I Could Write a Book

After I got home today, a city official was standing outside of my house. I spoke to him regarding the phone line and he called to make sure it had been reported to the city. He then told me that the city would call AT&T and that they would hopefully be out very soon. Well, AT&T showed up in a couple of hours.

Now, why was the nice city official man at my house ? Because not only did they cut my phone line yesterday, they cut my water line today. BWahahahaha. So, for a little while today I had no phone, internet or running water. Hey, it could have been a lot worse. It’s all good now.

Miracles do happen. Sometimes, it just takes other mistakes along the way to help them happen.

You just never know how much you need a phone till you do not have one. The city was working across the street from my house and "accidentally" cut my phone line. Good grief. I have no phone or internet. I won’t have them till Wednesday, at least. Good grief, again.

Remember how ever since Katrina it takes forever and a year to get anything accomplished around here ? Well, this is a perfect example. When I spoke with AT&T regarding them running new phone lines they said they just do not have the man-power here to get everything done in a timely manner. All I can say is thank goodness for places like PJs with free wireless. Still a major pain in the behind.

My tummy bug is pretty much gone. Good grief, yet again. One week later and I am finally feeling a bit more normal.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Labor Day weekend. Grill some hamburgers, spend sometimes outside with your family. Say a prayer that a miracle or two will happen and AT&T will get to my name on the list BEFORE next Wednesday.

One day soon, I will write my thoughts regarding the 2nd anniversary of Katrina. I truly thought I would have written about it by now, but for some reason I just can’t bring myself to type it all out. Let’s just say that I have a myriad of feelings regarding the whole experience and emotions that it brought up in me.  

Geaux Tigers ! Nice way to start off the season. Even if it was boring.  

    School has been in session one full week now. Both boys have had a tummy bug. J has the croupiest cough ever. Me - I’m dying over here. lol. I’ve got the stomach bug. Going on day 3 and last night was ready for someone to just run me over. Tonight, I just want to lay down and die.

    Other than the kids being "germ taxis", they are loving school. Thank the good Lord. I am so relieved. T is doing well in his grades. He is making friends and having fun. G’s teacher emailed me today and told me that he is great and doing wonderfully and so far, there has been no news on the J front. I’m going with the "no news is good news" type of thinking. LOL. I worry that once she relaxes she is going to talk at school like she does at home. Non-stop. 24 / 7. Makes me want to wear ear plugs.  

    Sleep well, All. Wash your hands like crazy so you don’t get sick like me. oy.
 

I find myself telling "outsiders" about the amount of crime we have in New Orleans right now. Most of the time, I don’t think they believe me. Well, I found this video and it is funny, but very true. It talks about the crime in New Orleans since Katrina.

New Orleans Crime Video <<<<<<<——– click there.  

Is it sad that I find this funny ?  You really don’t want to come here right now. Trust me. No matter what they say on TV.

    My kids were late to school. J knocks her head on the door getting out of the car. I make it through an emotional funeral and hot as hell burial. I put in calls to 4 different babysitters so dh doesn’t have to go to Open House or "babysit" our children tonight. I have a blow out on the way home. I have a massive headache. A nice man stops and helps me. (Thank you for not raping and or kidnapping me) I inadvertently end up with 2 babysitters tonight. Cancel one. Go to open house - with massive headache. Get a call saying daughter has poo’ed everywhere. Babysitter doesn’t know what to do. I go home and deal with poo. Take babysitter home. Get back and son #1 poos and overflows the toliet. Water and poo are going everywhere. He is crying and screaming. Son #2 is crying and screaming. If there hadn’t been so much "stuff" on the floor I would have sat down and cried. I call dh and tell him to buy me so much sushi I can’t eat it all. I think he can tell by the tone of my voice that something is wrong. He says he will pick up sushi and come home. LOL.

    I have my first competitive tennis match for the season tomorrow. I get to drive on a spare tire with low air. The warning in the car won’t go off. I may arrive drinking.

