Atlanta bound!

Well, I'm all packed and ready to go on my weekend trip to Atlanta. Walter is dropping Cameron & I off with my mom & step-dad at a midway point between their house and ours at around 6am. I really do hate getting up early. Blah. But, it's for a good purpose, so i'll manage! I will have my laptop with me, so I wont be gone completely, assuming my cousin Edna has wireless internet!!

Guess what??? And no, that is NOT a guess!! Guess!!!! Ok, i'll tell you!! I used to have a '96 Mustang GT that I loved with all my heart! Seriously!! When I got the car, my ex-husband accused me of loving the car more than him, and well, look which one was still with me 6 months later!! So, anyway, my Mustang died on the interstate in 2006 and I was forced to get a new car. At the time, Walter had a small pick up truck that was rough to travel in, and I was a student without a job, so I thought I should do the right thing and get a "family car," so I got an '06 Honda CRV. It's cute and all, but it makes me feel old. And i'm really not old. So anyway, last year, Walter got a new truck that is full sized and VERY comfy to travel in, so I got to thinking to myself..."hey self....maybe you should get rid of this thing before you spend too much money on it and get a new Mustang." I like myself when I think like that!! So, it took some convincing, but I finally got Walter on board and we put my Honda up for sale. Nobody called. We put it in the News on Wheels. Nobody called. I decided maybe the time wasn't right, so i've just been driving it with my pouty face and waiting for the right time. Last week, I decided to put it back in the News on Wheels since the '09 Mustangs just came out and maybe I can get a good price on an '08. Well, tonight, somebody called!!! A guy actually came out and looked at my car, test drove it, and went home to talk to his wife about it! Yay!! I'm going to keep my fingers crossed!!!! I have my heart set on one like this:

Have a great weekend!!!

Thursday

I woke up around 3am this morning and mistakenly allowed my brain to wake up and start thinking! Do you ever do that? Once I let that happen, there is no way i'm going back to sleep. It just isn't going to happen. I got some information about our schools last night and am sworn to secrecy until we go back to work next week and our school assignments are announced. And in the blog world, anyone could find my blog, so i'll keep my little secret a secret until then, but yeah, it's a big change but also a big vote of confidence in me from the powers that be, so i'm excited. So, my mind was running through this information I couldn't sleep, so I ended up just getting out my awesome IPhone and playing games until about 5, then I finally settled down and went back to sleep.

My day got off to the best possible start (yeah, right) with an early morning dentist appointment in Baton Rouge. I miss those days when the dentist would just say, "no cavities!!!" I don't think I ever even had a cavity until I was 20. Now, I don't hear much about cavities...it's more like, let's put a crown on #18. Let's re-do this crown on #20. Wait, re-do a crown? Do we do crowns more than once? Apparently, there is some decay under the crown and they want to re-do it? Wow. Ok then!! While it would be hard to find something good about that, the crown that I already have is GOLD and I HATE it!! I have often wished that I could just ask to have a new crown, but that just seems silly, but today I asked if they would have to remake the whole crown itself and the dentist said yes, so I said PLEASE don't make it gold!!! Yay!! So anyway, I haven't scheduled that yet. I am planning to wait until January and add all of our new necessary procedures to our flexible spending account. I am also going to look into getting braces again, so I want to lump all of that expense in there together.

One of my best friends from graduate school, Jessica, had a beautiful baby boy yesterday! His name is Marcello and he is 6lbs, 13 ozs! I am so excited for her and her husband, and I can't wait to meet the baby!! With my mystery fever this week (which has been gone a few days now, thank goodness!), I will wait until after I get back from Atlanta this weekend to visit them.

I had a great time at lunch yesterday with Judith, Susan, and a friend of theirs. I had grilled trout with corn roasted grits (they were DELICIOUS) and buttered sweet potatoes. The restaurant is new to our area and I think they will do pretty good. The menu had all sorts of different foods on it - many Asian and Lebanese type dishes too.

Cameron has been talking to my mom about borrowing her electric piano that she is wanting to temporarily find a new home for. He use to take guitar lessons and enjoys music a lot, so as long as the piano fits in his room or the office, we will go get it soon. He is supposed to measure the space to make sure and hasn't done it, so it will be up to him how quick we get the piano. It's not huge - I think 56" long, so it should fit pretty easily, but I want him to be responsible and check it out rather than just go get it and have to stick it somewhere in the house that we don't want it. My step-son, Sean, once saw a FULL size piano at a Goodwill store and bought it for $50. And then didn't have anywhere to put it, so we had it in our LIVING ROOM for a year or more. We used it as a buffet table for awhile. So, yeah, we don't want anything like that to happen.

I wanted to float in my pool today, but as usual, it is raining off and on, so I will probably pass on that and just read my book and chill out until it's time to go to Hilltop for STEAK NIGHT!!!! Yay!!

Award Wednesday!!!

I am honored to announce that I was awarded the "BRILLANTE WEBLOG Award" by Hot Tub Lizzy this morning and I am truly appreciative!! I love blogging and enjoy when people enjoy reading my random thoughts, so thank you Lizzy! Now, I must bestow this great honor on at least 7 other bloggers!

Here are the rules:

1. Put the logo on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Add links to these blogs on your blog.
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

1. Lesley at Na-Na's Cozy Kitchen - Lesley is one of my real life best friends and has a great blog that you should check out!

