What's in a Name

A week from now my oldest will be starting middles school. With the way zoning lines are drawn, she is headed for a school with a reputation for being very snobbish. The word on the street is that, for the girls especially, clothing labels are a big deal. If you have known me more than a week then you know that labels are not my thing. My parents didn't buy me name brand clothing with their money and I certainly wasn't going to be using MY money just to "fit in". I remember my dad bringing up the point that it was like paying for the privilege of advertising for a company. He didn't wear clothes with a logo unless it was free. Come to think of it, if you had looked in my father's closet 25 years ago you might have thought that P&G made shirts, hats, and luggage.
As I have been clothes shopping with Nix lately I have realized that without effort I have passed this on to Nix. We were talking about likes and dislikes and one of her big dislikes is clothing with company names written across them. I hope that she holds on to her personal taste and style over the next three years. It might not make her popular, but it will make her a stronger woman.
Although I am not even a little tempted to go buy her designer jeans, I am really tempted to buy her a few shares of Aeropostale so that every time a girl disses her for not wearing that brand she can laugh and thank them for funding her college education.

Sunday Go To Meetin'

Each year Rocky is asked to play for a Friday night camp night meeting. This is a southern tradition that I managed to miss as a child. It is really fun. There is old gospel music sung, a short sermon preached, and people enjoying themselves thoroughly. It is a special time. Until this Sunday I did not realize that there are churches that operate every Sunday as if it were a camp meeting. It is funny how one experience can be fun in one setting and down right exhausting in another. A person in the crowd speaking up can be uplifting and energizing during camp and quickly distracting and bothersome on Sunday morning. A preacher full of emotion on occasion is refreshing. One that goes from crying to a full out giggle fit is kind of concerning.
Don't get me wrong. I don't for one minute question the sincerity of the people in the church we visited this week. They were friendly and I could tell they really cared for one another. Once the pastor calmed down he had a good message with a good point. Almost ironically, part of the sermon was about stepping out of your comfort zone to serve God. By the time service was over I knew two things, 1 there were a couple of things that would keep this from being our home and 2 I was still glad we went.

Vacation Books

I use to wonder about people who took books on vacation. It seemed odd to me, probably because in the past, reading has been a chore to me. It'd be like packing up dirty laundry to wash while you were at the beach. Or bringing a vacuum with you to the mountains. Crazy. This week I accidentally read a book on vacation and really enjoyed it. How does one accidentally read a book? Well, while we are in Jackson there is only so much we can find fun to do, and so fun quickly becomes relative (no pun intended). We spend some time going to restaurants and store we don't have at home. Since I live pretty close to Atlanta, the southern mecca of shopping, this is not easy. Oddly enough, one thing I do not have near me is a Kmart. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I kind of like walking around through Kmart one or twice a year. Plus, if I buy something there I can be assured that no one back home has one or has any idea where I bought it. (I know I'm weird, just accept it and move on) While there, I walked passed a display for the Percy Jackson movie and they had a paperback copy of the book really cheap. I'd been thinking about reading it anyway, so I went ahead and got it. Fast forward a couple of days and I'm done with it and still managed to fit in regular vacation stuff.
The book itself was pretty good, and I can hand it off to Nix after she finishes the book she is reading. She got into her Uncle Matt's Hardy Boy stash, and she is reading Christy with my mom. If one vacation book is crazy, then what do I make of my child who has 3? I'm just happy she loves to read, and that unlimited reading time is vacation to her.