Yes, you know what night it is!

Yes, it's steak night!!! The best thing about the Atkins diet is that I can eat my favorite ribeye steak, sauteed mushrooms and veggies!! We will go whenever Cathy & Brent get home, which hopefully wont be long from now. Walter is stopping on the way home to get his hair cut at a little salon down the street but i'm sure he'll be home before them. I went and got my hair cut this afternoon and it came out cute. I'd take a picture except that I didn't get the girl to blow dry it, so I'll do that this weekend.

I got a poem from JP in the mail today and it really touched me. If you can get past the drug use and subsequent behavior problems, he is a wonderful person, and I have always been able to get past that to see him for who he is, but can't allow that in my house or around Cameron. He is a former "gifted" student, although I never liked that label. He was tested for the program in 2nd grade and we were told that only 1% of the population has an IQ as high as his. So, to see him end up where he is today, in jail, and possibly for the next 40 years is really hard for me. But as I've said, I turned him over to God even before the incident happened that landed him in jail 18 months ago and I feel certain that God is going to give him a second chance. Ok, but here is why I said all that...check out the poem he wrote me. I really had to laugh about the "always on time," because I am, neurotically, always on time. He is that way too, thanks to me, which I guess is a good thing!

I was tagged by Anissa for this meme!
1. Where were you 10 years ago? Just starting to date Walter, partying like a rock star with my friends, working as an office manager.

2. What is on today's To Do List? Drop boys off at school, work, hair cut, steak night, read blogs and new book.

3. What would you do if you were a billionaire? Pay off all my bills, give money to all of our family members, set up savings accounts for our kids, pay for anyone to go to college that wants to go, donate millions to charity, start a shelter for cats.

4. Name 5 places you have lived. Baton Rouge, Louisiana; East Point, Georgia; Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Birmingham, Alabama; City I live in now, Louisiana.

5. Name 3 of your bad habits. Talking too much, worrying too much, snacking too much.

6. What are your favorite snacks? Ice cream, bread pudding, chocolate

Who will you tag for this meme? Anyone who wants to do it!!!!

I've been fighting with Cameron this week about spending an hour each day doing homework or studying. It is always obvious when his dad doesn't stick to the rules because now I get an argument since he isn't making him do it on his week. We agreed at the beginning of the year that we would BOTH (not just ME) require him to work on school work an hour each day after school whether he has homework or not. There is always something to read over or catch up on or even work ahead!! Cameron told me he was NOT going to sit there for an hour if he didn't have homework. I informed him that he WAS and yes, for the record, he did. He pouted the whole time and that's his choice as long as I don't have to see it. I emailed his dad and asked him if he's sticking to our agreement and it could be that missing so many days from the hurricanes just created some laziness with Cameron, but I want to be sure. Cameron told me yesterday that he'll just go live with dad all the time, something you always wait to hear with teenagers when they don't get their way, but i've never heard it before. I told him he'll want to check with dad about changing schools because dad drives him 45 minutes to school every day of his week and 45 minutes home every day of his week. He might not appreciate that too much and Cameron isn't going to switch schools. So yeah. Call dad!

Alrighty then, I'm outta here!! Have a great night!

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!!!

Preparedness

Gustav is knocking at our door and we are being told to be prepared. Walter & I are actually more prepared than we've ever been and I'm glad. We have never owned a generator of any sort. We made it through Katrina with no electricity for a week, with only 1 fan and 1 tv. When we built our house, we installed a backup generator that runs on propane and will run most of the lights in the house, refrigerator, freezer, etc. It will not run the air conditioner, but we bought 3 small window units that we can put in different rooms if needed. We have gone and bought cases of bottled water, batteries (for what, i'm not sure), filled up our cars with gas, bought some canned food, although we will be able to cook on the stove or bbq, and should even have internet access, if we hooked everything up right. So, now we just wait. It is my understanding that busses are beginning to bring people from New Orleans to shelters north of Baton Rouge today/tomorrow. Skeery.

