So this past weekend our friends Todd and Marti came for a visit. They brought their 9 month-old daughter Gracie with them, and we were really excited about that because one of my favorite pasttimes is gnawing on baby’s cheeks while sniffing their little necks for any remaining hint of baby wash and/or baby lotion.

Unfortunately, despite my attempts to convince Gracie to stay at our house and live with us forever, they all headed home to California this morning. That is very unfortunate indeed because Alex doesn’t really appreciate it when I try to gnaw on his cheeks. And I don’t really try to sniff his neck anymore because most of the time it smells like a combination of old leaves and Skittles.

The weekend was so relaxing and made even better by the fact that my beloved Bulldogs won their game against Memphis. I told a friend of mine this morning that I haven’t seen the ‘Dogs complete that many passes in my lifetime, and even now, three days later, I think about how consistently our receivers caught the ball and I have to shake my head a little bit. Was it all a dream? A mirage? I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t, mainly because I’ve re-watched the game approximately two and one half times over the last couple of days and do you know what happens every single time? WE STILL WIN.

I made sliders for the game Saturday night, along with homemade salsa, pasta salad and a big ole thing of Rotel dip. I was going to make corn dip – had all the ingredients, even – but we were so full from our lunch at Chuy’s (are you noticing a pattern in our weekend dining?) that we didn’t eat supper until later than normal and I was afraid that the addition of one more dip would push us right over the edge into full-on misery. But the sliders were delicious. They may be my go-to gameday menu item this year. I can’t say just yet. It’s quite a commitment, after all.

And speaking of commitment.

Sunday afternoon the menfolk went to the bookstore for a little while, and since Marti decided to rest during Gracie’s nap, I made it my personal mission to spend as much time as I possibly could reading the MSU message boards. This endeavor is never for the faint of heart, especially given that State fans are almost always wary of sporting event prosperity and seem to err on the side of EXTREME CAUTION in terms of demonstrating any real optimism for the upcoming season. We’ve just been burned by unbridled enthusiasm way too many times.

This fool-me-once mentality is all over the message boards and is precisely the reason why several posters – after a game where most of us were overjoyed by the fact that the Bulldogs scored almost 50 points and accumulated over 500 yards of total offense – expressed little-to-no happiness at the outcome of the game and preferred to focus on WHAT IN THE SAM HILL IS GOING ON WITH KICK-OFF COVERAGE? DO WE HAVE ANY IDEA HOW TO RUN TO THE BALL? GAH.

Anyway, I was knee-deep in a vat of some healthy sporting cynicism when the guys got home, and as I walked in the kitchen to get the full report about their bookstore adventures, here is what I saw:

They wanted to figure out which flavor of Zaxby’s shake is the best. So they bought one of each.

Is that not impressive? It was like a wine tasting, only without the wine or anything even remotely resembling a discriminating palate.

We already knew that we liked the chocolate, but the vanilla was a revelation. And the strawberry was as tasty as could be. There was some dissension in the ranks about which kind we’d buy on a return trip, but after some reflection and no small degree of prayer, I’m pretty sure that I’d go with the vanilla. And by the way, the fourth flavor was birthday cake, but I did not sample it on principle because I do not want chunks of birthday cake in my milkshake. Or sprinkles, for that matter.

So what about y’all? Did your team win this past weekend? Did you enjoy any delicious new dips or tailgating foods?

I’ll be waiting in the comments with pretend milkshakes for everybody.

You’re going to be so excited when you pretend taste their pretend deliciousness.

Two items of note: The Laughing Cow $150 gift card giveaway is still up and running, and I just posted a new $100 Kellogg’s giveaway. Don’t miss the fabulous prizes!

Question: How much do I already love this weekend?

Answer: A WHOLE LOT.

Some friends of ours are coming to town, and in addition to a menu line-up that would make a dietician weep, there’s a whole bunch of college football on our horizon. There’s also a forecast that features highs in the mid-80s, lows in the 60s and sunny skies all the live-long day.

(By the way, do you know what we’ve enjoyed all week long in Birmingham?)

(A BREEZE.)

(Hallelujah.)

Anyway, here are a few things I’ve been meaning to share:

– This past week I mentioned Deeper Still – Birmingham to two different friends, and neither of them had the faintest idea what I was talking about. But when I explained what it was, they were understandably delighted. So I thought that there might be some other folks in this neck of the woods who might also be delighted to know what’s headed our way in December.

Deeper Still is a two-day women’s event with Kay Arthur, Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer. Travis Cottrell leads worship. And there’s going to be a Deeper Still here in Birmingham on December 3rd and 4th at the BJCC. I for one cannot wait. If you’re interested in attending, here’s all the info.

