January 2004 Archives

And this:

We are going to have a gorgeous day here in Mandeville today. The sun is shining and the birds are singing as I stepped outside in my pj's this morning.

What did everyone do last night?

Michael and I went to the Abita Pub and had beer and fried green tomatoes. It was a huge splurge for us and so much fun. I loved the Bohemian Pilsner, had three, but who's countin'? Didn't care for the Golden nor Andygator beers at all. I just tasted those two. Andygator, which is what Michael drank, needed a squeeze of lemon I told the bartender.

...and hey, Ronda. Glad you stopped by to visit the blog. I have had a few of Matt's items here on top of my entertainment center for months now. Maybe for his birthday in a couple of weeks... That reminds me - you should be gearing up for the big Valentine's Day orders, eh? I bet your arrangements will look fabulous. We love those cookies.

Message to everyone: Check the top of my entertainment center for things you left at my house. That's my collecting spot for that stuff. Last week I brought a casserole dish to church that belongs to a friend that left it here over a month ago. I'll be darned if that dish didn't take the ride back home with me and now that's where it's sitting - back on top of my entertainment center along with the other piles that need to get back to their owners.

I found a web site oofun.com has good jokes, e-cards and all round good humor. I thought that you would enjoy.

As I sit here it is 35 BELOW zero with the wind-chill!!! Burr.

I'm pretty sure that's it!

On another front: This guy ought to ask for a refund. He doesn't look any better and a case could be made that he looks worse.

This Saturday will be almost a carbon copy of last Saturday. Spend the morning at Mom’s finishing up the computer stuff I started last week and then head to the French Quarter for lunch and whatever. I think I will up my lunch budget to $15. Can you believe one place charges $13.50 for a shrimp po-boy? This time, I hope to remember to bring a camera. Any or all here are welcome to join or meet up. Drop me a line.

After many futile attempts to grow carrots over the years, I have found the secret. Ignore them! These picked this morning. The bunnies will eat good tonight.

Sunday the 25th is Mom's birthday. She'll be over at our house at some point this weekend. Maybe I can get her to post a comment or something. Most of us are going to brunch Sunday morning for her birthday. 73 doesn't sound that old anymore does it! Maybe I'm getting older? Nahhhh!

Beth has to work Sunday and her birthday is 1/29 so she won't be joining us for what is usually a combined dinner or outing. We're taking her out for dinner another time.

The St. Paul Winter Carnival was officially opened last night with the lighting of this year's Ice Palace. My friend won tickets to "Stars on Ice" for next Wednesday night at the Excel which unfortunately is right across from the Ice Palace. We plan on seeing it before the show. The traffic ought to be horrible with road closings around the palace. I'll be watching for bigger and better ways to commute through downtown St. Paul this weekend.

Elizabeth is having Polina's birthday party that evening which possibly includes supper. She is going to call you with the invite as soon as she can. She is busy chaffeuring today, but mentioned the people she has yet to discuss her plans and invite people over.

Saturday will revolve around my shuttling children and then end up in a circle supper, otherwise known as a potluck, at my church in Lacombe for the evening beginning at 5.

You should be able to find a good place to eat for that amount;

Top 10 places to eat for 10-12 dollars in N.O.---
#10. Mothers
#09. Masperos (though I don't like that one because of the rolls of meat they pack on their sandwiches)
#08. there used to be a pizza kitchen with yummy salads on the corner of Decatur and Gov. Nichols(?) (it had excellent food)
#07. the vegggie cafe "Old Dog, New Trick" was a wonderful place to eat.
#06. Something Indian
#05. Shrimp poboy from R&O's before you get there.
#'s 04-01. Central Grocery for a muffaletta. Forget any other recommendations. I would love a veggie muffaletta right now. MMMMMmmmmmmmm.

Robbie, I tried to leave this in the comments section of your entry, but it told me something about missing jayallen, what the heck is that?

Anyone have plans Saturday?

