Mint Chocolate Pudding Shots

I made these pudding shots for Thanksgiving and they were sooooo good that I had to share the recipe!

*** Note: I could have SWORN I took a pic of these on Wednesday night when I made them.  In fact, I'm still positive I did but I guess it was an Instagram story that I didn't save?!?  Regardless, I have no pictures so you'll have to take my word that they were pretty damn cute as well as being tasty!

What you need:
1 box chocolate pudding
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup peppermint Schnapps
1 tub Cool Whip

What you do:
Combine pudding mix with milk and Schnapps until thoroughly combined.  Stir in Cool Whip to get a mousse-like consistency.  Spoon the pudding into shooter glasses (this was the toughest part for me.  But only because I kept making a mess, licking my fingers, and ended up tipsy in the process.  Oops.)  I garnished with crushed candy canes because . . . why not?

Make these sometime this holiday season and enjoy!

I tried another new recipe this Thanksgiving that I'll share tomorrow!

Thanksgiving 2016

We had a really great Thanksgiving!

 

We actually decided to stay home this year and, for the first time in my adult life, I HOSTED!  I was so excited!  We decided to stay home because it was the first major holiday in our new home but also because, due to parenting plans and custody and all that, we won't have all five kids for Christmas.  This felt like the chance to "Christmas" without it being December 25th.  And we ended up having a really great time.

 

 

Mark fried the turkey and smoked a ham and also did the gravy and baked a broccoli cauliflower casserole.  Cady brought macaroni and cheese and deviled eggs.  I made dressing, potato casserole, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, sausage balls, rolls, pecan pie, chocolate pie, and a pumpkin poke cake.  My feet hurt like hell after standing up for what felt like two days straight but I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT.

We had a slight incident with the turkey fryer -- there was a leak in the something or other (sorry, I'm not the one who fries the turkey) so we had to run and borrow Russell's, delaying our dinner about an hour.  I told Mark it's not a holiday if you're not running late!

 

We ate good food, drank a lot of wine, and watched football.  Pretty much the perfect Thanksgiving.

 

I also made pudding shots!  And, since I Made them for the kids, had to churn out some for the kiddies too. #Momoftheyear  The kid ones are alllll gone and we still have half of the adult ones.  Ahhh.

 

I love Thanksgiving so much.  It's all my favorite things rolled into one Thursday in November: family, friends, food, fun, and FOOTBALL.  We indulged more of that football on Friday by going to the Memphis/ Houston game.

 

Tickets were dirt cheap so we ended up with ahhhhmazing seats.

 

It was easily the best game I've seen in college football this season.  SUCH a great game.

 

 

Best part of it?  Memphis won!  Woo Hoo!

Hey, Derek Mason, WHO is the best team in Tennessee?!?  WE own this state!

After the game, we came home and watched the Hogs lose (*eye roll*), Mark and I both took long naps, and I sent the kids to bed early because they were being a-holes (#realtalk.)

The rest of our weekend was spent watching football and decorating for Christmas (more on that later this week - maybe/ hopefully.)  We went over to Russell's for a bit on Saturday to watch the Iron Bowl.

 



There's a chance Russell had all my kids screaming, "WAR EAGLE!"

Sunday was more decorating, more football, and a heartbreaker of a Bears game.  Wow!

This week is going to be interesting . . . my last week before finals and Mark is traveling all week.  Ahhh, pray for me!

B-E-A-UTIFUL Tennessee!

A couple months ago we were over at Russell and Kathy's house when Kathy pulled me aside and told me Russell's 50th was coming up in November and she wanted to take him on surprise trip . . . and wanted us to join them.

 

Miracles happened and we were able to secure sitters.  Friday morning, we set out . . . Gatlinburg bound!

 

I took this picture through the sunroof on the way.  Dem trees, doh!

 

Y'all.

 

We laughed SO HARD the whole way there.

 

It's about a 6.5 hour drive, made longer by the potty breaks, time change, and traffic, and we seriously had so much fun.

 

Kathy booked our cabin off of VRBO - a place called "A Tree Top View" and WOW.  It was something else.  My boyfriend is still is a little boy at heart and ran straight for the arcade.  ;)

 

The cabin was decorated beautifully.  Oh my, it was SO amazing.  The guys tried their hands at playing pool but, uh, there was no chalk (more on that later!)

 

We arrived after dark so when I woke up Saturday morning, I was AMAZED by our view.