Tonight is STEAK NIGHT!!! For my new readers, a restaurant near my house, Hilltop, has the best steak ever and they have a steak special on Thursday nights. Walter & I go nearly every Thursday night with our neighbors/friends, Cathy & Brent. I am excited to go tonight because this was not in our plans! Cathy & Brent were supposed to leave for New York this morning, so we were skipping it and would have been joining them in New York tomorrow. Steak night isn't as exciting as going to New York, but I don't have to fly there and it is really pretty darn good!!

My shirts that I ordered with my birthday gift certificates from Land's End came today! They took a little longer than I thought because I never actually SUBMITTED the order online!! The biggest part of placing an order is actually PAYING for the stuff!! I realized what I'd done and went back and placed the order and it got here really fast! My sista, Kimi, always likes to see my new shirts, so here they are!

I bought a white & a beige shirt like this to wear under other shirts & blouses when it's cooler.

And here is my ever faithful, giant cat, GoGo, guarding my new possessions!

Questions & Comments:

Chelle asked if we could postpone the New York trip and go later this year. I would think so since Brent's boss owns the house. He seems to let them use it whenever they want, so maybe we can go some other time.

Lula asked if I am safe re: Gustav, and I would have to say yes. We don't ever get evacuated from our area, although if there was an evacuation order, I would surely go. I don't think Walter would want to, but if I whined enough, I know he would. I usually start to worry that we should have left during a storm, but our house is safe and I think we'll be fine here. We do live on a river, but that has not caused any flooding or problems in the past. Our house is up on a hill from the water, but there are many low lying homes that will flood in our area. And thanks for asking!

And for Joe...my beloved friend in real life, Joe. Thank you for clarifying that Walter is not a drug dealer or something. I laughed at your comment, but then realized I really didn't know what he gave you! I remember the story and how bad your head was hurting, and it seems like you kept taking that afterwards cause it worked so well. And yes, I remember the other bad story that weekend. I'm not sure I could ever forget! That's a post for another year! LOL

Have a nice night!!

Birthday Girl!!

Thank you to everyone for the birthday messages, cards, and gifts! And a great, big, SPECIAL thank you to Lizzy for my birthday poem! Everyone, please amuse me and go read it now at The Journey to the Hot Tub! However, it is unfortunate that after sharing a VERY traumatic intimate detail with her, that she chose to torment me with my own name, but it's ok, because on her birthday, I will write her a poem and i'm sure i'll have some good rhyming words to use...like fever, believer...ha ha ha...but anyway, it was an awesome poem and I thank you Lizzy!

I collect some of the Willow Tree figurines, well, the ones that have some meaning to me, and the one in the picture above is my favorite one because that IS me!! I love being the birthday girl and I always milk it for all it's worth!!! Birthdays do have some downsides, besides the obvious getting older aspect, like your drivers license expiring. Blah. Walter's expires next month, so we will go on his next Friday off and get them renewed.

I am one of those people who will dig in the closet to see what i'm getting for my birthday or Christmas, so imagine my surprise when I went to my wishlist on Amazon.com to get the name of the crock pot I wanted and was going to see if I could order it with other gift certificates that I got, and it says the item has been PURCHASED!! WOOOHOOO!!! That's my sneaky little mom, I'm sure. She gave me a $50 Land's End gift certificate via email the other day, but apparently that was to trick me and give me the Crock pot too on Sunday when we go to lunch at ALBASHA!! Michelle asked what type of food is served at Albasha - it is Lebanese and SOOOO good! So anyway, yay for my crock pot! It is a really cool one that you can use the inner part to sautee onions on the stove, you can freeze stuff in it, microwave in it, etc.

So, anyway, we went to dinner tonight with Cathy & Brent at Hilltop and not only did I get a delicious steak dinner, but a free ice cream dessert that Cathy & I shared. It was a wonderful birthday!!

