What I'd rather think about

Cancer. Blech. Is anyone sick of me talking about it yet? 'Cuz I'm sick of thinking about it.

So let's take a break from the sappy Lifetime movie that has become my life and focus on all the other stuff going on. All the other GOOD stuff.

Sooooo, I live in Texas, and there is something that happens here in Texas that does not happen anywhere else. I introduce you to the Homecoming Mum:

This is a hardcore Texas tradition. Hard. Core. When a guy asks a girl to Homecoming, it is mostly to the game--the dance is secondary--and he gives his date a "mum" that she will wear all Friday at school, then to the football game that night. I think the tradition started with a nice chrysanthemum corsage, but over the years, the Homecoming Mum has grown. Now there are all kinds of "rules"--stuff like seniors' mums being white, and making them personalized, and using the high school colors, and making sure they're not lame (small and/or boring). The girl gives her guy a garter, which is a boy version of a mum he'll wear on his arm. This is a big deal, y'all. You don't mess with the Texas mum--and you make sure you do it right. Texas teenagers (and their moms) can get all kinds of judgy when it comes to mums.

So when Adam told me he'd asked N to Homecoming, I felt a stab of panic. Mums are waaaaaay outside my non-crafty comfort zone, and with all the other stuff filling up my brain right now, I didn't know how I'd ever figure out a mum for him to give his date. But then I remembered a woman in my ward posting pictures of mums she'd made her daughter, and I shot her a quick text. Sure enough, she is a mum-making expert, and even better, she has a heart of gold. This sweet lady took over the mum project for me and refused to let me pay her for her time, even though she spent hours planning and constructing the perfect mum.

And thanks to her, these two were all smiles Friday morning when they exchanged mums and garters:

How cute are they? This makes me so happy.