I don’t know how I’ve wound up doing so many giveaways lately. Maybe it’s because the BlogHer people are so nice that I am powerless to resist them when they ask. Regardless, it makes me happy to share the gift card goodness, and I appreciate that y’all participate so faithfully.

That was a rare moment of sincerity from me. You might want to put a star on your calendar or something to commemorate this very special moment.

- Kellogg’s Love Your Cereal giveaway #2 is up – and the prize is a $100 Visa gift card (I’ll notify the winner of the first giveaway ASAP).

- There’s a new Juicy Juice giveaway with a prize of a $100 Visa gift card and a Juicy Juice prize pack.

- My second giveaway post for The Laughing Cow is all about how we cook vegetables in the South, and there’s a $150 Visa gift card up for grabs.

- The Smuckers Kidvitations giveaway ($200 Visa gift card) will be open until August 23rd.

- And finally, the latest McDonald’s Family Time giveaway is still up and running – don’t miss it!

Well my goodness. That’s a lot. You’re going to be exhausted after you leave comments on all those posts.

Next time we have this many giveaways at once, I’ll try to remember to bring refreshments.

First.

These will change your life forever.

And do you know what? I don’t think I’m alone in my assessment. Because this past weekend we wanted to buy a bag of them, but they were all gone at our Walmart. Then we tried Target. But still: SOLD OUT. We finally found some at Walgreens, and I grabbed the bag and clutched it to my chest and TROTTED to the cash register before someone ripped them out of my arms.

Because that would totally happen.

Second.

I’ve had to say goodbye to a significant member of my summer wardrobe.

We’ve had two good summers together. We’ve frolicked in the Gulf, and we’ve spent untold hours at the pool. But a couple of weeks ago, when we were at the beach with our family, I kept looking around when we were sitting beside the pool because something just smelled, I don’t know, SOUR. And after about an hour and a half of turning up my nose and wondering what the weird odor was, I suddenly realized that OH MY WORD IT’S MY HAT.

I thought about Febrezing it, but then I thought, “No. It’s time.” Odds are that a Crocodile Dundee-ish hat that cost $10 at Walmart probably wasn’t meant to last more than a year anyway. But OH, I did enjoy it. We shared some precious memories. Except for that whole smelling-like-a-neglected-damp-washcloth thing. But other than that we were golden.

Third.

You’ve probably seen this – especially if you live around an SEC school – but I thought I’d share it in case it hasn’t made it to your part of the country yet.

The University of Alabama mailed out season tickets last week.

Here’s the ticket for the November 13th game against Mississippi State.

I have a hunch that Bulldogs everywhere will be sporting some special game day t-shirts on November 13th.

“Go ‘Dogs- Beat ‘Bamma!”

Or we may even come up with one that our friends in Tuscaloosa can wear:

“Rol Tid Rol.”

ALL IN GOOD FUN, OF COURSE. Because when you’re going up against the defending National Champion, sometimes your only line of defense is to give them a hard time about a spelling error.

Happy Tuesday, y’all!

I have it on very good authority that Melanie‘s birthday is tomorrow.

The source of that good authority? MY CALENDAR.

(FANCY!)

And here’s a little secret (well, it’s not really a secret, but we can certainly pretend that it is for the sake of narrative) that you may not know: Melanie and I actually became friends way back in the bloggy day when she left a comment that referenced two of my favorite topics, football and worship music.

Seriously.

I’m not kidding.

Here it is.

You should know that I love her comment for many reasons, but the fact that it’s from “Melaie” is the icing on the comment cake. We have since developed a wide-ranging repertoire of words we frequently mistype, and “Melaie” was just a small taste of many typing-related hilarities to come. Warms my heart, it does.

Anyway, it took me all of five seconds to fire off of quick reply after I read that comment. If I’m not mistaken, I wrote something incredibly profound, something along the lines of “JACKIE SHERRILL? I LOVE JACKIE SHERRILL.”

And thus a friendship was born.

