similar expressions.

Our last wedding was my cousin Heather and my new cousin Matt Smith in September. They had a beautiful wedding in Alpharetta and we're so excited for Matt to be a part of our family. Here are some shots of the bride and groom:

Here are the three Rutledge grandchildren:

Patrick with the two newer grandkids: Matt and Wes

My grandparents with Heather, her dad Perry, and step-mom Dixie
I don't think we have another wedding now until July when my other cousin Laura gets married. I'll give her a shout-out and here's a link to her wedding page: http://weddings.theknot.com/pwp/view/co_main.aspx?coupleid=7137106339198233

Little Benny Harper

I guess most people who read this blog know my parents, so you won't be too surprised when I tell you Patrick and I got my mom Ben Harper concert tickets for her birthday. So last night, my mom, dad and I all went to the Fox for the concert. It was so good! It was my second time seeing them and I would definitely recommend seeing him and his innocent criminals sometime. For some reason my dad has always called him "little Benny Harper" ever since we started liking him-we have no idea why, but it always makes us laugh.

Everyone's Favorite Princ-i-PAL

After writing about Patrick's tour with Tim and Faith last week, he finally sent me the picture of his most exciting moment of the tour. Yes, he got to meet the one and only...Mr. Belding!!! He said it was truly the highlight and I think anyone from our generation would agree! The best part is, Patrick said he told "Dennis" he was a big fan and he was so friendly. Apparently he was shooting a movie in Canada and is a big Tim/Faith fan. He ended up coming to two shows on the tour and actually remembered Patrick's name at the next show. Now who wouldn't want him as your principal? Patrick asked if he still kept in touch with the SBTB cast and he said "Yes, everyone except Dustin Diamond" (Screech...who went off the deep end). I couldn't wait to post this picture-our blog will never surpass this moment!

Confession: Only 4 yrs ago, right after graduating from UGA my friend Heather worked at a cookie decorating place where they watched TBS while working. I asked if she would call me if they ever showed the Vegas episode where Zack and Kelly finally got married because I had never seen it. Unfortunately, she called one day while I was at work so I couldn't rush to the tv. I was so bummed but just last year, I flipped to TBS one day and got to see it! Now I finallly have closure about the whole thing. So... what was your favorite episode? Go Bayside!!!!