My sister/one of our commenters, Suzie Talley, and Bruce Seelinger just got engaged.  I was in NC this weekend and got Bruce’s take on becoming a member of our family. 

I ran across this picture of me, HRB and Suzie on vacation somewhere and I suddenly realized why I force myself to go shopping before I leave town for any reason.  Whatup with the hard shoes, no socks and turtleneck?  No wonder in almost all of our vacation pics, we look very uncomfortable.  And well, what we used to call queer.

HRB apparently had to attend a business conference that day.   Points for Suzie for rockin’ the sailor top near the water.  She’s always had fashion sense.  Look at how she’s trying to distance herself from HRB and me.

That’s probably our dad in the background walking away like he doesn’t know us.

Barack O’Bama smokes.  He’s admitted to the vice, saying he’s trying nicotine gum.

Maybe he needs to call my sister.

Suzie Talley is the only person I know who can quit vices faster than you’ll notice Kim Kardashian’s backside.  

It’s been a month since Suzie gave up caffeine, sugar, alcohol and processed food…all at once.  I tried that.  I caved after two days (and at the begging of co-workers and The Boyfriend who said, “I liked the toxic Sherri”).  I thought we’d never hear from Suzie again.  I was wrong.  

Have you tried to give up something?  Are you up for the challenge?  Here’s Suzie’s report: 

‘”As my month long experiment ends…(no coffee-caffeine/sugar or alcohol/white or processed food) I highly recommend it! 

At first, the caffeine withdrawal was awful.  I almost felt sick for the first 2-3 days.  This just confirmed to me that I was addicted to it.  It was by far the hardest of all the things to give up.

Sugar was the second, but something really awesome happened.  Before giving these things up, I felt roller coasters in my energy level throughout the day.  On this experiment,  my energy level is constant throughout the day.  My 5:00 p.m. everyday blood sugar dip went away as well.  This was the most amazing.  For example, this morning I got up at 6, went to gym and lifted weights, washed Scott’s car, cleaned out the garage and was on the phone by 9:00 for my first conference call.  At noon, rode my bike for an hour and 15 minutes and will do a run after work today.  My energy level is amazing now!!

Giving up alcohol had some effect on me.  My resting HR in the morning is 40 bpm.  At night after dinking wine, it was 55 bpm.  So no more heart racing which I attributed to alcohol.

I also noticed I sleep like a truck.  No waking up in the middle of the night and when I do wake up at 6 a.m., I am really up.

At first life seemed rather bland without my vices to spice things up, but after about 3 weeks, other things took their place, like the spike in my energy level.  I have felt the best I have ever felt.  I lost only 5 pounds, but weight loss was not my goal.

I can’t say I will give these things up for life, but it was a cool way of getting to know your body better.”

See what happens when you’re late?  My son Casey came by the station, I thought to see me.  Turns out, he might have wanted to say hi to Chrissi Coile.  

Sammy JJ, otherwise known as Sam Jackson or Sammy, is singlepawedly protecting the streets of Cary, NC.  But not without consequences.  Ever had a hangover from too much kill?  Then you know what Sammy JJ’s feeling right now. 

Sammy belongs to TW (see earlier comments for what you bloggers want to be called) Suzie Talley.  This cat is a skilled killer.  And he’s quite worldly.  For instance, Sammy JJ uses the toilet like a human.  He can say, “Mama”.   Sure, he can say it in only English, but it’s an impressive start.

What can your pet do? 

    

What are you doing to me? 

I’m in training.  I’m trying to eat healthy, yet am way too easily swayed by commenters’ suggestions on how to run my life.  First, Tommy suggests I eat a cheeseburger as part of my fitness regime.  Try getting that out of your mind.  The first picture is proof of my order.

The second picture is my son, on the cover of the Natchitoches Meat Pie box in the freezer section of your grocery store.  Someone else took that bite out of that meat pie for him because he and I were vegetarians at the time.

Until…. 

…then KTBS producer (current commenter) Colleen Spillane and I were working one of those Earthlink satellite tours, where we report from the road.  Jim Lee, the sat truck driver, is known worldwide for his ability to sense the best places to eat in any given town.  So, we find ourselves in this dive with unbelievable smelling BBQ.  And there’s Colleen, “C’mon, Sherri, it’s not going to kill ya to take a bite!”  

Colleen could make Hazel and Jimmy eat steak.  And they don’t even have teeth.

  

Words.  Sentences.  Name calling.  Some things said or written amongst us deserve a special place and this is it.  Ha.  Or not.  But let’s pretend this is it. 

Some of my favorite examples of good word play have come from my family. 

Songwriter and Uncle Guy (Clark), pictured above with Aunt Susanna in the 70s.  Pardon me…I know there’s a universe more from Guy, but I like, “She’s Crazy For Leavin’”…Rodney Crowell sang it.    

“So I kicked and I cussed
That old east Texas road
I throwed rocks at my truck
Which had busted my nose

You add insult to injury
What do you get
You get a bus stop full of honkies
That don’t ever forget.”

Aunt Susanna (Clark):  “You’re a hard dog to keep under the porch.”  And, “Quarter moon in a ten cent town.” 

 CT:  “Shakespeare makes my head hurt.”

Suzie Talley:  “I couldn’t stay with him.  He sucked my aura.”

Innocent bystanders get caught in Suzie’s pre-race random photo shoot on the streets of Raleigh, NC.

More on Suzie Talley Moore

Several of you asked about CT after his surgery to remove what we affectionately refer to on this site as “squirrels in the attic”.  He’s apparently doing well and is back to being rad.  Way to go, CT!