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.

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!

Monday morning

Well, things returning to normal here and I'm off to work this morning. Cameron's school doesn't have power, so he wont be returning yet, but our kids go back tomorrow. I guess we'll get in 1 week of school before Ike knocks us on our butts again!!!

I got this award from Mere at The Babblings of Mere yesterday! If you've never visited Mere's blog, you should! She is a high school junior who is so inspiring to me. She is everything I wished I could have been at that age and I know this young lady will do big things with her life!


Now.. the rules are....

1.The winner puts logo on her/his blog.
2.Link the person you received your award from.
3.Nominate 7 other blogs.
4.Put links of those blogs on yours.
5.Leave a message on the blogs of those you’ve chosen.

So, here are my winners!
Molly at I Need A Martini
Debbie at Blog Around the World
Bobbie at 40 Shades of Pink
Ronnica at Tale of a Kansas Girl
Patti at Nonna's News
Melissa at The Scholastic Scribe
Marla at Pak Adventures

Walter & I attempted to go to the Texas Roadhouse with Cathy & Brent last night, but I neglected to call first and make sure that they have re-opened after the storm, and apparently, they haven't! We made the 30 minute trip over there but everything in the general area seemed to be closed, so we went a few minutes away to Logan's Steakhouse. We realized after sitting for awhile that our server was "missing" and a very nice waitress just jumped right in and took care of us the whole night. Our food was really taking a long time, but we never said anything and were having fun visiting, but the waitress went to the manager on her own and told him that our food was taking WAY too long and he took care of our check! I told the manager how awesome the waitress had been, considering how we weren't even really her table, then we left her a $40 tip! The food was good (and free), so it was a good night! Then I had to come home and watch the VMAs. I really expected a Britney Spears train wreck this year, but she did good. I do think they cheated and gave her awards to make her feel better since she's been nominated nearly 20 times over the years and has never won, then suddenly won the first award tonight, but hey, let her have a little joy in her life, I reckon.

One of those boys, Bradley, went home yesterday afternoon to help clean up the yard at his house, then called later to ask if he could come back, so I said that was fine. Cameron's dad has electricity again, so he is going to pick Cameron up tomorrow for the week, so I told the boys that they'll have to leave when he leaves. Hopefully, they were already planning to do that!!

Questions & Comments:

Kimi asked what my mom said when I told her what I thought about her comment/selfishness. At first, I didn't say anything, but she called me once they got to Houston to apologize for saying things that might have hurt my feelings. I am guessing she realized how she must have sounded. I have come a long way in my life and have learned to be honest in those situations, but still nice, so I just told her that I didn't appreciate her talking about the kids that way and that I found her & my step-dad's attitude very selfish. We ended up arguing because she says they weren't selfish and that she did not say anything negative about the boys. Yeah, sure, but what's arguing going to do? I just told her it was better that we stop talking about it. I just hope she thinks twice before coming here during any other hurricanes because there will surely be other people in our house who are welcome here. And yes, my mom and Kimi's mom are very much alike when it comes to the grandkids and while I know it's their loss, it still hurts me. Now that my brother (who has always been her favorite) has a baby, she is making 10 hour trips to Georgia to see the baby when she's never driven 10 minutes to see mine or my sister's kids. The baby is 1 and they've made at least 4 trips there! She's never been to any of my kids or grandkids birthday parties or anything, yet they drove 10 hours to Daphne's 1st birthday. I have also learned that nothing I do or say will ever change the way she feels or the way she is, but it sure would be nice for her to see things through the eyes of her other children and grandchildren.

Several people commented on the blog my brother wrote - and yes, I do think it is very funny now, which is why I don't mind sharing it. At the time, I was very ticked off about it, but he did tell me that making his blog humorous was part of the reason people like to read it, so I get it that he added his own humorous touch to it. However, the sad part (or I guess the funny part) is that most of what he said is quite true. I could tell some stories about my family, especially the steps and the in-laws on my side...whew!! What a crazy bunch of people. I'll gladly share any stories, so if you saw something in there that you want to know more about, just ask!

Pre-Gustav

Here is a cute picture I have to share from Hurricane Lily in 2002. Walter doctored the scene a little bit and created this shot, mostly to amuse Cameron, who was quite amused! We emailed it to our friends and family to let them know we were doing ok during the storm!

