Cooter Brown

Interesting Fact: Folklore has it that Cooter Brown had family on both sides during the Civil War and he didn't want to fight for either side. So he got drunk, stayed drunk throughout the war years, and was not drafted. Now a person's intoxication is measured to his.

If you have read the previous blogs, you know I have a friend named Mary Sue. Mary Sue is a good ole' gal, born and raised here in Georgia. In fact she tells me when she is gone she want us to say at her funeral, and I quote.."She was a good ole'gal and we are gonna miss her." She and I are probably the two most unlikely people to ever become such great friends. I was born in New Jersey, and raised in South Florida, which is pretty much the same thing as being raised in New Jersey. But my mom always says, Yankee by birth, Southerner by choice.

Mary Sue is one of my most treasured friends, turns out we have a lot in common...go figure. She has taught me everything I know about quilting...(also in a previous blog) . She claims I am afraid of color when it comes to quilting, but she is helping with with that disorder. She gets a little upset when I fire up her facebook pages with my Mafia wars successes...Again..I am from New Jersey, and Italian...(enough said)

Okay, back to the story..one day we were at a Farm exhibit at the Eatonton Plaza Arts Center, (also mentioned in a preious blog)...we happened to be meandering through the exhibit, and Mary Sue was pointing out people she knew in pictures. Some of these people I think dated back to the early 1900's...Mary Sue is not that old, but OMG...she remembers everything, and knows everyone I think in a hundred mile radius...Well, she was talking about this one person and compared him to being crazier than Cooter Brown... I being from South Florida, was not familiar with this Cooter Brown person and Asked her..."Who is Cooter Brown?" and "Who would name their kid Cooter Brown?"...Mary Sue has this way of looking at you real funny when you ask something really stupid...(I knew in about a nano second from the look on her face, this was one of those questions)...She says..."You never heard of Cooter Brown?" ...Heck no, I have no clue who he is I am not from here...Then she explained that he was a fictious person, and haven't I ever heard the saying..."Drunker than Cooter Brown"? No, I hadn't or I wouldn't be asking about who he was...

Turns out these southerners have a saying for everything, and a language all their own. I am proud to say, I have never been as drunk as Cooter Brown, nor have I ever been drunk or planned to be. Nor has Mary Sue, something else we have in common!

My 1st Rodeo in GA!

FACT: The Goat, Feb. 22, 1892 Georgia’s mascot for its first football game against Auburn, Feb­ruary 22, 1892 in Atlanta, Ga., was a goat. Old newspaper clippings indicate that the goat wore a black coat with red U.G. letters on each side. He also had on a hat with ribbons all down his high horns, and the Auburn fans yelled throughout the game “shoot the billy-goat.”~~GO DAWGS~~

So, you can surmise from the picture of the goat that this rodeo will have goats. Well, it gets better. Ok, so, Matt and I are in Georgia before the rest of the family when we moved up here. My friend Pam invited Matt and I to go to a rodeo since her boys and their horses would be taking part in it. We were new here, like only a few days, so we said, " Why not," and went. This was sponsored by 4H. I had only been to professional rodeos before in south Florida. I was in for a treat. I didn't tell you that it was to start late afternoon or early evening - I can't remember. All I know is it was HOT, muggy, sticky and SMELLY! PLUS this was our 1st encounter with Georgia bugs...WOW they are big...especially the nasty flies...YUCK!

The first round of tricks that we saw were little kids dressed in full cowboy gear, hoping on a sheep and riding it. It was weird and very funny. This was a first to see anyone ride a SHEEP.

But then Pam leaned to me and said, "have you ever seen them pant a goat?" WTF? What does that mean???? Well, we were about to find out. The announcer said something in his very thick southern drawl of an accent I couldn't understand- remember, FL girl here...no ear for THAT accent just yet. The next thing we knew, goats ran out of a gate and stopped. Then little kids ran up to the goats and LITERALLY tried to put pants (YUP- the kind you and I wear) on a goat. THIS was an actual rodeo event. The crowd in the stands went crazy and routed these scary little children on. Putting clothing on livestock. This just leaves me to ponder this, WHY? Even more so, WHO was the BRAINIAC that came up with this potential Olympic event?