2. Mere at The Babblings of Mere

3. Tam at Momma Song

4. Nik at Exceptional Voyage

5. Molly at I Need a Martini....Now!

6. Kat at Mama's Losin It

7. Joe at Isabella's Life of...another real life best friend (who should blog more often!!)

So, thanks again Lizzy!! That made my day!!

I'm going to lunch with my friend, Judith and her sister, Susan today. I went to graduate school with Judith and have become close friends with her sister, as well. We are going to a new place, Zea's Rotisserie & Grill, in Baton Rouge. I am totally off my diet today, so anything goes!! Ha Ha Ha!!! Really, I am trying to stay low carb, but with the Atlanta trip coming up this weekend, it's useless to try to eat my wacky diet, so I'll work on that when I come back.

I bought my niece, Daphne, the cutest stuffed Elmo for her birthday. It came in this week and I need to wrap it to bring on our trip. I knew she wanted it cause she has her own Amazon.com wish list even though she's only 1 year old! I guess she is an overachiever!! You go girl!! And no, that is not her in the picture - just the cute kid from the Amazon.com ad.

Questions & Comments:

Tam asked if the neighbor with the dog is the same as the neighbor next door with the garbage. No, he actually lives 3 houses down from us. The garbage guy lives right next door.

Kelley asked if Walter said anything to the guy about the dog. No, he didn't say anything, but as soon as the guy left he said, "I'm sorry." It was really an awkward situation and I had already made it very clear that the dog needed to get out of the house, so there wasn't too much left to say. He isn't as protective of the cats, so he may not have thought it was as big of a deal as I did, but I don't treat my babies like that.

And Kim wanted to know if the neighbor even knew why I was upset. I would have to say yes. I yelled at him to "GET THE DOG OUT" when he actually brought him in the house and walked over to him, grabbed my cat and said, "I don't think that's funny." Plus, I didn't come back. LOL

Chelle asked about the drowings on the river last weekend. It was a 25 year old man who drowned after jumping in the river to save a friend. He apparently did save his friend, but couldn't swim himself and drowned.

Tam - if I was coming to Georgia in my own car, I'd figure out a way to visit!! Maybe next trip we can meet up somewhere!!! I have a friend from graduate school who lives 10 minutes from my brother, so I'm going to have to beg for a car or a ride to visit him while i'm there!

I'm going to go enjoy a quiet, rainy morning, then off to lunch with my friends. I hope you all have a great Wednesday!!

Tuesday

Tonight is the night that our garbage goes out and I'm going to make Leon, my neighbor, sweat it out again! I never said anything to him about last week's phone call because i've avoided him all week so that I wouldn't, and really, he's a nice man and means well, but he's got to back off. The garbage truck comes around noon on Wednesday, so i'll take the garbage out around, oh, say 11:30! I crack myself up sometimes!

Walter & I finished putting the swing together tonight and we love it!!! We still need to buy a dock box to store the cushions and cover in, so we tried the swing out and then put it all away! It is really cute and comfy and we will really be able to enjoy it.

Cathy called tonight to ask me why the river was all red, so I went and looked outside, but the river here was brown, green, & murky like always! After a while she figured out that somebody (Department of Wildlife & Fisheries??) is doing a test of the water flow of the river and put dye in it. So far, it hasn't flowed down our way, but I guess it's something to look forward to!

The 2nd day of the training was interesting today and I'm glad I went. I heard the guy who was presenting the material telling my supervisor about a more in depth training that she should consider having a few key people participate in so that they could work to teach the program to others in the school system and she came and asked me if I was really interested in learning about the program! I said yes, cause I am, and I hope she is considering me to do the extra training. A lot of what the guy taught us made a lot of sense as far as teaching kids replacement behaviors, including teaching them social skills they don't have as well as finding help for them academically when they are misbehaving to prevent having to do work that they are not capable of doing. However, it's easier said than done to go to a teacher and explain that a student needs to go back and have some easier work to build up missing skills, or even to change the classroom environment to support the student's needs, but it's food for thought.

No fever yesterday or today, so I think i'm over it. I have felt a little light headed today, but that is probably because I haven't done much for the last week and then was running around yesterday & today. I plan to sleep late and relax tomorrow. I am having lunch with some friends in Baton Rouge, and then maybe i'll come home and clean the house or something. Facebook took away my Scrabulous game due to some LAWSUIT with Hasbro!! Wahhhh!!! What do they think I'm supposed to do without it? I think I had 15 games going lol.

Cameron is going with us to Atlanta this weekend, so i'm excited about that. I will pick him up sometime Thursday. Stacy and I talked about the boys' trouble again last night and are not bringing them to talk to anyone because the 3rd boy corrected the extra trouble he had caused, so the 2 boys are going to be punished at home. So far, Cameron is not allowed to go to the 3rd boys house anymore, ever, period, plus he isn't spending the night away from home AT LEAST until the end of the year, and no peer functions unless it's at the school. He obviously is going to give in to peer pressure and is not capable of making positive decisions when left alone with peers, so, he can earn the privilege to be alone with them. And he's really a good kid. Lawdy be. It's so hard to know if you're doing the right thing with them.

Have a great night!!

