1. I just found out that James Taylor will be in concert here in Birmingham in November. He is the original JT. DO YOU HEAR ME, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE?

2. There is the slightest hint of a cool breeze during the super early hours of the morning. One day it will be actual fall.

3. Tomorrow (Thursday) night my friend Heather and I are going to see NEEDTOBREATHE and The Oh Hellos. I AM JUST AS TICKLED.

4. This song by The Oh Hellos is called “Dear Wormwood.” I know I’ve linked to it before. But oh my goodness.

5. This past weekend I bought a new hairbrush, so now I get to blow-dry my hair without the threat of the brush handle twisting off. It’s the little things.

6. Last night I spoke at Mountain Brook Baptist Church here in Birmingham. It was their women’s ministry fall kick-off, and their decorations are still making me smile so big.

7. They also had a cowbell on the edge of the podium for me.

8. And there was some Mississippi State stuff in the entry decorations.

9. I felt right at home.

10. My new role at work is harder in some ways than I ever expected, but I love it so much.

11. dotMOM is next weekend in Nashville! We would love for y’all to join us in person or via simulcast. It’s always the most fun. And I can’t wait to see Melanie because we haven’t seen each other since April and five months is too long.

12. College football.

13. There’s a song called “Awesome” on Travis‘ new CD, and I listen to it at least 3 or 4 times a day. Well worth adding to your collection – and playing REALLY loud in your car.

14. The winner of Miss America’s Tuesday night talent preliminary was a ventriloquist.

15. Miss America is this Sunday night, September 14th.

16. That means we’ll have a Miss America viewing party starting at 8pm central right here on the blog.

17. Clearly I am beside myself with joy.

Mama, Daddy, Martha, and five of their favorite cakes and pies arrived at our house about 4:30 Friday afternoon. Hazel wasn’t expecting any company (I must have forgotten to tell her about our weekend plans when I was serving her breakfast that morning), so as soon as Daddy opened our front door, she fully embraced the role of Ferocious Protector Dog of the Universe. She really didn’t bark as much as she hollered, and after Alex and I managed to convince her that THE VISITORS ARE NOT HERE TO HARM US, we somehow got everybody inside and relaxed and settled.

Even Hazel.

Kind of.

We were actually way overdue for a weekend visit with the grandparents. We didn’t intend for it to happen, but between deadlines and summer camps and vacations and whatnot, we weren’t in Mississippi during our summer break nearly as much as we normally are. We kept trying to find little windows for a trip here or there, but our calendars just wouldn’t cooperate. Because of that, Alex was looking forward to some time with his grandparents, not to mention that it’s been a year, probably, since Martha and I made our last trip to the Steinmarts.

(I mean, I’m not saying that the CEO of Stein Mart called me personally or anything like that, but I am saying that earth was in danger of slipping ever-so-slightly off its axis.)

(Why, just think of all the 3/4-sleeve jackets Martha might have missed! Can you imagine? I can’t even imagine! It’s just so hard to imagine!)

I cooked supper Friday night (I made this chicken and asparagus casserole, which is always a hit with Mama and Martha), and after we spent a good hour or hour and a half talking about what all the different churches in my hometown do for their 50-Plus programs and what they cook for Family Night and who spoke at their revival services and why the grass won’t grow in one patch of Martha’s yard (clearly that was a sidebar conversation), I cleaned up the kitchen and climbed in the bed at the wild and crazy hour of 9 o’clock in the PM. I felt a little shamed when I could tell that Martha could’ve talked for 2 or 2 1/2 more hours, but it had been a busy week at work, and I knew that I was going to need all my strength for our Saturday shopping.

It was not going to be my first Steinmart shopping rodeo, you understand.

Saturday morning I woke up pretty early, and after Mama, Martha, and I were all dressed and sufficiently caffeinated and ready to leave the house, Martha quickly reviewed her “like-to-find” list for the day. I’m pretty sure that I’ve mentioned this before, but for Martha the “like-to-find” list is an ever-evolving and changing mental document where she keeps track of various items that, well, she’d like to find when she shops. One day she might like to find a really good brand of pepper jelly, some cute Christmas napkins, and a coral-colored candle. The next day she might like to find a tea cart for her kitchen, a green lamp, and some homemade caramels. Some things stay on the like-to-find list for months before she discovers that elusive something or other, while other things only stay on the list for a few hours before my goodness! have you ever! can you even believe that I’ve found this porcelain elephant / brass dresser pull / filigree liquid soap dispenser?!?! Isn’t that perfectly wonderful? I’m just thrilled! It’s perfectly wonderful!

The like-to-find list for Saturday’s excursion was pretty simple, really: a 3/4 sleeve black knit shirt, two pink hand towels (not hot pink! not fuchsia! a soft pink! but not peach-y pink!), and some Isotoner velcro slippers. I, on the other hand, wanted to look for some clothes for work, and Mama was just happy to be along for the ride. So off we went.