Oh. Em. Gee.

 

This is from our living room window!!!

We went to breakfast on Saturday morning, for the life of me I can't remember the name of the place.  I had an omelet with biscuits and gravy and Mark had the chicken fried steak and eggs with grits.  The omelet was mediocre and the steak a little underdone but that biscuits and gravy?!?!  Jesus take the wheel, GOOD EFFING STUFF.

We hit up the grocery store after breakfast then made our way back to the cabin.  We spent the rest of the afternoon watching football and eating and, basically, doing whatever we would've done if we'd been in Memphis.  Ha!  But it was SUCH a more awesome view!

 

I MEAN!

 

Mark grilled Saturday night - the BEST bacon wrapped pork loin!  Kathy made a banana pudding instead of a birthday cake.  Arkansas won, Auburn won.  We were all in bed before 10.  It was kinda amazing. 

 

Sunday morning(ish), we got up and got ready to find a bar that had Sunday Ticket so Mark could watch his Bearssss.

 

We started off at a place called Drafts.  It was nice enough (and the food was really good!) buuuuut . . . it was soon taken over by a Pop Warner football team and their families, which kinda killed our vibe.  We decided to head to another place, Puckers, at halftime.  This bar had Sunday Ticket but they REFUSED to turn on the Bears game!  It was the most bizarre thing . . . like, they legit did not care at all about customer service.  (There were five games on at the time and, like, 20 TV's in this bar!)  (And, also, this is the place where Mark, um, "borrowed" some chalk that we took back to our pool table . . . ) So, obvs, we left and went next door to a place called . . . wait for it . . . HOGG'S!!!!!

They did not have Sunday Ticket (wahhhh!) but we had the best time hanging out and people watching.  It was too fun.

After we had our fill of shootin' the shit there, we headed back to the cabin.  This cabin had SO MUCH that it was hard to make use of our of three nights: hot tub, arcade, pool table, media room, fire pit.  We decided to light up the fire pit Sunday afternoon and it was AMAZING.  We kept saying, "we should get in the hot tub" and, yet, never moved from the fire.  It was awesome.

 

We decided to do Russell's birthday dinner Sunday night and headed to Cherokee Grill and here is where I serve up some REAL TALK.

On the way home yesterday, Kathy asked, "after we got back to the cabin yesterday, did y'all get in the hot tub?"
*Mark and I look at each other*
"Uhhhhh . . . ."
Mark, "I was so shit canned, all I remember is waking up this morning,"

Then.  THEN.  Kathy mentions that we all took Fireball shots and, holy shit, no wonder we don't remember that night!  And keep in mind, we were celebrating a 50th birthday.  Who says the middle aged set can't have fun?!?

We headed home Monday morning and that ROYALLY SUCKED.  We kept talking about what a great trip it was - AND IT WAS! - but we seriously needed a few more days.  And that brings me to something I'm SUPER thankful for: a couple that we can travel with!  Wow, did we have such a great time (so much that we were ready to add another day or two on to the trip!)

I sincerely hope Russell had a great birthday weekend (and by everything he said, yes, YES, he did!) because we had a freaking blast!  Can't wait to head back to Gatlinburg!

90 Day Fiance: Estupido Americano!

You guys, I'm so into this show.  I don't even call it a guilty pleasure anymore.  It's a straight up pleasure.  I've even fallen down the past season rabbit holes of Danielle and Mo and Melanie and Devar.  Thank you, TLC, for giving me this glorious trainwreck of a show in an election year! 

Mark was in Minneapolis the first half of the week.  Which sucked.  Except that I was able to lay in bed with my wine and cheese and catch up on my reality TV.  Ahhhhh.

Here we go . . .

** SPOILERS if you're not caught up **

Chantel and Pedro

I was over them until Pedro called his mother and she referred to Chantel's parents as "estupido Americano!"  You tell them madre de Pedro! 

Every time I saw them on the screen I wanted to yell, "Run Pedro!"  Chantel is such an immature brat and maybe, at 24, you think the sex is good enough that it's worth putting up with that but, eh, it's not.  RUN PEDRO!

By now we know that Pedro did not, in fact, run and these two were hitched on their last episode. Of course, not before printing a pre-nup off the internet to appease Chantel's parents.  Because, obviously, a fill-in-the-blank print out from the world wide web is totes worth the paper it's printed on.  Not much to say about the wedding.  We all knew her family was going to show up the whole time.  Chantel's dress was too tight.  Why did the bishop have an iPad?  What happened to a good old fashioned Bible?  Oh, and Kid and Play River?  Get over yourself.