Work was great today! I love those days that fly by so fast that it's time to go home before you know it. And I get off work at 2:30, so really, the day flies by really fast sometimes. I met the little boy who is only coming to school for an hour each day this week, then we'll try to get him to come longer next week. He has tons of support at school and had a great day (or hour) today and said he really wants to be able to come to school. I just hope that lasts!! We met with him first thing this morning and did the most important thing - broke the classroom rules down one by one to be sure he understood. Instead of just saying "be respectful," we explained to him what behaviors are considered respectful, etc. Sometimes we don't think about the fact that due to parenting or cultural differences, some kids don't know what the rules actually mean. After we got 1 hour boy (let's call him 1H) off to class, I took my co-worker to another of my old schools to show her around, and now i'm done with that. Everyone at my schools should be able to handle things on their own now, and that is cool. Afterwards, I went to a meeting with the special education teachers at "Elementary School 2" (ES2) and was glad to be invited and involved with their staff. The biggest stress in my job, to me, is making sure I have office space in every school on the day i'm there. I am so excited and relieved that i've already got that worked out. I really like the west side schools so far, so everything is working out really well.

Questions & Comments:

Kim and I talked about insurance on my new car - the car salesman was totally wrong and my insurance did go up! It was only about $20/month, but still, she told me that story about the Honda being a theft risk and the insurance being higher!

Kim & Lesley both mentioned not knowing that you could buy/sell books on Half.com. I would think that renting the books is the best idea, but buying and selling them on Half.com is good too. I knew you could get college books, but wouldn't have thought about high school books being on there.

Lesley left me a comment how I enjoy my job & care about the kids I work with and I just have to say that it's really true. I take my job very seriously and really do care about the kids I work with. I get frustrated with teachers who are mean or don't take time to help kids who need something. My big mouth is finally good for something, because I am speaking up for kids who are falling through the cracks! So, thank you for those kind words, Lesley!

Back to work!

While I wasn't happy about having to get up SO early, getting back to work today was good. We got back to find that our office (which is actually a VERY old t-building) had gotten a good makeover during the summer, but EVERYTHING that was moved to replace our floors was still sitting on top of desks, so we spent the morning putting things back where they go and figuring out what was missing and where to find it!! We all went to lunch at Chili's (eating out is my favorite hobby), so that was fun, and Courtney & our other new co-worker, Tammie, seemed to fit right in and everything was good. Our school superintendent & central office employees came out to talk to all the schools, and we had our meeting with our supervisors. I also found out that we got another raise! Gotta love that! That is the 4th pay increase in the year i've been working there! Apparently our wonderful Governor, Bobby Jindal, was able to get the $1,000 per year pay increase for teachers approved. I can't complain there!!

So, anyway, we got our school assigments and I was assigned to 3 of our 4 schools that are in our most troubled area and I feel that it is a huge compliment that I was the one chosen to work with these schools and i'm really looking forward to it. I am also being considered to go to some trainings with our behavior team and to then be able to work with other schools to make some changes. I will get to go to one of the schools tomorrow and meet with the Office of Mental Health employees who are putting a school social worker in 2 of my schools.

Walter & I have been discussing the car situation and it's pretty clear that nobody is chomping at the bit to buy my car, so we are planning to trade it in. As long as I get what I owe on it, i'm ok with that, but I really wanted to sell it and have a down payment on a new car, but whatever works! I am just wasting money on the Honda now because I do not plan to keep it, so it's better to just trade it in and move on. We applied through our bank for a "Blank Check Loan" and we were approved, so the check will arrive here within a few days. We can take the check to a dealer and buy what we want. The interest rate is 5.09, so that is going to be good. I have my eye on 3 convertible Mustangs. The one I really want is Candy Apple red like my old one, then there is a bright red one, and a white one. Any of them would be fine, but I really loved my Candy Apple red one! The white one is the least expensive, so I emailed the dealer to see about getting a red one with the same features, so we'll see what happens.

