Girl Toys and Boy Toys

Have you ever noticed that the "girl" toys are all princesses and babydolls, while the "boy" toys are actually somewhat educational and require them to build something?  This was always a huge issue with my mom when I was a little girl.  In fact, she actually made me play with my brother's toys too!  Now, don't get me wrong, I had plenty of Barbies and babydolls.  Although my first Barbie was actually a gift at a birthday party to which I exclaimed, "Ooh, Barbie!  My mother wouldn't let me have these!"  Can you imagine the poor mother who brought the gift??  After that it was all over :)  Now that I'm older, I completely understand what my mother was trying to instill in me.  Neither my mom nor I are feminists by any stretch.  In fact, my mother left her job when she had children to pursue a more traditional role as stay-at-home mom.  But she always pushed me to excel in school and that I could do anything I wanted to do.  I found a statistic at this website that "fewer than 3 in 10 graduates in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are women."  Granted I work in a field that is largely dominated by women (roughly 70% of veterinary graduates are now women), but I realize that it is a problem.  Do I think that every woman should graduate in a science field?  Absolutely not.  I am constantly blown away by the creativeness and caring nature other women exhibit in their field.  I just think we should push our girls to excel in anything they do, and not shy away from a career path because it's a "boys job."

So why am I on my feminist soapbox?  I found this video the other day and I absolutely love it!  It was produced by a company called GoldieBlox, that aims to change the fact that girls toys are severely lacking in the educational side of things.  It was started by a female engineer with the same gripe my mom had back in the 80s!  Hmmm, too bad Mom didn't get this idea back then...






Go vote for them here to win a commercial spot during the Super Bowl!

Five on Friday

Time for this week's Five on Friday!

Until recently, I was never a daily mascara wearer. I know, I know. Women everywhere are gasping.  I have oily skin and even "smudge-proof" brands left me with dark circles under my eyes halfway through the day. Not a pretty look. But as I've gotten older my skin has become less of an oil slick and lately I've been feeling like I needed a little extra oomph. The good old 3-0 can do that to ya!  So I decided to give mascara another chance. And of course I figured go big or go home, so I purchased this mascara that everyone has been raving about. I have to say, I think I'm a convert! 

I always love finding a new online boutique to check out. I heard about In Bloom over at Hello! Happiness and found this adorable top/jacket.  It is so comfortable and a great price!  

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This week is drop-off week for Operation Christmas Child.  It's a program through Samaritan's Purse, a Christian organization that seeks to spread the joy of Christmas to less fortunate children in countries across the world.  To participate, you just pack a shoebox or similar sized box full of toys and toiletries then drop it off at designated locations.  Volunteers then distribute them to the children.  The videos of the kids receiving their boxes will absolutely bring tears to your eyes.  We take so many things for granted and the joy on their faces over receiving such basic things really brings things into perspective.  Personally, I've been collecting things all year long via the Dollar Spot at Target, but if you want to participate this year you could easily make a run to the Dollar Store, fill a box, and get in in before the November 25 deadline.

So I have to admit that I've been listening to Christmas music for a couple weeks now.  I just can't help it!  A couple of my girlfriends found me out when they got in my car the other day and I forgot to change the channel.  I may even start pulling out the decorations this weekend.  I know a lot of people are big believers in waiting until after Thanksgiving, but personally I like to extend the holiday season as long as I can.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I'm sure this one is on everybody's top 5 this week, but I'm so looking forward to Thanksgiving.  Cameron and I are heading to the farm my mom grew up at.  My grandmother loves having everyone together and we usually make quite a crowd. 

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I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends!

The Miracle in Jordan-Hare

If you haven't heard by now about the crazy comeback Auburn had against Georgia this weekend, then you really don't watch college football!  Auburn dominated much of the first 3 quarters, then sat back and let it slip away to trail UGA 38-37.  It came down to 4th and 18 with 73 yards to go and 36 seconds left.  I was honestly just praying for fieldgoal range.

And then this happened....



The UGA coaches were priceless:

And another video from on the field to appreciate the deafening crowd noise:



My parents were there and said the stadium was the loudest they have ever heard and they've been going to Auburn games since the 70s!

We were at home in our living room with just a few friends over - one fellow Auburn fan (Mary), an LSU fan (Harry), and a Bama fan (Darla - yep, we're nice like that!)  The mood was really getting bad and they were already talking about skipping out on dinner and leaving after the game since Cameron and I were pretty unhappy by that point.  Then that lucky catch.  And I completely admit it was a lucky catch - but sometimes it's good to be lucky!  I really wish I had a video of what happened in our living room after that.  We ALL went nuts!  Our friends didn't even care who won but they were screaming and yelling.  My husband almost threw me into the ceiling fan.  Then proceeded to pick up Mary and Darla too.  He didn't care Darla's usually wearing red & houndstooth! :)

Yesterday, I saw this video of the replay being shown at South Carolina's game:



Only in the SEC!  You're welcome South Carolina.  If Missouri loses, they are on their way to the SEC championship.  And IF we can pull out a win over Alabama, and you never know with the Iron Bowl, we just might see you there!

WAR EAGLE!

Five on Friday

It's been a while since I've joined in with Five on Friday.  But I'm back this week!

1. War Eagle!  Who would have thought my Auburn tigers would rise to #7 in the BCS??  I was just hoping to win a few more games this season and make it to a bowl game. Now people are talking about Auburn possibly destroying Bama's streak and being in the running for the SEC championship!  But we have a long ways to go before then.  Georgia this weekend and Alabama in 2 weeks will both be tough games, but I'm hopeful!

