Tuesday

Day 2 of my diet went well! I am going to dinner at Kona Grill with some friends from graduate school tonight and I hope I can stick to my low-carb eating. I have never been there but from looking at the menu, there isn't a lot for me to choose from unless I want a very expensive steak, so we shall see! Even the salads didn't look like great low-carb choices.

I had a day full of meetings today - 4 IEP meetings scheduled throughout the day. Only 2 of the parents actually showed up, so I wasted a lot of time!! I know things come up and people forget, but good lawd that causes me a lot of unnecessary problems later!! I didn't get to see any of my students today, but should have time to get to a lot of them tomorrow. I have 2 Why Try groups to do tomorrow and got tired of waiting for permission slips to come back, so I called some parents today! It's not always easy to get phone numbers and some of the kids don't have phones, but I got in touch with most of them. The principal is going to do "home visits" if I need her to so that we can get the kids in the program! I really love the support I get from the teachers and administration at that school!

Somehow, I really have nothing to say, so that's it for now!!! Have a great night!

My blogging personality...

Your Blogging Type is Kind and Harmonious

You're an approachable blogger who tends to have many online friends. People new to your blogging circle know they can count on you for support. You tend to mediate fighting and drama. You set a cooperative tone. You have a great eye for design - and your blog tends to be the best looking on the block!

What's Your Blogging Personality?

And it's all true!!! Especially the part about having the best looking blog on the block!! That is thanks to Anissa at Beelicious Blog Design!!

Back to the old drawing board with the diet today! Walter & I both got back on the wagon this morning & have been good low-carb dieters all day. This was after a trip to the Chinese Buffet for lunch yesterday, then dinner with Sean & his girlfriend at Walk-Ons, a restaurant near LSU. We have really tried to cut back on how much we eat out and have been doing good, but this weekend was an exception! Today, I had a low-carb Slim Fast for breakfast and lunch! It's crazy because I just don't get hungry after drinking them and i'm home by 3 for a healthy snack. I came home and had cucumbers and ranch dressing, then it was taco night for dinner. I had 2 low-carb wraps with ground beef, cheese, & sour cream, which were ok, nothing great!! I am determined not to cheat for a week and see the results.

Cameron finished the last of his driver's ed today, so if all goes as planned, we will take him Friday to get his learner's permit. He is in a pretty good mood today, so that is a plus. He even did his hour of homework without complaining, the ate dinner with us without being asked, so all good things, and yes, I told him so.

Sunday morning

How 'bout them Tigers??? They played an awesome game last night and I am so proud of them!! Walter & I stayed went to dinner & ran some errands, and then came home to watch the game. Walter & I are making the most of this "starting the diet over on Monday" thing. We went to Chili's last night on our way to Home Depot and had dinner. I love their triple combo appetizer as a meal! I always get the spinach & artichoke dip, southwest eggrolls, and boneless buffalo wings. Yum!!

And then tonight, Sean says that he wants to go to dinner for his birthday, so I am going to assume that he is really going to call and we will really have dinner with him for his birthday tonight. He also wants to pick up the pinball machine we have in our storage unit, which will be great, because we can finish clearing the storage room out and stop paying for it. When we moved out here, we actually had 2 storage units full of things we didn't have room for in our house (or just didn't want to store in the attic), and we're down to one now, but I'd like to get rid of them altogether.

I did go in the pool today and clean out the leaves that were stuck at the bottom and on the sides of the pool. The pool looks a lot better now and I think it will be clear and pretty before long. It was chilly in the water today, but not all that bad! I didn't stay in longer than necessary though!

I've spent a lot of time cleaning the house this weekend, which is good for me because I hate doing it, but don't want to hire another housekeeper, so I did good! Walter & I also washed my car and it is looking all pretty!! We took it to dinner last night with the top down! It is so much fun to drive!!

Here is a cute picture of our cat, JJ (aka GoGo) on the kitchen window sill. He really cracks me up!! He's so big that he takes up half the window!!

Nothing much else happening here, so that's all I have!! I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

Saturday

So, you love my new blog layout too, huh? I am totally in love with it! It was designed by Anissa at Beelicious Blog Designs and this is your lucky day because Anissa is celebrating her 100th post by giving away a free blog design!!! Go there now and enter!!! Really!!

I got my package in the mail yesterday from my swap partner, Marla, at Pak Adventures, and it was like my birthday all over again! I love getting mail and this just made my day! Inside the package were lots and lots of Marla's favorite things!! She sent a great cooler, some wonderful hand lotion, chocolate covered cherries, tons of pens and highlighters, a children's and an adult's music cd, a Cranium family game (I LOVE the Cranium games too!!!), and a Legally Blonde cd! Thank you so much Marla!!! Oh, and I forgot to mention that GoGo LOVED the cat bed too!!!




And if that wasn't enough excitement, the package came in from the contest I won from Christine at Mommy Madness last week!!! I can not wait to show the webkin to Landen!!! He is going to be so excited!! I have already packaged up the "love your planet" bag to mail to my niece, Daphne! I can picture her carrying her & Elmo's toys around in the house while promoting her environment!!! I have asked my brother to send a picture when Daphne uses her bag!! I am keeping the book to use when some of my little friends come over to visit. Thank you so much Christine!!

Walter & I have been really bad dieters and we vow to start over Monday and do better. Atkins is a great diet (for us anyway), but you just can't cheat or it wont work. We both did good for several days, then cheated, then did good for several days, then cheated. We lost 5 lbs. each, but have gained them back, so that isn't going to work! We enjoyed some diet freedom and went out to eat Mexican food last night and it was soooo good! We are going to take Walter's truck to get an oil change later today and hit the Chinese buffet while we're out. That should be the end of our splurging and we will get back on track with our diets.

I had a nice day at work yesterday and the day went by really fast. That's my kind of day!! There was a "behavior bash" at one of my schools yesterday afternoon for the kids with no office referrals to go celebrate their behavior, which meant every class was about 15 minutes earlier than normal to make time for the party at the end of the day. I had to break my neck almost to get to the school for a 7:55 Why Try group with my co-worker. The group is usually at 8:10 which gives us time to go by our office first, then make the 30 minute drive to my school, but we made it in time. I had to miss the 2nd group again yesterday due to a meeting at another school, but my co-worker said it went ok. We are changing that group to Wednesdays because we found out that we are keeping those kids from playing Battle Ball in PE, which is only played on Fridays. My supervisor asked me to attend an IEP meeting with my friend/co-worker, because of a difficult case she has, but we got to the meeting to find out that it had been cancelled, but we were able to take care of some other issues she had at the school. Then we had a meeting in my office with my co-workers, my supervisor, and my boss that went ok. I didn't end up getting to see any of my students, except the ones in my Why Try group, although that does count towards the time I see them in a week.

LSU plays tonight, so we will be cheering them on!! They are playing Mississippi State at Tiger Stadium. Walter may go watch the game at a neighbor's house, but I only 1/2 watch the game and would rather be home doing other things while the game is on. I am not a sports fan at all, and LSU sports are the only sports I will watch.

I have been cleaning the house this morning & trying to get things picked up around here. I've also been trying to get the leaves out of the pool, but have pretty much decided that i'll have to get in it tomorrow to really be able to get it cleaned. It's still nice enough outside to enjoy the pool, so that is probably what i'll do! I also want to wash my car, so it looks like tomorrow will be all about playing in the water!

