New Year's Eve

Happy New Year's Eve everyone!!! I am headed to get my hair cut and styled then Walter & I are going to check into the hotel, get dressed, then meet Cathy, Brent, Sandy, & Gene and head to dinner. We are going to a fancy steak restaurant that I've never been to before and I'm excited about that! You know I love me some steak!! After dinner, we'll be partying down to a live band at a local hotel and will spend the night there.

Have a safe New Year's Eve!

Tuesday night

2008 is quickly coming to an end! It's been a great year and I am excited to start 2009! We have had a great holiday season and are excited about ringing in the new year! Walter, Cathy, Brent, & I along with 2 of their friends will be going to a New Year's Eve party at a local hotel and attending a party with a live band. It's been years since Walter & I went out on New Year's Eve, mostly because I hate being out with drunk people on the road, but since this is at a hotel and we have a room, we are going out!!! I found some cute clothes in Cathy's closet and am getting a hair cut/style tomorrow, so I'm ready to go! We are going to go to dinner first at Sullivan's Steak House and this will be my first trip there!

We are winding down from Christmas and I've been busy taking down the tree and putting away decorations. I'm not finished, but I put a dent in it! I did forget to mention that Walter's niece, Rebel, got the family "Velvet Elvis" and is now required to hang it in an obvious spot in her house!! She has to keep it and pass it on to whoever's name she draws next year in the family Christmas drawing! We have been lucky and only been owners of Velvet Elvis once so far! We may just have to go for a visit to Rebel's house one day and make sure it's really there!!! Ha Ha Ha!!

Cameron & I ran all over town this morning. He had an orthodontist appointment this morning, then a hair cut appointment, then I had to take him to drop him off with his dad. Once I got home, I went to help our homeowner's association treasurer with some neighborhood stuff, then went to dinner with Brent & Cathy. Walter went to help his son, Sean, with some things, so he wasn't able to come with us.

My sister & brother-in-law are coming in town Thursday - Saturday, so we'll be entertaining them while they're here. They are planning to stay with us Thursday night after we all have lunch together at my mom's on New Year's Day.

Happy New Year!

Saturday, I think!

At my house, we have all been off of work/school so long that we don't even know what day it is! I was confused when I woke up and caught up on my blog reading as to why Melissa B. at the Scholastic Scribe didn't have her Sunday picture post up! Then Cameron woke up and looked all over the house for me to ask "what day is it?" So yeah, it's only Saturday and we are happy about that!

I had to laugh at my friend Lesley's comment. We are getting ready for our 2nd road trip to visit JP, which should hopefully go much better than our first road trip! And yes, Sista, Cameron has more electronic gadgets to bring in the car and the hotel than you can imagine. You may not even notice he is with us!! And as for him being mortified at hotel, thank goodness we learned our lessons the first time, because he would probably have slept in the car if he was with us the first time!! The bad news is that we probably can't ride with the top down all 5 minutes like we did when we went without him! And yes, oddly enough, South Beach has a diet challenge that starts January 12th which is RIGHT after our road trip! I think it's a sign Sista! You have to do it with me!!

My friend, Michelle, asked if Cameron has been to visit JP before, and the answer is yes. He's actually been a few times, but it's usually easier just to make a quick weekend roadtrip without him. JP specially requested Cameron's appearance this time, so I arranged the trip around when Cameron is here with me. And people, while I'm talking about Michelle, I would like to encourage you to all go and visit her blog!! She is my real life friend and is an incredible person and is a huge inspiration to me. She has Spina Bifida and is more independant than I am! Seriously! Go check this chick out! She is awesome and would love to hear from you! And yeah, we call her Chelle and you should too!

And Chelle mentioned the cute little blonde girl in the plaid dress in my post. That is Walter's great-niece Claire. She was born with a defect in her heart and had several surgeries early in her life and we weren't sure if she would be ok or not. Let me just say, she is perfectly ok and is the most precious child you'll ever meet! Someone gave her a booksack with her name on it and she wore it on her back the rest of the day! It is actually on there in the picture!

Another chuckle I got today was from my brother. My niece, Daphne LOVED the Sesame Street toys we got her for Christmas!! So much so, that Kenny sent me this message!

Of the three of us, she's by far the happiest about this toy :)

"C is for cookie, that's good enough for me! yahm yahm yahm"
"C is for cookie, that's good enough for me! yahm yahm yahm"
"C is for cookie, that's good enough for me! yahm yahm yahm"
"C is for cookie, that's good enough for me! yahm yahm yahm"
"C is for cookie, that's good enough for me! yahm yahm yahm"
"C is for cookie, that's good enough for me! yahm yahm yahm"
"C is for cookie, that's good enough for me! yahm yahm yahm"
"C is for cookie, that's good enough for me! yahm yahm yahm"
"C is for cookie, that's good enough for me! yahm yahm yahm"
"C is for cookie, that's good enough for me! yahm yahm yahm"
"C is for cookie, that's good enough for me! yahm yahm yahm"
"C is for cookie, that's good enough for me! yahm yahm yahm"

Yeah, I love it!!