Cats and Dogs

I'll be honest. I really don't like dogs. There are a few that I like, all are small dogs, but I would prefer to be without them. I hate to have a dog lick or jump on me. Two years ago, I was cornered in our parking lot by a medium sized dog who would not back down or let me by (and when I found the owner to let her know, she told me I made it up...go figure), so that didn't really help. The "bad cat neighbors" have a poodle that they let run lose, chase cars, bark at me in MY yard, and that doesn't really help. And it's the most annoying bark I've ever heard. But the reason i'm bringing this up (i'm sure you knew there was a reason), is that a neighbor stopped by this evening with his dog. He's come here with the dog before, a beagle looking dog, and found it really funny to let it bark (as loud and long as it wanted) outside my window while telling it to chase the cats in the "bad cat neighbor's" yard (when they still had cats), and really rubbed me wrong. I did everything to protect those cats, and I wasn't amused. Well, anyway, he stopped by tonight with the dog and came walking through the screen porch on the BACK of the house (note to self: Hey self, LOCK the doors on the porch), while Walter & I are sitting peacefully, having dinner, and watching tv. We have been keeping the back door cracked so the cats can go in & out while we're down here and they LOVE it. So, I see him on the porch with the dog and JJ (my gigantic cat) is at the door. I very politely said, "don't let the dog in." So, he comes in, closes the dog out on the porch, and the dog starts scratching wildly ON MY BACK DOOR!! So, rather than walk back out and wait out there with the dog, he LET'S THE DOG IN! And brings it right to my cat, who is growling like crazy! I am VERY protective of my cats and I said "TAKE THE DOG OUT!!!" He said, "oh, I know the cat doesn't have front claws, it's ok!" I am SO not worried about his dog, i'm worried about MY CAT! I walked over, grabbed my freaking out cat, went upstairs, and sat in my room until he left. Jerk. Ahhhh, just had to vent about that. People, don't bring your dog in someone's house without permission, especially if they ask you not to. Some people DON'T LIKE DOGS!!!

I went to the training at work today and it was well worth my time. It turns out that it is a 2 days training, so I'm going back tomorrow. I signed up knowing it would be before I actually went back to work, but I wasn't worried about being paid or anything like that. I really just wanted to learn the information (writing Behavior Plans and Functional Behavior Assessments) because i'm on teams at my schools and need to know how to help with them, not to mention that I still get a paycheck all summer long even though I don't have to work). My supervisor told me today that I can get comp time for both days! Woohoo! I was excited to hear that, since I've been worried about using my personal days so early in the year. I haven't had fever tonight and put off calling my doctor since I can't go tomorrow anyway. If I have any fever tonight, I will call tomorrow. I also found out that my school assignments wont change much, so i'm glad to hear that. The bad news is that they provided lunch again today (well, I guess that's good, but bad for my diet), and it was sandwiches, chips, and cookies from Subway, so I ate it. I would have had to pull the meat off of 1/2 the sandwiches to get enough lunch for my low-carb diet and I didn't think that would go over too well!

I told Elizabeth to let me know if there is anything she wants for her birthday, or else I'll give her $100 when I see her, so she called today and had thought of something she wants. "Pleasure" perfume by Estee Lauder - maybe like a gift set with lotion too. She said that she'd asked her mom to get her some once, and her mom bought "Treasure" or some other random kind, so I told her i'd be sure to get "Pleasure." I love to buy her things and while I used to pout a little that she wasn't exaclty raised by "professionals" as I was told she would be, it's made me thankful that she isn't some spoiled doctor or attorney's child who might to be rich & busy to bother with me! Anyway, she was well cared for throughout her life, but has never had alot of extra things, so I enjoy making her happy. I went to Estee Lauder's website and they had a gift set with the Pleasure perfume and bath gel for $65, so I found a bottle of lotion for $40, and with free shipping and gift wrapping, it was exactly what I was looking to spend!! I had it shipped to her house and send her a text message to let her know I'd ordered some "Pasture" for her LOL! I sent another message after that and said, "oops, I meant Pleasure!" She's got my goofy sense of humor so she really got a kick out of that. I chuckled for awhile over it.

Well, that's all I've got for tonight. These mornings sure come early!! Have a good night!

Sunday

Mr. Wizard finished the pier/dock yesterday and it really came out great! He is going to stain the wood at some point, probably a grayish color, but he's still working on picking the right look for it. Here are some pictures of the completed job.




So, we went back to Home Depot today to decide about the really cool swing we saw there. It was on sale for $350 and we both really liked it. It was very comfortable, lays down into a bed (now why would I need a bed on the river?), and is made of very sturdy aluminum that shouldn't rust. We also saw some swings for $75 & $80 but they weren't nearly as nice or comfy, so we bit the bullet and got it. It is still in a box in the back of Walter's truck (hoping some nice neighbor will volunteer to help get it out!!!), but here is a picture from Home Depot's website.
There was a lot of commotion out on the river yesterday. Someone drowned about a mile down from us trying to save a friend, according to the news. There are usually some drinking related drownings that happen each summer, but I haven't heard yet if alcohol is suspected in the accident. Drinking is a hobby out here and it's for exactly that reason that I worry a lot about people and what they decide to do on boats and in the water.

I am running fever again and plan to call my doctor tomorrow and see what she thinks. I have to go to a training at work, so hopefully I can get an appointment after that. It's just such a pain to drive to Baton Rouge (40 minutes + traffic) just for her tell me to let it run its course, but then again, maybe there is something she can do.