TGIF!!

It's finally Friday!! It's been a long week and I am ready for a weekend break! We don't have anything planned really. I would like to have Landen come spend the night, but haven't talked to Elizabeth yet. I broke down and called her boyfriends phone last night and left a message incase her phone isn't working again. Walter's son, Sean, may want to go out to eat for his birthday, so maybe we'll do that if he calls. Otherwise, I'll do as little house cleaning as I can get away with and then relax! I hoped my 2 new books would be in by now, but I got a notice that my money was refunded from Half.com with no explanation, so I reordered them from a different seller, but wont have them for this weekend.

Cameron finished all but 1 hour of his driving for driver's ed. He has to go again Monday for an hour, then he's done. I told him I will take him to get his permit if his attitude seems mature enough this week to seem like someone who should have the responsibility of driving a car! When JP was this age, I did not allow him to get his permit or license until he was 17 because he was so irresponsible and we knew he was doing drugs. Cameron is a totally different child and we do think he's ready to drive with a permit, but he better act right too. The first day Cameron drove, his coach picked him up and Cameron enjoyed the driving lesson a lot. The second day, the coach's wife showed up to get him and Cameron came home unamused. He said, "she just had to comment about everything I did, where Coach only said something if I did it wrong. It was like having you in the car with me!" Yeah, yeah. That's why I didn't offer to teach him to drive!

My brother, Kenny, sent some new pictures of my niece, Daphne last night. She is 1 and is such a cute little girl. In the first picture, she definitely has the "Dawn attitude" look. I told him to expect eye rolling next! And yes, she's still in love with the giant Elmo I gave her for her birthday. Elmo goes everywhere she goes. My brother is 6'5" and I think Daphne is going to be a tall girl. She is in the 99% percentile for her height!

Work was great yesterday! I got to sit in on one of the groups on cultural diversity that was done with our 3rd graders by the professor from William & Mary College. He is the same person who is doing workshops with us in the evenings this week, and I went to a 2nd one last night. After the workshop, my supervisor told me that the professor told her that he thinks I should coordinate monthly parent activities at the elementary school to help get the parents involved with their kids at school and he told her that he thinks I seem organized, sensitive, and that I would be respectful. Go me! And yes, I probably will try to do that if they give me some better idea of what they are talking about.

So, I was late to steak night because of the workshop, but I just met Walter, Cathy, & Brent there and had them just order for me and got there right on time!! As usual, it was delicious! We had our favorite waitress and her co-workers sing Happy Birthday to Walter and he loved that (not!!) and he got a complimentary piece of cake that I gladly ate due to the status of my diet going down the drain again this morning!! I need to work on that!! Walter was also worried about going to work yesterday because he has done that whole decorating people's desks in black thing on their 50th birthdays and once even photoshopped pictures of someone on an old man's body. I told him to think about the 10 years that he's known me and to think if he's EVER seen me do that with any friends or family and he said no. I said, "that's because when MY time comes around, I don't want anyone to do that to me!" He was lucky that they did not do anything crazy (he said he thinks they forgot what he's done in the past) and just got him a cake!

I've had SO many compliments on my new layout!! Be sure to check out Anissa at Beelicious Blog Designs when you have a chance! She rocks my blog world!!!!

Well, time for work! Have a great Friday!!

Blog Heaven!!

Y'all!! Look how awesome my new blog layout is!!! I volunteered to be a "guinea bee" for Anissa at Beelicious Blog Designs and who knew I would end up with such a great layout!! I think you should go right on over there and check out her website if you haven't been by there yet. I am totally in love with my new page!!

Cameron is driving again as I type with his driver's ed. instructor. He will drive again for 3 hours today and i'm hoping he does as good today as he did Monday. He brought home results for a reading screening that he was given at school and he scored on a post-high school level, which is great for a 10th grader who really should be in 9th grade. He made the cut off to start school by a few days, so he started Kindergarten at 4 years old and sometimes struggles a little bit because of it. We got really tickled reading the results because Cameron does not do ANYTHING extra as far as reading or studying. I read a few of the computerized comments to him:

• These scores indicate that Cameron Jean (for some reason it calls him by his first and middle names as if he's in trouble - and the Jean is French and is pronounced closer to John) likely reads for pleasure, information, and academic purposes (ok, if you say so!)
• Cameron Jean likely previews chapters before reading and takes notes while studying (cough, cough, cough...he doesn't read the chapter at ALL and trust me he isn't studying, much less taking notes!)
• At this level, Cameron Jean needs to continue to read nonfiction materials, classic literature, and the daily news (bahahahahahaha...is World of Warcraft considered nonfiction??)

Anyway, I was proud of his reading abilities and hope that will encourage him to maybe, oh I don't know, open a book?

I was a very good dieter today, not really by choice, but I was. I had a low-carb Slim Fast for breakfast AND lunch!! I brought one to work just incase I couldn't slip away to eat, and then I couldn't slip away to eat!! It worked out fine though because I really wasn't hungry and just had a snack when I got home. The guy who did our workshop yesterday was at one of my schools all day today starting some programs with some of our kids, so my supervisor, my boss, and pretty much everyone from the school board was in and out of the school throughout the day and I didn't want to leave incase anyone was looking for me. I met with several of my kids and caught up on some paperwork and got some meetings scheduled, so it was a productive day.

I'm going to go rest my brain now!! Have a good evening!!

I could get used to this!!

Yes, that's right!! More awards!! I could get used to this people!! Watch out!!

Patti at Nonna's News gave me this award today! Isn't it cute?? Thank you Patti!!!

Here are the rules...

Mention the blog that gave it to you and comment on their blog to let them know you've posted your award.
Publish these rules
Share 6 values that are important to you and 6 things you do not support:

6 things I value:
1. My relationship with God
2. My family
3. My friends
4. My education
5. My job
6. My desire to help others

6 things I do not support:
1. Barack Obama
2. Drug use
3. Pitt bulls
4. Dead beat dads (or moms)
5. Teachers who forget why they chose to be teachers
6. Euthanizing animals that are not terminally ill

6 people I'd like to pass this award to:
1. Breanne at Expectantly Waiting
2. Karen at Surrounded by Sea Monkeys
3. Kelley at My Life With My Love
4. Chelle at Chelle's Writings
5. Leslie at Got Kids, Need Valium
6. Virginia at Maboozle

Tulsi at The Family Awaits gave me this award today!! Thank you Tulsi!!!

The creator of this award said that "since everyone is being warm and fuzzy with the passing of awards lately, I've decided to come up with my own. It will be called the "NYX" award after my cat."

The rules will be simple:
Pay it forward to at least one blogger you think needs a bit of cheering up, or a mean ass little kitty to stare down unwanted people, objects, moods, lingering doubts, etc. If you don't know anyone needing a Nyx fix at the moment, keep her in reserve.

Link back to the blog who gave it to you.
Link back to me if you want. This part is completely optional. I'm not in this for fame and fortune. This is about putting a smile on a fellow bloggers face.
Pretend to like cat's if your a dog person.

I am going to give this "pick me up" award to Kimmy at MBKimmy's Krazy Thoughts because she has a new baby plus a toddler, and they are ALL sick and have been off and on for a few weeks!! And well, she just needs something to make her smile, so I hope this does it!!

AND, if that wasn't enough, I get to be a "Guinea Bee" for Anissa the Queen Bee for a new blog design!! I am really excited to spice up my boring blog layout!!!