Walter and I were able to go pick my car up today after getting good news! It was just out of alignment, but I really appreciate that the first place we brought it was honest and said they weren't sure they could fix it, thinking the problem was worse than it was. We had to pay $50 to get it realigned, then $50 because they pointed out how overdue my oil change was, so we let them do it, so for $100 we got the car fixed and the oil changed and it is running perfectly! Yay!

My friend, Renie, asked who cooked the gumbo for our Christmas get-together. Walter cooked it and it was delicious!!! We fed 50 people, plus sent leftovers home with most of them, and still have some left!!

Veggie Mom, where I got my awesome Pop'rs, asked who dressed as Santa at my brother-in-law's Christmas Eve party. This is actually pretty funny! Nobody ever wants to play Santa anymore, so my brother-in-law's next door neighbor, who is VERY SKINNY, agreed to do it! However, he is an important person at LSU and I find it very awkward that we are all expected to sit in his lap and take pictures!!! I refrain whenever it's him, cause really, he is someone important!!!!

JP called today and is doing fine. He said for Christmas they got a breakfast Christmas tree shaped brownie! He was excited! Thank God for the little things, huh?

And thanks for all the compliments on my hair! And hey, even if you're doing a diet other than South Beach, let me know! We can still all support each other!

Friday night

Christmas Eve and Christmas day were both a lot of fun, but we are glad that it is all over with for this year!

Christmas Eve at my brother-in-law's house was fun. Santa made his annual visit to the house, but we only had 3 small children there to enjoy it! Quite a few members of Walter's family have started staying home to spend Christmas Eve with their own families instead of driving into Baton Rouge 2 days in a row. Walter & I brought artichoke dip and enjoyed our evening with his family. And I pulled my hair back - whatcha think?

We decided to open our gifts to each other on Christmas Eve since Cameron was with his dad and would be coming back Christmas day, but didn't have much to open under the tree. He likes to save his money, so for the first time, he only asked for a couple of things, so we didn't buy much for him.


Walter & Cameron got me some Clinique make-up, a Clinique Happy perfume and lotion set, a set of everything I need to make Cosmopolitans, a shirt, a gift certificate to Cato and a gift certificate to Stage. Cameron & I got Walter a surround sound system, and several different tool type things that he wanted.

I picked Cameron up Christmas morning and he opened his gifts (mostly from family & friends). The cute shirt is from our friend Kimi and her family. He loved it! Thanks sista!!

Then we got ready to have Walter's family over for gumbo Christmas day. We had about 50 people show up and had a great time! Check out the presents once everyone got here! And we draw names! And here is the bird feeder that Walter made for one of his sisters.




Here are some cute pictures I took Christmas day:

Here are some pictures I got from my brother yesterday. My mom & step-dad went to Atlanta for Christmas to spend Christmas with my brother & his family.

This is my mom & Daphne

This is Daphne opening one of the gifts we sent!

And here are some pictures that my sister sent from their Christmas in Houston:

This is my 2 nephews and Elijah

And this is Elijah

And now, back to the real world! Walter & I dropped my car off at the shop today to try to fix whatever is wrong from my incident with the guard rail the day it snowed. The car is out of alignment and something about a caster being out of place! All I know is that my car is making odd noises and needs to be fixed. Hopefully, it will be ready tomorrow.

Walter & I went out to eat with Cathy & Brent tonight at Albasha and it was really good!! We thought about staying home and eating leftovers, but then we thought again!! We are all planning to go to a New Year's Eve party together and have been making plans for that. I am borrowing some clothes from Cathy since I don't have any fancy clothes and so I went and shopped in her closet before dinner! I found something cute, but I need to try it on and see how it looks on me.

JP has called several times lately and seems to be doing really well. My friend, Lesley, and I are going to visit him in Houston Jan. 10 & 11th! Cameron will be going with us and I am excited! We are going to stay at the same hotel as last time that is in a mall, so it should be fun! Plus we will get to see JP and he is very excited that we are coming.

The last thing I have to say is that I AM GOING ON A DIET!!! I can't fit in my clothes again! I have never tried the South Beach Diet, but I do great on Atkins and it is very similar, just a slight bit healthier, so I am going to try it. Anyone with me?? I need a support group!!!!!

I hope you have had a great Christmas!!

The Night Before Christmas Eve

Mama at Beloved Mama is having a contest! You should go and check it out!

