Since I've started

blogging again with some regularity, the number of folks visiting my fair blog has risen astronomically. Instead of the average 12 bored people at work a day, we're now looking at skyrocketing traffic patterns reflecting the browsing patterns of about 14 people. Wowsahs.

Therefore, I was surprised that I'd crossed the 10K threshold quite a while ago... I was prompted to look by jcristg. She looked a couple of weeks ago and saw that her blog had passed that magical number. I remember when I wrote my 100th post, but I completely missed the ten thousandth visitor. My bad.

Of course, I've only been writing since January. And, for that matter - I took a couple months hiatus.

Meanwhile, I've been getting complaints that I described certain people as "crazy." Gosh. Seriously - getting a call from Karl Rove to ask me cease and desist was HUGE.
Heh, no, it wasn't a political figure or even a state chair -- it was my parents.

I don't think I've ever described M&L as crazy -- unless you count the time I told the world that my dad likes to hum "It's Hard to be a Pimp." Instead, I did share with the world wide web that my parents are not involved in my upcoming nuptials. And, just for the record - that is absolutely true. I won't be the first bride - nor the last - to wish her parents were present on her wedding day.

I promise...

At some point, to stop posting about mojitos and wedding planning.

And get back to - y'know - my roots: blasting Republicans, their broken promises and deadly mistakes.

More Wedding Nonsense...

Registry. Gift Registration. Come Here! Go There! China! China! China!

Ugh.

Okay, so last night we made a list of all the stuff we thought we wanted. After weeks of discussion with friends and family about what we needed -- and more importantly, what they thought we needed, we finally came to an idea of what is we'd like.

I do appreciate the advice; I'm not quite that sarcastic. How the heck do I know what we'll need in the next few years -- not to mention the next twenty. We'll figure it out this coming weekend - with a scanner gun and an excel spreadsheet.

Oh - and I realize this sounds a little weird - but we've decided to limit wedding conversations. We now have "Wedding Meetings." I handle the meeting on Sunday and Tuesday, he's got Thursdays. It lasts an hour on Sunday and thirty minutes or less on the weekdays. It's awesome.

Seriously - weddings are stressful stuff. Everyone's got an opinion - and, since more often than not, those same people are ones that you love, respect and admire - you want to listen to them. Maybe it helps that my parents - usually the culprits of wedding insanity for most couples - are completely out of the picture. Maybe it doesn't. I'm not sure. I do really recommend the meetings. It makes you plan and produce. And stops the constant discussion and inevitable bickering about flower choices and china patterns.

OMG.

I have a new buddy who likes to use the term, OMG. I'm a fan of him - and always a fan of OMG, so I've decided to use it more frequently. After all, that's what the world needs - more abbreviations.

I had a lovely weekend, just in case you were wondering. I fought like a fiend on Friday, feasted on my fiance's homage to paprika and watched movies. (I tried to keep with the "f" theme going on in that last sentence - but since I think my grandmother still reads this, I decided to forgo my letter theme). Saturday, I got up early and whipped up some stuff for tailgate.

We had pig candy (the easiest, most sinful, fabulous tailgate concoction I have ever, ever, evah made - recipe below), homemade cheese garlic biscuits with chicken pecan spread and really simple oatmeal chocolate walnut bar cookies. Oh, and a huge pitcher of mojitos. Mojitos - drink of the devil.

I'm a big fan, as I've discussed. It's the only thing I can drink (and drink and drink) on a hot day without completely passing out and/or expiring from the heat. My dear Republican fiance, however, cannot handle half a handle like I can... The kiddo practically passed out in the Club. Not a pretty picture.

We made it.

Oh, and gosh -- Sunday we went to the movies with my newest dearest buddy, Durkin. Um, yeah - The Black Dahlia - AWFUL. Absolutely awful. I was really disappointed. The film couldn't seem to get it together. And, the gratuitous 40's era dildo was too much for everyone in the theater. Seriously.

