November 2003 Archives

About Master and Commander: I enjoyed it. It’s a guy movie, though. It follows a well-known formula. Scott C and I both predicted what the doctor was going to see when he got to the top of the mountain. Formula movies are OK if they deliver. This one did. The battle scenes were spectacular. I haven't read any of the Patrick O’Brian books. I saw a few of them on display last night at Books-A-Million. I’m told the movie is a composite.

OK, so now I’ve seen The Matrix Reloaded. That’s the 2nd of the three part series for you non-Matrix fans. If the 3rd one isn't any better than this one, I’ll be joining your ranks. I enjoyed the first one but it didn’t fire my imagination or anything. I wasn’t talking or even thinking about it afterwards. At the end of this one, all I could think was "So?".

We all had fun yesterday; Aaron and Julia, Matthew and Shelby, Jacob, Mary Catherine, and Patrick. They played from sun-up until sundown outside. Jacob had a nap, then everyone had potato soup, salad, homemade rolls, and homemade chicken pot pie for those not interested in the other stuff. I was a cooking and cleaning fool yesterday. The boys found puddles to ride bikes through and the woods they were playing in had plenty of standing water. They dirtied and soaked a few changes of clothes. I put my foot down later and demanded that they remain clean. I was having trouble keeping up with the laundry. Julia and Shelby too had to change numerous times because of it being too hot or too cold or now they got dirty. I was exhausted by the 10:00 and so were they. We all went down at the same time.

Today is a new day. Patrick and Mary Catherine got picked up at 10. Jacob slept from 10:30-12. Christina and Mom picked him up and treated Michael and I to Coffee Rani. Mmmmm. The shrimp quesadilla esta mui delicioso! What a nice treat. Julia and Aaron got dropped off at friends house to spend the day and night. They are being treated to "Haunted Mansion." The kids seem to be getting more nights out these days.

I tackled a project that I have been meaning to get to for a couple of years now. I finally made some symmetry in my garden and had Michael help me a little with my strawberry and brussel sprout area. That's what I am doing with my free time. Talk about feeling old, forget rock'n'bowl and shopping. I rather didn't mind being home with children all day and night. Now, that's not to say I will feel that way the next time the opportunity arises, so don't count me out completely next time there is a group outing. At night.

That's it for my mundane news.

Christina, Brianne, and I set out shopping today around 11 am. We went to Lakeside shopping center, and drove around for about 20 minutes looking for a parking spot. We finally made our own spot and were relieved to find my car still there when we got back. We were only in the mall for two hours. We did not get there early enough to get any of the really good deals. Old Navy and Victoria's Secret looked like they were giving something away. Christina went to brave Wal-Mart by herself. A group of us are planning to go to Mid City Lanes Rock and Bowl tonight for some bowling and to hear a favorite band, The Bucktown Allstars, play. If any Minnnesota people are ever in town, we need to take you to Rock and Bowl.

Yesterday was a really nice day at Katie's, despite the rain. A bunch of us went to see Cat in the Hat (don't waste your time) and another group of guys(Robbie, Stephen, Scott C. and Joey) went to see Master and Commander. All of the food was delicious! I only wish I had some of it here today. One day, when I have a bigger house, I will host Thanksgiving and/or Christmas just so I can keep the leftovers!

After being off of work due to foot surgery (5 bone spurs on the heel) I finally get the ok to reurn to work. I will be on five hour days for a week. I stand all day. I have my pain meds and will take them if I need them. What a boring time! I looked forward to the surgery, now I look forward to Tuesday when I can go to work.

The sun is finally out........ a day late! That's okay, we did fine yesterday without it. Okay, so I'm a little disappointed that it rained all day yesterday. I mean it's not like I spent 2 full days working in my yard for nothing! I mean, so what if I thought I could keep most of the people(Darby O'gills little people,that is) outside for my party. It didn't happen and I found out something about my cracker box. It takes a lot more than 40 people (and one very large dog) to rip it apart at the seams! It was very nice actually. Okay, so there were a few casualties. Unfortunately I was the one behind all 3 little incidents. (How did that happen?) I was only trying to hook up Scott C.'s movie camera to the back of the TV. Something vital came unplugged and we can't figure out what. Now we have snow on the TV. And when I gave up trying to figure out how to get the movie camera to work maybe I should have unplugged it, because I forgot how tempting a dangling cord could be to little hands. Well I haven't the courage yet to see if the movie camera survived it's plummet to my hard floor. And last, while I was cleaning my kitchen, I accidently knocked over a full glass of water onto my built-in stove top. I wiped up the water and thought great, one chore done because after all the stove needed to be cleaned anyway. Wellll, about thirty minutes later the darn thing started clicking as if it was trying to light itself! When Kevin realized what had happened, he yelled not very nicely for me to stay the heck away from his truck! Now was that fair?

