Back for another day...

I could talk about Casey Anthony, but i'm not, well, not for long anyway. Casey is going to have to answer to God for what she did or did not do. I don't see how her family will let her back in the house after all that has transpired, but i'm not gonna judge anyone. She wouldn't be welcome in my house...just sayin.

Did I mention that we got a new kitty named Baby? She is about 10 weeks old and cute as she can be. My friend, Lesley's cat had kittens and I decided it was a good time to get a new playmate for Binky the closet kitty so that he will leave GoGo the giant kitty alone. The first couple of weeks were a rough adjustment for the cats, but they are all getting along well now. Baby is extremely attached to me in a cute and annoying kind of way. I am taking her to get her shots tomorrow, a first step in getting her spayed and declawed. I wont miss those sharp claws at all! Here is a picture of her and one of her and my grandson, Landen (9) playing.

I had lunch today with Lesley & a friend of hers, Cindy, who I have not met before. We both work in the same school system, so it was nice to finally meet her. We went to Philay's and it was delicious! I am trying to eat a low-carb diet, so I had grilled chicken with cheese & bacon and some marinated crab claws...yum!! Anyway, here is a picture, but please keep in mind that we were in a bad position and Lesley is not actually a giant.

Walter & I bbq'd steaks tonight and i've been trying to tackle the "closet cleaning" project that i've had on the back burner. Nothing too exciting...just enjoying the laziness of summer!

To Blog or Not to Blog

I think this was the name of my first blog post years ago. I go back and forth with this alot! I enjoy the blog, but find myself on Facebook so often that I don't have time to keep up with the blog. That is a problem in itself, right? But with Facebook, you can't go back and look at the old posts easily, so I end up wishing I was keeping up with the blog. So, here I am today. Will I be here tomorrow? Who knows!!!

We are having an awesome summer! School got out on May 24 and i've been running all over the place on mini vacations ever since! Walter & I decided not to take a "big" vacation this year, so i've just been taking advantage of little ones! We got a new camera in June, so i've been taking more pictures than usual (kinda scary, I know)! Let me see if I can give a brief description of the summer so far!

Cameron, "the boy," "boy wonder" graduated from high school on May 13! He is going to work at Blue Bayou Waterpark again this summer and then attend Southeastern University in the fall! We are proud of him! He is living with his dad until he goes to college, so we are officially EMPTY NESTERS!!!!




My BFF, Lesley, & I visited my son, JP, at the end of May, right before school got out. We didn't go on a picture weekend (the first full weekend of each month - except if there is a holiday that month - but nobody will tell you that they changed it til you get there!), but here is one from our recent visits on a picture weekend.


JP is really doing well. He has been incarcerated for nearly 4 1/2 years now, counting the time he spent in the county jail in Houston. He is in Huntsville, Texas now, still at a transfer facility. The longest he can stay there is 2 years, so he will be transferred some time before February '12. We visit every 2 to 3 months and he is always glad to have visitors.

Once school was out, Lesley & I took her kids, Lane & Ryan, to Waveland for a few days. My sister-in-law offered to let us stay in her house, so we took her up on that! We stayed Thursday - Saturday, then Walter & Mike came down til Sunday. We had a lot of fun on the beach, crabbing, and just hanging out!






After returning from the beach, within a day, I left for a trip to Atlanta with my sister, Donna, and her friend, Marianne to visit relatives, friends, and just relax! We had a great time! We stayed several days with our cousin at Lake Lanier, visited my brother and his 3 year old daughter, Daphne, and got to see my parents, who happened to also be in town from Louisiana. We visited several friends and family members and really had a lot of fun!




We celebrated Mike's birthday on the river, which was a lot of fun! Our friends, Kimi & Shayne were in town, so we took Mike out on the boat and to eat at Sarita's Mexican restaurant, then to listen to a band next door at the Tiki Hut! Lots of fun!

At the end of June, Walter & I went to Columbia, Tennessee to visit our friend, Patti! We went to Beale Street in Memphis, toured the Carnton Plantation in Franklin, Tennessee, drove through the Natchez Trace, and hung out on Broadway Street in Nashville. It was a really cool time and great to spend some time with Patti!





I believe that should get us caught up to date on our summer fun so far! We spend this past weekend in Waveland, Mississippi to celebrate the 4th of July with Walter's family, which is always a fun time!




Let me know if you are liking my blog and link me to yours if i'm not already following it! I am behind on how to use all the new features!!

Happy 4th of July!

Friday News

I found out this morning that my newborn nephew, Avery, is in the hospital with 103 fever. My sister is there with Ty and Jessica. She said Avery had a spinal tap to test for meningitis and it was positive. He may be transferred to a hospital in Galveston. I'm praying that he is ok. If you wouldn't mind, please take a minute and say a prayer for little Avery.

So, yesterday, some of my co-workers and I were getting together to make a "get well gift" for our coordinator, Terry, who is having surgery on Tuesday. My co-worker, Tammie, suggested that I bring Landen to a pottery class that her kids were going to before our get-together, so I did. He really had a lot of fun. The kids made several bowls & things that they will go back and paint in about 2 weeks.

Here are several pictures from the pottery place:




Afterwards, several of us had lunch at Casa Maria, then went to Tammie's house to visit since we don't really see each other much in the summer, and to work on the painting we are making for Terry. She doesn't want flowers or anything, but asked for something homemade. We let the kids do the actual painting and then signed it for her. We are also making food to freeze and send over after the surgery.