And if you’ve never been to a women’s event like DS because you think it would be too overwhelming or you haven’t been to church in eight years or you have a lot of questions about your faith or whatever, BE YE NOT CONCERNED. I think you’ll feel right at home.

– There’s a new group of Compassion bloggers heading to Guatemala next week. I can’t speak for them, of course, but I’m pretty sure that they’d treasure your prayers.

– If you’re a Mississippi State fan, remember: Respect The Bell and Ring Responsibly. :-)

– I’m going to be cooking up a storm tonight, and while I’m cooking, I’ll be watching this webcam. OBSESSIVE MUCH?

All righty. That is all. Except that I’m trying a new corn dip recipe this weekend. I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes.

HAPPY FOOTBALL, EVERYBODY!

– Remember these shoes? The ones I wanted earlier in this summer but felt some strange hesitation about buying?

Well, I bought them on sale Saturday.

FOR TWELVE DOLLARS.

Afterwards I told Melanie that I believed that the reason I experienced such unwavering patience for these shoes is because the Lord knew that I was going to have a wedge-prohibitive foot injury in mid-July and wouldn’t be back in wedge-wearing shape until late-August.

He’s the God of second shoe chances.

– We went to our first high school football game of the season this past Friday night. Fall is coming, and summer can’t stop it.

– Yesterday after church we decided to go to Chuy’s for lunch. We knew that TIME WAS OF THE ESSENCE because there’s a big Presbyterian church that’s closer to Chuy’s than our big Baptist church, and everybody knows that the whole point of Sunday lunch is to squeal into a restaurant parking lot on two wheels so that you can beat the crowd from a neighboring congregation.

No kidding: at the Methodist church where D and I grew up, people would look at their watches and clear their throats if the sermon ran past 11:55, especially if they started hearing car doors slam at the Baptist church across the street.

Anyway, we went to Chuy’s – even made it there before a few of the Presbyterians – and while it seemed to take awhile for someone to get our drink orders, we figured maybe the sudden onslaught of hungry churchgoers had thrown the waiters and waitresses off of their serving game.

Finally a waitress took our order – and we waited. And waited. And waited. Our waitress couldn’t seem to explain what was taking so long. FORTY MINUTES LATER we still didn’t have food. So I found a manager and told him what was going on. He was very kind and accommodating, solved the problem for us, and when we got our check at the end of the meal, it looked like this.

They charged us a penny so that we’d have an open ticket if we wanted to leave a tip. Which we did because I felt badly for our waitress even though it was her fault that we hadn’t gotten our food. But she was young. And it was really crowded. And I’m deeply co-dependent when it comes to these sorts of things.

By the way, I got the chile rellenos with chicken and cheese. They were spectacular. Our child got chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese AGAIN, but he vows and declares that the mac and cheese is delicious. And D and I split the tres leches cake and died.

– After lunch we ran over to Old Navy because there’s a certain seven year-old in this house who needs some pants that don’t put his ankles on display (GROWING LIKE A WEED, HE IS). I found what I was looking for in about two minutes, and as I was walking toward the cash register, something very, very special caught my eye.

An MSU t-shirt. Youth medium. Right here in the land of the Tigers and the Tide. It’s an SEC pre-season miracle.

– I adored the “Born To Run” opening number at the Emmys. And then I fast-forwarded through the rest of the show and felt a deep and lasting gratitude to the inventor of the DVR.

– SEC football starts in five days. College football starts in three.

MY JOY KNOWS NO BOUNDS.

And I believe it’s time to consult the DipTacular so that I can solidify my gameday dip options.

Go ‘Dogs.

First.

These will change your life forever.

And do you know what? I don’t think I’m alone in my assessment. Because this past weekend we wanted to buy a bag of them, but they were all gone at our Walmart. Then we tried Target. But still: SOLD OUT. We finally found some at Walgreens, and I grabbed the bag and clutched it to my chest and TROTTED to the cash register before someone ripped them out of my arms.

Because that would totally happen.

Second.

I’ve had to say goodbye to a significant member of my summer wardrobe.

We’ve had two good summers together. We’ve frolicked in the Gulf, and we’ve spent untold hours at the pool. But a couple of weeks ago, when we were at the beach with our family, I kept looking around when we were sitting beside the pool because something just smelled, I don’t know, SOUR. And after about an hour and a half of turning up my nose and wondering what the weird odor was, I suddenly realized that OH MY WORD IT’S MY HAT.

I thought about Febrezing it, but then I thought, “No. It’s time.” Odds are that a Crocodile Dundee-ish hat that cost $10 at Walmart probably wasn’t meant to last more than a year anyway. But OH, I did enjoy it. We shared some precious memories. Except for that whole smelling-like-a-neglected-damp-washcloth thing. But other than that we were golden.