Whoever was responsible for the weather today failed miserably or simply did not get the memo. It is raining here and has been for several hours. The forecast calls for a 100% chance of rain. Overkill in the extreme. We get downpours at 20% here in Louisiana.

Tip of the cap to the Ericksons for hosting Thanksgiving this year. Although I’m fairly certain that an indoor/outdoor component to this day would have been welcome, I’m sure they’ll do a great job and we’ll have a good day anyway.

Once again, Happy Thanksgiving!!!

These are some of Omar's creations from ceramics class. He can't use the potter's wheel anymore because of his back so his later creations are hand thrown and smaller.

The Cat in the Hat. I took my girls, Hamzah and a friend of Aminah's. I thought for sure it was going to be a great movie, afterall how can you ruin Dr. Seuss? Well they found a way. There are alot of adult jokes thrown into the dialog and it makes for a very uncomfortable feeling. Alec Baldwin is really bad in this movie and his character is awful. Hamzah liked it 'cause it was fun. When I asked what he thought was fun about it he said it was active. The girls didn't like it and kept apologizing to me - I usually don't go to the movies and they felt bad that the one I chose wasn't good. I would be very interested to hear what the rest of you thought if you see it.

I pass this everyday when I take Aminah to school. We assume a homeless person has built this shelter. When we took the picture the speed boat came out of nowhere. What a contrast on the river - the rich and the poor!

Hi everyone! Happy Birthday Paul. Happy Eid Punky:). Today is an anniversary of sorts for me. It was one year ago today that I waddled into my first Weight Watchers meeting and now one year later I am happy to say that I have kept off the 33lbs that I've lost (I made my goal in May). This is not to say I won't partake in all of the yummy foods on Thanksgiving day, no way! Last year I started Thanksgiving week and everyone thought I was nuts (what else is new). Anyway I had to brag. We are headed to Dan's mom's for Thanksgiving day. They have a townhouse about 5 miles from us and use it when they come down for Dr. appt's and visiting relatives etc. Their main residence is only 34 miles from my mom and dad. I have been assigned the pumpkin pies and green pistachio jello. Christina, this is the one I told you about when I was down there. I'll e-mail you the recipe as it's easy schmeasy! Dan and Ashley will leave later that evening to go to South Dakota for pheasant hunting. This is her 3rd year hunting with "Daddy" and the guys. She is getting to be a fairly good shot and got her own "limit" last time they went. It's really strange that she likes to go as she gets frightened of the lady bugs flyin' around the house, go figure. Nicole and I plan to see Elf and general bummin' around. She's anxious to go next year. Well, Happy Thanksgiving to all. Carol

Angela found this article. Worth reading.

Compliments of Kim Novak at Kim's Place.

Yup, the old guy gets older today. If you look at a perpetual calendar, I believe he was actually born on Thanksgiving day. Never ever offer him a dinner that includes both birthday cake and pumpkin pie.

I put this on the blog because Paul has been peeking in now and then along with Joan and Mike. I double-dog dare Joan, Mike and Paul to post a comment.

We heeded the weather warnings on Sunday and didn't go to Benihana for dinner. We are also taking my boys, Paul's Dad, my Mom and his only sibling Nancy with us. We'll try for that dinner next weekend. Now, what do you get a guy for his birthday who asked for new underwear?! That'll be the day I buy someone underwear for their birthday!

Today is Eid for our family. This marks the end of a month of fasting and prayer. The kids will be up soon - to open presents and then go to the prayer at the convention center downtown. We'll go see "The Cat in the Hat" and then ice skating in the evening. Hyder usually sleeps most of the day 'cause he has to go extra early to help with the set up of the prayer. (This is the equivilent of Christmas for the Christians.) The kids get so excited. We plan on going snow tubing on Thanksgiving.

