Last Shrimp Boil

It's been a tradition for our extended (former) Community Pres. family to get together to celebrate each of the kid's upcoming weddings. We are so sad that all of the Shipman girls are now spoken for and we won't have a good excuse for the Adams' shrimp boils. (We'll just have to guilt them into having us over for some other reason). ;)

The Adams are INCREDIBLE hosts! Not only do they have a great setting and menu, but they've got the hospitality thing down. They are so gracious too (and didn't even complain when Matt and I couldn't make it out of the house on time... even though we were bringing one of the key staples for the party!... Have I mentioned I'm so sorry about that yet?!). Anyway, they really are our family and we love being with them - with or without a shrimp boil!!

Relaxing on the deck.

Dig in!

Ryan sure is hilarious!


I think Susan is going to punch me for taking her photo. ;)

The current (official) Shipman brothers-in-law

Wedding Ring Thing

I've enjoyed watching the Olympics over the past several days. It's kind of funny because in the past, I've always lamented during the Olympic season because it would bump my favorite television programs. Right now, we don't have any favorite tv shows (that are actually on) so it makes it easier to sit down and enjoy the games.

I've also loved the human interest side of the Olympics and the stories about the athletes. NBC has done a really good job of telling you about the athletes behind the medals this year.

I saw the video of Kerri Walsh losing her wedding ring and it made her feel more like any other normal girl. Of course, she and Misty May are insane beach volleyball players (Matt and I have always liked watching them play; they're incredible!), but when you see them in situations that you can relate to, you feel a little more like they're just like you. I can't relate to being half of the best volleyball duo in the world, but I can relate to the stress of losing something sentimentally valuable - even if it's only lost temporarily.

Ultimate Over

I'm glad that the Ultimate Frisbee summer league is on hiatus until 2009! We need a break, and having Thursday evenings to ourselves will be nice.

I'll also enjoy not having to hear about and see all of Matt's war wounds that he acquired at each game. Our Friday morning ritual consisted of me trying to dry my hair and put on makeup while he kept bandaging and pointing out all of his cuts, bruises, and sores to me. He had a nasty knee gash that took almost two months to heal - and it was so gross!

He was a real trooper with this one, though, and even served as head usher the next morning:

Look Left!

Happy Flowers

Zinnias make me so happy. You can sow them by seed and have wonderful cut flowers from the end of summer through fall (or buy already potted plants earlier in the season for extended bloom!).








Oh, and I also love roses, especially roses that are bloom happy and don't need any spraying!

Coach Shoulda Put Me In

Now you can be a part of world history by making a bid on the eBay auction of Uncle Rico's sweet ride. Although it's not quite as sweet as Pedro's cousin's convertible with the hydraulic lift set, it is still pretty awesome.

This 1975 Dodge Santana van comes with the camper package (which includes 2 beds, a refrigerator, stove, cupboards, and sink.)

O Brother Where Art Thou

After titling my last post, I had wave of nostalgia from O Brother Where Art Thou. I think I should start periodic fun posts with clips of random movies that I love.

I definitely love O Brother Where Art Thou. George Clooney was PERFECT in his role (Holly Hunter is great too!).



In case you haven't seen the movie before, it's about Everett, a prisoner who wants to get home before his wife remarries. In order to escape from jail, he convinces the other two inmate on his chain gang that he has some buried treasure that will be lost forever in a few days when the nearby town blows up the dam and floods the cabin where the "treasure" was hidden. With a lot of the story based on The Odyssey, the men meet with all sorts of adventures along the way. Above is the trailer and below is one of the first scenes of the movie.

Dumber than a Bag of Hammers

After an apparent night of drinking, this woman decided to stop for directions. The problem is, she pulled up to a home at 4am that belonged to one of the Meade County, South Dakota, sheriff's deputies. "The female deputy believed that the woman was intoxicated and would not let her drive away...[which] resulted in a wrestling match."

Fashion Show at Lunch

"Fashion show! Fashion Show! Fashion show at lunch!"
- Kelly from The Office

I got to go with Amy to help her with her bridal portraits over the weekend. We had a lot of fun taking pictures downtown and at Bridge Street, and I think the photos are going to turn out really well. I took a few of her having her photo taken.


Amanda's awesome photoshop skills helped cover up "the dress" so that I'd be able to post a couple of the pics. It made me think of the Disney song that we used to sing as kids:

Hurry hurry hurry hurry, gonna help our Cinderelli
Gonna make her dress so pretty! There's nothing to it, really
We'll tie a sash around it. Put a ribbon through it
And dancing at the ball, she'll be more beautiful than all
In the lovely dress we'll make for Cinderelli!

