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!

A Poem For Ike

Dear Ike,
It is YOU I don't like.
You are not welcome here,
so please don't come near!

So Ike, please, please, please don't come here!! Our state can not handle you right now. We don't want to see anyone else get hit with this storm, but we can't take it at this time. It is starting to look like Ike may be taking a turn towards Texas, which I hate to see happen, but I'd hate to see it come here worse.

So, we got our power back last night!! I have been doing those things that couldn't be done on the generator, like washing clothes. My next door neighbor plugged their washing machine into their gas generator to wash clothes and burned up the motor in their washing machine! Also, Lesley was able to reserve a few hotel rooms in Mississippi if we should need to escape from Ike, so we are feeling good to have a plan. I don't know if Walter will leave with me, but that is a decision he'll have to make if Ike is headed here.

This link is to the "Friends of George" website. I read about his $1 cookbook on a friend's blog and went to read about George. I bought the cookbook as soon as I read the story and I hope that you will too! http://www.friendsofgeorge.com/cookbook_order.html

Walter & I got out the pool equipment and vacuumed leaves and dirt from the bottom of the pool and ran an extension cord to reconnect the pool pump yesterday. As soon as the pool was starting to not look as green, the storm came and we haven't been able to get the chemicals right yet. I'm hoping we can get it right and will have a little more time to enjoy it before it gets too cold.

Tonight Walter & I are going to the Texas Roadhouse and YES, I go there mostly for the bread and butter!!! We usually have steak at Hilltop on steak night so we don't venture off to other steak restaurants often, but Hilltop is not opened yet and well, I want some bread!!! The Texas Roadhouse is in Baton Rouge so it's about a 30 minute trip over there, but it will be worth it!!

We still have those boys here and i'm not sure if their families will be looking for them now that their power is back on - well, at least I know that Bryce's is back on. I don't mind them staying longer, but wouldn't you at least want to see your kid after a week? We aren't sure when their school will reopen. I don't think power is back in that area yet, so we'll just have to wait and see. I work in a different parish and we go back to work tomorrow and the kids come back on Tuesday.

Questions & Comments:

Tam asked me what i'm reading. At this time, it wont be one of the 70 unread books on her bookcase, but some books that I bought to use with my kids at school. The main one i've been reading is called "Individualized Supports For Students With Problem Behaviors." Probably nothing exciting to the general population, but I am really working with changing some of these behaviors to help the kids fit in, excel in school, and stay out of trouble!!

I had a couple of comments from people saying they would love to vent about their families on their blogs sometimes, but can't because their family reads their blog. None of my family knows about my blog and I hope they never run across it! I don't vent about them much, but it is nice to be able to vent once in awhile. My brother has a blog that he didn't think anyone would run across and he was "outted" by Walter's nephew accidentally. I'm not sure if i've mentioned on my blog that my brother, Kenny, and Walter's nephew, Tommy, have been best friends for 20 years. They both live in Georgia now and Kenny had posted a story on his blog about seeing Tommy's apartment on fire on the 6 o'clock news one night! Tommy thought the blog was a good way to show everyone the story and to let them know about the fire, so he sent a link to all of his family, including us! I read the story about the fire and then decided to scroll through the rest of the blog and found this:

(From 2003) Considering the wife and I spent a total of just 41 hours in Louisiana this weekend for our Bizarre Family Pre-Christmas Christmas celebration, it was an eventful time. The highlights:
• The adoptive mother of my niece - who my middle sister gave up for adoption 21 years ago and rediscovered a couple of years back - came to dinner. Now I know why my niece always figured she was adopted. “Mom” is a troll, and clearly shares no genes with my niece, who is a really beautiful girl (if you look past the heavy Baton Rouge makeup and trashy style).
• My oldest nephew (second child of the middle sister) was working Saturday, so he came by Friday night with his girlfriend.
• My second-oldest nephew (first child of my oldest sister) brought his girlfriend along as well. They are both 18, neither finished high school, both work fast-food jobs and they live together not far from my oldest sister in Texas. I'd not met the girlfriend before, and was quite prepared to disapprove. Would you believe I came away liking and respecting her? She”s pushing the nephew back toward school and seems to give him the structure his life had lacked for a long time.
• The third-oldest nephew (second child of my oldest sister) is working on a hip-hop career, sports a new bottom-lip piercing and chain smokes with the approval of his mom. He's 16. But he's “off the dope” as my sister says, is making good grades and wants to be a landscape architect. The bright hope of the family.
• My youngest nephew (the third child of my middle sister) is going into 6th grade next year and just got accepted at Jimmy Swaggart's Christian school. And this is seen as a good thing … Public eduction in Louisiana is so bad, you see, that kids are better off with a Swaggart education than an East Baton Rouge Parish Schools one.
• I found out Saturday morning that my stepfather had invited his 30-year-old adopted son (my adopted step-brother, I suppose) down from North Louisiana for our Pre-Christmas Christmas dinner. He had no where else to go, I was told, because his younger brother (biological and also adopted by my stepfather) doesn't want him around because the older brother has recently gotten married to his (the older brother's) first wife's cousin. The younger brother is still friends with that first wife, and thus does not want his older brother - or the wife's cousin, I suppose - around at Christmas. The beat-down Oldsmobuick carrying my adopted step-brother, his cousin-in-law-turned-second-wife and four little redneck kids of varying heritage pulled up right as we were walking in the house Saturday. Taking in the Redneck spectacle on a security-camera monitor (a leftover from the Baton Rouge serial killer days) - my long-lost niece asked “Does the little kid have a mullet??”
• My parents were talking about finding the Paris Hilton sex video on the Internet … but the video they described was not the Paris Hilton video. I was scared to learn more about what they were actually watching, and why.
• My crazy aunt (the wife of my mother's oldest brother) showed up right as we were leaving Saturday night. Actually, her car appeared on the security monitor as we were beginning to leave, which greatly hastened our exit. This is the woman, you see, who two years ago crashed our close-family gift exchange and was so horrified to not have presents to give us that she excused herself ("I need to run out to the car"), snuck off to Walgreen”s, bought a few sets of cheap Christmas dinnerware and two hours later came back with makeshift gifts for all of us. No, none of us had presents for her.
• Somehow in all the excitement, I came down with Pink Eye.
I blame the kid with the mullet.