Ok, so, what else? I had another long day today. I went to a workshop after work today until 6pm about cultural diversity and disproportionality today. I'm glad I went, but I'm tired! I had an IEP meeting (it's a special ed. thing) at 9am this morning, and the parent who came showed up with sandwiches, chips, brownies, cake, and soft drinks. And yes, they put the brownies in front of me and I had to look at them for 2 hours while the meeting went on. And yes, I totally blew my diet and ate 2 brownies, a sandwich, and a bag of chips. And no, most parents do not bring food to the meetings, but this one always does. How cool is that? And since I blew my diet, my co-worker/friend, Courtney & I went to eat at the Chinese buffet before the workshop. I will do better tomorrow!!! But it was worth it!

Cameron's dad picked him up today for his week with him, but he'll be back tomorrow after school so that he can do his driving for drivers ed. again. I should be able to get to see him for a few minutes before his dad picks him up. I'm still waiting to hear if Landen is free (he has a busy social life) this weekend to come spend the night. I miss him!!

Go Me! Go Me!

Woohoo!! I am celebrating over here!! I got an award and won a contest today!!

I received this award from Ronda at Ronda's Rants and I am so honored!! I have eyed this little beauty on other blogs and have never received it myself!! Now she's mine!!! All mine!!! Thank you so much Ronda!!! I am going to nominate 5 people for it who have award winning blogs!!!

1. Dawn at Dawn's Diversions - Dawn and I have a lot in common (just start with our names and you'll see what I mean) and I learned about the PRIZE I just won from her blog, so her blog deserves my latest award too!!

2. Renie at Renie Burghardt's World - I love reading Renie's blog and seeing the beautiful pictures of her grandchildren!

3. Frizzy at Heaven's Gift - Frizzy has a great blog and always shares pictures of her beautiful daughter and the fun they have!

4. Tracy at The Journey - this blog is very uplifting and wonderful to read! Also, lots of great pictures!

5. Ronnica at Tale of a Kansas Girl - I really enjoy this blog and the deep thinking that goes into many of her posts. It challenges me to think!

And next, I won an awesome prize in a contest from Christine at Mommy Madness today!!! Yay!!! I am so excited to have won something!! Thank you, thank you, thank you Christine!!! My grandson, Landen, will LOVE the webkin!!!! I will share the rest with my sweet little niece, Daphne!

I had a long day at work today, then had my social work supervision group until 6pm. I am worn out!! I saw all the kids I had scheduled today and also held the first Why Try group with my 8th graders on my own. My co-worker is leading 2 other groups with me, but I wanted to try some others on my own. Only 3 kids showed up today, so it may end up being a small group, but that is fine with me. I am not great at keeping control over large groups of kids, so thank God I'm not a teacher, but I do ok with the small groups. Today, the kids just introduced themselves and we talked about what "Why Try" means. They all 3 said they were excited to come back next week, so that's something. I can't say that our other groups were real happy about coming, but hopefully now that they know what it's about, they'll want to come. We gave them candy at the end, so if nothing else, they can come for the candy!

We ended up going to lunch at Kevin's Seafood Restaurant instead of Hilltop yesterday since it was less crowded. I had a ribeye and some veggies and stuck to my diet! We both did good today too, so hopefully we'll lose some more weight this week. I had a low carb Slim Fast for breakfast, a salad for lunch, and oddly enough, I wanted a bacon & cheese omelet when I got home tonight. Several people asked for the low-carb meatloaf recipe that I found:

Low-carb Meatloaf:
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef (or try 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 ground pork)
1 cup pork rind crumbs
1 egg 1/3 cup tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons parsley
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
** I added a mixture of tomato sauce, splenda, & worchester sauce to the top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients (except the mixture I added at the end). Shape into a firm oval loaf in shallow baking pan. Bake for 50 minutes. Add mixture to the tope and bake for 10 more minutes. Makes 6 servings - 2.5 carbs per serving (not counting my mixture on top.). There will be a lot of fat after it is cooked. You can drain it off or let the meatloaf sit and soak it up. It is drier if you drain it off.

Cameron would normally go back to his dad's after school today for a week, but his dad is out of town and will pick him up tomorrow after school. It ended up that today was Cameron's first driving day of driver's ed, so he was gone from 3 - 6 and drove to Hammond, which is a town about 45 minutes from here!! He was nervous before he went, but afterwards he said it was easy and that he enjoyed it. I'm glad someone else is brave enough to take first time drivers out in cars! Yikes!

The river is finally opened again since the hurricanes. We haven't seen boats on the river in weeks, so it was nice to see some out this weekend. The water is still nasty looking, but it's gone back down to normal levels and hopefully, life as usual will resume before we know it.

Sunday

Awww man, you gotta love those Tigers!!! As they like to do, they came from behind last night and won in the last minute of the game so that all of us Tiger fans can go on in to see our Cardiologists in the morning!!! Lawdy be!! But it was a good game and i'm glad we won! They played against Auburn and it's the first time in 10 years that we've won in their territory! We have new quarterbacks, so nobody knows exactly what to think this year, but they did great and played a good game. Walter went to watch the game at a neighbor's house down the street. The guy, Tim, is the "party house" on the street and a crowd can always be found there on the weekends. I am not a huge sports fan and like to watch the game while i'm doing other things, so I stayed home and watched it while finishing New Moon.

And speaking of New Moon, it was a good book, but not nearly as captivating as Twilight. I'm not sure I would have kept reading if I hadn't known there are 2 more books in the series, but it was good and i'm glad I finished it. Stephenie Meyer is an incredible writer and really makes me feel like i'm there in the book and know and love all of the characters. I ordered Eclipse and Breaking Dawn this weekend and hope they will be in soon.

Walter and I are both going to continue with the Atkins diet this week and are finding it easy to stick to. I never really have trouble with it, but it's so much easier not to have to cook something separate for him when I cook all low-carb meals. I made a low carb meat loaf this weekend from a recipe I found online. I've made it before and it really is good. I can share the recipe if anyone is interested. We did decide to just enjoy dinner at the Mexican restaurant, chips and all, and then just pick back up with the diet today. My problem with that is that I usually don't pick it back up the next day!!! But we have and are both looking forward to losing some more weight this week. I still want to think about working out, but it's going to be a busy week for me after work. I have my social work supervision tomorrow until 6 and then I signed up for 2 trainings after work this week that will both last until 6.

My mom & step-dad are coming this afternoon to take Walter & I to lunch for his birthday, which is Thursday. We are going to go to Hilltop, (Walter's choice and my favorite restaurant in the world), and they have an awesome hamburger salad that is perfect for our diet. Cameron is invited, but his attitude was so ugly last night that I have informed him that he will either have to show me that it has improved or stay here. I wont be embarrassed by his rudeness. He chose to stay here, but he did tell me why he was being so ugly, which is due to our argument about the homework last week. I guess he's been stewing over it for a few days, which is fine, but he isn't going to treat me disrespectfully. He also didn't send an email "thank you" for 2 birthday gifts he received on Tuesday, so I let him know this morning that he has until noon to send them or I'm sending the gifts back. Both gifts were money/gift certificates, so it is not something he wants to lose, so I hope he does the right thing. I'm sure he's angrier with me now, but he will use his manners or lose the gifts. I talked to Walter about freezing Cameron when he was 10 years old and soooooooooo sweet. Now I wish we'd done it!!!!

