Sunday

Walter & I went to eat at Albasha's last night, which is a Lebanese restaurant about 20 miles from our house and it is soooo good! I could eat there every day!! We've been doing good with eating at home more (partly because no restaurants had electricity for awhile - but still), so we decided to treat ourselves last night. Tomorrow we are starting back on the Atkins diet. I have been on the diet off & on recently, but Walter hasn't tried it in years. He agreed to try it with me now AND we are going to exercise at that gym that we're paying for absolutetly no reason because we haven't been there in months!!! I went to Walmart today and got Atkins friendly foods and there aren't a whole lot, but I've learned to be creative. The only unhealthy item I picked up to make snacking easier for Walter is pork rinds, but otherwise everything we'll be eating will be a healthy mix of grilled foods and salads. I want to lose 15 lbs. and hope to do that as well as keep it off afterwards.

We made the decision today to postpone Walter's 50th birthday party until October 18th. The party was scheduled for next weekend, and our backyard will smell horrible because of all the dead fish in the river for a week or two and that just isn't going to cut it. Once I re-sent the invitation to everyone, my mom emailed me to say that the invitations are going out this week for my step-niece's wedding (to a guy she has been dating 6 months) and the wedding is that same day, so they wont be able to make it. I am fine with my parents not coming because they are recovering alcoholics and there will be a drinking at the party, plus if i'm invited to my step-niece's wedding, now I don't have to go! I barely know her and the drama is out of control in my step-dad's family, so this worked out pretty good, if I do say so myself. My parents want to take us to dinner sometime next week for Walter's birthday, so that will work out just peachy.

Several people asked me to talk more about the Twilight book. I don't want to say too much because I don't want to spoil anything for future readers, but I will give a small review for those who might want to read it. When I bought the book, I had absolutely no idea what it was about, seriously. I saw the pictures of all 4 books on every blog I went to it seemed. I have been bored with the books i've tried to read lately, so I figured I would buy the 1st book and just see what I thought. And also let me say, I would not have bought it if I thought it was about a vampire. Sorry. I would not have. As a social worker/school counselor, i've worked with a rather "odd" teenage girl who is all wrapped up in vampires and books about vampires and from what i've seen they are always dirty, a bit raunchy, unbelieveable, and the readers end up dressing in black and looking a little freakish. I have tried to work with her to keep her from being seen as "odd" for being so into vampires. I actually read the first chapters of Twilight wondering what in the world was going on with Edward, one of the main characters and was totally fascinated with him. Once I got to the part and realized what was going on, it was too late! I was hooked! I fell in love with him AND with the other main character, Bella. The author is such a good writer and the story line is so great that it really doesn't matter! I am the type of person who will watch a movie and just have to stop watching because "this couldn't really happen," or "this is so fake," but this book never made me feel like that. At some point, you realize you are totally wrapped up in the character's lives and that doesn't happen to me very often. And yes, I started the 500 page book Friday morning & finished it Saturday night, so vampires or no vampires, this is such a well thought out, well written, book that you should read it too!!! I think it opened my mind a little bit because if I was so caught up in this book already by the 2nd chapter, then I could keep reading once I saw the word "vampire" and give it a chance. Now, am I going to read the dirty, raunchy vampire books like the teenage girl at school? Oh hellllll no! But this book was so not like that! Nothing dirty, but everything beautiful! And a lot of thought provoking things about the choices that all of the characters have to make. Wow! If everyone could be open to new things and want to understand people just because they love them, what a world this might be!! Just read it!!! I still haven't had anyone ask for my copy, so if anyone wants it, i'll gladly ship it to you for free! I would hope that you would pass it on when you're done, but that's up to you!

And remember how hard we worked to scrub and hose down our dock after the river went down from Hurricane Gustav? Well, Hurricane Ike wants us to do it all again!! The good thing is that the pool isn't looking so green anymore!


Still no word about my son, but I think in this case, no news is good news. While FOX news had a reporter standing in downtown Houston reporting yesterday, I emailed them to ask if they could mention the status of the jails, but never heard anything. I am certain that if there were problems at the jails, we would be hearing about it on the news. Thanks for your prayers for my son! I really appreciate it!!