Now, this scene describes a family Christmas get-together at my house!!! I was pretty preturbed after reading this, although I do see the humor in it, but it taught me to be careful what I say on my blog, because you never know who may run across it! He's never posted anything about his family again either!

Saturday - day 6 with no power

As of this morning, 55% of our parish has power, so I'm hopeful that ours will come back on before the end of the weekend. My neighbor is convinced it will be today, and I hope he is right! Power or no power, I will be back at work on Monday. The schools in my parish do have electricity, so we'll go back Monday and the kids go back Tuesday. My west side schools may not be able to open for awhile though, so I hope things are ok over there. Baton Rouge's schools are not going to go back next week, although i'm not sure why that decision was made this early. It seems like they are in better shape there than we are with the exception of a couple of neighborhoods.

Walter & I took the boys last night to get some Military MRE's (Meal - Ready to Eat) meals and ice that was being given out in our area. The meals are completely self contained and includes an entree, crackers, instant coffee/tea, dessert, and a heater to heat the main entree. It's a pretty amazing idea and the food doesn't taste bad. I think it's great that FEMA provides food for those who need it. We wont go back for more because the stores are open and we are able to buy food, but we wanted to show the boys what was going on and let them have the MRE's. You get 12 in a box, so they split them up and are going to have them over the next few days. If you've never seen an MRE (this is only my 2nd time), they are amazing!


Then we went to Brewbachers for dinner and let the boys shoot a game of pool and enjoy the air conditioning for a little bit. This morning, Walter & I went to Walmart to re-stock our groceries. It is starting to look like Hurricane Ike may have his sights set on Louisiana and honestly, I don't know if we can take it.

I am really frustrated with my mom. She & my step-dad, John, live about an hour from us and were planning to come over here on Wednesday after being without power at all for 2 days and I have always let them know that they are welcome here. She had called and they were getting their things together to come here when I mentioned that the boys were here. She said, "oh, those boys are there? Will they be there the whole time?" I said, yes, as long as they don't have power at their houses, they will be here. She said, "oh then we will just drive to Houston (5 hours during normal times) because John needs the house to be quiet so he can work on his book." Now, just let me say that as much as I love John, he is the LOUDEST person you'll ever be around. Once he wakes up at 5am, nobody else in the house will get anymore sleep. He wears hearing aids in both ears and keeps the tv LOUD and talks LOUD, but I was willing to deal with that to have them here, safe, and enjoying the electricity that we have. I found it very selfish that they were only concerned with themselves and told my mom that. I also told her that besides the 3 boys, there could be other people here at any time because we invited anyone who needed a place to go. Times like this call for people to do what they have to do for each other and selfishness wont get you very far, especially if you need to stay at someone else's house. I was most upset with the way she talked about those boys as if they were animals, and don't forget, one is her grandson! She's never been a grandmother to my kids or my sister's, and that is something that hurts me often, especially now that my brother has a baby that she has decided that she DOES want to be a grandmother, but that's a whole nother post! Anyway, I suggested that they find other options for future storms unless they can handle fitting in with a house full of people and making the best of it. They are lucky they were able to get to Houston and that may not always be an option. Anywho, thanks for letting me vent!!

Walter thinks he has spotted an alligator living in our boat slip and i'm a little freaked out by that. The water is up over the sides of the boat slip, which would mean an alligator could walk on up into my back yard. He went out to try to take pictures of it, but didn't see it again.

Don't forget to watch my friend, Mover Dave, on Playhouse Disney on September 10th!! Here is a link to their website with games and activities for your kids. They already have a huge following and are teaching wonderful lessons to kids, so go check it out!! I grew up with Mover Dave and am extremely proud of how far they have come!!

Wednesday

So, here we are! And yes, we've been here many times before, but this seems to be the worst yet. The electric companies say that it could be 2 - 4 weeks before everyone has power again. Walter is certain after seeing the damage for himself that it will be a month before we have power again. I really don't think it will be that long, especially with all of the help that is coming from electric companies in other areas. We will have to wait and see who is right!! There are 2 main electric companies and fortunately, we are with DEMCO, the smaller of them. In Baton Rouge, Entergy has about 250,000 people without power, whereas in our area, DEMCO has about 90,000, so maybe our company will get to use quicker.

Regardless, we are doing fine with our backup generator. The propane for our generator is expensive though, and the truck will have to come at least once a week to keep our tank full. My next door neighbor's backup generator still isn't working, but someone is supposed to be coming out to look at it today. We had them over for some of Walter's homemade Gumbo last night, but they haven't wanted to stay here. They have a gas generator running their refrigerator, a fan, and a couple of lights. I will say again that our backup generator is probably the best investment we have ever made. I wish now we'd splurged and gotten one that runs the whole house (a/c and all), but we are far from being uncomfortable here and I feel extremely lucky to be riding out this time with a house full of power.

