See you July 3rd!!

Well blogger friends (and real life friends who read my blog)...this is going to be my last post until after the cruise! I am going to have withdrawals from the internet and text messaging, but it's a vacation and international rates are ridiculous, so i'm cutting myself off from the world until we get back!! Leave me lots of comments while i'm gone!!!

First, some bad news....my diet and I parted ways this morning at a Burger King drive through while Walter & I were running errands. However, my diet and I plan to reunite after the cruise, so this isn't the end of "us!" Around 8:30 this morning we went to Walmart to finish picking up last minute things for the trip, including a bottle of rum that Walter wants to try to sneak on board, so we'll see how that goes! He bought several large bottles of water and will empty them and fill them with rum. Our Walmart has now separated liquor from the rest of the store, so you have to go and pay for it separately. Walter went to get the rum while I went to the check out register and the cashier asked me what was "smart water?" At first I wasn't sure what she was talking about, but after glancing at the water bottles Walter bought to pour his rum in, I realized the brand he bought was "Smart Water." I gave the cashier an embarrassed look and said "I guess he thinks it will make him smarter??" When Walter came back to the register with another employee carrying the bottle of rum because the liquor store wasn't opened yet, I told him about the Smart Water, so while the cashier is ringing up the rum, he mentioned that the liquor store isn't opened yet because "most people don't drink this early in the morning like my wife does." Touche'

Congratulations to my friend, Jan, and her husband, Chris!! They are proud parents of twin girls born on June 24th and weighing in at 4 lbs. each!! Charleigh and Ainsley are both very lucky little girls and I am very excited for this new little family!! I can't wait to see the babies!!! I was able to see some pictures online, but i'm not sure Jan wants me plastering her new babies all over the internet!!!

And something for when I get back...Walter and Cathy BOTH say that they couldn't fall asleep after eating the grilled fish at Kevin's Restaurant last Sunday night! Cathy said it's happened to her several times and I just find that a little wacky!! What could possibly be in the fish to cause insomnia??? I'm ordering that fish next time I go there and testing their theory!!!

We will be back on July 3rd with LOTS of pictures to share!! Everyone have a great weekend!!!

Thursday - 2 more days!!

It's unbelievable that the cruise is almost here! When we first planned it, there were like 300 days until it was time to go!! 2 more days!!! I didn't actually get anything packed last night, but I have a lot of things stacked near the suitcases to pack today. It's hard to decide what I need to bring. Most of the time on a trip, we just plan to buy whatever we might have forgotten, but it wont be as easy to do that this time. Walter took off of work tomorrow so we are going to go shopping and get him some clothes, go by the bank for some cash to bring along, pick up some wine (each person over the age of 21 can bring 1 bottle), and just generally try to figure out what we might be forgetting! We are all so excited! I have to mention to that my 35+ in-laws that are going are awesome people and are so much fun! Walter is the 7th of 8 kids and they are a huge and very close family. Some people complain about their in-laws, but I wouldn't trade mine for the world! I am sad that his brother, Tommy and his wife aren't able to come, but at least his medical news is looking better. The doctors have been trying to rule out a diagnosis of Superior Canal Dehiscene Syndrome (SCDS) as the cause of his extreme dizziness and now think he may have Vestibular Neuritis, which is viral and can be treated with medicine rather than surgery in his ear or brain. So, we will miss them, but i'm glad the news is better for him. My sister-in-law, Babet, and I decided today that Tommy & his wife can go with us NEXT year, because we are going back!!

I never showed off my cute pedicure that I got in Houston with my sister. Everyone laughs at me because I always want a decoration on my big toenails. When I asked for a flower, the lady asked my sister if she wanted one too and Donna said "no." I said, "no, she's not 5 years old!" What can I say? It makes me happy!! And my feet sure are tan! LOL

I am so aggravated at myself because at dinner with my friends last night, without thinking, I drank regular Dr. Pepper, which is my usual drink of choice. On Atkins, you can't have sugar at all or it pretty much messes up everything! I have been drinking unsweetened tea, but didn't even think about it last night!! I am still at 154, which is fine, but wanted to have a couple more days to maybe lose another pound. My friends all noticed that i've lost weight and I can tell too since my clothes aren't bulging at the sides. I really don't have a lot of weight to lose and only want to look fit and healthy. I am still going to stick to the diet until Saturday morning, and i'm sure i'll get back on it when we get home next week because i'm sure to have gained back all 6 lbs. plus some on the cruise!

Anyway, the dinner with my friends last night was great! We went to the Cheesecake Bistro in Baton Rouge. I ate a Cobb Salad and wasn't even tempted when they all split a strawberry cheesecake. My friend, Jessica is expecting a baby boy who is due at the end of July and she found out after having some pain the other day that the baby broke one of her ribs!!! Poor thing! She was able to make it last night, as well as Judith, Courtney, & Kelly. It was really good to see everyone and catch up!

Walter & Cameron went to get haircuts this afternoon and then YES, tonight is steak night!!!! Walter, Cathy, Brent & I went to eat at Hilltop and it was so good! I was the only one who got a steak, but who's complaining?? It's truly my FAVORITE and I look forward to it all week!!