I've been trying to call Elizabeth but haven't heard from her. I hope everything is ok since Ike rolled through. The house they just bought is near where 2 rivers meet and after Gustav, there was water almost in the house. I can't imagine that they could stand the extra water that came with Ike. I did invite them here and they didn't come, so I'm sure they are fine. I want Landen to come spend the night next weekend and maybe Mack too. I hate to not invite him, but he is such a hand full. Maybe if Elizabeth would come pick him up the next morning and Landen could stay longer if he wanted too.

Oh, and I almost forgot! Thank goodness, nobody showed up for the party yesterday, so I guess everyone got the "evite" email update and will come next month if they can make it! At my graduation party last year, a friend of mine showed up a week early by mistake and so that really had me worrying about yesterday!!! Whew!! And someone asked about the daiquiri machine - we rented one for my graduation party and it was about $150, which included the drink mix. We had the best time with it! We put it in the backyard where the party was going on and it stayed cold the entire time!!

Have a great Sunday!

Saturday

Good news on the diet so far! Since Monday, I have lost 5 lbs. and Walter has lost 4! It hasn't been very hard to stick to the diet and we are going to keep going! We will likely not be able to stick to the diet tonight because we are taking Cameron & Bryce to a Mexican restaurant for Cameron's birthday and there really isn't anything low carb on the menu. You may think that a taco salad without the shell would be ok, but seasoned beef is full of carbs, I've discovered! So, we are just going to enjoy a nice dinner and then go back to our diet once we get home.

Work was busy yesterday, but went by fast and I'm glad to be home for the weekend!!! My co-worker, Joan, & I held the first Why Try group with some of my 6th graders, and it went ok, but the kids were really silly when we first put them together and were only somewhat cooperative, but as they get used to the group, it should be better. We had the kids introduce themselves and tell a little about themselves, then explained briefly what Why Try was about. The teacher was supposed to have the kids come straight to our room at the scheduled time, but that didn't happen, so we lost 15 of our 30 minutes just waiting to have someone find the kids. Overall, it was ok and i'm looking forward to next week. Joan had to lead the 7th grade group at another of my schools by herself due to the meeting I found out about at the last minute, and that group did not go very well at all. We really do need to have 2 of us, at least at first, to keep the peace and settle the kids down. Unfortunately, I can't make it to that group next week either! I offered that Joan could just skip next week, but she wants to go ahead and have the group again. Many of the kids think automatically that they are in trouble or that the group is for the "bad kids" and it really isn't. It is for kids who need motivation, help making good choices, and dealing with peer pressure, but I know it causes some anxiety for the kids at first.

Thanks for all of the kind comments about JP's poem, and yes, I do plan to frame it! He said in his letter that he hoped I would frame it or put it on the refrigerator. He called last night to get some addresses of people who wrote to him, including my friend, Lesley! You can never imagine how much it means to hear from people when you're in a place like that. What's crazy though is that they can't have the envelope, so he doesn't always have a return address. What do they think you can do with an envelope? Anywho, he is doing good and was very happy to have gotten some mail. I found out yesterday that his Maw Maw (his dad's mother) completed her chemotherapy for lung cancer and the cancer is gone! She still has to have radiation to "sterilize" the area, but the cancer is gone. She & her husband both have other health problems, but at least that is not a problem anymore. They live about 15 minutes from me and I try to check in on them when I have a chance. They are good people and helped me so much with JP when he was little.

Walter's 50th birthday party was scheduled for today and I'm so nervous that people didn't get the email about us rescheduling it and will show up today!!! I made sure I cleaned the house good just in case!! Things like that just happen to me, so I know better than to think nobody will show up! Walter wants to rent a daiquiri machine for the party like we did at my graduation party and i'm excited about that! It was such a great idea and everyone loved it!

Yes, you know what night it is!

Yes, it's steak night!!! The best thing about the Atkins diet is that I can eat my favorite ribeye steak, sauteed mushrooms and veggies!! We will go whenever Cathy & Brent get home, which hopefully wont be long from now. Walter is stopping on the way home to get his hair cut at a little salon down the street but i'm sure he'll be home before them. I went and got my hair cut this afternoon and it came out cute. I'd take a picture except that I didn't get the girl to blow dry it, so I'll do that this weekend.

I got a poem from JP in the mail today and it really touched me. If you can get past the drug use and subsequent behavior problems, he is a wonderful person, and I have always been able to get past that to see him for who he is, but can't allow that in my house or around Cameron. He is a former "gifted" student, although I never liked that label. He was tested for the program in 2nd grade and we were told that only 1% of the population has an IQ as high as his. So, to see him end up where he is today, in jail, and possibly for the next 40 years is really hard for me. But as I've said, I turned him over to God even before the incident happened that landed him in jail 18 months ago and I feel certain that God is going to give him a second chance. Ok, but here is why I said all that...check out the poem he wrote me. I really had to laugh about the "always on time," because I am, neurotically, always on time. He is that way too, thanks to me, which I guess is a good thing!

I was tagged by Anissa for this meme!
1. Where were you 10 years ago? Just starting to date Walter, partying like a rock star with my friends, working as an office manager.

2. What is on today's To Do List? Drop boys off at school, work, hair cut, steak night, read blogs and new book.

3. What would you do if you were a billionaire? Pay off all my bills, give money to all of our family members, set up savings accounts for our kids, pay for anyone to go to college that wants to go, donate millions to charity, start a shelter for cats.

4. Name 5 places you have lived. Baton Rouge, Louisiana; East Point, Georgia; Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Birmingham, Alabama; City I live in now, Louisiana.

5. Name 3 of your bad habits. Talking too much, worrying too much, snacking too much.

6. What are your favorite snacks? Ice cream, bread pudding, chocolate

Who will you tag for this meme? Anyone who wants to do it!!!!

I've been fighting with Cameron this week about spending an hour each day doing homework or studying. It is always obvious when his dad doesn't stick to the rules because now I get an argument since he isn't making him do it on his week. We agreed at the beginning of the year that we would BOTH (not just ME) require him to work on school work an hour each day after school whether he has homework or not. There is always something to read over or catch up on or even work ahead!! Cameron told me he was NOT going to sit there for an hour if he didn't have homework. I informed him that he WAS and yes, for the record, he did. He pouted the whole time and that's his choice as long as I don't have to see it. I emailed his dad and asked him if he's sticking to our agreement and it could be that missing so many days from the hurricanes just created some laziness with Cameron, but I want to be sure. Cameron told me yesterday that he'll just go live with dad all the time, something you always wait to hear with teenagers when they don't get their way, but i've never heard it before. I told him he'll want to check with dad about changing schools because dad drives him 45 minutes to school every day of his week and 45 minutes home every day of his week. He might not appreciate that too much and Cameron isn't going to switch schools. So yeah. Call dad!

Alrighty then, I'm outta here!! Have a great night!

Worryless Wednesday

JP called last night and is doing fine!! Yay!! He said they were only out of power for 6 hours and out of phone service until yesterday. I'm surprised they got power back so fast, but even without it the jails have generators to keep the lights on, but no a/c. I guess you want to get the power back on fast when you have 4,000 inmates in each of your buildings. He sounded good and was happy to hear that my friend, Lesley, and I are planning an October road trip to visit him. Thank you to everyone for your thoughts, support, and prayers!! Having a child in jail is a tough thing to have to go through, but having support makes it easier, even if it's just having someone to listen or ask how things are once in awhile!

