Outdoor Wednesday

Yesterday when I said I was glad for the rain because of my allergies I certainly didn't mean that we needed the hurricane like weather that we got last night. I woke up at 1:30 (at least I thought it was 1:30) to the sound of extremely loud thunder & lightening. I went back to sleep & then woke up at 12:45 so apparently, it was 11 something when I woke up the first time. I can't see a thing without my glasses or contacts so it's easy to understand why I couldn't see the clock clearly. Well, the thunder & lightening was accompanied by storming rain & wind this time. This went on all night. I can't tell you how many times I woke up. Really unusual for me. Thankfully, the sun is out now & all the rain appears to be gone. I expect my yard to really look good when I get home. Everything really perks up after it gets good rain water.

Saturday while I was laying out by the pool Dean was cutting the grass. Our backyard backs up to some partially wooded acreage that is separated by a large ditch thingy. Dean motioned for me to come see something. I was a little leery but he didn't seem panicked so it must be ok. When the Mississippi River is high, the ditch will have water in it as is the case now. This is what I saw.

On the bottom log there were 4 or 5 more turtles but I guess they heard me & got spooked because they dove off the log into the water.

With all the things we've found in the yard & in the pool I'm surprised that this is the first time we've seen turtles. These guys remind me of when I was a kid. Me & my brother had pet turtles. My daddy & brother would find them when they went fishing. My daddy built this huge habitat thing for them & it had sand & a black iron skillet filled with water for a little pool. There was an unfortunate incident with ants eating the turtles eyeballs & that was that.

Toodles!

A Southern Daydreamer

Random Ramblings

I need to clear something up. I was not drunk when I wrote the last post nor was I drunk when we had the discussion Friday night. I had one glass of wine.

Does anyone remember the Sweet Valley High books? I read all of these when I was a teenager. I loved them. Well, there's a new one that came out today. It's called Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years Later. The book is set 10 yrs. after Elizabeth & Jessica graduated from high school. I've read quite a bit of it today & I really like it so far.

We did about 10,000 squats & push ups yesterday at Yogalates. Today, I'm sore.

There was a girl at Yogalates wearing a NKOTB tank top. That made me smile.

Saturday, I did absolutely nothing all day. I laid out by the pool & I floated around the pool. My back & the back of my legs are a lovely shade of red.

Maybe my exercising & trying to eat right are doing some good. Today I craved grapes.

I just finished reading Vision in White by Nora Roberts. This was the first of a series about 4 best friends. The girls run a wedding planning business. I really enjoyed it. This was the 35th book I've read this year.

It rained this afternoon. That's a good thing. Hopefully, it will bring some relief to my allergies.

Toodles!

Skank Ho

Friday night Dean fried fish & some of the our neighbors came over. Suzy got a Margaritaville machine for her birthday last week & she wanted to try it out.

Someone didn't realize there was an on/off switch. For once it wasn't me. I actually pointed it out when Suzy claimed that my outlet didn't work.

After a little miscommunication with some measurements we just about perfected the Grey Goose Slush that's sold in France at Epcot. Sooooo good!!

I've been told I worry a lot. No surprise there. My mom worries all the time about everything so I get it honestly. I've also been told that if I don't have something to worry about I make something up. That is simply not true. I'm so much better than I used to be. I've come to understand that most things are beyond my control & worrying doesn't change that. That being said I'm not sure how this conversation came up Friday night. I'm a bit concerned that I'll die before Dean. I guess concerned isn't really the right word. I've thought about what will happen if I do. Somehow this same discussion came up last weekend when I was at the LSU game. My friends Jill & Allison have never had this conversation with their hubby's. Anyway, I don't want Dean to remarry if something happens to me. My friends are all in agreement that I'm wrong. They all want their hubby's to remarry because they want them to be happy & not lonely, blah, blah, blah. The problem I have with that scenario is this - if Dean remarries & the second wife dies before him who will he be buried by?? Or what if he dies before the 2nd wife? She surely wouldn't bury him by his first wife would she? I don't want to be buried by myself. Yes, I know I won't be there, it's just the thought. My friends all say they just don't want their husbands to have kids with anyone else. Well, we don't have kids. So what happens if he has kids with his 2nd wife then dies? You know those kids will bury him with their mom.  My friend Sheri shared a story. Her grandma died last year at the age of 98 1/2. She long ago buried her husband & a boyfriend. She buried them next to each other & when she died she was buried between the two. My response to this? I DON'T WANT TO BE BURIED BY SOME SKANK HO. Of course thinking back about that I can see where that may be a little unrealistic. I mean after all, I'm not a skank ho & Dean is a really good person so he certainly wouldn't marry a skank ho. So, I guess that's one less thing for me to worry about.

