Fun Monday!

Edited to add: AOJ and the Lurchers will be hosting next week, so hop on over and check out the assignment!

Hello, Internet!

Today is the day! Today is my day to host Fun Monday. And I want to know what you've done! What have you checked off your Bucket List? What are the moments you look back on and smile at? And what do you hope is passing through your mind in your last precious minutes here on Earth?

Small caveat - I do not want anyone to die!! Haha...I just believe in taking stock of your life and appreciating what you have. And if you have a list of things at the front of your mind that can remind you about life's sweet spots, you'll go through your days much happier.

That being said.....here's mine....with pictures!

(In no particular order.)

1. Five years old - trying my hardest not to smile as my dad tells me not to be a grumpy bear and puffs his cheeks out. I fail miserably and giggle so hard it hurts.

2. Learning to surf with two of my favorite people ever.

Southern Doll, Holly, Lindsay (BFF!)

3. Opening my SAT scores and realizing that I was actually as smart as my brothers. (And if you go simply by SAT scores - smarter!)

4. Getting that huge envelope that told me I was accepted into UGA.

5. UGA football - all day, every day!

6. Looking out the window as the plane landed in Rome and feeling like I was in a time warp. Huge smile.

7. Meeting Nicole for the first time in Orlando and telling her that if she shared a room with me, we'd have the private bathroom. Little did we know what was in store.

8. The summer spent with the boys between their tours in Iraq.

9. Belting out "I Will Always Love You" and any random Boyz II Men song into a haribrush on the trampoline with my cousin Laura. We were The Roses.

10. Holding baby Kat only a few hours after she was born. Closest thing to having my own child that I've known.
11. Last conversation between my grandfather and I:

Granddaddy: "Coco, you are so beautiful."
SD: Huge smile, "I love you, too, Granddaddy."

12. Bringing Maggie home. Little, fuzzy and curious with a huge lampshade on her head.

13. Hanging my diploma in my first "Big Girl" office.

14. Taking on Las Vegas alone.
15. Being there the night before they left for Baghdad.

16. Every moment spent with "Team Crunc."
17. Putting on a dress before the first date.

18. High School, my dad volunteers his Frequent Flier Miles so one of my peers could go to a conference to audition. Knowing then that I had the most awesome dad ever.

19. Purse shopping with my mom, glad to have a mom that's also a best friend.

20. Every moment spent with these girls.

21. Last time seeing Noah - he told me he loved me and he believed that if you loved someone in any way - family love, friend love, romantic love - you should make sure they know.

22. Flafting.

23. Ghost Hunting for Kate Morgan.

24. 15 years old - writing a 10-year letter to myself with Alexis, Christy and Kasey.

25. 25 years old - opening the 10-year letters and laughing until we cry.

26. The Ben.

27. Yearly trips to see my Orlando Babies.

Hollywood!

Vegas!

28. Flying off the SUV and not being able to breathe - then having the grit to get back on for four hours.

29. UGA Games and Trivia Nights with my brothers.

30. Every Christmas Eve. Best family ever.

My dad just can't take a normal picture.

So there you have it. Just a short piece of my list, I'm sure I could come up with more if I went waaaaay back in the pre-digital photo albums! I'm also sure it will just continue to grow as years go by.

So, over the next few days, I'll look at everyone's list and post a favorite! Stay tuned....

Austin City Limits

Austin Crow: Big smile, sitting down, “Hey, Coco, how are you?”

SD: “Hey Austin, I’m fine, and you?”

AC: “Oh, I’m good, I’m volunteering at the Baptist church, so that keeps me busy. You’re almost done with college, huh?”

SD: “Yeah, almost. Kind of scary!”

AC: “I know! I remember when you were a chubby little baby! You were always so cute, and just a twinkly in your daddy’s eye.”

SD: laughing, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

AC: “So how is your love life? Is there a young man around?”

SD: “No, you know how it goes, my love life is a comedy. Who need men, anyway, right?” Laughs nervously like every girl who is the last in their family to get married.

AC: Crinkles Brow, “You know, Coco, it’s time for you to start finding a man to take care of you.”

SD: Shocked “Take care of me?”

AC: “Yeah, you know, a man to marry and take care of you when you have babies.”

SD: “You know, I’m doing just fine on my own, I don’t need a man to take care of me.” Gets up and huffs off like a brat.

Austin Crow was happiest when he was holding a baby. He was like the Baby Whisperer. Whenever we had new babies in my family, we all resigned ourselves to the fact that once Austin got the baby, no one else had a chance. He would hold that tiny ball of blankets in his arms and his smile would melt that little one right to sleep.

Austin was a simple man, too. Simple and Southern. He held doors for ladies, would put his jacket over a puddle if you asked him and held his wife’s hand as they took their evening walk. He believed fiercely in God and never missed a Sunday service. He loved his babies and the happiest days of his life were when his grand and great-grand babies were born.

