Johnny (far right), Lou and me (far left) with our Bridgers grandparents in 1975. The picture has nothing to do with this post, I just bumped into it as I was looking for a picture to go with it and I thought it'd be fun for everyone to see. Newsflash-we don't look like this anymore (I don't at least).

I Can't Believe You Asked Me That And I Can't Believe I Answered It

(and other funny things that happened in week one of writing Funny Family & Food)

This blog is over a week old and I've had almost 1700 looks (I round down pounds when I weight myself...round up with page looks....not that I would have to tell anyone the obvious) and I find that incredible. Thanks for taking a look.

I've really enjoyed reading the comments from all of you on Facebook, on the blog or hearing comments from you in person. A few people have even taken the time to email or call me which I really appreciate-it's incredibly thoughtful. A few of the fun things I've learned in my first week of blogging that you might enjoy knowing:

At "A Summer Night at Imagination Station" several people came up to me and said I love your blog but especially the post on passing gas. We're all 5th grade boys after all. I thought that one was a little dicey (and so did one of my children), and all the people who loved it are smart , well educated and a little on the fancy side, so all of those positive comments made my night. Another friend emailed me me she laughed so hard until she farted (with apologies for having to use that word again). And I offer my apologies to one close friend who said she doesn't like potty humor (but I know you well enough to know that secretly you really do even when you say you don't).

Early on when I was writing posts that were only on Facebook a friend told me that she gets her family together to read the posts out loud over a bottle of wine because she knows the characters so well. They drink the wine wine, reread their favorite parts and laugh a lot. I've loved this group for a long time-and love them even more now-if that's even possible.

A surprising amount of people have commented to me about the size of my head saying they'd never noticed it was so big. Neither do I....at least when it's sitting on my shoulders. Honestly, it feels just fine-like a normal head (and what can I really compare it to anyway?!). Or when I look in the mirror every morning, it seems A-OK. But my mother has told the hat and Winston story so often that those tales have been seared into my memory. I have always had to custom order hats and was reminded again when I went to the kite and flag store at Atlantic Beach that carries the Tilley Hats (pricey but they have a lifetime guarantee). Since I now have a bald spot which I figured that out when it got sun burned and hurt. Mr. Tilley may not have wanted to offer lifetime guarantees to us folks with larger heads because they don't have our size. Not to worry, I don't need to spend that much on a hat anyway. And I hate to admit it but I did look a tad like Winston Churchill in the one I tried on that was a few sizes too small. Damn.

I can't seem to get away from big heads. One old family friend who has known my family for many generations said, "Now you know your great grandfather, Furman Bridgers had a huge head. So did your grandfather, Tom and your mother, especially for a woman has a really, really big head." So take that Mother. Just as I suspected-you have criticized me for the genes you passed to me. Ain't it always that way in the south?

My second favorite comment about the big head blog is people thinking their heads are too small. Several people have made that comment. My overall thought about heads or any other body parts is they're all fine if the work as they're supposed to (or at least in some capacity thereof) then we should be happy with what we have. 'Nuff said.

And for the record, no I haven't had my ears pinned back but several people have asked me that question too. The ears just naturally perfected themselves and don't they look great? I think so too and admire them all the time. I'm still waiting for other body parts to do the same. Use your imagination on which ones, Virginia.

And speaking of Virginia, I'll post some early Christmas card pictures of Johnny and me (Princess Lou hadn't been born in the first few pictures) and you will see for yourself with both of us if a strong wind had blown, our ears would have been like sails and we'd have taken off in a high wind. Maybe I better understand why my mother was mentioning that ear pinning surgery regularly to prepare me (us?) just in case it was necessary. And thanks to those who have told me several people around town who have had their ears pinned back or who's grandmother taped their ears back. Who knew these things really happened?! It must be a southern thing and really explains Southern Gothic, doesn't it?

I've heard from old friends in Florida and Texas and that was really nice. Our paths haven't crossed in a while and a lot has changed (waistline and hair color to name a few obvious things) but a lot is still the same (head size, love of convertibles, my always charming but sometimes wacky mother). I see a different person when I look in the mirror but the person on the inside feels the exact same as the person from way back when.

