Say My Name...Say My Name

Just a quick funny story. So as we were winding down for the evening my lovely wife says to me, "Come on angel, lets go to bed." I am just guessing here, but I don't think many other husbands like to be called ANGEL!!! I gave Laurette a pretty tough time about it and as punishment I made her refer to me as Columbo for the rest of the evening (i.e. Did you deposit that check today Columbo?). Not sure why I picked Columbo, but I figured that sounded kinda manly and it made up a little for being
called Angel!

the Wolfepack Hits the Great Outdoors

Well, Travis has been a faithful patron to this blog in my posting absence. Thanks for your dedication, Travioli. So, here's a very late post about our 4th of July celebration. We headed to Paris Landing in Dover, TN on Tuesday night. Travis' parents, Maggie's grandparents, keep their ski boat there. They always stay in the state lodge when there, but Travis was convinced that we should take Maggie...so a camping we did go. We didn't think that she could stay in the lodge and although they don't allow dogs, we saw several. But, we camped nonetheless. A cute little old retired army man runs the campgrounds, so I felt a tiny bit safer. I was really convinced that we were going to be murdered in the middle of the night. Let's face it...the world is not what it once was. I haven't done much camping to speak of in my days. When we were little my sister, my cousin Web and I used to camp out in our front yard. My mom would make us wear bandannas on our heads to keep the chiggers away. She tried to convince me before we camped last week that chiggers were afraid of red bandannas so I should wear one. Have I mentioned that my mother enjoys lying. I can only wait to hear the lies she tells our children. Anyway, I camped at Kamp, but that wasn't scary plus I had to be the brave one then because most of my kampers were afraid of bugs. I camped once in NC with my youth group when I was in Jr. High, but I think I was too stupid then to worry about being murdered...that or my mother hadn't completely warped me yet. Darkness fell, and it was time to sleep. I slept ok until about 2am, then my bladder woke me up. Maggie had a little trouble going to sleep as well. She is quite the guard dog. Everything she heard merited a terrifying growl. Well, I wasn't going to walk all the way to the bathroom, so I popped a squat. Mert, my grandfather, always tells me never to use the bathroom down hill...that and never take a wooden nickle. Well, in my groggy, bug repellent induced state, I seemed to have forgotten that pearl of wisdom. Yes, the PJ pants got a little wet. So, I had to take those off immediately making it a very itchy rest of the night. I think I finally went back to sleep around 4am when I found my earplugs in my purse after I growled at Travis for making me go stupid camping. You should always keep earplugs in your purse; you never know when they may come in handy! Maggs had trouble going back to sleep too. Some "bubbas" as Travis called them kept walking around. These bubbas were large too. Excuse my insensitivity, but what are fat people doing walking/exercising at 3am? Anyway, I managed to get some sleep and awoke to a fun-filled 4th of July. We packed up our site and left it cleaner than we found it...Girl Scout moto...shout out to troop 234, you know who you are. I must say, I was quite impressed with my hubby's camping skills. He whipped that tent up and brought it down just as quickly. I might start referring to him as Sir Edmund. Oh, here is his new obsession which I wouldn't mind myself. I could get used to camping if I didn't have to actually camp.
here is the link http://www.tab-rv.com/tour/index.php
Can't you see us cruising the country in the "fireball"? Dad, could you paint WolfeWagon on the side?

We spent the rest of the day on the lake with Mrs. Kris and Mr. Mike, Travis wonderful and super fun parents. Travis and Mrs. Kris skied, they are both very good, and Maggs swam for the first time. She even got on the knee board. I however stayed in the boat most of the time. I'm not a very successful skier, and I wasn't in the mood to break anything. I wore my 50spf sun screen and Travis did not. He got a mean little sunburn, and that my friends is a blog for another time. Ask him about the vinegar. Here are some pics of Maggs the amazing water dog.

Love hath no boundaries

In honor of the lovely Hopper-Butts marriage I bring you a few other classic hyphenated gatherings.





I have to site my reference , sorry not a Travis original.

He Speaks...

Ok, so it is pretty fair to say I have developed a small obsession with this story, but it is just way to good to pass over. Ladies and gentlemen! The Man, The Myth, The Legend...John Smeaton has given his first interview. I suggest everyone read this, it truly is a classic....The John Smeaton Interview.

If anyone is curious as to what I am referring to, check out the last post before this.

Never cross a Scot...

Last year at a Mississippi State Football game I sat next to a Brit in the upper decks. We were discussing the World Cup and then we got on the subject of David Beckham and why he left Manchester United, a soccer club in Great Britain. My new friend had a simple answer that has stuck with me and always will, “Never cross a Scot”. Evidently Beckham was making a lot of noise about the team management, similar to what Kobe Bryant is doing over here now. Well the owner of the team was Scottish and just said to heck with him, his talent, his money, his good looks, and his Spice Girl wife. Beckham had to run off to Spain to finish out his European career with his tail between his legs because he had forgotten the motto….Never cross a Scot.