With the month of July almost over, I am SO proud of my budgetting project! We stayed within our budget on nearly everything this month, especially eating out! We had been spending between $400 - $600 A MONTH eating out! How crazy is that? This month we've spent $200, and that is a huge change to me. We really enjoy eating out, but we need to plan better and look at what we're actually spending, and what we were spending was ridiculous.

Questions & Comments:

Chelle asked if I put Nadda (cat) on anxiety medicine. Yes, the vet suggested it when I brought him in for a checkup. I can tell a big difference on the days he takes it and on the days I forget to give it to him. When we moved to the new house, he got to where he never came out of the closet at all, for months, and the 1st day he took the medicine, that night, he just came walking downstairs and into the living room like it was nothing. He'll still do that now, but if anyone gets up or moves much at all, he takes off.

Tam commented on how much Elizabeth looks like me. I hear that from some people, but when I see us together, I really don't see it. I think our cheeks are the same, but it's hard for me to see the resemblence. Landen, however, is a carbon copy of me at his age.

Kim asked if I remember telling her daughter, Kayli, that I would have named Elizabeth "Jennifer" if I had decided to name her. I do remember that, and Jennifer was always my favorite name when I was little. A funny story about naming Elizabeth - I decided when she was born that I didn't want to name her. The adoptive parents would have a new birth certificate made and would rename her anyway, so I just didn't want to feel attached to her or give her a name, so I didn't. When you don't name a baby, the hospital will put "Baby Girl Smith" or "Baby Boy Smith" (depending on your own last name of course, and no, mine wasn't Smith - it's an example), so they put "Baby Girl Smith" as her name on her original birth certificate, and then that one is sealed away forever. Anyway, Elizabeth's boyfriend calls her "baby girl" sometimes and after hearing that a few times, it just really cracked me up and I told her the birth certificate story and how that is REALLY her name - Baby Girl! She thinks that is hilarious and loves to tell the story to people.

Happy Birthday to my Elizabeth!

Today is Elizabeth's birthday!! She is 26 years old today and I am always so very excited to be able to pick up the phone and call to tell her happy birthday!! Until I reunited with Elizabeth, my mom would send me a birthday card every year on Elizabeth's birthday, just to let me know that she'd never forget her and hope that we would be able to know her someday. I don't get the cards anymore, Elizabeth does, and I'm ok with that!!! She is such a big part of my life now and it still amazes me how things turned out and that's just one more thing that I know God has done for me. I called Elizabeth this morning & left her a message letting her know that I have some birthday money for her. She LOVES having money to spend, so unless she has something specific that she wants for her birthday, I usually give her $100 to do what she wants with.

It's kind of nice to have nothing planned for the weekend! I have put myself on the sofa for the entire day with my laptop and a book (still reading A Good Yarn), and hopefully my mystery fever will leave me forever! It's been going away during the day and then sneaking back in the evenings. I'm not feeling bad at all and I don't think I have the stomach virus, so here I am, just resting and hanging out.

Walter is working on the pier today and it looks like he is pretty much finished with it. He is so incredibly smart and talented and i'm glad I have Mr. Wizard (as we affectionately call him) as my very own. He wants to build a covered deck next that will come off of the back porch so that we can move the bbq grill out there and have some more room for entertaining.

I will be leaving on Friday (if i'm cured of the mystery fever) for a weekend in Atlanta for my niece, Daphne's, 1st birthday. I'm going to ride with my mom & step-dad, and Cameron is possibly coming too. That isn't my week with him, so he's supposed to be deciding what he wants to do. It's about an 8 hour drive from here, so it isn't too bad. We will be staying at my cousin's house on Lake Lanier, so i'm excited about that, as well as seeing my cute little niece! I have only seen her once when she was about a month old.

I do appreciate the kind comments about JP and his situation. It is an uncomfortable topic for many people to talk about, but it is my reality and it helps me to talk about it, so hearing positive comments is really helpful to me, so thank you to my commenters!

Questions & Comments:

Chelle asked if Nadda (cat) meows when he's up to his nightly antics. No. And to be honest, he lives his life in "stealth mode" and only comes out of his closet bed if I'm home alone. Lately, he is able to come downstairs when Walter is home and due to the nightly sharing of pudding, they have bonded a little, but otherwise Nadda will freak out and run (picture back claws skidding across the wood floors until he makes it through the house & up the stairs.) Have I mentioned that he is on anxiety medicine? Another interesting thing is that he has JUST started to meow at all in the last few months. Cats learn to meow when they are communicating with people, and he never learned to speak up because he was a feral (wild) cat for the first 5 months of his life. If you don't tame a kitten in the first 8 - 10 weeks of their lives, chances are that their "window is closed" for making friends with people, and in the case like Nadda, where they are still able to make friends, they typically only bond with one person. Recently, I let him go outside with me and now he's started meowing at the door to go back out. He has the FUNNIEST meow i've ever heard, and now that he has learned to do it, he is starting to meow a lot!

Friday

I don't think i've mentioned that i've had a low grade fever off and on since Monday, but nothing much really and no other symptoms. I noticed it Tuesday evening, but then realized that while I was up 3 times Monday night with foot cramps and was having chills, that I must have had fever then. So, I've been resting, taking Advil, and feeling ok until last night. I could not fall asleep for anything, and I never have a problem with that. I was freezing and got up to get an extra blanket and 2am and decided to check my temperature and it was 102. Yikes. That is unusual for me, so I took some Advil and figured I'd better call the doctor when I woke up this morning, but then I woke up at 9:30 and no fever at all! Even now at 5pm! Weird! I hope it doesn't come back and I have a sneaky suspicision that it may be a stomach virus because my tummy isn't 100% happy, but hopefully it wont be anything too bad. I was going to have dinner with some of my graduate school friends tonight, but don't want to infect anyone, so I let them know that I will be staying home. Wahhhhh!!!

