The Sass is Back!

HI!!! Remember me?!? Yeah...I'm still here. I was throttled with some big life changes lately and have been recovering ever since. In short, I was in a whirlwind, now I'm out and HERE I AM...ready to blog. So! Let's get started.


If you want a good test for a possible life partner, travel together. Ummmm....yeah. Wow! It can be wonderfully eye-opening. (I don't mean for this to sound so negatively foreshadowing! Special Man Friend and I are still going strong and quite happy.)

This Christmas he and I spent the holidays with his family in Georgia. It was my first experience with his extended family and also my first EXTENDED stay in The ATL! Let me tell ya'll...I wanna live in the south. Except for the fact that my Midwest Farmer's Daughter accent was quite the novelty and if I had to say the words "pajamas", "Georgia", "soda", and "syrup" one more time I was going to throw grits at someone!

We arrived on the 27th and stayed till the 1st. (We were supposed to leave on the 31st but more on that later.) It didn't take either of us long to figure out that we traveled well together. He schlepped and I walked along looking pretty...it was a wonderful arrangement. ;-)

It was also quickly established that I was "Hold This" girl. Baggage claim tickets, state id's, boarding passes, snacks for the plane, reading materials and other miscellaneous travel necessities were silently handed over his right shoulder with the implication that I was to "Hold This". (Which is fine because I was the one with the newly purchased, oh-so-adorable carry-on bag.)

Anyway....we finally reached ATL and I quickly fell in love. The weather, the houses, the history, the fact that every freaking street is called Peachtree...it was all so wonderful.

Our first stop was the home of SMF's grandparents. They come from old Southern ("properly" pronounced it sound like Suh-thuhn rather than my tendency to say Su-thERRRRn...I come from a city that LOOOOOVES to chew its consonants.)

Mr. and Mrs. Special Man Friend were the ones I was actually most worried about meeting. SMF is their first grandson and by far their favorite. The list of girls deemed worthy of SMF is notoriously short and entries include, Mrs. Special Man Friend herself, SMF's first girlfriend Closet Psycho Bitch, and the Virgin Mary. So I knew going in I was being held to some pretty unrealistic standards. The family joke is that the only reason Mother Theresa is not on the list is because she's Catholic. So...yeah, I was more than a little intimidated.

But after a few rounds of questions that made the Spanish Inquisition look like a friendly chat while drinking tea and eating finger sandwhiches, I was given the "Silent Nod". If an answer to a question was 'correct' there was a tandem Silent Nod from the Grandparents. I received a grand total of 13 Silent Nods!! According to SMF's sister, this is unheard of and I was lucky to escape the house without a ring on my finger. The Grandparents even called SMF to let him know how impressed with me they were. SMF was thrilled and I think secretly I made it through a VERY important hoop.

The day before we left, The Grandparents hosted a Christmas get-together with SMF's paternal cousins in attendance. This group was much more laid back and easy to get along with. They seemed happy to see us together and I was excited to finally meet some of the people SMF grew up with.

Our next stop on The ATL tour was SMF's Older Sis's house. She was thrilled to meet me and admitted that she checked my MySpace page frequently to get a better idea of "that girl SMF is seeing". She and her family are loud, out going and just generally fun people. I had a blast hanging out with SMF's nieces and Younger Sis. He treated all us girls to a showing of Happy Feet where the girls got to share goofy stories of SMF's childhood and he and I found out what's happening on the High School Girl's social scene.

And last but not least, I met SMF's mother. She is a very sweet, good-hearted person. Her book knowledge is lacking but her genuine caring for others is evident. She'll be the first to admit that she wasn't the best mother but she's changing some ways.

SMF is thoroughly pleased with how much his family liked me. For months he had been assuring me that they would love me, but I think even he was unsure. When we were on the plane on the way back, he told me some of the favorite things they asked him about me.

"Is she always so sweet?" (No...I just smell that way! ;-))
"Does she always dress so nice?" (Yeah I try to but there are definitely days I spend in sweats.)
"How does she get her hair so straight and shiny?" (It's called Matrix sleek look Sealing Serum!)
"Does she have sisters?" (Hahaha!! Yes, but we couldn't be MORE different if we tried.)
"Will she let me be a bridesmaid?" (Ummm....we'll see.)
"Has she REALLY never committed a crime?" (Apparently I look TOO innocent...I told you his Grandparents were a little unrealistic!)


All in all it was a success. I'm glad to be back. I've moved back to Tiny Christian University and we had our first day of classes today. On my plate I have:
Cognitive Behavioral Psychology
Concert Choir
Understanding the New Testament
Intro to Health and Wellness (affectionately termed Wealth and Hellness)
Critical Thinking and Writing (please stick bamboo shoots under my nails...it would be waaaay more appealing than taking this class!!!)
Research Methods and Design
1-hr Private Voice Lessons

As you can see, I have more than enough to keep me out of trouble. I should tell SMF to let The Grandparents know that I don't even have TIME to commit a felony and they can rest easy...for now!