This Monday we celebrated our own and very first Thanksgiving in the new home, affectionately referred to as "The Man Brothel”. Each one of us was responsible for bringing a certain dish. There was ham (only after we failed to properly de-thaw the 22 lb turkey), mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole (my dish), buttermilk biscuits, dressing, creamed corn, green beans, and then we had homemade peach cobbler & pecan pie for dessert. After spending all day making our respective dishes, we came together at the man brothel around 7:30. We ate out on the back porch and if you will notice, none of us have any type of silverware (an essential aspect of the man brothel’s Thanksgiving). After dinner we cleaned up and just sat around the bonfire in our backyard. It was a fun night and we intend to make this a yearly tradition. I have included some pictures of not only the feast, but of the man brothel as well.

Just something about being allowed to eat like a barbarian and not having to dodge your mom’s flying hand coming across the table, makes it lose its luster.

Hi Mom!

www.northpole.com

Lots of kids activities online including Santa letters and reindeer games. Danny loved it a couple of years ago. They update it each year and add a new item of two.

Okay, I'm going to attempt to add a link here. I stumbled upon this site and thought it was cute. I emailed it to a lot of people. You have to wait until the cat with the hat starts singing. He is so cute. The song is from the first Charlie's Angels movie. It's a Destiny's Child song. I love the cat's accent. Anyway, see if you can get this. http://www.rathergood.com/independent_woman/

What are y'all doing for Thanksgiving?

We, the extended Ferrara family, are all going to Katie's, unless Amy or anyone else is unwell there. Katie and I are making turkeys and everyone else is bringing something else to the meal. If Amy or anyone else is sick in that household, the dinner will be here at my house. Maybe we should plan on that anyway. I would love it. My children would too. They love nothing better than to have all their favorite people playing on their turf.

I haven't seen a movie in a long time. I am not sure I will see "Bend It Like Beckham" now that so many of you have commented on it.

So, anyway, what are Tompkins and Byes doing? What do each of y'all cook that is your signature dish? Which reminds me...Has anyone of us Ferrara's claimed the crabmeat dressing that Grandma F. or Daddy used to make for our gatherings? I always ate a healthy teaspoon full of the stuff. Just wondering.

This is a picture Patsy took of our beloved Nikki sometime in 1984. This picture is slightly out of focus or it would have been enlarged, framed, and hanging prominently somewhere in our house. What you can’t see here is the twinkle in his eyes. He was a Samoyed and he really did have the "Samoyed smile". He was a joy.

I watched Bend it Like Beckham last night and I have to say I was not that impressed. I found it slow and I didn't love the characters. I did love the indian girl, she's on my favorite tv show "ER." I didn't know she was in this movie. I found the Indian aspect of the movie interesting and funny. I had a hard time understanding them though and found myself turning the volume way up to hear. Also, where have I seen the English girl's mother before? Did she play the wife of the vicar in "Emma" with Gwyneth Paltrow? I give Bend It a 5 at best.

I recommended a movie called "Whale Rider" to mom last night. I wonder if she ventured to the video store to get it. Mama has never rented a video in her life and didn't know where Daddy kept his Blockbuster card. The movie was in Entertainment Weekly's end of the year Oscar review and is supposed to be a good family movie, the likes of Bend it Like Beckham. It's got a girl power message to it too. Sounds good. Mom, give us a review if you watched it.

Speaking of "ER", did anyone see Thursday night's show? I found it disturbing. Romano was killed by a falling helicopter and no one knew at the end of the show where he was or seemed to care that he was missing. As much of a jerk as Romano was I think he deserved a better send off than that. Okay, I'm taking my tv watching too seriously! Loved Friends Thursday night. I haven't laughed that much at Friends in a while. Joey is so funny. That may be Phil's influence on me because Joey is his favorite character.

I've got to go put on my "chef mommy" hat and cook breakfast for my boys. Can you call fixing a frozen waffle, preparing a hot meal? Or how about instant oatmeal, Jacob's favorite? Does it count? I remember when I was little and on a Saturday or Sunday my mom would almost always cook me a fried egg, softboiled egg, french toast, or pancakes and sometimes bacon or sausage to go with it. Those were the days!

I remember this day 40 years ago today.

Did I really just write 40?

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

What Finding Nemo Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

I'm Bruce.