These two actually do seem to love each other (or is it, as Chantel's dad said, puppy love?) and, who knows, maybe it'll all work out after they grow up a little.  One thing is for sure: they'll make some beautiful babies.

Matt and Alla

Well.  Now we officially all know why Matt has been married and divorced three times.  It has little to do with him being a doofus (even a doofus can be lovable!) and much more to do with the fact that his friends and family are horrible, horrible people.  Let's do a break down of the people in Mark's life:

Patrick - What an absolute awful, horrible, miserable person.  Not only does he force a meth-head day girl stripper on his "best friend" (who was cringing away in horror the entire time) but he goes out of the way to insult his "best friend's" fiancé.  He grills Alla about things that are, frankly, none of his business.  If he's upset that Matt is on marriage #4 then he needs to take that up with MATT and not ALLA.  Not only that but he's not sure he won't object at their wedding?  Say whaaaa?  Is this guy in love with Matt or what?

Other friends and brothers - While not as vile as Patrick, they're sleazy and gross for participating in the bachelor party that Matt clearly wanted no part of.

Merry Ann - This woman comes across as a unicorn, a coddler of her son, and Matt's biggest fan.  But who else thinks the previous wives probably all met an untimely demise that also happened to coincide with bumper damage on Merry Ann's car?

Poor Alla.  She has admitted that she doesn't love Matt.  Which seems heinous and unforgivable to those of us in the western world.  But it's actually pretty common in eastern Europe, that a marriage begins out of mutual respect and affection and love develops over time.  The problem with this, though, is that Matt desperately wants love and Alla can't give that to him now.  Not to mention, settling down with him means putting up with his asshole friends and the very real possibility of finding herself chained to the radiator in Merry Ann's basement.  They did seem very, very happy at their rehearsal dinner.

This couple will wed and I think they'll probably make it the long haul, as long as Alla can survive his family.

Nicole and Azan - So.  These two have spent a grand total of five weeks together.  They decide to get engaged and immediately after get into another fight.  YOU GUYS, THIS RELATIONSHIP WILL TOTALLY WORK OUT!  I mean, they have zero in common, a major culture clash, and will never agree on religion.  I hear wedding bells!  *Eye Roll*

They're almost too stupid to comment on.  I know a lot of it us due to TLC editing but it's interesting that when Nicole told her family about her trip she didn't mention a camel ride through the Sahara or being proposed to under the desert stars.  No.  Only that Azan would tell her to "STFU" (something we never heard on the show.)  She also failed to mention how she shoved him against a van, demanded he show her affection in public, and provoked an argument with him over why she (a non-Muslim!) couldn't go into a mosque. 

Yeah, this is totally gonna work out.  Nods head.

MAJOR, MAJOR props to Nicole's mom for refusing to be a co-sponsor for Azan's K1 visa.  Though I do fear the ultimate Estupido Americano (that's you, Nicole) will use her daughter as a pawn in order to force her mother into the sponsorship.

Final prediction: These two never see each other again.  Azan will decide Canada looks much more appealing when it comes to Green Card wrangling and Nicole never leaves the trailer park.

Narkiya and Lowo - Narkiya is so stupid that it physically pains me.  Also physically painful?  Their, um, "affection" at the airport in Vietnam.

She's actually so stupid that I'm just bored with them.  She obviously wants to get married so bad that she's over looked these humongous, gigantic red flags that are literally right in front of her face.  Let's see . . .

- He lied to her about where he was living
- He lied to her and told her that his babymama was DEAD
- He repeatedly used the term "babymama"
- He "lost his phone" when he went to his visa appointment
- He needed her to push the wedding back
- He actually SAID he was pursuing women for a green card.  (But, naturally, happened to fall head over heels for Narkiya)
- She didn't trust him to the point that she took time off work - unpaid - to follow him to Vietnam and make sure he was telling her the truth. (Even a broken clock is right twice a day)
- He told her she couldn't question him and that a Nigerian woman wouldn't do that.