    I’m crashing in bed. Peace out.  

At this moment, my grandfather is still alive. That fact is very unexpected and everytime the phone rings today I keep expecting it to the be "that call."  I hate it when I dread answering the phone.

I was able to go spend sometime with my Grandfather before I left out of town on Friday. I ended up being alone with him for almost 2 hours. I am so very grateful for that time. I told him I loved him. I kissed him.  I told him that I would see him in heaven one day. After I told that to him, I paused for a bit and was quiet and very reflective towards my grandfather’s life. My grandfather was not always a good man. In fact, he did many things that he should have been put in jail for. In my opinion, that is. I know that he was a member of the KKK. I know that he did horrible things to his children. Half of them have not spoken to him in years. He did not always treat my grandmother the best while she was alive.

Did he ever do anything bad to me ? No. Not that I can remember. Am I sad that he is dying ? I am sad for those that it is going to hurt. I am sad for his wife (he remarried after my grandmother’s death) for she loves him dearly. Their 20th anniversary would have been next month. I am sad for his children who are losing a father that they loved. I am sad for his children who never took the opportunity or just wasn’t able to come at peace or forgive him for the things he did wrong. I am sad for me that I didn’t have that "Norman Rockwell type Grandfather".

Do I have happy memories of my grandfather ? Yes, I do. My grandfather never learned to read. However, when I was 30, he learned his numbers and I think most of his alphabet. I was at his house visiting and he pointed to a tire on the tractor and he said "I can tell you what that says" and he read off the numbers and letters to me. He was so proud of himself. I was so happy for him. He was smiling bigger than I had ever seen.  I remember giving him cards as a little girl and standing to his side and reading them to him so he would know what they said. It is still amazing to me that he never learned to read in today’s world. He is not quite 80. It is not like he never had the opportunity to learn. Yes, I know that his father was killed when he was 7 and that he stayed home after that to help his mother raise the other kids and take care of the farm, but I wonder why didn’t he take the time to learn to read with his own children ?   

Supposedly, my grandfather made peace with the Lord and asked for forgiveness some years back. I am happy to know that about him. I hope it is true. I am very grateful for his death because that means he will not be suffering anymore. No one should suffer while dying.  

There are many things that I could say about my grandfather. Some good. Some not so good.  He was always a handsome man. Tall. I’m sure that is partly where I get my height. While I am not proud of all that he did in his life it is not my place to judge.  So, rest in peace my Dear Grandfather. I am so thankful I was able to sit there and hold your hand so you were not alone while you were dying.

    What a huge milestone to reach - the 1st day of Kindergarten. My middle child crossed that bridge today. So did I. Have any idea how difficult it is to let your child go ? It is very hard, especially when the particular child is a mommy’s boy.  Before yesterday, I hadn’t been too impressed with the idea of my son going to Kindergarten. I was frustrated with the fact that he can count to a 1000 and has known his alphabet and sounds and shapes since he was 2. I was thinking "this is going to be such a waste of money and time".  That is until I read a letter that a friend wrote about her son going to Kindergarten. She talked about how as a mother you "have to let go" to let your child grow up and about how Kindergarten is so much more than the ABC’s and 123’s. Our children have to learn to carry their lunch trays and know their carline numbers and lunch PINs. She really made me stop and think. I realized that I had not been focusing on the big picture. I am, now. It made my walking away from my son this morning so much more memorable to me.

    I have a picture of me on my first day of Kindergarten. I am sitting on my father’s knee and I’ve got pigtails in my hair. There are not many pics at all of me during my childhood, but that one I do have. Because of that fact, "first day" pics are very important to me. So, with all of that out of the way, here are the 1st day of Kindergarten pics.

