Well, I am oh-so-happy to say that we had a little bit of unexpected excitement around here this past weekend.

Mississippi State won the SEC Baseball Tournament here in Birmingham (well, technically it was in Hoover, but considering that Hoover spreads out all over the southern end of the ‘Ham, you don’t really know when you pass out of one and into the other), and we were just as tickled as we could be. We went to most of State’s games last week – which means I heard the sounds of bats hitting balls in my sleep – and there was no way I was going to miss that championship game Sunday afternoon. Oh, sure, it was supposed to be 95 degrees outside and humid and sunny (all my favorites!), but we got to the baseball stadium early enough to secure some seats that were far, far away from the dangerous U-V rays. I will thank the Lord for that particular blessing for the rest of my earthly days.

And listen. As thrilled as we were to see State’s players win the championship, we were just as excited to see about 11,000 State fans show up to cheer for the Bulldogs. It was remarkable, really, to be here in the Birmingham area and see maroon in all directions. I’ll never forget when we first moved here and I was completely astounded by the fact that people said “Roll Tide” or “War Eagle” to each other as a casual, everyday greeting – just like you or I would say “Hey” or “How’s it going” – so to be within a few miles of our house this past Sunday and be surrounded on all sides by State folks? And to hear “Go ‘Dogs!” at every turn? Well, it was a mighty big treat.

The tournament was so fun all week long, and while I know I’m a bit biased about the general, all-around wonderfulness of the Southeastern Conference, I really can’t say enough about the way they run their events. The baseball tournament is a well-oiled machine, and it’s a fun, family-friendly environment. We made some great memories this past week and had an absolute blast. The fact that our team won the championship was just the scratch gravy on top of the homemade biscuit.

Go ‘Dogs!

This post by Emily Freeman?

Gorgeous. And true.

So here’s what we’ve been doing.

I mean, we haven’t been just staring at a scoreboard.

But we have been watching the Bulldogs play in the SEC Baseball Tournament this week. And I don’t want to overstate it, but so far it has been THE MOST fun. We’ve run into friends from Birmingham and friends from my hometown – and today Emma Kate and her kids drove over for the game. We hollered and cheered and clapped and laughed our heads off, and it was exactly like college except for the fact that we are almost 20 years older and we answer to “Mama” and we no longer regard the hair bow as our favorite go-to accessory.

Oh, we had ourselves a fine time.

I never have really high expectations for the tournament (though State fans do love themselves some baseball), but yesterday we beat Arkansas, and today we beat LSU, the #2 team in the nation. It was delightful. Tomorrow we play Kentucky, and if we win that game, we won’t play again until Saturday. I say all of this like I have a real understanding of how the bracket works, but I have had to consult about 7 different sources to make sense of it all. The bracket reminds me a little bit of when Joey Tribbiani auditioned to host Bamboozled, but I think I understand it better now, and the gist of it is that WE NEED TO KEEP WINNING ALL THE GAMES.

Thanks to Neutrogena SportFace SPF 70 and mainly sitting in the shade, I’ve managed to avoid any tournament-induced sun poisoning, and I’m just as tickled as I can be about that. It’s always a good thing when you meet your personal free-from-sun-poisoning goals.

So what about y’all? What’s going on with you?

And most importantly (though a completely different subject), what do you think about the American Idol results?

We started tonight’s episode of The Bachelorette with Emily establishing that it takes a village to raise a Ricki. It really is fascinating to think that all their real-life stuff was still going on while they filmed the show, and that’s precisely why I loved that the first individual date consisted of Emily and Ryan making cookies, cutting up some orange slices, and driving to soccer practice. It reminded me of Melanie’s (brilliant) theory that one of the Bachelorette dates should involve taking care of a couple of kids who have a stomach virus. That’s when you see what a potential spouse is made of, my friends.

