Fall...Finally!

The weather finally feels like fall!  I love walking into the grocery store and seeing the fall decorations in the front.  I love the smell of fall:  crisp and clean.  I love the feel of fall:  cool in the mornings, warm in the afternoons, changing back to cool in the evenings.  Football weather...definitely. 

Here are some of the first signs of fall in the yard:

This is the tree in the front yard that looks like a big stick sticking out of the ground when the leaves fall off:

A Dogwood in my neighbor's yard:

And, I got a few decorations in the planter on the front porch:

I need to get some mums to put in the planter to complete the decorating for that part.  I usually just keep them in the pots they come in since they need direct sunlight and it won't get very much (if any at all) right there.  Does anybody have any suggestions for a fall plant that needs to be in the shade?

Last Friday I went to the Rugby Reception at one of the coach's house.  Everybody was extremely nice...I'm always kind of nervous when I go to an event like this that I'll just stand there and won't have anything to say to anybody.  The coaches were there to meet everybody when we came in, and then some of the parents came over and introduced themselves.  MS was given one name at birth, but when we moved to the small  town, he told everybody to call him another name since there were already 3 boys in his class with the same name.  His "second" name stuck, and that's what everybody in high school knew him as.  So, when the parents asked me who my son was, I was at a lost.  I wasn't sure if people are calling him Name 1 or Name 2.  And, the coach was no help:  He said they usually just call him by his last name.  So you can see my dilemma.  Once I explained, the weird looks stopped.   Then, I would be asked how long MS has been playing Rugby.  Uh...that would be 4 or 5 weeks.  I think there's only 1 other boy on the team who hasn't played before, and he got a concussion during last week's game.  I'm told that injuries are few and far between, however, another  player (who is on a different team - there are 3 teams in this club) tore some ligaments in the game before that.  
Saturday I got to watch my first Rugby Match.  Interesting.  Very interesting.  But, I liked it!  It had a much faster pace than football.  MS is on the "Developmental Team"; hopefully he'll progress to the "Reserve Team" and then the "Varsity Team".  One of the freshmen moms & I met on Friday night, then sat together during the game.  When the Varsity Team was playing, I commented to her that they looked  like  men.  She said, "Yes, they are men...real men.  That's what our babies are going to look like in 4 years."   Exactly what I was thinking. Anyway, the football team may not be doing too well, but the Rugby Teams are all undefeated!  And, MS scored/got/made (not sure what to say!) a Try!  It was so exciting!
Here's a picture of MS during the match/game:

After the game:

And my souvenir from the game:

It looks a lot worse than it feels.  It's more of an itch than a hurt.  Mental note:  wear sunscreen on my neck next time!

Recap:  Fall decorations are almost all out, weather is cool (for a couple of days anyway!), I survived Friday night (got condiments ready for the concessions, wrapped a few hamburgers, and went to reception), and saw my first Rugby Match. 

 

That's What Drugs Will Do

Here are some things that have happened around the area where I live:

1.  A guy who has been accused of making meth was found hiding under his house.  He had a trap door in a bedroom, so when the police came knocking, he went through the door and hid under the house.  Yep, they caught him.  Looks like he left his friend to fend for herself; she was being held with some meth-related charges.

2.  Two former workers at a Tiger Sanctuary decided to "get to drinking" (that's what the paper said...no lie!), then run naked (or would that be "nekked" since they were up to something?) through their former workplace.  They also vandalized the on-site trailer they lived in.

3.  (This doesn't have anything to do with drugs, but they do have drugs in a hospital, so maybe it does!)  Bedbugs were found in a chair in a local hospital.  None were found in the bed, but they fumigated several rooms, then were given an "all clear".

4.  A woman called 911 and reported herself as driving under the influence.  She called and said that she had too much to drink and shouldn't be driving, and apologized for getting behind the wheel.  The local police used the GPS on her phone to determine her location, and an officer who was in the area found her, ran her plates to make sure it was her, and pulled her over.  The lady said she had only had one beer, and while the officer was informing her of her rights, she was making all kinds of noise so he couldn't get through the implied consent.  The unruly behavior continued and she was put in a restraint cell.

And finally:

5.   In a Nashville area high school, ten high school boys were caught smoking pot in the locker room. Before a game.  They were expelled.  One of the comments:  The team's fight song was changed to "Puff The Magic Dragon."  (The team lost the game 38-0.)

In the words of Ron White:  "You can't fix stupid." 

Sidenote:  Last night, the high school football players for the small school in the small town wore pink socks during the game for Breast Cancer Awareness.  The mother of one of the boys that MS graduated with lost her battle a couple of weeks ago.  Nothing was mentioned in the paper about the pink socks.  Now, if one of these boys had gotten in trouble it would've been front page news.  Sad...

Fave Fives of the Week

I'm going to grace you with my Fave Fives of the Week, but I've decided not to link up with Susanne.

1.  Sisters' Weekend.  What a great weekend!  If you missed the post, you can read it here.  Here's a picture from a couple of years ago of all of us, minus one sister:

2.  Cool weather...finally.

3.  Taking a walk in the park with my sweetie.  It was really good to just take an impromptu short walk after dinner.  He didn't want to take the girls, but I knew if we didn't we'd still hear them in the park.  They were pretty well behaved!

4.  Dinner with MS & my oldest sister.  My sister was leaving Monday morning to get on the big bird to go home, and MS came home to do laundry and get his car checked out.  I wanted to her to see how big YS had gotten over the past year or so...he's quite a giant!  


5.  A new youtube video to laugh at.  I saw it while I was reading Random Dozens.  If you haven't ever visited The Hays Crew, take a few minutes to visit...she is a hoot!

Okay,  I lied!  I have a couple more:

I couldn't leave out the last day of school before Fall Break!  WOO-HOO!

AND, I have the best bloggie friends EVER.  Thanks to all of y'all that left a comment yesterday to let me know that it's okay not to follow people who are following me, and that my family and house should come first!  Y'all are the BEST!