The steak restaurant that Cameron picked for his birthday was Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. I say "was" because we talked him out of it!! It can get so expensive there and he has never been there before, so we asked him if he was really set on going there and he said no, that Las Palmas would be good too! So yeah, we will take the boys there this weekend and try to get my step-son, Sean, & his girlfriend to come too since we haven't taken Sean to eat for his birthday. Sean's birthday was in August, but we haven't seen him lately. He didn't get a birthday present since he didn't pay us back for getting him home from Thailand last year when he went there alone for several months with no money just cause he wanted to. But that's a post for another day!

Walter & I both weighed this morning and after 2 days of dieting, I lost 4 lbs. and he lost 3 lbs.!! We were both very excited. It was hard resisting our nighttime snacking last night, but we both had some sugar free jello and did fine. My friend, Chelle, asked about my stir fried pork chops. Really, I'm not much of a cook and totally uncreative, but here's what I did. I sauteed a cut up onion & bellpepper in olive oil, then cut pork chops into bite size pieces and threw that in to cook once the veggies were tender. I put some salt & season-all and ate some of it in a low carb wrap and some just like it was. It came out good, but was certainly nothing special. Tonight, I cooked a roast in the crock pot again since we both like that and Cameron will eat it too. Cameron wont eat rice, so I just didn't cook any at all. We can put some roast beef in a low carb wrap or just eat the roast (with onions & mushrooms) by itself. And no, we did not make it to work out!! Walter was very uninterested and I was barely interested, so it didn't happen. I'm pretty sure he has a board meeting tonight for the homeowner's association and tomorrow night is steak night, so yeah, I don't see working out in our near future. And for anyone who remembers (or cares), we did win the small claims suit against the crazy neighbor who wont pay his homeowners dues (which are $80/year), so if he still doesn't pay, our Constable is planning to seize a piece of his property and auction it off at a sheriff's sale. I think it would be pretty funny if they seized his boat and we bought it and all cruised past his house in it! That's really funny if you remember the post about him yelling, cursing, and staring at us when we passed by his house in our boat! Ok, well, anyway...

I got the 2nd book in today of the Twilight series, New Moon. I am anxious to start reading it tonight!! It is another big one, like Twilight and has about 560 pages. I'm sure work will interfere with my reading, so it may take me more than 2 days to read it!!

Speaking of work, today was really busy. I am trying to set up a few meetings that have me running in circles. It's important to note that I have NEVER set up meetings or led meetings before. I am the type of person who will figure it out as I go, but I feel like I've bitten off more than I can chew lately!!

I am excited about the "my favorite things" swap that I participated in!! I mailed my package off to my swap partner & new friend, Marla this morning and can't wait to get a package from her! I am so excited just to get mail, so the things inside are just a bonus!!! I just realized when I re-read the page that I was supposed to WRAP the items that I sent! DOH!!! I'm sorry Marla!!! Please forgive me!

My supervisor sent me this link to an incredibley inspiring video! It's 8 minutes long, but you should watch it!! It's awesome!!! http://www.webertube.com/mediadetails.php?key=fb8f1eda792ae6471f8f

Alrighty then, that's all I've got for today! I'm off to read some blogs and then dive into my new book!!

Tuesday

I must clear up the birthday confusion! Cameron did know that his birthday was on the 16th, however, his dad told him before school Monday that it WAS the 16th, so he just assumed his father knew what he was talking about. I had to laugh at everyone's comments about how odd that he doesn't know when his birthday is!! He says that today he "kept it on the down low" and didn't mention that it was really his birthday today. He's a cool dude. He's outgrown birthday parties and all that, but we gave him some cash for his birthday and told him he can pick a place to bring a friend and we'll go to dinner this weekend. Of course, being my child, he picked an expensive steak restaurant that he's never been to, but has heard about, so we'll go this weekend. And yes, the friend is Bryce. My mom sent him a card with a check in it as she always does and it was really funny. For some unknown reason my mom has always sent my 2 nephews and my older son $25 for their birthdays, but sends Cameron $50. I have no idea why, but she always does. If you're a new reader to my blog, Cameron & his 2 best friends got into some bad trouble a few months ago - the first time they've ever been in trouble for anything. Cameron was opening the card and said "I wonder since that happened if i'm one of the bad ones and only get $25?" As soon as he said it, I realized he just might be right, and he opened the card and the check was for $25!! How funny, and how funny that he would have thought about that beforehand and been right. Crazy!

The diet went well yesterday and today. It's really easy for me to stick to once I start. I had my low-carb Slim Fast for breakfast, a salad for lunch, and will stir fry some pork chops & veggies for dinner. I didn't weigh this morning, but plan to weigh tomorrow morning. I had some comments about me not looking like I need to lose weight. I am in no way "over weight" for my height (5'9), but I do think the right weight depends on the person and how they feel about themselves. I am happy in a size 8 or 10, but right now, I need to decide if I'm going to lose 10 lbs or buy a size 12! Being tall and having extra weight only in my hips and stomach makes me look really funny, so I go back on my diet if I get up to 160. I have tried other diets, but nothing has ever worked for me except Atkins. I'm sure South Beach would be great, but their initial phase says NO RIBEYES and I can't do that, but I will probably switch over to South Beach in a couple of weeks. I like the fact that they have lunches that you can buy to make my life easier!

I had a good day at work today. I just see 1 student at one of my schools, so I went there today, then on to my busier schools. I saw several students there and then went to meet with our behavior team to look at a computerized social skills program that we want to try with some of our students. The day went by fast, so that works for me!

Decisions...decisions...do we go work out tonight or not? Sure, I know we should, but will we? Who knows!!! I am going to plan to do it, but we haven't been since BEFORE the cruise in June and it's so hard to get back over there!!!

Monday

I received this sweet award from Patti at Nonna's News today! It is so pretty and the meaning behind it is really what blogging to me is all about!!

To translate the gift from Portuguese to English, it means:"This blog invests and believes, the proximity"[meaning, that blogging makes us 'close' -being close through proxy] How awesome is that??

"They all are charmed with the blogs, where in the majority of its aims are to show the marvels and to do friendship; there are persons who are not interested when we give them a prize, and then they help to cut these bows; do we want that they are cut, or that they propagate?"

Then let's try to give more attention to them! So with this prize we must deliver it to 8 bloggers that in turn must make the same thing and put this text:

So, here are my 8 bloggers who will receive this award from me:
1. Anissa at Home Where They Belong
2. Tam at Momma Song
3. Amy at Escape Into My Thoughts
4. Mere at The Babblings of Mere
5. Susie at Bienvenue
6. Lizzy at The Journey to The Hot Tub
7. Lula at Lulaville
8. Tulsi at The Family Awaits

Day 1 of our diet went good! For breakfast I just had a low-carb Slim Fast because I'm lazy. Walter boiled a bunch of eggs last night, so he had boiled eggs & bacon this morning. For lunch we both brought a salad to work. I also sent him with some beef jerky and pork rinds for snacking. I get off work at 2:30, so I didn't need to do any snacking until I got here. I ate some cheddar cheese and steamed some brocolli so Walter can snack on that until dinner, which is a pork roast and pretend potatoes. I don't mind saying my weight because I do not have all that much to lose. I weighed 161 this morning and I am quite neurotic about weighing, so I plan to weigh every day. I know I shouldn't, but I really can't help it, and on the Atkins diet, it's usually good news as long as you aren't cheating. I wont say what Walter's weight is, but as he loses, i'll say how much he's lost. I really hope he'll stick to the diet and exercise plan with me!! Cathy is planning to go to the gym with us too, so between all of us, maybe we'll get there!