By suppertime, though, we were back in regular-ish Bachelorette territory. Emily and Ryan were all dressed up for dinner, and they traded in the Suburban for some sort of fancy sports car. When they first sat down for their meal, I kept thinking, OH, THE AWKWARD, but after a few minutes they seemed to relax and laugh a little bit. That does not mean, however, that I was not ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIED by the portion of the evening where they had to dance on a platform in front of a very large audience who seemed intent on filming the festivities with their cell phones. Surprisingly, Ryan did not run screaming for the Charlotte International Airport. And he got a rose, so I guess it all worked out.

Next up was a group date with thirteen guys and The Muppets, which was every bit as painful as it sounds. The bachelors had to write a comedy routine and perform it in front of an audience, so it was basically a variety show date – with puppets. EVERY GIRL’S DREAM COME TRUE.

After the variety show everybody had some time to hang out, and unfortunately Kalon demonstrated that he may have missed a day or fourteen in his interpersonal communication class at college. In the end Emily gave the group date rose to Jef (one F! only one F! a second F is superfluous!), and Kalon consoled himself by admiring the toggle closures on his cardigan.

An individual date with Joe was next on the agenda, and even I have to admit that Joe showed some charisma. He seemed at ease in his skin, and that was a refreshing change-o-pace after the insecurity-a-thon on the group date. While Emily and Joe went for a swim at The Greenbrier, the guys at the house talked about the responsibility of dating a woman with a daughter. Kalon insulted Doug, a single parent, by implying that Doug put fatherhood on hold in order to participate in The Bachelorette. Doug was quick to shut down the discussion, but oh, Kalon. You had a rough go of it tonight, didn’t you?

Honestly, I don’t think the toggle sweater helped matters.

Meanwhile, back at The Greenbrier, Emily and Joe sat down for dinner, and when Joe couldn’t explain where he wants to be in five years (other than, you know, “happy” and “no regrets”), Emily decided to cut Joe and his charisma loose. I especially appreciated Emily’s near eye-roll after Joe’s car pulled away from the resort while fireworks exploded in the sky. A burly security-type guy removed Joe’s suitcase from the house in Charlotte while the guys expressed their disbelief by saying things like, “No way!” and “Dude!” and “Huh?” and “Dude!”

So, by the time the cocktail party rolled around, Joe’s departure had already sent a loud and clear message that EMILY, SHE MEANS BUSINESS. Arie and Emily caught up after a week with no date, and their conversation seemed easy and good. Afterwards Ryan delivered a letter to Emily (and God bless her, she read the whole thing out loud) while Tony seethed in the corner. Kalon eventually managed to grab some one-on-one time with Emily, and he turned on the charm. The guys in the house mocked his vocabulary and his luggage, at which point I knew that he was guaranteed a rose because he is officially this season’s drama magnet. Every season has one.

Aaaaaand, just like clockwork, Kalon got the first rose. Then there were some other guys who all sort of ran together, but eventually we made it to the previews for next week’s episode. I was antsy because it’s the second week of the show, and we still haven’t seen footage that involves an emergency vehicle. TOTALLY UNPRECEDENTED. However, we did see footage of lightning, so clearly next week’s episode is FRAUGHT WITH DANGER.

I don’t read spoiler sites, but I do have a prediction for the final rose. Based on the conversations they’ve had the last two weeks and the fact that this guy seems really comfortable when he’s around her – and she seems really nervous when she’s around him – my week two final rose prediction is Arie.

What do y’all think?

Listen.

I don’t know what I’ve been doing, really.

I mean, I’ve been working, and that has been a little more time consuming than it normally is. And I’ve been watching Man vs. Wild every night after supper with the little guy (I’ve also been covering my eyes on occasion, but that is mainly because I have issues with repetitive textures, and in the Ecuador episode there was this tree that was covered with hundreds of caterpillars that had lined up in rows along the trunk, but surprisingly I DID NOT IN FACT DIE when I briefly gazed upon said tree). I’ve been following Mississippi State baseball pretty closely, and I’m cranking up my obsess-o-meter for the SEC Baseball Tournament this week. I’ve also been trying to carve out more time to hang out with my real-life people. I feel like I’ve been in my head a lot lately, so it’s almost like I crave hearing other people’s stories so that I don’t walk in the bathroom and see my reflection and throw a rock at it.

