Girl Scout Cookies Anyone???

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Man: Can I speak to Susan?

Me: You have the wrong number.

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

Me: Yes, but there is no Susan here.

Man: Do you know a Susan Webb?

Me: YOU HAVE THE WRONG NUMBER!!!

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

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

Man: Ok, bye Grumpy!

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

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

Award Wednesday!!!

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

Here are the rules:

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

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

2. Mere at The Babblings of Mere

3. Tam at Momma Song

4. Nik at Exceptional Voyage

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

6. Kat at Mama's Losin It

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

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

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

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

Questions & Comments:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!!

Sunday

Mr. Wizard finished the pier/dock yesterday and it really came out great! He is going to stain the wood at some point, probably a grayish color, but he's still working on picking the right look for it. Here are some pictures of the completed job.




So, we went back to Home Depot today to decide about the really cool swing we saw there. It was on sale for $350 and we both really liked it. It was very comfortable, lays down into a bed (now why would I need a bed on the river?), and is made of very sturdy aluminum that shouldn't rust. We also saw some swings for $75 & $80 but they weren't nearly as nice or comfy, so we bit the bullet and got it. It is still in a box in the back of Walter's truck (hoping some nice neighbor will volunteer to help get it out!!!), but here is a picture from Home Depot's website.
There was a lot of commotion out on the river yesterday. Someone drowned about a mile down from us trying to save a friend, according to the news. There are usually some drinking related drownings that happen each summer, but I haven't heard yet if alcohol is suspected in the accident. Drinking is a hobby out here and it's for exactly that reason that I worry a lot about people and what they decide to do on boats and in the water.

I am running fever again and plan to call my doctor tomorrow and see what she thinks. I have to go to a training at work, so hopefully I can get an appointment after that. It's just such a pain to drive to Baton Rouge (40 minutes + traffic) just for her tell me to let it run its course, but then again, maybe there is something she can do.

With the month of July almost over, I am SO proud of my budgetting project! We stayed within our budget on nearly everything this month, especially eating out! We had been spending between $400 - $600 A MONTH eating out! How crazy is that? This month we've spent $200, and that is a huge change to me. We really enjoy eating out, but we need to plan better and look at what we're actually spending, and what we were spending was ridiculous.

Questions & Comments:

Chelle asked if I put Nadda (cat) on anxiety medicine. Yes, the vet suggested it when I brought him in for a checkup. I can tell a big difference on the days he takes it and on the days I forget to give it to him. When we moved to the new house, he got to where he never came out of the closet at all, for months, and the 1st day he took the medicine, that night, he just came walking downstairs and into the living room like it was nothing. He'll still do that now, but if anyone gets up or moves much at all, he takes off.

Tam commented on how much Elizabeth looks like me. I hear that from some people, but when I see us together, I really don't see it. I think our cheeks are the same, but it's hard for me to see the resemblence. Landen, however, is a carbon copy of me at his age.

Kim asked if I remember telling her daughter, Kayli, that I would have named Elizabeth "Jennifer" if I had decided to name her. I do remember that, and Jennifer was always my favorite name when I was little. A funny story about naming Elizabeth - I decided when she was born that I didn't want to name her. The adoptive parents would have a new birth certificate made and would rename her anyway, so I just didn't want to feel attached to her or give her a name, so I didn't. When you don't name a baby, the hospital will put "Baby Girl Smith" or "Baby Boy Smith" (depending on your own last name of course, and no, mine wasn't Smith - it's an example), so they put "Baby Girl Smith" as her name on her original birth certificate, and then that one is sealed away forever. Anyway, Elizabeth's boyfriend calls her "baby girl" sometimes and after hearing that a few times, it just really cracked me up and I told her the birth certificate story and how that is REALLY her name - Baby Girl! She thinks that is hilarious and loves to tell the story to people.

Manic Monday

Walter & I had a blast on the boat yesterday with his friends & their son. We spent several hours on the river, Jim & his son went tubing behind the boat a couple of times, and went to eat at Swamp Water's Restaurant on the river. After we got home, Cathy & Brent stopped by and we all had some ICE CREAM because I totally blew my diet Saturday at my brother-in-laws house, so I bought some Bluebell CANDY JAR ice cream and we all pigged out, and now i'm back on my diet! It sure was good! Here is a picture of Jim & his son tubing:

I had to go to an all day training at work today and got home around 3pm. I discovered 2 incidents of trouble with Cameron (14) while at his friend's house and had to deal with that when I got home today since Cameron is back from his dad's. One of the incidents was DRINKING on July 4th when he spent the night with friends, and the other, I can't say what it is because of the "eyes that can see" in the blogging world, but it was something that could get the 3 boys in big trouble. I spent the afternoon talking with his dad, someone in the community who could give me some idea of what to do, and with Walter. I have instructed Cameron to have the other 2 boys' moms call me (they should tell their mom first if they are smart) and we'll see what to do. We are thinking some community service work JUST for starters! Cameron is a GREAT kid and has never gotten in trouble for anything, so I think it's his friend's older brother & friends that are causing a negative influence PLUS just being a teenager and making decisions on his own and under the influence of peer pressure. I have permanently banned him from that kids house, where there seems to be no supervision and Cameron's dad actually agreed to do the same, so that is do-able for me. I think my blood pressure is way up tonight!