I brought Landen to his first baseball game afterwards and he was really nervous about playing, being able to catch the ball, etc. and he did great! He got someone out, covered the bases well as short stop, and got a nice hit both times he went to bat. Elizabeth's mother was there, which is always awkward, and she even came to sit by me through the whole game. If you don't know this story, I gave Elizabeth up for adoption at birth and we reunited 9 years ago. Never a dull moment, but it went ok. I listen, she talks about herself, but whatever works. As long as we get along and I can be involved with Elizabeth and the boys, i'll do what I have to do. I also got to play with Mack during the game and I've promised to bring him to my house soon and he's promised to behave, so we'll see!!!

This is Mack & Landen:

This afternoon, Lesley & I are going to get our hair colored, highlighted, and cut! The girl who does my hair is right down the street from me and has become a friend of mine. She is going to do our hair together so we can hang out while waiting for things to dry! Then tonight, 6 of my middle school/high school friends are getting together for dinner at Sarita's along with our hubbies! We never invite the fellows, so tonight we are bringing them along! It should be a lot of fun!

Summer fun!

Tuesday, I went to lunch with a friend who works at a local hospital. We ate in the hospital cafeteria and I ate one of my favorite dishes that they serve. Here is the recipe:

John Wayne Casserole

2 lbs Ground Beef
2 cups Sour cream
1 cup Mayonnaise
1 cup Diced onions
1 pkg Biscuiit mix (small pouch of Bisquick)
4 each Fresh tomatoes
½ cup Diced green peppers
2 pkgs Taco seasoning
½ cup Jalapeno peppers
3 cups Shredded cheddar cheese

Brown ground beef and drain fat. Mix in taco seasoning. In separate bowl mix sour cream, mayonnaise, ½ of the cheddar cheese and chopped onion. Mix the biscuit mix following package directions. Lightly grease a casserole dish and press biscuit dough in the bottom of the dish to ½ inch depth. Layer ground beef, sliced tomatoes, chopped bell pepper and diced jalapenos. Spread mayonnaise mixture on top. Finish off with the remaining shredded cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes until the crust is light brown.

To make it low carb, I will try it without the bisquick. I say low carb as if i'm dieting, but I am going to try to get back on track with my low carb diet on Monday. I've been following it off and on since January and had lost 17 lbs. I need to re-lose a few of those lbs. now!!

Tuesday evening I went to pick up my grandson, Landen. His baseball game was rained out, so I picked him up early and brought him to spend a couple of nights. We love having him over. He's really a great kid and easy to have around. We didn't do much except him & Walter went swimming and then we made homemade pizzas.

On Wednesday, my friend, Lesley came over with her boys to swim. We all had a great time and also went to eat lunch at Hilltop!! Yummm!!!

And then that evening, Walter watched Landen while I went to Saritas for Margaritas and Puffy Taco's with 2 friends! We had a great time!!!

Have a great evening!!

Tuesday

We had a really fun weekend!! We spent the day Friday on the river with Cathy, Brent, & their daughter, Bonnie, and then on Friday night, we went to dinner at Sarita's Mexican Restaurant on the river and then next door to the Riverfront Tiki Hut with a bunch of friends from our neighborhood. After we decided that the live band wasn't great, 6 of us took a midnight boat ride and had a blast!!! Then on Saturday night, we took Mike & Lesley to the same place for Mike's birthday, then again, a night time boat ride. It was soooo much fun!!! Both nights involved one too many Margaritas and some dancing on the boat!!

Lesley & Mike...

Mike...birthday boy!

Lesley & Dawn at the Riverfront Tiki Hut

Mike & Lesley at the Tiki Hut

This is from Friday at Sarita's during our boat trip....Dawn & Cathy

The Wizard & Cathy.....

This is just a pretty picture of our backyard in the evening. I like to sit out there and read my Kindle or play with my Iphone.

Now for a good laugh...I saw these pictures on The Boy's facebook page!! He wont add me as a friend, but his page isn't private, so I scope it out once in awhile. He & Bryce are lifeguards at a water park, so these are obviously work photos lol.

Cameron......

Cameron again.......

Bryce & Cameron.....

And again....maybe he thinks he's on the Titanic LOL!!!

I visited with JP in May and and Lesley & I visited him in June. Lesley and I decided to go more often in the summer since we are both not working. Both visits should have been on "picture weekend," which is normally the first full weekend of a month. As it turns out, the May picture day was rescheduled for Mother's day weekend and the June picture day was rescheduled for Father's day weekend, so no picture! He hasn't had a picture taken of him in 3 years, if you can believe that. He has an uncle & cousin who have been visiting him, and they plan to go July 4th weekend, which should be a picture weekend. I kinda want to get that first picture, but i'm going to let that go and just be happy to get a picture of him from them. Lesley & I should be able to get a picture during our August visit.

I went to have lunch with my friend, Michelle today, and then tonight, I will be going to Landen's baseball game and bringing him home with me to spend a few days. I went to Walmart this morning and stocked up on "Landen food," so we are good to go. We will probably make pizzas tonight, if he hasn't eaten before he gets here.

I'm off to read some of your blogs now! Have a great evening!