Party Like it's 1999

Over the weekend, we had the pleasure of getting together with part of Matt's old college group. It's a mix of guys that lived together in the same apartment complex all the way through school. They're always so much fun and were a big part of my college experience.

Now they live all over the place, so we don't get to see them very often. It was so much fun to just catch up with everyone. We stayed up way too late, but had a great time.

Matt's been out of college for over 6 years, and I've been done for over 4. Time flies and I'm so glad that we're able to keep in touch with this great group of friends!

I didn't get photos of everyone, but here are a few:

Matt and Jerry have been friends since elementary school!

P. Love lookin' snazzy!

Rusty and Mary.

Justin is the most relaxed I've ever seen him. :)

John has the best smile!

John lives in Birmingham and stayed the night with us so that he could spend all day Saturday in the garage with Matt. He recently bought a red version of Matt's e30 BMW, and is going to start going to the track days (HPDEs - High Performance Driver's Education) at Road Atlanta and Barber Motorsports Park this fall. I'm glad that Matt has a car buddy so close to home now!

Math is Harder for Who?

Charlie sent me this really interesting article. It's about the statistical results of standardized mathematical tests and how they relate to the performance of both genders.

While boys' and girls' average scores are about equal, boys account for more of both the highest and lowest scores. (i.e., girls' scores are mediocre - not the highest or lowest, on average).

Do you remember when the former Harvard president, Lawrence Summers, brought up the fact that women are underrepresented on math and science faculties, and then posed the hypothesis that it might be due to more boys reaching the highest ranges in those skills? (He was subsequently unceremoniously dumped by the university amid screams from feminists all over the world).

I remember that speech he gave and the outcry that came as a result, and I remember thinking it was weird, but not necessarily being offended by it. But as I began reading the actual statistics about girls' math scores versus boys, I kind of felt perturbed. What? I'm statistically more probable to not excel at math because I'm a girl? How could someone suggest such a thing?!

But you know what? That's okay. I'm okay with that. Matt may have a higher probability of excelling in mathematics, but I can bet any day that I'll do better at making an artistic creation of some sort (and I'm not even that artistic!).

I really do believe that we have different gifts - not just as individuals, but as sexes too. Tonight, Mrs. A talked about how we were created to be compliments and helpers to our husbands. It would be hard to compliment and help our spouses if we were made exactly the same. I like that my Creator designed me so that I'm wired differently than my husband; it really is a good thing.

Pettus Pie Poll

A great suggestion was made over the weekend. I'm going to start a monthly poll of your favorite Pettus Pie Nonsense Posts.

Feel free to vote (the poll will be up for a week), or leave comments on this post.

For a refresher on all of the insanity offered during the month of July, click here.

(I mislabeled one of the posts and can't go back and change it without deleting the whole thing... Like Rusty's New Do should be Lily Jealous of Rusty's New Do)

Freakonomics

After reading my previous post on baby names, my mom showed me a chapter from her book, Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.

Chapter Six: Perfect Parenting, Part II; or: Would a Roshanda by Any Other Name Smell as Sweet?

This chapter talks about the statistics of people's names.

One story given is about a NYC man named Robert Lane. After having several children, all with normal names, he and his wife had another child, a son, that he named Winner. Three years later, he had a seventh child and named him Loser. While Loser went to prep school and college on scholarships to later become a successful sergeant with NYPD (his mother's dream), Winner racked up a lengthy criminal record (including arrests for burglary, domestic violence, trespassing, etc.).

The chapter goes on to give the statistics of the most common baby names according to the parents' race, social and economic status, as well as education levels.

Some examples showed how the different spellings of the same name often reflected specific characteristics of the parents. Here is an example for the mother's education level:

Ten "Jasmines" in Ascending Order of Maternal Education
(Years of mother's education in parenthesis)
1. Jazmine (11.94)
2. Jazmyne (12.08)
3. Jazzmin (12.14)
4. Jazzmine (12.16)
5. Jasmyne (12.18)
6. Jasmina (12.50)
7. Jazmyn (12.77)
8. Jasmine (12.88)
9. Jasmin (13.12)
10. Jasmyn (13.23)

There were some much neater (and entertaining statistics) listed, but my mother insisted that I refrain from posting any of the less-than-p.c. stats (even if this blog only has about 12 readers). :)

Spit Free Food

Ever wondered if your waiter has just done something to your food? It's generally a good idea to not tick off the person in charge of feeding you. Steve Dublanica is a waiter who admits to getting back at rude customers in his book Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip--Confessions of a Cynical Waiter.

His top suggestion for staying saliva-free: stay off of the cell phone (this irks me too, it's extremely rude to have a full conversation in the middle of dinner; my parents always told us we weren't even allowed to answer the home phone during dinner. Ever.)



