New carpet! Mmmm! I love the smell and freshness of new carpet. It makes everything seem new and clean. The carpet plus freshly painted walls makes the old house I grew up in seem even more inviting. It's halfway done with the work in the rooms as well as putting in a new floor for the kitchen. It's getting close!!!!

I will be moving soon. Not far away though, just a couple houses down from where I live now. It's exciting! Because I haven't moved in over twenty years, I have clutter and crap everywhere!!! I find heavy burdons being lifted as I throw away stuff and donate the stuff someone else may want. I still have too many books and more clutter than I can contain, but the anticipation of knowing that everything will have a home is calming. I'm currently cleaning and doing a little painting (with my doctor's approval.) I'm still at the stage of divide and conquer, packing will be next week!

Crawfish holes all over!! These little mounds are multiplied all over my yard!! Yesterday, my toddler and I walked around the yard and while he pushed his dumptruck, he was knocking them down. There was a huge one in front of me and I kicked it down. Unfortunately, it was the next one he wanted to plow down and he was disappointed. He informed me of his feelings and we continued walking. A few minutes later, he stopped, looked back and me and told me, "I'm still mad." Not thinking about what had happened or what he meant, I asked him why. He let me know that I am not to knock over any more crawfish holes. I apologized to him. :) He also wanted me to go in the house and have a timeout! Toddlers are SO cute!!

My toddler is supposed to be taking a nap right now. But I hear him in his room playing with toys. He is currently playing with one of those toys that you pull the lever and it sings an animal sound or the Old McDonald song. He tries to sing with it and it sounds so cute. I just wanna go open the door and kiss his precious chubby cheeks....but I'm enjoying my 'alone' time too much. Maybe he'll end up napping after all. Hey, I can dream!

We're contemplating moving! I have come to the realization that I have a problem with keeping stuff too long and just being a packrat! With the possibility arising, I've been cleaning out drawers, cabinets and shelves...wow! I have a lot of stuff!!! I'm kinda looking forward to clearing out stuff, even if we don't move.

Happy Thanksgiving!!! I love this holiday...I had really good memories of it growing up. I used to wake up to the smell of turkey cooking and spent time with the family preparing meals and cutting up potatoes. Mmmmmm!! It's such a great day to give thanks because I'm so thankful for all that I have. I miss my brother (overseas in Iraq) and my late parents during this time even more. I hope I'm also making great memories for my children.

There are just a few places that I really LOVE to go to eat! One place is a restaurant that my sister-in-law takes me (near her house.) Last weekend, my sister-in-law and brother-in-law took my family to this restaurant and it was just lovely!!! We eat outside on the covered porch which is actually over water of a bay. We sit and watch the boats, barges and tugboats go by. The best thing we enjoy (besides great conversation and food, of course) is watching dolphins swim by as well. There is a little dock in front of the restaurant where you can dock your boat and then clean your fish in a little area. The junk parts can be thrown in the water beside it, which attracts lots of dolphins too. To see these swift and graceful mammals swim right beside you is awesome!! It's the highlight of my week!!

What did I do today? It seems that at the end of the day, I usually think to myself and go over what I did that day, as well as prep myself for the following day. Today...I didn't do much. Here's a partial list:

Share some FrootLoops with my toddler
Sit outside and talk with my neighbor (and watch kids) for about an hour and a half
Grab takeout for lunch and mail a package to my brother
Take a nap
(Notice that dishes aren't on the list)
Return a couple phone calls
Have dinner at the local Cracker Barrel
Clean up fingernail polish from the carpet
Try not to let morning sickness overcome me
Watch the premier of Dirty Sexy Money
Try to stay awake during the news
Check email

Tomorrow's gotta be much more productive! I'd be totally embarassed if anybody actually showed up at my house. Where's that vacuum again?!?

Seventeen years ago today, my mother died. I miss her. I wonder what she'd look like now, what she'd think about me... I often think about what she sounded like...I miss the sound of her voice and the way she calmed me in times of stress. When I smell Chanel #5, I think of her, as it was her favorite scent.

She left the world too quickly, as her murder was quick and she was in no pain...Just as her murderer left the world when he was executed years later. I used to wonder why? I don't anymore as I'm sure there is a reason for everything.

There are some days when I really really miss her. I'd like to think that she knows she was a great mother...taught me to be independent, have good character, and be able to prioritize the things and people in my life. Not everyone has someone they miss so dearly, I am blessed to have had her for as little time as possible. She was a great influence in my life, and what she taught me still influences me. I'd like to live up to be as great a mom as she was.

I love you Mom.

My good deed for the day....was to assist a man who ran out of gas. Normally, I wouldn't pick up someone walking, I have a toddler and family to think of first, and nowadays, anything could happen. But on my street today, I saw a man walking with a gas can. I didn't think much about it. Later, I was leaving and saw a van a few houses down with it's door open. I put two and two together and figured the man ran out of gas and left his family in the van while he walked to the store (a few street away.) Since I was going that way anyway, I drove until I saw the man still walking. I asked if he were from the van and he said yes. I offered him a ride to get his gas, and then back to his family. I love that warm feeling you have when you do something nice for someone else. I want to teach that to my children...to give to others, share, volunteer and be interested in someone other than themselves.

