The First Ornament

I'm not stressing about getting everything done in a hurry this year. So as a result, my house is being decorated a little a time.  This weekend was productive.  I was able to finally convince three of my kiddos and a friend of theirs to haul up most of the Christmas boxes from our storage room.  There is still stuff down there in the basement, but I'm not stressing to get down there to find it. Anyway, most of the decorations are out; most of the ornaments  on the main tree.  The top is kind of bare, but the bottom branches are quite full, courtesy of short people with little hands.  I need to enlist the help of a taller individual to get it complete.  


This is a picture of the first decoration of this Christmas season, well not counting the Christmas tree!  


Yes, it's half snowman/half football.  And yes it's adorned in purple and gold instead of red and green.  Gregory had the honor of hanging this little guy on Saturday night, following the LSU win over Georgia in the SEC Championship game.

He's now surrounded by lots of red and green.  There's a little black and gold one hanging nearby too!  Imagine that!  They are new, purchased while home in Louisiana last January.  I was so excited when I bought them because they reminded me so much of Greg. And now he's home, ever-present and yelling and clapping when there's a team from Louisiana playing football!  And what a year to be an LSU or Saints fan!


So it was a good weekend.  Football aside, it's beginning to look a LOT like Christmas; now to start working on it sounding and feeling more like it too!
  

Day 89 - A Taste of Home with Hazel

Today my sister Stephanie took a day off from her busy workplace to spend the day with me.  She never ever takes off because her work is so enjoyable to her.  Wish I had that attitude!  But then Stephanie has a positive attitude about just about everything!  So we spent some time tidying up the house and organizing a little bit here and there - she loves to help clean and is an awesome organizer!  That how she's earned the name "Hazel" from my dad.  For those of you too young to remember, Hazel was the name of a TV program about a housekeeper. I'm not THAT old, I just remember the reruns.  So yes, Stephanie, aka Hazel helped me clean house and is a terrific help because I'm not BO, that is born organized.

After some of the cleaning was finished, we took a trip up Hwy N to Louisiana Cafe.  The Friday special was fried catfish and crawfish etouffee, plus we had some gator chips on the side.  That would be fried pickles.  Even though I'm from Louisiana, I've never eaten a gator, nor will I ever have the desire.  So we listened to a little bit of jazz, dined on some seafood and reminisced about Greg who loved to eat at Louisiana Cafe.  I figured out that he will be home in 13 weeks and 5 days and well, 13 weeks and 5 days ago we got home from our trip to Louisiana.  Quite appropriate, I would say!  And yes, I do realize how nerdy, cooky, crazy, sappy and totally desperate it is that I actually know such things.  But such is the life of a missionary mom or any mom who has loved ones far away.  So that's my story for today and laissez le bon temps rouler!

 Steph said the catfish was really good!  It really was!

 Digging in

 Gator Chips

 Fried Catfish and Crawfish Etouffee - very spicy, my sinuses are cleared!

Louisiana Cafe

2010 thus far. . .

So 2010 began noisily as it should have. We welcomed in the New Year with friends and spent all of New Years day packing for our trip home to Louisiana. Mark's girlfriend, Melissa, came over to help him pack and say "bye."

We left that night and drove through the night arriving in Livington early the next morning. Mark's best friend Tre' was our traveling buddy once again.



The week passed rather quickly but we enjoyed our time with Michael's parents. Mike and his dad took the kids on a boat ride on the Amite River despite the unusually cold temperature. It definitely felt a little more like Missouri while we were there.

We also spent a day in New Orleans, walking through the French Quarter, eating poboys and muffalatas at Cafe Maspero's and later beignets at Cafe du Monde. It's becoming an annual tradition. Mike's mom fed us wonderfully well too. We savored every bite of seafood gumbo, pot roast, spaghetti, barbecued chicken, not to mention 2 huge red velvet cakes, homemade chocolate pies and rolls. Plus there was some dirty rice, boiled shrimp, a king cake and I've likely forgotten what else contributed to the nearly 5 pounds I gained.

After we arrived home I began looking for another job. I could tell it was time for me to leave the nursing home behind. Plus I needed full time hours and Mike and I were both beginning to become stressed. Fortunately things turned out as I knew they would. I had faith that Heavenly Father had something in mind. Just home this is what it was ~ I start a new job tomorrow at DePaul Hospital. I will be working on a cardiac telemetry unit: taking care of patients following MIs, cardiac surgeries and procedures; a stepdown from the ICU. I am excited about the new challenges ahead and yes, somewhat nervous too! I am anxious to learn much more.

Other events from January include Thomas turning 10,

the pinewood derby at Cub Scouts

and the Saints making it to the Superbowl! February is already halfway gone ~ Todd turned 13 last week

and well, the Saints actually WON the Superbowl!!! We had a bunch of friends over to watch the game and help celebrate this long awaited victory. We in complete N'Awlins fashion had tons of food. I even found a local bakery that had black and gold king cake and Saints cookies. Sweet! This was special to any fan New Orleans born and raised as we are. But it was a bittersweet time as Greg who is undoubtedly one of their biggest fans was not here to savor this moment in history. In fact he didn't even get to watch the game as he was busy doing what he set out to do: teaching others about our Church and the Saviour. But I crafted a "stick Greg" as he will forever be known that watched the game with us and "paced" back and forth during the tense moments.

It's taken me forever to get this post situated the way I wanted. It's snowing again tonight. Time for bed now. Traffic will likely be horrible as I venture to my first day of orientation. Wish me luck!

Same Time Last Year

Well today I spent a moment or two reading through my previous blogs. It really did only take a couple of moments as I haven't been as devoted to blogging as I would have liked. I'm working on getting better at that.