Work was good today. I met with several of my students and 1 parent, so the day went by pretty fast. I've been trying to set up several different meetings, so that has been keeping me busy.

Cameron is home for the week from his dad's. He's been doing the 1 week here, 1 week with dad for 12 years now, so you'd think I would be used to it, but I'm always a little uneasy when he's gone. We live on the line of 2 parishes (most people have counties) and I work in 1 parish and Cameron's school (5 minutes away) is in another parish. My parish cancelled school Friday, but his didn't. Thankfully, his dad was concerned about the weather and kept him home. It was a really nasty day and I was relieved that he wasn't out in it. Interim report cards came out Friday, so he got his today and it was GOOD! He has 4 A's, 1 B, 1 C, & 1 D. The D is 1 point from a C, so he can bring that up with a little effort. His dad did not support me last year in insisting he spend time on his homework, but agreed to this year, and it really made a difference. Cameron's 15th birthday is tomorrow and he came home today and had "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" written on his hand, no doubt by some girl at school, and I said, "oh, you started celebrating your birthday early?" He said, "today isn't my birthday?" I said, "no, it's tomorrow." He said, "oh, well dad said it was today and that's what I told everyone!"

My sister, Donna is doing ok - still out of power, but they have a gas generator. I have asked them to come here if they want, but I don't know if they will or not. Donna works from home, so she could realistically work from whoever's house she is at. However, her husband decided to raise homing pigeons, so yeah, he can't very well bring them with him. I'm not sure what you do about that. Leave him there and come enjoy some electricity? Still no word from JP, so I am still just trusting God to keep him safe. I've tried calling Elizabeth but haven't heard from her. That isn't unusual because we generally talk every couple of weeks, but with the high water at their house last week, I want to make sure they aren't flooded again this week. I haven't seen Landen since school started in August and i'm missing him, so I hope to maybe have him spend the night this weekend. Mack is still too much for me to keep for a long time, but I will try to get him to come over for a few hours or something! Landen is like my kids always were. They would play quiet and entertain themselves or sit with you and read books, etc. Mack is a fitting name for Mack! He is like a Mac Truck!!!

Well, nothing much else is going on. I hope you all had a nice Monday!

Sunday

Walter & I went to eat at Albasha's last night, which is a Lebanese restaurant about 20 miles from our house and it is soooo good! I could eat there every day!! We've been doing good with eating at home more (partly because no restaurants had electricity for awhile - but still), so we decided to treat ourselves last night. Tomorrow we are starting back on the Atkins diet. I have been on the diet off & on recently, but Walter hasn't tried it in years. He agreed to try it with me now AND we are going to exercise at that gym that we're paying for absolutetly no reason because we haven't been there in months!!! I went to Walmart today and got Atkins friendly foods and there aren't a whole lot, but I've learned to be creative. The only unhealthy item I picked up to make snacking easier for Walter is pork rinds, but otherwise everything we'll be eating will be a healthy mix of grilled foods and salads. I want to lose 15 lbs. and hope to do that as well as keep it off afterwards.

We made the decision today to postpone Walter's 50th birthday party until October 18th. The party was scheduled for next weekend, and our backyard will smell horrible because of all the dead fish in the river for a week or two and that just isn't going to cut it. Once I re-sent the invitation to everyone, my mom emailed me to say that the invitations are going out this week for my step-niece's wedding (to a guy she has been dating 6 months) and the wedding is that same day, so they wont be able to make it. I am fine with my parents not coming because they are recovering alcoholics and there will be a drinking at the party, plus if i'm invited to my step-niece's wedding, now I don't have to go! I barely know her and the drama is out of control in my step-dad's family, so this worked out pretty good, if I do say so myself. My parents want to take us to dinner sometime next week for Walter's birthday, so that will work out just peachy.

Several people asked me to talk more about the Twilight book. I don't want to say too much because I don't want to spoil anything for future readers, but I will give a small review for those who might want to read it. When I bought the book, I had absolutely no idea what it was about, seriously. I saw the pictures of all 4 books on every blog I went to it seemed. I have been bored with the books i've tried to read lately, so I figured I would buy the 1st book and just see what I thought. And also let me say, I would not have bought it if I thought it was about a vampire. Sorry. I would not have. As a social worker/school counselor, i've worked with a rather "odd" teenage girl who is all wrapped up in vampires and books about vampires and from what i've seen they are always dirty, a bit raunchy, unbelieveable, and the readers end up dressing in black and looking a little freakish. I have tried to work with her to keep her from being seen as "odd" for being so into vampires. I actually read the first chapters of Twilight wondering what in the world was going on with Edward, one of the main characters and was totally fascinated with him. Once I got to the part and realized what was going on, it was too late! I was hooked! I fell in love with him AND with the other main character, Bella. The author is such a good writer and the story line is so great that it really doesn't matter! I am the type of person who will watch a movie and just have to stop watching because "this couldn't really happen," or "this is so fake," but this book never made me feel like that. At some point, you realize you are totally wrapped up in the character's lives and that doesn't happen to me very often. And yes, I started the 500 page book Friday morning & finished it Saturday night, so vampires or no vampires, this is such a well thought out, well written, book that you should read it too!!! I think it opened my mind a little bit because if I was so caught up in this book already by the 2nd chapter, then I could keep reading once I saw the word "vampire" and give it a chance. Now, am I going to read the dirty, raunchy vampire books like the teenage girl at school? Oh hellllll no! But this book was so not like that! Nothing dirty, but everything beautiful! And a lot of thought provoking things about the choices that all of the characters have to make. Wow! If everyone could be open to new things and want to understand people just because they love them, what a world this might be!! Just read it!!! I still haven't had anyone ask for my copy, so if anyone wants it, i'll gladly ship it to you for free! I would hope that you would pass it on when you're done, but that's up to you!

And remember how hard we worked to scrub and hose down our dock after the river went down from Hurricane Gustav? Well, Hurricane Ike wants us to do it all again!! The good thing is that the pool isn't looking so green anymore!


Still no word about my son, but I think in this case, no news is good news. While FOX news had a reporter standing in downtown Houston reporting yesterday, I emailed them to ask if they could mention the status of the jails, but never heard anything. I am certain that if there were problems at the jails, we would be hearing about it on the news. Thanks for your prayers for my son! I really appreciate it!!

Saturday

So, it looks like Ike is slowing down and moving on through Texas. My sister, Donna, is doing fine in Pearland, Texas. They do not have power, but did not have any damage. My friend, Kimi, in Lake Charles, Louisiana is doing ok and does have power. I have no way to find out anything about the jail in downtown Houston where my son is, but I'm listening to the news to try to find out what I can. I called a nearby district and they haven't heard of anything happening there, and I assume they would have if there was damage, but that's the best I can do. It's very frustrating that there is nowhere that you can call and if the power is out, the inmates can't use the phone to call to let you know they are ok. Again, I know he is in God's hands and trust that he is ok. I sincerely hope that we will not have any more hurricanes this season, which doesn't end until November.