Toodles!

We had a guest

Sunday morning Dean looked outside & saw that we had a visitor at the pool.

I have mixed feelings about squirrels. I don't mind watching them run around & play but if I watch too long I start to realize just how much they look like rats with fluffy tails. I don't like rats or mice AT ALL. 

This squirrel was kind of weird. I opened the back door & walked closer & closer to him while taking pictures & he just sat there looking at me. It was like he was posing for a photo shoot. 

The squirrel is at the deep end of the pool & I was standing by the shallow end using my zoom. He didn't seem the least bit scared.

I didn't realize when I was taking the pictures how much he blended in with the rocks around the pool.

I kept waiting for him to jump in for a swim but he would just scoot down like he is in the above picture & drink a little water & then go back on top of the rock.

In case you're wondering, those blue things you see in the last 2 pictures are the solar rings we put in the pool to warm up the water this time of year.

I'm linking up to Outdoor Wednesday at  A Southern Daydreamer

 Toodles!

We're back on track!

One day last week Dean got an email from Chase saying there was suspected fraudulent charges on our credit card. This has happened before. Someone (not Dean) received a very legitimate looking email from Chase that requested verification of account numbers. Someone (not Dean) clicked the link & was brought to a very legitimate looking Chase website & that same someone (not Dean)  had a momentary lapse in judgement & entered the info. Someone started to think that maybe that wasn't a smart thing to do & called the bank.  Only about 15 minutes had gone by but someone had already charged a $300 plane ticket from one part of India to another. Yes, I know how stupid I was. That led to the hassle of having the account closed & new credit cards issued. I was also sure they said that they'd never send an email like what I received. Yeh I knew that. Like I said, momentary lapse in judgement. So when Dean got the email last week I was quick to tell him that they said they won't send an email so it must be a scam. Then my mom told me that Chase sent her an email & she doesn't have a credit card with them so I knew it was all a scam.

Fast forward to Thursday afternoon when Dean stopped to get gas & the credit card wouldn't work. He went to the bank & they told him there were "suspected fraudulent charges" so they'd frozen the account. One charge was like $38 for some international telephone service & the other was a $319 charge to an online shoe store. Dean told the guy at the bank that he'd have to check with me to make sure they were fraudulent. WTH??? First off, I don't know anyone to make international calls to. Second, yes, I love shoes. Yes, I buy a lot of shoes. NOOOOO I've never spend $319 on shoes at one time. I know a lot of people spend more than that on one pair of shoes but I've never done that. EVER!!! When I questioned him he said that he thought maybe I forgot to tell him. Wow. The really funny thing is that he didn't seem all that worked up at the thought that I'd spent that much on shoes.  Which makes me think maybe a pair of Louboutins could be in my future?? HA!

Dean called the bank & had everything taken care of. For future reference, they won't send emails requesting account info but they will send one for suspicion of fraud. The charges were taken off the card & they sent us new cards. We got them yesterday so all is good.

Toodles!

Where's My Weekend??

It was 3 whole days & it's over!!! Dean & I took Friday off. There was some yard work I wanted to do  & we had errands to run & baseball games all weekend. We managed to get most of the outside work done but there are still a couple of things that I was too tired to do. There's always next weekend right? Then I'll take pictures & post. I'm very happy to say that there is a very strong possibility that we'll be swimming in March this year!!! The water was up to 78 degrees today. This makes me very happy!!!!!

I went to the LSU games Fri.  & Sat. night. I skipped Sunday & went for a pedi. It was lovely. The games? Not so much. LSU was swept. Yeh, they were playing Florida who just happens to be the #1 team in the country, but swept none the less. I had a good time Saturday night in spite of the loss. My friends Allison & Jill were there & I was able to sit with them & chat the whole game.