Saturday

So, it looks like Ike is slowing down and moving on through Texas. My sister, Donna, is doing fine in Pearland, Texas. They do not have power, but did not have any damage. My friend, Kimi, in Lake Charles, Louisiana is doing ok and does have power. I have no way to find out anything about the jail in downtown Houston where my son is, but I'm listening to the news to try to find out what I can. I called a nearby district and they haven't heard of anything happening there, and I assume they would have if there was damage, but that's the best I can do. It's very frustrating that there is nowhere that you can call and if the power is out, the inmates can't use the phone to call to let you know they are ok. Again, I know he is in God's hands and trust that he is ok. I sincerely hope that we will not have any more hurricanes this season, which doesn't end until November.

Ronnica at Tales of a Kansas Girl posted this "meme" on her blog and asked for anyone to answer who wanted to. And well, I want to!!

Here are the rules:
1. Write about 5 specific ways blogging has affected you, either positively or negatively.
2. link back to the person who tagged you
3. link back to this parent post
4. tag a few friends or five, or none at all
5. post these rules— or just have fun breaking them

Ok then. Blogging has affected me...

1. Positively: Blogging is a wonderful outlet for me! I am a person who talks way too much, and having this blog and my blog friends to talk to really spares my family, especially my husband, from having to go into overtime listening to me!!

2. Positively: I have met some friends through blogging who I hope to stay in touch with for a long time to come. I am developing relationships that are meaningful to me and I enjoy seeing into the lives of other people.

3. Positively: Some of my real life friends are starting to blog and I am able to be in closer contact with them and stay up to date with their lives than I was before I began blogging.

4. Negatively: I am spending a lot of time reading other people's blogs daily, so there are things I am not doing as much as I should.

5. Positively: I have been overwhelmed with prayers and support for many situations in the short time I've been blogging.

What about you?? I am tagging anyone who wants to answer the questions, so please let me know if you will be doing it too so I can read your answers!!

I've seen this book on SO many blogs that I went to http://www.half.com/ and ordered it - "twilight." I had absolutely no idea what it is about, but I caved in to curiosity, ordered it, and 3 days later, it was sitting in my hot little hands! Forget all the books I was already planning to read, I started reading this yesterday and am on page 263 already! Wow!! I'm not sure I would have wanted to read it if i'd known ahead of time what it was about, but let me tell you, i'm HOOKED! I went to half.com again last night and ordered the 2nd book in the series! I hope it comes in before I finish this one!!! I'll be glad to send Twilight to anyone who wants to read it when i'm finished, so leave me a comment and i'll get your address from you. First come, first served!!

And notice on my side bar on the right there is a little place for "follow this blog." It's a new feature and it's pretty cool! If you want to be a follower of my blog, just click "follow this blog!" I'll be glad to follow your blog too!

Questions & Comments:
Lizzy asked what we do about all of the schools days missed during hurricanes here. Honestly, it's not normal that we miss many days per year due to hurricanes. They can do a few different things. We have a couple of "hurricane days" built in to our schedules that we could miss if needed, then after that the schools can chose to lengthen the school year or go on some Saturdays. The bad thing is with our standardized testing (LEAP, GEE) that determines whether your child passes to certain grades or graduates at all are given in March or April, so the kids may be missing some key lessons needed for those tests that might not be taught in time. I would bet that our holidays may be shortened, which may be what happened after Hurricane Katrinia - I wasn't working in the school system then and don't remember. We get a week off at Thanksgiving, 2 weeks at Christmas, a week at Easter, and 2 days for Mardi Gras, not to mention a few more 1 days here and there, so it may be that we'll lose a few of those days.

Laura asked about the gas prices here. The last I heard, prices had gone up about .50/gallon to about $4.00/gallon, but I haven't been out today to see. I will pay attention today and see what it looks like.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And the power just came back on!! Yay!