Cow Patty Bingo

Interesting Fact: The average cow produces 30lbs of urine and 65lbs pounds of faeces daily.

I know what you are thinking...Cows again...this is a good one..keep reading. Picture this...It is a beautiful Saturday in middle rural Georgia. Looking for something to do that was free and entertaining, I decided it would be a great Idea to take the family, my friends Lusia and her daughter, and of course Mary Sue to downtown Eatonton Georgia. The Plaza Arts Center was featuring Agricultural Awareness. There were old tractors, FFA displays, and a display on farm life. It was a wonderful view into histories past. (I really enjoyed the history aspect) They also has a petting zoo complete with a cow, chickens, goats and pigs. You can imagine how thrilled Maryann (the other fact chick) was, has she has been wanting to pet a calf since we moved her. Well, as much as she loved the calf...she was enthrauled by the pigglets (I must admitt they were very cute) She got to hold the pigglet and it snuggled under her chin. She was in love with it and wanted to take it home...Then of course my Georgia husband said, yeah in about six months, we'll be eat'n good. He is always looking to eat...(good thing I can cook or he might starve). When we finally left the petting zoo, I found Mary Sue, blunking down money on a bingo game...I LOVE BINGO! I wanted to play too. Turns out I was playing COW PATTY BINGO...Now, sit down for this one...ARe you sitting okay...This was not my grandmother's bingo..(She used to bring me to bingo with her when I was a little girl....) There were no ink dabbers, there were no bingo cards, no balls with numbers floating around in an air machine, no caller shouting "B 7". No there was none of this...Instead, there was a grid on a paper, you put your name in the square you wanted to bet on, the cost for a chance $3...the look on my face priceless...Turns out that once the grid on the paper is filled up, they take the calf to a field with the same grid on it and wait to see where she is going to do her "business" Wa-La...Cow Patty Bingo... (which is never to be confused with Beach Blanket Bingo) I don't know why they are called cow "patties"..They look nothing like a hamburger patty, nor a peppermint patty..there is nothing "patty" about them... A couple of questions to ponder...What if the cow "patty" lands between two squares?...What if it lands on four corners? or better yet what if the cow is constipated...Then what..the game is called on count of no poop! Do they return the money? I still don't know if I won or lost...I had to leave before 3:00 or when the calf was ready to do her business. And if you read the interesting fact above, 65 pounds is one heck of a patty!

You must think by now that I am crazy, maybe even two kinds of crazy, but I am telling you, you can't make this stuff up...This stuff really happens in Georgia...I Love it here and I am never moving!

P.S. The pig above are the one's Maryann got to hold...The cow patty bingo sign was the actual sign from the Ag. Awareness event....

Dog and Pony Show

Today during my mad rush to Walmart to get more cleaning supplies for school, I had an "only in Georgia" moment. As I walked out of the store I noticed a green jeep. There were two elderly people inside. I saw the elderly gentleman in the passenger seat feeding a treat to a big dog. I thought it was a giant collie or sheep dog but it's hair was white and looked like people hair. I looked again and MUCH to my surprise this big dog was no dog at all but a miniature horse. YES, not only did they have a miniature horse, they took it to Walmart. IN THEIR CAR(Jeep)! OMG! I really wanted to take a picture but by the time I mustered up the courage, they had left. Here is a bit more to the story, the older lady and gentleman had that wild white(ish) coloed hair just like the horse. I guess it's true that animals do look like their owners. BUT A MINIATURE HORSE IN YOUR CAR????


