Three for Sixty Three

Three for No. Sixty Three: The Oxford, Mississippi Edition


Last weekend I went to Oxford, Mississippi, home of the University of Mississippi and Miss Bunny.
It was the end of Greek Rush and my intent was to be there for the joyful reveal of Bunny's new Greek home.

HA!

Bunny, in the gray tank, waving and smiling, 

right before her hopes and dreams were shattered. 

Not how it turned out at all. Instead, Bunny was horribly horribly disappointed and heart broken (which in turn meant I was horribly horribly heart broken for my baby girl) and we ate our way through the remaining portion of my visit in order to soothe our shattered psyches.

But at least I got in three new restaurants. (Always a silver lining!)

Sunday night when we were totally in the depths of despair, we went to The Oxford Grillehouse. On the square in downtown Oxford, with cloth napkins, it was our fancy shmancy comfort meal.
I neglected to get pictures of my food but here's one from their website. Bunny and I both had the filet mignon. O. My. Goodness. Like buttah.

Pretend this was mine...soooooo yummy. 

Photo from Oxford Grillehouse website. 

I don't eat a lot of steak and I sure don't cook it anymore- mainly because it always ends up tough or under done for the "please burn it" crew or overdone for me. But this. This steak was to die for. Thick, perfectly cooked and tender as a newborn baby. (Not that I eat newborn babies, but, you know.)   Bunny was on a carb loading bender and had a baked potato PLUS French Fries with her dinner. I opted for a slightly healthier salad with asparagus as my side. Not a cheap meal...we came in right at $100 bucks for the two of us, but we had planned to celebrate and since there was nothing to celebrate, we commiserated instead. In style.


Monday morning, well, teenage morning which was closer to noon, found us at Big Bad Breakfast.
Tucked away in a strip center in an out of the way part of Oxford, this tiny place promised to start our day off right. And it did. Eggs Benedict for me (The Pel-Egg-Can Brief on the menu) and a Big Bad Breakfast Plate for Bunny.

Not my photo, but this was my breakfast.

Photo from Trip Advisor/BBB. 

 The Tabasco brown sugar bacon was sweet and spicy at the same time and sinfully thick cut.  Eggs were perfectly done. The orange juice was fresh squeezed. We were happy. So happy Bunny required a T-shirt to commemorate the meal.

Bunny and friends-
she is sporting her new T.

Monday evening, after a day spent in the dorm laundry room and then the Oxford laundromat, we had sufficiently recovered our appetites to head to South Depot Taco Shop. I know, I know. HOW could we eat anything more at this point? It was a challenge but we persevered. Also on the Square, it was set up like every other burrito/taco shop out there.  We got in line, specified our choice of flour or corn tortillas and then picked our ingredients for fillings. I had tacos, Bunny went for the burrito.  Of course I had to try the chips and queso AND the guacamole. The first two got my approval. I'm pretty picky about guac and this was a little bland for my taste. But FRESH! So brownie points for that.

Chicken taco with salsa verde.

Yum.

I waddled onto the plane on Tuesday, easily a few pounds heavier.  The trip did not turn out as I had planned, but we did enjoy our meals.  And I must say, for a small town, Oxford does not disappoint in the restaurant department. Just don't expect anything diet.  THAT doesn't seem to exist there.

Not that I was complaining.

Plus I did get to add three more restaurants to No. 63: Try at least 12 new restaurants in 2016.

1-2-3 Go!

1-2-3 Go!  Evacuating as an art form. 


Last summer I looked out the cabin window and saw this:

That's smoke billowing up from a forest fire about 10 miles from the cabin.

I did what any sane person would do. Packed the car, booked the kennel for Carlos and left town.
About halfway to Denver, my friend that I was going to stay with called me. While I had asked her if I could come, I neglected to tell her I was actually on the way.
Details.
Fortunately she welcomed me with open arms.
I spent the night in Denver and had a lovely visit with my friend. The next morning I went to Colorado Springs and had lunch with another friend. Then I headed back to the cabin, after being reassured that the fire was being held at bay.


You know that saying "like mother, like daughter"?

Guess who got to evacuate last week?
Belle.

Belle lives near West Palm Beach in Florida, which just happened to be where the weather prognosticators were betting on Hurricane Matthew to make landfall. (Well, one of the spots. I'd love to have the job security of a weather forecaster. Wrong half the time and still they keep their jobs.)