And speaking of storms, New Orleans' mayor called for the evacuation of New Orleans yesterday and called Hurricane Gustav "the mother of all storms." Alrighty then. It does seem to be coming straight at us and there is an air of nervous excitement all around. No matter where you go, you hear people talking to friends and strangers about their plans. "Are y'all leaving?" "Is your area under evacuation?" "Where will y'all go?" I heard this morning that our Walmarts are shutting down as of this morning. I guess their employees need to be making plans and evacuating like everyone else. My next door neighbor is taking pictures of all the rooms in her house incase she needs them for insurance purposes. Not a bad idea. Some of her relatives came by on their way out of state this morning due to their home being in a low lying area and the guy said he already applied with FEMA this morning because he knows he will lose everything. And I am worried about one of my friends who is in an area that is under a mandatory evacuation, and she is not leaving. For those of you who know me in real life, I'm talking about Valarie. She was in danger during Katrina and this storm is going to hit her area harder and I'm very concerned about her. I asked her to come here, but she is staying where she's at.

The wind is starting to pick up here which is our first real sign that this thing is coming. The trees are all swaying and before long will be bending a bit as they sway. An evacuation has been suggested for our area of the river for low lying homes, but we are not low lying and feel safe to stay. None of my neighbors are leaving, so I think it's ok. I do think we will be flooded in due to the roads around us flooding, but we'll be fine here at home. If we do get flooded in, I would worry about my neighbors who are in their 70s and in poor health if their family couldn't get to them, so all in all, we'll stay here and look out for each other. Walter & I have done all of our hurricane supply shopping, which somehow ends up being a huge junk food festival, and now went back today for our final few items:

I have been really impressed with Cameron's maturity in the last few days. He talked to me when our New York trip was still planned to let me know that we would have trouble getting home on Monday due to the storm, and then today, he voluntarily went outside and helped Walter secure the boat and all of the plants & things in the back yard. I hope this is a new stage he is going through! Hurricane Katrina was stressful on us, and i'm guessing he's remembering that.

Now, I have a couple of awards that I've gotten lately that I need to pass on! Nik at Exceptional Voyage and Veggie Mom gave me the "You're looking at a kick-ass blogger" award! Woohoo!!! And I have to pass it on to 5 bloggers who are as kick-ass as me! Woohoo! Thank you ladies!!!

I am going to have to cheat this one time and just pass it on later due to my hurricane status!!!

And my real life friend, Chelle at Chelle's" World gave me the "I Love Your Blog" award!!

The rules of this award are:

1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the people you’ve nominated

And again, I will pass this on later! But just wanted to say thank you to all 3 of these ladies and show off my awards!!

I found these cute pictures of JJ when he was little and had to post it! He was so tiny, so we aren't sure how he grew to be so gigantic!!

A year or two later, I tried to put him back in my overalls, but I wasn't very successful.

And here is Cameron a few years ago with his big baby.

And then JP's coke problem started:

And while I'm on the subject of cats, my scaredy cat, Nadda, has odd habits that usually involve him leaving treasures for me in his food bowl. I haven't shared any stories lately because he hasn't really done anything, but this morning I recognized a clear pattern. Every morning when I have gone to feed him for the last 4 mornings, I've found my pink pony tail holder in the food bowl. I'm not sure what he's trying to tell me, but he doesn't take it back out and play with it. He leaves it there for me to find. Sometimes I find socks and shoes in there, but not lately.

We went to an Italian restaurant called "The Little Village" with Cathy & Brent tonight. Cathy reasoned that we don't know if we'll be able to eat out next week due to power outages, etc., so we went. We are really starting to eat out too much again.

Ok, well pray for us that Hurricane Gustav will weaken and go easy on us! I'll keep you posted as to how we are doing when I can! I really appreciate all the support and prayers from my blogger friends!

Some more love...

Yes, it's true!! Two more blog awards for me!! This time, they came from Nik at Exceptional Voyage! The first one is the "You're looking at a kick-ass blogger" award! So yeah, I am a kick-ass blogger! Woohoo!!! And I have to pass it on to 5 bloggers who are as kick-ass as me!