Steak night is coming early this week because Cathy has a meeting tomorrow night and Cameron has orientation at his school, so we are going to Hilltop tonight. I ate a VERY bad lunch today, so I will most likely have a VERY bad dinner too, but I've been doing really well and have only gained back 2 pounds of my 10 and am doing pretty good at maintaining my weight so far. I am looking pretty good, if I may say so myself, and was even told how skinny I look today. That's all I want - to not be hanging over the sides of my pants, so it's all good.

Thursday

I woke up around 3am this morning and mistakenly allowed my brain to wake up and start thinking! Do you ever do that? Once I let that happen, there is no way i'm going back to sleep. It just isn't going to happen. I got some information about our schools last night and am sworn to secrecy until we go back to work next week and our school assignments are announced. And in the blog world, anyone could find my blog, so i'll keep my little secret a secret until then, but yeah, it's a big change but also a big vote of confidence in me from the powers that be, so i'm excited. So, my mind was running through this information I couldn't sleep, so I ended up just getting out my awesome IPhone and playing games until about 5, then I finally settled down and went back to sleep.

My day got off to the best possible start (yeah, right) with an early morning dentist appointment in Baton Rouge. I miss those days when the dentist would just say, "no cavities!!!" I don't think I ever even had a cavity until I was 20. Now, I don't hear much about cavities...it's more like, let's put a crown on #18. Let's re-do this crown on #20. Wait, re-do a crown? Do we do crowns more than once? Apparently, there is some decay under the crown and they want to re-do it? Wow. Ok then!! While it would be hard to find something good about that, the crown that I already have is GOLD and I HATE it!! I have often wished that I could just ask to have a new crown, but that just seems silly, but today I asked if they would have to remake the whole crown itself and the dentist said yes, so I said PLEASE don't make it gold!!! Yay!! So anyway, I haven't scheduled that yet. I am planning to wait until January and add all of our new necessary procedures to our flexible spending account. I am also going to look into getting braces again, so I want to lump all of that expense in there together.

One of my best friends from graduate school, Jessica, had a beautiful baby boy yesterday! His name is Marcello and he is 6lbs, 13 ozs! I am so excited for her and her husband, and I can't wait to meet the baby!! With my mystery fever this week (which has been gone a few days now, thank goodness!), I will wait until after I get back from Atlanta this weekend to visit them.

I had a great time at lunch yesterday with Judith, Susan, and a friend of theirs. I had grilled trout with corn roasted grits (they were DELICIOUS) and buttered sweet potatoes. The restaurant is new to our area and I think they will do pretty good. The menu had all sorts of different foods on it - many Asian and Lebanese type dishes too.

Cameron has been talking to my mom about borrowing her electric piano that she is wanting to temporarily find a new home for. He use to take guitar lessons and enjoys music a lot, so as long as the piano fits in his room or the office, we will go get it soon. He is supposed to measure the space to make sure and hasn't done it, so it will be up to him how quick we get the piano. It's not huge - I think 56" long, so it should fit pretty easily, but I want him to be responsible and check it out rather than just go get it and have to stick it somewhere in the house that we don't want it. My step-son, Sean, once saw a FULL size piano at a Goodwill store and bought it for $50. And then didn't have anywhere to put it, so we had it in our LIVING ROOM for a year or more. We used it as a buffet table for awhile. So, yeah, we don't want anything like that to happen.

I wanted to float in my pool today, but as usual, it is raining off and on, so I will probably pass on that and just read my book and chill out until it's time to go to Hilltop for STEAK NIGHT!!!! Yay!!

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!!

You KNOW what night it is!!!