I want to wish everyone a very merry Christmas! I am quite sure I wont be back to blog before it's all over. We will finish getting ready for Walter's family to spend Christmas day at our house. We are cooking gumbo for our 2nd annual "Christmas on the Bayou!" We will also have a ham, a roast, and lots of appetizers and desserts that Walter's family will bring over. On Christmas Eve, we will go to his brother, Ed's house for his annual Christmas Eve party, complete with an appearance by Santa for the kids. I'll pick Cameron up Christmas morning, then Walter, Cameron, & I will open our gifts to each other. By noon, there will be 50+ people here to eat, drink, open presents, & be merry!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday! I'll leave you with some pictures of our tree now that there are some presents under it! We still aren't finished wrapping all of them, but it's a start! I hope Santa is good to you!

2008

I wanted to spend some time thinking about 2008 and what has happened, good and bad, in my life this year, in no particular order:

• Met new friends/neighbors, Brent & Cathy, and have been inseparable ever since
• Started my 2nd year working with special education kids with behavior problems
• Accepted the challenge to work in the most difficult schools in our system
• Still have JP alive and well
• Visited JP and provided emotional and financial support
• Enjoyed relationships with Elizabeth and her boys
• Have been a good grandmother to my grandsons
• Lost 10 lbs.
• Gained 15 lbs.
• Saved 2 litters of kittens and 3 cats from homelessness
• Made my friends a priority and spent much quality time with them
• Handled some tough situations with Cameron and got through it all fine
• Helped 2 children get free braces
• Helped a family with Christmas
• Helped an adolescent group home with Christmas
• Enjoyed being Walter's wife
• Did not finish painting in our house
• Went on a cruise
• Spent time with my family and Walter's
• Was responsible financially
• Started a blog and met awesome blogger friends
• Reconnected with several old friends
• Participated in many training opportunities at work
• Went the extra mile for my job
• Visited my new niece in Atlanta
• Bought a Mustang convertible
• Voted

I'm sure there is more, but I just wanted to jot down some quick thoughts. What about you?

I have thoroughly enjoyed my day off today. I had my social work supervision this morning, so Walter rode with me to Baton Rouge, dropped me off for my 2 hour meeting, and went Christmas shopping until it was time to pick me up. Afterwards, we went to the Chinese Buffet for lunch. This afternoon, I finished cleaning our guest room, Cameron's room, and Cameron's bathroom, then did most of the laundry. I still have to clean the kitchen, living room, our room, and 2 bathrooms before Thursday. We are expecting 50 - 60 of my in-laws on Christmas day, so yeah, I'm trying to get things looking good!! Cameron would normally be coming home today, but decided to stay with his dad until Christmas day, since he would have been going back there Wednesday for Christmas Eve. I'm fine with whatever works for Cameron, plus it gives me more time to do things around the house.

Merry Christmas!!!

Sunday night

Amy at Escape into my Thoughts tagged me on this cool photo meme. Go to your pictures, choose the 4th folder and the 4th picture. So this is mine:

This is me & my sister, Donna, in Houston in 2001

And yes, I'm tagging YOU!!!

Well, we have had an eventful weekend. Friday night, some of my graduate school friends & I got together for dinner and our annual white elephant gift exchange. Things were a little different this year, because only 4 out of 6 of us were able to come. And one of the 4 didn't get there until late, so my friends, Becky & Judith and I exchanged gifts and had dinner, then waited for Kelly to get there. The gift I got is a cool Fleur de Lis bowl and some slippers. I love them!! One of my friends had some news that had us all in tears, so no pictures were taken. And the news is ok, just a life changing event that is about to happen, but I have been asked not to mention it just yet, so that will have to wait for another post.

Here is LSU's Christmas tree that is near the parade grounds on campus. I had to stop and take a picture when I saw it!

Then, Saturday night, Walter & I went to Brent & Cathy's Christmas party. They live on our street, so we were able to eat, drink, & be merry, and boy were we!!! It was a great party and we had so much fun! I took a million pictures, so I will post a few of them here for your entertainment. We also had a white elephant gift exchange there, but neither of us got anything too interesting.

This is Walter & I

Vicky, Wendy, Cathy, & I

I just love this picture! This is Gene & Cathy

Me & another neighbor, Judy

Me & Vicky

Cathy & Brent

Ok, and the highlight (or lowlight) of the party was Cheryl. She is my neighbor and former housekeeper that I fired several months ago. I haven't seen Cheryl since all that happened, so I figured it might be awkward, but fortunately, she got so drunk that she probably wont remember any of the awkwardness.

Today, I went out to the church where I have been working with the Youth Minister to raise money for the adolescents in the transitional living program and we collected all of the gifts and delivered them to the young men and women at the group home! They weren't all there, so they didn't open the gifts yet, but they were so excited to see that we had brought gifts for them! It is so rewarding to help others when you can, so I encourage you all to do it when you are able. Look closely at this picture and the looks on these young ladies' faces!!

Walter and I went to lunch at Hilltop with Brent & Cathy, and now are just spending a quiet evening at home. It is supposed to get down to 29 degrees here, so we are going to stay inside by the fireplace! Have a great Sunday!