Welcome to the Oprah Show

If you have ever wanted to be a part of a taping of the Oprah Winfrey show, you should have been in my classroom today. All of my students and myself made guest appearances on the same set with the one and only Oprah Winfrey. I must say it was a thrill. We are doing a unit on Mississippi and this week's focus has been famous Mississippians. And what would a study of our great state be without a tribute to one of its most famous and influential natives. So even though I am pretty confident that none of my students even have a frame of reference for who Oprah is, we decided to do it big. Each student also made the cover of Oprah's magazine. Of course, the only issues available are in our classroom so don't scour the stores to find them. I wish that I could take credit for these wonderful ideas but I am not that good yet. They have hired a retired teacher for this semester to help transition the students and help get the program kicked off right and she is fabulous. She taught for almost 30 years and has so many wonderful ideas and experience. It has been such a God-send having her around. Tomorrow we are studying Elvis and if you have ever wanted to try out as an Elvis impersonator stop by WLHS and find us. We will be the ones in the paper sparkle capes and black wigs.

Luke Family Fun Day

On Saturday, my dad's side of the family got together to celebrate my parent's anniversary and my aunt Kay's birthday. If you have ever been around the Luke family, you know we don't need much of an occasion to eat, laugh, and play. Deanna jokes that we have family reunion every week. But this day was special because we headed to the way deep South of Jasper County where my cousin Lori Ann lives. If you think Collinsville is country you should see this place. My mom and I got lost and went in circles trying to first find a cell phone signal to call someone for help and then finding the actual house. Once we got there though the celebration was on. Lori Ann has many acres of land and tons of four wheelers which for the Luke clan equals hours of fun. We rode all around the yard and even went down the road to their lake and fed their HUGE fish. Another fabulous part of the day was the tire swing. You haven't really lived until you've swung on a tire hanging from a gigantic tree. While I wasn't the only somewhat grownup to ride the 4 wheelers, I'm pretty sure that I was the oldest person on the tire swing. Oh well. Everyone else just missed out.

One of the things that made the day was seeing members of my family ride a motorcycle. My aunt Kay who was celebrating her 65th birthday and her husband both made rounds on the motorcycle, even though I thought Uncle Larry was going to take the house down. But the best site of the day was seeing Robbie ride. She was hilarious. She wanted to ride but started screaming almost immediately after getting on and I don't think I've ever seen anyone holding on so tight.

What a great day! I hope we get to go back to the way way way country soon. And if you haven't experienced a Luke family function, you certainly need to. I promise it will be a day you won't soon forget.

The Big 25

Today is the fabulous day my roommate Deanna entered the world. She is 25 (still such a baby!) Last night we went to Outback to celebrate. We had silly girls night and giggled way too much. No matter where you go or who is around, when you are with Deanna there is always going to be goofiness. She is so funny. I met her when I started working at MCC and before too much longer we were roommates. She can always make me laugh so there is rarely a dull moment at our apartment. We both have moved on from MCC now and I know we won't be roommates forever but I will always be thankful for the crazy times we've had and all the stories and memories I have. Here are just a few of the reasons why Deanna makes my life more interesting:

1) She has a song ready to sing at any moment. Any word or statement is fair game for her to pull out some 1988 song lyric.

2) She expands my wardrobe significantly. Because we can wear alot of the same things, I can choose from her closet or mine. And her accessories are way cooler than anything I have.

3) She gives my life some ghetto. I would never have known all the words to Buy U a Drank if it wasn't for Deanna.

4) She can choose somewhere to eat without it taking an act of Congress. I am the most indecisive person about little things like where to eat but she will quickly decide where she wants to go. Not so much for the major life decisions but if the choices are Wendy's or Chick-Fil-A, Deanna is the girl to ask.

5) She can talk to anybody so I never have to worry about any awkward silences around a bunch of people cause she will fill in the space with some random question or game like Who Would You Rather? I can be quiet around alot of people but she always comes to the rescue.

So Happy 25th Birthday Deanna. Hope you have a great next year in your new job.

Football Friday

Friday night was the first home football game for West Lauderdale. Mama and I went to the game along with pretty much everybody else in Collinsville. I mean if you want to get away with something you aren't supposed to in Collinsville do it on a Friday night. Football season has become insane at West Lauderdale over the past few years because they have been very successful. It's so funny to go back to a game now and see how much excitement there is about football because when I was in high school we were lucky if we won more than 2 or 3 games. This year I'm sure I will be at many football games not only because I am now working there and can get in for free (one of the perks of being a teacher) but also because Brooklee is a cheerleader. She did really good cheering on the sidelines even though she was on the complete opposite end and I could barely see her. Here's a picture of her at her first pep rally.