Today after my pedi, I knocked a few things off my to do list & finally had a little time to lay out by the pool with a book. That was at 4:30. Seriously, I have no idea where the time went. How was y'alls weekends? Do anything fun?

Toodles!

The Birds!!!!

Anyone that reads my blog regularly knows that I have bird issues. I HATE THEM!!! Kara finds this hysterical! I haven't always hated birds. They were just a nuisance but now it's full on war! I've been told by several people that if I get some rubber snakes that will keep the birds away. There's a problem with that. I can't find any rubber snakes. Seriously! The only ones I've found are fluorescent colors & I don't want that. One of the floats in the Mardi Gras parade was throwing just plain  black ones & you should've seen me & Dean hollering for some. We didn't get any. Anyway, first the birds were building nests & pooping on my columns, then they were hanging out on the ceiling fans, then they were attempting to build nests INSIDE the ceiling fan, then they were hanging out on the outdoor speakers which just happens to be by the back door so there was always a nice pile of bird poop there & now this

They're DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!! I bought a bird bath with the hopes that they'll hang out there instead of destroying things. Needless to say the cushions on the new patio furn. will not be left out. Stupid birds.

What's really bad is birds are like the new "in" decorating accessory. Everytime I see one I get aggravated. You will not find any birds at my house!! Well, at least not any fake, non destructive ones.

Toodles!

Not a fan of Mondays

Yes, I know it's better than the alternative but I'm still not a fan. Especially, with this new time. It takes me awhile to get used to it.

Friday night we went to the LSU game. It was a close game but they won. There really isn't anything more to say about that. Saturday, I went to Yogalates. It was only the 2nd time I went last week because I took Monday off since I was off of work. The last 2 weeks routines have been a little tough. Today will be a new one. While I was at Yogalates Dean was putting together our new patio furniture. YAY!!!

The fire pit can also be used as an ice bucket or it can be taken out & it's just a solid table. We ordered it online. It was hard to pick out the fabric for the cushions but I'm very pleased with it.

Now I have to get new cushions for my glider because of an unfortunate incident with some BIRDS!! More on that in a future post. Suffice it to say I'm ready to KILL them.

  
We went to the game Saturday afternoon & my mom & dad came with us. It was another close game but LSU won. Dean & I went to La Carreta Saturday night. I love their tortilla soup & their Rumritas! I got the chipotle shrimp to go with my soup & it was soooo good.

Sunday we were up bright & early to go to Mass. When I say bright & early, I mean up at 6:00 for 7:00 Mass. Which of course was really 6:00 Mass. I much prefer Sat. afternoon Mass but we were at the game. After Mass we stopped & did our grocery shopping & when we got home I took a little nap. It really was little, only an hour. There was plenty of stuff to be done Sunday so I told Dean to only let me sleep an hour. I'd decided not to go to the game so I started working outside. I washed down the rockers on our porch & I started a spray paint project. Naturally, I ran out of paint mid project. It times like that when I wish Lowe's was closer. I didn't bother to go get anymore because my trigger finger was killing me. This morning my wrist & forearm are sore. So weird. I'll finish next weekend. Anyway, I pulled weeds & then we had lunch. Dean did ribs on the BBQ pit. They were delish! Then off he went to the game with his dad & nephew, Drew. Off I went to get my nails done. They were looking awful. Note to self: always wear gloves when operating a can of spray paint. Anyway, I picked Got A Date To-Knight by OPI for my nails & they remind me of little pink Easter eggs.  It's always sooo hard for me to pick a color because I like them all so much.

When I got home I sat outside in the new furniture & read awhile. The weather was beautiful all weekend. Hopefully, it will be like that next weekend too because I have a list of "projects" to do outside! How was everyone's weekend? Do anything fun?

Toodles!

Happy Friday!!!

I'm so glad it's Friday!!! Hopefully, the day will go by quickly. Last night Dean & I had to go to Lowe's. Dean's off today & he's going to do some stuff in the yard. We decided to have dinner at Chili's. Let's just say this hasn't been the best eating week for me. I had a cup of chicken enchilada soup. O.M.G. sooooooo good!!! The queso is good too but I like my friend Allison's version better.

