Do Moonpies Leave Bruises?

I went out of town over the weekend and I was struck by this question: What is it about free stuff? You know when you get home you're going to sit there thinking, "what the hell am I going to do with all this crap." But, in the moment all you can think is, "OH-MY-GAWD-GET-OUT-OF-MY-WAY-I-NEED-MORE-OF-THAT."

And that is how I ended up with all these beads:

Disclaimer: no nudity was required to earn these beads.

I would have had more, but I was injured early--suddenly and unexpectedly struck by something much more formidable than a question. You see, I foolishly assumed that the things thrown from family friendly Mardi Gras floats during a family friendly Mardi Gras parade would not be HARD or HEAVY. Which is why, when I was bombarded above the eye with something very very hard, it took a minute to register what had just happened. I turned to M's sister (who, unbeknownst to me, had caught said object) and said, "I don't know what just hit me, but it really hurt," just before doubling over holding my forehead. Then I momentarily dissolved into tears, because IT HURT GOSH DARN IT. And I may or may not have been half way through a bottle of wine.

Of course, I pulled it together, because that eight-year-old beside me was not going to get her sticky fingers on anything else thrown in our direction. Also, being generally accident prone, I know how to rebound. Later, M's great-aunt told me I'd been christened, while recounting her story of being knocked out cold by a full can of beer during said family friendly Mardi Gras parade a few decades earlier.

The weekend mini-vacation flew by. The gulf coast, and all of the awesome women in M's family, make for a whirlwind of a trip every time. Or a mild concussion may have blurred my memory. Luckily I have the following awesome (and adorable) pictures.

Spanish moss was always how I knew we were getting close to the beach as a kid. Even though I know (now) it's a horrible parasite, I still kind of love it.

This is the pier at the end of M's mom's street on Mobile Bay. Yeah, I'm prepping for my move to this awesome little town.

Sunset over Mobile Bay. It was cold and windy, but I'm a firm believer that a bad day at the beach beats a good day anywhere else.

My hair is attacking me.

Beautiful beach. My soul is soothed.

And then I returned to -40 degree weather (okay, 30s) and blizzard conditions (okay, 1-3 inches of snow). I'm going hunting for groundhog. Who's with me?