Ronnica at Tales of a Kansas Girl posted this "meme" on her blog and asked for anyone to answer who wanted to. And well, I want to!!

Here are the rules:
1. Write about 5 specific ways blogging has affected you, either positively or negatively.
2. link back to the person who tagged you
3. link back to this parent post
4. tag a few friends or five, or none at all
5. post these rules— or just have fun breaking them

Ok then. Blogging has affected me...

1. Positively: Blogging is a wonderful outlet for me! I am a person who talks way too much, and having this blog and my blog friends to talk to really spares my family, especially my husband, from having to go into overtime listening to me!!

2. Positively: I have met some friends through blogging who I hope to stay in touch with for a long time to come. I am developing relationships that are meaningful to me and I enjoy seeing into the lives of other people.

3. Positively: Some of my real life friends are starting to blog and I am able to be in closer contact with them and stay up to date with their lives than I was before I began blogging.

4. Negatively: I am spending a lot of time reading other people's blogs daily, so there are things I am not doing as much as I should.

5. Positively: I have been overwhelmed with prayers and support for many situations in the short time I've been blogging.

What about you?? I am tagging anyone who wants to answer the questions, so please let me know if you will be doing it too so I can read your answers!!

I've seen this book on SO many blogs that I went to http://www.half.com/ and ordered it - "twilight." I had absolutely no idea what it is about, but I caved in to curiosity, ordered it, and 3 days later, it was sitting in my hot little hands! Forget all the books I was already planning to read, I started reading this yesterday and am on page 263 already! Wow!! I'm not sure I would have wanted to read it if i'd known ahead of time what it was about, but let me tell you, i'm HOOKED! I went to half.com again last night and ordered the 2nd book in the series! I hope it comes in before I finish this one!!! I'll be glad to send Twilight to anyone who wants to read it when i'm finished, so leave me a comment and i'll get your address from you. First come, first served!!

And notice on my side bar on the right there is a little place for "follow this blog." It's a new feature and it's pretty cool! If you want to be a follower of my blog, just click "follow this blog!" I'll be glad to follow your blog too!

Questions & Comments:
Lizzy asked what we do about all of the schools days missed during hurricanes here. Honestly, it's not normal that we miss many days per year due to hurricanes. They can do a few different things. We have a couple of "hurricane days" built in to our schedules that we could miss if needed, then after that the schools can chose to lengthen the school year or go on some Saturdays. The bad thing is with our standardized testing (LEAP, GEE) that determines whether your child passes to certain grades or graduates at all are given in March or April, so the kids may be missing some key lessons needed for those tests that might not be taught in time. I would bet that our holidays may be shortened, which may be what happened after Hurricane Katrinia - I wasn't working in the school system then and don't remember. We get a week off at Thanksgiving, 2 weeks at Christmas, a week at Easter, and 2 days for Mardi Gras, not to mention a few more 1 days here and there, so it may be that we'll lose a few of those days.

Laura asked about the gas prices here. The last I heard, prices had gone up about .50/gallon to about $4.00/gallon, but I haven't been out today to see. I will pay attention today and see what it looks like.

Ok, so Ike is NOT coming here? Did someone forget to tell Ike??

Because it sure feels like he's here and this is really scary to me. We woke up during the night to the worst winds we've ever heard. The wind is still blowing like crazy, but it's settled down a little. Our power is out! And the schools in my parish are closed today! My friend, Lesley, texted me last night to ask if the schools were going to be closed and I was thinking to myself that yet another rumor has been started, but then, I checked when I got home, and the schools are going to be closed! I was really confused as to why, because the storm doesn't come near us. Well, now I know and let me say this...I am very scared for those in the path of Ike because I don't think we've ever seen anything this size. I am praying that Ike takes it easy on all of us, but it's already like we're having a Category 1 hurricane at my house right now! Well, maybe not right now, but definitely during the night. Please pray for everyone in Ike's path because I think this is going to be a bad one.

My sister, Donna, and her husband decided to stay in Pearland, about 20 minutes outside of Houston and I'm pretty concerned about them. She says they were on a voluntary evacuation order until yesterday, and then after yesterday were told to "stay put." What does that mean? That you've waited to long to leave or that it's safe to stay? Donna is known to be quite dingy, so i'm scared she may have misunderstood the meaning. We offered that they could stay here and my mom offered that they could come there. She says they have a generator and gas, which is good, but after the storm and all the power is out, you can't find a store to refill your gas cans. And I think trees and power lines are going to fall like crazy. We've lived through many hurricanes here and i've never seen anything like the damage that Gustav left throughout Baton Rouge and many other areas. I feel certain this storm is worse.

So, no work for me today since the schools are closed. It's frustrating to get so far behind in what I've got planned to do with the kids. And now, for the next week or two, I don't plan to do anything with the kids except talk about the hurricane and how it affected them. My west side schools just got power back yesterday and the kids were going to go back today - some still living without power for 2 weeks now. Many of them live in poverty, some in the projects, and depend on the government for help. Food was not available to them for most of the storm, or if it was, you had to drive to a distribution center to get it. How can they do that with no car or gas? And you can say it it their fault or their problem, and maybe it is, but you still have to think about those children who are home in the dark with nothing to eat, no clean clothes, no water, etc. As a matter of fact, when I heard that the schools would open today originally, knowing much of the area doesn't have power, I wondered how the kids would get clean school clothes! It's such an eye opening experience and I'm grateful for this opportunity to be exposed to some of what this population is going through. I have every intention to make a difference there!

Anyway, i'm home today, which is nice but i'm afraid i'm getting used to not working so much!!! After having the summer off, and then missing so many days, I may be getting spoiled all over again. I do have some paper work to do and meetings to reschedule, so I'll find some productive things to do today. Steak night was DELICIOUS last night!! I wish I could grill a steak like they do! Yum!!!

I want to thank everyone for their kind words and prayers for my son, JP. That really means a lot to me. I know that some people don't like to talk, hear, or think about those types of things, but that is my reality and I really do appreciate you!

Questions & Comments:
A few people left comments about my honesty and my unconditional love for JP. I do love him unconditionally and will support him in whatever way I can if he is living a drug free life and trying to do the right things. This whole situation is even harder for me because, while i've always offered him emotional support, I did not have anything else to offer him while he was involved in drugs. We put him through treatment and tried everything imaginable to help him help himself, but ultimately, we had to cut him loose because he was affecting our family and his younger brother with his choices. It does make it hard to see where his life went from there, but help for his drug addiction was always an option but he wouldn't take it. Today, whether by his choice or not, he is living a drug free life and I have been here every step of the way. I always make sure he has commissary money, I write to him, visit him, and he knows he is always welcome to call. It is so hard knowing the right thing to do, but I truly believe that everything I've done for him was the best I knew how to do. Now God is in charge!! I think great things are going to happen! And thank you for those comments too!

