blame it on mexico

that's what george strait says, anyways. blame it on mexico. i don't know who will be to blame for the havoc that is about to be caused on a carnival cruise ship bound for mexico. oh, yes, i do... my grandmother. and my mother.

honey, what we call my grandmother, and my mom and i will set sail on a cruise to celebrate honey's 70th birthday. the only other cruise i've been on was with a bunch of aggies and they set the bar pretty high. but i'm sure this adventure will be a riot in its own way. speaking of riot...
i hope my grandmother doesn't start one.

she once joined and led a small parade in new orleans. (i was not there to witness it.) she has ridden a steer in the grand entry of the houston rodeo several times. she sings a funny song about a donkey thats absolutely hilarious. she repeatedly tells the same jokes and repeatedly messes up the punch lines. she can't control the volume of her voice.

i grew up wanting to be exactly like my grandmother. she always called me her "pardner" when i was little and whatever she did, i did it too. i pretended to like mustard and asparagus and cauliflower (ewww to all three) just to be more like her.

i'm very blessed to have four generations of women in my life. they each mean so much to me in their own way, and have taught me a lot. often times, though, when anyone tells me i'm loud or funny or rambunctious, i tell them - oh, you should meet my grandmother. whenever someone says, you and your mom are so much fun. and so much alike. i tell them: you should meet my grandmother.

she's crazier and louder and weirder than any of us. it is quite a feat to try to explain my grandmother to someone, but i've found that this story just about sums it up:

when she came to visit me in d.c. last april, my family went to dinner downtown after a west wing tour. my mom and i went to the restroom and thought dear grandmummy was following. she stopped in the bar area of the restaurant to look at sweet sixteen basketball scores and make new friends with the sports fans. we came out of the restroom and she was "hobnobbing" - to use her word - with some people in their thirties. she introduced my mom and i as we rolled our eyes at each other and tried to get her back to the table.

"this is your grandmother??" one of them asked. she does seem too young and hip and fun to be my grandmother sometimes. i admitted that we were related with a quiet smile.

"oh, she is soooo fun!! we knew we loved her when she tried to convince us that she is a partial owner of one of the basketball teams!! hahahahahahaha."

oh, honey. you've hit a new high. telling total strangers in a strange city that you are a partial owner of a COLLEGE BASKETBALL TEAM??

"i know you can't own a college team, Courtney. i just wanted to get those people going." apparently, they had asked her who she was rooting for and initiated the conversation. she told them had to root for duke, or UNC, or somewhere because she was a partial owner. ya, right.

swine flu? no, i think the swine flu will be the least of our problems. but i do hope the mexicans have prepared themselves. carrietta (and her very rowdy sidekicks) are about to set sail.