Just me and the pups this weekend. Barb, her sister Jan, niece Megan and pal Nancy are in Jackson, Mississippi, promoting sisterhood, self esteem and positive thinking with other Sweet Potato Queens.

The Sweet Potato Queens concept has been explained and made popular by a series of books by Jill Conner Browne of Jackson, who came up with the idea in 1982. (Browne is the author of a number of books which form the backbone of the Sweet Potato Queen “movement.”)

It involves a belief in a sisterhood, appealing to mostly middle-aged middle-class women. In 2005, almost ten thousand women dressed up in costumes and came to Jackson for the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, proceeds from which benefited a local children’s hospital.

Barb and I dated for six years before we got married so we’ve been together for 34 years. Looks like a lotta years as I type it but seems like no time at all in my head.

I can’t distill my affection down to single blog post but if you dig around here at smays.com, you’ll discover how much better life is with a friend and partner like Barb.

Received this email from my brother: “I have been in Yogyakarta, Central Java (Indonesia), doing earthquake relief. Just got to an internet cafe tonight. Over 100,000 homeless after the quake here. Not as many deaths as Aceh (7,500), but lots of homes destroyed. Crazy what is happening here. Volcano active as well (Mount Merapi).”