My friend, Kimi, who doesn't have a blog but should, asked if the neighbor next door was the same one who brought some magazines over when Kimi & her family were visiting. YES!! And that is exactly the kind of thing I mean by overly involved!! He saw me get a "People Magazine" out of my mailbox (or could be that he checked my mail for me one day and saw it - not kidding), and realized I like the gossip magazines. Well, his wife and several relatives save theirs and pass them around to each other, so he decided that I would want to be on their "list" and receive the magazines when they finished with them. Hmmm, ok. I didn't see any harm in that and I do like some of those magazines, so I went along with it. The first stack of them I got was from 2002! No lie! Walter & I were so tickled about it and read through the magazines and got a big laugh out of it. But then, the magazines got to be a chore. I was expected to save them and give them back to pass on to other people. And I really wasn't reading them, so then i'd have to hold on to them long enough to seem like i'd read them and give them back. And the neighbor really stressed about the whole thing - calling to see if i'd found them on my porch, seeing when I'd be giving them back. I managed to politely back out of it one day when another relative wanted "in," so I just said I really wasn't having time to get to read them since I was working, so I didn't want to hold them up!! Whew!!! And yes, I'm quite sure at the exact moment that we had company, that would be when he would have decided to deliver the precious magazines!!!

Tam made a great observation about the pre-schooler that bit the teacher yesterday. Imagine how hard it would be to not speak any English and be put into an English speaking classroom. He came to the school last year too, but due to his aggressive behavior, the teacher can only let him come 2 days a week, in the hopes that he would adjust and they could increase the days. I believe the little boy is also Autistic and is non-communicative. We want to place him in a classroom where he would do better, but we have to be able to document the problems to present the case to the school board, and he doesn't come to school enough to do it. Yesterday was his 2nd time coming this year and he bit the teacher within the first 2 hours there. And yes, that is something to document, but you have to have more than that. We are holding a meeting next week and will include a Spanish interpreter to help us figure out the best setting for him. We also want to help his mother with parenting skills. She is really harming him by letting him do whatever he wants.

And yes indeed I'm taking Lesley up on her offer to visit JP with me!! We can stop and have lunch with Kimi & Shayne on our way!!! Woohoo!!! Thanks sista! I love you!

And the power just came back on!! Yay!

Yes, it's STEAK NIGHT!!!

Ok, so I'm really stressing out about the Ike/Houston thing. Yes, I prayed that Ike wouldn't come here and I'm thankful that it didn't. However, my son, JP, is in jail in downtown Houston (Harris County) and the area is being evacuated. JP called Tuesday night and we talked about the storm, but it wasn't really headed to Houston at the time. I asked him if he thought the inmates would be evacuated if the storm did come to Houston, and he said he didn't think so. The building they are in is 7 stories high and is a really sturdy, brick building. I think right now they are evacuating lower areas of Harris County, so maybe it wont affect the inmates. I can't stand the thought of something happening to him during the storm, but I can't stand the thought even more of how they would evacuate 10,000+ inmates! I know some people don't think of them as people, but they are! And they're someone's children or parents or husbands or wives and it's such a stressful thing to be taken out and put somewhere that nobody in the world wants them. I am praying for God to take care of JP in this and all situations and I really hope that the officials will feel that they are safe where they are and not try to move them.

But JP did sound really good when he called. He's got a few people writing to him and he really enjoys that. If anyone out there in blog land has it in their heart to write to a 24 year old who's trying to get through a terrible time in his life, let me know and i'll give you his contact information. I asked him if my mom happened to visit him while she spent 5 days in Houston while evacuating from Louisiana, but she didn't. My sister lives 30 minutes from the jail but nobody ever visits him until I come to town to see him. She has tried once recently to visit, but there were problems at the jail that night and she hasn't been back. When the weather settles down, I want to plan a weekend trip to see him. It really makes me feel good to visit him and see how good and healthy he looks. As bad as the whole situation is, I feel so lucky to still have him and to be able to see and talk to him. I honestly don't think he would be alive today if things hadn't happened to land him in jail the way they did.

Speaking of people in Houston, my sister, Donna, is under a voluntary evacuation due to Hurricane Ike. She is actually outside of Houston in Pearland and says they were told to "stay put." I have offered that she & her husband can come stay here if needed. It's a little awkward, because I wont have her sons here who are drug users/sellers, but they don't live with her currently and she didn't mention them coming, but that's probably because i've made it clear that I wont have that in my house. I am the anti-drug. Drugs have destroyed my oldest son and I've made a stand to not allow it around my younger son. Kids come in contact with drugs all the time, but I wont welcome it in my house. Did I mention both of her kids have been arrested for dealing drugs in the last 6 months? Yeah. Anyway, she said they will probably "stay put" as they are being told, plus nobody is 100% sure that Ike wont turn and come here! And just to give credit where credit is due, for all of us who prayed that Ike would stay away from Louisiana, God has answered our prayers and sent this storm all AROUND Louisiana, but is keeping it away from us so far!!

Tonight is steak night at Hilltop! Yay! It's my favorite night of the week! Brent is out of town for work, so Walter, Cathy, & I are going. I am so ready!!!! I had a long day with a few meetings at work, so I'm ready to relax alittle bit. 2 of the kids I went to see were absent, so I didn't have a whole lot to do. One of them (pre-k) was actually sent home after he bit the speech teacher! So yeah, I have my work cut out for me with him. He doesn't speak English and really doesn't speak at all.

Have I said how wonderful my husband is lately? Not only is he the smartest man I know, but he's the sweetest man I know too! I should add the phrase he adds for me when he says things like that. He says, "Ohhhh you are SOOOO sweet - when you want to be!" He he he. Anywho, I have been really sad about the fish dying in the river. Seriously, when you look in the water, they are either already dead and floating or gasping for air. Last night I asked him if there was ANY way to help them, like, I don't know, put oxygen in the water or something. He said that there really wasn't. So, later last night I was locking the house up before we went to bed and he said not to lock the garage because he still had a hose going out to the river. I said, a water hose? He said, no, the air compressor hose to see if the air going into the water attracted any of the dying fish! Awwww!! Maybe he can save a few? I thought it was really sweet! But i'm sure they're all dead anyway!

No word from the neighbors about the missing swimming pool ladder. Good thing, because I am totally ready to defend my position and to let them know that we aren't comfortable with the little girl being in the pool anymore because of the lack of supervision, plus we are having to make repairs due to other people's use of the pool (jumping off the ladder, hanging on the sides), when all I use the pool for is to float and read my book. It really isn't the little girl's fault that she is so obnoxious, but it is still hard to be around her. Her mother is a single parent who adopted the little girl, so I guess she just spoils her and lets her do what she wants. I am sure when I tell her that I'm not comfortable with the little girl in the pool without someone watching her, she will tell me i'm wrong - she'll say something like "I can see her from the house and she's fine," or something. I will have to say, "It is MY pool and MY rules, not yours." The neighbors truly are nice people and the niece and brat don't live there - except for now until their power comes back on (please hurry Mr. Nice Electricity Man). I will say that ever since that night, her car has not been next door, so either her power came back on or they had a fight about her letting the little girl in the pool and she left. I'm just sayin...Anyway, they are nice people, but the man is just too involved in our lives. I think they think we are the kids they never had or something. But we aren't! I've already got a set of dysfunctional parents, but thanks anyway!! This is the same neighbor who called and woke me up recently to let me know I forgot to take my garbage out! I do try to be patient and we do look out for them since they are older (in their 70s), but I'm not going to put up with any craziness. A few people asked about putting up a fence, but the only thing we can really do in our neighborhood is put a fence around the pool, which would look kind of funny because above ground pools are already so tall. Our neighborhood has restrictions against fences in the yards because of the view of the river, so we can't put anything between our yard and theirs.

That's all I've got! Have a great evening!!!