So basically she was looking out her window at this. Ok, looking at her TV....

The Grinch of Hurricanes

We had talked about evacuating over the previous weekend and, being a Texas girl experienced in hurricane hoopla, she had said "Nah! We're staying."  Her room mate however had other ideas. Being a Colorado girl, totally NOT experienced in the ways of hurricanes, she was a nervous wreck. 

Then the hurricane turned a bit, looking like it would actually hit Florida rather than the run up the side of it. 

That sealed the deal. I told her if she was evacuating, to do it early. I've seen hurricane gridlock and it is neither pretty nor fun. Wednesday evening about 10:30pm she called me. Should we go? Um. I thought you were already on the road. Yes, go. If it isn't raining, go now. 

The good thing about being a bartender is you tend to be a night owl. Those girls loaded up the car and headed out, driving all night. They called about 4:30am on Thursday from Tallahassee. After checking online and getting nowhere they did what any kid would do...call mom. I also checked online and then started calling the hotel 800 numbers. Florida is sold out. Georgia is sold out. All the coastal people are moving inland. How about Mobile, Alabama? 

They decided on Montgomery, Alabama. It was only another 3 or 4 more hours. Even better, it was only about 4 more hours from the little sister. 

I spoke to the nicest, nicest hotel reservation agent at the Hilton. Booked the Hilton Garden Inn in Montgomery at a discounted rate for the girls and the little dog. No dogs allowed at the hotel but because it was a special circumstance, they were making exceptions for the evacuees. 

Friday morning they headed to Oxford, Mississippi to see Bunny at Ole Miss.  It was a surprise. And thank goodness there was not a football game. Hotel rooms are hard to come by on a game weekend there. The Marriott accepted dogs but they were full. The Hampton had rooms but were not as agreeable about the dog. I guess two states away is a bit far to use the "evacuation" excuse for a break. 

BUT!  Someone suggested I call the Graduate Hotel in downtown Oxford as they accept dogs. It's also a darling little boutique hotel and I knew it was going to be more money than any of us wanted to spend. A few minutes on the phone with their front desk and I cannot say enough wonderful things. She was so understanding and gave the girls a discounted rate and waived the pet fee. Hallelujah!

So the sister was VERY surprised to have Belle, the room mate AND Dakota waiting for her in her dorm room. 

Happy girls!

They all stayed at the hotel for the night.  The Graduate was declared adorable and so cute and everyone was so sweet. Everyone loved Dakota. There's just something about a tiny three legged dog....

One leg in front works. 

He's a Tri-Pawed.

By Saturday morning Matthew had moved on out of Florida leaving relatively little damage. Girls and dog headed home. They made a stop in Orlando to visit with a friend and have dinner, then on to the house. 1:30am arrival.  Belle's room mate drove the whole way back - she's a beast. 

900 miles. Each way.

1800 miles in 72 hours. 

O! To be young. 

And their house? Nothing. No damage. No trees down. No alligators waiting in their beds. The electricity had gone out for a bit, nothing more. 

This evacuation thing is getting to be a trend. 

•••••••••••

And just my two cents but here's two words....Global Warming. 

I've lived sixty years without ever having to evacuate from any place. Now in less than six months two of the five people in this family have had to leave home.   The forest fire was the result of a lightning strike and then fueled by dry weather and high winds. Hurricane Matthew was a Category 5 hurricane. That's as big as they get. Weather extremes are becoming more and more common.

What to do? I don't know. 

But I think this is a trend. 

Practice your packing. 

••••••••

What to pack if you need to evacuate:

Anything you can't bear to lose. (Belle was in a panic because she realized she left her prom dress. That dress has followed her everywhere. It hangs on display in her room. She would have been crushed if some alligator was wearing it now.)

Computers, chargers, laptops. 

Jewelry.

Clothes. The immediate stuff and the hard to replace stuff. 

Prescription medications. Contact lenses and glasses.

Files. At the cabin I have a plastic file case with bills, insurance papers, bank stuff. That came with me. 

PASSPORT. BIRTH CERTIFICATE. SOCIAL SECURITY CARD. LEGAL DOCUMENTS.

Address book if it isn't in your phone. Or if, like mine, it has info that you don't keep in your phone.

THE PETS! Pet shot records. Pet food. Make sure pets are wearing collars with tags and phone numbers. Put your cell phone number on the tag, not the home number. You aren't going to be at home, remember?  Microchip your animals. 

