I Could Write a Book

I came here tonight truly expecting my blog to be wiped out. I’m very glad it is not. I’m sure you’re wondering "why the disappearance?" Well, pull up a chair and take a listen. It goes something like this:

December 2008 was just hell. I’d say it was probably 2nd in the "hell line" right after Katrina. I pray that nothing ever tops Katrina. What made December such hell ? Let me list the ways. 1) my surgery. My body is too old for that. 2) Tob’s surgery. Are there any antibiotics left that he can take ? 3) Car wreck. State Farm is a cheap, cheap insurance company. They should have totalled out my car. 3) Christmas. Good grief. This one alone stresses people to the max. 4) Tob’s tooth. Hey, why not break out all of your permanent teeth ? 5) Knee didn’t want to heal. Subsaquent weight gain followed. 6) Dh was overwhelmed by my being bed-ridden with knee. Great lack of food till friends stepped in.  Etc. Etc. Etc.

So, how did January go if December was so bad ? January went very well. Most all of the little things resolved themselves and I became afraid of the "January Jinx." I’m not lying. I became afraid if I mentioned that January was going well that I would screw everything up. I even thought of coming and doing a post called "January Jinx" but I honestly was afraid. I’ve lived near New Orleans way too long. All the "voo doo" and "hexes" and "shit".

I’m sure you know that February rolls around right after January and wouldn’t you know - February was good too ! I thought, "there is no way I can mess up my lucky streak." So, I didn’t. Can’t say I did anything romantic for Valentine’s Day but I got a really nice coffee pot and a bonus water cooler. You know you’re rating way high on the romance scale when you’re excited about a coffee pot and water cooler. I’m obviously getting old. Oh, wait. I think that happened in February too. Yep, it did. I turned a year older. Uh, we need to reverse this trend. My body is really beginning to protest.

However, with the exciting coffee pot and the extra candle , things were still going very well. I still couldn’t bring myself to come and break the "spell’. Somebody could really write a book about me and my neurosis. Spelling on that word, anyone ?

So, here it is March and here I am writing. What happened? you say. This is what happened. March brought about some stress. March brought about some awakenings and I’m not talking about the Kate Chopin style Awakenings. There is an old saying about "hold your friends close and your enemies closer." In my humble opinion that little quote really needs to be changed. It needs to be read like this: "Hold your enemies close - you already know who those are and hold your friends closer so you can see which one is about to stab you in the back." Nothing like a little sunshine on this bright and cheery night, eh ? Lol. 

It’s all good. I’m still being very respectful. I’m doing my part of "heaping coals on heads". (It’s in Proverbs. Yes, in the Bible) I know that I am accountable for my actions not for others’ actions.

Overall, March is still very good. Yes, there was a little blip on the radar but maybe God put it there so I’d get back to writing. I do miss writing.

Have a great night, Y’all. Peace out and lots of butterfly kisses.  

    Made it safely home from Gustav. I think I died when I fell into my own bed last night. Wow did that feel good. God answered my prayers of not letting any trees fall onto my house. However, one fell and crushed the car, one fell and crushed the trampoline, one fell and took out part of the swingset and one fell and nicked the corner of the gutter on the back of the house. Now, all three that fell in the backyard all fell on my deck and destroyed all the railing , squished the little grill, took a chunk out of the deck, squished my table, broke my plants, etc. but none fell on the house. I’m happy. Oh, oh, oh, my grill that I got for my birthday - not a scratch on it. God was smiling down on me this time.

    New Orleans did a great job of evacuating everyone out. What do you think is going to happen with Ike ? Do you think they will have trains, planes and buses in place ? They might. I don’t see the people evacuating though. Everyone I’ve talked to today says "I can’t believe we might be dealing with another one." UGHHHHHHHHHH.  I don’t think I’m going to unpack my suitcases. Why bother ? I’m also not buying a lot of groceries.  

    Memphis was fun but I really don’t want to go back there so soon again. Where do evacuate this time ? Disney sounds good. Wonder if they will be expecting all the rain this time. It’s got to be slow season, too. Wouldn’t you think it would be slow season ? Except for us New Orleanian evacuees that is. lol.  