Obviously you don't want to be rude to a waiter, but I've had my fair share of worthless servers. I've gotten up and refilled my own drink before, and Matt regularly goes to get extra silverware whenever we need it. One waiter at a restaurant in Auburn that I went to fairly regularly with my girlfriends was especially awful. The bus boy spent more time helping us on one occasion than the waiter did, so we asked management if we could leave the bus boy part of the tip.

Even when we're ignored or treated badly, we try to make a point not to be rude back, especially after hearing some of the horror stores about Amanda's experiences waiting tables. I understand it's a tough job, so I try to cut them some slack. However, repeat offenders will be taken note of. Instead of refusing to leave a tip at all (I try to always at least leave 15%), we just don't come back again.

Why You Should Spay and Neuter Your Pet

I'm a firm believer in fixing your pets. There are so many pets that go without homes, and there is really no reason for the average pet owner to contribute to the already growing population. I also think that not everyone should be allowed to own pets.

Apparently, with the recent spike in home foreclosures, the country's humane societies are packed solid. People are dropping off pets that they can no longer afford to care for. What's worse is that others are leaving their pets abandoned in their foreclosed homes, often without food or water.

The foreclosure agents have been finding abandoned pets locked in homes and tied up to trees. People have been leaving their pets in rising numbers as they vacate their property, and they don't come back to take care of them. How could anyone just leave their family pet behind to slowly starve to death like that?!

The shelters report seeing increases of drop offs up 60% from last year. The Metro Animal Control Shelter in Nashville has been forced to euthanize 30-50 animals a day, six days a week!!

This kind of stuff makes me mad.

I know plenty of people who have gotten pets only to get bored with them once they're out of the cute puppy/kitten phase. Some return them to the shelters, others abandon them. (Ace was dropped into the middle of 6th Avenue in Decatur during rush hour before we got him; Rusty's original owners "didn't have time to house break him" and got rid of him once he was about 6 months old). I even once had a co-worker in college who (after not having her dog fixed), said her husband wanted to just drown the puppies so that they wouldn't have to take care of them.

At our old rental house, there was a yard a block or two away with completely matted, malnourished and neglected pets. I considered going and stealing them from the yard one day. I had a co-worker who did just that a few times after finding skeleton dogs chained up in the yard with no food or water.

I know that sometimes things come up unexpectedly. However, if you sign an interest-only mortgage with a flexible interest rate, you knew ahead of time that the payments were going to go up at the end of the fixed term! You also knew - or should have known - that pet food, getting your pet fixed, and rabies shots are generally not free!

I don't know why people get pets when they're not willing to take care of them for the entire life of the pet. They're a commitment, but they should also become part of the family. Would you give your kids to the kill shelter once they got out of their infant stage?

I know dogs aren't people, and shouldn't be put on the same level. However, I also know that we're supposed to take care of ALL of God's creation. Adopting a pet and then getting bored with them, allowing them to reproduce when there aren't available homes for them, or worse - neglecting and starving them to death, is not taking care of that creation.

Pets ownership is a big responsibility, but its also extremely rewarding - as long as (like anything else) you're willing to put in the time and effort to make it work!

Old Enough to Know Better

In high school, we spent many a night (and allowance) on toilet paper usage. And I don't mean in the bathroom. We had a friendly competition among the youth group as to who could perfect the white lawn application of their peers' front yard and trees. The night after we got back from our family vacation to Europe one summer, the youth (lead by our fearless youth group leader) blanketed our yard and trees with somewhere around 250 rolls of toilet paper.

We all participated in the rolling (but not necessarily the clean up). I think we got one family about three times in one week, others were just too far of a drive to paper regularly.

It was a lot of fun. No one ever got hurt or caught in the act. We weren't being hateful to one another, and we weren't doing anything that would cause permanent damage.

This couple, however, can not make the same claim.

Phillip Fleck and Heather Darcy damaged the property of over 400 of their neighbors. What did they do, you might ask. They went on an 18-month egging spree, throwing eggs at peoples homes, vehicles, and property. Apparently they wanted to get revenge on some of their so-called friends and then egged other people to "throw off suspicion."

One neighbor had his home and driveway pelted several times. He had to go get a pressure washer to clean off all of the eggs from his driveway and take his cars to get washed and waxed.

I couldn't find a single article that stated how old these two are, but as you can tell from the photo, they're definitely old enough to know better!

Anybody Else Feel This Way?

I like reading the news and keeping up with current events. Sometimes I choose the stories based on the link or article title; sometimes the title alone gives me enough information when I don't have much time to spare.

However, there are LOTS of stories that do not need to be posted or linked to from major national news sites. I do NOT want to read about a humane society taking in dogs trained to do disgusting things, or about some couple arrested for desecrating a war memorial.

