Cracklin' Rose

As my husband's family LOOOOVES to remind me, I was conceived in the beautiful state of drunkedness - errr, I mean Kentucky. As were nearly all the members of my family. My grandparents, mom, birthmom, dad, sperm donor, all aunts and uncles (I dunno though, some may be from Pennsylvania). All bluegrassers.  And yes, some of them are missing teeth (not me) and all of them (except my dad) speak with a slightly southern accent. And, yes, unlike you northernahs, we at least know that the correct way to make green beans is with lard and bacon and more lard. You cook them 'til they're mush and then you add more lard and bacon.

Ohh, how they delight in the fact that when I was a senior in high school and couldn't find a date to the prom (not that I was ugly or stinky or in any way unpleasant. I just didn't have very many options as my now husband but then ex-boyfriend was all hot and heavy with his then girlfriend and it just didn't seem appropriate to call him and you know, ask him to my prom. Although he probably would have gone. Because I'm that hot! Or because he's that nice. Prolly 'cause I'm hot. And I just was kind of quiet and went to an all girls high school and while Mr. Lackey was good looking and I totally had the hots for him, even I knew that the chances of him saying yes to his student's request that he accompany her to prom and share in a slow dance to Ms. Jackson's "Let's wait a while" were practially nil [even though I was that hot] because I'm pretty sure that the Catholic Church frowns on teachers dating students even if it's quietly accepted that priests can ya know, bone the altar boys [oooooh, I went there], so that left me with the option of going without a date and being a suspected lesbian (which, nothing wrong with that, but of course back then it would have been the end of my world if anyone had even suggested it because it was the 80's people and it was a catholic school and while I longed for a gay boy friend with which to shop and lust over Adam Ant with, I sure wasn't that cosmo.) OR not going... well, they weren't really options at all in my way of thinking.

Sooo, at my birthmother's funeral my mother introduced me to a very nice lady who had a son my age named Jim. Never mind that she was also my mom's brother-in-law's sister. Never mind that that meant her son my age named Jim was therefore my uncle's nephew. BECAUSE if we were related at all, it wasn't genetically and we weren't even raised as cousins. He was my aunt's husband's nephew. And I'll say it again, WE WEREN'T RELATED. And AREN'T related. Except through my uncle.

So annnnnyway, I called Jim and met Jim and Jim was cuu-uuute! And Jim agreed to accompany me to my prom. Much to my now in-law's delight. I totally regret EVER telling them about it. Because it just adds to their "you're from Kentucky" bucket of jokes they carry around. But yeah, it's funny. Technically I took my cousin to my prom.

BUT ANYWAY, the reason for this post is that true to my southern roots, I like blue grass music and when I found this video by the Soggy Bottom Boys it made me smile.