Becky get your gun!!

I just returned from a fabulous trip to Brookhaven, MS to see the Doremi (other folks might refer to them as the Doremuses but I have called them the Doremi for years and years.) I have known them for 18 years! Jeff was one of the ministers at my church in Roanoke and Terry was a youth choir leader. And I used to babysit Katie and Kelly when they were really little. The girls are now 22 and almost 25 which makes me feel incredibly old!! I hadn't seen them in three or four years so I enjoyed my time with all four Doremi tremendously! I loved their town they live in- Brookhaven. Jeff grew up there and Terry's family all lives there now and it's the kind of place where everyone knows everyone else and a lot of them are related! Everywhere we went, we ran into people they knew! And the shops in Brookhaven are just so cute! I think I bought too much! Each stop included a 20 minute visit with the owner!

Two of the highlights of my time with the Doremi were experiences I have never had anywhere else. The first was that I was the guest speaker at this week's Kiwanis Club. Terry and I got a "Sound Off" for being visitors. I kept looking around for Fred Flintstone and Barry Rubble and their moose hats! I talked a few minutes about my job and took some questions. I guess it went okay but you'll have to ask other people in the room. Jeff said that it was good and that it took him to the uppermost parts of the Kiwanis popularity stratosphere but that could be a slight overstatement! At least I didn't ruin the Doremus family name in Brookhaven!

The other highlight was going to their cabin in real rural Mississippi! It was so pretty out there and the cabin was really nice. But the real high moment was when Jeff put a gun in my hand to shoot at a bucket that was the target he set up. It was a Colt 45 (and something about a special issued one at that) and I have never had that much power in my hand at one time. When I shot it the first time, I was sure that as I jumped back (the natural reaction), I had shot myself in the foot but apparently I actually hit the target!! It may not have been a bullseye but I did hit the bucket and I didn't injure myself or anyone else so I count it as a success! I actually hit the bucket a couple of times! Since everyone else who had killed a deer had it mounted in the cabin, I suggested mounting the bucket but no one took me up on that offer!! I think after a few days, my hand has finally stopped shaking from all the adrenaline from having something that powerful in my hands! Watch out FBI!!




I have to give a major shout-out to the Doremi for being such cool people. I'm so thankful we've stayed in touch through the years and that our paths crossed so many years ago in Roanoke. They are extremely important to me- I rank their family right up there behind my immediate family as one of the most special to me. I have always held Jeff and Terry's opinions/example/advice very close and now it's a really cool thing to be friends with Katie and Kelly! Not only that, they are just fun, cool people. Heck, Katie hooked me up with a Facebook account which I am ready to master! :)

Oh and my two new favorite words which I'm stealing from them are "Heller" (when you answer the phone) and "Praisealleuia"!

I can't wait for my next visit down there! I promise it won't be another four years!

*****UPDATE: I do realize his name is BARNEY, not Barry. Barry could have also been a member of the club though... maybe he was in one of the lost episodes of the Flintstones!