Miniature Horse Fact:
The Miniature Horse breed is the product of nearly 400 years of selective breeding. Many trace back to the early 1700’s, when the small horses were used to pull ore carts in coalmines of England and Northern Europe. The miniatures were brought to the United States in the late 19th century for that same use. The European royalty were known to keep the smallest minis around as pets.

STUPID EGG STORY

EGG FACTS: Eggs contain all the essential protein, minerals and vitamins, except Vitamin C. But egg yolks are one of few foods that naturally contain Vitamin D.

Again, I contribute this to the Florida school system. Please keep in mind that I was a Culinary Arts instructor, so this REALLY took me by surprise. My entire life I liked eating eggs. Well, they would have to be fried, over easy or scrambled. I was never a fan of the hard-boiled egg nor the egg sandwich. But when I moved to Georgia I certainly learned a lot about livestock and farming stuff. Growing up in the big city one doesn't know much about these things. Ok, so from time to time, I would get "weirded out" when eating eggs. So grossed out that at times I couldn't eat them. I thought (please don't laugh too hard) of that egg on my plate as a unborn baby chicken and at times couldn't eat it at all. I'd have to psych myself into eating it.
HAHAH...I'm sure, so one day I was telling this to our AG teacher and he most certainly got a big belly laugh about it. He made me sit down, after he stopped laughing and wiping the tears from his eyes and explained that the egg on my breakfast plate was not a fertilized egg.
Why don't the school in south Fla teach this kind of stuff? I went 40 years being grossed out by a little egg. Imagine how many innocent people are out there that still think what I used to think?

Interesting fact: Each year Taco Bell sells a lot of food. In fact, they sell 2 billion tacos each year. They also sell 1 billion burritos each year. What is their key to success? Just look at their menu. Not only is their food tasty, but it's extremely affordable as well.

I'm back..I know you have missed me. I have another great story to tell you. Yesterday, my friend Lusia and I took her daughter and Liza to see the Jonas brothers concert in atlanta. We had a great time. The show was unbelievable. Those kids can perform.

I met Luisa in I think 1984. We attended Florida Atlantic University In Boca Raton Florida. I used to drag Luisa out of the dorm at 1:30, 2:00 in the morning to go and get Cigarettes. There was this convience story on the corner run by some guy named Hauk. Hauk used to love when I came into the store and would try and talk to me...Luisa would say, "come on get your stuff so we can go." Hauk would tell her, in his Pakistanian accent, "You can have anything in the store, just let me talk to her." Luisa would say to him, "do you know who you are talking too?" You see Luisa and I have struggled with losing weight all our lives, and the opportunity to shop for free was a phat college chics dream come true, it was better than hitting the lottery.

Anyway, Luisa's theory is you can't be a real woman unless you weigh 200 pounds. (If that is the case I am one hell of a real woman.)

On our way back from the concert we were hungry. We left for the concert at 4:45, none of us had eaten. The stuff they sold at the concert was not dinner food. By 11:30 we were starving. We decided to pull into Taco Bell. They are open late, the lights are on....Well, we pulled up to the door, and one of the taco bell staff was taking out the trash. When he saw us he got that "deer in the head light" look. (Again with those damn deer, there is no escaping them) When we got out of the car, he motion to us that they were closed and we would have to use the drive thru...Luisa immediately said, "He took one look at us and thought to himself...we don't have enough food for that group."

So much for being open late, especially on a Sat. night. Next time you are in Conyers at 11:30, your hungry, remember that the taco bell drive in is open..
and BTW...it's not easy eating tacos in a car, especially the crunchy ones.

FUNERALIZE

FACTS ON FUNERALS:

The history of funeral service is a history of mankind. Funeral customs are as old as civilization itself.
Every culture and civilization attends to the proper care of their dead. Every culture and civilization ever studied has three things in common relating to death and the disposition of the dead:

Some type of funeral rites, rituals, and ceremonies

A sacred place for the dead

Memorialization of the dead

Ok, so I am MORE than shocked to Google the word funeralize and this came up:

fu⋅ner⋅al⋅ize: Use funeralized in a Sentence
–verb (used with object), -ized, -iz⋅ing.
to hold or officiate at a funeral service for.