1. Kimmy at MBKimmy's Krazy Thoughts

2. Scott at Our Life...

3. Tara at Living a Dream

4. Tonya at Small Town Louisiana Girl

5. Lynda at Art on a Limb

The second award is the "Sharing the Love" award. This award was created by Crystal at Memoirs of a Mommy and you really have to go and read the story behind the award! How incredible! And here are the rules: SHARE THE LOVE!!! Share this award with all those blogs out there that you love. All the people who make you smile. All those that make you laugh. All those that make your day. All those that leave uplifting comments on your blog. **All I ask, is that you include a link to this post with the award and ask your recipient to do the same**

Now, I am only going to pick one, but she is a very special one!!

Chelle at Chelle's Writings

We are going to dinner with Brent & Cathy tonight to discuss our New York plans for Labor Day weekend! However, we did not have any intentions of inviting GUSTAV, and it looks like he may interfere with our trip!!!

Incase you can't tell where I am on the map, just look RIGHT IN FRONT OF IT!!! Yikes!! Now, I'll just go ahead and say that i'm not going to cry if I don't have to fly on that plane, but I will cry if our tickets are non-refundable!!! But it looks like we could get a credit to fly somewhere else within a year if we had to cancel now. I'll admit, I have been quite nervous about the flying part, being that the only time i've ever flown was when I was 7 years old. I am neurotic enough to have already given my sister instructions (she is my beneficiary on my life insurance policies for my children) and well, I really am worried about this flying thing! And then I get an email from CNN breaking news tonight: Communications problems at an FAA facility that processes flight plans are causing flight delays at airports across the U.S. Alrighty then. 3 days before I am supposed to get on a plane! I'm just sayin...

And the winner is.......ME!!

Yay! I received not one, but TWO awards from a new friend, Maricris at Zen Ventures! The first award is the "I LOVE YOUR BLOG" award! What a cute award it is too!

The rules of this award are:

1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the people you’ve nominated

I just have to go with the first blogs I look for every day, cause I LOVE their blogs! But, there are plenty more I love too!!! I had to pick 7!
Lizzy at Journey to the Hot Tub
Lesley at Na-Na's Cozy Kitchen
Tam at Momma Song
Kelley at My Life With my Love
Susie at Bienvenue
Joe Joe at Bella's Daddy
Amy at Escape into my Thoughts
I would put my friend Chelle, but her blog is private and nobody can see it!!! But I love your blog too, Chelle!

Half of them are my real life friends, so i'm a little partial!! Enjoy the award!!

The second award is the Brillante Weblog award that doesn't include any rules, but if it's name speaks for itself, it is for brilliant blogs!! I will nominate 3 people for their brillaint blogs and hope they will pass it on too!

Blogstalker
Crazy Life of Mine
40 Shades of Pink

Work was busy yesterday, then I had my supervision meeting yesterday afternoon. We had group supervision with my friends, Courtney & Christine, so that was fun and different! I got home around 6pm and my step-son, Sean, brought his girlfriend, Kristen over to meet us and to show us his new car. It's actually a 1994 Mitsubishi Miata (sp) and get this....it's a bright red convertible just like my new Mustang!!! It's a cute car and I hope it holds up for him. He has recently gotten a good job as a computer technician/networker, so we're really crossing our fingers and praying that this works out for him. He's a great employee; he just is habitually late and usually loses jobs because of it. And his girlfriend is nice. We liked her.

Cameron is gone to his dad's this week, so that is always an adjustment for me. You'd think after 12 years, it would seem normal, but it's different. It's ok with me now that he likes going over there, but there were step-mother issues for several years that created serious problems, but things have been good for awhile now.

My brother, Kenny, posted some new pictures of my cute little niece, Daphne. Here you can see her with the giant Elmo her favorite aunt (yes, that would be me) gave her for her first birthday. Now, while I would like to take credit for the idea, Elmo was on Daphne's Amazon.com wishlist (who knew she was so smart!) and I just bought it, but still, it's her favorite toy. Kenny said that in the first picture, Daphne was bringing Elmo to take a bath with her and that when he reads books to Daphne, she sits on one knee and wants Elmo on his other knee!