I found out at our training today that our school assignments haven't been decided yet! I really just want to know!!!! I really don't mind what schools I'm at, but I am ready to get ready in my brain to get started!! I have to go to the 2nd day of the training tomorrow and then i'm free for a few more days!!

My brain is exhausted today, so I am logging off the computer! I didn't even get a NAP during the meeting and i've gotten used to napping! LOL

Worn out Wednesday!!!

Nah, it really wasn't that bad, just that I'm not used to having small kids in the house and especially ones who don't listen very well and fight all the time. Yikes!! But, i've been around these kids since they were born and they pretty much know I don't put up with all that and they don't push me too far. Emily (13) and Ava (5) have been angels and are very pleasant to have around. Payton (8) and Camille (7) are so mean to each other and fight all the time that it's difficult to have them here together, but we managed. I even let the best behaved two pick where they wanted to sleep and that left Payton & Camille sleeping in a room together, but they did ok. Did I mention that Payton got up at 5:30am? Yikes. My kids at least slept until 7ish (don't get up til you see the sun!!!) and Landen and Mack will easily sleep until 9, so I'm a little spoiled there. So anyway, they swam a lot, fished with Walter, went for a boat ride, ate pizza, made all sorts of crafts, watched a movie, and were in bed for 10pm. I will be loading them all in the car around 11 to head home, which is over an hour from here.

My birthday is August 13th and I have decided what I want: the new IPhone 3G!! I am eligible for an upgrade on my AT&T cellular account, so I can get the 16GB white IPhone for $299. I am not one to buy all the latest gadgets and have never even used an IPhone, but I just plain want one!! I still have to see what the monthly service costs because i'm hearing different things, but so far, this is my plan!

My diet is going great! I ate the cheese & topping off the kids' pizza last night and it was SO good!! I cooked a Bubba burger later and really wasn't hungry at all. I have decided to treat myself to a bowl of that Bluebell Candy Jar ice cream when I lose 4 more pounds and then, with only a couple more to lose, I will get off the really strict phase of Atkins and just work on eating less carbs and maintaining my weight. I feel really good and have to say there is nothing bulging out of my clothes anywhere!

Walter has a board meeting tonight, so I will be all alone (in a QUIET house!) and will probably just relax and play on my computer or read a book. I have certainly earned it!

Sunny Sunday!

We had a great time with Cathy & Brent last night. Cathy came over early to swim with me for awhile, then we grilled steaks and they were SO good! Cameron even emerged from his room to eat with us, but only because it was steak he said! After we ate, we went on an early evening boat ride and it was so nice and peaceful!!! There was only one problem - a crazy neighbor that we call "Junkyard George." We live in a nice neighborhood where most of the people take pride in their homes and yards and keep them clean. Our entire neighborhood is just 1 street that is 3 miles long on the river, so it is a close knit neighborhood, for the most part. Well, if you remember the post where I mentioned that Walter, who is the president of the homeowner's association, had to go to court over a neighbor who refuses to pay his association dues of $40 per lot per year, which for him is $80/year...he's never paid them in the 6 or 7 years he's lived here and the previous board members didn't want to do anything to make him pay them, and now I know why!!! He also has a really junky yard and refuses to clean it or participate in the neighborhood cleanup days. In the meeting with the Walter, another board member, Junkyard George and the judge, he was yelling and making threats to sell his house to minorities (and if you know me - I do not tolerate racism!!!), etc. The judge was supposed to rule in 2 weeks by mail (does she sound scared too?) but after a month, we still haven't heard anything. Anyway, we are cruising down the river through our neighborhood and we pass Junkyard George's house. We noticed he's out there, so we just sort of keep going and try not to attract attention, but he recognizes Walter or Cathy (who is the homeowner's secretary) and starts to glare at us. Brent decides that waving to Junkyard George is the best plan, so he waves and Junkyard George becomes angry and starts to walk along his yard so that he can stare at us as we pass his house. He looked like a wild animal and I was a bit unnerved. Walter keeps driving the boat, never looking up, Cathy has her eyes glued to the water and wont look at him, and Brent realizes he's made the man madder by waving, so he starts to wave MORE! I'm watching this man stare us down and i'm like, "y'all, this man is crazy!" Junkyard George was almost unable to see us any more and begins to grab his umm, "thing" and shake it at us!!! I tried to grab my camera, but it was too late by then! I was sitting there speechless and Brent yelled something to him and Junkyard George started screaming things that I'm glad we couldn't hear! I am fully expecting the crazed man to burn my house down or something. Yikes. But anyway, beside running across him, we really had a nice time, then came back to our house and watched tv for awhile.