62% are more weird,
11% are just as weird, and
27% are more normal than me!

The server that CrabAppleLane is on had a hard drive failure last night. Everything posted after yesterday morning's backups is probably lost forever.

Update: It looks like we only lost yesterdays comments. All entries were saved unless someone posted an entry sometime after 10:30PM last night. I'll try to remember to make backups morning and night.

I have not heard much regarding volunteers from each family. So goes the life of the organizer....

One of the many ideas I have is to have this reunion at French Park. There is a fee of $250 for the summer shelter reservation fee but that would be easy enough to divvy up. The shelter has electricity and volleyball next to the shelter. There is a wonderful play area nearby and a public swimming beach within the park also. I strongly doubt that we would be able to just drive up to any picnic area and find what we need for the large amount of people.

The website address is http://www.threeriversparkdistrict.org/parks/french.cfm

Also, I need to know the dates the Tompkins family will be going on their trip to Colorado. Sounds like that trip is covering the 4th of July time.

I kind of like the idea of having this event catered also. Sure saves a lot of time! I have not looked into that yet, just testing the proverbial waters to see what any of you think.

Your thoughts and ideas please! I did not put this on the reunion blog as it appears I may be the only one looking at it. :o(

There's a copy of a start of this entry out there in cyborg somewhere. I hit the back button instead of edit when I was previewing my entry and off it went, who knows where! So I'll start over again, excuse me if I repeat myself.

So, I had a virus on my computer Norton couldn't get rid of. After toying with it ALL weekend (including Friday) I'm happy to say the bugger is finally gone!!! I am so flush from my success I'm attempting to help Mother over the phone rid her computer of virus. I'm not the most computer literate, but I'm so jacked up from my own success I think I can do it! Wish us luck!

I saw two movies this weekend, Mystic River and Master in Commander..., neither impressed me much. Mom and Angela liked Mystic, but I have to be honest and say I did not. There were two stories here and I think neither story were given justice. I'm sorry that is about the best I can do to describe why I didn't particularly like it. I didn't like Master... either. Again, no real strong story line, at least not about people. Yes, the cinematogrophy, and mechanics of a ship of the Napoleonic era, and costumes were all very excellant. But the story was not very good. (Did I mention that there are no woman in the film? ) Has anyone else seen them? I'd like to hear your opinions.

Patsy and I watched Holes last night on pay-per-view. I had read about the making of this movie probably two years ago. It said the novel (Same name) by Louis Sachar that the movie is based on had a Harry-Potter-like following. So I got the book to see what it’s about. Like Harry Potter, it is aimed at teenagers yet the book is fun and it’s one of the easiest reads I ever ran across. Patsy and I both read it. The movie is fairly faithful to it. In the book, Stanley was fat and kind of weak but worked off his weight and got stronger digging those holes. And the book delved into the other characters a bit more than the movie had time for. That said, those omissions are forgivable and the film rates three stars.

Louisiana elected a woman for governor last night. I think it’s wonderful.

I added some bells and whistles to the “Search” feature of the blog. I plan to add more. There are a few nice things that I see on other blogs that I want for this one.

We have all had a “What would my mother think?” moment or ten in our lives. This R-rated Minnesota blogger posted many of those moments on his blog. He is so busted.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Have a day!

Love,

Robbie

This past weekend Kellie and I went home so Kellie could attend a Gwinnett County job fair. She spoke to a number of school principals about a job next fall, and did great...so that's good. But while I was home, I was reminded to post a number of things on the blog. Mom asked me to put the speech for Grandpa on here, so that can be accessed by clicking HERE.

And then I was also asked to put up some pictures from this year's Homecoming.

David was the freshman representative for the Homecoming Court and walked down the football field during half time.

Yeah I don't know about this guy. I'm not too sure he isn't adopted.

Mom, Brianne, & Dad posing for the camera.

I am happy to report my little girl does not go off hunting with her father. Can you believe in my family of hunters that I didn't marry one? God must have been looking favorably on me. The sad thing is, I've been told she is an excellent retriever, but I'll just have to keep that little secret to myself.

Margaret and Katie and I came over to my mother's tonight to see her new red leather furniture. So bold of her. She is branching out and redecorating her sun porch. I think it looks great and is so fun! I went with her and talked her into buying the matching chair and ottoman. Now I'll have to help her pick out a bright rug to match.