It is being said that the winds and wind gusts during Hurricane Gustav equal Hurricane Betsy's in 1964. Betsy was the worst storm here in many years. We are starting to see a few gas stations open and it looks like today there are more groceries stores opening using generator power. Walter & I did our hurricane supply shopping thinking it would just be the two of us here, then Cameron decided to ride the storm out here rather than his dad's house, then we adopted Bryce & Bradley through the storm, so i've been worried about running out of drinks and snacks (which obviously aren't necessities, but we enjoy them), but so far we are doing ok. I may try to get out tomorrow and pick up some more.

Cameron & I don't have school/work until at least Monday. I can't imagine that the schools will have electricity next week and there is no type of generator systems in the schools, so there is no way to go until all of that is back on. I guess they'll have to shorten our other holidays throughout the year to make up for the days or something.

All of our families and friends are doing ok. My brother-in-law, Ed, had some damage from falling trees at his house, but nobody was hurt. My parents were going to come out and stay with us today, but when I told them we had 3 teenage boys here, they decided to go to Houston to my sister's house. God forbid, someone have to spend time with teenagers, much less their own grandson! My step-son, Sean, & his girlfriend tried to come here from Baton Rouge yesterday, but they couldn't find gas to get here. I've kept in touch with my friends throughout the storm and everyone seems to be doing ok. I'm grateful for that!

I haven't left the house other than a couple of trips down the street. There are still trees and power lines in the roads everywhere you go and I really don't have any desire to get caught in that!! We went to visit with Cathy, Brent, & their house guests last night, and then Cathy & Brent came down here to drink hurricanes and get a break from their house guests! Today, Cameron, Bryce, Bradley & I will be cleaning up trash in the yard.

Are you smarter than my Wizard?

My last post about my dilemma regarding our airline tickets wasn't so much a plea for advice as a chance to see if anyone thinks like Walter the Wizard. I sure don't, so I was just curious. And really it wont be the end of the world if we lose the $300 and can use the other $500 for a credit on airfare if used in the next 12 months, but honestly, we'd love to just have the money back if possible. I told Walter what the policy was: there is a travel advisory in our area on our flight, so we could reschedule the flight within a week without losing any money, but we have nowhere to fly to and no time off from work to go anywhere next week. BUT, if the airline cancels the flight, we can get a full refund, so he said to reschedule another flight for the exact time the hurricane is hitting New Orleans and the airports will shut down and cancel all flights!! I was like....DOH!! Good idea!! So, I rescheduled our flight for Tuesday, September 2nd around 10am lol. Now, if somehow that doesn't work out, we'll just call and cancel and use the $500 credit later, but I really think he has made this happen.

I appreciated all of your suggestions and advice. I do have to address one comment in particular. And that would be Joe. My dear, beloved Joe. I have known Joe for 12+ years and have to alert the public that there is generally a hidden message in his comments and I had to laugh when I read his ideas today. He is asking me in his own little way to tell about my birthday weekend in New Orleans about 10 years ago. I can't remember which birthday, but Walter & I were dating then, so let's say 1999. Did we party like it was 1999? YES!! We had a large group of friends meeting in New Orleans for dinner somewhere (my friend, Dena, my secret blog reader will have to email me the name of the restaurant) and to go hang out in the French Quarter. We got to the hotel to check in and were in a hurry because there were a lot of people waiting for us at the restaurant. Now, i'm not good with details, but Joe is, so maybe he can fill in the blanks or correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like Walter, Joe, myself, and maybe another friend (Tammie?) got to our hotel room to open my gifts quickly and then get to dinner. When we got to the room, someone else was in it! I ended up having to open my gifts in the hall and we had no room at all. I had a piece of that hotel manager for dinner (not literally) and by the time I finished with him, he gave us the room free (and this was a nice hotel) and offered to bring us to the restaurant to make sure we made it on time, but we drove ourselves, giggling all the way. But really, I was mad. I don't mind paying for anything, but I get mad when I have to pay for something that is wrong. So anyway, thanks for the comment & the laugh Joe!

There are evacuations being ordered, including some areas around us, but mostly because they are low lying areas. Our house is up high and we are not in any danger of flooding, even living on the river. The worst we can expect as far as flooding is being trapped at home due to surrounding roads, but I'm ok with that. We have plenty of food, water, and will never lose power if our generator works as planned, so it will be ok. I am betting that we wont have work/school Tuesday or Wednesday, but we'll have to wait and see how the weekend goes.

My sister-in-law, Honey (not her real name - a nickname because all 3 of my sister-in-laws are named Mary...seriously) and her family might be coming from Waveland, Mississippi to ride the storm out with us. She, her husband, and teenage son were 3 of the 4 family members that we couldn't find for days after Hurricane Katrina. I am thankful to this day that we never heard it reported on the news that Waveland was "wiped off the map" until after we knew they were safe. Walter's nieces actually braved the flooded roads and the warnings and went and rescued the 3 of them and their dad, who was with them. We tried to help them, but could not buy gas anywhere to make the drive. Honey & the others didn't stay in their homes during Katrina, but went to a hotel MILES away from the beach to ride out the storm. A 35 foot wall of water sucked the houses off their slabs and flooded the city for miles. They were in a 2 story Holiday Inn and thought the 150 people there would have to go on the roof during the storm (150mph winds) to escape the flooding water that was almost COVERING the hotel, but fortunately, they didn't have to. A tornado destroyed all of their cars in the parking lot, as if they would have survived the floods anyway. So yeah, if they want to LEAVE Waveland this time, I welcome them in our house! Fortunately, she is boarding her THREE Bassett Hounds & ONE Blood Hound! I can imagine how much my cats would enjoy their company!

