A Collision...Party Crasher...Experiment

Yesterday there was a major collision in the back yard that initially give concern for minor concussions.  Andrew walked out in the yard to make sure that Tucker hadn't thrown up, and had bent down to check the grass.  About that time, Tucker noticed he was out there and ran full-speed without hitting the brakes, head first, to Andrew.  The result was Andrew laid out in the grass, Tucker gave a yelp, then laid down with Andrew until he could get up.  Sadly, (now that we know they are both fine) I wasn't around to watch the wreck.  I just saw the result - an egg on Andrew's head.  

This bad boy has been set up in our neighborhood for the past two days.  Both days (over 100 heat index days) we saw it while heading home from the golf course, so it looked extremely inviting.  And yes, it features water.  So inviting, in fact, I considered crashing the kid's birthday party...twice.  

I decided to experiment with a new ice cream recipe this afternoon.  I used the standard base recipe then added chocolate.  I only had cocoa powder so I took a risk and mixed it with a little oil as directed on the box, then added it to the ice cream base.  Other than it not totally dissolving, it was really good.  Very good, in fact.  Next time I will add it to the milk while it is heating, but otherwise - my experiment was a success and very yummy!!  

A Trip Home...

We just returned from a 10 day trip to Georgia, aka home.  This is going to be a run down of the highlights with a few (or a bunch) of pictures mixed in.  Sorry but it was a very random trip; therefore the post is random as well.  There was a wedding, beach trip, weekend in Madison, and a class reunion included in this trip.

Dad and his surprise visitor, John, met me on Friday to pick up Tucker.  About two hours later, I got this...

John needed a shower while they were at the barn playing with Tucker.

While in Macon, I visit the old office and had a wonderful lunch with Lindley.  It is nice to catch up with old friends.

Andrew's brother, Steven, got married during the first weekend!  It was a beautiful wedding, and of course, a lot of fun...

 All the Ouzts kids...

 A semi-nervous groom...

 Christ Church, Macon - one of the most beautiful churches

the best "pinner" in house was the one and only Dennis Hagerman

Last minute instructions and tie fixing session.

Then after a quick, day trip to Madison for Dad's birthday on Sunday, we left for St. Simons on Monday morning.  But before we could enjoy this...

 My car battery died at the gas station at 5:40am in Macon when we stopped to buy ice to ice down our beer for the beach.  After a brief delay waiting for the next customer to arrive to jump us off and stopping to buy a battery and install it, we made it to the beach.  And it was wonderful.

 On Wednesday, we played golf - then we ate BBQ (at the beach).

 Southern Soul BBQ - featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, Southern Living, and Garden and Gun...totally awesome!!

 And we walked to the pier most nights so we could get ice cream.

 Our "home" for the week.

And we walked the beach a lot.

 We also got chased off the beach by two water spouts and several nasty lightning storms...

 We spotted this little fellow at dinner one night.

On Friday - we headed to Madison for the rest of the weekend.  Once reunited with Tuck-man (who had his CC feeding him steak with each meal), we went with Mom & Dad and met Grandmomma, Granddaddy, my uncle Ray and his wife, and my uncle Allen and his wife (did I mention I am from a small town) to a John Berry concert.  It was in the little coffee shop with dinner service - there were 200 people tops there and we knew all but 5 maybe...it was awesome.

Saturday was an adventure.  Mom and I were supposed to go ride horses with her friend, and Andrew & Dad were going to play golf.  The weather had other plans for us.  It rained at least 3 inches in less than 3 hours.  But best yet - just as we unloaded Mom's horse he started to colic and had to go back home...in the massive downpour and lightning storm.  Just as we were reaching the edge of town, we had a blow out on the trailer.  Luckily we made it to the local ford dealer and utilized their "service drive-in" so we could wait for the friend to come with her trailer to take Sugar home and for Dad to get there and work on replacing the tire.  Sugar ended up coming out of the colic, the tire got fixed, but we didn't ride and they didn't golf.

We headed to Athens a little earlier than planned and took Mom shopping for a handgun for riding.  But most importantly, we ate lunch at our favorite spot - the big V aka the Varsity.

This, my friends, is a plate of pure joy.  It has also been called an "oil change."  Either way - it was wonderful.

Saturday night was my 10 year class reunion.  Since I am such a winner and never take pictures, I don't have any to share until someone else post something.  I graduated with about 160 people, most of them started pre-k with me, so it was nice to see them again.

This picture is worth a thousand words...

 we were all this whipped by the end of the trip.  Tucker snored the entire way.

 And he continued his recovery once we got home.

Now, in closing of this super random post - here are some pictures of pictures I found in my old room at home.

 MB and I on the first day of school.

 Me on Beauty and MB on Flash during one of our many 4-H shows.

And yes, this really is me...and yes, that was my favorite sweater because Granddaddy (who I adored and still adore to this day) drove the school bus.

Ear Protection

I found Tucker some ear protection for the next time our neighbors decide to have their own fireworks show.  Poor dog, he gets picked on all the time around here.

Computer Disposal

After going through Tech, med school, and grad school, we finally replaced our computers...18 months ago. We finally got around to actually trashing them this weekend.  With the help of Dave, Angela, and Brittany (who provided the disposal site and had a computer to dispose of as well), we did what any good Southern would do...

We shot them!  Not just with a single shot but we spent all of an hour unloading multiple guns, multiple times in these bad boys.  Pretty sure there is no recovering anything from them.  Oh and yes we shot "cheap" coke cans too.  And an old campaign sign.  Yes, it was a fun afternoon, but I am sure you figured that out already.

 Look at the reactions from Brittany and Andrew - you see their "Wow!  Whoaaa...check that out" looks.  The backs of all three computers looked like the one above.  Those little black things around Brittany's feet are the keys from the laptop.

 Andrew was laughing at how he shot the side panel off of his old computer.

This is what remains of my computer from college.  The green on the right side was once inside the computer...that is the back panel on the left.  And up the hill a little you will see a narrow piece of green - yep - that too was inside.

Boys and Sharpies

Yes...Andrew drew on Tucker with two sharpies.  Yes...Tucker let him.  No...I didn't stop him.  Just another Friday night at the Ouzts house (Tech friends - you will get a chuckle out of this for sure).

Peach Ice Cream

We got our shipment of Dickey Farms - Georgia Peaches last week.  There is nothing better than a Georgia peach!  We ate 3 while unpacking the box - yes we were just a little excited!

I finally broke down and bought an "old school" ice cream maker.  You know rock salt and ice, outside, run when you hear it start struggling, ice cream maker.  It worked like a charm!!  Forget all these new indoor things - nothing better than old school.

I decided to make peach ice cream for us on Saturday and when I realized it was going to make a gallon of it, I opted to invite some friends over so we didn't eat it all ourselves.  However, I did finish off the last of the ice cream earlier this week - and it was not a small bowl...

It was worth every calorie!