Here are some questions I was sent. Feel free to blog them yourself!

These are some things you might not know about me:

FOUR jobs I've had:
1. Burger King Cashier
2. Winn Dixie Cashier
3. Office Manager
4. Administrative Assistant

FOUR movies I could watch over and over:
1. An Officer and a Gentleman
2. Dirty Dancing
3. Honeysuckle Rose
4. Sex and the City

FOUR placed that I have lived:
1. East Point, Georgia
2. Birmingham, Alabama
3. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
4. Murfreesboro, Tennessee

FOUR TV Shows I love to watch:
1. Curb Your Enthusiam
2. Seinfeld
3. Everybody Loves Raymond
4. King of Queens

FOUR places I've been on vacation:
1. Gatlinburg, Tennessee
2. Pensacola, Florida
3. Waveland, Mississippi
4. Houston, Texas

FOUR websites I visit daily:
1. Perez Hilton
2. Myspace
3. Facebook
4. Gmail

FOUR of my favorite foods:
1. Steak
2. Chocolate
3. Macaroni & Cheese
4. Fried Okra

FOUR places I'd rather be:
1. On a cruise
2. At the beach
3. On the river
4. At a restaurant

FOUR of my favorite things:
1. Mail
2. My laptop
3. My pets
4. My pool

Wednesday

One thing that I notice about me and blogging - if something I talk about doesn't happen, I just don't mention it again!! And i'm sure at some point someone must wonder...whatever happened with that?? I weighed this morning and I still weigh 154, so I wasn't going to mention it, but thought twice!! On the Atkins diet in the past, I usually lost weight every day or every other day in that first phase, of course, I'm not complaining about losing 6 lbs. already, and I think no matter what diet you're on you have to do some activity during the day to lose any weight. I spent the last 2 days at dentists or in bed, so i'm sure why nothing's happening, but I didn't gain anything back either! This morning I went swimming in the pool a little and will be doing housework all day, so i'm sure that will kick my body in gear! I'm already past my goal of losing 5 lbs. before the cruise, so i'm happy no matter what!!

As for the root canal, what a relief that was!!! I have had absolutely no pain since the Endodontist numbed my mouth! No pain during the procedure or since. I feel a little soreness if I bite something on that side of my mouth, but that is no big deal. I was prepared to take a pain pill last night and decided to wait and see if it started to hurt, but didn't even end up taking my Ibuprophen. And yeah, i'm relieved because if Lesley's 9 year old son didn't have any pain after his root canal, how am I going to look if I say i'm in pain??? I couldn't let him out-do me!

I am spending this morning doing laundry and packing for the cruise!!! Only 3 more days!! I couldn't be any more excited it!!! At the same time, being an anxious person like I am, there are a million things to do and that stresses me out!!! There are about 40 of us going from Walter's family and they are all booking their shore excursions, so we need to get busy with that, I have lined up someone to feed my cats/get the mail, emailed an emergency contact number to whoever might need it (especially my next door neighbor who is overly involved in my life!!), asked the next door neighbor not to harrass or shoot the person coming to feed my cats/get the mail, shopped for motion sickness medicine, gathered our passports and boarding documents, got the letter from my ex-husband authorizing me to travel to Mexico with Cameron, called our cell phone company about international rates and packages, and still need to do a million more things! My 22 year old step-son, Sean, is coming with us also and plans to meet us here Saturday morning before 11. Sean is habitually late and i'm a little stressed about that, but Walter and I have agreed and have told Sean that we will NOT wait if he isn't here. He can drive to New Orleans and pay his own parking ($15/day) if he isn't here on time. We've offered that he can spend the night Friday night and be assured to be on time, so we'll see. I am not missing the boat!!!

My 24 year old son, JP, is in the Harris County jail in Texas, where I visited him this past weekend. I recently found out and spread the news that his trial that was scheduled for July 14 has been reset until December 1st. I've had a couple of comments here and several emails from people who are surprised at how long away the new date is. The sad thing is that this is the reality of having so many people in the prison system there. Someone "had priority" over his case and got his court date and other trials are already scheduled for the next 6 months. I would imagine some high profile case got JP's spot, but if i've learned anything over the last 16 months, patience is a requirement to get through a situation like this. His attorney told me from the beginning that this process takes years, and I believe her! I am trusting God in this whole process and have long since turned this over to Him. Several months after the last trial was supposed to start and was reset, our investigator found a lot of information and witnesses that backed up some of JP's story. Had the trial happened then, none of the new information would have been available and there would have been nothing to back up his version of the story. It is overwhelming to me how many people are in the county jails there. I was looking around on the internet today at different stories about Harris County and came across this 2006 statistic. I know a lot of these people deserve to be in jail, but many of them probably don't. This may be a morbid topic to some people, but it is currently my reality. JP did participate in a crime after being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I feel (and hope a jury agrees) that he has served his time when the trial finally happens. Anyway, here are the numbers:

Walter has started working on his latest project - building a catwalk and pier in the backyard. We live on a river and currently have to borrow the neighbor's pier to fish. We built the house ourselves (it took 15 months!!) and moved in May 2007. There are still a million projects to do, but we take them as we can! Walter's brother did come out Sunday with his tractor to grade the front yard, which now I know really means turn it into mud!! Here is a view of the beginnings of the catwalk that will lead to the pier. It is right along the side of the boatslip if you can't see it.

