Wacky Wednesday

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

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

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

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

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

Bye Bye Babies!!!

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

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

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

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

Monday

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

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

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

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

Happy Father's Day!!

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

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

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

FRIDAY 13th!!!!!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Steak night!!!

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

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

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

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

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

Tuesday

I got some great news about one of my students this week and had to share! The student is a 6th grade boy who needs braces SOOOO bad but his family can't afford them. His self-esteem is really low due to the way he looks, so after talking with him about it, I emailed some local orthodontists to see if any of them knew of any options for kids like him with no insurance or money to pay for braces, but nobody had anything. I got an email from one of them last week saying that a local church had offered to sponsor a child who had a real need for braces but could not pay for them! I told Walter that it wasn't so much me who did anything, but God working through me to connect this child with this church's help! Anyway, after talking with the child's grandmother, she called and made an appointment to bring him in this Friday! How awesome is that!!??!!

Walter & I took my mom & step-dad to dinner at Hilltop tonight along with Cathy & Brent and had a really nice dinner! Everyone came back over here and watched the world's worst train wreck - The Moment of Truth!! We can't help but watch it!! We will be leaving VERY early in the morning to bring my mom & John to the airport for their trip to St. Martin with my step-sister, Terri, and her family.

Here are some new pictures of the kittens. I have so much fun with them! The first one is Kate's kitty and the rest are still up for grabs. She is coming to visit/possibly get a kitty this weekend. That will be one lucky kitty!

I talked to my supervisor and am more excited than I can say!! There are TWO jobs opening in my office and I just know that two of my friends will get hired! I recommended four people, so we will see what happens. I would be thrilled to work with any of them and would welcome them as awesome assets to our schools. Yay!!

My next door neighbor, Lou, is doing ok after her open heart surgery and hopefully we will get to visit her tomorrow evening. My brother-in-law, Tommy, is in the hospital tonight too after having some dizzy spells. Please keep them in your prayers!

Monday

One down! Four to go! Walter's niece, Kate wants a kitty! She came to look at the last litter that was here, but someone had already claimed the little tabby kitten she wanted, so she didn't end up getting one. She told me yesterday that she'd like one of these tabby kittens, so I will hang on to one for her. Yay!

Cameron's girlfriend, Sarah, came over to hang out with him today, so I was good about making myself scarce. I don't allow girls in the bedrooms, so they have to stay downstairs or outside, but I do try to give them some space. It has been a long time since we've dealt with girlfriends in the house, so it takes some getting used to again, but all the old rules were made for very good reasons, so we're sticking with them!! Sarah seems like a sweet girl and they enjoy spending time together, so we'll see what happens from there. I floated in the pool for awhile, then I spent the afternoon playing with the kitties and cleaning up after them, which is a full time job in itself!

Here is a new picture of my niece, Daphne. She is 10 months old and really a cute little baby! I know exactly how my friend, Lesley, feels since her sister doesn't want her posting pictures of her new nephew on the internet! My brother is the same way but has given me temporary permission while Daphne is young, but he will put a stop to it sooner or later! I am hoping to somehow squeeze a visit to Atlanta in around Daphne's birthday in August, but we'll have to see. One of my bestest friends from graduate school, John, lives about 15 minutes from my brother, so hopefully I could visit with him when I'm there too.
I went to Walmart this morning & bought an air mattress for my mom or step-dad to use Tuesday night. The bed in our guest room was my grandmother's and it is a double bed. Walter and I used the bed at the condo we were renting when we were building our house and we affectionately refer to it as "tiny bed." There is no way for 2 adults to fit comfortably in it, so we'll see how the air mattress works as a 2nd place to sleep! I hate to replace the bed because it is an antique and I love it, but it's a real pain having a guest room that nobody can sleep in!!

19 days until the cruise and I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!!! I wish it was time to go now!!! Walter & I will have an ocean view balcony suite and we got Cameron & Sean an interior stateroom to share. Here is a picture of what our suite is supposed to look like.

I have a roast in the crock pot for dinner tonight and the house smells sooooo good!! It's making me hungry!

Sunday in the sun!

Walter & I spent most of the day on the river today with Cathy, Brent, Gene, Sandy, & Wendy. It was a beautiful day and we really had a fun time. You don't have to look too hard to see our 52 ounce daiquiri mugs, which were quite a hit and source of amusement! We ate lunch at Hilltop and then stopped at some fun places along the river to hang out throughout the day: Blind River Bar, The Dock, and Swamp Waters.