Walter & I went to look at some patio furniture at Home Depot today (he bribed me with lunch, so I drug myself out of bed) and saw a few sets that we like for the porch. We also found a really cute swing for the pier, but have to make sure it isn't too big. It is covered and really comfy. We went to Brewbachers for lunch and I had a grilled shrimp cobb salad. I have done good on my diet and am only within 2 lbs. of getting back to where I was when I cheated last Saturday. We did have a great dinner last night at Hilltop, although I could tell my stomach wasn't as happy as I was about eating, so I didn't eat a lot. It was delicious though!

I've been following the story about the 2 year old little girl, Caylee Anthony, who is missing in Florida. How sad is that story? It seems pretty clear that the mom knows where Caylee is and she probably isn't going to be found alive. The mother & grandmother have mental problems and it's sickening to watch them lie and cover up important details to protect themselves when the little girl is still missing. If you haven't read the detective's statement about all the mom's lies, you should! It is scary to think that someone could lie so easily and so often.

Not too much happening here today, especially with my self-inflicted bed rest (and mandatory Scrabulous game time on Facebook!!), so Walter & I will just be hanging out at home tonight. I hope you have a restful Friday night too!!

Questions & Comments:

Kim asked me if Nadda (the cat) does his silly little antics every day. I would say that most days he has done something, but they aren't always as funny as finding my sandal in his food bowl or socks in the toilet. This morning he went into the garbage can (or maybe it was on the floor next to the garbage?) and got the wrapper to the Listerine bottle and put it in the food bowl, but that wasn't anything big. He has actually dragged my shoes all the way up the stairs to get them to the food bowl!

Lesley asked how JJ (our gigantic cat) is doing. He is great and is in love with the screened in porch! He tries to jump into REALLY high windows in the house that Nadda can easily jump into, so he's a little frustrated lately, because he's entirely too big for most of that!!!

And Lesley wantedto know how I can "not pass out" when things happen with JP. I guess it comes from going through all that I have with him over the years. His drug addiction has made his life so unpredictable and you learn to anticipate a shock with every phone call from him or anyone calling about him, or in the case of being in jail, just learning that there is absolutely nothing you can do about anything - all that makes you learn to sit and wait. And honestly, I know that he will be okay because about a month before this nightmare started, I started to pray for God to work His will with JP (instead of the things i'd been praying for - keeping him safe, making sure he had food, etc.) and in no time, JP was "plucked" out of the lifestyle that he'd gotten too deeply into to get out and was put in jail where he is safe, has food, has a bed, has electricity, and I can see, talk, and write to him. I honestly believe if this hadn't happened, he would have been found dead by now. He refused to go back to treatment or do anything to change his lifestyle, so I had pretty much let go of him. He's been in jail for 17 months and is doing better than he's done in 10 years. He's drug free, mentally stable, and is learning serious lessons in life. There is really nothing I can do but offer emotional support and commissary money for snacks and writing supplies (he made a budget of $20/week, so I am fine with sending that - most inmates get nothing), and I can offer support if/when he gets out, IF he is willing to get help with his drug addiction, which he currently says he is. Currently, the DA's lowest offer for a plea deal for JP is 40 years! I am choosing God's plan because I know that he did not save JP from himself just to have him spend the rest of his life (and mine) in jail. So, I worry some, try not to think about it some, pray about it often, and wait and write! I will email you his address again and he did ask me the other day to see if other people would write to him, so if you're intersted, just give me your email address.

Steak night!!

Yes, for real this time!! Hilltop is open tonight and we will be there!!! I have been missing my steak and mushrooms! I grilled some steaks last night (usually I get Walter to do that) and they just really weren't that good, so I'm really looking forward to tonight!

I had a realization this morning about Leon (the neighbor) calling about taking the garbage out. My best thoughts come to me during my long soaks in the bathtub, and this morning it hit me! When I did go to take the garbage out (and I made Leon sweat it out - he called at 8am & I intentionally didn't take it out until 10am!!) this was our conversation:

Leon: "girl, you better get that garbage out!"

Me: "yeah, I got it."

Leon: "I know you & Walt (somehow EVERYONE in the neighborhood calls him WALT) got those 3 cans to put out."

Me: "uh huh."

Leon: "Did I wake you up when I called?"
Me: "yeah, you did."
Leon: "Oh, well I didn't even know if you were home or not." (that's cause I hide the car in the garage so he DOESN'T know)
Me: "uh huh."
Leon: "Is your boy still here?" (he has a name and we call him CAMERON)
Me: "yeah, he's leaving with his dad in a little while though." (have to tell him if something is happening or he'll come investigate when Neil drives up.)
Leon: "He came over to get my key because you locked him out of the house yesterday."
Me: "Actually, Walter locked him out, but thanks for letting him in."