Tonight I am going to meet some of my graduate school friends for dinner! We try to get together every month and It's always so great to see them! The bond we all have is incredible, and we are all so very different! We range in ages from 25 - 46, some married, some single, some with kids, some not, but we formed relationships during our 2 years in grad school that will last the rest of our lives, I believe. In the picture below - top row: Kelly, Courtney, Becky, Christine B., & me. Bottom row: Jessica, Judith, & Christine W. Even more exciting, FIVE of them are considering interviewing for 2 job openings in my office!! Yay!! I expect to hear who got hired shortly after the cruise and I hope it's one or two of them!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!!

Toothy Tuesday

I went bright & early this morning (6:50am!) for my root canal and I was pretty nervous about it. I went to Dr. Michael Bond in Baton Rouge and he made the whole process easy and painless. He & his assistant explained everything they were doing and were very careful about avoiding pain. I was on the road home by 8am! Yay!! As far as pain now, it's actually not hurting yet, and I am grateful for that! I have Vicodin for pain if I need it, but I really don't like to take stuff like that. I did end up taking one last night and was able to actually sleep for awhile, but mostly I've been taking 800mg Ibuprophen for days and that seems to be working so far today.

I got an email from JP's attorney today and the new trial date is December 1st, so more time to "hurry up and wait." I will have to take time off from work if the trial really happens then, but my boss is so supportive and has already said I can take "emergency family leave" if needed. I was just hoping that the trial would happen this summer while i'm off of work and make things easier! If I've learned anything over the last year, the justice system doesn't make anything easy!!! Any time he serves now will count towards any sentence that he gets, so it is not wasted time, at least.

I read today that Heather Locklear is in treatment for anxiety and depression. I am a social worker and personally, I think that is awesome that she's seeking help if she needs it. I think it's so sad that the world has to know everything celebrities do. I would imagine more high profile people would seek help for themselves if they could do it without becoming headline news!

Cameron didn't end up having Sarah come over last night, but I think she is coming tonight. She's working as a hostess at a restaurant right by our house. Cameron really seems to like her (see the post about the 5,824 texts) and seems a little freaked out that he wont be able to use his phone to talk to her during the 5 day cruise!! Amazingly enough, his dad actually took my advice and SET RULES about using the phone on the cruise because of the international rates. Maybe one day he'll see that you really do need to set limits for kids and most of the time, they understand!! Bryce came over when he got off of work around 9pm and spent the night or so I was told! I was pretty much out of it most of the day.

One of the neighbors on our street called this morning wanting to know if Walter could check the security cameras at the front of the neighborhood to see if his $1,000 pressure washer fell out of his truck on the road and whether someone picked it up. We can access the cameras from the internet (Walter the wizard managed to figure that out) and I looked through the videos to try to help the guy. I could see his truck - tailgate down - with the pressure washer in the back, but it didn't fall out while he was on our street. The poor guy is heart broken over it and I really hope he finds it somehow! I would imagine someone saw it fall off the truck somewhere and picked it up and drove off.

I love to read and have finally had the time to start reading my newest book - The Appeal by John Grisham. I just started it and have almost finished it! It really is a good book. Once I started graduate school, I lost my free time to do the things I enjoy, such as reading books that I want to read, so it's taken me awhile to realize that my free time is mine again and to use it how I want to! My favorite authors are John Grisham and Danielle Steel.

I ran across this story on Fox news and couldn't believe how ridiculous some people are! This man in New Delhi found a lost bear cub and raised it as part of his family, partly to comfort him and his daughter after the death of his wife. A news station did a story about them and when the Wildlife officials saw the story, they arrested the man because it's against the law to keep wild animals, sent his daughter to boarding school, and sent the bear to a zoo where it is refusing to eat! Check it out!! http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,370781,00.html

Monday

Ok, so this morning was the weigh-in! Don't get me wrong - I don't just weigh on Mondays or anything. I am neurotic and weigh everyday, but I was gone all weekend and didn't have a scale, so I have been greatly anticipating weighing this morning. So, I started my Atkins diet on Thursday and weighed 160 lbs. This morning....154! I couldn't believe it!! The cruise is in 5 days, so what are the chances that i'll be down to 150 by then? It's looking good! I am really excited and it hasn't been that hard sticking to the diet.

Now, for the not so great news! I called my dentist again this morning and told her how bad my tooth was hurting, plus I have 101 fever, so she wanted me to come in AGAIN! This was my 3rd visit in 10 days. She says I need to have a root canal done and to do it NOW so it is feeling better by the cruise. She gave me an antibiotic and some pain medicine and I'll be going to an Endodontist at 6:50 am tomorrow. Yikes! I keep thinking about my friend, Lesley's 9 year old son who just had a root canal done and was eating cake the same night. I hope I do as well as him!!!

Other than the dentist visit, I have spent the whole day in bed. Cameron came home from his dad's this morning and is having his girlfriend over this evening. Walter is going to cook dinner when he gets home, so I will probably just sleep!

Home at last!!