I'm still maintaining my same weight, but i'm doing good on my diet. I had scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast, leftover stuffed bell peppers for lunch, and I have a roast cooking in the crock pot for dinner and it really smells GOOD!! Cathy plans to go to our health club tomorrow afternoon, so I'm going to drag myself with her and go work out. It's so hard to make it there, but once I go, I want to go back all the time. I am sure it's going to take some exercising on my part to lose any more weight since I haven't lost anything since Tuesday.

Walter has been working hard all day on the pier. I sat out in the yard with him a good bit today and helped with measuring when I could. I hadn't realized how great the pier will be for just hanging out and watching boats go by. The pier is right under our Cypress tree, which we thought we lost in Hurricane Katrina (before we even started building the house), but it is flourishing now even though it it missing some of its upper branches. The tree was even in the way of where our bulkhead needed to go, but we had the workers build around it! The tree is much shadier than I thought it would be.

Here is a picture of the Wildlife & Fisheries (river police) pulling someone over in front of our house. You never know if they'll give the boaters a warning for something, write them a ticket for a safety violation, handcuff them and put them in their boat, or like today, give them free t-shirts for passing a safety check!

And here is a view of the back of our house from the river.

Nothing much else is going on today. Cameron will go back to his dad's tomorrow, but i'm glad we had him an extra week again due to the cruise! I will be resting up tomorrow for my FIVE little visitors on Tuesday. I need to come up with some activities for them to do and some easy things to cook that they will eat. My friend's 8 year old son, Payton, does not eat ANYTHING, so that will be a challenge.

Questions & Comments:
I really appreciate the comments about my "regret or rejoice" blog and I'm glad that some of you were touched by it, and thank you Lizzy for the standing ovation!!! That is only a small peek into my crazy life growing up and maybe I'll make a point to throw in some other bits and pieces as time goes by!!

Two important points that I didn't include in the post:

• My dad died of pancreatic cancer a year after abandoning our family. His girlfriend in Pennsylvania didn't bother to let us know that he was dying.
• The baby I had when I was 16 was a little girl and I gave her up for adoption at birth. I reunited with her 7 years ago. Her name is Elizabeth and we only live about 30 minutes apart and are very close. When we met, she had just found out she was pregnant with her first child, my sweet little Landen.

I hope you all had a great weekend and have a wonderful week!!!

Monday

There are a lot of great things about living out here on the river and out in the country, but only 10 minutes from the city. The thing I love most is the wildlife that is a part of our landscape. Sometimes there are wild turkeys wandering around in the street, deer walking in the woods, or like today, I looked out on my neighbor's pier and saw this Blue Heron just hanging out enjoying his morning!

Today was a busy dental day! I had to go to Baton Rouge this morning and get my permanent crown put on. It was painless and i'm glad I got that over with. Then, this afternoon, I took Cameron to get his braces off!!! I was worried that his teeth might look stained, and there are a few spots on a couple of teeth, but nothing serious. He goes Thursday to get them cleaned, so i'll see if the dentist suggests doing anything or just leaving it alone. His teeth are so straight and nice looking! He got permanent retainers on the top and bottom, so thank God there wont be any aggravating him to wear them or, like when I had retainers, losing them everytime you have to take them out to eat! I'll try to sneak a picture of him soon, but he's pretty uninterested in having me do that!

I lost 2 more pounds for a total of 6 since Thursday! I'm back where I was before the cruise and i'm determined to keep going. I stopped at Taco Bell for Cameron on the way home from the orthodontist and figured I would get me a taco salad to eat before dinner. Cathy & Brent are home from a trip and invited us over to eat salad and red beans & rice tonight, so I figured i'd eat a little something first and then just have salad at their house. Anyway, I got home with the taco salad and realized I forgot to ask for it without beans, which I HATE, besides the fact that they have carbs, so I went on Taco Bell's website to see how many carbs so I could decide if I wanted to eat it anyway. On the 1st phase of the Atkins diet you eat between 12 - 15 carbs daily, so I was pretty sure the beans were bad, but figured I could eat around them. Surprisingly enough, WITHOUT the beans (or the shell of course), there are STILL 11 carbs in the taco salad!! This totally explains why I stopped losing weight during my Houston trip because I ate a taco salad on the way there thinking there were few carbs, which you should expect from lettuce, beef, cheese, and sour cream! So, no taco salad at all. I got out some leftover chicken from last night and ate some string cheese!