    I will say if I ever do drive up and my house is crushed again - I’ll probably be moving. I just don’t know how much more of this type of stress I can handle. It is draining.  I think there is a lot of that type of thinking going on around here now.

Peace out. I’m still tired from this week. I also spent the majority of the day carrying trees and limbs and debri out of my yard. ~~I love you~~ (don’t forget to say it) 

I’m still in Memphis because there is no power where I live. From what I hear there is no food in the grocery stores, either. They are hoping to have power restored by Saturday. I can not wait.

I am bored completely out of my mind in this hotel room. Memphis has been receiving the wonderful Gustav weather. Storms, soggy , blowing wind and tornado watches. It’s a lot of fun being stuck in a hotel room with 3 restless children.

Gustav treated us much better than Katrina did. I am very happy for that. We lost one car and part of my deck on my house. I have no idea if it wiped out my grill or not. I know this is one of the reasons why I’m dying to go home. I also want to check on my little dog. I am so worried about him. My neighbors said they would watch him and that they weren’t going to evacuate and then they did. They left when our city started evacuating my subdivision because the river was rising so fast. sighs. Lesson learned - park cars somewhere else when leaving and bring dog.

I’m in a bit of a funk. I think I’ve seen everything "touristy" there is to see in Memphis and I’ve eaten enough BBQ to feed an army. No telling how much weight I’ve gained. LOL. Of all the things to worry about. See, I’m still pretty normal.

I’m praying for power to come back quickly. Can you imagine what it’s going to be like to clean out my rotting freezer ??? Ewwwwwwww. Nasty. Gas mask material.

I’m so tempted to leave and go home before power but have to remind myself of the 120 degree weather inside my house with the one million mosquitos. I think I’ll stay in my boring little hotel room watching more TV in this week than I have in the past year. Yeehaw.

I am proud that LSU got its head out of its butt and postponed the game this coming weekend. Woohoo. I might be able to catch that one and it should be cooler in November ! See, there are silver linings in the clouds.

Peace out everyone !! I’m glad you all made it through the storm. I’m glad my children made it through this one without any psychological damage.  Don’t forget to say ~I love you~. 

    Hello Elvis,

    Here I come to visit you. I’d rather be staying home but considering Gustav is out there you’re the next best thing. 

    Dear God,

   If you can hear me please don’t let a tree or trees crush my house this time.

   Thanks,

   me - the girl with a pit in her stomach
 

Today is the 3rd anniversary of Katrina and probably the least talked about anniversary so far. Why ? Because of Hurricane Gustav. It seems that one hour the weathermen have it predicted to hit very near New Orleans and the next hour it’s headed more West. What is one supposed to do ?

Well, in my case, it’s a no brainer. You pack up 5 days worth of clothes and you get the hell out of dodge. Why ? Well, after riding Katrina out and having a wonderful tree split my house in half with all of us inside of it - I think I’ll pass on this one. My eldest son is still very traumatized from that experience and being a responsible parent means doing what is best for him. When he got off the bus today he asked, "where are we going?" I told him, "Memphis." All was fine after that. He was perfectly calm. Whew.

Guess what else Gustav means besides no school, no work and hotel reservations in another state ? It means that I’m going to miss the opening LSU game. sighs. I do love my Tigers but heck, they moved the kickoff time to 10am and I’m much too lazy and amotivated to drive to Baton Rouge that early in the morning. Besides, tomorrow will be busy boarding up the house and all the other fun things that comes with a hurricane. In all seriousness, I think it is a true shame that they didn’t reschedule the game. Shame on whoever made that call. Yes, I know Gustav may end up going somewhere else but after Katrina you really can’t take the gamble and wait it out.

Mentally, this is draining. I honestly can’t believe that on the 3rd anniversary of Katrina that I’m packing up to leave because of another hurricane. Please stay safe everyone. Don’t forget to tell the one(s) you love ~I love you~. Oh, and Geaux Tigers !!!!

Peace out,

Babycakes  

    Go away - Gustav. Go away - rash. Enough said. I don’t need to deal with either of you in my life right now.