OMG!!! Ok, so here's my story. When we moved to Greene County, Gloria and I were dumbfounded when we found out that schools were used to hold funerals. Yup, that's right, you could view the body's right there in the schools. OF course this was NOT during school hours. But this was strange to us none-the-less. BUT when someone said, "so and so will be FUNERALIZED at the high school at....." We both looked at each other and said, "Huh? Funeralized? Really?" What the goonie-goo-hoo did this mean? Until tonight when I decided to write about this experience, I never thought to Google it and I DID find the above definition.

So, for future reference, when the Good Lord decides that He wants me to "Come on Home," PLEASE do NOT mourn me. Celebrate life but I do NOT wish to be "Funeralized in a school."

Deer

Interesting Fact: Suburban home owners spend thousands of dollars on replacing landscaping plants defoliated or damaged by deer.

One of my greatest joys when I first moved to Georgia was seeing deer in my yard. Being from South Florida (which believe me is far from being in the South), we never saw deer anywhere. We would stop and admire them along the way home. My sister would even talk to them. (You really have to know Maryann, she is like Eli Mae from the Beverly Hillbillies where animals are concerned..hence the bully bully blog).

The affection for the deer didn't last long with my parents once they discovered the deer eat everything in your yard. My mother was losing her precious plants one by one. One spring she had just planted some new lireiobe, and the dear had visited her yard that evening and plucked them out of the ground and left them beside the holes they had been pulled from. This was one of the first calling cards that the deer left. Another time, she had planted some beautiful hydrangeas (my favorites). The deer ate the mop heads off the plants and left twigs. At this point my mother renamed the deer, "those damn deer. "

I went to visit one day, broad daylight and the "damn deer" were standing in the middle of her drive way. When my dad answered the door he tried to scare them away by clapping and making noise, they just turned and looked at him with those big doe eyes.... I said to my dad, "The next time I pull up to your house, I am going to find them in your rocking chairs, drinking cold adult beverages." His reply..."Those damn dear."

By now my mother had it with the deer. After losing who knows how much in plants, she talks my dad into putting up a deer fence. This an electrified fence designed to keep "the damn deer" out. For anyone moving to Georgia, take my advise, save your money. The "damn deer fence" does not keep the "damn deer out". How do we know? My mother watched the deer swim around the fence that runs along side her yard and down all the way to the lake. Apparently "damn deer" know how to swim.

Then she tried deer repellent...The stuff stinks to high heaven...I have no clue what is in it. In case your are tempted...just put the stuff down and back away from the shelf.

It is just the opposite at my house, I have a beautiful garden my husband planted for me, my hydrangea are doing fine...the deer leave my yard along...I love the deer, We feed them corn way out off the property line..seems to work at my house...B ( just take a look at the picture I took a week ago in my back yard of them eating the corn) but my parents are convinced nothing works. According to them, don't be fooled by those innocent looking doe eyed creatures, it's just an act to fool you into letting them eat your entire yard. And when they are done, they hi-five each other on a job well done, break out the beer and cigars and celebrate.

Interesting Fact: According to a major study conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Mississippi is the fattest state in the United States.

This is for all the "big" people here in Georgia. I am going to just warn you ahead of time and let you know I believe that there as been a new category added to people with disabilities (handicap). Let me explain.... Maryann, Jennifer, and I were in Atlanta this weekend for one of our Doctorate classes. Since we didn't want to drive all the way back home (70 miles) we always stay at this one hotel we really like. When we went to check in we asked to be on the same floor. Jennifer was being checked in my one attendant, and Maryann the other attendant... Jennifer's attendant looked over at the guy helping Maryann and said put them in room 233...