So, then i'm thinking about it this morning because I know that I need to say something to Leon, but in a nice way because he is a nice man who really means well. And it hit me. He didn't know (or think) I was home. He was calling CAMERON to tell him to take the garbage out!!!!!! If that is the case, I will tell the man that he better NEVER think he is going to mind my business and tell my son what to do. It's one thing to aggravate me, but he has no place and is WAY beyond his boundaries if he is going to even think about telling my son to do something. Cameron does take the garbage out when he's here, so I guess that got him thinking that he was slacking on his duties. We'll have to have a little talk pretty soon! Yikes!

So anyway, I went to Walmart this morning and picked up a few things. My diet is really easy for me to stick to if I have those things I can eat handy - like the pre-cooked bacon, which I was out of. I also like to have veggies handy to snack on, so I got some of those too. I decided to allow myself my beloved glass of wine at night after doing some google searching about it. Atkins says not to drink any alcohol, but wine does not have carbs in it. It seems that the concern is about causing cravings for sweets due to insulin levels fluctuating after drinking alcohol, but I can resist the junk food and want to give it a try. I still can't force myself to go to the health club that we ARE PAYING FOR, but i'm working on it. It's so easy to go once you're going regularly, but once you stop, man it's hard to go back!

Cathy & I booked our flights to New York yesterday!!! It was a bit more than I thought due to taxes and fees, plus we are going Friday and they are going Thursday, and their flight is a little bit less. I get 10 days off per year (plus I have 5 that I have rolled over from last year), but only 2 can be used for personal days, and I don't want to use my only 2 personal days all at once like that. Plus, if JP's trial should really happen in December, I will need 5 (maybe more) days off to attend that. And that may seem odd to only get 2 personal days, but I only work 182 days a year (have 183 off), get off work at 2:30, and don't work in the summer, so I have plenty of time to do personal things without missing work. But anyway, the tickets for Walter & I together were $800, but we don't have to pay for a place to stay, rental car, food or anything while we're there.

Speaking of JP, he called last week and while we were talking, the phone cut off. It is very expensive to call ($5 for the first minute, then $1 a minute after that for a total of 20 minutes, then the phone will disconnect.) He had only been talking several minutes, then the phone cut off. He didn't call back and I figured it was because of the cost to call back and we'd talked about the main thing he'd called about. Then I noticed on the jail's website the next day that he'd been moved to a different "tank." Then the worrying started! They move the inmates around a good bit, but with the phone cutting off and him not calling back and then being moved, it worried me. He's had seizures before and in a different building (there are about 5 jail buildings on a block in downtown Houston) I know that the 7th floor is a medical floor, but wasn't sure about his building, where he's been moved to the 7th floor. So, I called and finally got someone to help me and they made some calls and determined that in his building, the 7th floor is not a medical floor. So then i'm worried that someone hung the phone up and he got in a fight or something. My only option is to wait it out, which is very hard when your child is in a system like this. If I were in Houston, I would be able to go there and check on him, but I'm not, and my sister & her kids aren't really interested in visiting (of course, 1 of her kids is actually IN the jail now too), so I wait it out, which I've learned to do fairly well. I did send a letter letting him know that I noticed he was moved and asked him to call when he can. Well, yesterday I got a letter from him letting me know that he was moved and it was because someone hung the phone up while he was talking and that he said something but handled it the right way, did not get written up or in trouble, and the guards thought it was best to move him to prevent any other problems. Wow. It's nice to hear that he did the right thing AND that the guards actually knew about it, cared about preventing a problem, and did something about it. They don't normally really give a darn about anyone and they don't see the inmates as people, and they are. People have died on the floor while inmates have pleaded with guards to check on someone who is sick or having seizures or something. All of the inmates are someone's kids, parents, sisters, brothers, friends, etc. and although people make bad choices, not all inmates are bad people. JP said he is happy where he is now and feels that he can stay out of trouble through the time waiting until the trial date in December.

On a lighter note, some people enjoyed hearing the stories about my funny cat, Nadda, who is named that because he's "Nadda our cat" after I stole him from the "bad cat neighbors" a couple of years ago. He is terrified of people, except me, but is probably the sweetest cat I've ever seen. He snuggles on my pillow with me at night, but only after Walter is asleep! Nadda actually waits for us to turn the light out before he will get on the bed. He will let Walter pet him if he feeds him pudding, but that's another story (this was taken with my new IPhone that I haven't quite mastered yet):

Anyway, I showed a picture the other day of Nadda's latest antic, which was taking Walter's shoe and putting it in the cat toy box. Nadda always takes my things and leaves them in his food bowl, water bowl, and sometimes the toilet. Well, this morning, he picked up a pair of Walter's socks and took them into the bathroom and dropped them in the toilet!! He really cracks me up. His ultimate plan is to fish them out of there, but I put a stop to that game!!

I learned how to create the super cool links to my previous posts from Mama Kat and I'm so amused by it! I can usually figure these things out on my own, but could not figure out the links for anything!!! Thank you Mama Kat!! I plan to use these way more than people probably would like!!!!!

I am going to go sit on my awesome screened porch and enjoy the rain!! Have a great Thursday!!

Oh yeah...