Also, I just noticed that Mel actually left that comment in August of 2006. Which means that in addition to tomorrow being her birthday, it’s also a pretty good time to celebrate our friendiversary. Maybe P and D can throw us a party. We can meet halfway between Birmingham and San Antonio and share a box of Cheez-Its and a couple of Route 44 Diet Cokes from Sonic. P can shoot some wild game for us, and then D can analyze the overall strategy, execution and success of P’s shooting and put all the data in a spreadsheet that we’ll have lacquered onto a commemorative plaque. It’ll be a precious time.

For the last four years Mel and I have emailed and talked and cried and laughed like nobody’s business. We’ve covered a mind-boggling amount of conversational ground (however, I can’t recall that we’ve ever talked about the proliferation of nuclear arms, but then again we’re not really what you would call well-versed in foreign affairs). And even though it’s a little bit of a cliche’ to say that you don’t think you would have made it without [fill in the blank], I cannot imagine what I would have done without her. We could have never known it back in August 2006, but God had some crazy adventures waiting for us. And the fact that a couple of borderline introverts with a host of confidence issues and a deep love for reality television managed to set aside our fears and our remotes long enough to forge a lifelong friendship will forever be a wonder to me.

I think that God knew we would need each other. I’m so grateful that He did.

So all that to say: Happy 39th, Big Mama. You are an incredible wife and mother. You are a loyal and steady and trustworthy friend. You are more talented than you know. You are, in the words of our pretend friend Rachel Zoe, BANANAS.

And your friendship is the best gift the internet ever gave me.

Here’s to many more memories, sweet friend.

Two – no, three – items of note on the giveaway front today (thanks, BlogHer!).

- There’s a new McDonald’s giveaway – which means another prize pack (McD’s gift card! plus other goodies!) is up for grabs.

- The Smuckers giveaway (with a $200 Visa gift card as a prize) is still open, so be sure to enter if you haven’t yet.

- I just posted a brand-spankin’ new giveaway with Kellogg’s, and the prize is a $100 Visa gift card. The fun part of this program is that I get to host a $100 gift card giveaway every week for the next 11 weeks – so you’ll have lots of chances to win (not to mention that there are 24 other bloggers who are also participating, so that’s a whole bunch of gift cards, my friends).

All righty. I believe that’s all.

Except that my ear and I are going to the doctor at 3. If I don’t kill my ear before then. Which is a very distinct possibility.

I have an ear infection. I’m sure it has something to do with not allowing my unusually small ear canals to drain properly after spending nine to twelve hours in the pool every single day last week. Sometimes relaxation has a price, my friends. And the price for me, apparently, is the cost of a co-pay to the ENT.

Anyway, I’ve been running a little teeny bit of fever, so tonight, after I loaded the dishwasher, I retired to my sickbed so that I could prop myself up against some comfy pillows and nurse my splitting eardrum while checking Twitter and watching “Flipping Out.” Just as our forefathers did in ye olden days.

I could hear Alex talking to his daddy while I was resting, and about thirty minutes later, he took a shower, washed his hair, put on his pajamas – and then he made a point to check on me. He asked about my ear, expressed concern when I told him that it still hurt, then gave me a big hug and told me that since I wasn’t feeling great he was going to leave me alone and let me be quiet.

I may or may not have gotten a little catch in my throat as I watched him walk out of the room. He really is the most tenderhearted little guy I have ever known. Granted, he’s a walking sound effect who can’t wait for football season and who’s mildly obsessed with any word related to the restroom, but still. He’s kind. Protective. Strong in ways I never expected.

A few minutes later the seven year-old walked back in the room, and he handed me a book that I’ve been trying to read for the last month or so. I can’t seem to get into it, so it’s been sitting in my pool bag for what feels like a sweet forever. Then he spoke up:

“I know you’re not feeling good, and this is the only thing I know how to make, Mama.”

And as I looked into the big blue eyes of a boy who’s getting bigger by the day, I realized that while my ear may be a little on the achy side right now, I am quite certain that my heart has never felt better.

The end.