I Could Write a Book

    Friday night we went to a Halloween costume party. Even I "dressed" up. I do not think I’ve seen the kids so excited or cute since last Christmas. The kids had an absolute blast. I had an enjoyable time talking with some of the other parents. It is nice to be able to socialize with some of our school families.

    I have the most adorable pirates in the Southeast ! I’ve got the most beautiful princess in the world. And for a 40 year old, I think I made a good enough "Kat". 

      Brotherly sword fight.                                             Isn’t that the most precious face around ?                            2 Pirates and a Princess !
 

The Mommy Kat. (Look Ma, no curls !)

    I think this is the cutest the kids have ever looked for Halloween. We are all looking forward to trick-or-treating and eating dinner at Nanny L’s house. Mmmm, mmm, good. 

I’m sad LSU doesn’t have a game this weekend. I’m completely looking forward to next weekend. I’ve already told my children that we are going to have a LSU cake that day.

Geaux Tigers !!!!!

     Today I made a friendly wager with a good friend of mine regarding the LSU vs BAMA game. I agreed to post a picture of myself wearing BAMA gear if Bama beat LSU. Why of course I will ! (cause LSU ain’t going to lose). After I made the wager, I started thinking about the fact that I do not have any Bama gear. I thought (cause I could not say this outloud) that I might better get me a BAMA shirt. Oh, hell no. What was I thinking ? Just as soon as I do I will jinx my beloved LSU Tigers.  Now, this isn’t to say that I wouldn’t absolutely love to go to that game. I’d love to go with my dear ole Bama friend. I think it would be a wonderful time and memory. Anyways, LSU is not going to lose, so I don’t have to worry about that picture. Do I ? 

    Yes, I was at the game Saturday night. LSU vs Auburn. That last touchdown made by LSU made my whole day. It was completely awesome and I still get chills when I think about it. I can see it vividly in my mind. The pass was thrown. The fans in the stands made this sucking in noise, holding their breath, waiting to see if the pass was going to be complete. OMG ! It was. We were jumping up and down. We were yelling. We were high-fiving. We were hugging our other season ticket fans on our row. Some of which are "sugar" friendly. Lots of sugar.

    My sister went to the game with me. We had a blast. I know I had a blast. I’m more than sure she did, too. She knows I love her, too. She wore some crappy "in style" shoes and they were "killing" her feet. What did the loving big sis do ? I swapped my super comfy, broken-in LSU crocs for her blister-inducing shoes.  Only a loving sister would do such a kind gesture, right ? She’ll pay me back. grins.

    I went to bed later that night than any night I can remember since having children. LOL. You know you’re 40 when you see the clock strike midnight and think "wow, I’m still awake at midnight."

    Here’s extending Bama some early sympathy. I’m sorry you’re going to lose. You all know LSU is going to win just to beat Nick Saban.  

I got my "real" camera back today. Whew. I haven’t used it in a while. I sent it off to get worked on a little bit. Amazing how taking pictures with a "real" camera is NOT like riding bike.

With my ND70, you must really know what you are doing or your pic is going to look like poop. I’ve got pictures as proof. I got used to my little Kodak Easy Share and it was easy because you could see the picture in the LCD screen before you actually took it. Not true with the ND70. So, you’ve got to have talent and knowledge versus good luck and snap shots. I guess it is time to head to a photography class again.

I was all excited getting my camera back today. I decided to take J out for a little photo session. The pictures are pretty because she is in them. I could never say outloud that they weren’t good photos, but from a photography standpoint - they were not good phots. I’ve got to learn to focus on what I actually want focused on.

Even though I wasn’t completely pleased with my photos (which won’t upload for some reason), J and I had a wonderful girls’ night out. That’s all that really counts. 

    Today I did something that was a first for me as a mother. I truly hope I don’t have to do this again. I held my little daughter while she got the side of her face stitched up. My heart broke for her. She was running and fell and hit the side of the table. It put a pretty deep hole. ugh. Lots and lots of blood. I think my boys were freaking out more than she was.

     Isn’t she pretty ? She adores her pink cowgirl boots right now. A crying shame I can’t find any to match hers. I’d have fun wearing them with her.

    While getting her stitches she was a complete trooper. I held her in my arms instead of having her papoosed. She trusts me so much and barely cried. I just kept talking to her trying to keep her mind off of it. While she was being sewn up I told her she could have any treat she wanted. She only wanted a box of "nerds". I would have given her the moon if she had asked for it.  

