I love the baby curls on our 20-month-old grandson, Capt. Adorable -- his mom has to use conditioner and detangler on them, but we're clinging to them as long as possible!
Children
7
Category Archives: Alabama
Gifts
One of my friends is so organized that she’s already giving her Christmas 
presents — and am I lucky to be on her list! I’m so impressed with the way she did her gifting that I’m going to steal share some of her ideas. First, she knows that gift bags/baskets are always fun to receive — who doesn’t like reaching in and pulling out all sorts of goodies? Second, she went with a theme — always a good idea. Having a theme provides some structure and consistency for gift buying, which is especially good for somebody like me who sort of buys little things here-and-there without any overriding goal and then ends up with five coffee mugs and three calendars and a bottle of balsamic vinegar. Plus, having a theme leads to point No. 3 — buying “in bulk.” My friend knows that we all love food, love cooking, love eating and love New Orleans, so she brought New Orleans to us here in landlocked northwest Alabama with iconic Central Grocery bags filled with such Cajun classics as hot sauce, Creole mustard and olive salad for authentic muffulettas. And, finally, she personalized our bags by adding the latest issue of magazines she knew we liked but didn’t subscribe to. I think she had as much fun putting these together as we did opening them up — the mark of successful gift giving!
Friends
You think you can trust your girl friends, right? You think that the people who are with you through thick and thin — literally — wouldn’t turn on you. You think that the only people — besides maybe your husband – who know what you look like without makeup would not set up a trap for you. But that’s exactly what happened to me: Three friends turned on me … and forced me to learn how to play bridge, a game I had long declared to be on my list of things-I-hate-more-than-lima-beans. Go to my weekly TimesDaily newspaper column at http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20091127/ARTICLES/911275000 to find out how I was the victim of a (friendly) bridge-napping.
Thanksgiving
Food, friends and family -- what could be better? Hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.
Travel
Oh my goodness — the holidays really haven’t officially 
started yet but I bet you’re already feeling stressed. Let’s see if any of these things are on your list: Baking, cooking, cleaning, organizing, traveling, shopping, keeping everybody happy. Sound familiar? Yikes. Well, I’m going to help you out here. For just a minute, slip away to this wondrously quiet and peaceful little piece of Alabama. This past weekend some friends and I rented a house at Lake Smith — and did absolutely nothing. The only two rules were that we couldn’t move the cars once we got there (and really there’s no place to go) and that it was an official MUFW (Makeup-Free Weekend). We pretty much hung out in our baggy PJ pants and T-shirts, talked and ate all weekend. But, look — we saved a chair for you! So in the next few days, when things get hectic and you start to wonder why those Pilgrims were so thankful anyway, hang in there and remember: Christmas is only a month away.
Children
At almost 20 months, grandson Capt. Adorable hasn't quite yet grasped the concept of "if the shoe fits ...!"
Food
Anytime I can rummage through a grocery store where the primary 
language is anything but English — not so common here in Alabama, let me tell you — I take it. And one of my favorites is Nabeel’s Cafe and Market, in Homewood, Alabama (right next to downtown Birmingham). I don’t even know what most of this is, but it’s fascinating to wander around the aisles and try to figure it out. Nabeel’s Cafe is a favorite place to eat, too — I’m especially in love with the hummus (accompanied by fried pita chips, of course), bruschetta and Greek-fried potatoes. And if you’ve got restless young ‘uns with you who are less not-so-much interested in sitting quietly and discussing the latest judging mistakes on So You Think You Can Dance and debating the merits of Survivor’s Evil Russell, there’s a nearby playground for quick energy releases. Plus, you can take home a bag of fried pita chips. What’s not to like? Check out Nabeel’s at http://www.nabeels.com.
Farming
I don’t know what time it is in your part of the world, but 
here in northwest Alabama/northeast Mississippi/southern middle Tennessee, it’s cotton-picking time. Cotton is a top crop in Alabama, and the counties in my corner of the state are among the top producers state-wide. (I looked that up at www.alfafarmers.org just to impress you all with my knowledge.) Cotton’s history in the South is a long and at times not an honorable one, but people all over — white, black, rich, poor — still have memories of back-breaking work in late-fall heat. I remember my maternal grandfather reluctantly sharing his less-than-happy cotton-picking experiences as a boy growing up near Jackson, Mississippi. Today, it’s pretty much huge machines that do the work, from what I can tell. And while it’s true that I know next to nothing about the cotton industry, I do think it’s encouraging that in our wireless nano-techno get-it-done yesterday world, sometime’s it still as simple as putting seeds in the ground … and hoping for the best.
Shopping and Style
Oh my goodness. My husband always cautions me against turning into a 
blubbering grandmother and overwhelming you all with photos and praise of grandson Capt. Adorable, but I just can’t help it. And you know I think all of y’all’s children and grandchildren are adorable, too. I really do. I always want to hear more about their cuteness. And I’m not posting these pics because I think my grandson is the most adorable and cute of them all. Oh, no. You know that’s not the case here, I promise. I’m just posting these pics because … well … let’s see … uh … hmm … because I want to talk about children’s clothing. Yes, yes — that’s it. I want to have a completely objective discussion about little boys’ clothes and how they wear the exact same thing that big boys and men wear but somehow it just looks so especially adorable on their little 19-month-old selves. I mean, have black sneakers, dark cuffed jeans, a white untucked oxford shirt and a knitted sweater vest and matching scarf ever looked so cute? Somehow even though a grown man could wear the exact same thing, it just wouldn’t look the same, would it? Baby Gap and Old Navy excel at this look — translating grownup style to toddler chic at affordable new-parent prices. Until I had a grandson, I always thought that little girls’ clothes were far more fun than little boys’, but now I head straight for the T-shirts and cargo pants and don’t even notice the pink lace and ruffles across the aisle. See, now we’ve had our discussion about children’s fashion and I didn’t once mention our model, Capt. Adorable. It’s just a coincidence that he’s wearing the exact same thing I wanted to talk about, really it is.
Food
In what may be a strange sort of obsession for someone 
who doesn’t cook an awful lot, I love exploring grocery stores. And really, admit it — don’t you enjoy just browsing through the really cool ones? Surely I’m not the only person who does this! While Whole Foods and Fresh Markets top my list of big chain stores, I’m always on the 
lookout for the small and local, and I’ve found another in Huntsville, Alabama. It’s Kalou’s Corner Market in the Villages of Providence development on U.S. 72 west. Providence is one of those new “luxury” neighborhoods that also offers shopping, restaurants and offices. It has Mellow Mushroom, a great Thai place and the top-rated Grille 29 — and now add Kalou’s. You can get a freshly made sandwich at the deli along with dessert at the bakery and a do-it-yourself salad. Take your lunch, grab a bottle of beer from the cooler and eat out on the sidewalk for some prime people-watching. Or, if you insist on cooking, you’ve got plenty to choose from. Kalou’s is upscale and gourmet but prices are comparable with Fresh Market. I love wandering around looking at the olive oils, for instance, or the various balsamic vinegars or pestos and salsas. There’s a great beer selection, a ton of wine and gorgeous fresh produce, too. So much food! So many options! I really should cook more … or, at least, eat more.
Coffee with Cathy 