Money. A little cash on hand can come in very handy. 

Photos.   Sentimental items. 

For a more complete list, click here.

And probably the best bit of advice is to stop and think NOW what you would need/want to take if you had to leave your  house tomorrow and possibly never return. You just never know when you might have to leave suddenly, so be a Boy Scout and Be Prepared!

SaveSave

Dorms and Decor

Dorms and Decor....

O goodness.

We moved Miss Bunny into her dorm last week.

Who knew dorm decorating was a competitive sport?

Certainly not me. At least not until I arrived at the Ole Miss campus.   I should have gotten a heads up when Bunny showed me this article regarding...yep...an Ole Miss dorm room.  Here's the room from the article:

A beautiful coordinated dorm room.

Photo by Lindy Goodson, one half of the dorm design duo

and here's the article link.  The two girls did what, it appeared, every other girl in the dorm that Bunny moved into did. They met, they discussed what they wanted their room to look like and then they ordered and planned and shopped.
Bunny and her roommate also met on social media (and then in person) and have been discussing furniture and fabrics since last March. Things slowly started accumulating in the dining room, waiting for school to start. Orders for sheets and comforters (PB Teen)  and headboards (WalMart) were placed, HomeGoods was scouted.  Not a whole bunch of money was spent but the end result was fabulous.

And let me tell you. These dorms need a dose of fabulous.

I confess. I never lived in a dorm during my gazillion years of college attendance.

I'd only been inside one or two-ever- and certainly not an empty one.

When I walked into Bunny's empty dorm room last Wednesday morning all I could think was "This is the most depressing little dungeon I have ever been in."

Before

Peeling and water stained wood cabinets. (Bonus! There was an empty beer bottle in one of the drawers. Were these rooms even cleaned???) Cinder block walls.  Two plastic chairs that cannot be removed from the room.   And bunk beds. (Not bunked, but they could be)

It's a 13'x10' room. With two tiny closets. For two people. For nine months. 

Double the depression.

Honestly. I would have called in a designer if the girls hadn't already done their own thing.


And where will Bunny be calling home?

The finished room.

Not over the top but mighty cute and

a HUGE improvement on the "before" pic.

The Bunny Eye view from the bed.

Not quite done but almost.

And let me say, the girls in the viral photo have gotten a lot of flak about over achieving, going overboard, etc. but guess what? Their room is nothing compared to some of the rooms we saw during move in. A quick survey of maybe 15 rooms on one floor of one dorm on one campus revealed some of the most gorgeous, Pinterest worthy rooms I have ever seen- inside a dorm or out. The viral room above had nothing on most of the other rooms. 

All of the rooms had coordinating headboards, coordinating dust ruffles, coordinating pillows and in many cases, coordinating girls. Quite a few said they had bought their room stuff from last year's residents. Creativity was the order of the day and it was amazing to see how and where refrigerators, microwaves and clothes were all stashed in these tiny tiny rooms. (Bunny's roommate has the fridge stashed underneath her bed.) Most girls mentioned HomeGoods/TJ Maxx as the main source of their decorative items. I.e. These rooms were done on budgets.

So let's think about this.  If these girls can figure out all this before they've ever even spent one night in a room together, think how prepared they are for negotiating the rest of their lives. Bunny lived in Texas. The room mate lived right outside of St. Louis, Missouri. (Albeit actually in Illinois.)   They met briefly for the first time in March when they both went to Mississippi for ONE weekend. But some how, some way, they coordinated an entire room online, showed up on the appointed day with the coordinated stuff and the only duplication they had was TWO microwaves. Unfortunately neither one of those microwaves fit in the intended space even though Bunny swore she had measured, but whatever. The roommate's kind daddy found one that would fit. And I don't know about the roommate, but I do know Bunny spent quite a bit of her own hard earned money for this room decor.

So what's the problem with having a nice room? 

Dorm decorating. Maybe it's a competition but you know what? It's also a life lesson. Think of the negotiating skills! The budgeting knowledge! Problem solving!  

(We ran into a problem with the beds being too low for the fridge to be under one and still open. A trip to WalMart solved that...bed risers.  Then the shelf between the two beds was too low after the beds had been raised. A trip to Home Depot for new legs and a bit of paint solved THAT problem. How do you hang a curtain rod on a cinder block wall? Command strips. There were a lot of critical skills used that day.) 