Have a nice Tuesday!!!

Girl Scout Cookies Anyone???

Due to an overwhelming response, I will tell how my Girl Scout career came to a sudden end. I find it funny how that story stirred interest, but nobody commented on my random fact that my father was mentioned in some Louisiana history books. That is actually a juicier story!

Ok, so, I was a Girl Scout for a couple of years along with most of my close friends from elementary & middle school. Most of these same friends are the ones I had dinner with a couple of weeks ago, and yes, the Girl Scout story had to be rehashed and that is probably why it was on my mind when I thought of random comments about myself. Anyway, we all went to camp the first year and it was fun, we behaved, and were still allowed to call ourselves Girl Scouts when the camping trip ended. There were cabins that were shared by 3 or 4 people, and we were closely supervised. Things didn't go quite so well the second year.

We were all around 13 years old by then. The camp had built some new, really large cabins, and I think that is where the trouble started. Everyone was in the SAME cabin - probably 20 or more girls and i'm guessing the adults either didn't stay with us or weren't with us most of the time. I'm guessing this because I clearly recall my friends, Tracy & Gail sitting on the VERY HIGH beams near the ceiling, writing in permanent marker ALL OVER the wood in the new cabin, etc. A small group of us were just silly and determined not to cooperate, for some reason. We hid when it was time to go hiking and nobody could find us. We snuck off to the kitchen and made long distance calls to a friend who had moved to another state. We refused to do pretty much anything that was asked of us and to top it off, it was discovered that we wrote all over the walls and it wasn't coming off. We were generally just difficult, non-compliant, and down right annoying. But none of that got us sent home. Someone finally got some control over us and made us go hiking with them the next time they went. Our Girl Scout leader was a lady we didn't like, and when we were hiking, the poor lady tripped and fell. She rolled down a hill, for what seemed like a really long way. While everyone else was rushing to try to help the lady, me, Gail, and Robin began to laugh. And we kept laughing. And we wouldn't stop laughing. So it was decided quickly that was the last straw! And some of the others who were equally as bad as us, but didn't laugh, got to stay, while the three of us were packed up and driven a couple of hours home by a rather odd male chaperone who was on the camping trip with us.

To make matters worse, it was late at night - probably 10 or 11pm, and we wouldn't tell the man where we lived. Once we got to Baton Rouge, he pulled into an empty parking lot and demanded that we tell him where we lived, but we still wouldn't. He came around to the side of the car and grabbed my friend, Gail, by the arm and jerked her out of the car, so we told him where my house was. He dropped the 3 of us off at my house, didn't come to the door to tell my mom what happened, and my mom was a practicing alcoholic at the time and bizarre and chaotic things occurred all the time, so she opened the door, listened to our story that we were homesick and had come home, and then was kind enough to drop Robin & Gail off at their houses! The next day when the Girl Scout leader called, things weren't so pretty!!!

Another random comment I made about myself was that I would be the crazy cat lady if I could get away with it. Yes, I did mean this!! I love cats SO much and can't resist kittens for anything! I only have 2 cats, but that is because Walter has laid down the law after I took in 9 kittens this year, raised them and found them homes, plus took care of 4 neglected cats from next door, until we found them homes (sortof). I want to foster kittens through the local animal welfare society, bring them to pet adoption days, and help them find homes, but so far, Walter has veto'd that! I really love cats!

Someone else asked for a picture showing the river view of our back yard.

Another reader asked if the screened porch came with the house. Actually, we built the house and the porch! We finished the house a year ago and finished the porch last month. We have a neighbor who does that type of work on the side and he supplied the materials and helped Walter do the work, so i'm not sure where the materials came from.

I received an Award today from Tonya at Small Town Louisiana Girl! It is the Brillante Weblog Award and I am honored to receive it! The rules say that I must pass the award along to 7 blogs that I read, so here we go!
1. Patti at Nonna's News
2. Renee at Cutie Booty Cakes
3. Renie at Renie Burghardt's World
4. Kathi at Tales From the Homefront
5. Dorothy at Daffofil Dreams
6. Nik at Exceptional Voyage
7. LaDonna at My Life

And thanks again Tonya!!! I really appreciate it!!