But the kicker, for her, is that he was trying to rekindle things with his "babymama" at the same time he started talking to her.  I mean, she smashed an ice cream in his face at that revelation and I'm just over here like . . . what?  Most adults date around before their exclusive with someone.  And, honey, this is an internet relationship that began when the man TOLD YOU HE WAS A NIGERIAN PRINCE.  I have some ocean front property to sell this broad . . .

Narkiya is stupid enough that these two might just end up actually get hitched.  I kinda doubt it but who knows.

Jorge and Anfisa - Tell me one person who is stupider than Narkiya.  Just one.  Jorge?  Got that right.

Anfisa is up front with Jorge that she's with him for this money and when he tries to act like a wounded puppy dog, she turns it on him with a "well, you wouldn't be with me if I was fat and ugly."  Touche, Anfisa, touche.  She's right but that's only part of his stupidity.

The woman made him sleep in his car, pings his phone just to annoy him (CHANGE YOUR DAMN PASSWORDS, JORGE!), ruins a business transaction for him, repeatedly picks arguments, and KEYS HIS DAMN CAR.  And then she's able to make it all better by "going through the trouble" to make reservations at a restaurant wherein she doesn't even really apologizes but just lets Jorge know she'll keep putting out until she's been with him long enough to ride the alimony pony away with her green card. 

I can't wait to see the faces of Lourdes and the other sisters when they realize their brother is actually marrying this trainwreck.

So, yeah, I think they'll get married.  Also, I'm off to pitch my idea about "murderous mail order brides" to the ID channel . . .

Post Election Thoughts

If you know me at all, then you know I'm most certainly NOT a Hillary Clinton supporter.  This election made me sad and angry and, when I went to the polls, I voted for a third party candidate (which I could do with clear conscience since I live in a very red state.)  However, I woke up around 4:00 last Wednesday morning, saw the results, and instantly broke into tears.  I was devastated.  A few hours later, I went to wake up the kids.  My child who was the most into the election immediately asked me, just as he does when he has to go to bed during a football game, "Who won?"  When I told him, he cried.

People are not shedding tears over this election because they're sore losers or crybabies or members of the participation trophy generation who can't get over defeat.  People are genuinely scared of what this means for our nation, for our friends who are slightly different from us.  People are upset and angry that half the nation either ignored or embraced the crass, disgusting filth that came out of the mouth of the man they elected. 

One thing that bothers me the most is declarations that the Trump presidency is a win for Christianity.  *Record screech*  Wait, what, hold up.  The Trump presidency might be a win for the pro-life movement (though I can guaran-damn-tee you that Ruth Bader Ginsburg is going to will herself to live until she's 110) but it was hardly a win for Christianity.

I mean, we're talking about a man who bragged about having affairs, who has been married three times, jokes around about sexual assault, brags about hitting on married women, lusts after both flesh and money.  All Christians fall and fail but to say that a man with his past (and, let's be real his present) is a win for Christianity is a slap in the face to Christians.  And let's not forget, I don't believe the man has ever once claimed to be a Christian.  He's just not a half-black dude with a Muslim sounding name . . .

I want to talk about the pro-life thing for a minute.  Let me begin by saying that I do not agree with abortion being used as a means of birth control.  However, there are so many gray areas and it terrifies me to think of what could happen if Roe v. Wade is overturned.  For that to happen, we HAVE to teach more comprehensive sex education and the religious right have to learn that "just don't do it" is NOT WORKING.  We are sexual beings.  We were made that way.  And people are going to have sex regardless of whether or not they're married.  Further, we have to provide more affordable birth control options and education about said options.  We have to do a complete overhaul of the foster and adoption systems.  And we have to be prepared with social programs to help feed, clothe, and educate.  In a perfect world, every child would be wanted and born into a loving family.  But we live in a very flawed and very imperfect world.

The thing that scares me the most, though, about Roe being overturned is all those many, many gray areas.  One of the most pro-life and Christian women I know lost a (very, very wanted and prayed for) pregnancy and the baby was lodged in one of her fallopian tubes.  In the beginning, she did not know if the baby was actually still alive in her tube and was faced with the very real fear of what to do if it was. My point is: not every abortion occurs because Sally the Slut "couldn't keep her legs closed" and got knocked up.  Women get pregnant from rape.  Women have to terminate because their own lives are at stake and they need to be around for the children they already have.  THAT is what terrifies me about overturning Roe and putting medically NEEDED abortions in the hands of a hospital board. 