    Now to the sad parts of my post today. I got the call today that said they didn’t expect my grandfather to live very long at all. If he is still living in the morning, I am driving to see him. Also, today was the 30th anniversary of Elvis’ death and I always get so sad on this day. I know it is silly, but I can still live out the day, time, place where I heard that Elvis had died. Until the hurricane, I still had the little Daisy radio that I heard it on. I was 10 years old. The last sad news - tomorrow I get to drive again to a place I really don’t want to go , to sleep with someone I really don’t want to. LOL. Ah, Jr League, how I love thee. snorts. lol.

    Sleep well and kiss those who you love. 

Yesterday was August 15th. Another important milestone in my family. My daughter started PreK. Woohoo. I love her class and her teacher and I am praying she has a wonderful year and the she grows and matures. I’m sure she will.

She and I practiced, the afternoon before, how to put on her uniform. She was beaming. It was so cute seeing her dressed as a "big girl".   Yes, her bitty baby has a school uniform, too. I’m just that kind of mom. lol. What did you expect ?

It was very interesting picking up 2 children from school, yesterday. They both wanted to tell me about their day at the same time. I think this is going to be a big adjustment for my eldest son because that has always been his time to tell me about his day. Now, he has to share. My daughter could tell me everything that was on her plate. Lol. My kids have a thing about food. However, she could not tell me about the story they read. Priorities.

She starts tomorrow for real and can not wait to go. She was so disappointed this morning to find that it wasn’t her day, today.  Me, too. I do not think that the little ones truly understand why they can’t go everyday. It is like giving them a toy on one day and taking it away the next.

    Ever made a mistake in your life ?  Ever made the same mistake twice ? Ever wish you could make the same mistake all over again ? How often do you think of your mistakes ? When you think of the biggest mistake ever made in your life what is it ? Would you do it all over again if you could turn back the hands the time ?

    I make mistakes daily. I’ll snap at someone when I should have been more patient.(Is that really a mistake or a character flaw ?) I’ll turn left instead of turning right.  I’ll get the dates wrong for a book signing.  My mistakes are endless. I’m nowhere near perfect. Thank goodness. I’d hate to try and have to live up to a perfect image.

    Oscar Wilde says, "experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes". All I can say is "dang, I’ve got a lot of experience". I’ve got areas of my life where I am trying to gain more experience. Hence, I’m making tons of mistakes.  This is one of them : .  I love this photo. It is the wave washing upon the shore in Maui, Hawaii. Why do I call it a mistake ? Because I was standing on the shore, taking photos of the whales out in the ocean. I was holding the focus button down with my finger so that the minute I saw a whale I could immediately snap the picture. I mistakenly took this picture. I didn’t know that I had even taken it till I was back in the car and reviewing my photos. I almost deleted it. That would have been the biggest mistake.  I love that the air bubbles in the water are so clear. I love that I can look over and over at the wave washing over that tiny piece of beach.  I’ve titled this photo "This Too Shall Pass Just Like A Wave".

   So, the next time you make a mistake or gain some more experience just be grateful and remember that all mistakes are not bad. Some turn out to be pretty good.
 

My eldest son started his new school today. I hardly slept last night because of worrying about how his day was going to go for him. When I left him at school this morning it was everything I could do not to cry. I wasn’t this emotional when I left him at Kindergarten. I said a prayer or two (hundred) during the day today and couldn’t wait to pick him up from school just so I could hear how it went.

 I get up to him in car line and the first words out of his mouth were "I had a great day, Mom". Tears welled up. "It was awesome". "I loved my lunch". Lol. I literally started laughing at the lunch comment. He was excited because he was served fruit AND broccoli. He said "the teachers don’t yell and everybody is nice." Wow. I’m really glad I switched him. 

Talk about relief. I honestly felt as if a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders. Ever since then I’ve wanted to do nothing but go to sleep. You know how it is when you are completely stressed and worried about something ? How it wears you out ? How you feel when you no longer have to worry ? Like you could sleep like Rip Van Winkle ? Well, that’s me right now.

Peace out, Babycakes. Sweet dreams. 