    She only had to get 3 stitches. I would have sworn it was going to be more. Her wound was mainly deep more than anything else. I kept saying "remember she is a girl and she needs a pretty face." Lol. I’m pretty sure he used the smalled thread available.

    I’m glad that is over with. I’m sure she is, too. I hope I never have to go through that again.

We had a fried squirrel tonight. Not the edible kind with gravy on top, though.  We had a fried squirrel who decided to hide his nuts in our power line pole and he blew out the fuse. LOL. I know. It is horrible that I think it is funny but after some wine with no electricity it is funny. Sorry PETA people.

After 2 hours and 3 glasses of wine waiting for the Cleco truck to get here - he does. Cheers go up ! We were at my poor neighbor’s house. They had electricity (and wine). The "power man" (woohoo) steps out of his truck, shines a flashlight up, and says "yep, you got a squirrel." OMG. That was the funniest thing I’ve heard in a week. (Probably just the wine, whatever). He shines his light upon a furry, little squirrel hanging over the power line and the power man blames it on the people who put the lines up after Katrina. I wanted to say "at least they got me power" but fortunately for me I kept my mouth shut.
 

I’ve had the absolute busiest 4 days in a row that I possibly could have and I came home tonight to a completely dark, black house. Not fun. It reminded me way too much of Katrina. (please place this thought above the last paragraph. I’m blaming it on the wine)

If I wasn’t so tired right now I’d write and tell about all the fun, busy stuff that has kept me occupied. I’m just too tired. Guess I’m not.   Well, here are the highlights - dh won 1st place on his boat, I’ve been to 3 different kid parties, one really fun adult party(Jr League), one artsy adult party, watched LSU nerve-wrackingly lose yesterday, seen more boats than I care to, ate some really good food, spent a lot of money, and got a beatutiful pair of earrings. I think that about does it for the weekend. Whew. hehe. You know I’m happiest when I’m busiest.

I’m looking forward to a "marvelous Monday". I haven’t had one of those in a while. Where did my normal, boring, slow life go ? 

The Dash
by Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
From the beginning to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth
And spoke of the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
That she spent alive on earth
And now only those who loved her
Know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own,
The cars, the house, the cash,
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard;
Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
To consider what’s true and real
And always try to understand
The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger
And show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives
Like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect
And more often wear a smile,
Remembering that this special dash
Might only last a little while.

So when your eulogy is being read
With your life’s actions to rehash
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent your dash?

© 1996 Linda Ellis

This was "read" at my Jr League meeting last night and I’ve thought about it ever since. It has really made me think about what I’m doing with my "dash".  

    A historical football game took place last night. LSU beat the Florida gators.  It will be a game that 92,910 ticket holders will never forget.  LSU Tigers vs Florida Gators. I was there. I wish that I could have video-taped the entire game from my seat. Words truly do an injustice in describing the game last night. I get chill bumps everytime I think of it.

    I have a tradition with how I attend my LSU games. I pretty much park in the same lot everytime and I typically go eat at Louie’s before the game. Louie’s is very special to me because I ate there many, many times while I attended LSU. It is a typical hole-in-the-wall. Great food.  While I was sitting there waiting on my food to arrive last night, in walk 5 "Gator" fans. They were dressed for the occasion and knowing me I could not pass up a photo op.   One lone LSU fan sitting next to 5 Gator fans. We may have been outnumbered in the diner, but not in the stands. Isn’t that the cutest diner ever ?

    First off, it was ESPN Game Day at LSU. That alone added excitment and fun to the day. I will never view that "show" the same anymore. All of you TV watchers get to see the commentators sitting there in their crisp white shirts, ties and suit coats, but what you don’t know is that from behind they have on ratty shorts and tennis shoes. I was "this close" to being on TV. The camera man got to me right when they had to cut to a commercial break.

    After eating and goofing around at the ESPN Gameday hoopla, it was time to hit some "tailgating". I think most of the country knows that LSU does "tailgating" the best.   That is where I tailgate every game. Right between the cleavage. If you’re a true Tiger fan you will know that that means between the "Indian Mounds" on the LSU campus. I’m in the same spot every game. The best spot.