Our first stop was Nordstrom Rack, and while Martha thought they had some cute things! such cute things! some really cute things!, I could tell it wasn’t really her cup of tea since Nordstrom Rack doesn’t typically carry many 3/4 sleeve jackets. I, on the other hand, found three or four cute shirts for work (I am very partial to the Pleione brand and the Daniel Rainn stuff, too), and the only way I can imagine experiencing the same level of enthusiasm that Martha felt about my purchases would be if Mississippi State were to win a national championship in football. Three years in a row.

We eventually left Nordstrom Rack, went to Kohl’s (hoping to find the elusive pink hand towels, but no), then Zaxby’s (Mama and Martha think their chicken tenders are OUT OF THIS WORLD), and then to the mothership, Stein Mart. Neither Mama nor Martha made it more than a foot inside the front doors before they were completely captivated by a display of decorative wheat, and I was so tickled that I just stood there and watched them. I have no idea if I’ll make it to my 80s or not, but if I do, I pray that I won’t be able to take more than four steps inside a Stein Mart before I am absolutely bowled over by a set of bookends or a ceramic doorstop or an artful arrangement of artificial fall leaves.

It was no time at all before Martha found a black 3/4 sleeve black knit top, at which point she looped around the store until she found me next to a rack of wide-legged pants and asked if I thought her top was too long to tuck in. As someone who has not tucked in a shirt since 2002, I didn’t feel I was qualified to rule on the tuck-in matter at hand, but Martha finally determined that it would be fine to blouse the shirt over the waistband of her pants since that would still allow for a clean line under her jacket sleeves.

So obviously I was relieved that we solved that pressing issue.

By the time we left Stein Mart we’d worn Mama out, so we ran her back to the house before we went to Target, where Martha bought a hand towel in the perfect shade of pink (not sure why she opted for one instead of two), and I bought some ketchup and a hairbrush (listen. I know that nobody cares. but I have officially crossed over to the land of TOO MANY DETAILS). Afterwards we went to the grocery store, where Martha was thrilled to find some Mrs. Meyer’s countertop spray and probably could have inspected the bulk items in the bin section for another half hour if I hadn’t needed to get home and start supper.

So then we drove home and I cooked supper and David cleaned up the kitchen and we all watched football.

And then today we ate lunch at Chuy’s. Mama ordered a grilled chicken salad that I didn’t even know Chuy’s offered (but she said it was absolutely delicious), and Martha ordered the stacked enchiladas. When they brought our food to the table, Alex leaned over to me and said, “Mama. As soon as Martie sees hers? She’s gonna say, ‘THESE PORTIONS!'” – but Martha responded with admirable reserve. She just said that it looked delicious, which it did.

Our people went home after lunch, and even though we were sad to see them go, it was mighty nice to have them here.

I just hate that Martha never found those velcro Isotoner slippers.

I guess they’ll be at the top of the like-to-find list the next time she’s here.

We just got home from our first 5th grade football game, and I’m trying to process a LOT of information right now. Mainly I’m trying to figure out how the kids look so big and so little ALL AT THE SAME TIME out on that field. I’m also feeling a little nostalgic because tonight we sat next to my friend Alison, and I remembered that about 11 1/2 years ago she sat across from me at a Mexican restaurant – when I was so pregnant I was about to pop – and told me that she was expecting a baby, too. Now our two “babies” are on the same football team together, which is the strangest thing because I feel like we were sitting in that Mexican restaurant oh, I don’t know, about eight months ago.

Crazy. Time is crazy.

Anyway, now I need to “wash clothes” if I plan to have “something clean” to “wear to work” tomorrow, but I wanted to make sure to share this video because, well, it’s so stinkin’ good. Some of y’all know that last week our pastor announced that he is leaving our church to become president of the International Mission Board, and this past Sunday he shared how he and his sweet wife Heather gradually became aware of what God was calling them to do. It’s the most tender, encouraging account of the deeply personal ways that God works in our lives – through the Holy Spirit, Scripture, and other believers – and I just think this message is a gift for those of us who tend to overthink and over question every single decision that we make.

I mean, I’ve heard that some people do that. I’ve never had any first-hand experience with that, of course.

Anyway. There’s just something so powerful about hearing someone else’s story, and I thought some of y’all might enjoy hearing this one. It’s beautiful.

If for some reason you can’t get the embedded video to work (keep in mind that it may take a minute or two to load), you can click here and watch it on the Brook Hills website.

Happy Wednesday, everybody.

Considering that this is our first podcast of the 2014 college football season, it’s really no wonder that we spend a chunk of time talking about, well, college football.

However, it might be a wonder that we manage to talk about anything else. Somehow, though, we covered Melanie’s bathroom remodel, the joys and perils of writing books, the latest developments with our eyelashes, the joys of 40-something eyesight, and some recent beauty product finds.

So basically we’re solving all the world’s most important problems.

Now please do enjoy.

You can click here to listen. Or here. You can even listen right here.

