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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And the power just came back on!! Yay!

Yes, it's STEAK NIGHT!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Weary Wednesday

I have been so tired today!! I think it's from being so lazy last week. 3 of my schools finally got power back today, so those kids will hopefully go back on Friday. I've heard there is mold starting to grow in the schools, so I hope things will be ok to go back. I've been going to my other school every day and don't really have much to do there. I had 2 other groups scheduled to start this week, but with the "hurricane holidays" as one of my students called it, we didn't get to do it.
My next door neighbors (the very nice but overly involved in our lives ones) once again crossed the line yesterday. They have their very obnoxious, demanding 7 year old great niece and her mother staying with them until their power returns in Baton Rouge. I told them when we first put the pool up that the little girl was welcome to use the pool anytime, as long as someone was watching her, and she has used the pool several times over the summer (but nobody is ever out there watching her). Then, a few weeks ago we had to drain part of the pool to fix a leaking valve and when we filled the pool back up, the water was green and we've been working to get the chemicals right again. Then we had rain for 2 weeks, then a hurricane, so we're still getting the pool right. When we first put the pool up, it took several days of pouring bleach and pool chemicals in the pool and then it turned a pretty blue and all was good, so we began that process again. I told the neighbor and her niece not to let the little girl go in the pool because the chemicals were not right and we've been putting some strong things in it. So, I come home from work yesterday and see my neighbor who says, "the kids are in the pool having a great time!" I'm like, "kids?" She said her little niece had a friend over, and they were in the pool. I said, "the chemicals are not right in the pool and we've been pouring straight bleach in it everyday." She said, "oh I told my niece that, but she said it was ok!" Me, "hmmm, really?" So I go inside and look in the back yard and sure enough there are 2 little girls in the pool with no adult in sight. And they're doing the 2 things I've asked them not to do (which might lead to a LEAKY VALVE) which are sitting on the rim of the pool (it's a $300 Walmart pool!) and jumping off the ladder. So, I yelled out the back door, "y'all shouldn't be in the pool! It isn't ready for people to get in it!" The 7 year old yells back at me, "well my mom said we could!!!" I yell back, "OHHHHHH well then I guess you can!!" About that time they both got out and ran to tell on me, but never came back so i'm guessing someone realized it's actually MY pool and told them to stay out. So, this morning, I took the ladder out! I'm sure someone is going to fuss at me about that!

The water finally went down in the river and we can see our dock again, and talk about NASTY!!!! There is a foot of stinky mud stuck to everything and we've been told to get it off now or it hardens and becomes impossible to get off. Walter & I went and scrubbed and hosed it off last night and will go back out tonight and do it again. Apparently, the plants that decompose in the water after a storm like this take the oxygen out of the water and all of the fish are at the top of the water gasping for air! It's the saddest thing i've ever seen! Before long there will be dead fish EVERYWHERE and it will smell terrible. We are probably going to have to cancel Walter's party on the 20th, but we are going to wait until this weekend and decide how bad it's going to be. I remember after Hurricane Katrina how awful the smell was for weeks. I also heard from a neighbor today that a tornado hit at the condos where we lived during Katrina right before Hurricane Gustav, which would explain why all the chimneys were ripped off the building. The scary thing is that the condos are only a mile from where we live now! How scary is that! My friend said she saw the tornado and was so scared that she got her husband and dog in the car to try to out run it, but that the funnel cloud went the other way and then dissapated.


I went to Walmart after work today and picked up some things, including a DiGiornos pizza for dinner. I thought we were going to dinner with Cathy & Brent tonight because Brent will be leaving in the morning to go out of town, but Cathy said she'll just go with Walter & I tomorrow night for steak night. So, my point was, I didn't have anything in mind for dinner tonight, so I took the easy way out!

Award Wednesday!!!

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

Here are the rules:

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

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

2. Mere at The Babblings of Mere

3. Tam at Momma Song

4. Nik at Exceptional Voyage

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

6. Kat at Mama's Losin It

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

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

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

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

Questions & Comments:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tuesday

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a great night!!

Cats and Dogs

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

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

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

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

Steak night!!

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

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

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

Me: "yeah, I got it."

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

Me: "uh huh."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh yeah...

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

Saturday

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

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


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

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

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

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

Master bedroom

Cameron's room

1/2 bath downstairs

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

Saturday

We enjoyed a nice, lazy, rainy Saturday hanging out at home with Cameron & Landen. I haven't seen much of Cameron, but he does come downstairs searching for food, so I do know that he is here! Landen & I got in a little swimming time before the rain started, and he was SO proud of himself that he was able to walk on his own into the middle of the pool. Elizabeth said that he will never leave the side of a pool even when he can stand up, so she was excited to hear it to. We had to take a picture with the camera to show her (since her new lab puppy ate her cell phone) because Landen said his mom would be VERY happy!

Walter & Landen fished some this afternoon and caught a lot of fish, but most were small and they threw them back in the river. They got caught in a sudden rain storm in the middle of their fishing time, so it was cut short. Landen is spending the night again tonight and then has to go home tomorrow for a crawfish boil.

Here is a picture of our 2 cats. J.J. (aka GoGo) who is abnormally large for a cat, but is a really sweet boy. My friend, Kathy, came over once and saw him and asked me "what IS that?" I guess she thought he was some sort of panda bear or something!!

And this is Nadda (named because he's Nadda our cat) who is so scared of people, other than me, that he lives in our bedroom closet and only comes out when I'm the only one home or at night after Walter goes to sleep. Nadda sleep with me, sometimes on my pillow, and is really affectionate with me. He was completely feral (wild) living under the deck of the bad cat neighbor's house nearly 3 years ago when we were building our house and I bonded with him over many months of trying. He was about 6 months old and I couldn't leave him to whatever fate he would meet, especially considering that he is terrified of people. Most feral cats only bond with 1 person, if at all, unless you can socialize them before they are 8 weeks old. He is on anxiety medicine, which helps a little bit, and he is able lately to walk into the room with Walter or Cameron here, as long as nobody moves!!! He's Nadda our cat because I stole him without asking the neighbors and never told them what happened to him when they were looking for him! They had never been able to pet him, but at the time, they did still feed the cats outside, including his mama cat, KiKi, who disappeared to Houston with my sister!

I talked to my neighbor, Lou, this afternoon and she is doing really well, thank goodness! She was outside walking around and trying to get some exercise. Her doctor told her that the triple bypass surgery would be like having her tonsils taken out, so I asked her if that had proven to be true...ummm no! She has plenty of relatives cooking for her right now, so we promised her some gumbo next week.

We grilled steaks tonight and are just hanging out at home. We have the Jetson's movie on DVR and are planning to watch that. Landen has been creating art work all day and insisted that I take pictures, so here are a couple of them.

Enjoy your Saturday night!

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!

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!

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.