Braden and Cooper were also at the game on Friday as official members of the West Lauderdale Fan Club. They both had on their cute t-shirts and got to stand on the field before the game when the players ran out. Of course, the only thing that really interested Braden was the band and for Cooper it was the food. Football was secondary to both of them. In about 10 years we will be going to football games watching Braden leading the band. I mean he is 5 and his favorite movie is DrumLine and he has a CD that he listens to constantly of the MSU Marching Band. He is destined for the Band no matter how much Cary objects.

And my final story from the first football game...I was standing in line at the concession stand with Braden and right behind us were 2 boys who couldn't have been older than 5th or 6th grade. As we were waiting I was listening to them discuss the perils of middle school love. The conversation went something like this:

first boy: This game isn't nearly as fun as I thought it was gonna be.

second boy: I know. We are losing.

first boy: Yeah and I haven't got a girlfriend yet.

Oh if I could just go to a football game and leave with a boyfriend. I hope this kid keeps believing for as long as possible that it's that easy. So even though WL lost it was a fun night and I'm sure I will be back.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream

Last night Apartment 2H was transformed into an ice cream parlor. My Sunday School class came over for a night of fellowship to kick off our new church year and we decided that the best way to do that was with ice cream sundaes. We had almost anything you could think of for ice cream toppings. We had brownies, cookie dough, strawberries, bananas, hot fudge, caramel, whipped cream, nuts, and sprinkles. Could you get any more fattening than that? It was so much fun. And we put the hot fudge in my cute little fondue pot so I was really excited about that. Of course we could all barely move afterwards but it was worth it. And even though I threatened all of them if they left any of the stuff they brought, I found the rest of the cookie dough in the fridge a little bit ago. So now I have to see how strong my willpower is when I know that a thin refrigerator door is the only thing separating me from that fabulous chocolate chip cookie dough. I'm pretty confident that I'm going down in flames, another victim to the power of indulgence. I haven't been able to spend much time with friends lately so it was really nice to spend an evening catching up on each others' lives, watching football, reminiscing about old times and of course, eating. Not much else is needed in my book for a good time. Basically if ice cream is involved I'm in. Me and ice cream are a good time in my opinion so to share that with friends and football makes it all the better.

Happy 35th Anniversary

Yesterday was my parents' 35th wedding anniversary. I can't believe they have been married that long. There are lots of moments when I've wondered how did they ever get together and how do they put up with each other. But they still love each other so much and have been a great example for me and my brother. Cary and I tried to come up with something special to do for them on their anniversary but after realizing that it fell on the first day of dove season we knew that it was pointless because my dad wouldn't be available. I jokingly asked my mom how she ever convinced my dad to marry her on the opening day of a hunting season. Making him miss a hunt is almost grounds for divorce at their house so he must have really been in love to agree to that date all those years ago. I did get a DVD made for them with a lot of old pictures from before they were married and early on in their marriage. It turned out really well and I had a blast looking through all their old pictures. My brother looks so much like my dad did when he was younger. Neither of us really look like our mom. I'm so glad that I have the parents that I do and I love them both so much. Probably the best thing that they ever did for me was to always give me anything I needed and never give me everything I wanted. They have given me a strong moral foundation and taught me to value people and not things and for that I will always be grateful. I am the person I am today because of their guidance. So thanks mama and daddy. I hope you have a great anniversary and wish you many more happy years. Happy 35th!

Football Fever

I am officially in the football spirit. I have been looking forward to opening weekend for a while. I LOVE college athletics and there is nothing better than the first weekend of football after waiting the long summer with no college sports to watch. I spent most of Saturday flipping between games and checking scores. (And you wonder why I'm still single...Who wouldn't love a girl who loves football?) I started off watching College Game Day which made me cry most of the morning. They were broadcasting from Virginia Tech and showed many tributes for those who died in the tragedy there. And while I am usually a big supporter of the underdog I just couldn't cheer against Virginia Tech. I'm sure ECU felt like the whole nation was against them. It was nothing personal! And while my Golden Eagles came through the night with ease my Tennessee Vols weren't as fortunate. It was so irritating watching Cal just run the ball at will against them. Where was the defense UT? I hope this isn't a sign of things to come this season for my boys. Which leads me to my next weekend dilemma.....USM travels to Knoxville next weekend to take on Tennessee! These are the 2 teams that I root on every season and never has there been a conflict of interest. They are in separate conferences and play completely different schedules, UNTIL this year. And next weekend they will face off. My loyalties will have to belong to Southern Miss because obviously I went there and have 2 degrees from there and they are the big underdog. But on the other hand if my Vols have any hope of going to a BCS bowl game and making a positive move ahead after this weekend, they can't get beat by an unranked Conference USA team. And while you may be saying there is no way USM even has a chance and I have nothing to worry about as far as post season hopes for UT, stranger things have happened. Just ask Coach Carr and the Michigan faithful. So I guess I will just have to wait and see what happens when my two teams square off but don't worry Trey I know where my heart lies. GO GOLD!