 2. This week is the Junior League of Mobile's huge annual fund raiser, Christmas Jubilee.  It's 4 days of amazing shopping from all types of vendors - clothing, food, housewares.  There's always tons of cute stuff!  I was smart this year and worked my required shift early in the week during set up so I can fully enjoy some shopping time with the girls.  If you are a local, make sure you stop by!

3. This week I went to a local charity event, Purse with a Purpose, benefiting Our Sister's Closet, a group that provides business clothes for low-income women entering the workforce.  The charity is actually run by a fellow Alpha Chi Omega.  I was given tickets by a friend so Darla and I decided to go and we had so much fun.  Local men modeling purses down a runway to auction for charity - pretty entertaining!  Great for the charity but sadly for us, most of the handbags went for $700-$1000 so we didn't come home with any new armcandy.

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4. I paid a visit to my favorite hair stylist this week.  I tend to stay fairly blonde, but decided to add more lowlights in this time for more of a "fall blonde."  Of course, I think it is a big change, but my husband has announced it's not that different.  Does that ever happen to anyone else?

working on this whole "selfie" thing

5.  Since the low temperature dropped into the 30s this week, we decided it was time for the first fire of the season.  Cameron loves making fires and I love when he makes them!  There's just something about curling up on the sofa in front of the fireplace with a couple of pups and a glass of red wine!

Halloween at the Fair

This year we decided to spend Halloween at the Greater Gulf State Fair.  It all started with a group text message about how we hadn't been to the fair in years and did anyone want to go this year.  For me, I had not been since high school - about 13 years ago!  We finally decided on Halloween night for several reasons 1) no one in the group has children, 2) we wouldn't be home to answer the door for trick or treaters (I know, I know, bah-hum-bug.  It's just no fun with dogs that go nuts every time the doorbell rings!), and 3) there would be fewer people at the fair.  It turned out to be a genius idea!  We hardly ever waited in line and often were the only people on the ride!

 Darla and I chose to sit this ride out and laugh at everyone else's expressions instead.  I love fair rides but have a thing about heights.  And does anyone else ever worry about rides being set up overnight by a bunch of drugged out carnies??

Funny that one of the highlight for us was the petting zoo.  Cameron announced that we NEED a goat.  And how cute is the camel.  Guess how many "Hump Daaaay!" jokes were made...

king of the mountain - on a live turtle!

funny house mirrors are never good for a girl's ego

this girl failed miserably at guessing Harry's age.  I think she was honestly embarrassed by how much she overshot it by

Of course the food is one of my favorite parts of the fair.  I stuck with a tried and true corndog, but the hubs was in heaven when he saw this.  It was actually really good!

We had a great time!  I didn't realize how much I had missed the sights and sounds of the fair - and of course the food!  But I do have to admit, I was definitely feeling my age Friday morning.  I felt like I had been in a car wreck!  Aleve was my friend. :)

Fosters

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that I have fostered dogs several times.  Typically, we work with the Southeastern German Shorthair Pointer Rescue.  I love GSPs and they are quickly becoming a popular breed, which is both good and bad for rescue.  On the one hand, people are eager to adopt them, but on the other hand, people are often buying these dogs without realizing the exercise requirements of the breed and many are ending up in shelters.  I realized the other day that I never shared that our last foster, Sam, was adopted.   Another volunteer with the rescue was interested in adopting him and they happened to live in Montgomery, which is conveniently on our way to Auburn.  When we went up to Auburn for the Mississippi State game, we dropped him off for a trial weekend and he never came home!  I am always sad when a foster gets adopted, but so excited for his new life at the same time!

You can read about our previous fosters, Hank here and here, and Dean here and here.  We had to make the difficult decision to stop fostering because all 3 of the GSPs we have fostered have chased our cat, Lulu.  She's been caught twice, but thankfully, walked away without major injuries.  I just feel like my first priority is to the pets I have.  However, I am still a volunteer with the rescue and offered to help pull dogs from shelter, transport, etc.  This Friday, I had my first opportunity to do just that.  I pulled a male German Shorthair from the Baldwin County Animal Shelter and kept him overnight before handing him over to a volunteer to drive him to his foster home in Hoover, AL.  He is so sweet!  If you are interested, watch the website for Cooper's bio!

Little did I know that Cameron would be bringing home another foster Saturday afternoon.  And this one isn't even a GSP!

Cameron found this sweet little girl while out for a run in our neighborhood.  He was near a friend of a friend's house, who he knew regularly fosters dogs and thought it might be one of hers.  Turns out it wasn't, but she offered to take her and find her owners.  Unfortunately, the owners have not turned up.  Since she already has her hands full with other fosters, and Cameron felt he had dumped the dog on her, he went back to get her.  We are continuing to look for her owners, but in the meantime, I'll be spaying her and vaccinating her to get ready for her to go into one of the local rescues groups.  We still haven't come up with a name for her.  Any suggestions?


I would encourage everyone interested in getting a dog to really look at rescues and shelters.  I'll admit that both of our dogs were purchased from breeders, because at the time I thought that was what I had to do to get the breed I wanted.  These days, there are so many organized breed-specific rescues out there, that if a pure-bred (or close to it) is what you want, you can find and adopt a dog that would have otherwise been euthanized.  And if a pure-bred isn't your thing, and to be honest, some of the cutest dogs I see are mixed breeds, the shelters and rescues are full!  You won't regret adopting your new best friend!