I love going on a trip anywhere, but i'm always so happy to get back home!!! Donna, Elijah, and I went to visit JP again this morning and had a nice visit with him. It was a little quieter today, so that was nice. I told him about the trial being rescheduled and he said he was expecting that and had even written "reset" on his calendar every day this week because the last trial date was reset 3 weeks prior to the date too. I will get back to visit him as soon as I can. Here are some pictures Donna & I took with Elijah. The county jail that JP is in is in the background of the picture of Donna & Elijah. There are about 4 jails that size in downtown Houston right by each other.

Elijah is dodging my butterfly kisses in the picture above!!

I left Houston around 11 and met my friends, Kimi & Shayne and their kids Kayli & Dylan in Lake Charles at the Olive Garden for lunch. We had a long visit and it was great to see them!!

I got home around 5:45 to find out that Cathy & Brent wanted Walter & I to go to dinner at Kevin's Restaurant, so we went when I got in. It's not my favorite place, but they were all ready for a change from our "usual" Hilltop. I have been having trouble with my temporary crown/tooth and wasn't feeling so great, so we came home afterwards and I am headed to soak in my tub and go to bed before long.

I did great with my Atkins diet eating again today and am excited to weigh tomorrow morning. I had cheese omelets and sausage for breakfast, a grilled chicken ceasar salad for lunch, and a ribeye with sauteed mushrooms and broccoli for dinner. A diet that allows you to eat steak is just right with me!

Saturday

I got up early this morning, ate breakfast, and went to visit with JP around 8:30. There were a lot of other people there, so it wasn't as quiet as I would have liked, but you take what you get! I did ask about extended visits since I'm from out of state, but no such luck. JP looks really good and his attitude is great. He talked some about what the state prison system will be like if he is sentenced and at least we think the visits will be a lot better (2 hours instead of 20 minutes) and he thinks most of them allow family to visit at a table together instead of behind plastic walls. I hope the jury feels that he has already served enough time and doesn't sentence him, but if not, I am glad that JP is being realistic about what could happen. If he does get a "not guilty" or probation somehow, then we have already talked about his options for getting out. If he isn't sent somewhere for drug abuse rehabilitation or something through the court, then he has agreed to go to Cenikor, which is a program for drug addiction as well as re-learning how to be self-sufficient. It is an 18 month - 2 year program and there is a Cenikor program in Baton Rouge and 3 in Texas, so in the case that he is on probation and couldn't leave Texas, then he could go to one there. JP also said the psychologist for his defense team came to do some testing with him recently and she didn't have his IQ scores yet, but told him he scored in the top 3%. I have always worried about the damage he's done to his brain with drug use, so that was very encouraging to hear. After I got back to the hotel, I had an email from JP's defense team saying that the trial has been postponed by the DA due to another case having priority. We do not know the new date yet, but history shows that it will likely be 6 months from now, so I will have to break that news to JP in the morning. I'm sure he will be disappointed, but not shocked. He's learned a lot of patience being in this situation.

My sister, Donna, is queen of the dingy people and realized this morning AFTER driving 45 minutes to take the GMAT exam that she scheduled the wrong time for the exam! It was not at 7:45am as she thought, but at 11:45am! She already committed to keeping Elijah today, so she went and picked him up and my brother-in-law, Kevin, kept him and I went over there and helped him until she got home. Elijah is a really easy baby to watch - nothing like running after Mack!! Elijah reminds me of Landen when he was little. Afterwards, we went to lunch at a sandwich shop and then Kevin kept Elijah while Donna & I went to get pedicures. I came back to the hotel after lunch and there was a terrible storm. The electricity was out for 30 minutes and it was a little spooky! I was waiting for the storm to pass because Donna, Kevin, & Elijah were going to come pick me up at the hotel for dinner and Donna called to say that Elijah was very tired and crying, so I convinced them NOT to come! That wouldn't be fun for anyone!! Especially ME!! So, I ate some boiled eggs that I brought with me and some microwaved bacon, took a bath, and climbed in bed with my laptop.

Good eating today! My hotel has a breakfast buffet that was perfect for me and my crazy diet! I had 2 boiled eggs, 2 scrambled eggs, and a piece of sausage! For lunch I had a Philly cheese chicken salad and for dinner I had boiled eggs and bacon. I can't wait to get home and weigh myself Monday morning. I feel very confident that I have lost 2 or 3 lbs. since THURSDAY. I know that sounds crazy, but i've done this diet before and if you do it without cheating AT ALL, the weight just starts dropping off in those first 2 weeks.

Here is a funny video that my mom forwarded to me. It was too funny not to share!



And check this out! It is unbelievable! A large group of high school girls in Massachussetts PLANNED to all get pregnant at the same time! And 17 of them succeeded! I was a pregnant teenager and I know the fear and anxiety that goes into finding out you are pregnant at that age. I can't imagine doing it on purpose! One of them even claims to have gotten pregnant by a homeless guy! http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,369103,00.html

Well, I'm off to play Word Twist and Scrabbulous on Facebook!! Woohoo! Have a nice Saturday night!