Well it seems some other folks forgot about this life lesson and a new internet hero has sprung up. No I am not talking about "Dramatic Prairie Dog”. I am talking about John Smeaton. John is now popping up everywhere on the internet as the UK version of Chuck Norris and, you guessed it, he’s Scottish. It seems our enemies in Al-Qaeda never heard the saying “never cross a Scot.” You see, John works as a baggage handler at the Glasgow Airport. When these crazy terrorist drove there gasoline drenched Land Rover into the airport they had no idea that they were moving into John’s territory. Well what was John’s response? A Scottish ass whoopin worthy of praise even from the great William Wallace. Get this; the police had to restrain John and a few others from beating these guys senseless. My only explanation for the Scottish police not allowing John to finish what he started is they probably figured it more useful if they could question the men. Do you remember how reporters talked about a guy jumping out of the car in flames…yeah, John beat his tail as well. Didn’t matter if he was on fire, still got a boot to him. John is rapidly becoming a legend in his country and they have even set up a website for people to buy their hero a pint in thanks for his bravery. They will celebrate soon at the Glasgow Airport Holiday Inn Lobby Bar, John’s favorite watering hole, where they will line up 1,000 pints and let the man have his day of celebration. John doesn’t consider himself a hero however, he simply says, “Glasgow does not accept this. We will set aboot ye.” Which is basically a cool Scottish way of saying we’ll give you a beat down. So cheers to our new hero, may he enjoy his new found fame and his 1,000 pints. And readers always remember…Never cross a Scot!

Happy Birthday MOM!

Happiest birthday to my sweet Momma. Yesterday was my mom’s birthday, so I’m a day late. However, I was with her all weekend, so I’m sure she will forgive my tardiness on the post….considering she has never been on time or early for anything in her life, I think she will understand.

What can I say about my mom to accurately describe what an amazing mom and person she is? Yes, she did make me OCD about germs at 4 years old, but, I’ve made it through that for the most part. See previous post from April, "GERMS..." But overall, I could never have asked for a more wonderful mother. We celebrated this weekend by eating sushi, going to see OKLAHOMA at the Desoto Family Theater and eating the awesome cake my dad made. I am so blessed to have a mother that I truly enjoy spending time with, and she is really more than a parent, she is one of my best friends as well. I have always been able to talk to my mom about anything, and I am so thankful for that relationship. Her faith and love have inspired me always.

My mom has just completed her 34th year of teaching, and if she has been half the teacher that she has been mother, then I know that she has greatly impacted many lives. Growing up in Aberdeen, we couldn’t go anywhere without seeing one of my mom’s former students. And even at a young age I could tell by the way they looked at her that she had played a very important part in their lives. I hope to be that kind of teacher one day. My mom also taught me to respect everyone and treat all people with kindness. She always spoke to everyone from the cashier at Wal-Mart to the sushi chef at Kyoto's (thanks to mom, we now know his life story). She makes everyone feel like they are important, and that is truly a gift.


She has always made me feel as if I could accomplish anything. She is one of my biggest fans. I don’t know how she did all that she did. She always came to my games to watch me cheer and my basketball games to watch me sit on the bench, and my tennis matches to watch me choke…she practiced softball with me in the front yard (I was pretty terrible at that too), she even went to dance camp with us and youth retreats too…she was great and always fun to be around and she kept everything VERY clean! I hope she knows that every hour she spent on the road to a game or sitting in the stands ment the world to me. I could never thank her enough for her devotion. One quick story: my mom used to make me call her every morning when I got to school to make sure I got there safely. If I forgot the loud speaker would come on in my classroom and the school secretary would say, "Mrs. ____, is Laurette there?" This drove me insane, but I flipped my car 3 times in 10th grade...so I can understand where she was coming from. One day, I forgot to call....and you know the story. I made some comment to my class to try and regain some shred of "coolness" when this boy in my class said, "I wish my mom loved me that much." I never complained again, and that day I realized that God had truly blessed me when He chose my mother.

The older I get and the more life I experience, I realize more and more what amazing parents I have. My mom has sacrificed so much for me and has given so much of herself to me. I hope I can be the mom that she has been to me…not anytime soon, but one day for sure. I love her so much…Travis can attest to that. My parents picked Travis and me up from the Memphis airport when we returned from our honeymoon. I cried the whole way to Nashville because I already missed my mom so much. I kept say, “it’s not you I promise, but you just can’t erase 22 years of love.” Amanda B. Cantrell can attest too…she got a tearful phone call that afternoon. She assured me that I would in fact see my mother again.

Well, mom, I could go on for days. Thank you for the unconditional love that you have given me. It has given me the confidence to try anything because I knew if I failed you and daddy would always be there to catch me. You are very weird and a bit paranoid (for example: the al qaeda cell that my mom is convinced that she has seen at the Kroger in Southave, MS) but, I still love you more than all the Bulldog Deli potato salad in the world! Happiest birthday, Momma! being "Mimi" her favorite thing to do!