The above conversation happened every time I saw Austin starting at age 22. It annoyed the shit out of me. So many times I stood among my cousins, the strong, independent one with all the good dating stories, red wine in one hand, the other hand waving around as I told another comedy. And we would plot what to say to Austin the next time he told me I needed to be taken care of. The winning story was always to shock him by saying, “No, Austin, I don’t need that, I’ve found a woman to take care of me.”

I didn’t understand why he thought I was incapable of taking care of myself. Why can’t I make my own money? Why can’t I support myself? I won’t die if I don’t have the love of a man, my life is pretty awesome without, right?

But what never occurred to me was that he didn’t understand me. Austin spent 80 years learning that men should be the leader of the household, that is what God wrote in the Bible and that’s just the way it is. He did it, and he did it well. He married young. He took care of his wife and his babies. And he loved.

The thing is, he only wanted for me what he had himself. A good life, a life of love and simplicity. And he never said any of those things to spite me, or make me feel like I was a failure. He said it because he cared.

I only wish I had come to that realization sooner.

About six hours ago, Austin Crow passed away in a hospice bed with my aunt and his son by his side. It’s how he would have wanted it, with his babies in his arms, and he is now in the only place he would rather be than holding a baby.

I wish I could go back and thank him for caring about me so much. He was a sweet, old fashioned Southern boy who just thought that a man’s place was taking care of a woman and his family, leading the household.

Thanks, Austin. We could all learn a little something from you.

Quick, Easy and FUN MONDAY!!!

Hello, Internet. I'm back, and I'm done ignoring you!!

Actually, I wasn't ignoring you, I was just so busy. I stayed at two hotels in San Diego, one with internet access but I had no time to check, and the other probably hadn't heard of the internet yet. So there's that.

But, I'm back! And, I have pictures to post! And.....FUN MONDAY!! So I promise that when I get home I will spend some time paying attention to you.

Also, THANKS, INTERNET! I had so many sweet comments to my "I feel sorry for myself" post! You are awesome. And yes, I do feel better now.

So, on to the important things. Fun Monday! I'm hosting next Monday, April 21st!And the topic is one that based on past Fun Mondays I think will be popular. I hope, at least! It's definitely something I've been working on.

My girlfriends and I all have Bucket Lists. I've been working on mine for several years now. Several weeks ago, Tiggerlane asked us all what was on our Bucket Lists. And what do you know, we ALL have them. But what is the point of the list, if you don't actually work to check things off of it? So here's what I want to know:

What have you done in your life that was worth doing? I want to know the moments in your life that you hope will be the ones to pass through your mind when your time comes. I hope that doesn't sound too morbid. This doesn't necessarily have to be items you have checked off your Bucket List, it can be those small moments that made you smile, or the time you got that huge promotion you deserved, or the first time your baby smiled at you out of pure joy. I want to know all the moments, big and small, that make life sweet! If you don't already have a running list of these in your mind, you should! These moments help you remember how much your life is worth living, and we all deserve to enjoy it.

Boy, that California sun must have gotten to me!

So there you have it! I do already have a running list of names, so when I get home tonight I will work on figuring out some fancy way of posting them so they are easy to get to. So sign up!

Oops.

Y'all. I haven't blogged in a while. Oops.

It's just that lately, I feel like life has been trying to kill me. Nothing has been going right, I'm not happy like I usually am and I'm completely frustrated. So I have been doing what I do when I get fed up with life. I shut down.

I've bee totally irritated with my job, and I expressed my frustrations with my boss, who informed me that there was nothing he could say to calm my fears. Great. So that sucks.

Men suck. Dating sucks.

Money sucks, and so does the lack thereof.

That's the most I've told anyone about how I feel lately. I just want to scream and cry and hit something and have a friend there to see it all and when I'm done, give me a hug, tell me it's going to be ok and to get over it already. The problem there is that it's hard for me to show people that I'm not exactly Superwoman. I don't like to feel weak, or helpless, which is about where I am right now.

The other bad thing that comes with being frustrated with life is that it makes me a not fun person to be around, sometimes. I'm stubborn as it is, and when I'm mad at the world, I tend to think that when it's time to let loose, it should all be about ME and MAKING ME HAPPY. And if that doesn't happen, I get a tad insensitive to those around me. Maybe more than a tad.

So there it is, that's where I'm at. So where's the up side?

Tomorrow I leave for San Diego. The Big Event. And I really do think it's going to be awesome, because my boss and I have worked our little tails off. It's going to be great.

And what's greater than that? My girls, Lindsay and Holly, are joining me out there on Thursday evening. And at noon on Friday when my meeting is over? Look out San Diego. Here comes three beautiful Southern women who are looking for some serious fun!

Also on the up side, I'm hosting Fun Monday on April 21st! i have a pretty good topic, I think. So hopefully lots of people sign up!

So there you have it, the good, the bad and the ugly. If I can squeeze in some time tomorrow, I will post a post I have been thinking about or quite some time. It will be interesting to see your thoughts on this....

And also, to make up for being a bad, boring blogger, I will be posting pictures, lots of pictures, in the next week! And you know you are a picture stalker just like me. :o)