I Couldn't Help Myself...

I had to copy my sister's blog. Some of you who visit both of our's regularly will notice the similarity. But I'm a proud sister and was worried that some of you wouldn't see.

Emily writes, "A few posts ago, you were warned about my tendency to talk about my brother a little too much. Well, basketball season has started and here I go. I am so proud of him and I guess you can say that I like to brag on him just a little...which makes me think of a quote by Dizzy Dean, "It ain't braggin' if you can do it."
Well, Andrew has started off the basketball season really well. They have played two games and he has scored a total of 52 points....yep, in TWO games. Andrew scored 25 points in their 76-49 victory over CM&I and scored 27 points in the opener against Simpson, which they also won 84-39. Andrew was also named the week's TOP PERFORMER by the Clarion Ledger! I can't wait to get to Madison so I can watch him play. GO PATRIOTS!!!"

In addition to being a great athlete, he's also super involved at school. He was recently interviewed for a newpaper article on their new chapel program. Click here to see what he had to say!

A Weekend with Johnny and Jessi

"Well they're bound to get you,

'Cause they got a curfew,

And you go to the Starkville city jail."

-Johnny Cash

Anne Parks, Jason, and I had a great time attending the Johnny Cash Flower Pickin' Festival in Starkville a few weekends ago. I'd emailed my friend Jessi to let her know about the goings-on in our home town, and I guess she just wasn't going to miss the opportunity to be a part of such a historical occasion as the pardoning of Johnny Cash. She booked a plane the next day and was in Mississippi before we knew it. It was a wonderful surprise to spend a weekend with my friend. She took some great photos that you can see by clicking here.


The day was filled with some great bluegrass and country music. That afternoon, the mayor and the sherriff presented Johnny Cash's posthumous pardon to his sister and daughter. After the pardoning, Marty Stewart and the Fabulous Superlatives took the stage. They put on a great show. I recommend seeing them if you get the chance.

Anne Parks read the brochure to let us know who was playing next.

Anne Parks and I enjoyed the music and the sunshine.

You can't have a party in Starkville without Bully!

It got pretty cold when the sun went down. Good thing we bought this cute hat at Mommasissy's store, MINT, earlier in the day.

______________________________________________________________

Here's little history lesson for those of you who aren't familar with Johnny Cash's Starkville connection... Johnny Cash was arrested for public drunkenness (though he described it as being picked up for picking flowers) in Starkville and held overnight at the city jail on May 11, 1965, which was the inspiration for his song "Starkville City Jail". The song appears on the album At San Quentin. Local oral tradition has it that he finished a gig at what is now the 'Dark Horse Tavern' and then walked a block west to the northwest corner of Lee Boulevard (now MLK) and Montgomery Street, where he helped himself to the flower bed at the front of the house.
An interesting tidbit for MSU KD's - Mom Palmer's husband was mayor when Cash was arrested. I saw her at the festival and she said she remembered the sheriff calling him at 2 am with the news that he'd arrested Johnny Cash.

I'm Still Here

Some of you may be thinking that the McQueen's have fallen off the face of the Earth. We haven't, though it seemed we might for a while there! October was not our best month. On top of Jason's studying, then taking the P.E. in Florida...
We've been sick. - Each member of our family had the stomach bug, Anne Parks had two ear infections, and I stayed home from school with a sore throat and severe larangitis.
We've had car trouble. - I was rear-ended and drove a rental for a week while my car was repaired, but they didn't complete the job so I had to take it back for another two days. When I got it back, it broke down and I had to be towed.
Our camera died! Our duct-taped, five year-old camera finally gave out, so I haven't been able to take pictures.

November has looked a lot more promising! Mississippi State's been victorious, Jason's free from studying, and we're looking forward to Thanksgiving. Please continue to check back with the blog. Soon, we'll have a new camera and I'll be back to posting regularly again.

Pardon Johnny Cash

Finally! Something cool is coming to Starkville. I'm super excited about the Flower Pickin' Festival this weekend. There will be some great music and activites all weekend. On Saturday, the mayor will pardon Johnny Cash for his arrest for flower pickin' while visiting Starkville 4o years ago. Check out the schedule at http://www.pardonjohnnycash.com/.