Houston

I left for Houston this morning around 10 and had a nice, uneventful trip. It rained some and traffic was pretty heavy for most of the trip, but it was ok. I went to Walmart before I left looking for some carbless snacks and found a couple of Atkins shakes and bars that are ok and brought along some cucumber slices and ranch dip for emergencies!! I got in around 3 and checked into my hotel, then went to hang out at my sister's house. We went to dinner at a Lebanese restaurant with my great-nephew, Elijah, who just turned 1, then took him home so my sister can take the GMAT exam in the morning. We will pick him up after we both finish what we have planned in the morning. Here is a picture of him. He is so cute!!

I managed to eat good again all day today. I had scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast, a taco salad (without the shell/bowl) for lunch, and a chicken salad for dinner. So far, so good!

Extra Thursday!

I went to get my hair cut this afternoon and it really came out cute, so I had to create another post to share! There is a little hair salon across the highway from our neighborhood and i've become good friends with the lady who owns it, Rhonell. I just kind of tell her what I want and she always makes it happen! I didn't want to lose my length, but my hair is SO thick that it looks like a mop when it gets long. I want it a little lighter color and the gray to be gone. I want to be able to pull it back in a pony tail and I kinda want bangs again. She said all the young girls around here are starting to want bangs now, so I said "oh heck yeah, give me some bangs then!!!" Here is how it looks after Rhonell styles it, which is nothing like it will look after I style it!

I had an awesome lunch with my friend, Terri, downtown at Serops! I had to go eat with her to hear the latest man-aster (man/disaster - I just made that up) story of her latest date. Terri is one of the prettiest, sweetest girls I know and I am determined to find Mr. Right for her!!!! But until then, her dating stories are worth the trip downtown to hear them and today was no disapointment! Who knew there were such crazy people out there??

Day 1 on my no-carb diet has been great so far! I had scrambled eggs for breakfast, a chicken schwarma salad for lunch, and tonight I will have my delicious steak with sauteed mushrooms for dinner, along with some diet green tea and water throughout the day. I am intending to work out next week when I can and I WILL lose 5 lbs. before the cruise on the 28th!

So, I'm off to Houston in the morning and plan to go visit with my sister, Donna, and go out to dinner with her. I will see JP Saturday morning.

9 more days!!!!!

Only 9 more days until the cruise!! I am SOOOOOOOOO excited that I don't know if I can make it until then!! This is our first cruise and hopefully not our last!!! Walter & I are bringing Sean & Cameron this time and then might look for a special and go on another one alone sometime next year. I found out that I have to bring a notarized letter from Cameron's dad in order for him to disembark in Mexico (where both of our shore excursions are). Apparently, if a minor is not traveling with both natural parents, the absent parent has to write a letter giving their "ok," so Neil is getting a letter notarized for me to take with us. Here are some pictures of the different staterooms, as promised for my friend, Jan. She has sailed on the same cruise ship before and didn't remember the Balcony and Penthouse suites. When I come back, I will verify if they really exist or not!!

Above is the type of room that we got for Cameron & Sean to share - an interior stateroom.
This is the oceanview stateroom.
This is supposed to be what we reserved for Walter & me - oceanview balcony suite.
This is what most of Walter's family rented - penthouse suites.

Now, along with my excitement is also a bit of anxiety/panic! BESIDES the anxiety/panic that I already have from being scared to get off the boat in Mexico (because I might get left behind!!), is the problem that i've gained back the 5 lbs. I lost recently PLUS a couple. 9 days left and I'm going to look like a beached whale in my bathing suit. My friend, Kelly, asked me the other day how much weight i've lost and I said "oh no, it's ok, I FOUND it!!" I pondered what to do this morning and thought back to several years ago when my friend, Lesley, and I lost a lot of weight on the Atkins diet. I know that I didn't eat great on the diet (lots of bacon, pork rinds, etc.), but I lost 20 lbs. rather quickly. I looked into the South Beach diet several months ago and it says you can eat steaks but NOT ribeyes - HELLO?? Steak night is a 10 oz. ribeye and I live for steak night!!! So anyway, some of my best thoughts come to me in the bathtub and this morning I was pondering the diet while relaxing in the tub. I started thinking about how healthy it would be to eat a lot of salad instead of the fatty foods and for 9 days until the cruise, it wouldn't be hard to do at all. The hardest part about the diet to me was that Walter didn't want to do it, so cooking at home becomes an issue, but i'm going to be gone to Houston all this weekend and am meeting friends twice next week for dinner, so i'm not going to be cooking much for him until after the cruise. So there. It's done! I printed out the acceptable food list this morning and instead of my Kashi Honey Almond Flax cereal (that my friend, Kelly, says takes jaws of steel to eat), I had 2 scrambled eggs! And i'll let you know how it goes!

I am going downtown to have lunch this afternoon with my friend, Terri. Our housekeeper is coming today, so I usually try to plan some things to do out of the house so I don't get in her way and then it is awesome to come home and find it much cleaner than the way I left it!

And of course, tonight is steak night!!! Walter & Cathy don't have to go to the meeting about the fire station tonight, thank goodness!! The meeting went ok last night and nobody is really sure about what is going on with the new fire station yet. If they do build one on our street, they said that most of the calls are medical in our area and the big fire truck rarely goes out. It would be nice to have help so close by if we needed it. We will see what happens!

