Ode to the Longsuffering Southern Mama
Hello folks, let’s chat…I’m here today as a voice of reason. There has been some concern mentioned among my girlfriends that our generation could be in danger of losing a long held and iconic trait of the Southern Mama Hood. The sober suggestion has been made that we belles are growing increasingly incapable of properly portraying the Longsuffering Southern Mama, defined as one who is so
Shouting Ground!
I can scarcely contain myself as I sit down to write. My heart's overflowing, my eye makeup is smeared from crying, and my thoughts are flying in all directions. I'm iffy on how this is going to translate into a coherent post, but I'm bound and determined to try. Let's do this thing. As many of you know, our 30 Days of Thankfulness Drive concluded yesterday on the last
Let’s Plug In
The All Things Southern office can be a most unusual workplace. Many a Wednesday finds me trying to turn in deadlines and keep this boat afloat while playing grocery store or school with the All Things Southern Bellerinas. Longtime listeners will recognize those titles as belonging to my lovely granddaughters Emerson Ann and Carlisle Mae. At five and three, those two are busy and getting
Lou Holtz in the Southern Quote
He was born in 1937 in West Virginia, a small child with a slight frame, an average athlete and a poor student. He overcame this apparent mediocrity through a burning desire to prove himself. It’s hard to picture Lou Holtz as the shy child he claims to have been, but Mr. Holtz attributes his famous wit to his birth order. The oldest child had the responsibility
Candied Carrots
Welcome back to the All Things Southern kitchen, y’all! I’m going to have to ask forgiveness. I meant to send this out early enough for y’all to have these delicious candied carrots with your Thanksgiving meal and amid all the lovely chaos here, I plum forgot! You’ll want to keep this one close, though. They’re a treat anytime! (Seriously, they almost belong in the dessert
Savannah’s Perspective on Nerve Problems
Here’s an oldie but goodie from our official porch mascot, little Ms. Savannah Grace, who happens to be all grown up these days. This story hearkens a few years back to Savannah's elementary school years. Julia had picked Savannah Grace and her brother up from school that afternoon. She’d had a difficult day at the office and she was hoping they could go straight home. Wrong—
Down to the Wire!
Hello folks, let’s chat…As I geared up to lay down a holiday spread that would do my southern ancestors proud, I was thinking of Thanksgivings past. I remember hiding under my grandmother’s dining room table with my sister Rhonda and our cousin Lisa. Our mission was to successfully emerge from beneath the tablecloth to taste-test without getting caught as our mamas trooped back and forth
Puzzle Therapy and Family Traditions
I'm thinking about y'all tonight. Your faces came to me as I sifted the pile for border pieces. Every card table gathering of puzzle warriors I've ever partnered with have agreed to that major rule-- outside edges first. Sisters-in-laws
Unplugged
As I may have mentioned ten or two hundred times already, I was doing a number of things simultaneously long before the experts gave it a name and began debating its advantages and disadvantages. Their conclusions are a mute point for me. I don’t multi-task out of a personal conviction that it increases my efficiency; it’s simply the way I’m programmed. It bothers me to
Harold Reid in the Southern Quote
Harold was born August 21, 1939 in Augusta County, Virginia. As a young man he sang with three friends in a church trio. Five years later, his young brother Bob came on board and the quartet began performing gospel music under the name the Kingsmen. The group’s first big break came when they opened a concert for a popular entertainer and earned his admiration in the