Yes, it's STEAK NIGHT!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Weary Wednesday

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

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


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

Tuesday

Yesterday, I went to work but only stayed 2 hours before they said we could leave. We really just needed to check our offices and make sure everything was ok after the storm, which it was. Afterwards, I went to my social work supervision meeting and my supervisor met me at a restaurant for lunch since her power was still out in her office. Today, I could only go to one of my schools because my other 3 still don't have power. They are considering bussing the kids to other schools if they don't get power back soon. What a mess! And today, our kids all had MRE's for lunch!! It seemed like a strange idea, but it worked out ok and the kids seemed to get a kick out of it. I also snuck away to lunch with my friend, Courtney, and ate at Albasha!! Yum!!!

Good news!! Well, for us it's good news! Ike is NOT coming here!!! Lesley has cancelled our reservations for our get-away plan and we don't seem to have anything to worry about from Ike. However, a lot of people in Baton Rouge and our area do not have power back, so there is still plenty to do here that will be much easier without another storm. I am very relieved! Thanks for all of your prayers about Ike!!

And, now that Ike isn't an issue (cause you have to be able to get to the store!!), Walter & I are starting the Atkins diet on Monday. If you want to do it too, let me know and we can be a support system for each other. I have some creative ideas and menus that work well for us. A couple of people have said they got sick on the Atkins diet and i'm not sure what that's about. I think if you eat a lot of salad and not so much the protein and fatty foods, it shouldn't be anything unhealthy, but everyone is different. I usually feel pretty good on the diet and always lose 10 lbs. pretty quick. People with more weight to lose usually lose it fast too, so if you're interested, just let me know. Now, I need to go shopping for the right kinds of food before Monday.

Questions & Comments:
Gramma 2 Many asked if we ever found out what happened to our waitress at Logan's Steakhouse the other night - No!! When we finally let someone know that nobody had been to get our drink order after 10+ minutes, the nice waitress who ended up taking our table said our server was "missing!" Maybe they forgot to assign that table to someone?

Ronnica asked why my step-father is so loud if he has the hearing aids. Actually he COULD and DOES turn them down if we are too loud for him, but he never turns them up so that we can enjoy the quiet! I'm guessing he has no idea how loud he is.

I appreciated hearing different opinions/advice about family problems. It does help to know that a lot of people suffer with similar issues! My mother and I are both social workers, so you'd think we could work out our own family issues, but it just aint like that!!

Now, to address Joe's question about the Elvis picture. I must remind you about my previous statement that Joe's comments are usually a request for me to tell a story, and this case is no different, well, except that I've decided to post a "JOE TRIBUTE" here before I tell the story of the Elvis picture, because you truly have to get to know Joe to really appreciate him.

This is when I taught Joe to say his name in sign language:

And this picture is from when I first met Joe, before the dental work

And this is from when Joe and I were preachers (or band crashers)!

Another very natural shot of Joe along with Walter & I

Ok, now this is Joe's celebrity moment!!

And me with the celebrity! You can tell by her wide eyed look of surprise that she was alittle nervous sitting with me. I would love to knock her out and she knows it!

The celebrity is a freak of nature that we know in person (and no, don't associate with, but ended up at a Karoake bar that she was at and we thought it would be funny to take pictures with her - and it was). This girl is an actual CAM-WHORE and actually went on the Rikki Lake show to brag about it!!! She lost her husband, kids, and well, pretty much everything, but she's doing what she wants!! I bet my friend, Dena, who stalks my blog could send me a link to the Rikki Lake show clip, if anyone is interested!!

And finally, when Joe & I were singers!

As for the Elvis picture, which can actually be seen behind me in this picture:

Someone in Walter's family started a tradition years ago of passing around a "Velvet Elvis" picture at Christmas time. It has become a joke and we all dread getting it each year. Whoever possesses the picture has to display it in their house for the whole year, and then give it (along with their real gift) to the person who's name they draw the following Christmas. Fortunately, we have only gotten it once. It even has a card in the back signed by all those who have passed it around before, so it is pretty funny and interesting to see. It also attracts a lot of attention as to why you have a velvet Elvis picture in your house. Some people never ask, but most do! Some, like Joe, are still asking 6 years later! Ok, any more questions?