Beyond that, it's just all . . . sad.  It's sad that so many people in our country are to this point.  Most people I know personally who voted for Trump are not overtly racist or misogynistic.  They voted for him because they're either pro-life or they're tired of the Clintons.  Which, okay, fine, I get that.  I expect conservative people to vote for the candidate who says they're conservative.  But I feel like so many of these people cast that vote because they're in their bubble of white Christian privilege.  I mean, Trump wasn't saying he wanted to ban all Christians from coming into our country.  I mean, they're white so they don't have to worry about his supporting of the "stop and frisk" policy.  I mean, they're straight so they don't have to worry their marriage might be in jeopardy (don't EVEN get me started on LGBT who voted for this vile man.)  I mean, they didn't get drug here illegally by their parents at the age of four and may now get sent back to a land they don't remember or know and torn away from their families.  I mean, they don't have a disability or a child with a disability so was it really that big of a deal that Trump mocked the disabled reporter?  I mean, it's just locker room talk.  Jesus talked about loving your neighbor.  Growing up in church, I was taught JOY (Jesus, Others, Yourself.)  Yet, it seems the "yourself" came first in this election and there wasn't a lot of empathy - let alone love - for our neighbors.

Finally, I'm just really damn angry about this whole thing.  The Democrats gave us one of the most polarizing, controversial, disliked candidates.  The Republicans - the Republicans had John Kasich! - ignored all their other choices and gave us Trump.  The man who is repaying favors and bringing trash like Bannon to the White House.  The man who is "draining the swamp" by filling his cabinet with 99% politicians and former politicians.  That's hardly draining, Mr. Trump, that's replacing the gators with crocodiles.  The man who has bullied and provoked repeatedly.  And we now have him running our country.  God help us all.

Beat USF!

We started Saturday off with a little soccer and a little basketball.  K's team won 5-1 and Kyan's 22-12.  He scored two points and had more assists and rebounds than anyone else on his team!  He's one of the smallest on his team, and definitely the scrawniest, but he has a TON of heart and always wants to do his very best.

 

 

After their games, we went home and got ready for a little MEMPHIS TIGER football. 

We decided earlier in the week to head out to Tiger Lane to tailgate.  I've tailgated there before - earlier this year for the Liberty Bowl - but never for a Memphis game.  It wasn't as big as an SEC tailgate or anything but still so much fun.  The kids ran into several friends from school, played two hand touch, and jumped on the bounce houses.

 

So, we caravanned over to the game with Russell and a couple buddies of his.  We crashed their tailgate and Mark kept calling Anthony to try to find out where he was.  Turns out . . . his tailgate was right next to where we were. But it seriously took us nearly an hour to figure that out.  Ha!

 

Check out the moon!

We had every intention of going to the game but . . . well, shit happens.  We had some drama with the girls and I was pretty upset.  Then, we couldn't leave our coolers with the people we were tailgating with.  In the end, we decided just to pack it up and go home.  So that's exactly what we did, with three crying kids in tow.  Ahhhh.  Good times.  (Really, though, we had a blast tailgating until the final half hour!)

 

We came home and watched the Razorbacks lose and some more crazy ass results in college football.  What the heck happened last weekend, NCAA?!?!  2016, thou are drunk, go home.

 

Sunday morning we were up bright and early.  Mark's brother and family were in middle Tennessee so we headed a little ways up I-40 to meet them for brunch.  I found a restaurant called "Patty's" in Wildersville that had good reviews on Yelp so we decided to meet there.  Um, probably one of the best decisions ever.

 

Mark and I both chose the buffet -- which had meatballs, fried chicken, pork chops, mashed potatoes, macaroni, fried cauliflower, four kinds of veggies, rolls, and three different desserts, plus a little salad bar.  It was only $9.99.  And, wow, was it some of the best southern home cooking I've had in a long, long time.  Still dreamin' about that macaroni . . .

 

We had such a nice little visit.  It's always good to see family and we had a great time catching up with them.

 

We came home, watched the Bears lose ("Jay Cutler gave them at least eight points!  Eight!  He just gave them away!"), the Broncos win, and then watched one hell of a Cowboys game.

 

We may only have one official Cowboys fan in the house but we're all on TEAM DAK!  SEC boy. ;)

That's a wrap on a thoroughly exhausting - but so fun - three day weekend.

Patriotism and Sleepovers

I haven't felt much like blogging lately.  I'm way too obsessed with looking up Biden memes.