I forgot to mention in my post this morning that I was awoken to the phone ringing. It was my neighbor, Leon (the neighbor on the good side) who is way too involved in our lives. He & his wife are an older couple, just wonderful people, who would do anything for us. They have a large family, but never had kids, so I kind of get the feeling that we seem to them like the kids they never had. And that's great, as long as they (he) can stay out of my personal life and just be neighborly - bringing each other food or keeping up with each other's houses when we go on vacation, sitting outside and having a chat in the evenings, that sort of thing. Walter is not at all bothered by Leon's over-involvement in our lives. And when I say over-involvement, I mean things like telling all the delivery people who come to leave things at my house to leave it at his (even when i'm home), cutting my grass if he doesn't like the way Cameron cut it, hollering out the door to me if I go to check the mail and the carrier hasn't come yet (SHE AINT COME YET!!!), going into my mailbox and getting my mail some days, then bringing it to my door, searching in all of my windows for me if I don't answer the door when he knocks, coming over to tell me every car that came to my house while I was gone and why they were there (yes - he will ask - example: Leon: "your ex-husband don't like me too much," me: "how does he know you?" Leon, "well I said something today when he dropped your boy off.") and just this sort of daily intrusive type of thing. I park in the garage so he doesn't know if i'm home or not. I am just a private person when i'm home and I like to be left alone. I don't need extra parents (have some already, thank you) and I'm not looking to adopt any grandparents. We even have to go over there to tell them if something is going to happen, like if a housekeeper or repairman will be coming here, because he will come over here and say something to them. So anyway, this morning while I was sound asleep, he called at 8:00am to tell me that I forgot to take my garbage out. :::::::BLINK BLINK BLINK:::::::: Seriously??? And he doesn't even use the same garbage service we use, so his garbage comes a different day. And I was up late with Stacy & Bryce here, so I was planning to take it out today since it doesn't come until NOON. And if we missed it, so what really??? And when I did take it out, he came out and said, "girl you better get that garbage out!!" Oh man! I may have reached my limit!!!

Wednesday

The 2 days of training for work has really put a dent in my blogging time!!! The training was ok, but most of it didn't apply to what I do, but I do like to know what's going on around the schools and to be involved with different programs when I can be. Our school system is extremely involved with PBS (Positive Behavior Support) and is trying to get it working right in all of our schools. The idea is to encourage the positive behavior rather than focus on punishing the negative behavior, which with 85% of kids will lead to using positive behavior. Of course, I work with the other 15%. I still don't have to go back to work until August 6, but signed up for one other day of training next week.

I got my IPhone yesterday!! It took a week for it to come in, which isn't bad. I ordered the 16GB white phone and most people ordered the 8GB black phone and theirs are way more backordered than mine. I am still figuring out what all it can do, but it is very cool. My biggest project so far is figuring how to put ringtones on it. Apparently you have to buy a song (or use one you've already bought) and then make a short ringtone out of it and BUY the shorter version! Crazy! I only want a couple, so it's no big deal, but when I tried it, it didn't work! So, that will keep me busy today.

We were up late last night dealing with the issue with our boys again. Stacy & Bryce came over and we talked with them for awhile. The 3rd boy did something beyond what Cameron & Bryce did and it could cause some trouble down the road, so we are going next week to be "proactive" and have the boys admit what they did. I hope that the person we are talking to will appreciate the boys' honesty and help this be a teaching experience, but we aren't sure what will happen. I do think this is the right thing to do, so it's what we are doing. I called the other boy's parents yesterday and he is welcome to come with us, but if he doesn't, I let them know that we will be naming names.

Walter & I went to Cathy & Brent's for dinner last night. She cooked spaghetti and it was really good! I didn't go back on my diet until today, so I ate spaghetti AND had ice cream for dessert! Yum!! I have gained back 4 lbs. since I messed up my diet on Saturday, so i'm back on it today and trying to figure out how to add back carbs without going crazy.

Questions & Comments:
Lesley asked when we are going to New York. We are leaving on Friday, August 29th & coming back on Monday, September 1. Cameron will not be going with us. As far as my brother-in-law's bay house, it probably holds A LOT of people!! It is huge! It is built off the ground, so it is only one story, but underneath the house is set up with tables & chairs everywhere to hold lots of people. He even put an elevator in the house!

I hope you all have a great day!

Manic Monday

Walter & I had a blast on the boat yesterday with his friends & their son. We spent several hours on the river, Jim & his son went tubing behind the boat a couple of times, and went to eat at Swamp Water's Restaurant on the river. After we got home, Cathy & Brent stopped by and we all had some ICE CREAM because I totally blew my diet Saturday at my brother-in-laws house, so I bought some Bluebell CANDY JAR ice cream and we all pigged out, and now i'm back on my diet! It sure was good! Here is a picture of Jim & his son tubing:

I had to go to an all day training at work today and got home around 3pm. I discovered 2 incidents of trouble with Cameron (14) while at his friend's house and had to deal with that when I got home today since Cameron is back from his dad's. One of the incidents was DRINKING on July 4th when he spent the night with friends, and the other, I can't say what it is because of the "eyes that can see" in the blogging world, but it was something that could get the 3 boys in big trouble. I spent the afternoon talking with his dad, someone in the community who could give me some idea of what to do, and with Walter. I have instructed Cameron to have the other 2 boys' moms call me (they should tell their mom first if they are smart) and we'll see what to do. We are thinking some community service work JUST for starters! Cameron is a GREAT kid and has never gotten in trouble for anything, so I think it's his friend's older brother & friends that are causing a negative influence PLUS just being a teenager and making decisions on his own and under the influence of peer pressure. I have permanently banned him from that kids house, where there seems to be no supervision and Cameron's dad actually agreed to do the same, so that is do-able for me. I think my blood pressure is way up tonight!