Monday morning

Well, things returning to normal here and I'm off to work this morning. Cameron's school doesn't have power, so he wont be returning yet, but our kids go back tomorrow. I guess we'll get in 1 week of school before Ike knocks us on our butts again!!!

I got this award from Mere at The Babblings of Mere yesterday! If you've never visited Mere's blog, you should! She is a high school junior who is so inspiring to me. She is everything I wished I could have been at that age and I know this young lady will do big things with her life!


Now.. the rules are....

1.The winner puts logo on her/his blog.
2.Link the person you received your award from.
3.Nominate 7 other blogs.
4.Put links of those blogs on yours.
5.Leave a message on the blogs of those you’ve chosen.

So, here are my winners!
Molly at I Need A Martini
Debbie at Blog Around the World
Bobbie at 40 Shades of Pink
Ronnica at Tale of a Kansas Girl
Patti at Nonna's News
Melissa at The Scholastic Scribe
Marla at Pak Adventures

Walter & I attempted to go to the Texas Roadhouse with Cathy & Brent last night, but I neglected to call first and make sure that they have re-opened after the storm, and apparently, they haven't! We made the 30 minute trip over there but everything in the general area seemed to be closed, so we went a few minutes away to Logan's Steakhouse. We realized after sitting for awhile that our server was "missing" and a very nice waitress just jumped right in and took care of us the whole night. Our food was really taking a long time, but we never said anything and were having fun visiting, but the waitress went to the manager on her own and told him that our food was taking WAY too long and he took care of our check! I told the manager how awesome the waitress had been, considering how we weren't even really her table, then we left her a $40 tip! The food was good (and free), so it was a good night! Then I had to come home and watch the VMAs. I really expected a Britney Spears train wreck this year, but she did good. I do think they cheated and gave her awards to make her feel better since she's been nominated nearly 20 times over the years and has never won, then suddenly won the first award tonight, but hey, let her have a little joy in her life, I reckon.

One of those boys, Bradley, went home yesterday afternoon to help clean up the yard at his house, then called later to ask if he could come back, so I said that was fine. Cameron's dad has electricity again, so he is going to pick Cameron up tomorrow for the week, so I told the boys that they'll have to leave when he leaves. Hopefully, they were already planning to do that!!

Questions & Comments:

Kimi asked what my mom said when I told her what I thought about her comment/selfishness. At first, I didn't say anything, but she called me once they got to Houston to apologize for saying things that might have hurt my feelings. I am guessing she realized how she must have sounded. I have come a long way in my life and have learned to be honest in those situations, but still nice, so I just told her that I didn't appreciate her talking about the kids that way and that I found her & my step-dad's attitude very selfish. We ended up arguing because she says they weren't selfish and that she did not say anything negative about the boys. Yeah, sure, but what's arguing going to do? I just told her it was better that we stop talking about it. I just hope she thinks twice before coming here during any other hurricanes because there will surely be other people in our house who are welcome here. And yes, my mom and Kimi's mom are very much alike when it comes to the grandkids and while I know it's their loss, it still hurts me. Now that my brother (who has always been her favorite) has a baby, she is making 10 hour trips to Georgia to see the baby when she's never driven 10 minutes to see mine or my sister's kids. The baby is 1 and they've made at least 4 trips there! She's never been to any of my kids or grandkids birthday parties or anything, yet they drove 10 hours to Daphne's 1st birthday. I have also learned that nothing I do or say will ever change the way she feels or the way she is, but it sure would be nice for her to see things through the eyes of her other children and grandchildren.

Several people commented on the blog my brother wrote - and yes, I do think it is very funny now, which is why I don't mind sharing it. At the time, I was very ticked off about it, but he did tell me that making his blog humorous was part of the reason people like to read it, so I get it that he added his own humorous touch to it. However, the sad part (or I guess the funny part) is that most of what he said is quite true. I could tell some stories about my family, especially the steps and the in-laws on my side...whew!! What a crazy bunch of people. I'll gladly share any stories, so if you saw something in there that you want to know more about, just ask!