    Gustav is causing so much hype and anxiety around here right now. I’ve already got hotel reservations in Memphis just in case Gustav decides to come towards New Orleans. I’m not going through another Katrina. There has already been an "address" by the Governor listing all the plans of action the state is taking. Is this a bit overboard or just be really prepared ? Whatever it is - it is stressful.

    I haven’t heard back from the MRI. How long is "long enough" before I become a pest and call the Dr’s office to find out the results ?

Dear Month of May,

    Goodbye Dear sucky May.  I can honestly say that I’ve never been happier in my life to see the month of May gone. Gone forever.

    In case you can’t tell by my very subtle words, May pretty much sucked in my opinion. Some of you have listened to me cry on the phone. Others have offered up prayers. I’m sure lots thought I was truly losing my mind at times. Goodness knows I was in that category. Yes, tomorrow starts "hurricane season" here, but I will gladly take a hurricane over "May" again.

    Just so you can stop trying to figure out what was so bad in my life during the month of May (and  in case dementia strikes me sooner than I expect) here are just a couple of examples: death, potential death (yes, the day dh thought he was truly having a heart attack was a fun one) (that’s sarcastic) (sorta), hernias (J has to have surgery), boils on butts(that’s private), finals (ended up with a "B" in the class) ~boo hiss~, Jr League Banquet - (that actually somehow got pulled off quite nicely), baseball games 5 nights a week (peanuts anyone?) and on and on and on. My stress level was so high at one point, I actually had a very nice gay man tell me I need to take more soy to help my menopausal symptons. (I’m not making that one up, lol)

    Goodbye ugly month of May. May I never have to live through another like you - ever. And in case you haven’t picked up this tidbit from me before — be sure and tell the one(s) you love ~ I love you ~ You truly never know when that last time will come.

butterfly kisses to all 

Home. As Dorothy says in Wizard of Oz "there’s just no place like home." I know that I’ve surely felt that way before. There truly isn’t anything like "home." I remember often when Katrina crushed my house and I was displaced and wondering if I’d ever see home again - I thought lots and lots of times about "home." After Katrina, my mother remarked to me, you should make a slideshow with pictures from Katrina and the song "Home" running behind it. To this day, I still can’t listen to "Home" without crying.

I love the feeling, when I’ve been away for awhile, of taking that first step inside my home and looking around and seeing my things. My bed. My pictures. My stuff. It makes me very grateful that I do have a home to come home to. So, for those of you who are missing "home" right now - here’s one of my absolute favorite songs. I hope you make it home, soon. 

Don’t forget to tell the ones you love "I love you".  

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 ? 

    A tisket, a tasket, a trip turnover basket. I am no longer going to Spain. That trip was totally scraped today. Am I upset ? Not in the least. Where am I going now ? Austria and Prague. Am I excited ? Yes. Why ? Because of Franz Kafka.

    I am a pretty avid reader. I’m definitely a biblioholic. For those of you who have no idea what a biblioholic is, it means one who is a lover of their books. Some people can read a book and give it away or turn it in for a fraction off their new book. I can NOT do that. A book holds way too many memories for me. In the majority of my books, I write when I start reading it, when I finished it, where I was and who gave it to me if I didn’t purchase it for myself. I think the greatest gift anyone can give me is a book. When people ask me "what do you want for so and so?" I always tell them to buy me their favorite book and for them to sign it.

   Do I have that many books in my house right now ? No. Why ? Well, Hurricane Katrina is to thank for me losing my books this last time. I’ve replaced a lot of them. I’ve had friends give me copies that they knew I loved. They will come back. It is fun getting them all over again.

   Back to my trip and Kafka. In Prague, a place I’ve never been, I might be staying in a hotel across the street from where Kafka lived and wrote. Do you hear the pitter-patter of my heartbeat ? Do you know that I got beyond excited when I found out that tidbit ? Does that make me completely weird ? Want to know what one of my souvenoirs will be from Prague ? I will buy a copy of The Metamorphosis there. That will be a highlight of my trip. I think I’ve loved Kafka because of his style of writing. The famed "German" style. Yet another reason to be proud of my German heritage.