I scrolled down all the way to the bottom and read my blog entry dated December 29, 2008. And here we are ~ December 29, 2009. I remember that day very well. I recall vividly that day at the Mall of Louisiana and the assault to my senses. So it's a whole year later and things have changed, but much is the same.

The pre~Christmas hustle and bustle was the same, but things were much less hectic this year it seemed. The Christmas cards were out a whole week before the Blessed Day arrived. Garrett and Thomas got to see Santa without a whole lot of trouble. Okay we did have to wait in a line for a little while. Mike would say it was much l o n g e r of a line than he would have liked, but it really wasn't that bad. We took the kids to Santa's Magic Kingdom in Eureka, Missouri. It was basically a Jellystone Campground turned into a huge light display, complete with the Hannah~Barbera characters all around. They weren't like walking around or anything exciting like that~ just wooden likenesses of the Jetsons, the Flintstones, and of course Yogi Bear. Mike kept saying we were experiencing a Hillbilly Christmas. I asked him if we fit in with the hillbillies or did we stand out? He said we blended in just fine. I don't know, my kids and I didn't have matching camouflage jackets like the mom and her children behind us in line. Oh well, we saw Santa, took a picture and enjoyed the lights. Christmas lights are a joy to behold, hillbilly or not.

We missed Greg that night. It was probably one of the first outings we've been on as a whole family since he left. Other than church, but that's not really an "outing." Mark brought his girlfriend, Melissa. Different girlfriend than the one from last year's blog.

Last year I wrote from Louisiana. I'm not there now, but I will be in 5 days! I am longing for some down time for reading, hanging out with family and relaxing. Plus I'm craving some beignets and poboys. It's time. But I will not put on 5 pounds like I did last year. That will be different.

So while some things are different, it's mostly the same old same old as I say. and that's good. The same wonderful feeling that the holidays bring. The same trip to Louisiana, because that's HOME. And that will never change. And my kids are a little taller, hopefully a bit smarter, but still playing those same old same old video games that Santa brought. Well, not the exact same games as last year, but they're all the same to me. And yes there were only 7 of us home this Christmas, not 8 like last year, but the love I have for all of them is the same, only I think I actually love them more. And that's really all that matters.

The Irony of it All

Let's see, three weeks ago I was busy juggling family and studying fo my nursing final. When my final was over I began Christmas shopping and finished decorating the house. I started cleaning all the parts of the house that were neglected during my weeks of school and made a lame attempt to catch up with my never ending laundry. Then there was more shopping and then even more shopping as I would think of people that I had initially left off of my list. Then there was a hockey game here and another one there, and when was I going to take Garrett to see Santa? Lucky for me, Santa made a surprise appearance at his pre-school. Then there was all the wrapping of the aforementioned presents. I was also busy planning a party for Greg's 19th birthday and then Mark asked me to help him plan a surprise going away party for his girlfriend the night before Greg's party. And what about the Christmas cards??? I was much more organized this year and ordered them weeks ahead of time and picked them up as soon as they were ready. Then they sat on my desk and patiently waited while I collected stamps and lost addresses and toyed with the idea of a Christmas letter to accompany the picture card.

The parties were a lot of fun and two days later I was back at the mall for more shopping of course! Then there was the baking of the goodies and last minute preparations on Christmas Eve. We spent that evening at my mom's and enjoyed wonderful chicken gumbo and then the blessed day finally arrived. Most of the kids were happy. One child who shall remain nameless was quite upset that Santa had screwed up one of his presents. But all in all it was a pleasant laid back afternoon. Then came the mad dash to get 8 people ready for our trip to Louisiana. There was tons more laundry to tackle and suitcases to pack. My poor washer and dryer got a workout that night and into the wee hours of the morning, as the kids realized that they needed this shirt clean and these pants washed! We traveled the 12 hours in two cars with Michael and I in one car with a couple of kids and all the teens in another car. That made for a nice change!

Throughout these couple of weeks, I was tired and crabby and frustrated and overwhelmed by all the things that had to get accomplished in such a short time! I was so looking forward to some time away - a respite from the chaos of my hectic life!

We've been here for 3 days now. Michael's parents live in the country, about a 30 minute drive from Baton Rouge. It is quiet and warm enough to go outside. (Garrett and I spent some time the other day in a hammock under the gazebo). There was nothing pressing for me to do, no laundry to wash, no dishes piling in the sink. The kids spent most of the weekend on the computer and playing their video games. There can be no vacation from the video games!!! All three game systems made the trip with us! Greg's watching football, Lindsay's reading her latest in the Twilight series, Mark spends too much time on the cell phone talking to his girlfriend who is now moved away and Garrett totally plays with his presents from Santa ( What would we do without Batman?) There's little fighting overall. The rain falling on the tin roof is quite calming. I've caught up on all the lost sleep and had time to start reading Twilight ( I put it off till now because I knew I would never be able to read it while still in nursing school.) And lo and behold I have actually started writing on this blog, which I created like 5 months ago!

So with all this peace and serenity and almost boredom - how did I spend my day today? Why I took that 30 minute drive into Baton Rouge and found the Mall of Louisiana for more shopping of course! My addled brain cannot handle exess amounts of relaxation and sleep! So Lindsay and I set off and I paid the price, I am afraid. I was assaulted with tons of noise and Oh my gosh - the smells - candles and perfumes and Hollister. Need I say more? After four hours a full blown migraine had overcome me and I made haste to return to the tranquility of the country. And then there was the traffic- apparently I was not the only one wishing to get home. But here I sit typing away, grateful for the time to have started this post and wondering how long before I seek to challenge the peace and quiet - the irony of it all!