We ventured up to our rooms. Jen was in room 229 and we thought we were in room 227. (Maryann even made a joke about he show, 227). Well turns out we were down the hall a piece from Jen in room 233. We opened the door and went into the room and we were pleasantly surprised.. The room was very spacious, with an extra large bathroom. I commented to Maryann what a nice room we had and how large it was. She said they put us in the handicap room...Right away I said...hmmmmm, they put us in here because we are fat...They gave us extra wide isles, extra large bathroom (which was complete with handrails in the shower, and a seat in the shower/bath) Which comes is very handy, because as you know if your large, it's hell getting up out of a tub, so those handles in there are a great idea. In fact I wish I had thought of that when I built the house I lived in. I would have added those safety devises. '(Skinny ladies, if you have been pregnant, you have experienced the "fat factor"..so don't be hate'in because we are beautiful) Unfortunately, at the time I didn't realize Georgia (the Atlanta area) had added fat people to the list a disabled. I am so glad I know this now. As you can see from the picture above of my phat (pretty hot and thick, that's what we call it down here) behind, I appreciated the extra room. Usually we are victims of discrimination, but Atlanta, being the wonderful up-to-date city that they are, is very accommodating and doesn't discriminate. I love Atlanta! I love living in the country better.

Oh, my friend Jan (from mullis memories blog) says another southern saying is "Don't get your panties in a bunch" I don't think that is something I need to worry about anytime soon, (nothing is bunching up on an ass like that)...just check out my picture above. Just to let you know, I never ask that question "honey does my butt look big" and now you now why!

Quilting

Mary Sue..Sewing her Quilt

Finished Quilt...and I helped...

Interesting Fact: Amish quilters and others are trilingual. They speak Pennsylvania Dutch (or Low German) at home, Hochdeutsch (or High German) during church services, and English when speaking with outsiders. Pennsylvania Dutch is a spoken language only, so they are required to write in English.

Enough about farm life or now. Let's talk about my new hobby. I have always fancied myself, somewhat of a creative person. When I was young my Grandmother taught me how to crochet, which I still do. About 15 years ago I got into scrapbooking, which I still do. All these crafts are very popular here in Georgia, but nothing seems to be as popular as Quilting.

In every little down-town shop you will find quilts on display. There used to be this little ice cream shop downtown, inside they sold some of these homemade quilts. (I of course purchased one....just had to have it) If you have never seen a homemade quilt, they are exquisite.

After seeing these quilts all over the place, I knew I had to learn how to make them. I have been here now for 5 years. This summer I took my first baby step into the quilting world. A girlfriend of mine, Mary Sue (if you read the mullis memories blog posted on my list of blogs you might be familiar with Ms. Mary Sue.) Approximately, one month ago I got this brilliant idea to take Mary Sue to the brand new quilt shop in Eatonton Ga. (the only city I know of in Putnam County). This was the beginning of my quilting hobby. Mary Sue talked her niece Jan and myself into signing up to learn how to make "charm square" purses. I loved it and have made 10 bags to date. (One was for Mary Sue's Birthday, which she got early because I couldn't wait.)

Today Mary Sue came to visit me, with an already quilt top in hand. She needed my help to help her baste the quilt so she could machine stitch it. (I was so honored as I am a novice.) While I sat and watch Mary Sue stitching in the ditch (quilting terms), I learned so much... I asked if you was going to make those fancy stitching designs you see on quilts. Her response was, "This is not heirloom quilt, it a baby quilt, it gonna wind up on the floor, and they better make sure their damn floor is clean before you put a quilt I make on it. The quilt was taking a little while and Mary Sue said she thought the quilt was on steroids, because it seemed to be growing as she sewed it. She said it was making her side-ways. (Side-ways for all of you not familiar with the southern language, it means drunk.) The stuff in the middle of the quilt is called batting. Mary Sue prefers cotton batting because it doesn't "beard" like polyester batting. (Bearding is when the puffy white batting comes through the sewing holes). As she was sewing the presser foot was coming loose. We ask my husband Charles why this was happening and he told us it was from the vibration and he could fix it with some "Lock Tight" and it would never come off again..Mary Sue responded that would be like gluing your shoes on your feet. (There are different sewing feet for different projects.) Mary Sue as much in common with the Amish, she too is trilingual. She speaks, English, Southern, and Quilt.