I think Fox News is one of the worst about this. They've also got some weekly and daily columns that just don't seem to be family-friendly enough to post in big letters at the top of their website. In one of my history/government classes in high school, our teacher used the big screen computer/tv to check the current news headlines. It was a really good way to keep everyone interested in current events. Can you imagine how much trouble my teacher would've been if some of these disgusting news article titles were plastered in large print across the screen in front of a class full of minors?

I don't meant to sound like a prude, but I just think some current events are too disgusting to be broadcasted on a national forum. Summing it all up in the title doesn't help either - I still get that gross visual that I would like to avoid.

Needing Some Fresh Air

My mom was telling me about this story today at lunch.

Two women were on a flight from Greece to England when the stewardess denied serving the visibly intoxicated pair any alcohol. One of the women took a swipe at the stewardess with a bottle of vodka and then tried to open one of the airplane doors to "catch some fresh air." The plane had to be stopped in Frankfurt where they were arrested.

What were they thinking? Drinking and flying has ZERO appeal to me. First of all, I can barely survive a flight without getting sick (I'm getting better... about a 4-1 survival odds now). I can't imagine compounding that with alcohol. Second of all, everyone is so darn touchy when it comes to the airline industry. You can't say or do anything even remotely, possibly, or even somehow just a little bit threatening. You'll get tased, arrested, and put on the no-fly list.

Just ask this guy:


Seriously though, it's like thinking that it's okay to walk into a bank with a brandished weapon and slap around a teller or the security guard and get away with it. (I would highly recommend you stay away from Big Jen at "Gringotts" though --- I hear she takes kick boxing!).

Matt's favorite saying is: "People are stupid." It applies to SO many situations...

Ballerina Body Attack

If you ever wonder what we learn to do in Amanda's Body Attack classes, here you go:



I especially like dancing on pointe on top of Matt's head at home (skip to around 4:18 in the video).

(Compliments of my mother-in-law)

Talula Does the What?!

After reading about a judge who made an 8 year-old girl a ward of the state so that he could change her name from Talula Does the Hula a couple of days ago, I had to laugh at some of the names that were brought up at the baby shower I attended last night.

Cara told me that reading through the baby name books was a lot of wasted time because there are so many "nonsense names" that are included in the books. Anna suggested that she and Craig should have named their child "Bazooka B." after reading it in one of their books.

I had no idea. I thought those baby name books were full of great biblical and historical names, names of various cultures and backgrounds, and especially names with very deep and significant meanings.

A former co-worker of mine was very interested in the meanings of different names. He informed me that my name was often associated with the translation of a "snare or trap", just like how the biblical Rebekah tricked her own husband. That sure cheered me up!

When my baby cousin died at birth, I was struck by the name that my aunt and uncle chose for her. Her first and middle names meant "a crown of glory" and "(bitter?) sorrow". What an example they set for me in choosing her name - reminding us all that even in their sorrow, they were able to rejoice that she was now with our King!

I think names can often define a person in a certain way. Some names make a person sound distinguished, others relay heritage or ethnicity.

I've personally always been drawn to a few names in my (and Matt's) own family. I love the idea of passing down something as important as a name to another generation.

Amanda often teases my mother saying she's going to name her kids little Sayid or something, but even she is just joking. She's told me some of the names that she and Wade are considering, and they're all very thoughtful.

All I know is, I think that a child's name is a serious decision and not an excuse to humiliate them right from the beginning. You won't be catching me with a stroller full of "Apple", "Talula Does the Hula", or "Matt 2.0"s!

The Lost City

My dad lent me this movie last weekend and we got to watch it a couple of days ago. It was pretty good. It is a fictional story (I think) based on the events surrounding the communist takeover in Cuba.

The basic plot is about a fairly wealthy family who owns a large farm and other businesses. One of the three sons, Fico Fellove (Andy Garcia), runs a nightclub in Havanna. The cruel dictator, Battista, is eventually run out of the country (only after one of Fico's brothers is killed by the secret police for his involvement in an assassination attempt) . The other brother joins the communist opposition party and becomes part of a band of rebels lead by Che Guevara.

As we all know, Fidel Castro then took control of the country. He didn't hold an election because he said that the people "had already chosen." The communists slowly choked out the way of life for everyone in Havanna. They seized private family properties, closed down businesses, murdered anyone they believed to have been a supporter of the former dictator, and limited the exit visas allowed to their own citizens.

What do you do when the farm that has been in your family for generations is seized by an (unelected) government "for the greater good"? What about when you're no longer able to operate your own business because of a government-controlled union or a false pretext used to close the business down? Fico eventually fled to New York City to begin a new life.

I think the story is really sad and probably rings very true for many dislocated Cubans. Just another reason why (even with all of our own problems), I'm so thankful to be an American!