She was babysitting Meredith today and when I got here, Kilian had also come from daycare so we all ate dinner together...Chinese again if you can believe it. Ever since Terri told me she had a craving for lemon chicken the other night, I needed some Kung Pao Chicken. My Mom also whipped up some spaghetti for Greg who came to pick up the kids and tuna fish for Kilian and turkey and bananas for Meredith. Oh and Katie made her world famous chocolate chip cookies for Greg and Eric (and Margaret and my Mom and I got to sample some too)

I'm also making a fleece snowsuit for the baby and needed some much needed assistance from my mother. She actually pinned the whole pattern for me and cut it out. I would love to leave it here and have her finish, but I must finish what I started. I'll fail a couple more times and then let her take over. It will be interesting to see what becomes of it, if my child will be warm this winter.

Brooke went out hunting this morning with Joey for the first time this year. Joey said she did well retrieving his friend’s birds. Joey had some bad luck- no birds were flying in his pond so he was having her retrieve a water bottle for him. I still don’t understand how his friend could shoot ducks, but he couldn’t because there were none flying (go figure)! No alligators where he hunted today so my little girl was safe.

Laura, I was sorry to hear that Love Actually wasn’t a good film. I am anxious to see it still. We rented Down With Love and liked it ok. Rene Zellweger got on my nerves. What’s up with the way she does her mouth?

Mary, I’ve seen Office Space and liked it medium. My friend who works in the business world could relate to it so much more than I, who ties shoelaces and settles disputes over crayons all day long. My sister was right, I’m not much of a Chinese food fan, but will do it on occasion. My work catered a Chinese food lunch for us last week. I always like what they order, but never remember the name of it. Is Crab Rangoon a stuffed wonton? If not, my work orders some kind of crab thing that’s stuffing in a wonton. It’s delicious! I also like Moo Shoo Pork.

My school did a tribute for Veterans Day yesterday morning in chapel. It was really nice but made me ruin my make-up first thing in the morning! I work so close to the cemetery that I plan to visit often on my way home from school. Unfortunately, yesterday I had a parent conference after school and then dinner plans so I had to get home. Robbie, were there any flowers left? When we visited on All Souls Day (4 days after the burial), all of the flowers were still there.

Mama’s birthday is tomorrow. She’ll be having lunch at Elizabeth’s with Katie and Janine. On Saturday, Katie and I will be taking her to lunch and a movie. Don’t know what new movies are coming out this weekend, but we’ll find something.

Laugh courtesy of Mary.

Do any of you read blogs other than this one? I know Christina reads Dooce. So do I. Dooce has one thing in common with Mary at the moment, but only one thing. There are some listed to the right here and I have a lot more listed at CrabAppleLane Blog.

Just wondering.....

Speaking of mirlitons, our local TV personality was doing this with them this morning as I was getting ready for work.

How were the mirlitons, Sue?

Man, you don't logon for a couple of days and you miss a whole slew of interesting topics.

I love all these movie reviews. I love movies but lately it seems like there are so many that I want to see and no time to get to them. Eric and I were going to attempt to see one this weekend, but I (we) ended up watching some at home. Eric had a presentation for his Saturday morning MBA class and used clips from Office Space, so we sat at the dining room table watching pieces of the DVD on his laptop while he clipped them. I thought I hated that movie the first time I watched it, but find it more amusing with each viewing. Eric can really relate since his old boss reminds him of the "Yah, I'm gonna need you to..." guy. I guess that's why he ultimately left.

While Eric was at class Saturday, after taking a very brisk walk with Sidney (I think it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 19 degrees with a 9 degree wind-chill) I came home to a comfy bowl of soup and popped in the The Grinch with Jim Carrey. I'm not a huge Carrey fan, but I thought masked in a Grinch outfit might help. Well, with my oxygen levels decreasing as my belly gets bigger, I passed out somewhere between the first 10-20 minutes of the film and woke up as the credits were rolling. Guess I'll have to catch that one another time since I now own it.