Next, week I will be graduating from bags to actual quilts myself...Mary Sue is going to teach me. I will keep you posted.

BULLY-BULLY

FACTS ABOUT COWS AND BULLS:

Many states observe Cow Appreciation Day - usually in July.

Angus cattle breed of black polled (hornless) beef cattle, originated in Scotland and introduced in 1873 to the United States.

It's Maryann here. OK, so when I used to drive the back roads into town I saw this bull. At first I thought it was a huge cow, but I saw no utters. He had other parts dangling though. But I was shocked and dumbfounded. Ya see, growing up in a big city, one really doesn't study agriculture, therefore I never knew this about cows and bulls.(wait for it) I always thought that only bulls had horns and this was one of the ways you could tell a cow from a bull. (OK, I know it's like totally Lisa Douglas philosophy...but never-the-less, very true). I was 40 years old before I knew the truth about cows and bulls.

Here's what you've been waiting for:

Cows can also have horns....OK, my Georgia farming friends, don't laugh too hard...I know that there are other city girls like me that don't know this. The farmers burn them off when the cows are small. Well, Bully-Bully (whom I affectionately named), has no horns...hence my confusion. Bully-Bully is BIG and GEORGOUS. I walk up to the barbed wire fence (like 1 string of wire) and talk to him. He would kill me in a blink of his big brown eye, but he loves me. So, when I pass his farm, I beep my horn and yell, "Bully-Bully, I love you." My mother affectionately calls him her next son-in-law......NOT gonna happen mom- I do love animals but not in that "stump-broke" way.....besides, I am sure that everyone knows that I am a commitment-a-phobe.

The Wanderers

Interesting Fact: JUNEAU, Wis. -- A case of wandering cows has landed a Dodge County woman in trouble for abusing a 911 operator.

Okay, I know what your thinking...Another cow story so soon...Well when you live in rural middle Georgia (dairy country) you have a lot of cow stories, even if you have only been here for 4 or 5 years.

One beautiful summer day appox. 4 or 5 months after we had moved to Georgia. Maryann and I were traveling down one of the many country roads on our way to visit with a co-workers of hers. We were somewhere in Penfield...Penfield is one of the five little and I do mean little towns in Greene County...(there are a total of 5, Greensboro, Union Point, Woodville, Penfield, and White Plains) Penfield's claim to fame is it is the original home of Mercer University (Named after Rev. Jesse Mercer a Greene County resident...which is now located in Macon Ga...Which is in Bibb county not to be confused with Macon County Georgia.) Anyway...we were riding down the road and we saw a cow wandering around on the side of the road....We of course thought that was such a funny thing to see, but really didn't think much of it....

Later that evening, I happened to mention to my then boyfriend, now husband Charles of our ride into Penfield and how we saw this cow wandering around on the side of the rode..

He explained to me that when you see something like this you have to call the police and let them know...Maryann and I had no idea about the proper protocall for reporting wandering cows. He explained that they can do a lot of damage to the car and the farmer that owns that animal is responsible for any damage it might cause...

Months passed and this time I was on my way into Madison via hwy 278 (the back road), when low and behold...another wandering cow...I dialed 911 from my cell phone..the operator asked me what was my emergency and I could not wait to tell her about the wandering cow..She asked me where I was on hwy 278, I explained..She responded with an officer is on the way.

Now, being from Palm Beach County Florida, I have a many a run in with having to call the police especially when I was younger due to crazy people on the road, drunk drivers on the road, people following me home...etc... This wandering cow thing was a first for me...I just love the cows! I am happy to report I have only had to call 911 one other time about wandering cows, that time I was with my friend Lusia..(She moved up here from Miami Fl. with her husband and daughter) That was her first wandering cow incident..It was a good thing she was with me since I have so much experience in this area.