This has really been a busy week! I am heading to Houston tomorrow to visit JP and spend some time with my sister, and I feel like i've been running around all week long! JP likes me to visit on weekend mornings when it is quieter there, so that is what I am planning to do. The visits only last 20 minutes, so it is a lot of driving for a tiny bit of time, but seeing him is worth it. He thinks if I tell them I am from out of state that I could visit for 30 minutes, so I will ask. My hotel is about 5 minutes from my sister's house, so it works out that I have plenty of time to hang out with her too when i'm in town. Walter's brother is coming over with his tractor to help Walter do some work in the yard, so I will be going solo to Houston, which is fine! I have gotten to be a big girl and with my GPS, I can go anywhere and do anything!!!

Have a great Thursday!!

Wacky Wednesday

Walter & I got up at 4am to make the mystery cat drop at a place that is known to find homes for pets and does not put them to sleep. It was easier than I thought to get them into the carriers I bought and harder than I thought to actually leave them at the place, but we did it at about 5am. The cats have been suffering with no food and water, so anything will be better than that, plus they will get much needed medical care. Hopefully, they will find loving homes that they all deserve. The place we brought them was an hour from our house! I was feeling bad on the way home and Walter reminded me how much trouble i've gone through to do this the right way, when I could have just brought them to the animal shelter down the street that would have put them to sleep before long...and keep in mind...they aren't even our cats!!!!

Then, I had to go to the dentist to get my temporary crown fixed at 8:30 this morning. Something made a hole in the crown and my tooth was hurting a lot last night and anytime I ate anything. I could probably just suffer until my appointment to get the permanent crown, but I am not going to be dealing with a toothache on the cruise, so I went another hour to Baton Rouge and got myself fixed up!

I am going to dinner with my friend, Kelly, tonight at Albasha!! She is interviewing for one of the jobs in my office so we are going to talk about some work issues before her interview. I am dying to know who will end up getting hired. I'm sure some people other than my friends are interviewing, so I'm anxious to know! My boss told me the other day that she has a lot of good candidates and it will be hard to narrow them down to 2!

Walter has an emergency homeowners board meeting tonight with the board members and the fire chief because our new fire department that is supposed to be built on the end of our street now may be in the process of planning to build it somewhere ON our street. Yikes. That's all we need is to have fire trucks and volunteer fire fighters flying up and down the road. Our entire subdivision is 3 miles long - 1 street - and I just can't see how this would be a good idea. There is a meeting tomorrow night with the fire department and depending on how the meeting goes tonight, we may have to go, which would mean missing steak night! I am not amused!!! You can take anything you want away from me, but don't take my steak night!!!!

So anyway, it's just a quiet day around here today. I may take a nap or go for a swim, or both! I have to clean the house so the housekeeper can come tomorrow!! Walter says we should just leave her a check at the front door because I always clean up before she comes, but really, I have to get all the junk picked up around the house so that she can clean & mop, so I promise i'm leaving the hard work for her!!

Bye Bye Babies!!!

A lady and her 2 kids showed up to see the kittens last night, fell in love with them, and took them home! I am so glad that all of the kittens have good homes now, but I sure do miss them!! Now to send the outside cats off to start their new lives and then we are cat free, well, except for our own cats!! I am glad that I was able to help these kittens and hopefully will help these cats! I do plan to do some volunteer work with CAAWS when I have the time. As a social worker, I should probably be volunteering to help people, but cats just have my heart right now! Anyway, there are 4 cats in my garage having a good dinner and will spend the night in there so I can get them easily in the morning. 3 are very tame and friendly, but the 4th one hasn't been living in the yard all that long and took me 4 tries to get her into the garage!

Well, today was my last visit with Kelley before she moves to Chicago! We went to have lunch at Woman's Hospital with our former supervisor/friend, Karen, and then to visit Jan. We had a great visit and i'm glad we got to spend some more time together before moving day! I am going to miss her!! Jan is doing good with her bedrest, which i'm sure isn't easy. Her baby girls are getting bigger every day and I can't wait to meet them, when it's time!! Karen is adjusting to working at the hospital instead of Better Beginnings, but seems to be doing ok there.

Walter had some more dirt brought in today to grade the front yard and some rocks to pave some parking space on our lot across the street. His brother, Ed, is coming with his tractor this weekend to help grade the yard. Personally, I don't know anything about that and would just give the yard a B+, but apparently, you have to grade it before you can do any landscaping. I will be going to Houston to visit JP by myself, which is fine! I love to have time to myself and can just relax and follow my own time schedule. I am planning to stop in Lake Charles and have lunch with my friend, Kimi, on the way!! I haven't seen her in forever, so hopefully, that will work out.

Nothing much else is going on around here. I cooked chicken fajitas for dinner and we're going to watch The Moment of Truth in a little while. It's such a terrible show, but we just can't help watching it!!!

Monday

Today was a rainy, gloomy kind of day and I did not go floating in the pool again. I tried that last week on a similar day and it was just too cold in the water and I am surely not into being cold!! Yuck! I mostly stayed inside playing games on Facebook! I am so addicted to Word Twist!!