Or, as always, you can subscribe on iTunes if you’re feeling particularly fancy.

Happy Labor Day, y’all!

I realize that most people are probably sick to death of hearing about how I haven’t finished my book yet (assuming that anyone is actually, you know, reading here anymore, especially given my sporadic posting over the last three months). I’ve been sick of it, too, mainly because I feel like the process has dragged out for SO STINKIN’ LONG. I could probably list 15 reasons why the time factor was way more challenging with this one – starting with the fact that I wasn’t doing any speaking stuff when I wrote the first one – but the fact of the matter is that none of the reasons really matter anymore because last night around 10:30 I finished the last of the edits.

ALL THE WAY FINISHED.

WITH THE WHOLE THING.

It occurred to me this morning that when I finished A Little Salty…, my fellas and I high-fived and whooped and celebrated. But when I finished Home is Where My People Are, I put my head down on the kitchen table and bawled my eyes out.

AND IT IS DONE.

So today has been a pressure-free delight. Our next door neighbor came over this morning to play with Alex, so I turned on GameDay, and I planned out a menu for the week (last time that happened: I DON’T EVEN KNOW), and then I went to the grocery store. I made lunch right here in my very own kitchen (as opposed to, for instance, the inside of Chipotle), and then I took a nap. The fellas left to run some errands while I was asleep, and I slept so hard that I had no idea where I was when I woke up.

So that was delightful.

And now, of course, we are AWASH in football. We’ve watched Auburn and Arkansas and Alabama and West Virginia and we’re about to watch my beloved Mississippi State Bulldogs play Southern Miss. The last time State and Southern Miss played was 1990, and when State scored at the end of the 4th quarter to win the game, students started throwing EVERYTHING. I was at the game with my friend Bubba, and as we were jumping up and down and up and down and up and down, we heard a loud “THUD” and realized that I’d been hit in the head by a very large (and thankfully empty) liquor bottle.

Sweet memories.

Anyway, we’re not in Starkville for the game today, but we’re about to tune in to the SEC Network and watch and eat supper and hopefully cheer the ‘Dogs on to victory.

Thanks for all your sweet emails and prayers and encouraging comments – I am so grateful for them and for y’all and for the Lord being sweet enough to give me some words. And now that the book is finished, we have all the time and bloggy space we need to talk about snack crackers and music and TV and dips and and wide-legged pants and whatnot.

You have no idea how happy I am about that.

Hope y’all are having a great weekend!

In no particular order:

1. I finished writing the book, OH HALLELUJAH.

2. Now I’m editing the book – and about four chapters from the end.

3. The editing process is my favorite part – I LOVE IT SO.

4. This time around, though, I have been a little emotional during editing.

5. And by “a little,” I mean, “CAN SOMEONE PLEASE GET ME SOME TISSUES?”

6. Alex is playing football this year.

7. In the past I kind of decided that I just wasn’t much of a sports mama, that I wasn’t nearly as obsessed with whatever he was playing as I thought I would be.

8. Make no mistake: FOOTBALL HAS CHANGED ALL OF THAT.

9. What makes it the most fun, though, is how much our little guy loves his team. There’s kind of a neat story about all of that, but I think I’ll wait until the end of the season and maybe let Alex tell it. David and I have been so proud of him.

10. Friday afternoon I drove to Memphis and went to Living Proof Live with Emma Kate.

11. I can’t even write about it yet. But it was a special time.

12. We also got to have lunch yesterday with my brother, sister-in-law, and nephews, and it was hysterical.

13. I went to sleep at 10 last night and then slept for two hours this afternoon, so I think I’ve recovered from my quick little trip.

14. It’s the Green Chile Festival at Chuy’s right now, and I would just like to wholeheartedly recommend the Beef Fajita Flautas if you happen to go to a Chuy’s before the festival thingie is over.

15. They are seriously delicious.

16. SEC football starts this week, so obviously my days will have renewed zeal and purpose.

17. I haven’t gotten to watch the SEC Network nearly as much as I’d like, but as soon as I finish these edits, I will be ALL OVER IT.

18. Travis released a new worship CD, and I have listened to “Take Me To The King” about 492 times in the last three days.

Oh, it is so good.

19. Back-to-school has been great. I am loving my “new” job (same place – just a different role), and the fifth grader is happy as can be. David will probably be glad when I figure out how to plan a week’s worth of meals again, but between work and writing, the culinary side of things has suffered.

20. Hazel is adjusting to the school routine. She is still the longest dog I have ever seen. And while I was in Memphis Friday night, she somehow grabbed a blue pen off my nightstand and painted her toenails. David sent me this picture.

Bless her.

21. My friend Lindsay posted this video on Facebook earlier tonight, and it’s still just as delightful as it was back in the 80s.

22. I’ll be back in a couple of days – hopefully to say that edits are finished and I am about to watch so much college football, OH MY WORD.

Thanks for being so patient, y’all!

Love,
Me