So, we did have dinner at Cathy & Brent's and exchanged stories from our vacations! We also watched the world's most awful show, "Moment of Truth," which we are all addicted to! It is beyond me why anyone would go on that show and expose their awful truths for money - and most of them only hurt their family and friends and leave with NO money! It's crazy!

Otherwise, it's been a really stormy evening tonight and the power was off for awhile. Living in hurricane country, many of us have backup generators installed at our houses, so we aren't ever really without electricity, but it's still annoying to have to reset all the clocks every time the power blinks! We built our house after Hurricane Katrina and decided to install a backup generator after spending 2 weeks with no power and it was a great decision. We've been lucky since then and haven't had any hurricanes hit our area, but of course, we're still rebuilding from Katrina's damage. We live about 40 minutes from New Orleans and you really have to see it to fully understand it or believe it. But anywho, we are just hanging out at home. Bryce is off of work for 2 days, so i'm sure he'll be camped out here with Cameron until his days off end and he has to go home. The great thing is now that he lives down the street, I don't have to go get him or bring him home anymore!

Have a nice night!

July 5th

Today started out rainy and gloomy, but turned into a really nice day. Cameron spent the night with some friends last night to shoot fireworks and was gone most of the day today, so Walter and I went down the street to the 2nd annual "Rat Fest" on the river, which takes place to raise money for the fire department that is being planned somewhere on our street. It is called the Rat Fest because a local guy who calls himself "River Rat Rob" plans a huge party (the Lake Bash) on Lake Maurepas every summer and expanded that to include this festival to raise money for the fire department. We went to the Rat Fest this year because it is more family oriented than last year. We never go to the Lake Bash, mainly because it gets very crowded there and the idea of drunk people walking on and off my boat doesn't appeal to me at all, but today was ok, other than being really hot. There were several bands playing and a "Diversion Canal Idol" contest, plus plenty of food and drinks. Walter bought five "50/50" tickets and the prize was 1/2 of whatever money is collected (if you think this out, you'll see where the 50/50 comes in), and don't you know he won! I was talking to someone and not paying attention, and Walter, being funny like he is, didn't tell me that our number was called, but just waved at me while he was walking up to the stage with the ticket in his hand. The prize money was about $120! I wish I had his luck! We saw a few of our neighbors there and ran into Bryce's mom & family, so we hung out with them for awhile. The Rat Fest is also accessible by boat, but I knew it would be too hot to sit in one spot in the water, so we just drove down there.

I am doing good with the return of my diet. I really don't find it hard to stick to it as long as there are snacks handy that I can eat around the house. I have some cucumbers cut and ready to eat with ranch dressing, plus some sugar free jello, so i'm set. Yesterday, I had scrambled eggs & bacon for breakfast, baked chicken & asparagus for lunch, and grilled steak w/sauteed mushrooms & "fake" mashed potatoes (made with cauliflower) for dinner. I also plan to get back to the health club this weekend, but i've been saying that for awhile! Today, I had scrambled eggs & bacon for breakfast and leftover steak for lunch. I ate a hamburger patty with cheese at the Rat Fest and did not drink anything but water! They were selling daiquiris and that was hard to resist!!

Our very wonderful governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, has signed two bills into law that affect the use of cell phones while driving. Under the new laws, all drivers are prohibited from text messaging while driving and drivers under the age of 17 are prohibited from using a cellular phone at all, unless to report an emergency. The laws take effect immediately. The fine for text messaging while driving is $175 for the first offense and $500 for each offense after that. The fine doubles if the offending driver is involved in an accident while text messaging. The fine for minors using a cellular phone while driving is $100 for the first offense and $250 for each offense after that. I am SO glad that he approved this bill because, as much as I hate to admit it, I TEXT WHILE I'M DRIVING ALL THE TIME!!!! And I KNOW it isn't safe, but there is nothing stopping me from doing it. I am very much a "rule follower" and wont do it anymore, so i'm happy about this law. There is no reason anyone should do this and i'm glad that we are doing something to stop it. And when was the last time anyone in Louisiana could say one of our politician's was WONDERFUL??? I really do love Bobby Jindal and think he is doing great things for our state.

Anyway, just another quiet evening here. Maybe we'll watch a movie or something! I hope you all have a great weekend!

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.