Saturday night we attempted to take my Mom to PF Chang for dinner. I think I frequent about every two weeks, so it was in order. Unfortunately, our 5:30 dinner outing turned into a 9:00 reservation. Can't believe how out of control that place is still after having been open over a year. So we got take out from the bar and brought it back to our house. Terri and Madeline and Isabel joined in as well. It was a short evening, so Eric and I planned to go to a 10:00 showing of either, The Matrix, Runaway Jury (huge Hackman and Cusack fan), or some humor, Elf (Eric loves Will Ferrel, I love Jon Favreau - anyone ever watch Dinner for Five on IFC?) Eric had a nice fire roaring for our dinner guests and I'd say I lasted until 9:00 and had to be awakened to go up to bed, so no movie that night. We were going to attempt for evening mass on Sunday and go to the new Block E entertainment complex downtown for a 5:30 show, but again, I was so tired at about 3:00 and could barely keep my eyes open for 4:00 mass, that we decided to skip the movie once again. I can only imagine how tired I'm going to be after this child comes if I'm this tired now. Ask anyone in my family how much I love my sleep. I've even been known on occasion to sleep with my eyes open.

I'm hoping to stop at the cemetary today too. I haven't been for a couple of months. I try to stop in and have a chat with my Dad every once in a while, unfortunately any flowers I leave at the grave today will probably freeze by nighttime. But it's the thought that counts, right!

Janine, my mother was so excited to hear about your play and says she would love to come someday to see you in one. So I'll work on getting a hypnotist for her plane ride or a chauffer for a drive to LA, if you send her information of your next show.

Patsy and I plan to visit the cemetery today around noon to pay our respects to Dad on this Veterans Day. She has the day off but I'll be going on my lunch break so I’ll be pressed for time somewhat. It’s not all that far from where I work but traffic in the city is mostly miserable during the week. She’ll pack a lunch for us or pick one up so that should save some time. If anyone cares to join, we’d love to have you. You know how to reach us.

Joan and I went to see "Elf" yesterday without either of my kids. After sitting there for quite some time another adult couple came in to the theater. This movie is destined to become a holiday classic with the younger set. I do not like Will Ferrell and was pleasantly surpised how well he pulled off the role. Very much one of those feel-good holiday movies, along the lines of the Santa Clause, another of my holiday favorites.

Tomorrow is Veteran's Day and I have the day off work. (Another perk of being a government employee!) Paul and I are going on a date while the kids are at school. Our plan is to have lunch someplace and then see a movie. I am voting for Runaway Jury or Love Actually. I saw the previews for Runaway Jury when we saw Secondhand Lions.

Today I am also celebrating (or gnashing my teeth) my completion of one week of quitting smoking. There, now that I have put it into words for all to see, I have to stick with it. Colder weather usually helps, I don't want to be standing outside in January for the sake of some weeds wrapped in paper!

Is anyone still thinking about a reunion next summer? No one is checking the reunion blog. Robbie and I are basically communicating with each other about it!! Let's get busy people!

I've been obsessively playing this one song "Bright Lights" by Matchbox Twenty all morning. I love it. I've been hearing it on the radio and kept saying I needed to find out who sang it and then today I found out so I promptly came home and downloaded it. I should have known. I love Matchbox Twenty. I have their other cds. I didn't buy the latest because I've been downloading individual songs and making my own cds but now I may have to break down and buy their cd. I had tickets to see them in concert three years ago while I was pregnant with Jacob and just before the concert I got put on bedrest so was unable to go. I would love to see them. Rob Thomas has the best voice.

I also like classic rock, like The Eagles, The Doors, The Rolling Stones. Phil loves classic rock and not much more. He definitely doesn't like most of what's on the radio, hip-hop to be specific. Some of that music is fun to dance to when you're out but it's not something I'd put on to listen to while I'm at home.

My all time favorite song is "Lola" by the Kinks. Don't know why, just love it.

Below is one of my Bradford pear trees exhibiting what passes for color changes here in the south. Those trees, my other pear trees, and two Chinese tallow trees I planted that Kevin dug up out of the Erickson yard are the only trees that put on any kind of a show here.

And the picture below looks like a typical cabbage patch. There are no cabbages here. There are collard greens, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, chives, carrots, and a lone tomato bush that came up on its own. It would be a real treat to have vine-ripened tomatoes in December but I am not optimistic about that.

Thank you very much Elizabeth and Angela for the flowers. I put them all in one big vase and they are so awesomely beautiful in my kitchen.