I've moved the kittens into our bathoom behind a baby gate to see how that will work because my mom & step-dad are spending the night Tuesday so that we can bring them to the airport Wednesday morning and I doubt they will want to share their room with 5 very active, but very cute and sweet kittens!! We are planning to take my parents to dinner along with Cathy & Brent. My step-dad was hit in the hand on the golf course by a stray golf ball and fractured his hand, so we will have a get well dinner and a Father's Day dinner all in one!



The ad I put in the paper for the kittens should come out this week and I really hope there are some people looking for kittens now like their were a few weeks ago when people kept calling for the other kittens that I had already given away!

We really do have some great neighbors and I really do appreciate them. Walter has been breaking his back digging a culvert in the front yard all throughout the weekend and was figuring it would take him a few more hours to fill the ditch with sand and dirt just using his shovel and wheelbarrow. I looked out the window just now and a neighbor from down the street is out there on his tractor moving all of the sand and dirt 100 times quicker than Walter could have by himself. Just another reason I love living here! Speaking of our neighbors, the lady next door, Lou, is having open heart surgery tomorrow, so please keep her in your prayers! Her husband, Leon, has just completed chemotherapy for colon cancer, so they've had a lot to deal with recently. Walter is planning to cook a big pot of gumbo for them and we'll package it into dinner size portions for them.

Nothing much else is going on tonight. Cameron is feeling better and we are just hanging out at home.

Friday night

We are enjoying a nice, quiet, Friday night at home. Cameron isn't feeling good, so we are all just staying at home tonight. I am sad to miss Kelley's going away party, but we are getting together 2 more times before she starts the move to Chicago on June 19th.

The kittens are doing so well and are really cute and a lot of fun! I have them in a playpen in the guest room and I let them out to play today for an hour or so. They are so full of life and enjoy running and playing with each other. I've read that feral kittens sometimes never adjust or play with toys, etc. but these will be just fine based on how they are doing after a few days here. They love me and cry when I put them back in the playpen and leave them for a nap. I am thrilled to be able to save them from a life of fear and unhappiness.

Freaky Friday

Let me just say that I try to keep my blog upbeat, fun, and positive and don't want to turn it into a place to complain or have a negative tone to it, but with that said, I just have to say that next door (at the bad cat house) there is a freak on the roof! The neighbors have had their son (or some sort of relative) re-roofing their house ALONE for the last couple of months. He shows up when they go get him, because he can't drive due to his DWI offenses, and is doing the work because he owes the people so much money (they have a talkative granddaughter who tells me things she shouldn't) and generally starts banging on the roof outside of my bedroom window at 6:30 am. If that isn't enough to really make me mad, he sings really loudly and gets on his cell phone and talks so loud that I can hear every word he says. Well, this morning at 6:30 am, I wake up to find that there is a freak on the roof again! And i'm sure he's here for the whole weekend. Lovely!

I had to make an executive decision about the Houston trip. I haven't heard back from JP for sure if he can have visitors this weekend, Cameron isn't feeling good, I have 5 kittens that I don't want to have to ask Walter to take care of all weekend and they need to be handled a lot, and I'm feeling stressed about going under these circumstances, so I think I will postpone the trip until June 20th. If I don't go, my friend, Kelley's going away party is tonight and my friend, Jessica's baby shower is Saturday, so depending on how Cameron is feeling, I might be able to make those events.

Today is my nephew, Tyrone's, 25th birthday! He is the one on the far right in the picture, the African American young man. My sister, Donna, raised Ty since he was about 13 years old. He was a friend of her kids and from what I understand, was the child of a mother who was 12 when he was born. He was put in special education for a disability check, he says, and was never taught anything at all. When we first met him, he was living alone in an abandoned house, was in legal trouble, and could not read or write at all. Donna took him in and he lived with her until a couple of years ago, including moving from Baton Rouge to Houston with her. He lives near her with his girlfriend now. This young man is so inspiring to me. He really had nothing and should have just ended up living his life in and out of jail. Donna spent a lot of time and money teaching him and getting tutors for him. He reads and writes now, probably on a 5th or 6th grade level, but it is enough to be able to function in the world. He is currently a boxer trying to go pro. Cameron & Ty are very close and Cameron told me when he was young that Ty was the nicest person he knows. That means a lot coming from a child. The other boys in the picture are: my great-nephew, Elijah, my nephew, Colin, my nephew, Justin, and my son, Cameron during our visit to Houston for Easter. I'm posting below something Ty wrote on myspace and I love to read it, even in his mispelled words, because he wrote it and can read and write well enough to write it, and it shows the lessons he has learned in his life.