It's STEAK NIGHT!!!! It's my most favorite night of the week!!!! Unfortunately, Cathy & Brent left for New York this morning, so Walter & I will be on our own, but we will enjoy ourselves anyway!!!! AND, when Cathy gets back, she will know if our Labor Day plans are on for New York where Brent's boss let's them borrow a beach house on Long Island!! All we would have to pay for is the airfare, so i'm crossing my fingers!!! My mom will sure be proud of me because she always says I need to get "out of my box" and this summer, I sure have done that!! The quote and picture above fits me to a tee!

Today is also the day that my housekeeper comes, so I do my best to make plans so that i'll be gone all morning. Today, I'm going to my mom's to visit and have lunch at our favorite restaurant in their town, Magnolia Cafe. My mom lives about 1 hour & 15 minutes from me, so it's a good little way out there, but it is SO nice that they are not still 9 hours away in Big Canoe, Georgia. They lived there for about 15 years and have been back in Louisiana for about 4. I've mentioned before that my mom was recently diagnosed with a small brain aneurysm and it scares me more than I can say, but she is being monitored closely by her neurologist and his team.

I lost another pound!!!! I am at 151!! That makes NINE pounds that I have lost in 13 days!! Yay! I only have 4 to go and i'm so excited!!!

WebMD had a good article yesterday comparing low fat diets, low carb diets, and Mediterranean diet. I don't know what a Mediterranean diet is, but if I can eat all my meals at Albasha, i'm in! Low carb dieters tended to lose more weight initially, but in the end, all the dieters lost weight and the issue is maintaining the weight loss. Over 24 months, low fat dieters lost an average of 6.5 lbs, Mediterranean dieters lost an average of 10 lbs. and low carb dieters lost an average of 10.3 lbs. Low carb diets help with HDL (good cholesterol), while the Mediterranean was helpful to those with diabetes, leaving them with better blood sugar and insulin measures. Anywho, I like to know the facts, so it was an interesting story to me. http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20080716/diet-debate-3-top-plans-go-toe-to-toe. And being who I am, of course I looked up the Mediterranean-style diet, which is basically a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and healthy oils, such as those found in fish, olives, and nuts.

I called a customer service person at AT&T about the IPhone 3G monthly service charges after a salesman at Walter's job told him his monthly service charge is $120!! Woah! But fortunately, to add it to my service since we already have the family plan and unlimited texting will only be $30 month. Yeah, I know, ONLY $30, but hey, i'm worth it!!

A few funny moments with my little friends yesterday:

Before they left home, Payton called and asked, "can we bring Lucy to your house?" Lucy is their teacup poodle and I said, "no." He called back 5 minutes later. "Do you want a cat?" I said, "no." He said, "well, can we bring our cat to your house??" I said, "NO, and if you need to spend more time with your dog or cat, then STAY HOME!!!" He said, "no, I don't care about them!"

They were all 4 in the pool and Camille was asking for someone to push her around the pool on a float, but everyone was playing by themselves and didn't want to push her. She shouted at Payton, "YOU ARE SO SELFISH!!!!!" We got to have a little talk about how SHE was the selfish one for expecting everyone to stop what they are doing for her!

Payton does not eat anything. Literally. Anything. He eats Whales crackers, waffles with no syrup, and cheese pizza. He doesn't eat ANYTHING from any fast food restaurant. He doesn't eat pudding, popcorn, macaroni & cheese, chicken nuggets, ANYTHING. This has been a life long issue with him and whenever they go to other people's houses, people always think they will change him and FORCE him to eat, but he will sit at the table until he goes to sleep. It is a control issue, in my opinion, but i'm not out to "fix" him in the short time I spend with him. When I told Walter that the kids wanted to come over, the first thing he said is "well, they can come but Payton is going to have to eat....." and I stopped him. Noooooo, this isn't my issue and I will gladly feed him cheese pizza. But the funny part is, upon request, Payton will LICK the bottom of his SHOE and not mind it at all, but he wouldn't put Coco Puff cereal in his mouth to save his life.

