HAPPY HALLOWEEN, MY CREEPIES!

It has been far too long since I have updated you, my friends in far-away lands, about Southern Living.

As you can see I am now officially an Alabama resident. There is no turning back now. They better just get over themselves and hire me already!

Yes, I am still struggling with the job hunt. The Alabama Board of Education has FINALLY given me the "go ahead" to shop my resume around to schools--months after I applied for Alabama state certification. Of course, since they took so long to process my application, the only remaining openings are in elementary schools--yuck. So, my choices are: wait around for someone to retire, quit, go on maternity leave, and/or die.....or just suck it up and take something in an elementary school. I am looking for ANYTHING now because I can't really afford to be picky anymore.

My advice to you: never move anywhere until you have a job lined up.
Of course you already knew that--didn't you?


The legendary Ms. Roman came to visit for a day! MOST pleasant surprise. Her sister lives about an hour away, so she dropped in, met the folks, and treated me to lunch. Super fun times were had. I still owe her a postcard....


People from Alabama are odd--in a good way. They have this whole "Boo-ing" tradition here (which I actually suspect my sister may have started because not too many folks around here have heard of it). It goes something like this: You leave a bag of treats on someone's doorstep and sneak off. Then that person hangs a ghost in their window to indicate that they were "Boo-ed" and then they have to do the same thing to someone who doesn't have a ghost in their window. I didn't fully understand the concept of Boo-ing, so I tried to "Boo" Boy Wonder by decorating his door with the help of my niece, her friends, and Stephanie. We brought faulty tape and hideous decor--as you can see.






(note the awesome Milky Way shirt)

We did this on our way to BayFest--which is the cheapest (as in thrifty) and most organized music festival I have ever been to. For $35 dollars you can get in for the entire weekend to see dozens of bands (some of which were decent big name bands). Tons of good, greasy food: every type of french fry, corn dog, and funnel cake you could possibly imagine!

We saw JOAN JETT there! She was brilliant. I want to be her when I grow up.
I certainly want to look like her when I grow up.


The Halloween Party was spooktacular. You have no idea how serious these people (AL Stephanie, Tamara, and Lorrie) are about Halloween. They impressed ME. Actually I felt ashamed by my pathetic lack of life-sized bloodied brides, grooms, butlers, dead babies, etc. as I helped them decorate a whole house with theirs! Pictures will come soon (from Stephanie)--and I hope they somewhat capture the terrifying decor and mad, crazy times of that night. I highly recommend that everyone fly down for next year's event.

And now for a special shout out to Katie and Ben who drove all the way from MEMPHIS to be there: YOU ROCK! And to Wendy and Sparky for dropping in way past their bedtime--and driving way out of their way: it really made my night to have you there! "Come here li'l bee!"

Below is my niece, Natalie, modeling what was Boy Wonder's costume for the party. Hey, he lost a bet. Yep, I beat him at pool so he had to be a pink unicorn.
Never bet your Halloween costume, guys. He was precious by the way.







Next time I will tell you about the Mullet Man....it's not what you think!

Have a SPOOKY day!