i have a drem to be come one of the best boxer. my life has not been one of the best but i made the best of it. to have a dream is to have hope. ther are time i wont to give up but you cant give up on your dream. i been at this boxing for a long time like about 6 to 7 yeas. im 24 yeas old a man that will not give up for noting. coming up in the hood ant no fun or game at all but you have to be on top of ypur game at all time.you have to work hard for what you wont. ant no one going to give to you. you get to get out ther and get it. i dont have it now like i wont it but one day i wil. some one sad to me if you dont work hard it dont work out. so i cant sleep on noting at all. i have to be the king of the ring and fill like i'm just like ali on top of the world as one of the best. so if you have a dream don't give up on it are sleep on it. if you don't try you don't know if you can mack it. so keep hope ,keep working hard and don't give up on noting...... p.s keep god alway in your life . be you if they like you are not but be frindy.

So anyway, Happy birthday to Ty! Donna & I are chipping in to get him a piece of boxing equipment that he wants for his birthday. He is truly a remarkable young man and an inspiration to me.

Five little monkeys jumping on the bed!!!!

Ok, so they aren't monkeys and they aren't jumping on the bed, but there are FIVE of them! And i'm pretty sure that's it. I have no idea how the tiny little mama cat was feeding all of these kittens, but they are all very healthy looking. I put an ad in the local paper and talked to the CAAWS lady who will give me vouchers to fix all of them, and if nothing else, I can take them to the pound and they will find homes. They are beautiful! I bathed 2 of them and I will bathe the new ones tomorrow when they settle down. Walter found 2 little Siamese looking kittens on the back porch today and was able to grab one. I went after the other one and scared it away, but when I went looking for it later, it was with another Siamese looking one. They all have blue eyes, so far, and are really cute. The pictures aren't great because they are all scared, but here is what I took earlier.

I spent the day running errands because our housekeeper came today!! She comes every other week, but had surgery recently and hasn't been able to come. I got my car washed, my oil changed, and went shopping at Stage, Cato and Walmart. It was also Cameron's last day of driver's ed, so I picked him up on my way home. It sure is nice coming home and finding things a lot cleaner than I left them!

It's Thursday night and if you know me well, then you KNOW what tonight is! It's steak night!!! Cathy was going to plan a girls dinner out somewhere for her birthday, but she told me last night that she never got anything planned, so we're on for our usual dinner at Hilltop with her & Brent. It's my favorite night of the week!

No word from JP about his visitation being restricted, so I am still planning to go to Houston as of now. Cameron doesn't particularly want to go, so I may be going solo, which is fine with me!!

Secret kittens!

Well, our little plan worked! The mama cat brought 1 kitten and left it on our back porch last night and another one this morning! Walter found the first one on the porch and picked it up. The poor kitty screamed really loud and I just held it until it calmed down and fed it some good food. I just happened to look out the back door this morning and saw the mama cat sitting with another kitten, so I grabbed it. They are both females and very fluffy and cute! I will find them homes and CAAWS will give me vouchers to pay to have them both spayed & get their rabies shots. I think they are only about 5 weeks old. I am so happy to know that at least these 2 kittens are safe and healthy! I have prayed for the mama cat to bring these babies to me, so this is definitely an answered prayer! I am going to keep watching for more. I will take some pictures after they have a good, long nap! I have had to teach them how to eat and to drink water. It's been a busy day for them.Walter & I went to the John McCain rally thingie in Baton Rouge today. I am not the most politically minded person, but I do want McCain to win, plus Walter bribed me with lunch downtown. Seeing John McCain was pretty cool, but the really cool part to me was seeing Bobby Jindal! He is so awesome and I really love this guy! I sincerely believe him when he says he isn't going to leave his position as Governor to be Vice President. I would really be mad and think poorly of him if he did, but I believe him when he says he already has the job he wants. And I think the best part of the day was when the rally ended and a nut in the back of the room started yelling out things to John McCain. The secret service man was on him real quick and it was funny to watch. He wrote all the information from the guy's license down and read through all of his nutty notes he was reading from. You know this guy is on a list now.