Camille & Ava came over wearing their bathing suits, so when it was time to get out of the pool and get dressed, between them they only brought 1 pair of panties!! Camille thought Ava would bring some extras, and Ava only brought 1 pair! Once Walter got home, I had to go out and buy panties!!

Questions & Comments:
Payton did wake up at 5:30, so I got up and took a bath so that I could get downstairs and fix him something to eat. I got out of the bathtub, came back downstairs and he was sleeping on the sofa and slept until 9:45! Nobody else got up until after 7am, but at least I managed to get a bath in before they were all up.

A question I was asked was about Elizabeth's awkward baby shower - what was my answer to the "who are you & how do you know Elizabeth" game. Keep in mind that her adoptive mother was there and I had very recently met them. As the people went around a circle answering the question, my friend, Lesley, and I whispered back & forth about what to say. Lesley was sitting before me, so she gets the question first. She answers that she is Lesley and knows Elizabeth through me! Good answer, but it didn't do anything for my anxiety! So, I said, "I'm Dawn and I'm a special friend of the family." I felt SO stupid!!!! Elizabeth just laughed and said "that's my biological mom!" After the shower, knowing there was ANOTHER shower coming up soon, Elizabeth & I talked and she said she would make a point to be sure NOBODY played that game again. And personally, nobody ever had before and hasn't again, at least in my experience!!!

And yes, Lesley! I do remember when we were at the hospital when Landen was first born!!! I was very honored that you not only went to the baby shower with me but also wanted to see my little grand baby!!! Here is a picture of that day and I don't remember seeing this in the 300 pictures I put on your cd!!

Also, Lesley wants to know what the 3G in the IPhone stands for? Hmmm, probably the 3 grand that it will cost me in fees to get it activated???? Nah, maybe since this is the 2nd IPhone, they know that once I blow my money on this one, they will make number 3 and say GOTCHA!!! Ha Ha! Well, a google search shows that it stands for "Third Generation" so I wasn't all that far off! I should probably hold out for the IPhone 200G, but I really want one now!

To HotTubLizzy - yes, certainly you can be replaced in all the pictures from yesterday so that you can be the one enjoying yourself. And yeah, maybe not the ones in Walter's lap cause people just might not understand!!!

And Tam, my husband built the mantle for the fireplace and we hired a cabinet maker to build the cabinets, but Walter designed them, hung them, and I painted them. Here a picture of the whole thing, but keep in mind that we have NOT decorated the shelves all the way out of lack of things to put on them, so they look sort of goofy in places. And posting this picture can really open me up to a whole different post about the things ON the bookcase. Walter is a bit eccentric and I'm just used to that. We have everything up there from a trombone, to an old camera and book collection, to a Hillary Clinton nutcracker!

Molly mentioned that she can't diet because she loses 2 lbs and then becomes invincible and gains 6 more. I am the same way, but I suggest trying Atkins if you haven't already. The results are so immediate that you end up wanting to stay on the diet!! It is the only diet I have ever lost more than a pound or two on.

I hope you all have a great day!!

Yes, it's STEAK NIGHT!!!!!

I'm so excited that it's steak night tonight!! We missed it last week due to the cruise and I am craving me some steak!!! Cathy & Brent are going with us, as usual, and I am READY!!!!

Here are some pictures from my fine painting job in our bathroom yesterday! Keep in mind that we still haven't put crown molding upstairs at all, so this is still not nearly a finished product! Our bathroom is my favorite room in the house and I am so in love with my bathtub! I am a serious bath taker/soaker and have never had a big bathtub before.

The big doors open into our bedroom, the door to the left is our closet, and there is a door to the right where the toilet is.