Which, as I think we can all agree, is TOTALLY NORMAL.

Oh! And oh! I’ve also been listening to John Mayer’s new album over and over and over and over. It doesn’t come out until tomorrow, but it’s been streaming on iTunes for free, and I expect that iTunes will be sending me a bill for server usage. The album really is so good. And the John Mayer seems to grown up a little bit, too.

And that reminds me: a few days ago I was digging through our mail basket trying to find a form for A’s school that I, um, misplaced, and I found mailers addressed to a couple of folks who won a giveaway last month. I am so sorry. I completely forgot to put in them in the mail, but I’m doing that first thing tomorrow. I have no excuse except for the fact that the crackerjack staff here at BooMama, Inc. obviously dropped the ball.

In other words: I’m crazy.

So see? Wasn’t that just a terribly exciting update? I can’t imagine how (not-at-all) difficult it must have been to miss out on All The Boring.

But I’ve missed y’all!

So I’m sitting here watching The Bachelorette, and I figure this is as good a time as any to jot down a few of my initial observations. The only reason I feel remotely safe sticking my toes into the Bachelorette end of the bloggy pool is because I’m trusting Emily to KEEP IT CLASSY, SISTER.

Remember, as I have mentioned before, I am a person who believed for several years that the whole point of the fantasy suites was so the couples could have an opportunity to talk and visit and maybe share some chips and queso without the cameras around.

All righty. My thoughts. I will share them.

– Initially I saw the spelling of Kalon’s name and thought it rhymed with “talon.” This detail probably isn’t interesting to, well, anyone, but it made me laugh.

– A singer/songwriter? That’s an awkward Bachelorette serenade waiting to happen. Also, the singer/songwriter used the words “quintessence,” “disparate,” “facets,” and “converge” within seconds of each other. He must hang out with Tarzan from the most recent season of Survivor.

– Charlie has a bulldog. Therefore, Charlie is my favorite.

– I would really, really like to know what color lip gloss Emily is wearing at the meet and greet. It’s sort of a plum, but it’s not too purple and not too pink. Very pretty.

– I like Sean’s checked shirt / striped tie combo. Well played.

– I’m gonna go ahead and say that things aren’t going to work out with the fitness model. Nor are they going to work out with Loud Guy.

– Chris makes a very kind first impression…I like him.

– “I’m a high school biology teacher, but I’m here to have chemistry with you.” – OH NO. NOOOOO. That line was a terrible miscalculation. If he makes it through after that, the only explanation is the Lord’s favor.

– A meet and greet gimmick is almost always a bad call. Because even if you get a rose, you’ve still lost your dignity. AND you have to keep up with your skateboard and/or jam box and/or glass slipper and/or granny wig all night long. That has to be annoying.

– Ryan the pro sports trainer seems darlin’.

– I’m now at the 55 minute mark, and I believe it has been well-established by the guys that Emily is stunning. Gorgeous. Amazing. And etc.

– Emily is now handing out roses, and the first two guys she picked were Chris and Ryan. I think Emily and I might be on the same wavelength. Or at least we would be if weren’t complete strangers.

– I’m so relieved that she gave Travis a rose, mainly because he’s a Mississippi State boy. That being said, IT’S TIME TO PUT UP THE EGG.

– There weren’t really any big surprises with the guys she picked. I was a little surprised about Kalon because he came across as a little flashy (might not be what he’s really like at all), and I think she made a good decision in not offering a rose to fitness model guy because KEEP YOUR SHIRT ON, SON.

What did y’all think? Was it as dramatical and amazing and shocking and amazing as you imagined it would be?