Work was crazy, buzy again today. I met with some kids I hadn't gotten to yet and got my schedule all worked out. I also did some planning with my co-worker for our Why Try groups that we will start next week. I'm excited about that!

As previously mentioned, I grew up with Mover Dave of the Imagination Movers! I've known him since I was probably 12 years old and i'm so proud of how far they've come in such a short time. Something you might find interesting, some of the Imagination Movers lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina! Anywho, Mover Dave's mom sent this link to my mom - the Imagination Movers were on the news talking about their Disney show. I haven't figured out how to save this video and post it, but here is the link!

http://ws.mymovo.com/Search/servlet/PlayServlet?reqsrc=RSS&title=+The+Imagination+Movers!+&providerName=ABC+News

I hope everyone has a safe weekend!!! Thanks for all of your prayers & support!! Hang in there Louisiana girls!!!

Sunday

Walter came home around 4pm from his "brothers weekend" in Mississippi. I sent my camera with him and like a good husband, he took some pictures!! They caught/cooked fish yesterday and checked their crab traps today and boiled crabs for lunch. Boiled crabs are one of my favorite things to eat and yes, you know he loves me, because he brought some home for me! Yay!! That will be my after dinner snack!



In the picture above, from left to right - Walter, Brien, Ed, Rickey, & Tommy.

I haven't done much today. I took Cameron & Bryce to Taco Bell for lunch today - their choice! It's amazing to me that they'll pass up some really good eating for Taco Bell! Tropical storm Fay is passing through our area for a visit. It's been raining since I got up this morning and I guess that is what I can expect for the whole day! I don't mind though. It is pretty relaxing to sit and listen to the rain, especially on the metal roof. I am cooking the cajun crawfish casserole AGAIN tonight, but using shrimp instead of crawfish. Walter will love this casserole and it came out SO good, so I decided to make it again and show off my great cooking skills, since he missed it Friday night!

After having so much fun with my post last night, I couldn't help but "yearbook" my sister and brother-in-law and email them the pictures! Did they think it was as funny as I did? Probably not, but I got a good chuckle out of it!!

Questions & Comments:

MBKimmy asked if JP was older than Elizabeth - no, I sometimes confuse people because I call JP my older son, but that is just to distinguish him from my younger son, Cameron. Elizabeth was born 2 years before JP. Also, she asked if Elizabeth has said she had a good life - yes. She is very different from her adoptive parents. They are very quiet, sort of non-social people and Elizabeth's personality is just like mine - outgoing, loud, center of attention kind of girl. They have been very good to her and she was raised in a happy, stable, loving home. I think meeting me and my family helped her to see "the other side" and it's a good fit for her. Here is a picture of both of our families during Christmas the year after we met.

From left to right: Elizabeth, me, my sister Donna, my mom, a family friend, Elizabeth's mom, & Landen.

That's all I've got for now! Have a good rest of your weekend!!

Friday night post

I'm so glad it's Friday!! It's been a long week and I need a little rest and relaxation time! I am so excited to have a weekend alone (well, Cameron is here, but he doesn't talk to me much, so i'm pretty much alone). Walter and his 4 brothers are having a weekend alone at his oldest brother's camp in Mississippi. And when I say camp, it's only because that's what they call it. It's bigger than my house, but anyway...this is the first time in the 10 years I've been with Walter that they've ever done this and i'm really glad that they are. They lost their dad last year (he was 89) and I think even though they are already very close, it made them think about their relationships and spending some quality time together. Walter is the 7th of 8 kids and there is a 20 year age difference between the older ones and the younger ones, so that means his oldest sister & brother are in or near their 70's. So anyway, i'm glad that they are bonding with their 4am fishing trips (and very glad i'm not!) and also glad for a weekend alone. I am usually the one off visiting JP in Houston or doing things with my friends, so i'm happy that Walter is doing some of that too. And for the record, his entire family is awesome. I couldn't be luckier or have better in-laws. And I think if we ever split up, they'd keep me instead of him. I'm just sayin!

And speaking of JP, I've been worried about him since the trial was rescheduled because I haven't heard from him much and feel like he may be getting depressed. I mentioned it to my sister, and she is going to go visit him tonight. I am glad she offered. I get a little upset sometimes because he is 20 minutes from her and in the 1 & 1/2 years he's been in jail, she's maybe been to visit him twice (other than when I go and she goes along with me), so I'm glad she said she'd go tonight.

I did not have a very productive day at work. Things got off to a slow start and I just couldn't seem to pull it together!!! A couple of us changed our schedules around to pick up some things from our main office, and once we got back to our office, just couldn't get motivated! I did finally get to my school at 11, just to leave to meet the same 2 co-workers for lunch at 11:30!! Afterwards, I had a meeting that lasted most of the afternoon. I have a Kindergartner who was totally out of control last year while in Pre-K, and I sat in a class with him for a little while this afternoon and he was SO great! He's gotten on some medicine over the summer and what a difference it made. He is one reason I begged to keep that school and i'm glad I can still work with him. Braces Boy is at that school too and was in ISSP (in school suspension) again this week. GRRRRR!!!!! I also have 2 kids at my west side school that are having big issues, so I will have to try to get over there Monday and see what I can do to help, if anything. I'm pretty sure one is headed to our alternate setting school.

I am so happy to be getting more comments now since the Blog Around the World started!!! I really love meeting new people and reading other blogs, so please, leave me a comment so I can visit your page!!

