Reed's Rat Race

Few things are as deeply southern as a crawfish boil. Only the folks from Louisiana would be crazy enough to come up with an idea as awesome as boiling these dirty critters in really spicy water to make 'em taste good. And I guess with modern farming techniques and fast transportation, the availability and popularity of eating crawfish has spread to the neighboring states as crawfish boils are not uncommon up hear in north eastern Mississippi(aka God's Country). A crawfish boil is an event as much as it is a method of preparing food. Its a gathering of friends, a time to relax and converse, but its also a time to chow down! Anyway, our good friends the Allens decided that they wanted to have a few friends over and cook up a few mudbugs. We were lucky enough to be invited. So last friday we showed up and got to work. Now the Allens are actually from Idaho so I gotta give them some serious credit for even attempting to hold such a southern event. But T. Allen had done h

It's 9:00pm and I'm reflecting on the day. I'm super tired, but I can't go to bed yet on account of Milla's last feeding for the day (scheduled around 10:00pm or so). I can't help but laugh now that I look back on the events of the day, but I was ready to grab the keys and my purse around 4:00pm. Forget any luggage, I'd just charge everything I need or want when I hit my destination-- wherever that was going to be (probably the first of the Florida Keys for some Key Lime Pie). Did I mention I was going to go alone? Maybe I'd take Milla. . . Let me set the scene for you. . .It's 4:00pm, I've been watching the neighbor's two kids since 11:00am. Yes that's a total of 5 kids-- did I mention I have a one month old? Being the thoughtful wife that I am I decided to make chocolate banana bread so Ty could enjoy a nice warm treat. It's Milla's feeding time and Ty has decided to go down for a nap, so I'm trying to keep all the

It's 10pm Sunday evening and Angela and I are sitting on the couch listening to a great selection of bluegrass off of my iPod, the kids went to bed an hour ago and Milla is contentedly sucking on her pacifier. While relaxing on the couch, I've been reading a blog about a guy that started his own BBQ joint just outside of Nashville. WWW.martinsbbqjoint.com I would love to have my own BBQ joint but I'm not sure I'm cut out for it. I know I need more practice. Which is why I'm about to go season up three big racks of ribs so they will be ready to smoke tomorrow. We'll be celebrating Memorial Day with some friends of ours from church, so I need these ribs to turn out perfect since it won't be just our family eating them. I hope everybody has a great day tomorrow and don't forget to show your gratitude to those who have and are serving our country by being in the military. Laters y'all!

I got Mom of the Year Award, and here's proof!   http://news.cnnbcvideo.com/?nid=P5SzkXpPvCybhMEFAa6BMTIzNTUwNA--&referred_by=16641635-IY52_4x

We've had a lot of people ask us where the name for our youngest daughter Milla comes from. The explanation is simple really...Milla Jovovich is a successful Russian born model/actress/musician and we just liked the sound of the name. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milla_jovovich Now we're not hoping that Little Milla follows in Big Milla's footsteps (although if Milla happens to make a metric butt-load of money and shares some of that with Mom and Dad, well, I won't be complaining). After all, Big Milla has been married twice and given birth to a child out of wed-lock. So it is not like she's the perfect roll model. But, on the other hand, Big Milla can speak an alien language and she knows how to kill Zombie's like no other chic I know. Plus, her music is pretty cool. So there are some positives qualities after all! And so, in the words of the late Paul Harvey, "And now you know the rest of the story...Good day!"

And no, I'm not talking about the band New Edition...   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umEbhFKV6mc  Milla (pronounced Meeluh) was born 4/24 @10:24 am.  6lbs 12oz, 19 inches long.