I found out at our training today that our school assignments haven't been decided yet! I really just want to know!!!! I really don't mind what schools I'm at, but I am ready to get ready in my brain to get started!! I have to go to the 2nd day of the training tomorrow and then i'm free for a few more days!!

My brain is exhausted today, so I am logging off the computer! I didn't even get a NAP during the meeting and i've gotten used to napping! LOL

Sunday

Walter & I had a nice time at my brother-in-law's house. It is so nice to be able to get together in Waveland again. Hurricane Katrina completely destroyed 6 of our houses and camps there and did some serious damage to a 7th house. It wasn't flood damage like the houses in New Orleans, but these houses were completely washed away, leaving nothing but a slab. So, 3 years later, 1/2 of them are rebuilt and better than before. Here is a picture of Ed's "bay house." He has a house in Baton Rouge, so this is one of their vacation homes.

This last picture is of my brother-in-law and sister-in-law who didn't get to go on the cruise with us. They are nearly finished rebuilding their home in Waveland and are going to sell their house in Baton Rouge and move to Waveland. They were looking forward to shopping in Mexico for bright colored accessories for their house, so since they couldn't go, we all surprised them and each picked up something for them while we were there! They were very surprised and happy!

Tam requested a tour of the screen porch and ideas for furniture, so I took some pictures. Walter liked the idea of a rug, so we may end up doing that. The wall straight ahead is going to be covered with something "rustic" looking he says, so that will be better looking once it's done.

We are going to put a small outdoor sofa set with a table against the wall and possible a couple of matching chairs with it, depending on how much room is there. Then we want a couple of rocking chairs under the windows.

We will eventually move the bbq grill out to the covered deck, when we build one, but for now it will sit where it is. The long area at the end is good for putting ice chests and things when we have people over. We hosted Walter's family Christmas this year and probably had 60+ people at our house, so it's nice to be able to throw some of them outside with drinks!

Rocking chairs will likely go here under the windows.

Well, the Labor Day trip to New York with Cathy & Brent is on!!! They found out yesterday that the beach house is available, so then Walter & I really had to do some thinking about it. We have spend WAY too much money this summer between the cruise, the porch, the pier, dental surgerys, etc., but all we will have to pay is our airfare ($500 for both) and everything else is paid for. We will get to go to Niagra Falls, into Canada if we want, stay in a house on the beach in Long Island free and everything they do there is paid for by the company. Walter has been to Niagra Falls a couple of times, but I have NEVER been anywhere like that, so we decided to go! We would spend $500 or more just going to Pensacola for a weekend, so this is definitely a deal that is hard to pass up. And really, this is the first year we've EVER taken a vacation anywhere other than Pensacola, Houston, or Waveland, so we deserve it and we're going!!! Yay!!!

Walter's friend from high school and his wife & son are coming over this afternoon and we're taking them out on the boat. I've never met them before other than a brief meeting in Home Depot years ago, so I'm excited to meet them. We will probably go to dinner somewhere on the river, which is always fun.

Have a fun Sunday!

It's beautiful!!!

The porch is now screened in and came out beautifully!! We don't have the handles for the doors yet, but they will be installed Monday morning. The next project is a covered deck that will be built directly in front of the porch and we'll put our barbeque grill out there.

I also forgot to mention my diet, I guess because it's sort of become a routine for me. I haven't lost anymore weight, but 9 lbs. in 2 weeks is pretty good! I only want to lose 4 more, so it's time to start adding back carbs (good ones) and working on maintaining the weight. I haven't missed bread, rice, potatoes, or sweets at all, so I plan to try to limit those things.

I hope you have a great Saturday! We are going to have some lunch and head to Mississippi for the day!

Saturday

Walter & Allen got a lot done on the screened in porch yesterday! I am hoping they will be able to get it finished today. We have to leave around 1 or 2 to go to my brother-in-law's house in Pass Christian, Mississippi (near Waveland), for a barbeque. Here are some pictures of the porch:

The left side of the picture is mostly finished until the panel before the doors.


The wall at the end is to block the "bad cat" neighbors from looking into our house and to block the noise of their VERY loud, malfunctioning, 3 air conditioner units. Walter is going to put panel that matches the house on the inside of the wall. I am going to love the privacy it will give us, especially when we sit on the porch!

I also had to put a picture of what my scardy cat, Nadda (we stole him from the "bad cat neighbors so he's NADDA our cat), did the other day. He is the cat who lives in my closet the majority of the time that anyone is home but me because he is so terrified of people. He is always taking my things (shoes, pony tail holders) and puts them in his food bowl! Nearly every morning when I get up, I find something that he left me as an offering of some sort and it really cracks me up. Sometimes it is a favorite cat toy in the food bowl and SOMETIMES in the water bowl. Well, this week for the first time in the 2 years we've had him, Nadda took something of Walter's and put it in the cat toy basket for us to find! He and Walter have been trying to bond and I really think this means something!!

Tam requested more pictures of the inside of the house. Again, these were taken when we FIRST moved in and things were not cluttered and messy yet!!

Breakfast room (but there's no lunch & dinner room!)

Master bedroom

Cameron's room

1/2 bath downstairs

I'm not sure why I don't have any pictures of the guest room. I'll have to work on that! The office is still a big junk room, so no pictures of that for awhile!! Walter & I did pretty much everything but frame the house, paint the outside, and hang the sheetrock. Seriously. It took us 15 months to complete the house, but it was really worth it!