    The LSU stadium is commonly called  "Death Valley". When I was a child, I always thought people were saying "Deaf Valley." At times, my version of the name is more fitting. Last night was one of them. The noise level was so high at times that you could not hear what the person sitting next to you was saying. The shouting, the yelling, the stamping of the feet. It was incredible. I was listening to a radio show on the way home from the game and someone made the comment that you could actually feel the stadium shake last night. Now, for those of you who know this stadium, it is not some tiny little thing. It is massive. It is big. It is a lot of concrete. And it shook. It rattled. It rolled. It was wild.

    I will admit that when it got to the 4th quarter I was quite nervous thinking that LSU might not win. I was trying to keep up hope and keep my brave face going. I kept staring at that scoreboard thinking "something better happen quickly."   That was the score at the top of the 4th. Things got much more exciting after that. I think one of the turning points in the game last night was when it was announced that Stanford beat USC. The crowd went wild. We realized "we really are 1st in the country." Now we just had to win this game. The crowd started yelling and cheering and becoming more supportive. I’m sure the football players could feel the support from all of the fans. There was a fumble and an interception and that kept LSU in the game. We still had a chance. I think I stood up the entire 4th quarter. It was a quarter that you could not sit down and watch. It was much too intense. I’m suprised I have any finger nails left. I’m surprised I don’t have bruises on my hands from high-fiving people that I don’t know.

    All of a sudden, the score was 27-24 in LSU’s favor and the place was going nuts. I took that photo thinking at that exact moment - this time is going to be history one day. You can read it. 1:09. 1 minute and 9 agnozing seconds. I think I held my breath until the ball cleared on the goal post on the kick. 28-24. That meant that for the Gators to win they had to score a touchdown.

    Of course, then it was the Gator’s turn. Praying, yelling, stomping our feet we’re all thinking "just hold them off for a bit longer". It gets down to the 5 second mark in the game and we all knew that this was the crucial moment. Yes, I took a picture of that, too. At that point, the announcers came on the speakers and said "please stay in your seats at the end of the game." They were expecting the fans to rush the field or at least, for the student body, too. So, being the prepared little stadium they are, they brought out the calvary. Okay, it was just the state troopers. They lined up in rows at the bottom hoping that their presence alone was enough to hold back 92,910 people. It worked. 5 seconds go by and we blocked their "hail Mary" attempt and won the game. The only people to rush the field were the football players and staff. They were jumping. They were yelling. They were high-fiving. It is a blurry shot. I was jumping and yelling, too, but if you look closely, you can see the football players jumping in the air.

    The fans were cheering and shouting in their seats. Everyone was so incredibly happy. After a few minutes of composure time, the team actually kneeled on the field and prayed.   The fans stayed for what seemed like forever after the game was over. I think everyone was trying to let it sink in that we had just won and were truly # 1.

    I wasn’t the only one there last night photo documenting the game and actually had a lot of fun doing it. I think this guy did, too. 

    LSU Tigers # 1. I bleed purple and gold. I hope I was able to add a little bit of excitment. Geaux Tigers !!!  

Tomorrow is "blessing of the pets" for the third graders. My eldest son is so excited. Me, I’m so worried. He really wants me to bring Winkie to get blessed and before the other night I thought absolutely nothing of this. Let me explain. The other night on the way home from religion class, T and I saw a stray dog. I very quickly heard the "but mom, God would want us to help." Just what do you say to that ? I turned the car (rented tin can with wheels)  around and went back and picked up this incredibly gay poodle. A very sweet dog. I will give him that. I bring the poodle inside knowing that Winkie was put away or so, I thought. Winkie comes barrelling out of his kennel and pretty much attacks the poor poodle. Eeeekkkkk.  An instant three-ring circus broke out in my house. It’s funny now, but it wasn’t now. I don’t know who was making the most noise. The kids or the dogs ? How is Winkie going to act tomorrow around all the other pets ? I’m a bit concerned. (that’s an understatement)

I voiced my concerned to T and he said, "well, bring Lupi. She needs to get blessed before she dies, but I really want Winkie." Good grief. What a comeback.

Want to place any bets that tomorrow afternoon is going to be a lot of fun for me ? I’m definitely taking my camera. I think it is going to be a hoot. I think by the end that I will need to be "blessed".  

Winkie at his blessing day. He did great. T was overjoyed !