DONKEYS

This is Maryann...Gloria's YOUNGER sister...

Since I moved to Georgia, I realize that people have donkeys. I like seeing animals that I never really got to see when I lived in South Florida. At first it was a culture shock for this city girl...

I pass a lot of farms driving to and from work. Well, I was driving with my son who was a teenager at the time. We were discussing rap music and the explicit sexual content of some songs. Well, knowing how much I like donkeys, I always would pass this farm and Matt (my son) would say, "Look at the donkeys." He said this because being the ADD person that I am will be talking to him or singing and as we pass the farm, I'd stop mid-sentence and say, "Ahh, Look at the donkeys." So, this became our regular thing when we pass this farm. One day we were driving when we came up to that farm, Matt was speaking to me. I pointed over at the donkeys and, what came out of my mouth next, well, he has NEVER let me live it down. I was so SHOCKED ...did I mention it was SPRING time....(birds and bees...love is in the air, Ah, yes, even for Donkeys)...Ok, so I pointed (as usual) and much to my surprise, I shouted, "Donkey Sex!" Yeah, not such a proud mom moment... but a funny one.

Interesting FACTS ABOUT DONKEYS:

Donkeys come in a variety of sizes from the Miniature Mediterranean (under 36 inches) to the elegant Mammoth Jackstock (14 hands and up). The rare French Poitou donkey, characterized by it’s huge head and ears, and very thick, shaggy, curled black coat, can stand 14 to 15 hands high. (There are fewer than 200 purebred Poitous left in the world today.) The types of donkeys are labeled by their sizes: 36" and under, Miniature Mediterranean; 36.01-48", Standard; 48.01" to 54 (jennets) or 56 (jacks), Large Standard; and 54/56" and over, Mammoth Stock.
Donkeys are healthy, hardy animals but should receive the same vaccinations and wormings as a horse. Their hooves also need periodic trimming. They often live for 25 or more years.

The Godfather

Interesting Fact: The Godfather was the first movie in over twenty years in which Marlon Brando was required to audition.

It's is now time to start introducing the family and their part in this adventure. The guy on the right is my husband Charles. The other guy on the left..well that's our dad....A.K.A...Big Al...Al is his real name. Big Al is a great guy, wonderful dad, good husband all around good guy with a big heart. Big Al's wasn't always Big Al, he started out as just Al (not to be confused with "Just Jack" for all of you Will and Grace fans). You see before the show, Pawn Stars (which is a new show on t.v. these days) Our father was a pawnbroker. In fact, Maryann used to say we need to make a t.v. show about the pawn shop about 10 years ago. (She is really p.o'ed because as usual someone stole her idea) Anyway.... The name of the pawn shop was Big Al's, most people think that the shop was named after him, but in fact, our mother named it after Al Capone (no family relation). People naturally assumed because his name was Al, he was Big Al...it just kinda stuck...Big Al's Pawn Shop and Paen-A-Rama was a family business, Dad (aka Pops to us), brother, brother-in-law, brother-in-law's brother, and myself all worked for the big guy. (People think teaching is hard...working for family is harder, and working for Big Al was the toughest, yet best job I ever had) Of course, the stereo type is that all Italians are in the Mafia...and this was only made worse by owning and running pawnshops. Shortly after the pawnshops sold, dad retired, and took up golf.. (This is one of the reasons we moved to Greene County Ga, as Reynold's Plantation is a huge golfing community.) Dad, being bored here in Georgia, decided to devote his time volunteering as the head of the Greene County High School Band Boosters. Both, Maryann's son and my son played in the high school band. The band worked closely with the football team at the high school where Maryann taught. The head football coach for whatever reason really believed our dad was connected. (It may have something to do with the last name Bruno). One day during a band/football awards ceremony- during the invocation, dad's cell phone rang (he forgot to turn it to vibrate). My nephew Matt, being the prankster that he his, set up my dad's cell phone's ring tone to the theme from the Godfather. The entire audience, just turned and looked...From that moment on the head football coach was convinced that dad was connected. I think he is part of the reason why some of my Georgia friends really believe that the "witness protection" explanation as to why we moved here. So, if any of our Italian friends, family etc. decide to come and visit or move, just remember they are going to think you are connected. Just blame it on the Big guy.