I have to correct what I said about JP in a previous post. He was arrested February 2007, not 2006, so he's been in jail almost 18 months, not 2 years. I couldn't make that work out in my head, so I had to stop and count back in time. It sure seems like 2 years already though. He called last night and may not be able to have visitors this weekend due to being written up for a minor violation, so I am waiting to hear from him to see what the deal is. I hope we will be able to see him, but if not, we'll just go another weekend, if I can find a free one! For now, I am going to cancel my hotel reservations, just in case, and wing it once i'm there. I don't want to have to pay for a night for nothing!

Monday

I got a couple of comments about Cameron having a girlfriend - how that is surprising that he's growing up so fast. You'll be more surprised that I dropped my little boy off for driver's ed. this morning! That is shocking to me to think that he is almost old enough to drive. He will go 3 more days this week and then wait until he turns 15 in the fall to do the driving part of driver's ed. And yeah, Joe, I think all the Kindergartener's will love him!!!

Ok, now i'll explain that last comment for anyone who is interested, since Joe said it in his comment about Cameron. My mom lived in Georgia until a few years ago and is/was pretty out of touch with my kids. She means well, but just isn't really the grandmotherly type. For example, only once in my kids' 24 years on this earth has she invited one of them over to spend the night or really even to visit. But we love her and as my social work supervisor, who I consider my own personal therapist, says - that is the way my mom is and I can say things to make her feel bad or start an argument, but i'm really not going to ever change who she is, so it's only an issue if I make it an issue. So anyway, when Cameron started 2nd grade, I had emailed my mom that he was excited to be back in school & was enjoying it, etc. and she replied that she was happy that he was doing so well and that she was sure that all the Kindergartener's would LOVE him!!!! I had vented and laughed to my friend, Joe, about it and just told my mom that I hoped the Kindergartener's would love him, but that I was counting on the 2nd graders liking him too! It always makes me laugh when I think about it.

And I did have lunch with my mom today at the outlet mall near our house and we had a nice time. We went to Cracker Barrel, which was ok today. Sometimes I just love that place, and sometimes it is just ok.

Cameron & I will be leaving for Houston on Friday to visit JP and spend some time with my sister, Donna, and her grandson, Elijah. JP prefers the weekend/morning visits because it is much quieter and less stressful then, so that is when we are going. Cameron & I are staying in a hotel near my sister's house, mostly due to her sons and their drug issues, so we will have a chance to swim in the hotel pool, shop around in Houston, and just hang out and enjoy a mini-vacation. Ever since I was little I have LOVED to order room service, so I think we'll indulge just one night and order it!!!

JP has just turned 24 years old and has been in jail since Feb. 1, 2006 on a murder charge. I wont say much about it since obviously anyone can find these blogs online, but he has opted to have a trial by jury rather than accept a plea deal for 40 years, in which he would be eligible for parole after 75% of his sentence. From what I know of the story, I don't think he should be charged with 1st degree murder and I truly hope the evidence will show that and that the jury will be fair and open to hear what happened. I have turned this over to God and I trust that God has a plan for JP's life and is working His will with JP now. I do not think JP would still be alive today if this hadn't happened, and honestly, he could have just as easily been the one killed in this case. I have dealt with his drug addiction since he was 12 and have tried everything that I knew to do, but he couldn't make the changes necessary to change his life. Occassionally, things would be good for him for short periods of time, but he would fall back in with the wrong crowd and couldn't make the right choices. I pray that this is going to be a new beginning for him. As long as he's drug free, I am going to be here to help him. I have always hated drugs, but now I refuse to be affected by them and refuse to have anyone that I know to use or sell drugs, including my nephews, around my children at all, which makes things difficult within my extended family. My oldest nephew is going to jail for 45 days in July for a drug charge (not the first time) and my younger nephew was recently arrested for dealing drugs. My sister is a wonderful person, but she turns a blind eye to the drugs and has said that "everyone smokes pot" as if there is nothing she can do about it, but I'm having to make a stand against it. I know that Cameron will be exposed to drugs, if he hasn't been already, but that doesn't mean that i'm going to lead him to it and let him be influenced by people he's looked up to all his life. Ok, i'm getting off my soap box.
And here are some pictures of my son, JP:

I floated in the pool for about an hour this afternoon and it was so nice! I got a lot of sun, so I really need to watch how long I stay in there at a time. We are really going to enjoy the pool!