    I have just found the "blog of all blogs". I have found my newest, bestest friend. sighs. She doesn’t even know I exist, but omgoodness ! she has an entire blog on Spinning. Here it is : Unleash The Power of Group Fitness.  I’m reading and reading and writing down playlists and I’m in heaven. You know this feeds into my "ipod" love, too.

    I’ve actually looked at the calendar and figured out which days I can go to Spin class. I do not know why I am so in-love with it, but I am. Some people get this way with running, I’m this way with biking. I’ve always loved biking. Ever since highschool. I still can’t believe my father would let me just go off for long Saturday rides - by myself. No cell phone. No anything. He had no idea where I was. Sometimes I would ride over to the next city and buy a drink from the little store. Good grief. Amazing I wasn’t killed or kidnapped.

    I had some really special rides in college, too. Geaux Tigers. My boyfriend at the time was big into cycling. We would get up on Saturday mornings and ride from Baton Rouge to the ferry and catch it and ride all over the little crawfish towns. What fun days. We’d stop at the produce stands and buy fresh fruit from the local farmers. Oh, to go back in time. Okay - I’ve totally regressed here.  

    I have this dream of riding the RAGBRAI.  I’ve had that dream since 1992 when I first learned about it . Guess I might better get started on my training, eh ? I wonder if I could do that this year ? It would be the perfect year. I turned 40 and I really want to do something to remember this year by. If that makes any sense at all. That would probably be better than getting my nose pierced, eh ? Yes, I’ve actually considered that, too. I talked to my sister about it today. We both think the little nose studs are so pretty. Maybe when I get to my ideal weight I’ll do that.

    Yes, I attended Spin today. Yes, I was in heaven. Yes, my never-regions are killing me. Will I go back ? Probably on Friday morning.  

Peace out, Babycakes.  

I decided today that it is time to concentrate on me for a bit. I
played tennis today in what seems like a month. Amazing how much better
my mood has been all day. After tennis, I took the kids to the pool and
we had a blast. Even thought it was hotter than Hades, it felt so good
to be out in the sun. I love it.

I said that tomorrow I am going
to “spin class”. Again, I can’t wait. I hope Molly is teaching and that
she screams and hollers and yells for me to go faster and push harder
because someone really needs to. I hope the music is loud and that I
think a wolf is running behind me about to eat me. I’m getting high
just thinking about it.

I do so much better when I am
exercising. I definitely love that  endorphin high.  I think
I get a high from sushi, too. Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, speaking of sushi, I have
this clock in my kitchen. I get to sit at my breakfast counter and look at sushi everyday. Woohoo. Go me.

It’s definitely  concentration time.

    Is the weekend over, yet ? Good grief. This weekend just won’t end. It has been long, busy, tiring and fun. I swear I can’t believe it is not over yet.

Friday: Eldest son finished basketball camp and he declared it to be "awesome". I cleaned and cooked. Dh worked a couple hours that morning and then had fun with his boat (while I was with kids) and later that evening he declared he needed to have some alone time (what’s that?) and he went to the movie.

Saturday: Family portraits at church. (oh, what fun ! NOT) I’m going to cringe when they are printed in the church directory. We then went to the waterpark in Gulfport and spent the rest of the day in the sun having fun.   Yes, I took it. We decided we were going to look for a particular restaurant on the beach - the wiped-out beach - and ended up just having a scenic drve instead. I was driving. Everyone, except me, fell asleep and I just drove us all the way home in complete silence. It was my quietest hour of the day. Came home and ate a very late dinner and crashed into bed.

Sunday: Woke up and looked at clock - 9:05am. The 9:30 Mass was out. So were my clean sheets. Son #2 pee’d on them sometime while the FOUR of us were sleeping. Slowly made our way through breakfast. Dh left again to go to his boat. (I call it the "other woman") I watched 2 episodes of "The Biggest Loser". Actually got inspired enough to join the online community support group for it. I’ve got to lose some weight. And then the kids and I cleaned and vacuumed and scrubbed. I emptied the dishwasher and mopped the kitchen floors. Dh came home while we were all working and he volunteered to make dinner. Woohoo. It was good. I took a bath and read part of my Harry Potter book (yes, I’m the only person who hasn’t finished it) and then took a shower so I could get dressed. I left the house and went to Wally World. I got what few school supplies we needed and lined up a babysitter for Thursday night. Got home and talked with the next door neighbor. Put away all the goodies from Walmart. Got dressed for bed.