If this isn't a sure sign that i've gone crazy, I don't know what is. My best friend, Dana has 6 kids. Her oldest daughter, Amy, is 26 and we are very close too. I used to babysit Amy and her brothers when they were little, then Amy babysat Cameron when he was little, then Amy had 3 babies within 4 years and I babysat and helped her out a lot when they were little. So anyway, Dana's youngest daughter, Emily (13), is in town from Kentucky and she wants to come spend the night, along with Amy's oldest, Payton (8), before she leaves to go back home. But here's the catch! Once Payton comes to spend the night, then I owe his sisters, Camille (7) and Ava (5) a night and I get a bit overwhelmed, and then Landen gets extremely jealous when Payton comes here, so what to do? After consulting with Walter, who thinks I'm crazy but said ok, I am inviting them all FIVE to spend the night Tuesday night! I am VERY patient and fun for about 24 hours and then I tend to change into another personality, but they will come Tuesday afternoon & leave Wednesday morning, so i'm thinking it will be fun!!

No news in the dieting world! I lost about 1/2 lb. since Tuesday, but that is not typical for Atkins. I went to Walmart today and bought the Ketone strips that tell you if your body is producing Ketones (burning it's own body fat) incase I am eating things I shouldn't, but everything is good there. I'm thinking I need to exercise, which I keep putting off because i'm lazy. Today I had bacon for breakfast (wasn't really hungry), a Bubba burger with cheese & mayo for lunch, and i'll have my delicious ribeye w/sauteed mushrooms for dinner!

I haven't seen most of my friends from high school in 25 years and we are still working on planning a girl's night out soon. I have always been an avid picture taker and plan to go through my elementary - high school pictures and get out all the ones they are in and bring them with me! Our girls night out group has grown to 10 of us now, so I don't know if we'll go to a restaurant or what. I offered my house if they want to come here, so we'll see what happens. I am really excited to see everyone!

As i've mentioned before, my sister, Donna, is queen of the dingy people. She told me yesterday that she has been sick for SIX days with food poisoning!! She ate at Carrabas in Pearland (TX) and has been sick ever since. We've exchanged a few emails and after asking several questions, i'm pretty sure she has that salmonella poisoning that has affected 1,000's of people, including many Texans! Hello??? Mexican restaurant? Tomatoes?? Peppers?? Anyway, it hit me last night and I asked her if she'd thought of it and she said no. I am encouraging her to let Carrabas know that she got so sick and talk to her doctor. That girl! I once watched her spoon piles and piles of rice into her fajita and asked her why she was putting rice in it? She said, "OH, is that rice? I thought it was cheese!!"

Walter ordered the lumber today to build the pier. That is going to be an interesting project because someone is going to have to get all up in the river water to accomplish this job. There are snakes and alligators in this water and it is just plain spooky to me. I'll be sure to take pictures.

I had a few comments about my new budgeting plan. I use Microsoft Money 2004, but actually took the figures from there and made an Excel spreadsheet so that I can see everything in one place and make changes easily. When I balance my checking account in Microsoft Money, I also go to the Excel sheet and type every expense in the appropriate section and can see instantly what's working and what isn't. I'm not sure that we've ever been on a budget in the 10 years we've been together, so it will be an adjustment. We are dipping into our savings each month and I couldn't figure out why until I looked at my spreadsheet. We are paying extra on our mortgage to pay the house off in 15 years and even with that, we can easily afford our bills, but yet, we are out of money every month. So anyway, we'll see how we do with that.

And finally, a funny picture of my giant cat, J.J. sleeping on my ottamon. He is such a cute, goofy thing and I love him so much!!! Most people can't believe he is a cat because he is so big.

Thursday - 2 more days!!

