So I know I'm crazy...

If you know me, you know I like beer. In recent years, I've made the transition from drinking beer in quantity (hello, college!) to drinking quality beer. I try to be a beer nerd rather than a beer snob, but I've been accused of both. And that's OK with me.

So this year, I've decided to do something productive with my drinking. It's not quite a New Year's Resolution, but more of a goal: I'm going to try to drink 366 beers this year.

Why? Well, to paraphrase what Sir Edmund Hillary said of Everest, "Because they're there."



So here are my self-made rules for this project. First, I can count each different beer only once. That is, I can have any given kind of beer more than once, but it only counts once toward the project. Second, It has to be more than just a taste--it has to be at least 10 ounces to count toward the total. Third, I'm not going to be obsessive about this. It is supposed to be fun...for me, that is. I'm going to keep a tally of the beers I drink, including the name, style, ABV, and origin of the beer. Oh yeah, Sambo challenged me to include in my efforts a beer from every state. So I may need help in finding beer from some of the more remote states!

Six days in, I've had 9 beers, from 5 states and one foreign country. I think I'll enjoy this journey. But who knows? I may get burned out on beer...but I'll have fun finding out!

Thanks

On Thanksgiving morning, I ran in my first Turkey Trot. Eight miles--farther than I'd ever run at one time before. I was lucky to start the very chilly run with a fun group: David, Allison and Angela.

I found myself alone by mile 5, which was a very tough mile. However, right after the turnaround point headed to the marker for mile 6, I saw a wonderful sight: my family, cheering me on. I was greeted with very loud cheers and awesome homemade signs.

This was the front of Will's sign: "You can Doo it Dad."

Luckily, at that point in the run, I just needed to pee.

This was the back of Will's sign.

Made me feel a little like Forrest Gump!

This was Jack's sign.

"Go Ames" -- I think he knew I couldn't chase him down at that point in the race!

All of the kids were very concerned before the race about whether or not I would win--they were sweetly convinced that I would win--at the end I think that we all were just glad that I finished in one piece!

And this was Annie's sign. Very creative!

Sam's sign contained secret messages that only he and I can decode.

All of this said, I was reminded on Thanksgiving, as I rounded the turn and saw my family waiting for me on the race route, cheering and waving their signs, how thankful I am to have such a wonderful family that supports me and loves me. I am truly blessed by my family and I appreciate all that they do to lift me up and love me! Happy Thanksgiving indeed!

Introductions.

With the beginning of the blog, it probably makes sense to introduce the primary cast of characters as well as those making frequent appearances...

THE HUTTONS: Ames thinks he's the head of the house but everyone knows that Cathy's the boss. She's fond of telling everyone that she has 5 kids. Annie, the oldest, has been warped by her parents' love of 80s music and knows the soundtrack to Mamma Mia by heart. Jack, the oldest boy, wants to be either Jeff Corwin or Indiana Jones when he grows up. (Together, Annie and Jack are "the Bigs.") Will, our blond bomber, is the middle boy, and he's known for full contact hugs and preschool politics. Sam, the youngest (Hi Dr. Cochran!), is anything but the baby, and he loves the movie Cars. (Will and Sam make up "the Littles." But don't tell them they're little.)

THE GRANDPARENTS: Grammy, Mimi and Big Mike are a big part of our lives. Until they tell us otherwise, their true identities will be kept secret.

THE GRAHAMS: What could we do without the Grahams? Kyle and Sarah are our neighbors, our friends, our role models...and they have four great kids who we love to have as a part of our lives! You can follow their equally crazy life at http://grahamhalfdozen.blogspot.com/.

THE AUNTS AND UNCLES: Aunt Tita and Uncle Andy live too far away in Indiana, and Uncle Jason lives too far away near Denton. In addition to our biological kin, we have a host of other aunts and uncles who are near and dear to us all. Embarassing pictures of all to follow.

Inspired.