I've had a comment that I was posting too much about the Bridgers side of my family and not enough about the Hackney side of my family and I might want to "equal things up". There's plenty of time to do that, but the truth is that I spent a lot of time my Bridgers grandparents for many reasons which should come through loud and clear in these posts (build a beach cottage and they shall come). Also, my Bridgers grandparents were 10-15 years younger than my Hackney grandparents and spent a lot more time with us. Plus my mother and her mother in law sometimes didn't see eye to eye on a lot of subjects (now there's an unusual story). I loved them all but my Hackney grandparents died when I was a teenager and I wish I'd had more time with them to get to know them better. My Bridgers grandmother lived until she was 98 and I was 49 so we had a lot of life together and I had a lot of time to talk to her about her life when I was an adult. Big difference. I was closer to one side than the other but they're all an equal part of who I am.

I plan on posting more pictures of the cast of characters. And as time goes on I want to expand the cast of characters to Susan's side of the family, the Kings, which are just as much my family as the one I was born into. They are just as interesting as my side with some great stories there too (and please no phone calls with what I can and can't write about...I'll be discreet...for a small fee). All of that in due time. Work, family and daily life has a way of getting in the way of writing the blog but I really do enjoy it and your comments are the gas that keep me going. The gas. Get it?

And a few people have asked about the picture that accompanied the "Terms of Endearment" post and said they didn't understand why it was attached. To my amazement not one person under 45 knew it was from the movie of the same name. "Terms of Endearment" was a blockbuster hit with Shirley McClaine, Jack Nicholson and Debra Winger. It won an incredible 5 Academy Awards in 1984 and it's a powerful, painful, funny, incredible movie. I can't imagine how you make a movie that combines all of those things into one great movie but they did it. It's about a very complex family (sound familiar???) with a narcissistic mother and how they deal with some very complicated life situations. If you haven't seen it, please make a point to do so. Soon. It's well worth your time and it will make my post even better the next time you re- read it (and no one dies in my post even although - spoiler alert - someone dies in the move.) It's a tear-jerker but funny as hell too. Trust me. You just have to see it.

And one more thing, which is neither a question nor an answer, but it's one of those special moments that I have to mention. Susan and I had dinner with some of my old Watson Drive family who I grew up with, Jean Walston Neese and her husband Johnny and Nancy Graves Osborne. I don't get to see the Osborne's, who live in London, very often, but they were in states for a week or two and we pulled together a dinner in Raleigh with only 48 hours motice. My daughter Elizabeth and her husband, Joe, and their children Alex and Page were there. Nancy's kids Tom, Kate (short for Katharina) and Anne were there and Jean's 94 year old sharp as a tack mother, Martha, was there. Jean's sister, Martha, and Nancy's brother, Tom, and sister in law, Sarah were there. Jean's children Jack, Henry and Martha were there (but we missed Campbell and Anderson). It does my heart and soul so much good for us all to be together- 4 generations, who came together for dinner last night but originally came together in the 1950s by luck because each of our families choose the same location to live and raise families and we're still great friends in 2016. Today our children are friends and keep up on Instagram and Snapchat just as our parents were friends and kept up across the fence and by telephone (rotary dial). It's truly incredible. And rare. And when we see each other, no matter how much time has passed, we pick up right where we left off as if no time has passed at all. Everyone is interested in this blog which thrills me to no end. So here's a shout out to each one of you who I love very much and I can't wait until I see you again. And please keep reading and commenting and sending ideas. My only regret is that we didn't have more time together and that we forgot to take a group picture. And one more thing-Jean's delightful mother, Martha, was one the first people to arrive at the dinner party and was among the last to leave. This morning she is reading this post on her iPad and this afternoon she'll be playing duplicate bridge. And she'll probably win.

If you have any questions for me please make sure and send them via the Ask Me Anything! page. As soon as I have enough interesting questions, I'll respond and answer whatever you ask. Except my weight. That's way out of bounds.