Thank you all for coming to the performance, Katie and Kevin, Robbie and Patsy, Angela and Joey, and Elizabeth and Scott. I have the best family in the world, I am pretty sure; so supportive. It is not my best work, y'all. Though I am not embarrassed by it, it is nothing to brag about either. I blame the material. :)

Thank you for baby-sitting for my dress rehearsal this past Thursday, Mom. I am still bothered by allowing you to go get Julia from her Brownie dinner at Trey Yuen. Let me know when you would like your order of Pralines.

I finally got around to sending Julia's kindergarten teacher her order, along with a note saying in the future she is to send a lb. of pecans, not 10 oz. When Julia delivered them to Mrs. Moody, her former T1 teacher was visiting in Mrs. Moody's class at the time. I can foresee her sending home pecans now too. I am going to be sending them and Julia's old 1st grade teacher the recipe. Either that or I am going to open a confectioner's shop. They can just come purchase some when they get a hankering instead of sending home pecans with Julia. That reminds me... Angela, do you still want the recipe? I'll give it to you later.

Patsy and I had a great time at the theater tonight. The skits were very well done.

The Playbill:

AHEM! Ahem I say. What in the world is this so called "blog" coming to, when its pages are dripping with malice and utter jealousy?!? I'm not one to mention names or anything (cough...CHRISTINA), but it seems to me that there is bitterness being harbored towards what WAS a "little fat boy". I feel that is important to address issues such as this on the front page, instead of allowing it to get lost among the other comments. I'm not implying excommunication or anything, but some serious psychotherapy maybe.
However, after close examination, I have come down to two conclusions: one, Christina, I mean "someone", needs to seek some counseling to resolve their suppressed envy issues; Or two, it was just an innocent grammatical error, in that when referring to the boy from England, she meant to say he was P-H-A-T!

We finally saw Bend it like Beckham on Pay-Per-View last night. I’ve been reading about it off and on for a few months and have wanted to see it. Patsy, on the other hand, knew nothing about it. In fact, she thought the "Indian girl" in the movie description meant something else.

There is just not an ounce of originality to it. It is soppy and predictable. It is also quite charming and irresistible and that owes entirely to the likeable characters. Just about everyone in the film oozes that likeableness. I give it three stars.

I'm with you in spirit. I wish I could be there to support you but I'll be thinking about you. I hope all goes well. For anyone who's reading, Janine is in a play this weekend. Tonight is opening night. Some of the Ferrara's are going tonight and some tomorrow night. Since I am three hours away I will not be attending. It's times like these that you really miss being close to your family.

Have a great show Janine!

In other news, Phil and I are going on a date and have hired a babysitter tonight for the first time since we've moved to Lake Charles. I was looking forward to going to see the movie "Love Actually" because it's opening this weekend only it's not playing in this hicktown that I live in. My second choice was Mystic River but it too is not playing. The only movie I'm even remotely interested in seeing that is playing here is Runaway Jury but it is only showing at one time, 7pm. That's not a good time if we want to enjoy our meal! Lake Charles is severly entertainment challenged. The movie theater has the nerve to charge $7.50 for an evening show and $5.50 for a matinee and they don't even have stadium seating!! It is nicer than the crappy theater in Covington though. As you can see, I take my movie watching seriously!

Still, it will be nice to go to dinner without the children. Here's to a meal without crayons and deal making.

This is happening pretty regularly on CrabAppleLane Blog, not so regularly on The Laurendine Blog, and has only happened once or twice here. It is a problem and I installed a program last week that stops most of it but some will still get through. I remove the ones that get past.

If you get an email saying you have received one of these comments to one of your posts (They usually get posted to the older comments), just let me know. I'll remove it and add them to the blacklist. So far, the spammers have been nice enough to comment on my posts exclusively but that is a random accident.

Hopefully, this battle will be over soon. There is no particular reason for spammers to do it.

This is a complete idiot. No parts missing.

Compliments of cousin Carol.

Carol, Laura, Katie, and Nancy.

Janine and yours truly.

Two lovely ladies, Mom and Aunt Catherine.