It's unbelievable that the cruise is almost here! When we first planned it, there were like 300 days until it was time to go!! 2 more days!!! I didn't actually get anything packed last night, but I have a lot of things stacked near the suitcases to pack today. It's hard to decide what I need to bring. Most of the time on a trip, we just plan to buy whatever we might have forgotten, but it wont be as easy to do that this time. Walter took off of work tomorrow so we are going to go shopping and get him some clothes, go by the bank for some cash to bring along, pick up some wine (each person over the age of 21 can bring 1 bottle), and just generally try to figure out what we might be forgetting! We are all so excited! I have to mention to that my 35+ in-laws that are going are awesome people and are so much fun! Walter is the 7th of 8 kids and they are a huge and very close family. Some people complain about their in-laws, but I wouldn't trade mine for the world! I am sad that his brother, Tommy and his wife aren't able to come, but at least his medical news is looking better. The doctors have been trying to rule out a diagnosis of Superior Canal Dehiscene Syndrome (SCDS) as the cause of his extreme dizziness and now think he may have Vestibular Neuritis, which is viral and can be treated with medicine rather than surgery in his ear or brain. So, we will miss them, but i'm glad the news is better for him. My sister-in-law, Babet, and I decided today that Tommy & his wife can go with us NEXT year, because we are going back!!

I never showed off my cute pedicure that I got in Houston with my sister. Everyone laughs at me because I always want a decoration on my big toenails. When I asked for a flower, the lady asked my sister if she wanted one too and Donna said "no." I said, "no, she's not 5 years old!" What can I say? It makes me happy!! And my feet sure are tan! LOL

I am so aggravated at myself because at dinner with my friends last night, without thinking, I drank regular Dr. Pepper, which is my usual drink of choice. On Atkins, you can't have sugar at all or it pretty much messes up everything! I have been drinking unsweetened tea, but didn't even think about it last night!! I am still at 154, which is fine, but wanted to have a couple more days to maybe lose another pound. My friends all noticed that i've lost weight and I can tell too since my clothes aren't bulging at the sides. I really don't have a lot of weight to lose and only want to look fit and healthy. I am still going to stick to the diet until Saturday morning, and i'm sure i'll get back on it when we get home next week because i'm sure to have gained back all 6 lbs. plus some on the cruise!

Anyway, the dinner with my friends last night was great! We went to the Cheesecake Bistro in Baton Rouge. I ate a Cobb Salad and wasn't even tempted when they all split a strawberry cheesecake. My friend, Jessica is expecting a baby boy who is due at the end of July and she found out after having some pain the other day that the baby broke one of her ribs!!! Poor thing! She was able to make it last night, as well as Judith, Courtney, & Kelly. It was really good to see everyone and catch up!

Walter & Cameron went to get haircuts this afternoon and then YES, tonight is steak night!!!! Walter, Cathy, Brent & I went to eat at Hilltop and it was so good! I was the only one who got a steak, but who's complaining?? It's truly my FAVORITE and I look forward to it all week!!

Here are some questions I was sent. Feel free to blog them yourself!

These are some things you might not know about me:

FOUR jobs I've had:
1. Burger King Cashier
2. Winn Dixie Cashier
3. Office Manager
4. Administrative Assistant

FOUR movies I could watch over and over:
1. An Officer and a Gentleman
2. Dirty Dancing
3. Honeysuckle Rose
4. Sex and the City

FOUR placed that I have lived:
1. East Point, Georgia
2. Birmingham, Alabama
3. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
4. Murfreesboro, Tennessee

FOUR TV Shows I love to watch:
1. Curb Your Enthusiam
2. Seinfeld
3. Everybody Loves Raymond
4. King of Queens

FOUR places I've been on vacation:
1. Gatlinburg, Tennessee
2. Pensacola, Florida
3. Waveland, Mississippi
4. Houston, Texas

FOUR websites I visit daily:
1. Perez Hilton
2. Myspace
3. Facebook
4. Gmail

FOUR of my favorite foods:
1. Steak
2. Chocolate
3. Macaroni & Cheese
4. Fried Okra

FOUR places I'd rather be:
1. On a cruise
2. At the beach
3. On the river
4. At a restaurant

FOUR of my favorite things:
1. Mail
2. My laptop
3. My pets
4. My pool