   For some reason, I feel very relieved not to be going to Spain. I do not know why. I just didn’t feel comfortable with it. I keep trying to figure out why I feel so comfortable going to Austria and Prague. Maybe it is because I will be flying into Austria and staying in Vienna for the first two nights. This will be my 4th time in Vienna. (I was there once when T was two years old and he lost his favorite lovey. His Elmo. I had to go out shopping to find something that he would sleep with while there. He picked up this little stuffed, fleece lamb and to this day it sleeps on the end of his bed.)  I will take a train from Austria - thank the good lord it is not a sleeper train - and ride to Prague. I’m very comfortable with all of that. Again, I’m thinking it is because it is something that I am already used to. Ah, the control freak in me just keeps raising its ugly head.

   I’m very excited about this trip. Instead of short-sleeved shirts and capris I’m trading them for long-sleeved shirts and pants with a jacket. The high is supposed to be 60 while there. It is going to be so nice. A break from the heat here.

   So, this week I’m off to a little opera, Mozart, Kafka, castles and rum balls (chocolate). I am truly looking forward to it.
 

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.  

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.

    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. 

    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.  

    The kids and I had an absolutely wonderful day today. Wow. Tons of fun. Tons of water. Tons of climbing lots of stairs for the "scarey" waterslides. I got quite the workout today. I just loved this waterpark.  I also love that I am supporting an area that was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

    On the way home, I saw the weirdest sight. Wow. Driving down the interstate. Doing just a tiny bit over the speed limit. I look at a car that has pulled onto the shoulder of the road. I look again. OMG. A woman has a boy 8 - 10 years old by his arm - spanking him with a leather belt. My mouth flew open. My brain registered shock. What in the heck do you do in that situation ? By the time it actually jived with me what has happening I was passed them. The traffic was crowded and everyone was cruising along. It wasn’t like you could just stop. Ugh. Such a weird thing. Guess I’ll have nightmares over that one tonigh. Blah.

    I had considered taking the kids to the pool tomorrow, but I think we’ll skip that. They need a day or so to get over all the sun they got today. I did line up a babysitter for a little while tomorrow. Woooohooooo. I’m going to have some me time.

    Oh yeah - all those letters( Jr League ) I had to get out - task accomplished. Whew !!! 

Baton Rogue is my favorite Louisiana city. I love it. I know that lots of people do not like how bad the traffic has become or how big the city has grown since Katrina, but I still love it. Obviously, my kids love it too. This morning, early-early morning, I was awakend by my eldest with "I’m dressed, mommy." It is pitch black dark and I squint to look at the clock and it reads 4:00am. Holy crap. 4 AM ? I politely told him to get back in bed and he proceeds to crawl into my bed fully dressed. Arghh. At least we got another 2 hours of sleep. lol.

I love spending time with my friend there. We can go months without seeing each other and pick up immediately where we left off the last time. I love it that she has so many schooling tips for me. I don’t know what I’d do without all of my teaching buddies. It is also nice to see another person not have perfect children. Woohoo. Didn’t make me feel so bad in regards to some of the not-so-stellar children’s behavior, today. . Now, I did have to stop my Godson from killing a tree frog. I have no idea what he was thinking. I love my little froggies. I guess my daughter got that part from me. 

I love my children. I love my life. I wish my house was lighter on the inside, but otherwise, I love it, too. I’m in a happy mood today. It’s been a terrific Tuesday in my book - despite the freaking storm that I had to drive back home in. Whew. Can’t say that part of my day was much fun. I’m exhausted now. My Jr League meeting tonight was a little longer than I was expecting. I’m headed to pass out.

Sleep tight.  

I’m not talking about the cowboy people. I’m referring to my favorite book "Cowboys Are My Weakness" by Pam Houston. I have had this book since it was first published. Now, I lost it in Katrina but it was replaced by a friend. This book is one that I can read over and over again. The short stories always make me smile.