Third.

You’ve probably seen this – especially if you live around an SEC school – but I thought I’d share it in case it hasn’t made it to your part of the country yet.

The University of Alabama mailed out season tickets last week.

Here’s the ticket for the November 13th game against Mississippi State.

I have a hunch that Bulldogs everywhere will be sporting some special game day t-shirts on November 13th.

“Go ‘Dogs- Beat ‘Bamma!”

Or we may even come up with one that our friends in Tuscaloosa can wear:

“Rol Tid Rol.”

ALL IN GOOD FUN, OF COURSE. Because when you’re going up against the defending National Champion, sometimes your only line of defense is to give them a hard time about a spelling error.

Happy Tuesday, y’all!

My brother is what you might call a character. He’s just as mischievous now as he was when he was 14, and he has never ever in his whole life met a stranger. In fact, if he met you right now, he would ask you question after question until he figured out a person the two of you might have in common. And then, when he discovered the common friend, he would say, “Don’t you remember when she lived in that house on Oak Street? You know, the one that the So-And-Sos lived in before they moved to Illinois in 1975 when their grandmother passed away and they inherited that baby grand piano that they donated to the church and then Miss Burnett played “Standing On The Promises” at the piano dedication service and forgot the notes when she got to the chorus and we all got REAL tickled? Yeah. I loved that house.”

A character.

Well.

Saturday morning after breakfast the little man and I walked down to Brother and Janie’s condo because we were all going swimming together. We were sitting around waiting for everybody to gather their stuff when my brother said, “I think I’ll run to the grocery store real quick and pick up some turkey for lunch.” Janie and I looked at each other and grinned because, well, my brother LOVES to grocery shop. LOVES IT. Maybe it’s the 21st century equivalent of hunting and gathering. Maybe it’s the side of him that likes to take care of people. But for all of our adult lives, if anybody needs anything from the store, Brother is the first one to jump in the car and go. In fact, I am firmly convinced that one day when the Good Lord calls him home, Brother is going to ask if he can have just a few more minutes so that he can run by Fresh Market. And then he will tell God that Fresh Market’s meat REALLY IS THE BEST.

So Brother set off for Publix in search of turkey, and Janie and I speculated about what else he might pick up while he was there since it’s never just one thing with him at the grocery store. He’s always going to find a new kind of barbecue sauce or stock up on his favorite mustard or see some special kind of seasoning that looks like it would be really good on steaks. The whole thing just fascinates me. My personal theory is that because Brother is a successful businessman whose work tends to fall on the extreme side of MIND-NUMBING PRESSURE COOKER, the grocery store relaxes him. Transactions are simple there. Nobody wants to negotiate.

Janie and I took the boys to the pool, and after about an hour and a half, Brother joined us. And he brought a bag of gifts with him.

As he was opening the bag, he told us how he’d gone to the grocery store and gotten turkey. And, well, some bread and Cokes and a tomato and a head of lettuce and some mayonnaise and Provolone cheese and Pringles. And then he saw a store in the same shopping center that specialized in SEC spirit wear, and they were having a sale, and it was sales tax-free weekend, and he thought they might have some Ole Miss shirts for his boys.

Yes. You read correctly. Ole Miss shirts. Because he and Janie both went to Ole Miss. And Sister and I, if you remember, both went to Mississippi State. As did D and my daddy. The Bulldog / Rebel divide can make for some tense Thanksgivings, but by and large we all try to be (relatively) good-natured about it. Janie is actually the best-natured of us all and will actually send congratulatory texts when State has a big win in football or basketball. EVEN AFTER THE EGG BOWL.

I’m just not that big of a person, y’all. Keep in mind that I still haven’t seen The Blind Side.

Anyway, Brother told us all about the store with the SEC merchandise and how the owner said business had really been tough this year. He thought he’d look around and see if he could find a few things, and while he was buying for Janie and the boys, he picked up some stuff for Alex and me, too.

Doesn’t that just warm your heart? The Rebel season ticket holder of 20-plus years bought MSU merchandise for his Bulldog-loving sister and nephew. AND SOMEHOW THE WORLD CONTINUED TO SPIN ON ITS AXIS.

Alex is crazy about his hat, and I have to tell you that those flip-flops made my whole day. I’m going to WEAR THEM OUT this football season. And maybe – hopefully – I’ll be wearing them out while I’m receiving congratulatory end-of-game texts from my sweet sister-in-law because the Bulldogs are at the top of the Western division and headed to the SEC Championship game.

Remember: football season hasn’t started yet. All forms of championship-related optimism are still perfectly permissible.

It’s good to have a dream.