Since we were going to Lowe's & Shoe Station is right there & I had a 25% off coupon we stopped there too. Shoe Station ALWAYS has a coupon in the paper or online. I NEVER buy shoes there without a coupon. Last night I found these.

I LOVE them!! Fuchsia, 3 inch heel, what's not to love right?? They surprisingly didn't feel too uncomfortable when I tried them on. The original price was $34.99 but they were on sale for $19.99 & then with the coupon I got them for $15. You can't pass that up! I have a dress that I bought last summer that's black & white with a pink belt. I plan to wear it for Easter & I thought these would look good with it.

A trip to Shoe Station isn't complete without a flip flop purchase. I can't help it. I love them. I think I'm addicted maybe. I really wanted some sort of yellow ones but surprisingly they didn't have any. I got these.

I love all the bling! I don't have any silver flip flops & these are comfy. I like the thick heel.

These were originally $50, on sale for $40 & with the coupon I paid $30. The brand is Corky's. I've never had that brand but I liked the bling better than the Volatiles. While I was paying Dean signed me up for the "Free Shoes For a Year" contest. He kept talking about how much money it would save him. Personally, I think he's really lucky that I'm perfectly content to buy cheap affordable shoes & don't need a closet full of Louboutins! Oh & he bought a pair of flip flops too!

This weekend the LSU baseball team plays Cal State Fullerton. This is a huge series. Fullerton is really good & LSU has only lost one game but they haven't played anyone that's any good so this will be a great test to see just how good or not so good LSU is.

Fullerton has been one of my faves since 1998. They came to LSU for Regionals. LSU beat them which meant they went to Omaha to the College World Series. After the last game the entire team came across the street (where we all tailgated) & ate & drank with us. We had sooo much fun. We all gave them LSU shirts & hats & they gave us Fullerton hats & shirts. The ones they were actually wearing. To this day I still have the shirt I got & it's one of my favorites. It's so comfy but I'm sad to say it's getting pretty thin & probably won't last much longer. Yes, I know t-shirts don't generally last for 13 years. Anyway, after tailgating with them several of us took several of the players to a local bar & hung out. Tailgating at The Box & meeting some of the opposing teams was always so much fun! Needless to say this weekend with Fullerton brings back a lot of great memories. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Toodles!

Ash Wednesday

Just some random thoughts.

• I woke up at 4:30 because the thunder was so loud I thought the house was falling down around me. Needless to say I couldn't go back to sleep.
• The rain has stopped & the sun is shining. YAY!!
• Veronika did a review of Suave's $3 Dry Shampoo & loves it. Of course that happens one week after I spend $25 on Oscar Blandi at Sephora. My friend Wendy just told me that's what the greatness of Sephora is all about. I can return it for something else. That's a thought.
• I'm glad she explained to me the greatness of Sephora because Thursday was my first trip there & I just didn't see what the big deal was.
• Since I was off Monday I kept thinking yesterday was Monday, therefor today would be Tuesday & NOT Ash Wednesday so a sandwich would be perfectly acceptable to eat for lunch. I'll be eating cheese toast for lunch.
• Today is Yogalates. I didn't go Monday since it was a "holiday". I wanted my day off to truly be a day off.
• For those of you that don't know Fat Tuesday is a state holiday in Louisiana
• Along the same lines the "tee tee incident" is not all that unusual at Mardi Gras from what I'm told. This was my first Mardi Gras.
• I'm ready for May 16th, the day Dean & I leave for the beach.
• The boys just brought me a salad from Subway so no cheese toast for me. YAY!!

Toodles!

Don't tee-tee on someone's ladder.....

That was the lesson of the day. HA! Sunday, we went to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. We went with our friends Kitzia & Dave & their kids, Devyn & Thomas. We were meeting our other friends, The Smiths, in New Orleans. Suzy's parents live off of St. Charles Ave. (The Ave. if you're a local). For those that aren't local St. Charles Ave. is the place to be to watch parades. It's also a street full of GORGEOUS old homes! If you're ever in New Orleans make sure you drive down The Ave. & check out these houses. After hanging out at Suzy's parents for a bit we started our walk. Suzy's sister & bro in law own a restaurant called Vizards, on Magazine St. & that's where we were watching the first 3 parades. The restaurant was closed so it was just our crew hanging out. We had a BATHROOM!!! For those of you that have been to Mardi Gras you know just how huge this is.  Sooooo awesome!