 

These are giving me LIFE right now.  I think they are for most people.

 

In all actuality, life has been really hectic lately.  And, honestly, it feels like the thunderstorm before the tornado for me because I have finals looming.  Ahhhhh. Taking things one day at a time and counting down until early December when finals are over.

 

I carved out a few minutes to find time to write.  Mainly because, in addition to being hectic, life is also really, really fun right now.  I want to record these days.  I want to remember them.

 

The kids had a three day weekend but Thursday might as well have been a holiday too.  The kids had "I Love America" at school, something that is a HUGE, HUGE deal.  They do a program for veterans, a big school wide picnic, then follow everything up with a parade.  Families are encouraged to attend and it's just a really big thing.  I wasn't able to be there for the entire day but did make it to the parade.  Both boys marched with other kids from their classes.

 

During the parade, the girlchild and I stood with Karis and her class.  J marched at the very beginning so he came to join us pretty quickly.  When the class representing Wisconsin marched by, they were all decked out in Green Bay Packers gear.  This led to J shouting, "Booo!  Go Bears!" which then led to the entire class on the other side of the street from us booing.  Ahhhhh.  That kid!

It really was a fun day and I was so glad I made it for the parade.  Maybe next year, I can arrange things where I can be there for the entire day.

 

Since the kids didn't have school on Friday, Avery came over for a sleepover Thursday night.  Karis has been DYING to have a sleepover so she was super, super excited. 

The girls played, laughed, watched princess movies, dressed up, and stayed up late. Karis INSISTED on dragging a billion blankets into the living room and camping out in front of the TV.  The boys didn't want to be left out so they crashed on the couches.

Friday afternoon I took Avery home and the kids jumped on the trampoline for a while.  I promise J is happier than he looks!  He'd been begging to go over there and jump for months.

 

Friday night, Karis and J went with their dad so they could easily get to soccer the next morning.  We only had two kids, which was really weird.  Russell came over and we grilled burgers.  Oh, and this happened . . .

It was 62* and these two jumped in the pool.  Polar plunge!  And, yes, we realize we're parents of the year.

Saturday and Sunday were a blast too -- I'll post about that tomorrow!

I Love America Day

I spent a majority of yesterday just grieving.  Grieving the fact that we have elected Donald Trump as our next president and also grieving the fact that so many of my fellow Americans would willingly vote for someone so blatantly racist, homophobic, and misogynistic.  The Bible tells us to "love one another" and yet conservative Christians willingly voted for - and BOASTED of said voting for - a candidate who has built his platform upon hating our fellow man.  I grieve for my all those who are now feeling real, legitimate fear: the LGBT community, Muslims, Latinx, women of any color, those who cannot afford healthcare without ACA.  I grieve for all of them and I fear for all of them.

Today is my kids' school's "I Love America" day.  It's a big deal and it's been hyped up since the beginning of the school year.  The irony of such a day wasn't lost on me in the midst of my grieving.  If I'm being completely honest, I wasn't feeling a whole lot of love for my country yesterday.  It was a mix of other emotions.

Fear.
Disgust.
Embarrassment.
A little angry.

But I had to remind myself of something.

Over the past couple months in our home, we've completely outlawed the phrases "you hate me" or "you don't love me."  If a child says either one while they're getting in trouble then the punishment will be larger.  Why?  Because you can be angry with someone and still love them.

That's how I choose to feel about my country today.

I'm angry at the Democratic party for giving us a candidate so thoroughly crooked and unlikeable.  I'm angry at the Republican party for volleying back with the most disgusting, vile, and inexperienced candidate in history.  I'm angry at my fellow Americans who supported Trump.  I'm angry at conservative Christians who overlooked extremely un-Christlike behavior and voted for Donald Trump because he told them he was pro-life.  I'm angry that I can't tell my girls that yes, being more qualified totally means you'll get the job over a man.  Yeah, mama ain't happy today.

But I still dressed my kids up in their red, white, and blue.  My J will proudly be marching in the parade with members of his class.  If we go to the University of Memphis football game this weekend, I'll stand and put my hand over my heart for the national anthem.  When the Fourth of July rolls around, I'll eat all the barbecue and drink all the beer and get all the tears in my eyes while watching fireworks. 

I'm so, so fearful of the next four years.  I'm embarrassed at what my fellow Americans have done.  I'm mad as hell at my country.  But I still love it.