Ok, so you want to hear the story of my dad. I'll warn you now, it's not pretty, but I am an open book and you can feel free to comment or ask me anything you want. First, let me say, my dad & I were never close. My parents never really planned to have children and were sort of faced with having 3 children in 4 years. I wasn't the first child or the first boy - I was the middle child and we just never bonded. My sister & brother have different memories than I do, and different from each other, so this is just the story from my point of view. And I have made peace with my father. It's hard to forgive and forget, but I have tried to understand his position and moved on with my life. But, it is my life and my story, and I do have a right to tell it, so here it is.

My dad was a business man, mostly dealing in insurance, and his business ventures were more important than anything else, including family, stability, etc. We moved so much throughout my life that I never went to the same school more than 2 years. Wherever the money was, that is where we moved, and we definitely had the money. We were pretty spoiled growing up. We always had a big home, fancy cars, in-ground pools, etc. I'm not sure when my dad first got involved with Louisiana insurance and politics, but we lived in Baton Rouge from 1970 - 1973, moved away, then moved back in 1976. My dad was involved in some state insurance business with our former (and now imprisoned) Governor Edwin Edwards. There were apparently some inside deals going on between state insurance and the governor (who should have been indicted YEARS before he actually was), and something went really wrong. Governor Edwards had co-signed a half million dollar loan for my dad, and then something happened...money was being lost, a new governor was coming into office and questions were being asked...papers were being hidden to keep Governor Edward's name from being connected to state insurance/retirement policies that didn't really have any worth - something along those lines. So, suddenly people want to talk to my dad about these things...and he is suddenly KIDNAPPED!

Now, when this happened, in 1982, I was a 16 year old pregnant teenager. My parents had separated a year earlier, but my mom didn't work and he continued to pay all of our bills. I had been living with my boyfriend for several weeks, and things weren't working out when I was notified that my father had been kidnapped. I moved back home to help my mom deal with this situation. The story was that his apartment had been "turned upside down," and there were reports of threats made against him, and he was missing. My sister (18) was pretty much into her own world with her boyfriend, and my brother (15) wasn't able to deal with things, so at 16, I helped my mom, who had been a recovering alcoholic for several months, figure out what to do. My mom had pretty much shut down and was not able to deal with what was happening. We were being sued by every company imaginable in Louisiana for debts my father owed and our house was eventually put up for sheriff's sale, our cars were repossessed, newspaper reporters were in our yard daily (thank God it was before the days of media frenzy like it is now), and we were falling fast. My paternal grandmother, Essie, lived with us, and was an amputee who had her own handicapped apartment connected to our home. Essie was the kindest, sweetest woman I have ever known, and had been living with us for 6 or 7 years, since open heart surgery complications caused her to lose a leg. So, I helped my mom find us an apartment to rent, an AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) friend of hers gave her a car to use, I found someone to buy nearly all the furniture from our 6 bedroom house that wouldn't fit in a 2 bedroom apartment, etc. It was a total nightmare, the FBI were calling non-stop looking for information on him, and he became (and i'm quoting from a book) "the most famous missing person in Louisiana since 1968." An uncle of mine showed up from Georgia to rescue Essie, giving us the impression that she would be moving in with 2 sisters of hers, but then put her in a nursing home. If I wasn't already broken by that time, that broke me. I also had to make the decision to give my baby up for adoption because there was no way we could take care of a new baby when we weren't sure how we were going to take care of ourselves, but I knew this was best for the baby due to my age, so that wasn't as painful for me as what happened to Essie.

My dad had cheated on my mom for most of their marriage, and she pointed the FBI to the woman's house where he was likely living. After seeing the kidnapping story on the news, a man came forward who remembered selling a car to my dad, then the car was found at the airport. He had gone to live with a secretary/girlfriend, in Pennsylvania, leaving us to deal with his mess!! The FBI actually went to the woman's apartment to look for him and we were told later that he was hiding in the closet!! They never found him, well, until almost exactly a year after he disappeared. He was found dead of pancreatic cancer in a V.A. hospital in Pennsylvania! The girlfriend didn't even bother to call us and let us know that he was dying.

So, that is why he is in some Louisiana history books. He wasn't all that important, but what he knew about former (imprisoned) Edwin Edwards was very important to those who wanted the information. One book he is in is called "The Last Hayride." He is chapter 13. It was neat because I was able to give Elizabeth a copy of that book when we first reunited and it helped her to see what led up to my decisions about the adoption.

And there is a silver lining to every cloud, as they say! Or I think that is what they say, whoever THEY are! A local investigative reporter was doing a story about the whole Edwin Edwards fiasco and ended up dating my mom and eventually marrying her! They have been married for 20+ years now and he is way more of a father to us than my dad ever was. And yes, I have let him know that and thanked him.

Now, just when you think the story is over, there have always been rumors, some coming from my sister and brother, that my dad faked his own death and is still alive. And at the funeral, the man in the casket didn't look anything like my father, but dying so quickly from cancer can really change the way a person looks. My mother made the funeral home people show her scars that my father had to prove to her that it was him. And really, where would he have gotten a body to send to his funeral? My brother's friend told him way back when all of this was going on that his father was "in the know" on that sort of stuff and that my dad is in the witness protection program. And I have said repeatedly, if that is true, my father might want to be sure to call one of them if he's looking for us, cause I aint answering the call!! Personally, I don't buy into the rumors.

So, there you have it. Any questions or comments are welcome! I don't mind talking about any of it and it is therapeutic to talk about it sometimes.