Go Bulldogs!

Woo hoo! We're ringing our cowbells around here!

We are so proud of our Bulldogs' victory over Kentucky this weekend.
We are also proud of Uncle Reed. Good job, Coach!

We Got Some Dawgs Up In Here...Finally

This weekend, we FINALLY attended our first MSU football game as a family. Jason took a much needed break from studying for the PE, and we had a wonderful time. Emily, being the great mommasissy that she is, was very prepared for Anne Parks' first football game of the season. She had a bag full of pom-poms and a little cowbell just the right size for a little Bulldog.
Andrew and his girlfriend Morgan were with us to cheer on the Dawgs.

Anne Parks cheered so hard the first two quarters that she slept the entire second half. I don't know how she did it with all those cowbells, but she was OUT!

If All The Raindrops Were Lemondrops and Gumdrops...

You can't really tell from the picture, but it was raining. Anne Parks, Libby, and I played on the porch and watched the raindrops fall. Anne Parks would stick her arms out and let the get wet - giggling the whole time. What a fun day!

Our House

I can't believe it! The roof is on and so is most of the siding. Pretty soon we'll be working on the interior which is both exciting and overwhelming. I've torn out about a hundred pages from magazines trying to capture the look I'm going for, but I'm still not sure of what I want. I do know for certain that there will be a porch swing (or two). We'll have a great front porch and a back porch that overlooks a field full of horses. We hope to be in by Christmas. It will be just wonderful - a new year in a new house! The contractors have been excellent to work with. They've treated me like family!

Our State Fair Is A Great State Fair

It's one of my favorite times of the year! The fair is in town! I just love everything about it - the lights, the games, the rides, the food - I love it all! Jason and I, along with Uncle Drew, took Anne Parks for her first fair experience on Friday night. She was totally amazed. As we neared the midway, and she saw the lights, she started clapping and saying "yay" or just holding her mouth wide open. The first thing we saw a was little "big" top with a sign proclaiming "Circus Maximus!" We went in and watched the show. As you can see in the pictures, Anne Parks (along with the rest of us) was mesmerized by the performers. There was a clown, trained goats, trampoline and trapeze acrobats, and a juggler. Next, we enjoyed some chicken-on-a-stick, a free buscuit, and some taffy. We ended the night with Anne Parks' first fair ride. We'd planned to go with the carousel, but it was going around so fast, it made us dizzy to watch it! So, we settled on CONVOY a big-rig themed rollercoaster. Uncle Drew thought that semis might be too tough for his prissy neice, but she didn't mind. As soon as we started moving, she raised her hands and squealed with delight! What a fun night!
You can see more of our fair pics by clicking on the "October 7" photo albun link to the right.

The following is Marshall Ramsey's top ten reasons to love the fair. I agree!

1. Free Biscuit and syrup
2. Pretty Cow Contest (and the free ball of State Edam Cheese I get for judging it)
3. Antique cars
4. People watching
5. Seeing the stuff you can win as prizes. I saw a Rebel flag with a bass on it once. I'm still trying to figure that one out. The bass will rise again?
6. Chicken on the stick
7. Watching how fast the rides are put up every year
8. The strange mixture of rap and country music blaring on the Midway
9. The art shows
10. Seeing a wide mix of Mississippians -- black, white, poor, rich, country, suburban, rural -- all come to one place to have fun.

If you're happy and you know it, say "Namaste"!

Anne Parks is in her third week of Itsy Bitsy Yoga. It's yoga for kids that uses the "sing and do" method. If you know Anne Parks, she LOVES singing and doing. We both have a lot of fun at the class, but I think Anne Parks' favorite time is when she can come home and show her Daddy what she's learned. Some of her favorites are guppy pose (shown above), star pose, kissy feet, and toes-to-the-nose. We've been practicing each night before bed and I really think it helps her relax for bedtime. Here is the link to the Itsy Bitsy Yoga site, if you are interested, http://www.itsybitsyyoga.com/ Namaste!