Barns, churches, and cemeteries, oh my!

You have to eat, sleep, go to church, and die. That is what the small community of Glenwood, Alabama, must live by.

That is all that is in this itty bitty town and the surrounding towns! We left for the dreaded family reunion at 8 a.m. from Niceville and it took us two and a half hours to get there. Jude got pulled over not even five minutes into the trip for speeding. If you know how slow my husband drives, that should give you a good laugh. He has been pulled over for driving too slow before, but never speeding. Seriously. The nice officer understood we were following fast driving Uncle Dan and let us go with a warning. Jude really putted the rest of the trip to Alabama. He was going fifty eight in a forty five. Once we arrived (we were the first), I realized just how long the day was going to be. It was an old school house, and when I say old, I mean OLD.

It was in the middle of BFE and it was freaking hot outside. Once others started arriving, the kids found a few others to play with, but not share with. A place with NO toys, and your child has toys,

those toys become a hot commodity. At one point, I realized I was a total reunion crasher. I was asked (a few times) how I was related to the L family. As I tried to explain why I was there, I started to wonder just why I was there. Jude's mom

kinda wanted Jude to go because his grandma was going to be there from Kentucky

and so would his Aunt Faye

and Uncle Charles,

which in turn, means I had to go. *I did want to see them all, too:)* This is how I am related to this L family...I am married to Jude, who is Julia's son. Julia is the daughter of Hazel. Hazel is the daughter of a L person. Wow! I was totally a reunion crasher! Jake (Jude's dad) told me that at the reunions, everyone arrives, brings a dish,

they sit next to the same people they do EVERY year, they eat lunch, and then they go home. That is exactly how it went down, too. Once everyone was getting in their vehicles to leave, I was getting a tad excited,

and then I heard we were bringing the party to another person's house. Great. We went on to the house and visited there. As I was walking by a lady, I was asked the ever so wonderful question "Are you *motions rubbing the belly*?" "No, sorry." Are you serious?! I was totally ready to start the car at this point. I know I have gained weight but, DAMN! She continued on barely acknowledging the fact that she just insulted me. We left shortly thereafter. How come it is always the larger folks that feel they have the right to ask that. Once we left, we had to drive BACK to FL to pick up the dog, and then drive home to Louisiana. I put my headphones on, blared me some Blackcolmadina, Big Tymers, Pink, among others, and danced while I drove the entire five hour drive. Thanks, Uncle Dan and Aunt Becky,

for accommodating our big clan and providing us with wonderful hospitality. We had a great mini vacay and look forward to next years visit. Sorry I wasn't too fond of the family reunion, but I knew going into this thing that it was part of the deal. The people were nice and it was great to see our distant family.

I played with my cameras the entire trip and took 750 plus photos. I am really enjoying this photo snapping thing!