Tuesday, July 4, 2006

Party with Marti

I  have been having the best weekend ever!

Saturday we went tubing.

It was  a great group,,,Michele, her husband Scotty, Mariah, Tom , Caitlin, my niece Holley ,the little 8 year old I babysit , Victoria and I.

Let me digress a moment here....I earned these good times.

When Michelle and Mariah were teens a decade ago, I was the one who drove the Drunkmobile down country roads, looking for and collecting inebriated teens as I went.

Mariah was a wild one, but she always knew when it was time to call her mama.

She asked me once why I was never mad.

I said, "well, when the phone rings,

 at first I think it is the morgue,

then the hospital ,

then the police

by the time I get to it's just you needing a ride home,

I'm good with that"

Of course, the next morning when they were lying in bed I would vaccum under them to get my little revenge.

Yeah, it's funny now....

My eldest daughter and her renegade friend are my best buddies these days.

Her husband and her baby boy are part of our family ,too.

The circle keeps growing.

Anyway,the trip down the river was great, the water and the beer were ice cold

the sun and the smiles were warm

the trees almost met over our heads

the world was so green you could taste it.

I'm so glad I get to see a place this beautiful

with people I love.

Sunday we were pretty much comatose.

The river was low due to lack of rain, so we wound up dragging our tubes through the water a good bit.

Even the superhuman Caitlin didnt' move from the couch all day.

But Monday it was time for the beach.

We loaded up and headed across the bridge to Dauphin Island.

It's a family tradition that when we get to the top we stick our heads out of the window and scream.

Victoria said, "I love our family"

The circle grows again.

They recently passed an ordinance against drinking on the beach.

I have been drinking on that beach for 35 years.

I just found it humerous when a little red cheeked boy whose slow cousin Bubba I taught 15 years aog tells me I cant.

Maybe it's the short pants they wear.

I didnt get arrested.

Mariah said, "you're gonna have to put it in a cup like the teenagers do, Mama."

And another turn of the circle.