oh blog dee, oh blog dah!

Well, so much for laughing in the face of the sickness that has plagued the people of Vicksburg for at least a month now. We both have been catching up on Blockbuster rentals as we pass each other the thermometer or a Kleenex — with hopes of sleep coming to the rescue. We were not thrilled with the season finale of Dexter but highly recommend American Gangster. Honestly, I think we'd both much rather be at work!Man, it's miserable being sick. We haven't been sick at the same time since we contracted a stomach virus from the kids we both babysat in college. And, we had only one bathroom in our Glennray Tutor rental on South 16th Street. Not fun! Some guy who used to be Olivia's neighbor had the audacity to come by and visit unannounced. After alarming him about the virus, he just came in, sat down and drank all the Sprite Olivia's mom had just kindly brought to us. Weird...Lauchlin's family was in town this weekend, even though she was sick. It was supposed to be a day they would spend together because it was the 5th anniversary of her father's death. We visited Cedar Hill Cemetery and poured Scotch on his grave (in a respectful manner, of course.) We missed out on the opportunity to play the coolest game in the world....Rock Band...you know Lauchlin must have been sick if she passed up drinks AND a turn on the microphone! Lauchlin's aunt and Olivia allegedly had a random conversation which abruptly ended with both of them passing out on the sofa. Gotta go...time to take our temperatures again! We will probably be home again tomorrow, but please do not come drink our Sprite.

THIS IS NOT A BULLETIN BOARD!

Guess who's not pregnant?!  

Before the rumors at the junior high get to you, let us make clear to you that Olivia is not pregnant.  While she was in the middle of a lesson yesterday, she was approached by one none-too-tactful eighth-grader who posed the question.  HOW RUDE!

Lauchlin is now covering the city beat.  Mayor Laurence Leyens commented (off the record...) "I love you!"  On the side, she has begun not only an extensive collection of Jimmy Chu shoes (the exclusive boutique in Marcus Bottom...How exclusive?  Well, they have bars on the windows!), but she has (at long last) written the foreward to her screenplay, "Lauchlin and the City" (but he's no Mr. Big).

The Fashion Beat....

When Olivia arrived at school today, a student was sitting at her door.  Yes, she was sitting.  When she stood up, she told her teacher that she had been sitting so that no one could see the pants she had been forced to wear for the choir competition that day.  Olivia commented that it would be good training for a career she might have in the future where she could not choose what to wear "like a doctor...you have to wear scrubs every day."  The student replied, "You get to wear what you want...but, you get a low paycheck."  Not funny.     

So, can we talk a little about passive-aggressiveness? As everyone knows, Lauchlin occasionally enjoys smoking. Well, at work yesterday, she went out for a smoke. The smoking place, in case you were wondering, is behind the building and is only shared with about seven other smokers. The rest of them smoke on the loading dock (you know, when you go to Sonic and there's a "cool" side — well, behind the building is the equivalent). OK, now that we have that straight...She went to enjoy a smoke and there was a sign posted on the metal hand rail that read, "THIS IS A HAND RAIL.  PLEASE DO NOT USE IT AS AN ASHTRAY."  Damn bureaucrats.  In retaliation, another passive-aggressive smoker decided someone should tape a sign that read, "THIS IS NOT A BULLETIN BOARD!"  

So, the picture was taken years ago in Oxford during the construction of some church. We just found it and, somehow, it seemed appropriate for this post!

Let's Go Walkin'

For those of you who are nor "fortunate" enough (meaning you either don't live in Mississippi or you don't own a television) to have seen the commercials with our first family, Haley and Marsha Barbour, encouraging the whole fat state to "go walkin'" (insert terrible Southern accent), you might not understand the sheer hilarity of our starting a walking program. When I say walking program, I really mean an attempt at us arriving home from work, putting on appropriate clothes and strolling along Drummond Street — and a few other neighboring streets — until we come back home — out of breath and ready for bed. But, at least we're following the command of our first lady!

But, really, walking is our new thing (except tonight...tonight Manwich was the new thing). Walking has been a nice way to unwind, though.

We have to be honest — writing a blog has made us both realize our lives aren't that interesting on a daily basis, which is why we didn't post yesterday. Technical difficulties have also slowed us down (this post won't appear until a day later than we wrote it for that reason). We have, however, been paying more attention to the small things that have the potential to make the blog, such as our kitties who are constantly fighting as we write.

The Vicksburg Post is finally up to five reporters now. They hired some guy from Minnesota, which ups the Midwest count to two (another is from Kansas). We also have Maine and Louisiana and the obvious, Mississippi. In the past year we've had Delaware and Arkansas in the mix, as well. 

Today's local headline — "Fidel Castro is out of power!" 

Chancellor Robert Khayat (hotty toddy!) visited the newsroom today. Tomorrow's story about his visit will not include his discussion about his hearing aids or the fact that his worst three months of his tenure occurred during — and because — Ole Miss football sucked last season! I speak the truth. He was going to meet with the governor after our meeting. I should have told him to pass along our news...you know, that we're goin' walkin'!

One more thing...We have a May story: Lucy (Lauchlin's sister, if you didn't know) came over tonight saying that May cannot wait to go visit the St. Louis Zoo (a trip to visit Katherine — Lauchlin's other sister, if you didn't know). May told her before she came over that the lions are going to bite her nibbles! When Lucy asked for clarification, May pointed to what she has also called her "mosquito bites" and said, "These — my nibbles!"

She keeps us in constant stitches. I'm sure "May stories" will be a regular addition to the blog.

I meant to add this to the first post, but technical difficulties made that impossible. Since our blog is called Front Porch Fodder, I figured we needed a picture of said front porch. This picture was taken right before we bought the house(notice the paint supplies on the sidewalk) and before Clementine made her plunge through the screen.

We are officially bloggers

We decided to join the world of blogging. It was a suggestion our friends, Ned and Mary Beth, had. And, we were convinced after reading theirs. So, for those interested, we plan to report on the important things that happen both in the newsroom and the classroom. Just when you thought you had enough ways to waste time...

This really would have been a better thing to start in January, but now we will use this first post to catch you up to speed. 

So far, 2008 has been pretty eventful. We are now homeowners! Since we purchased the house in November, we can no longer use the dish washer due to a strange leak we discovered while hanging out in the basement. Also, one of the bathroom sinks is in need of repair. The leak from the roof, which caused paint to bubble up into a shape that strangely resembled a used contraceptive device, has been repaired — leaving a bald spot on our red wall. It's good to know we have 30 more years to worry about all that!

Olivia turned 27 earlier this month but still gets carded for beer. Spanish students never cease to amaze. This semester's group includes the kid who always asks to go to the bathroom...all class long, the hypochondriac and pathological liar who enjoys interrupting her 20 minute lunch and a kid whose grandmother is on speed dial.

The cats especially have had an exciting year thus far. Mojo contracted some weird eye infection that took weeks to clear up because she refused to go to the vet. Her box was all ready, but she said "No!" (I'm leaving out the kitty expletives that went along with her banter). Clementine just this past week had her first taste of life on the outside. This, of course, was not necessarily her choice, but the luring of a neighboring cat (a boy who's been coming over often to flirt — we think) forced her to jump through the screen on the porch. When she came inside the house, we both noticed that she was missing patches of fur. We found them later in the yard at which time we discovered the gaping hole in the screen — nothing a staple gun and a garbage bag couldn't fix. We are homeowners after all.

Look forward to future posts where we will discuss the highlights of life on National Street and beyond.

Until then....