Questions & Comments:

Kimi asked if I bought my purdy new shirt for work - yes! I like to wear my khaki or greenish khaki jeans that don't look like jeans and I love shirts that go with them! That shirt will match both pairs! And yes, my mom most certainly remembers the Girl Scout incident!!!! I don't know if she'll ever let me forget it!!

Wednesday

Kelley tagged "anyone who wants to play" in her blog, and well, I want to play!! The rules are to list 7 random facts about yourself:

1. I would have 100 cats and be the "crazy cat lady" if I was able to pull it off.

2. I was on the extended plan through college - it took me 17 years to graduate.

3. I am terrified of Geckos.

4. I was born on Friday 13th.

5. I have been told so many times that I look like Allie McBeal that it's just plain annoying.

6. My father is mentioned in some Louisiana history books.

7. I was sent home from Girl Scout camp when I was 13 and not allowed to be a girl scout any longer.

And I am tagging YOU!!! So if you want to play, go ahead!!!

That wasn't as easy as it looked! If I provoked any questions, feel free to ask! Now, on to something totally AGGRAVATING!!!!!!! I got an email from my cute little mom, who tends to send me things she gets from friends & family, and this email was to "connect to her" and join Reunion.com. Now, I'm a member of Classmates.com and similar websites, and it was free, so yeah, for my mom, I signed up! Within a minute, I got an email from one of Walter's nieces that said "did you send this to me or is it spam?" Huh? So I look at the email she forwarded, and it's from ME asking HER to "connect to me" and join Reunion.com. Rut Roh. Then I look at my gmail and my spam folder has suddenly got 50 spam emails in it, so I look at them and they were undeliverable attempts to send invitations to join Reunion.com. Then the craziness began. I realized quickly (I'm just smart like that) that Reunion.com had emailed everyone in my address book - over 300 people, businesses, work contacts, etc. I got Walter the Wizard to help me and he researched it to find that it doesn't seem to be a virus - just a way to get your email address book. I changed my gmail password, then bit the bullet and sent an email to EVERYONE in my address book to say DON'T OPEN THAT EMAIL FROM REUNION.COM!!! What a mess. My friend, Dana, emailed me to ask what to do if she joined the site??? She said she didn't have any addresses in her work email account, but that she was using her work account and would be in big trouble if it emailed the entire company. We prayed a bit over that and nobody ever said anything, so we think she was spared!! Anyway, how annoying that people would create programs to do things like this. Hopefully, it's over and done and I wont fall prey to something like this again. And don't you either!!!

I had an all day training at work today, which was about teaching replacement behaviors to kids and it was pretty interesting. I really want to focus on helping kids change their behaviors this year, so I was glad to have some new information. Plus, we went out to eat lunch and that always makes me happy! We went to the Picadilly and I had some really good roast beef! Yum! I am alittle behind in seeing my kids due to being in a meeting all day, so i'm going to try to catch up tomorrow. It is taking me awhile to get all their schedules straight and decide when to pull them from class. I also have to fit a lot of meetings into my schedule, which I didn't have too much of last year, so it is going to be a challenge, but I'm up to it!

Walter & I went to Hilltop tonight with Cathy & Brent. It's not steak night, but Cathy & I got steaks anyway. Tomorrow night Walter & Cathy have to go to the homeowners association board meeting, so we had to move steak night up again, which is fine with me. Hilltop isn't nearly as crowded on Wednesdays as it is Thursday - Friday. If you get there past 6 on one of those days, you will find a 1 - 2 hour wait for food AFTER you've waited 1/2 hour or more for a table! But anyway, it was really good tonight and I am STUFFED!

Well, I lied (not intentionally though) when I said we were going to wait to buy furniture for the porch. Walter was at Lowe's last night and saw some rocking chairs that he liked, so he got 2 and a little matching table. We will wait and get a small sofa set later. We tried the chairs in 2 spots, but I like them best in the 2nd picture where they are facing the river. They are really cute and were only $85 each.


This weekend Walter and his 4 brothers are having a "guys only" weekend in Pass Christian, Mississippi at his oldest brother's camp. I am planning a quiet, do nothing weekend and am excited about that! I don't get many of those weekends. I need to sit down and look at our budget for the month that I don't think is going well, which is probably why I'm ignoring it. I will also probably read blogs for 2 days straight cause i'm really enjoying that lately!!!

Sunday night

Cameron & I got home from our weekend trip to Georgia this evening, and all in all, it was a good trip. We got to spend a lot of time with my brother and his family as well as my 2nd cousin & her husband (both are turning 80 this year!) We rode with my mom & step-dad and the trip there & back was pretty uneventful. I was surprised to see what the fuss is all about that Lake Lanier is very LOW. My cousin lives on the lake and has had a BEACH rather than lakefront property for the last couple of years!!!

My cousin's house is behind the trees and all of this beach property is usually Lake Lanier!!!

Most of the owners have "rolling docks" that they push further & further out as the lake dries up! And Atlanta's water supply comes from this lake! Yikes!

I grew up with frequent visits from my cousin & her husband and haven't seen them in several years. I have never been to their house and was really in awe of how beautiful it is. We spent 2 nights there and drove an hour to visit my brother in Atlanta each day. She & Cameron hit it off great and spent most of the weekend playing games and being silly!

Daphne's 1st birthday was a lot of fun! We got to spend a lot of time with her before the party, and that was nice. The big stuffed Elmo that I gave her was definitely her favorite toy! She pulled it to her and gave Elmo a hug when she saw him! It was cute!





Before the cake....
After the cake!!

Walter went crazy working in the yard while I was gone! It was too late to take pictures of his projects this evening (we had to spend some time swinging instead!!), but i'll take some tomorrow. He met us at the Picadilly about 30 minutes from our house and we had dinner with my parents and he brought us home.