I've also been entertaining myself with my favorite game - The Sims 2 - on my laptop!! The Sims 3 is coming out soon and I am very excited! I think it fulfils my needs to play with dolls, which I never quite grew out of!!

Anyway, Walter & I were out checking chemicals in the pool, which by the way is one of my new job duties, the good neighbors (as opposed to the bad cat neighbors) had company (who are the cutest little old couple in the world) visiting and their dog started scratching at the porch where the kittens live and got everyone all stirred up about what was under there!! I had to confess to Leon, the neighbor, that I am pretty sure kittens have been under there for about 4 or 5 weeks and that I didn't tell him because I was worried that he might fix the hole where the mama cat gets in to feed them. He pulled a board up on his porch and I tried to entice anything living under there to come out with some cat food, but so far, nothing. He promised to leave the board open all night so that the mama cat can get the kittens out easily if they really are under there and she will want to move them somewhere safer. So much for my secret kittens! I just hope I can find them and help them get to the animal shelter. As for the bad cat neighbors, I noticed the lady put a plate of food out on her porch after I put food in her bowls. Maybe she felt bad? At least the cats got some food.

Yay! A pool!!

And yes, you can guess what I've been doing today! We filled the pool up all day and I have been in it since there was just an inch or so of water! I am really going to enjoy having the pool! I truly am a lucky girl and have everything I need, and the only thing I wanted that we don't have was a pool. So, now i'm good!

Walter wants me to stop feeding the outside cats because they are messing up our yard and killing birds, so I am going to stop again. The last time I stopped, one of them was on my back porch dehydrated after I didn't give them food or water for about a week. I will take them to the animal shelter if needed, but it is a shelter that will put them to sleep if they don't find a home. I will see if CAAWS or Cat Haven can take them, but I know they are overloaded with cats who need homes. If I see the neighbor, I am planning to tell her to feed her cats or get rid of them.

Cameron left with his dad for a fishing tournament today. He really loves doing things like that and I hope they have a fun, safe trip. I am pretty sure that Bryce should be moving down the street this weekend, so that will be a great thing for Cameron. He says they were "evicted" from Bradley's for a week because his grandmother was tired of them! They are always welcome here, but I think Bradley is working a lot this summer.

I added a bunch of pictures of my graduation last spring. I guess I am feeling nostalgic and missing my friends. We saw each other constantly for 2 years and then now we're all busy working and doing other things. I am glad that I do still keep in touch and see most of my closest friends, but it isn't the same. We really developed some deep relationships that are different than any relationships I've ever had. I guess that's what you get when most of your closest friends are social workers! Oh well! My graduation day was my proudest day ever and I am grateful for the experience!

Thurssssday

So, Cameron got his report card and it wasn't great. He is with me a week and with his dad a week, so I totally lose the power to enforce studying rules when he is with his dad, and his dad refuses to do it. He is very "laid back" and will say that Cameron is capable, but just has to do it. Sorry, but a 9th grader with unlimited access to computers, video games, etc. is going to pick those things 9 times out of 10 when given a choice. After seeing the grades, his dad says he will enforce a studying system (like I asked him to do ALL year) next year. I have informed him that if he doesn't or it doesn't help, I will go to court and attempt to make some custody changes.

Lunch today with Terri was wonderful! I love getting to spend time with her and we just talk each other's heads off!! We have both seen each other through a lot and it is great to have that person that you can tell anything to and not have to worry about being judged or worry about what they think.

I am now feeding the FOUR backyard cats on the neighbor's back porch instead of ours! They haven't said anything yet, and honestly, I wish they would! I haven't seen the kittens at all and i'm worried that something might have happened to them. They should be old enough by now to be coming out from under the other neighbor's house a little bit and the mama cat is napping on my back porch a lot.

I am cooking a roast, rice & gravy, and some stir fried zucchini and squash for dinner. It's always a gamble with me cooking!! It could turn out really good or we could all get full really fast! Atleast I try!!