My friend, Kimi, gave me a gift certificate for my birthday this month and I wanted to show the shirt & 2 sun catchers that I bought with it! They came in today and I love them!!

And finally, work was busy today, but it was a good day. I got my computer working in my office, where I will be spending 3 - 4 days each week, and that made me really happy! Without a computer, I have to go out into the library and check my email, make my schedule, do my mileage form, etc. while all my stuff is in the office and has to be drug back and forth.

No matter how many times we change the number to our fax line, we ALWAYS get calls from bill collectors for other people. It drives me CRAZY! The fax machine needs to be set up correctly to pick up when a call comes on that line, but Walter hasn't managed to get around to fixing that yet! So, this evening, the fax line rings (it's a different ring for the fax line), so I answer it.

Man: Can I speak to Susan?

Me: You have the wrong number.

Man: Is this ***-***-****?

Me: Yes, but there is no Susan here.

Man: Do you know a Susan Webb?

Me: YOU HAVE THE WRONG NUMBER!!!

Man: Susan gave me this number when she filled out an application.

Me: This is the FOURTH TIME i'm saying this to you - you HAVE the WRONG NUMBER!!

Man: Ok, bye Grumpy!

It took me a few minutes to stop laughing, and then I called the number back and asked for a supervisor and told them that the mean man called me names AND harrassed me. I'm sure noone cares, but it made me feel better to tell on him!

Walter has a board meeting to go to tonight, so Cameron & I are going to be hanging out at home. I hope you all have a good evening!

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!!

TGIF!!!

First, let me say that the Atkins diet is a cheaters diet! What I mean by that is there is no diet you can start that you can really expect to lose weight every day, seriously. But that's the craziness of Atkins (and probably South Beach - but they specifically say NO RIBEYES and I'm not playing that game!!!) and now for the 3rd day in a row - I haven't lost anything. Atkins suggests leaving out the caffiene when weight loss stalls, so that's what i'm doing today. Bye Bye, Coke Zero and Diet Green Tea!!! Today, it's all about water and kool-aid-on-the-go, so we'll see how that goes. Today I had 3 pieces of bacon for breakfast, a Bubba burger with cheese & mayo for lunch, and I stir fried some chicken with bell peppers, onions, & mushrooms.

I spent a couple of hours floating in the pool this morning & reading my book. It is so relaxing and just does me a world of good!! The weather was nice and sunny today, instead of the usual cloudiness, and it was the perfect day for a swim!

A couple of updates from my job! My friend, Courtney, is SO excited about getting one of the jobs in my office! She put her 2 week notice in at her job this week and will get a week or so off before we go to work on August 6th. I am so happy for her! The 2nd job went to a girl who was working for a mental health agency based in one of our schools, so she will be great too, i'm sure.

I talked to the grandmother of my student who got the FREE braces, thanks to a local church!!! He got the braces last week and is so happy to be returning to school in August to show them off. He told his grandmother that the kids can't tease him about his teeth anymore! My boss is sending a thank you note to the church & the orthodontist.

Another student of mine didn't pass the LEAP test, which is required to go to 8th grade. I get really frustrated because the kids I work with are in special education and many of them have learning disabilities. How can we expect them to pass the same test that kids without learning problems can pass? Some can and some can't. This one didn't and has gone to summer school to attempt to pass again. His mother called me yesterday to find out when they'll know the results, so I called the school board to find out. The answer? August! School starts back on August 8! So now, this mother can't plan for the school year until she knows the results. She is quiet frustrated, and I certainly understand.

The wood for the pier came today and Walter is all excited to get started on the project. He lost any chance of me offering to help during dinner last night when he told Brent "I am pretty sure there is a small alligator living in our boat slip." He tried to explain what he meant after that, but I really didn't need to hear anymore. He says something "jumps in the water" everytime he walks out there, but that it is on a log in the water already, not where it could get on ground and into the yard." Yeah, whatever!! Don't ask me to get in that water, as if I would have anyway! I usually stand on the edge of the water freaking out anytime he's in there, so I'm really not all that much help anyway. And next Friday, the 18th, our neighbor, Allen, is coming to start the screened in porch! Yay! Walter is helping him to cut the cost and I am so excited to have this done!! Our cats want to sit out there SOOOOO bad and I am just too worried about them roaming free in the yard. So, Walter will have 2 projects going on, but at least will have help with one of them. One thing we've found in building our own house is that help is not usually readily available!!!!