And the guy who looked at my car called to say that he found another car and was going to buy it, so i'll have to wait and hope that someone else calls. I really don't have a backup plan if someone buys my car, so that shows me that I need to probably actually go find the car dealer and deal that I want before I go getting rid of my car! But that was an exciting thought for a few days!!!

I go back to work on Wednesday and i'm really ready and excited, although it's hard to give up these lazy summer days!!

Sunday

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

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

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

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

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

Rocking chairs will likely go here under the windows.

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

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

Have a fun Sunday!

Wednesday

Once again, I had absolutely nothing planned today and I am very happy about that!! There is nothing better to me than sleeping late and doing whatever I want!! My cats actually let me sleep until 9, which is late for them! I got a little housework done, but nothing major. I wanted to try and get some painting done (remember my goal of painting one day each week all summer??), and I painted 2 door frames and 1 door in our bathroom! That may not sound like much, but everything needs THREE coats of paint, so it takes a while to paint anything. I have only painted one other time this summer and got 1 door and 1 frame painted, then Walter came home with all that sand for the pool, so I stopped to help with that. Maybe one day our house will really be finished, but i'm not sure when that will be!

My mission this month is to create a budget and then figure out a way for us to stick to it. I have been analyzing our spending and have come to realize that we just spend money randomly with no idea of how much "extra" money we really have to spend. I have my budget all figured out to the penny by using my Microsoft Money data from the last year to get an accurate idea of what we really spend. I have cut a couple of things WAY back, like eating out and random shopping trips to Walmart, Lowes, Old Navy, etc. We have already cut back from eating out 4 or 5 times a week to 2, but i'm setting a goal to aim for just once, and yes, of course that would be steak night!!! It's ridiculous to spend as much as we do on groceries and then still spend a small fortune eating out at night. Our friends, Cathy & Brent eat out nearly every night, so it is hard to turn down all their offers! This week worked out well though because they invited us to dinner at their house Monday night instead of going out to eat, so we need to make a point to invite them over too.

I finally finished reading "The Appeal" by John Grisham last night. It was a good book and I enjoyed reading it, but the ending was not great and kind of disappointing to me. I am reading "A Good Yarn" by Debbie Macomber now and so far it is pretty good. It is paperback, so I can read it while i'm floating in the pool without too much trouble.

Here is a picture of Cameron with his braces off. He finally let me get a shot of his pearly whites, but it wasn't easy!! He & Bryce went to spend the night at Bradley's last night, so I caught him with the camera on his way out! Maybe i'm prejudiced, but I think he's such a cute kid. Girls have been after him since he was in 2nd grade. Some girls once hid his shoes at a birthday party so he couldn't leave! He wasn't real amused by that! A lot of people say he looks like Ringo Starr. Anyway, here's my boy giving me my 1 promised picture post-braces:

Once again, i'm loving Louisiana's governor, Bobby Jindal! As a social worker, mental health care is really important to me and the lack of available care is disturbing in our area. Our great governor not only noticed the problem, but here is what he is doing about it:

Our package of bills in the recently completed regular session consisted of five pieces of legislation, and more than $89 million in funds committed to support mental health care services. One example of legislation that was passed was Nicola's law, named after slain New Orleans Police Officer Nicola Cotton, which gives judges the ability to order mandatory outpatient treatment for mentally ill patients who may be a danger to society when not provided with supervision. We have also signed into law legislation that will create mental health crisis centers, which will swiftly and accurately detail a patient's specific mental health needs. We also passed a law that will allow us to use technology to provide better services for mental health patients. Our new legislation will allow doctors to carry out exams on patients who may be deemed dangerous to themselves or society via telemedicine, drastically decreasing wait times and getting health services to those in need much quicker. We will continue working to improve our entire mental health system and infrastructure in order to best provide for the needs of all Louisianians. Our mental health system has been ignored and allowed to decay for too long, and it is past time that we ensure that mental health patients have access to the help they need.

No weight loss today. I guess losing something every day is asking too much. I had scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast, sauteed squash & zucchini (leftover from yesterday) for lunch along with some string cheese, and 2 delicious BUBBA burgers with mayo & cheese for dinner. My newest addiction is Coke Zero and i'm trying to cut back on drinking them and drink more water. Yay to Kim & Kelley for their hard work on their diets!!! Keep up the good work girls!!!

My sister found out this week that her oldest son is having a baby girl in November. He is currently serving a 45 day sentence in jail for a drug charge and has a 1 year old son (with a different girl) who my sister keeps EVERY weekend while my nephew does nothing (and pays nothing). I want to be excited about the new baby, and it's certainly not the baby's fault, but I'm so worried that my sister will have to take on this baby too. She works full-time and is trying to get accepted into graduate school and as much as she loves keeping Elijah, it is taking a toll on her. I hope that my nephew and his girlfriend will be responsible for this baby and allow my sister to enjoy her rather than be responsible. And really...should the baby be raised in a home where the parents use and sell drugs? I only cause fights when I open my mouth, so I don't anymore, but it's disgusting to me and it's scary how these children can and probably will be taken from their parents when something happens. I've made my concerns clear, but as i've said before, my sister turns a blind eye to the drugs and makes excuses for everyone because she doesn't know what to do about it.

I heard tonight that JonBenet Ramsey's family has been cleared in her murder, but I still have a question. They are saying that the tiny DNA molecules found on JonBenet's pajamas that science now has the capability to test does not belong to anyone in the Ramsey household. Whoever touched the pajamas left DNA on them. JonBenet's father picked her up after finding her, so why isn't his DNA on the pajamas too? Sorry, but i'm still skeptical.