Hopefully these pictures will come through. Carol

I have mixed emotions about my trip to New Orleans. On one hand it was sad to see my cousins because a funeral was taking place and on the other hand it was great to see my cousins and enjoy their company. I'm sure it will take months, maybe years to get through the pain of losing your dad/husband. I do know that the process will be made easier by having the support of the family that you have around you. I'm sure you already know how special and rare that is, but in case you didn't, it was wonderful to see. I so enjoyed sightseeing (again feeling kind of weird doing that on the heels of Uncle Sam's funeral) and visiting/touring your houses. The Halloween "party" at Elizabeth's was fun and neat to see all the little ones get so excited. Everyone was so inclusive and hospitable...Thank you!! Thanks again to those who provided rides to and from the airport!! I know my mom and dad enjoyed themselves even though their good friend/brother-in-law was missing (although I suspect he was watching with a big smile on his face) from the activities. Again thank you for a memorable trip and know that you are continually in my thoughts. Carol

My oh my! The forecast today is for a high of 35 with a possibility of 2 - 4" of that icky white stuff. What a wonderful way to start a Monday after being off of work for awhile.

My cold came home with me and I was not able to clown at the birthday party as planned on Saturday afternoon. They want me for next year, I gave them 1/2 off their next show.

Kevin, my husband Paul liked his alligator stick (bought one for him at the airport along with a bottle of Pain and Suffering). Said it tasted just like chicken! I couldn't even try a small bite after tasting yours at the flea market.

Thanks again for the tour and the southern hospitality, Mom and I enjoyed our trip.

It's back to work today for me. The last few days just flew by.

The Saints won yesterday, which makes last week's loss more infuriating. They'd be in pretty good shape had they won last week. As it is, they need to win 6 of the last 7 to have any shot at the playoffs. The Vikes lost, too, but they’re still in great shape. At least one Minnesota cousin is not too upset about the loss. The Ragpickers need a miracle.

Seven years ago, we started a fantasy football league. Almost everyone in the family plays in it. David Ferrara, Kevin & Lars Erickson, Joey Hunter, Scott & Jimmy Soule, Phil & Corey deGruy, Dad, and I are in it. Dad and Kevin are co-owners of the Sharks and won the championship three years ago. They have a good team this year, too. The Super Bowl they won was the best one we’ve had yet. David and Kevin came to my house to watch the Sunday games. I have the NFL Sunday Ticket and can watch all of the games here. When David and Kevin left that afternoon, David’s Rough Diamonds had a 42-point lead and he was trying to be conciliatory toward Kevin but he surely wanted to win. Kevin was being a good sport. Kevin and Dad had two players (Marshall Faulk and Keyshawn Johnson) left for the Monday night game between the Bucs and the Rams but they weren’t likely to score 42 points. They didn’t. They scored 59. It was a wild game. Dad wasn’t watching it. David called him and asked, “Dad, are you watching this?”. Dad turned it on and had a grand time watching it with Mom and the phone calls were flying between Dave, Dad, Kevin, and me. That was a lot of fun.

Just finished watching the original version of Blade Runner. This was Dad’s video. Patsy and I gave him this video a long time ago just after he got his VCR back before renting videos became popular. I have since bought the Director’s (Ridley Scott of Alien fame) Cut for myself and have become a fan of the movie. Scott Soule already was and he also read the book it’s based on, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep”, by Phillip K Dick. The Director’s Cut was produced and released much later. It is in widescreen and has all of the latest technological advances in sound and picture quality. Beyond that, the original theatrical release has a narration by Harrison Ford that the Director’s Cut does not have.

If the Gary that tried to Login is cousin Gary, please drop me a line. Love to have you here. Stephen, Thomas, and I are outnumbered. Like the marines, we need a few more good men.

Halloween last night at Elizabeth’s was reminiscent of Halloween when I was a kid (Before the crazies tried to ruin it). It looks like it is making a nice comeback and that was fun to see. The only sign of the times now is the parents escort. We didn’t need one way back when.

Jimmy was a grand Grim Reaper but his Power Ranger cousin, Jackson, was scared of him so he couldn’t wear his mask inside much. Polina was an adorable “Future LSU Cheerleader” and Jacob was also adorable as Woody from Toy Story. It looks like Michael finally had enough of Janine (You’ll have to wait for the pictures to understand this reference).

All Saints Day today. Be thinking of your Saints. In this big family, they’re all around you.

It's also the New Orleans Saints birthday. It was 37 years ago today that New Orleans was awarded the NFL franchise. It has been mostly downhill since.