Questions & comments:

Kelley wanted to know if the sister I mentioned in my other post is the one in Houston - yes. I do have 3 step sisters, but don't interact with them very often.

Tam - thanks for the book recommendations!! I went to Half.com this morning & ordered Rebecca & Outlander!

Thanks to everyone on the compliments on my purdy blue bathroom!! Our bedroom is the same color (maybe if I clean it up i'll take some pictures) and we really thought we'd gone off the deep end with that bright color, but we really like it!!

And again, I am so honored to have received Mere's "Smile Award" today! When I started blogging, I really wasn't sure that anyone would read my blog or care what I had to say, so this really made me feel good! I have really been enjoying blogging and especially meeting new people in the blogging community!!! Thanks again, Mere!

Winner of the original SMILE AWARD by Mere!!!!

The Smile Award

I am so excited and honored to be awared the Smile Award!!!! Here are the rules and my 5 awards and I would like to thank each of you for putting a smile on my face!!! A great thing about receiving the SMILE AWARD for making someone else smile is that it made ME smile a whole bunch to receive it!!! It takes a really special person to think of a way to honor others and make them feel good!! Thank you Mere!


These are the rules:

1. The recipient must link back t0 the award's creator (http://www.thebabblingsofmere.blogspot.com/)
2. You must post these rules if you recieve the award.
3. You must chose 5 people to recieve the award after recieving it yourself
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award, as posted by Mere.
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver.

Characteristics for the Smile Award:

1. Must display a cheerful attitude. (not necessarily at all times--we are all human)
2. Must love one another
3. Must make mistakes
4. Must learn from others
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world
6. Must love life
7. Must love kids

After much careful thought, here are the 5 winners of my Smile Award:

1. Mere at http://thebabblingsofmere.blogspot.com/ I can't help but give the Smile Award to Mere, who created it!!! This young girl is the most mature, insightful, honest, young lady I have ever come across in real life or in the blogging community and I am always impressed by her thoughts and words. I am inspired by reading her blog and am really glad to have stumbled across it one day!! Mere is a very active, positive contributor in the blogging community, and she created this award to honor those who make her smile and that in itself is incredible to me, because aren't teenagers thought to only think of themselves??

2. Tam at http://mommasong.blogspot.com/ This is a place I go daily to smile!!! Tam has a great sense of humor and a sarcasm that I am growing to love!! She is very honest about her life and shares the details with us curious readers. Her ladybug post is probably the funniest post i've read yet and it still puts a smile on my face when I think about it http://mommasong.blogspot.com/2008/06/little-cute-ladybugs.html. Tam loves kids and is a postivie contributor in the blogging community.

3. http://crazy-life-of-mine.blogspot.com/ - I'm too new to know her real name, but this blogger definitely makes me smile and I enjoy reading her blog often. She is honest in her day to day life - the ups and the downs, and I feel that I really relate to her because I've been there! I feel a connection when I read her blog and love to see what she's up to each post! She has wonderful tips and ideas, not to mention recipes usually with pictures, which I really need!!! She definitely loves kids and goes out of her way to make average things fun and exciting for them!

4. Lizzy http://hottublizzy.blogspot.com/ is another place I go for a smile! This is an honest, upbeat blog about real life situations and dealing with them. Again, I tend to return to the blogs that I feel a connection with and this is one I truly feel like i've been where she is and love reading her posts about her life, her children, new love, and all those things that we can smile about!!! She loves to share pictures of her children and I love to see them!! Lizzy is certainly a positive contributor to the blogging community.

5. http://hannahandlily.blogspot.com/ - again, I'm too new to know some names, but this blogger makes me smile and I seem to keep finding my way back to her blog. She is a positive contributor to the blogging community and although she has lost a beautiful child, she keeps her memory alive through this wonderful blog, and also lets us into her world and get to know her younger daughter and share in her life. What makes me smile the most is her daily "sparklies" and i've been tempted to take that idea and use it too. She sees and shows others the good in every day and that is so awesome to me.