Fried Pickles

Interesting Fact: John Lennon's first girlfriend was named Thelma Pickles. (Dedicated to Matt Bruno...he loved the Beatles)





Okay...Lets talk food...Yes, it is true what you heard that everything in the south is fried. They fry turkey at Thanksgiving. They love a good fish fry...in fact I don't know of anyone in my husbands family that has ever had fish cooked any other way. They fry okra, pork chops, corn, cheesecake, yes I said cheesecake, Twinkies, and everything. Being an Italian American we do some frying, like fried zucchini. We also fry eggplant, (this is one of the steps in making eggplant parm. which is delish). We even fry calamari, (or squid). I thought I had seen it all. I hadn't....until we went to eat one night at a local eatery. (for those of you that are not familiar with Greene County, when I first moved her the only places to eat out were McDonald's, Wendy's and Pizza Hut. Oh...and Hill Top...Hill Top is really a gas station, yes a gas station/convenience store....that has this little version of a restaurant in the back. That was four years ago and now there is much more to choose from. Back to the story....One night we were bored with the food choices so we decided to venture out of our county and into another that had a few more places to choose from...As my nephew was reading the menu, he said they have fried pickles....(at first I thought he was playing a joke because if you know Matt, he does that a lot and I tend to fall for his antics as I am gullible) I said..."what the hell is a fried pickle?" It is exactly what it says it is...they take a dill pickle, slice it, some times they leave them in spears, they batter them and then deep fry them. I have been told they are delish, although I just haven't had the nerve to try them yet...(but I promise you I will, and get back to you on how they really taste). So when you think of us here in the South...Remember it is true...They do fry everything.

Cows

Interesting Fact: Cows produce 200 times more gas a day than humans.......

Hello everyone! Let me start by introducing my self....My name is Gloria. I am a 46 almost 47 year old woman that moved to Green County Georgia from Palm Beach County Florida 4years ago with my two children. The first question that always comes up is, Why? This was asked by everyone I met upon moving here.. Oh...I didn't just move by myself..the entire family moved. You see, I am of Italian decent and we tend to stick together. So, we moved as a group, my two parents, my sister, her son, my two children and of course me. I got tired of explaining the real reason we moved ( We wanted a change. Life in Palm Beach was becoming way to congested and I wanted to raise my kids in a quieter atmosphere), so we stated telling people we were in witness protection...believe it or not, I think some people believed it.

Now let me put things in perspective for you...Palm Beach County has approx 1.3 million residence...Greene County Georgia a little over 14,000. In Palm Beach County...There are no dairy farms...Greene County Georgia has many dairy farms, not to mention it's neighboring county, Putnam, which is the states dairy capitol... I have had the honor and the privilege to teach in both counties, and no matter which roads (two lanes of course and only 1 traffic light in 23 miles) I would encounter cows on my daily ride to and from work. For a "city" girl....I thought I had time warped into Lisa Douglas from Greenacres...I loved seeing the cows everyday, the one thing I still have not gotten used to is the smell.... Since my sister and I teach at the same school (this will be a story for another day) we ride together...there is this one really big diary farm on our way to school that we have loving named "the stinky cow farm". When ever my mom calls and wants to know where we are on our way home, we reply"we just passed the stinky cow farm" and she knows exactly where we are. My Georgia friends tell me you get used to that smell..this is something I can't imagine.