I don’t know why I’ve been thinking about this book lately. It is almost like a security blanket to me. I pick it up and read it when things are stressful or I’m sad or just in a funky mood. I think because my routine has been off and I haven’t been able to exercise like I want to I’ve been a little melancholy lately. Other than the not exercising everything else has been going very well for me. Go figure. I’ve been Betty Crocker this week with my cooking.  Thanks Megalicious.

Yesterday a really bad storm came through here. I got caught out in it driving with the kids. Holy moly. It reminded me a lot of Katrina. The crazy wind, the falling pine trees, and the blinding rain.  I think that is what has me thinking about my books. My books are so important to me. I’ve lost them 3 times so far in my life now. Hopefully, I won’t lose them again.

So, tonight before I go to sleep, I will be reading about my cowboys and wondering how many beeping messages are there on his answering machine. Read the book if you want to know. Lol.  

Peace out, Babycakes. 

    It’s been a long day. I’ve got 23 minutes to spare to get this post done before it is on the next date. So, here are the highlights :

    1) We achieved "Africa Heat" today. If any of you watched Spike Lee’s documentary on Hurricane Katrina you will know that lady who referred to the heat here as "Africa Heat". It registered 97 degrees (while I was watching a baseball game outside in it) and that doesn’t include the dang humidiy and heat index. We definitely reached "Africa Heat" today. The animals couldn’t even stand it.

    2) Tob got MVP on his baseball team today. Got to bring home the "game ball". He hit a ball that went all the way to the fence and the bases were loaded. They won the game. I’ve never seen my son or myself so proud.

    3) G - drama boy - got his first trophey ever. You would have thought he had just won the presidency or something. He was smiling from ear-to-ear. He got a participation trophey for t-ball.

    4) I just finished watching a 4 hour long dance recital. My niece is a wonderful dancer and I pray that she changes her mind and doesn’t stop dancing this year. Oh, forgot to add, that drive home was one of the hardest I remember in a long time. I was major sleepy.

    5) I got  my anniversary present today. (How many days ago was my anniversary ?) Yes, I’m bad. lol. I got the little jewelry box I wanted. I figured this time when a hurricane hits I’m going to be prepared - at least with my jewelry - and have it all together in a neat, handy dandy, jewelry box. That way I can just grab it and go.

    6) The weather got so bad here today it reminded me of Katrina. I’m going to be taking lots of mini-vacations in my future. All the weather man is going to have to say is "tropical storm headed to New Orleans" and I’m outta here. Where should I go ?

    Those are the highlights of my day. Yeehaw. Peace out.  

    Yeehaw, just incase any of you have forgotten, here is your friendly (snort) reminder that Hurricane Season started today. Yippee yeah. Get your life boat and paddles ready. If you don’t have one of your own and there is actually a hurricane feel free to "commandeer" one. I think that is  Katrina word. LOL.

    Just thinking about the hurricane season makes you stressed out around here. Again for the 2nd summer in a row, here is my declaration : If another flipping hurricane comes through here again - I’m outta here. And you can quote me on that one.

That’s your public service announcement for the day or season. I think I really need sleep. lol 

    Today we decided to forgo baseball practice and just spend the day in the French Quarter. Wow, it was busy. Today was the busiest I’ve seen it since Katrina.  We had a blast. The weather was perfect and the kids didn’t whine too incredibly much. We had sushi for lunch, ate at Cafe Maspero’s for dinner and then we hit Cafe DuMonde for beignets and cafe au lait.

    While in the Quarter we wondered over to the Aquarium. They’ve really been working on it and have almost the entire thing reopened. There were a lot more fish, too. Oh, oh, oh. I touched my first stingray today. They are so soft. Like really, really soft. I could have stood there for an hour touching them but they had this "barking" attendant man who kept saying "if you’ve touched the stingrays, please move on".

    I had to leave poor little Winkie in his kennel all day. I just knew there would be a mess for me to clean up when we got back home, but nope - not a thing. Woohoo for Winkie.

    Tomorrow is going to be another "marvelous Monday". There is no school and I don’t have to be at the club to workout till 10am. Yippee yeah. I have a late morning. I’m taking the kids to the pool and waterslide after I finish working out. We’re going to have a nice Memorial Day and I hope that you all have a nice one as well. Enjoy your holiday.