That being said, pig candy... Get a pound of bacon - the thick kind... Although if you like the people you're tailgating with, I suggest you get more than a pound. Mix about a half a box of dark brown sugar with some cayenne pepper. I like it on the hot side - but that's totally up to you. Mix up that sugar stuff and then roll each slice o' bacon in the sinful sugar. I'm not gonna lie, you're fingers will get gross, but really push that sugar into the bacon.
Put the slices on a broiler - if you value your sanity, line the bottom of the broiler with two sheets of heavy aluminum foil. Bake that bacon for about 25 minutes at 350 until it's crispy-ish. It'll look greasy, but it's not greasy - it's carmelized. Gawd, it's sinful. But really good.

Football, Halloween, etc...

Okay. First, let me say -- it was depressing to say the least to watch another Garnet team get beat by those damn Orange rednecks from the Upstate. And I say that with love. Really.
(Sidenote: Actually, it was damn fun to hate Clemson on another field. Everytime I passed by someone with Obnoxious Orange on, I yelled, "Go Cocks!" Poor Clemson fans, they were so confused! Chris made me stop at some point, I think...)

Actually - it was really fun. First, much like the rest of the world - FSU does not get dressed up for football games. It was difficult - I'll admit, I fought it. But, dang - wearing a Tshirt when it is HOT outside makes a lot of sense. I had a ball at the FSU tailgate. Although I missed Carolina with a passion - I was seriously homesick before I left for the game - it was a great experience.

Plus, my darling fiance has a membership to the Club, so whenever I got thirsty or hungry during the game - or just needed a little air conditioning, we just went right over and plunked ourselves down. Fabulous.

I made a killer batch of mojitos. Truly -- I've decided, a great drink for a hot day. For this week's game, I'm going to try my hand at the Mr. Friendly's Mint Julep. Why not?

As well, I came up the great idea of having a Halloween party. Anybody got good ideas for a costume? Come on former Law Students -- give me a suggestion.

Pirates.

I once wrote about pirates - I don't quite remember where, nor do I really feel like looking it up at the moment... But, when I did - my brother told me that he had a thing for Pirates.
Really Stauffer? Pirates?

Well, avast! It's Talk Like A Pirate Day! If you need more information, feel free to visit the website, here.

I must admit thought, that KatieCali did give me the heads up on this one. Thank GOD! Seriously, where would I have been without this knowledge? I totally have on my peg leg (which George the Puppy keeps knawing on) and my eyepatch. What do you think, is it more impressive over the right eye or the left?

The dress.

Planning a wedding is tricky. There are so many people to navigate - and I'm not talking about just the florist, caterer, DJ or reception director... I'm talking about family. At least, that's what people tell me.

For the most part, I think I have been inordinately blessed by the family I am marrying into -- they are by far the most loving, laid-back and accepting people I think I have ever met. In this whole wedding planning thing, they are supportive but not suppressing; excited but not overwhelmed (or overwhelming) -- and although I seem to be planning a fairly non-traditional bash, they are truly on board.

So, after talking at Tailgate this past weekend to some of my married girlfriends, I felt rather nervous. Despite the fact that I think ("think") we have covered most of the details - from the flowers to the handsoap to the photographer to the groom's cake, I was worried. They winked at me and told me that sooner or later the pre-wedding anguish would descend upon me.

Yeah, I don't get it. I mean, I just don't. Perhaps it's the fact that my parents aren't involved or maybe that I used to plan large events for political people? I'm not sure - you flip through some magazines, scour The Knot for days on end -- and I swear, if you've been to a wedding or two, then you should have some knowledge of how you'd like yours to look.

Granted, I never really planned my whole shebang until I met "The One." (And then, I'll confess, I was practically planning from, like, Day 3 of knowing the man, but I digress...) As a child I wasn't really allowed (or it just didn't cross my mind) to plan for my wedding. I was too busy playing other things - thinking out and pretending to be other things ranging from She-Ra to the first woman Senator from South Carolina (yes, I was a weird child). So, all of a sudden when it dawned on me that I was going to plan the biggest party I'd ever throw for myself -- it was huge!

