Good Morning Dear Reader:

I'm back in Mississippi, on the farm

I hope this Monday finds you in a good place physically, and mentally! With Mondays, that isn’t always the case! I woke up in a great place, my sister and brother-in-law’s home in north Mississippi. They have horses, cats and a great boxer, Sugar Ray, who has a fantastic repertoire of tricks, one of which involves a hula hoop. They live on a beautiful lake, where I understand Sugar Ray also is fond of fishing. I will have to see this to believe it. More later…

Saturday night I found myself channel surfing and for some reason I stopped at C-Span where General Stanley McCrystal was giving his farewell speech at his retirement ceremony in Washington. I was really saddened to see such a good, dedicated soldier brought down by a Rolling Stone reporter looking for a big scoop. Sure, McCrystal should have realized that he could not be candid in the presence of the media, but I think over the course of a month, in a war zone, with lives on the line every single day, being guarded in his speech was his last concern.

I didn’t know what to expect of his speech, but was curious none the less. What I saw was a man with a great deprecating sense of humor–forgiving, humble and grateful for 38 years of service to his country. He acknowledged he had no idea about his future, but he said he and his wonderful wife, from whom he had spent years apart because of his service, were focused on getting to know each other again. He said she had a fondness for Italian shoes and had amassed an extensive collection of them. He acknowledeged trying to use her buying power to get the Italians to send more troops to Afghanistan, but had been unsuccessful.

He reminisced about the night she opened the door to their home in her nightgown to find a crowd of paratroopers gathered for a party he had organized at their home after a jump, without bothering to tell her. She kindly invited them in and started preparing food. He talked about the real strength of a nation being the wives and families back at home who allow their loved ones to leave them and serve their countries. If you know any military families, you know just how true this statement is.

General McCrystal will be offered a wonderful job with some powerful American corporation, write a best selling book and make a ton of money on the speaking circuit.  His wife will be able to buy all the Italian shoes she wants. No matter what he does in his life, the Rolling Stone reporter will always be remembered as the man who wrote the expose that led to the firing of a great soldier and a really good man.

Sweetie Pies' triple threat!

You know I can’t miss pass up a place called Sweetie Pies!

Before leaving Gulf Shores, my sister and I stumbled upon a bake shop called, Sweetie Pies. Of course, we had to stop. Well, if you have ever seen taller meringue anywhere, I want to hear about it. While they serve delicious sandwiches, soups and salads, the piece de resistance is the dessert selection! Oh Momma! I am pretty sure after we left, they had to clean our drool off the bakery cases. We went from lemon to chocolate to coconut ( which was proclaimed to be the local favorite), to chess and finally to the fruit varieties.

Don't you just want to fall in?

We wound up with an enormous bread pudding which we begrudgingly shared. I still wanted Chocolate pie, but Janet said no. What a spoil sport she can be. Southern Living wrote glowingly about the rapture that is their pecan pie, which comes in six varieties, including white chocolate. Check them out in Pelican Place, Gulf Shores and on Facebook, www.sweetiepiespelicanplace.com. Tell Tammy I sent you!

Please click on TRIPS, on the left of the page, and join me for the First Annual Girlfriend’s European Christmas Market, Dec. 1-9! And invite your buds! Hurry, the deadline is August 13!

You have a sweet day today!!

Diane