O!   And best of all? School started Monday and I got a "first day of college" pic.

Look! That room is already a mess.

This Wasn't on the List!

This wasn't on the list!  
(But maybe should have been)

I'm back in Texas to get Bunny off to college. My babyyyyy. Eek! Squeal!
That's why the blog has been silent.

The house is a disaster while she acquires all of the things she MUST have to go school.
"Mom, I don't have any towels yet!"
"I have an idea. Take some towels from the bathroom."
Seriously. Do we HAVE to have monogrammed towels for college? I suggested taking the monogrammed towels we already have that have her siblings' names on them. What's the matter with taking towels that say Belle and Boy? No one will steal them.

Anyway, this is what I arrived home to:

Using all of my restraint, I left it. All of it. Not my mess.

A week later, it looks like this:

Progress.  Still ignoring it. Still not my mess.

I have helped her do the laundry that was on the floor of her room.  
Her sister's room currently looks like this. Please note, the sister does lives in Florida. While Belle was home last week for a few days, she took all of her stuff with her when she left. This is Bunny's adjunct room/closet. All of this is hers. All of this is going to college. She has another room that looks basically the same. Everything in there is going also.

Bunny is doing the classic "spoiling the nest" routine that teenagers do so well. Trashing our house so that we will be eternally grateful when she leaves.  Bless her heart.

Anyway, I'm not sure how two rooms of clothes, bedding, clothes, furniture, clothes, laundry items, clothes and bathroom items (and clothes) will all fit into basically a 9x12 dorm room along with another cute teenage girl who will also be bringing the same amount of crap  personal belongings, but we shall see.

Meantime, I'm off to find a bed safe for the girl. And maybe just a couple more "must haves".
Because.
Like mother, like daughter.

I'm not sure Mississippi is ready for her.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I still need to write about the most interesting part of my trip to Aspen. I had my Tarot cards read. 

I recorded the session and have been listening to it, trying to absorb all that was said. Also have pics of all the cards so that I can refer back to them. That will be next post.

No. 65: Travel to a New State

Thursday, February 4, 2016

No. 65: Travel to a New State and more Reconnecting

No. 65: Travel to a New State (Trying to see how many I can visit)
and More Reconnecting!

Somehow along the way January (and now February) became the poster child for meeting up with friends new and old. This makes me very happy.  I have seen high school friends, bunko friends, neighborhood friends.

This past weekend I managed to travel someplace new AND meet up with some neighbors who moved away from Texas 15 years ago. Winning!

The reason for the out of state visit?  Bunny wanted to see the University of Mississippi, one of the schools that was on her short list for college next year.

So last Thursday Bunny, my bunko and neighbor friend Nancy and her son Cade all headed off on a road trip to Mississippi. It's a long drive. Longer if you stop at the roadside attractions like the chain saw carver in Carthage.

Rick Kuper/ Chainsaw carver

But we made it!

 Thursday night arrival!

Friday morning dawned in Oxford, Mississippi and we were at the University for a tour by 10am.

And....
we were charmed.

What a perfect little college and perfect little college town. Brick buildings. The epitome of Southern style. The quad. The Grove.  The town square. O my.

Gorgeous architecture.

Look at those columns!

Friday night Bunny spent the night in a dorm with a friend and attended a frat party. "Mom, they're just like in the movies! Crammed with people, everyone drinking, it was fun!"

The school tour was so good, we had to go find t-shirts.

While I realize Oxford is not all of Mississippi, that's ok. Looks like I am going to have plenty of opportunity to see the rest of the state in the next few years.

A college decision has been made. Ole Miss it is!

Bunny at the entrance to The Grove.

In her new t-shirt.

Now, to the reconnecting part of the weekend.

From Mississippi we headed to Little Rock, Arkansas- another place I had never been.

And there we met with our old neighbors, Carrie and Bobby.  They used to live two doors down from me and around the corner from Nancy before they moved off to Little Rock.

Our children (their firsts and my last) were born October, November and January, all in a row. So we got the kids back together ....

Bunny, Cade and Grace

(January, October and November)

And enjoyed a wonderful meal with lots of laughing and reminiscing.

Carrie, Nancy, Bobby and Me.

All in all a pretty perfect weekend,
And I visited a state for No. 65.

(Arkansas didn't count as new.  I once spent a weekend in Eureka Springs when my aunt was married in Thorncrown Chapel.)