Finally, it's time for the Huttons to jump into the Internet age! Inspired by our good friends the Grahams (Hi Kyle, Sarah, Mason, Garrett, Reed and Wagner!), we've decided to set up a blog to share our experiences and stories about living with four very smart and determined children!

Cathy has been writing down her adventures with the kids off and on for years. Given the fast pace of this house, her writing is more stream of consciousness and funny, matter of fact vignettes of daily life in this very crazy home. Ames cannot let go of grammar, spelling and punctuation (thanks for that, law skool) and tends to write in more epic form. Together, we make an anal retentive Homer (not Simpson, but his influences are there) meets James Joyce (?).

Since Ames had a critically acclaimed travel writing series that was well received by a very friendly audience this past summer, some of those travelogues will be posted and back dated in the near future. We'll try--but don't promise--to make you laugh, make you cringe, and keep you entertained with the stories of our life.

Enjoy!

Asheville trip: Night #1 in Memphis

(Ed. note: this series is what really started me thinking about writing a blog. I wrote a series of updates for friends and family about the Hutton family's driving trip to Asheville in July 2008. I'm posting them and back dating them to the original dates and times I sent the e-mails, so these posts will predate the actual beginning of the blog.)

Well, since Cat wouldn't let me live blog our drive to and from Asheville this summer, I thought I'd let y'all know a few highlights of the trip so far. By the way, it's 10 pm on Saturday night, 7/12/08, and we're safe and sound in Memphis at the La Quinta. There are 5 (I think) sleepers already in the room, so I'm trying to stay quiet.

Today was hot. Not going to lie about that. The car (thanks, Barbara!) is riding great and the AC is nice and cool, but with all of the potty stops, gas fillups, leg stretchings and other assorted stops we have to make, and with my need to tinker with the roof-top luggage carrier each time we stop, I've started and stopped sweating approximately 73 times today. So I've got that going for me.

The drive was relatively uneventful. Nice but hot weather all day. We started around 9 am (maybe a few minutes earlier) and didn't have to make our first stop until Greenville. Yep, we went an entire 40 minutes without making our first stop. And guess what? We've trained the kiddos so well to pee or at least try whenever we stop that everyone had to get out of the car that time...and the next time...and the next... At least there weren't any accidents. That I know of, that is. One thing we discovered in Greenville was that our absent minded professor kid Jack FORGOT HIS SHOES AT HOME! Grrr. He was only reminded about 6 times this morning, but went and got in the car without them anyway. So anytime that he wanted to get out of the car, I gave him a piggyback or he had to borrow Annie's shoes.

We had a rest stop picnic lunch just east of Texarkana, then a rest stop/sweet treat at ChikFilA in southeast Little Rock. I ran to the nearby Walmart while the kids played in the CFA playland to get Jack some shoes. He almost got a $1 pair of pink flip flops to help him learn his lesson, but then I found a $2 pair of sandals and had mercy on him. From Little Rock, we headed east to Memphis--only 3 stops along the way, but one was at my request, so I can't be too upset about that--and we headed straight to Beale Street.

Fun, mini Bourbon Street like atmosphere there--we got there about 7 pm, walked a few blocks and then got a table at a good but overpriced burger joint called Dyers. They use the same grease that they've used since 1912 when it opened! Yum. The kids were running on fumes when we finished, so we piled back in the car, drove to the hotel, threw everything in the room and piled in bed (everyone but me, that is).

On the way to the hotel I asked everyone what their favorite part about the day was. Unedited, here are the answers: Sam--the fire we just saw on top of the building (it was venting from a manufacturing plant of some kind that we had literally seen about 5 minutes before), Will--the brown horse I saw this morning (at about 11 am, still in Texas), Jack--the fun day of driving and being nice to my family (which Will then said was his second favorite thing, a little hero worship going on there), and Annie--the Elvis statue we saw on Beale Street.

Tomorrow, we're going to do a driveby at Graceland and then head to Knoxville. A relatively easy day--well, easier than today--and hopefully a long swim at the hotel pool. I'll try to let y'all know about tomorrow, tomorrow night!