Happy Birthday Molly-Moo!!!

I love you baby girl!!!

A can of Pepsi Cola*

*hahaha Ian, that's for you!!!

What a weird, disjointed week it has been. I can't believe Molly's birthday is tomorrow. Two years old, she's getting so big! If you ask her how old she's gonna be, she'll hold up two fingers and say "two". What a cutie! Attention NOLA family: cake and ice cream after dinner, probably 6:30 or so? Remember, she goes to bed at 7:30!

So, Ian, BB, and I went to Mass this morning. The Communion hymn was hymn #666 in our song booklet. What?! #666, are you kidding? I was expecting to hear Motley Crue's "Shout at the Devil" or something, but no, it was just a regular hymn. I was surprised though, because I assumed they'd skip it, like they skip the 13th floor in tall buildings. I've heard of people refusing their license plate because it had 666 on it.

AND, I'VE BEEN VINDICATED!!!!! Yeah, that's right. SIL(H) is ripping through the "Twilight" series. And she agrees - it's great! So take that, all you haters!

Patti out.

Totally Random.

Is it weird that I worry about whether or not my cell phone is going to ring while I'm in a public restroom?

Whack-a-doodle

Before I begin, this is funny (and maybe not okay at work?). I love it at the end of the clip when the announcer says, "they look like they're having fun". hahaha! You could say that.

Anyhoo.....

I was checking out our library website (notice the play on words there - "checking out" the "library" website - get it? huh? do ya?) and I noticed that I had not checked out any books since Katrina. At first I figured it was because our public libraries are still in such a crazy mess since the storm. But then I realized there was another reason - a reason that's going to turn two next week. I've read a few books since Molly was born, but not too many. That's normal for me, I followed the same pattern with the other two kids as well. But now that she's not a baby anymore, I do have the opportunity to read a bit more than I have in the last two years.

So, I just checked out "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". In the past I would check out the NY Times bestseller lists and request books like that, but our library system is pretty decimated, so I doubt they'll have much in the way of recent bestsellers.

My question to you is: Do you have any reading recommendations?

Birthday Blow-off

Happy Birthday Hannah!!! Sorry you're celebrating with no electricity or essential services! I guess all those candles on your cake would light up the place pretty well though, eh?

We love you!!!

Plan for Tomorrow: Wear Pants.

Hurricane Ike is (thankfully) not heading towards N.O. Whew! However, we are getting tropical storm-force winds....

I had to walk 9 blocks to my car today, and 9 blocks back to the office. In crazy wind. Wearing a gauzy, flirty skirt. Holding a purse, umbrella, and file folders. So...picture me, holding all that in one hand and desperately trying to keep my skirt where it belongs with the other hand. Let me tell you, it wasn't easy. I never noticed before today that there are a LOT of men who work in the CBD, and they seem to travel in packs. Every time I'd try to sneak an adjustment to my skirt a bunch of guys would pop out from around a corner, and I'd be forced to just grin and bear it, praying I had a firm hold. I can only take solace in the fact that I was not alone in my skirt-pulling endeavors. There were several women in the same predicament!

So, tomorrow, pants. Definitely pants!

Natural High

You know how relationships flow, twisting up and down and pulling you all over? Married relationships especially. It's nice to be happy and in love. It feels good. I'm very happy with where my marriage is at now and hopefully J is too. LUV U.

Karma was kind to someone I love yesterday. It's a rare occurrence and keeps me hopeful about life in general.

Ian is still "off" and I don't know if it's normal teenage hormones, a growth spurt (heaven forbid!), or something else.

And, the kitties have their first vet appointment today - hopefully they don't have worms but I'm not counting on it. J gave them both a bath yesterday so they're all clean and fluffy!

Stress is the New Normal

Well, we made it home Saturday night, after a 2 hour stint in the parking lot (otherwise known as I-10 Westbound) near Slidell. I'm guessing there was some kind of accident, as 2 firetrucks, 4 ambulances, and numerous law enforcement vehicles sped by us on the shoulder during that time. By the time we got to the spot there was nothing to see but empty road ahead of us.

The flip side of that is that the power came on about 2 hours before we got home. So, while we had no food, we did have air conditioning and TV. Yesterday I went out to try to buy some groceries. Try is the key word here. Walmart was closed, Winn Dixie closed right before I got there, and Rousses had a line of people waiting to get INTO the store. That's right, not only would there be a line to check out (if there were any groceries left), there was a line to GET IN. So, in a flash of brilliance, I called mom and asked her to take me to the Commissary. They didn't have a lot, but I was able to buy a bag of chicken, a bit of hamburger and some pork, some frozen broccoli, and the basics: ketchup, mustard, mayo, butter, jelly, etc. You know, all the stuff you keep in your refridgerator and don't really think about it being there. Until you go to make toast for breakfast and realize you don't have butter or jelly. Needless to say the kids had peanut butter and honey sandwiches for lunch.

So, I'm supposed to go back to work tomorrow, except BB doesn't go back to school until Tuesday. Tomorrow the teachers will be cleaning up the storm debris. In their defense, there is a LOT of debris. I was really surprised at how much.

For now, we are leaving our outdoor stuff in the garage, in pre-preparation for Ike. I cannot do this again next week. I won't do this again next week. It wasn't fun, it wasn't a vacation, it sucked. I couldn't concentrate, I was worried about my husband, and my GPS stopped working so I got lost alot. Did I mention I ended up in Georgia on our way home? Yeah, that's right, I went too far north. Oops. Not doing it again. That's all I'm sayin'.

Change of Plans

Okay, we're not going home today. But we are going home tomorrow (Friday). Maggie (and our current lack of power, food, and places to buy food) convinced me to stay one more day. I hear Chiamomandpop have power, so maybe we'll be evacuating from Maggie's house to Mom's house!!! (hilarity ensues)

I think the kids are ready to go home too. Ian has been sick since we got here. Nothing specific, general stomach issues and just not feeling well. He perked up a bit on Tuesday when we went to Universal Studios, but even by that night was "off" again.

I bought the "Twilight" audiobook (the first one, not all four) for the ride home, so I'm not dreading the drive as much as I would have. I've been saving it - haven't opened the package yet, as much as I want to. I like to think of it as my tool for not killing the kids on the way home.

Wish us luck!!!

Westward Ho!

No, I am not insinuating that I'm a ho.

Our plans are to head home tomorrow morning. Supposedly the city is open tonight at Midnight. I'm really hoping we're not going to get caught in "return traffic", but it's the chance we're gonna take. Maggie & Co. have been so generous and patient with us, but I know it's a pain in the ass to have 4 extra people (and 2 kittens who apparently have worms) underfoot all the time.

My GPS isn't working either, so hopefully I will end up in N.O. and not somewhere in Utah.