WARNING: Stuffed animals and guns are involved...viewer discretion advised

This past weekend I went by myself to Kentucky. My girl, Joanna, is from there. She moved here about 5 years ago after she & my cousin got married. The last year, we have become very close. We both stay at home with our kids during the day. She works in the evening. Her son, Carter, is 2 1/2 & he & the triplets are best friends. We see them several times a week.

For a while now we had talked about me going down to KY when she does for a visit. We decided it would be this past weekend. She left a week earlier, but there was no way I was going to be able to pull that off! I left Friday afternoon. It takes about 5 hours to get there, so Nate took 1/2 day off so I wouldn't have to drive at night. You see, I don't typically drive on the Interstate. I have a phobia about it. I'm not good with directions, either....at least not with the N,S, E & W. Landmarks & other things, I'm fine. I've probably driven on the interstate (4 lanes or more) 20 times in the last 17 years. But I bucked up...and I did it! No painkillers, muscle relaxants or nothin' (okay, I did take some Ibuprofen)! You are probably pretty relieved to hear that since I was the one driving.

I stayed at Joanna's mom & dad's house with her & Carter. It was a blast! I felt completely relaxed & welcomed in her family. They are true, genuine down home folk. My family is from Tennessee & they are down home folk as well. But I usually don't get to just sit down there & enjoy the beauty & peacefulness because my siblings & I usually have our herd of kids with us. This time, I worried about nothing. I knew my babies were alright. They spent the night with my mom & step-dad on Friday night & then Nate & them went to his parents house for the rest of the weekend. I didn't have to worry about laundry, dishes or anything. I asked her mama, jokingly, if she would let me sleep in Saturday & Sunday. You know what her response was? "Honey, I don't wake no one up. You can sleep as late as you want." Man I love that woman! :)

They even had a room for me. But, I ended up sleeping with Jo & Carter the first night & then Jo & I the second night. We stayed in our PJ's for most of the time. We sat out on their covered porch. It was rainy & cold, but I could have sat out there all day. The only sounds you heard were the occasional truck, cow, squirrels & birds. I laid on their couch & watched TV for half the day. I would get up to get another Diet Pepsi & to pee. Tell me that isn't relaxing!

I got to "re-meet" most of her family. We hung out at her brother, Matthew, & his wife Keisha's house. Her other sister in law, Kim, came over on Saturday & on Sunday with Jo's other brother, Bubby, for a few minutes. And on Sunday before we left, we went to her Greatma's house. Her Aunt's TJ & Laura were there. They even got me a travel bag for the ride home. It is a nice bag with tons of goodies. I ate most of them on the way home! Her greatma told me to come down anytime & that we needed to move down there. She said the more babies, the better! And let me tell you, she's a spitfire! Some of the things she said could make me blush. It was so fun. And then I met her aunt Mary. What a sweetheart she was. She hugged me & loved on me. So from the length of this post, you can see I had a good time. I'll share with you some things I learned or did while I was there:

• I learned what taxidermy really is. I don't necessarily condone it, but the passion in her daddy was amazing!
• I learned there were different seasons for hunting.
• I learned about the different types of guns. And he had them locked away in a big safe just in case you were wondering.
• I ate actual bacon...not turkey bacon. Yes, I've eaten bacon several times before, but it has been a while. And to top it off, her brother was the butcher. I didn't think about it, I just ate it. And it was darn good!
• I killed a spider that was on Joanna's shoulder. Can you believe that one!!??
• I learned that her mom is a great cook!
• I learned that under his "tough guy" exterior, her dad really is a sweet & caring man. I think if I had more time there, I could have coaxed him over in to the anti/hunting side. Okay, probably not.
• I ate a bite of ham & cheese sandwich meat.

I'm sure there are many other things that I forgot. Jo? You will have to let me know if I have forgotten anything.

Part of their back yard

Jo & her mama, Melody. They were so cute in their house coats. CAUTION: This is the part with the animals & guns