What's even more awesome is there are like a bazillion people down there & we still ended up running into people we knew. This is Dean & I with our friends Katie & Sean.

They live in Houston. We went to their wedding last summer & now they're expecting their first bambino.

We picked up poboys & bloody mary's along the way.

Suzy claims these are the best Bloody Mary's EVER. I'm thinking she may be right because I don't like Bloody Mary's but this thing was delish!!

We saw a lot of unusual things.....

Yeh, it's a chicken. Not so unusual, EXCEPT that it was in someones front yard. What's even more unusual is when we told Suzy she said "Oh, I know them. They have pot bellied pigs too". OK. Then she pointed out a house & said "that's the house?", um no. So there are two houses in the middle of the city that have chickens in their front yards!

Judging by the number of tutu's we saw, we clearly didn't get the memo that we were supposed to wear them.

Our friends, Dave & Kitzia with Dean. He caught a snack!

Me, Suzy, Kitzia & her daughter Devyn.

This was the float that Suzy's hubs Matt, was own. That's him on the top.

Stafford wanted to make sure her daddy saw her from the float.

Devyn, me & Miles.

Me & Stafford taking a break inside Vizards. Please excuse my hair. I promise I fixed it but there was a ton of wind & then with the sunglasses on my head, well, it just wasn't pretty.

This is me & Thomas (aka Stoic Boy). Thomas is Kitzia & Dave's son. They went to Disney with us & you know how on every ride they take your picture? Well, we all were screaming & looked ridiculous in every picture & Thomas was just sitting there like he was riding down the street in a car. It was the funniest thing ever! So, him smiling in this picture is HUGE!!!

No, I do not have silly string or flowers in my hair. It's just the picture.

Part of our crew. Yes, a few of them are dancing on the bar.

While all that was going on, this was going on in the other part of the dining room.

Native New Orleanians are always prepared!!!

Once the first 3 parades were over it was time to start the trek to our next stop. I do mean trek too! Here are some of the sites along the way.

Lots & lots of trash. Once the parades are finished the street sweepers come by & clean everything up. The amount of trash collected is also how the city determines how many people were in town for Mardi Gras.  I don't know if you can tell in this picture but those are ladders lined up. They have seats on top where the smaller kids can sit so they can see & not get trampled. The really ingenious people have wheels on them so they can just roll them along rather than carry them. It's so funny to see them lined up all along the parade routes. This was a tree covered in beads. I wish I could've gotten a better picture because it was really cool looking but we were amongst a crowd of people & I couldn't stop.

Most everyone has a wagon to carry all the crap that you catch. This was Kitzia with our crap!

Our next stop was Fat Harry's for cheeseburgers. Suzy had talked about how great they were all day. I was ready for one. I was having a cheat day on my diet & was ready for some great food. While we were in line Suzy amended her statement with "At 3:00 in the morning when you've been out drinking they're the best cheeseburgers!". Um, yeh, well that totally changes things. I sure wish she would've said that 4 hours earlier. We got our cheeseburgers & they were ok. Nothing special at all. To think we're in New Orleans & that's what we ate is a bummer. Thankfully, we had good po boys earlier in the day! After the great cheeseburger debacle we were off to our final destination.

Tita's (pronounced T Ta) house on St. Charles Ave. This is where we'd watch Bacchus. Tita is a friend of Suzy's family. Funny thing, we never met Tita! We hung out in her house, used her bathroom & watched the parade from her front yard. She was at another party & didn't make it back before we left. When we asked Suzy about this her response was "Oh that's how we roll". OK.

All the floats in the night parades are lit up. Most of them were huge!

Once Bacchus started we watched from the front yard while the kids fought for beads.

And that's when it happened. A random guy that was hanging out with a group of people in front of Tita's house decided that he had to tee-tee & he did. He used our groups ladders as a urinal. Gross, I know. Luckily, a couple of the parents saw. One yelled at him while another one got a policeman. The police were nice to him & told him to be on his way & not to come back so he left. Well, apparently he didn't take the police seriously because he came back. I'm pretty sure he was rethinking that decision when the policeman cuffed him & took him away. That's when Suzy said "The lesson for the day is don't tee-tee on someone's ladder!"

