Don't Postpone Joy

On Sunday, the Cleveland Hackneys drove up to Memphis to visit the cousins there.  It was a fun reunion as well as meeting some for the first time.  Chris, the new son-in-law, was introduced to that part of the family and we were all lucky enough to see the two newest branches on the family tree...a one year old boy and an 11 week old baby girl.  Chuck's two cousins are now grandmothers making his aunt and uncle great-grandparents.  These are cousins on Chuck's father's side.  I guess next year, we will have to meet the cousins on the other side of the tree. 

Aunt Betty and Uncle Bobby.

Checking out his new cousin.

These two are second cousins to each other...their fathers are cousins.
Got that? 

This precious baby girl was born 8 weeks early and she has grown a lot

 and overcome so much since her birthday.

  She is now 11 weeks old but only 3 weeks away from her birth due date. 

It was her first outing around people....so I didn't even ask to hold her. 

I did get to hold the one year old for a split second.  He wants down...

.....as he has lots of walking to do.

After some great barbecue and dessert, our visit was over and we headed over to Graceland.  We just planned on a drive-by...but of course we ended up parking and walking around.  Of all the pictures I took, I didn't get one of the actual mansion.  So I found a painting from Thomas Kinkade for you.

What Graceland could look like......

See the pretty brick wall?

Well, here's what it looks like in real life.......

Every inch was covered in graffiti.

Hey y'all.....do any of you have a pen? 

No, but I have puff paint....in glittery green.

Are you kidding me? 

Who carries puff paint in their bag to Graceland? 

The person who wanted to paint Merry Christmas on the brick wall.  

Chris and Jordan taking it all in.

Really Amber?  You heart Aaron?  And that has what to do with Elvis?

What'd you want to bet Amber and Aaron have already broken up?

And that Aaron sports a mullet?

Yes, I was strumming his guitar.

  For some reason, when I was in that gift shop,

and Elvis music was being played

and I saw this life size cardboard cut-out of him....

I just acted giddy. 

Like it was really him.

We could have paid anywhere from $27 to $68 a person to do various tours,

 but we just did the gift shops. 

Why?  Well, the discussion went something like this......

• 
  
   That would have been a lot of cash for our group of 9.
• 
  
   We didn't have that much cash.
• 
  
   The line to purchase tickets was very, very long. Very.
• 
  
   It was a two hour tour (a two hour tour.....).
• 
  
   We still had to go see the Mississippi River.  (Not sure why on that one.)

 So instead of paying for tours, some of us got an Icee here.

....while others had ice cream.  My mother-in-law will not smile for a picture. 

Uh, oh....I'm getting another look.  The real reason I took this picture is because of the woman on the right.  Our group had been coming back and forth to this spot while trying to decide if we should buy tour tickets or not.  She was totally engrossed in our conversation.  ha. 

I am a professional people watcher......but this time I was the one being watched. 

We gave her at least 20 minutes of pure enjoyment. 

There was a lot of discussion about where everybody was, which gift shop?, how much are the tour tickets?, wow!, should we buy a tshirt?, where'd you get that Icee?, the tickets are HOW much?, that's ridiculous, but maybe we should do it, no, because the line is so long, where'd we park? where's Chuck?

Repeat, repeat...catch lady listening to us and making a face about us to her husband.

Love it.

Really, I will never see her again...I'm glad we entertained her. 

Elvis fans are above average and extremely beautiful. 

And considering Elvis would be 75 if he was still with us.....

some of his first fans are getting a little older, too. 

Elvis....75? 

He was pretty handsome, wasn't he girls?

The radio deejay was working.....

while everyone stopped and watched or took his picture. 

This must be how the gorilla at the zoo feels.

Something tells me this guy loves the attention.

Look at Bubba in the other window looking at me.

WutaryoothankinaboutBubba?

If you love Elvis music, look for this station on Sirius Radio.

You can practice for karoake night at your local pub.

If you go to Graceland and fork over some cash,

you can tour the inside of the two airplanes parked there. 

 TCB

Taking Care of Business.

I'm assuming this message was written with Elvis in mind. But  I don't think Elvis postponed joy.  I think he might have looked for it in the wrong places....drugs and peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwiches....but I definitely think he found his joy earlier rather than later.  As in, he didn't postpone it. 

But there is a good message there. 

I hope you aren't postponing joy.

I bet if you think about it,
there was a moment or two of joy in your day.

By the way, here's a little trivia for you. 

The only place in the states visited by more people a year than Graceland is









 the Whitehouse.