Cameron is usually only here a week and then with Neil a week, but Neil had something to do out of town last week, so Cameron's been here 3 weeks straight, which doesn't happen too often. I wish he was here all the time, but I can tell that he does start to miss his dad after awhile. I took him to meet Neil at our 1/2 way spot - a little grocery store in Port Vincent, around 4pm today, but only after making sure he cleaned his room and his bathroom before he left. He can really leave a mess in there! The housekeeper comes this week and I don't have her clean our bedrooms other than sweeping/mopping, so I do expect him to pick up his trash and make it possible for her to get to the floor.

Walter came home a little early today and took over cooking the chicken I picked up this afternoon. I love when that happens!! He really is a great cook, and well, I suck, so I am very happy that he is in charge of dinner tonight! He brought home some fresh corn on the cob that a co-worker gave him and I can't wait for some of that!!!

A lady is supposed to call me this evening to come see the last 2 kitties. She said that her mom wants 2 of them, so that would solve all of my problems!! I told her i'd be home after 5 and I haven't heard from her yet, so we'll see what happens. I am also planning to "drop off" the outside cats at a place I know to be a "no kill" shelter for cats this week and plan to be done with the cat epidemic! A friend of mine gave me the inside scoop on a drop off location and Walter has agreed to go with me REALLY early one morning and do it. If you know of any of our previous adventures, you know that we will wear our disguises and get the job done!! That makes me laugh just thinking about it!! It's been a long time since we've had a good undercover adventure!!
Walter & I will pick my mom and step-dad up at the New Orleans airport this evening - late!! Their flight should be in around 10:30 or 11:00, so we'll be up late tonight! Walter does so many things for me and I really appreciate him more than I can say!

Happy Father's Day!!

We had a nice, relaxing Father's Day! I took Landen home this morning after an early morning swim and he was sad to go. He should be coming back in 2 weeks for a couple of days before we leave on our cruise. Cameron & I gave Walter a couple of Father's Day cards and a Harbor Freight gift certificate, and then Walter's son, Sean, came over and we went to lunch for Father's Day at Pier 13, a restaurant on the river.

This afternoon, an older couple called and came by to see the kittens and ended up taking one of the white ones! We're down to 2 kitties now - one gray one that Kate may want and the littlest white one that I call Shadow because he follows me everywhere I go! I wont be too sad if he's the last one left. I would love to talk Walter into letting me keep him, although he's already said no. I guess I'll see if he actually reads my blog or not, because I'm sure that will provoke a comment out of him!!! I would be the crazy cat lady if left alone, so I guess I need some boundaries, but what's 1 more kitty???

This evening Cathy & I went to dinner at Albasha and to see the Sex and the City movie at Perkins Rowe while Walter went down to Cathy & Brent's house and watched the LSU game with Brent. The movie was so awesome and was worth every penny!! I hope all of you dad's had a great Father's Day!!! Have a great week!!

Saturday

We enjoyed a nice, lazy, rainy Saturday hanging out at home with Cameron & Landen. I haven't seen much of Cameron, but he does come downstairs searching for food, so I do know that he is here! Landen & I got in a little swimming time before the rain started, and he was SO proud of himself that he was able to walk on his own into the middle of the pool. Elizabeth said that he will never leave the side of a pool even when he can stand up, so she was excited to hear it to. We had to take a picture with the camera to show her (since her new lab puppy ate her cell phone) because Landen said his mom would be VERY happy!

Walter & Landen fished some this afternoon and caught a lot of fish, but most were small and they threw them back in the river. They got caught in a sudden rain storm in the middle of their fishing time, so it was cut short. Landen is spending the night again tonight and then has to go home tomorrow for a crawfish boil.

Here is a picture of our 2 cats. J.J. (aka GoGo) who is abnormally large for a cat, but is a really sweet boy. My friend, Kathy, came over once and saw him and asked me "what IS that?" I guess she thought he was some sort of panda bear or something!!

And this is Nadda (named because he's Nadda our cat) who is so scared of people, other than me, that he lives in our bedroom closet and only comes out when I'm the only one home or at night after Walter goes to sleep. Nadda sleep with me, sometimes on my pillow, and is really affectionate with me. He was completely feral (wild) living under the deck of the bad cat neighbor's house nearly 3 years ago when we were building our house and I bonded with him over many months of trying. He was about 6 months old and I couldn't leave him to whatever fate he would meet, especially considering that he is terrified of people. Most feral cats only bond with 1 person, if at all, unless you can socialize them before they are 8 weeks old. He is on anxiety medicine, which helps a little bit, and he is able lately to walk into the room with Walter or Cameron here, as long as nobody moves!!! He's Nadda our cat because I stole him without asking the neighbors and never told them what happened to him when they were looking for him! They had never been able to pet him, but at the time, they did still feed the cats outside, including his mama cat, KiKi, who disappeared to Houston with my sister!

I talked to my neighbor, Lou, this afternoon and she is doing really well, thank goodness! She was outside walking around and trying to get some exercise. Her doctor told her that the triple bypass surgery would be like having her tonsils taken out, so I asked her if that had proven to be true...ummm no! She has plenty of relatives cooking for her right now, so we promised her some gumbo next week.