That’s your weekend wrap-up.  

    One of my best ever trips in my life was to Chicago with a group of some wonderful girlfriends. When I think of those 4 days I think of nothing but total fun. We went out to eat. We went shopping. We went to see Wicked. Oh, I just bought the soundtrack 2 days ago and that’s all I’ve listened to since.

I didn’t grow up with this group of friends. Nope. We all met online. Whenever I try and explain that to "real-life" friends they think I’m totally nuts. Know what, though ? My "group" of friends would do anything in the world for me in a heartbeat. They were all there for me during my pregnancy with my 2nd son, through Katrina, through the adoption of my daughter, through my vents about my husband, mother, pediatricians, tennis frustrations and on and on and on. They give me advice. They send out hugs and cards and phone calls when they know I need them. I love them all. I don’t know what I’d do without this group of friends.

Hmm. I started this post to talk about my lust for Chicago. I tell my husband that the one city in the US that I’d move to is Chicago. I love the train you take from the airport. I love the shopping. I love Oprah. I love riding in limos and eating at Geja’s. I love the Parker House. Oh, Chicago, how I love thee. I love the American Girl store. I love the breakfast they serve in the Hilton Hotel. I love all the walking you can do. I love the little bakeries and take-out sushi places along the way.

I could really live there. Well, until winter, I think. Wintertime, in the North, (I consider Chicago - North) is when the Southern girl in me would come out. I think it is winter here when it hits 50 degrees. How on earth would I survive below freezing temperatures ? Bwahaha. I wouldn’t. I think back to the coldest day of my life at dear ole Wolf Creek, Colorado. I was skiing and coming down a run and it felt like the snow was slicing my cheeks wide-open because of how cold it was. I headed straight to store and bought a face mask. hehe. I’m sure I looked like a masked robber, but I didn’t care. I can not handle the cold. End of story.

So, Dear Chicago, I love most everything about you. I want to visit you often, but I think I’ll stick with New Orleans. Our food and Southern hospitality can’t be beat. Neither can the heat and humidity and crime rate, but those are all different stories.  

PS. Yes, I took the photos.  

    I am beyond livid at my sister’s pediatrician. The pediatrician suggested to her yesterday that she put her 10 year old daughter on estrogen to stop her from growing so tall. WTF ? is what came out of my mouth when my sister called to tell me this. Neither of us had ever heard of this practice. If you google it you will actually find lots of "debates" over this practice. I can’t believe that there are parents who will do this to do their daughters. One of the long-term effects is inferitlity. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I honestly can’t believe that a normal (not specialized) peditrician would even suggest this to her patients. The pediatrician is tall herself and said she hated being tall while growing up. Uhh, not my problem or rather, not my niece’s problem.

    My niece is going to be tall. There is no doubt about that. Her mother is 6′. Her father is 6′4". I’m her aunt at 6′1". We’ve all done okay. I’m still just floored that this lady suggested this possible course of action. Who is she to play "God"?  Better yet, is she truly qualified to be suggesting this type of intervention. The pediatrician told my sister that right now she has four 8-year-olds on estrogen to stunt their growth. I’m pissed about that, too. What parents would agree to do this to their children ? Did they not look at any of the research from this ? Do they really want their 8 year old daughters in puberty at that early of an age ?

   I really need to step down off my soap box. I’m still pissed. I just think of all the tall tennis women, volleyball players - think Gabrielle Reese  - she is absolutely beautiful and TALL. Look at all the models. grrrrr. 

   I really hope that people educate themselves before choosing such actions. I’m shutting up now. I think.