A LadyLee Holiday, Part II: "The Country"

For part I, see A LadyLee Labor Day.

So I went down to the country with my homegirl Cowgirl Cre...

Now, Cowgirl Cre got a BUNCH of kin folk. I've known her for well over a decade, and have hung around her Mama and dem house a lot, especially since Daddy Cre has been my auto mechanic for years and years.

When I attended her wedding several years ago, one of her uncles swore that I was related to them.

"You sure you ain't some kin to us? You look like us."

I couldn't convince Uncle Cre that I wasn't. I still don't think he believes me when I say "No" to this very day.

So they know who I am.

But I had a plan, just in case I was asked who I was or was told to leave... This get-together in "the country" was Cowgirl's Cre's Daddy side of the family. I thought about telling them that I am Mama Cre's niece. If that didn't work, I was gonna say that Daddy Cre was my auto mechanic and that makes me family.

But I had a better idea... Cowgirl Cre's husband is Timmy-Tim, and he's a white boy.

I'll just tell these folks that I am Timmy-Tim's cousin.

LOL!!! That would surely raise a few eyebrows.

I told Timmy-Tim to go along with it. We've been buddies since I was a teenager and he in his very early 20's, so it might as well be true.

The drive to "the country" wasn't that long. I wanted to memorize the way there, but as with every trip to "the country", once you get off the interstate and go down a gazillion roads, well... no need to keep track of where we are.

I took a crochet project with me, and before I knew it, we were there. (Who would have known that "the country" could be an hour and a half away from Atlanta?) When we got there, we were accosted by several of her relatives. Cowgirl Cre has a BUNCH of uncles, and I was somewhat able to remember most of their nicknames. They all found that amusing.

There were a load of kids down there. One asked me who I was.

"I'm Timmy-Tim's cousin."

One of them gave me the "whatchutalkinboutWillis" look.

"Are you Timmy-Tim's 4th or 5th cousin?" one inquisitive child asked.

"I'm his first cousin."

**Inquisitive child gives LadyLee the hard eye squint**

She went on to point out to me that Timmy-Tim and I aren't the same color. She had a good point, so I told her it was a joke. I didn't want to scar the poor child for life!

Enough of me trying to trick people... Didn't want to get escorted from the premises.

One thing I know for sure... There was a load of food. A LOAD!!

I didn't take many pics of the food. I knew that people would think I was crazy as hell for snapping pics. (Cowgirl Cre, don't bring that gal back down here with you no more!!)

One of the Uncles was in charge of all the food. I didn't get a pic of the load of ribs he grilled because they had finished grilling for the day by the time we got there. But he was kind enough to allow me to snap a photo of him standing next to his prized grill...

I only had a couple of ribs... but damn, they were GOOD!!

Let's just say the Oldgirl had a serious case of the "itis" after eating a couple of ribs and all the fixings. I was in serious need of a cot and a pillow, that's for sure.

A bunch of people yelled that they were going to Wal-Mart. Even though I had the "itis", I really wanted to go. Wal-marts in "the country" have the best selection of yarn. But Cowgirl Cre and her cousin Chris shook their heads vigorously.

"Don't go with them, LadyLee!!!"

I was saddened by that. I needed more yarn. However I was glad I didn't go. Those negroes didn't come back until four hours later. (Is it actually possible to stay in a Wal-Mart that long!?)

After we had sat around and talked for awhile, and everyone was good and full, someone broke out a deck of cards...

You know... I really like cards. But I prefer poker, thump, gin, Uno, and Old Maid. I so much wanted to play with them. I even expressed such sentiments to Cowgirl Cre.

*Cowgirl Cre stares at LadyLee. Cowgirl Cre frowns hard and gives LadyLee the gas face*

"Uh, na'll Ladylee... You don't want to fool with them."

I didn't understand why Cowgirl Cre would say such a thing. It was a lovely family gathering... Her peoples were so nice.

Surely they could teach an Oldgirl how to play some Bidwhist, right?
*Cowgirl Cre gives LadyLee another HARD frown*

Let's just say... I understood what she meant after uh, watching the game unfold for awhile. I ain't NEVER heard so much trash-talking in my entire life. Negroes were cussing HARD over that game. I understood VERY quickly that I would've caught a MAJOR beatdown if I'd tried to walk into one of their Bidwhist games without FULLY understanding the fundamental concepts...

They were smoking cigarettes, and Cowgirl Cre's Cousin V broke out the vodka and champagne.

Heck I don't drink, but I even had a little of the champagne. I had to have some... The bottle was so very pretty. (Never fear... the Oldgirl only had a tablespoon.)

Cousin V told us not to fret over the champagne, because she had a whole case in her car. She even sent Cowgirl Cre to retrieve a fresh new bottle, which was placed in ice cooler with the sodas.
Cowgirl Cre! You cheesing a bit too hard while holding that bottle of champagne! Wassup with that!!?

Yeah, between the vodka and champagne, they were most definitely getting their drink on! LOL!

Now, they did something I have never seen done before:

They barbequed during the day... Then they had a fish fry that night.

How the hell do you have a barbeque and a fish fry in the same day???

I don't know... But this is something Cowgirl Cre's fam does. She has told me they do this in the past, but I thought she was just playing. While the card game was still in high gear, Uncle Cre came over to our tent and said...

"Look here now, I need ya'll to go inside and bring out more ribs and get that fish ready to be fried."

The guys got up and brought out a whole truckload of frozen ribs to be defrosted (Yeah, they were going to barbeque AGAIN the next day).

After a bit more cussing at the card table (The card game abruptly ended when Cousin V shouted VERY LOUDLY to another cousin "Get your narrow ass up so we can go get the fish together." Uh, this scared me. I backed up from the table after that altercation), they actually broke out a witch's kettle of grease and about 40 pounds of Tilapia and commenced to frying...

Of course, Uncle Cre was in charge of the fish fry.

Uncle Cre was frying up the fish, ya'll...

And he just kept on frying and frying and frying....

There was fish everywhere... I didn't know that there was that much doggone fish in the ocean...
(Don't ask me where that Turkey leg came from... It appeared out of nowhere. And I didn't ask any questions.)

We ate fish, sat around and talked a bit longer and left. (It took a good hour just to say goodbye to everybody!). We arrived back in the city around one in the morning.

All in all, I had a nice time. There were tents set up outside. I can't stand the heat, but luckily, it was an overcast day and very cool. Someone even set up a tent that they use for the graveside services at funerals (*crickets*). It was enough to protect us from the drizzle, so that's cool.

And what's even more amazing is that they do this for FOUR days straight. So Uncle Cre went to sleep that night and got up and barbequed chicken and ribs and fried up much an ocean full of tilapia allllll over again...

Glory!!!!!

So hanging with one of my best friend's family was most definitely the highlight of my Labor Day weekend...

And you KNOW...

I gotta get back down to "country" real soon!!