And fun. I've absolutely adored picking out all the little details that will be (at least I hope) fairly unique. The flowers have been fun to decide on -- although the florist almost passed out when I banned roses. And picking out the caterer and deciding on a menu is fantastic.

However, as this post gets rather lengthy... I was feeling rather anxious at picking out the dress. I'm not sure why. It's me, right? Hi. I love to shop. Why was this one last detail a stumbling block?

Well, I went shopping yesterday. I suppose it was appropriate -- I had a very good lunch at Andrew's with a really impressive new elected official. And, after that I checked out a bridal shop in downtown Tally.

Here's the thing, I think -- we're definitely doing this wedding on a budget. Considering the fact that my parents didn't want to contribute - and we're hefting most of the bill ourselves, I didn't want to drop too much on the dress. But, after trying on three dresses at David's Bridal a couple weeks ago, I needed a stiff drink -- it looked like someone (probably blind) had used a gluestick to adhere a doiley to stiff polyester. I'm not saying the dresses aren't nice - but for what they were charging, I felt a little depressed about my options.

So - back to the place in Tallahassee. I tried on a couple of dresses. I knew the style I wanted, I knew the general color and feel... I tried on The Dress and - I'll admit - I knew. I figured it out. It's very me. I'm quite excited. And, it's way way way under the budget I set for myself.

Fabulous.

Today is the Florida Primary

It's Primary Day. It was a cool a morning and it's been raining for the past hour or so in Tallahassee, but that's par for the course during the Rainy Season in North Florida.
I didn't vote. It's odd that it's Primary Day and I didn't cast a vote for my favored Floridian Democrat (Jim Davis). But - then again, I'm not registered to vote in Florida yet. (Did you hear that Joe Erwin? I'm not a voter in Florida yet!!!).

Okay - you might be asking about that little note to the infamous Chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party... Well, in the last post I mentioned the ability of Florida voters to register by Party. I think it's pretty damn nifty. I like the fact that when I did register to vote (last week) I was able to check a box and say I'm a Democrat. I even had to take an oath not to support a Republican in order to become a member of the Leon County Democratic Party. That was seriously cool.

Okay, the reason I mention this is because I resigned from my post as South Carolina Third Vice Chair in August. I don't exactly remember - I think it might have been the 17th of August or something like - totally could have been the 18th. Well, when I resigned I didn't receive anything from our Chair or Executive Director of the Party - no congratulations on getting engaged or good luck on moving to Florida... Not a thing.

Instead - several good Democrats in South Carolina (read: youthful Democrats) got an irate email (oh shock!) from our good Chairman expressing his outrage over the fact that I had allegedly become a registered voter in Florida BEFORE resigning as Third Vice Chair of South Carolina. OMG. I'm serious, OMG. (This was, but of course, the day after my previous post was published).

C'mon now... To all the lovely people who read this blog -- perhaps taking a step back would be a REAL good idea.

In addition, Mr. Clemson Cheerleader -- perhaps it would even be a better idea to start holding press conferences on issues that are important to South Carolina voters. As much as we love our palmetto flip-flops -- the average South Carolinian doesn't connect that the fact that their shoes were made in China takes jobs away from the good folks in Cheraw. As much as I despise (DESPISE) the misleadership of Mr. Sanford -- it's time, as Chairman, to start making a difference in this election. While I realize that there probably are some good ideas that come out of that ergonomically designed cubicle in Greenville, put down the pom-poms and start with some fighting words.

We're South Carolinians -- we take politics as seriously as cigarettes and church and it is TIME to change the current political landscape. I am SICK and TIRED of Republicans who claim the moral high-road and then band together to protect legislators who have extra-marital affairs. I am SICK and TIRED of Republicans who claim to protect jobs in this great state and then refuse to attract new business to this state. I am SICK and TIRED of Republicans who wring their hands about the lack of available healthcare, who take pot shots at our education system -- all without the slightest peep at a solution.

I want the South Carolina Party to show a little teeth... I know there are a lot of people who were put of by Harpo - but at least he said what needed to be said. Oh - yeah, and we won too.