My younger brother bought a horse! It's amazing how much he enjoys caring for it. As a bonus, my younger daughter spends lots of time brushing, talking to and feeding it. It is staying at a neighbor's pasture which is really convenient. It's a beautiful horse; it used to be a racing horse, but has weak feet and needs a lot of TLC right now. It's great that they both have found an outlet...something to do that is positive, involves caring for something/somebody else, and allows them to bond.

Ouch!!! At lunch today, at a local Mexican restaurant, I was eating fajitas and burned my fingertip on that hot plate they come on. OMG!!! I've had it on ice now for about 3 hours and it still HURTS!!! I feel like such a wimp. I realize there are lot more nerve endings in fingertips than other places... I really can't imagine what a burn victim might feel when he or she is actually burned. My tiny little insignificant burn is such a pain.

I just love waking up in a clean house! I've been in a cleaning mood all week...throwing out stuff, reorganizing, vacuuming, clearing off surfaces, going through old magazines... Now I have to keep it clean (and help my family remember to clean up after themselves as well!) It's been relatively cool (because of all the recent rains) so we've been hanging out a lot in the house. It's working out well. Today, I'll make chicken and sausage gumbo!

Mosquitos and Frogs Everywhere!!! It rains every day!!! My yard is SO wet! In the evening when you walk outside, you get attacked by mosquitos! The planes fly over occasionally spraying for them but there is so much water that new mosquitos are hatched out each day! And frogs, whew!!! Little ones, huge onees...I have never seen so many! I hope they're all hungry and help out on the mosquito populations!! It's rained for weeks on end now....... Rain, rain, go away!!

A few weeks ago, my dryer died. It was over 20 years old so I needed to get a new one. I didn't get around to getting one until last week and it arrived today. I had forgotten about washaterias. I felt so naive the first time we took our clothes to one to be washed. Wow, it was expensive! And the dryers didn't dry the clothes like I dry them at home. After spending lots of quarters in the numerous washers and dryers along with the snack and candy machines, I was out about $30. Then, we had to do it again last week (the same day I bought the new dryer!) The one thing I do enjoy about doing clothes at washaterias is that after they're done, I fold them and put them back in the baskets to bring home. That doesn't happen as quickly at home! It's nice to have a dryer back!!!!! Ahhhh...it's the little things that make me happy!

Happy Birthday to me!!! Yep, I'm a cancer! I'm blessed to be healthy, happy, and grateful for the family and loved ones around me. Life's good!

Woke up to a thunderstorm, had an uninterrupted lunch with a friend, got nice cards/gifts, and ended the day with family. I had a nice day.

Back from Vacation! I had a wonderful week recently! My family and I went to visit my best friend on the East Coast. We had cool weather too there, as it's so hot and humid where I live! Great company, great food and great time!

My toddler at the shore. I just love all the color in this pic (green grass, red rocks and blue water.)


Eating in Chinatown, NYC. My daughter, hubby, and friend (toddler in front.)

Mmmmmm! Guacamole! I went to Houston today to take my nephew to the doctor. My brother, nephew, daughter and son went with me. We also stopped at a mexican restaurant (Pappasitos) for lunch. I ordered off the menu and also requested an order of guacamole. Boy was I surprised when a guy and his table came along side our table and made the guacamole as we watched. I mean, the whole thing from scooping out the avacados to adding in the ingredients and mixing. Very cool indeed! It was very good!!!! The whole time I was wondering how much this appetizer was gonna cost me though. It was expensive, to say the least, but...worth it!

This is my brother munching down on chips!

I'm sad. My goose is gone! Yes, I have a goose, or used to, anyway. We've had this goose for many years (6 or 7 at least!) It was a great watchgoose!!!! Much better than our dogs but wasn't very cuddly, to say the least. This morning, when I went out to feed him, he was gone and there were a few feathers around his foodbowl. Apparently, in the night, something got in his fence (in a fenced yard behind our home) and dragged him out. It was a quick death, there weren't many feathers. Either that, or it flew away while being attacked and is still flying........ We found no body.

It just wasn't a good day for our pets yesterday. Sniff, sniff!!! Not only did this happen last night, but yesterday afternoon, we took our older dog into the veterinarian because she was lathargic and didn't look good. She was about 12 years old and we gave her to my mother-in-law about 12 years ago. We've seen her once or twice a week for that amount of time and she's lived with us for a little less than a year now (after MIL was too ill to care for her.) Unfortunately, It seems she may be going into kidney failure. She is still there at the clinic, under observation with intravenous fluids and antibiotics. Our fingers are crossed.

Edited to add: Our dog's condition deteriated today and this afternoon, we said goodbye for the last time.

Morning Thunderstorms are So Cool!!It's so nice to sleep with the sound of rain! Even a little thunder and lightening makes the sleep much deeper... This morning, there was a thunderstorm and lots of rain (it's still raining!) I didn't hear this on the news a couple days ago, so it must have originated within the last day or so. It was a nice surprise. I was involved in a really nice dream and the weather just infiltrated, making it a great dream. After waking, I just continued to listen to the thunder and rain in the darkened room. Fortunately, I didn't have anything planned this morning outside! It's a good excuse to clean inside today though, so I better start.....in a little while!