We grilled steaks tonight and are just hanging out at home. We have the Jetson's movie on DVR and are planning to watch that. Landen has been creating art work all day and insisted that I take pictures, so here are a couple of them.

Enjoy your Saturday night!

FRIDAY 13th!!!!!!!

If you know me well at all, you should know that I was born on Friday 13th and that it is my GOOD luck day!! I am always excited when a Friday 13th comes along and I fully expected this to be a great day and I wasn't disappointed! My student who went to the orthodontist's grandmother called me today and he was accepted by the church to get braces! His grandmother said she had been crying since the appointment and was extremely happy. He will get his braces on June 30 and said that kids at school wont call him names anymore because of his teeth. And even more good news - the orthodontist treats his patients to an evening at Blue Bayou every year and it just so happened that tonight is the night, so my student was invited to attend! His grandmother actually said that "Friday 13th is supposed to be a bad luck day, but for us it was good luck today!" I had to share with her that I'm a Friday 13th baby! We both agreed that God was working this out for her grandson and are very thankful that he was chosen for this great gift!

Then, I brought the kittens to the vet at PetSmart for a check up and some medicine for their diarrhea. They are all fine - no worms, parasites, etc. and I got some medicine to clear up the problem in their tummies. As I was leaving, a lady asked if she could have one of them and ended up taking 2!! She seemed to really love animals and already had all of the supplies she needs at home for them. She assured me that they are going to a great home and will be loved! She took a gray one and a white one. I've also had 4 calls today from other people wanting to come see the kitties, so things are looking good!

And to top my lucky day off, Landen wanted to come spend the night, so I picked him up on my way home from PetSmart. Elizabeth wanted me to watch Mack too, but I politely declined and just visited him while I was picking Landen up! I love him, but I just don't have the energy for a 1 year old for more than a few hours, not to mention that I can't really spend any time with Landen when I'm chasing Mack all over the house. Landen was such a laid back toddler and it was always so easy to keep him anytime. We got home too late to go swimming because the sun was going down, but here is a picture of Landen anticipating our swim in the morning!

Walter is the president of our neighborhood homeowners association and had to go to court today due to a resident refusing to pay his dues! My friend, Cathy, is the secretary of the association, so she went too, along with a couple of other board members. They have placed liens on several houses after repeatedly asking the residents to pay current and back dues. This one guy says he doesn't have to pay, but i'm betting the judge will rule in the board's favor. I could see if our dues were high, but they are $40 per lot per year.

My brother-in-law, Tommy was released from the hospital today and is waiting for some test results and diagnoses regarding his dizziness that still hasn't gone away. He & his wife are having to cancel their cruise plans, so that is sad to me, but whatever is best for them is the right thing to do. I also think my neighbor came home today after her heart surgery on Monday. We will have to go by and check on them later. Leon told me he did not need us to send any gumbo over there, so we didn't, but I will check with Lou and see what she thinks!

So, i'm off to watch SpongeBob Squarepants and maybe have a glass of wine! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Steak night!!!

It's steak night!! The night of the week that gets me through all the others anticipating steak night at Hilltop! It is truly the best restaurant i've ever been to and I could eat there every night! Walter and I went by ourselves tonight due to Cathy's car trouble, but went by Cathy & Brent's later for a drink.

I had a dentist appointment this morning to get a crown and let me tell you...that was fun!! I had 2 appointments scheduled this month and I thought I was just going for a cleaning today! Surprise!! Afterwards, me & my friend, Kelley had lunch at Calender's and then visited our friend, Jan, who is now hospital bound until her twins are born. Kelley and I were both social work interns at the same hospital, so we managed to visit with several of our former supervisors while we were there. We both enjoyed interning at "Better Beginnings" which was a Medicaid clinic for pregnant women and found out recently that the clinic was shut down. It is a real shame and the effects of that decision are already affecting the hospital. Women are showing up to deliver babies and have had no prenatal care and rather than Medicaid paying for visits to the clinic and doctor, they will pay rates for the Assessment Center, which is an emergency room!

Miracles do happen! I saw this story in People magazine about Elizabeth Smart. I was so fascinated with her case and just knew she would never be found alive. I am glad she is sharing her story to help other people. She really is a miracle. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20205956,00.html?xid=rss-topheadlines

My friend, Michelle, asked about our cruise T-shirts, so here they are:

So anyway, I went to PetSmart today to pick up some kitten food and while I was there, asked the veterinarian about medicine to use for kittens with diarrhea. When kittens go from nursing to eating food, it is common, but could also be caused by parasites, so I wanted to ask about it. After talking to the vet for a few minutes, she said that she was so happy that I was helping the kittens that she would see them all 5 for free and would only charge me to do some testing on 1 of them to see if they need medicine!! Yay! Now, if I could just find a solution for the 4 cats outside. They are starving and need to be taken somewhere, but the animal shelter that would take them is a "kill shelter" and if they aren't adopted soon, they will be put to sleep. I'm determined to avoid that if possible. I did get 1 call today about the kittens, but the lady wanted a female Siamese to breed with her male Siamese. Thankfully, I don't have one of those and don't want any extra kittens being produced on purpose!!! I am hoping for more calls this weekend!