I am hoping to get my grandson, Landen, to spend the night this weekend. His social life is quite busy, so I haven't been able to see him. Elizabeth told me the other day that she accidentally ran over Hunter (the kitten I gave him). Landen was very attached to his kitty and I plan to offer to get him another one IF Elizabeth will keep the kitty inside. Here is a picture of Elizabeth, Landen, & Mack.

Sunday

Walter dropped me off at Walmart this morning while he went to Lowes. Hopefully, I wont have to go shopping again for a couple of weeks. I bought a lot of veggies to snack on and some sugar free jello and string cheese!! I have already lost 4 lbs. since we got back Thursday! 11 more to go!! Today, I made bacon & cheese omelets for breakfast, hamburgers for lunch (no bun for me!) and I baked chicken and some more "pretend mashed potatoes," and asparagus for dinner.

This is Walter's latest project around the house: a shower for rinsing off on the pier. I am quite sure i'll never swim in the river, so I doubt I'll use the shower, but i'm sure the boys will. The next project is the pier and also the screened in porch once our neighbor has time to come over and work on it with Walter. He gave us a price that is about 1/2 of the other bids we got, so i'm excited! He also came up with a plan to put a wall on the end of the porch by the "bad cat" neighbor's house that will block our view of them. When they are on the corner of their porch, they can look right into our house!

Walter & I had a nice swim in the pool this afternoon! It was a beautiful day, but very hot, so we really enjoyed being able to jump in the pool and cool off. The temperature in the water was 90 degrees!!

My mom, step-dad, sister, Cameron, Walter, & I are planning to go to Atlanta around the 1st of August for my niece, Daphne's 1st birthday party! We will be staying with my cousin who has a house on Lake Lanier, so i'm looking forward to the trip! Walter will be out of town on business right before the trip, so he may not end up being able to go, but we'll play it by ear as the trip gets closer. I also may be heading back to Houston in a week or so if JP's co-defendant's trial happens as planned. I want to sit in on that and see what is said and what the verdict is. I am expecting that trial date to be reset too, but it's anybody's guess in the criminal justice system! I got a letter from JP yesterday and he is doing good. He's a little frustrated at the trial being postponed once again and just the not knowing, but he seems to be handling it ok. I sent him some family pictures that he should get soon and that usually helps him feel connected to home. I sure do miss that boy!

Happy 4th of July!!

HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!!!! I hope everyone has a relaxing, fun day and finds their own way to celebrate our freedom!!!

We didn't do much today other than unpack and unwind after the trip. We normally celebrate the 4th with Walter's family in Waveland, but decided to stay home and enjoy a quiet weekend.

I have been having such a hard time figuring out how to answer comments that people leave on my page. Do people really go back and look for a response after leaving a comment? Sometimes I email the response to a question, but then I wonder if other people wonder what the answer was. I have decided to answer questions on the following post if anyone comments about something that I think other people might want to hear. There were 2 yesterday, so here is my response:

Mere suggested getting a wrist watch for Sean after the incident on the cruise. I would like to mention that not only did he not have his watch with him, he also did not have his cell phone, passport, or much money, so it would have been a disaster had he missed the ship. I will look into the watch, but am not sure he would wear it!

Kimi (Keykin) asked if I was scared to hold the monkey in the picture and the answer is YES!! The monkey didn't really want me to hold it and kept jumping back to the man. It was free to hold the monkey but $10 if someone wanted to take your picture with it!!! I made sure I held it long enough for a picture! And yes, I did freak about the incident with Sean. I had to go talk to the security people about where we last saw him and they made it very clear that we were sailing with or without him. We learned later that when someone doesn't make it back, they clear out their cabin and leave all their stuff with the Mexican security people so they will have it when they show up. You can imagine how our trip would have been ruined having to sail off without him.

As I expected, I gained my 6 lbs. back while on the cruise (or maybe it followed me there??), so I am back on my Atkins diet today. I intend to lose 15 lbs. (which I haven't managed to do in 5 or more years) and then try to maintain that weight. I am not really overweight except for my stomach and hips and just want to fit into my clothes without anything bulging out over the sides!!! I started off the day right with scrambled eggs and bacon.

Here are some more pictures from the cruise. It was incredible how beautiful and blue the water was, especially in Cozumel.

Claire celebrated her 4th birthday on our last night at sea! The waitstaff on the ship was incredible with the children in our group and really spoiled them rotten!!!
This is my sister-in-law, Mady & I sitting on the deck chillin.
This is the dessert section of the midnight buffet. I have to say that most of the food looked much better than it actually was, which is probably why I only gained 6 lbs. instead of 16!!
Ice sculpture.
Some cool looking squash bird thingies.
Me & Elvis in Progreso.
This is where we spent much of our time just hanging out!
Part of our group in the theater watching a show.
A conga line at dinner - notice Cameron is at the end of the line having a great time!
Cameron, Sean, & Walter.
Shannon & Addie got chosen to play "Sea Feud" which is like Family Feud. The crowd thought it was hilarious that they went up in their bathing suits!!
The staff singing to us on our last night at sea. Notice Shannon & Addie are up there with them!
A hammock that Walter bought for me!
Miniature golf course on the ship.
Blue, blue, blue water!
We docked in Progreso next to the Ecstasy (sailed out of Galveston).
And we docked in Cozumel next to the Triumph (sailed out of Miami). There were 4 cruise ships on the day we were there. They said in the winter, they get up to 11 per day!
Cameron & the monkey.