Toodles!!!

Girls Night!

Thursday night I went with some friends to The Melting Pot. They have a Girls Night special the first Thursday of the month. We had so much fun! The special is 4 courses for $30 & they have $6 Martinis. We chose the Fiesta Cheese which was really, really good. Of course if you give me cheese & jalapenos I'm a happy girl. That reminds me of back in the day when me & Vicki went to Ole Miss for the SEC baseball tournament. They didn't have Dr. Pepper or jalapenos!! I was NOT a happy girl. I mean who sells nachos without jalapenos??? Anyway, with the cheese they bring little pieces of bread, tortilla chips & veggies to dip. Soooo good!! Here's the meat.

iPhone pics, sorry! We had shrimp, chicken, filet & beef tenderloin. It was good but I can do without the meat portion. I'd rather just eat cheese & chocolate!! The salad was good too.

Then came dessert! We chose the Turtle chocolate. O. M. G. SOOOOOO GOOOD!!! Milk chocolate, caramel & pecans. 

 This is all the stuff to dip.

Those big round things are marshmallows covered in Oreo crumbs & Vanilla wafer crumbs. They were DELISH!! The strawberries were fab too. There were brownies, rice krispee treats, bananas & cheesecake. Yeh, it's 8:30 in the morning & I could so go for some of that chocolate right now!

Friday night we went to the LSU baseball game. It rained off & on the whole night. Between innings there was entertainment. The  Zooperstars were the FUNNIEST things. They got some of the players involved in their show & it was hilarious. There's another game tonight but it's supposed to be raining so I have my doubts as to whether I'll be there or not.

Tomorrow we're off to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. I'm very excited about this because I've never been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Yes, I've lived in the Baton Rouge area, 60 miles from New Orleans, my entire life!!!

Toodles!

Mike The Tiger

I've mentioned in previous post about LSU's mascot, Mike the Tiger  & had several people ask me about this.  Yes, LSU has a LIVE Bengal Tiger. The current tiger is the 6th one LSU has had. The previous ones have lived anywhere from 17-20 yrs. Mike VI will be 6 yrs old this year. The last weight that I heard was 460 lbs. but he should grow to be around 600 lbs. LSU always had a small cage (2000 sq. ft.) that housed Mike. Several years ago it was determined that this wasn't sufficient. A fundraising campaign began & a $3 million habitat was built. YES, you read that right, 3 MILLION dollars!! The new habitat is in the same location as the old one but it's 13,000 sq. ft. I've yet to understand why a tiger needs a better home that the majority of humans in the world but whatever.

I've been out to see Mike tons of times & he's always asleep. Laziest tiger ever apparently. Sunday afternoon I brought my nephew, Logan out to see him. Logan LOVES to be outside & he loves animals. Mike was asleep. Of course. Luckily, he was sleeping out in the open so we could at least see him. Logan's reaction when he saw him was to point & say "WOOOW". It was hilarious. I can only imagine how mesmerized he would've been if Mike was walking around or playing in his pool. People say he does those things & there are pictures to prove it. Maybe one day.

I still took some pictures.

Logan was checking out Mike.

He was also checking out all the kids that were around!

How can he sleep with all of those people looking at him??

Mike's Habitat & his swimming pool. Logan was eyeing Mike's ball. He loves balls!

Logan was in the process of "giving up" his pacifier & for some odd reason there was one in the water. Thankfully, he didn't see it or hear the little boy screaming that there was a nunnie in the water!! Crisis averted.

Another shot of his habitat.

Being that all you saw was his back here's a shot I got from mikethetiger.com. He's really pretty.

You know, I said that I've never seen him awake. That's not entirely true. Before all the home football games Mike is loaded into a trailer & he's paraded around the stadium with the cheerleaders on top of the trailer. He roars, the crowd goes crazy. So, I've just never seen him awake in his habitat. Apparently, he's really spoiled too. There have been several football games that he didn't make because "he didn't want to get in his trailer" says his Vet. Hmmm, he didn't want to? WTH??? Throw a steak in there & move it buddy! After all, riding around Tiger Stadium is his ONLY job!

I'm linking to Outdoor Wednesday.

Toodles!