I plan to be at Mom's from about 9AM until about noon trying to get her computer to work better. I then plan to head to the French Quarter for a modest ($10-$12 or less) lunch. Afterwards, I plan to do the tourist thing. Hit the shops, maybe find some live music somewhere, and whatever else the mood dictates. Anyone is welcome to come along or meet up with me somewhere. Drop me a line if you'd like to do so.

Since the girls had a vacation day on Monday, we decided a while ago to go to northern Wisconsin (near where we boat) to go snowmobiling. Earlier in the week they had gotten about 4-6 inches of new snow. So off to find the snow we went. We stayed at a hotel right on Lake Superior, but we stayed off the lake as the ice isn't safe even yet. On Thursday night a guy was snowmobiling (at 3 am) and went through the ice into open water near a break wall. They were still searching for his body on Friday and Saturday with the hovercraft.....creepy! We did have nice trails for the most part. This year is Nicole's first year of driving her own "sled" on the trails, previously she had just ridden around our house and field. She did pretty well (SLOW) and became more comfortable as the weekend went on. She even lead the last of the ride on Sunday. Ashley is getting braver about leaving the trail and playing in the "powder". She followed Dan off the trail many times and didn't even get stuck (a major feat). Even though we almost froze on Sunday with temps and wind chills in -20 to -30, we had fun. Hope these pictures turn out...I'm still experimenting. Carol

Nicole tryin' out the "powder".

And this is Ashley.

The kids are home from school today and Kevin happens to be here too. I'd like to do something as a family today, but I don't know what. I wanted to go to the N.O. Museum for that Egyptian art exhibit, but it's closed today. The sun is out and it's a beautiful day, but the temperature is dropping and it's pretty windy. Actually my plans for today is not what I want to talk about. It's the guilt I've been carrying about MLK ever since the holiday was given in his name. When the holiday first came about there were lots of stories about his life rehashed in the news. I thought then, as I do now, that he was a very great man, however one fact about his life bothers me. He had a mistress! He was a reverend, for goodness sakes! I just can't help it, his halo is tarnished for me and I feel guilty about that! Just my thoughts, thanks for letting me share!

Remember the sidewalk paintings done by Bert (Dick Van Dyke) in Mary Poppins? Try these. Found it over at Pitcherlady's.

Mom has a new email address. Change it in your address book and drop her a line. She has to rebuild her email address book pretty much from scratch.

Cute picture!

PS - Not the monkey.

I need two root canals, one on either side of my lower jaw. That will be next week and the week after. I really don't get panicky over going to the dentist. I focus on being able to eat all my favorite sugary foods again and stopping the pain. I was afraid to watch the infamous toothache scene in "CastAway" last week lest it start my tooth to throbbing. Motrin has been my friend for the past two weeks.

Our tacos were good last night. I baked a white cake with coconut/pecan icing, not from scratch. I ate some despite knowing how those particles were going to go into the place where my filling used to be. I didn't feel a thing.

On with the day. Supper tonight will be something quick and easy. I might go to the planning and zoning committee meeting. They covertly have approved an ammendment to a land use plan and a mini-mall will be put up near my home. I mean, c'mon. A sewage treatment facility on one side of me and a mini-mall, probably will have a dollar store there, on the other side of me. I so want out of here.

Michael was just remarking on the humble home on hwy. 59 that has two schools behind him and two mini-malls on either side of him. Those things were built around him, or it could be a her (though we both assumed it was male - wonder why), and we want to know what thoughts are/were running through "it's" head as constuction was taking place. Was he holding out for a good offer? Or he likes his location and convenience to getting on I-12? Don't know, but it looks out of place to see a little home sandwiched in between all that commercialism and administration. Fountainbleu highschool and middle schools are big schools. Traffic is intense around his house for hours out of each day. Go figure, where people settle.

After the people leave for school, I am going to do a job search, then some domestic stuff, then lunch, have a small to medium sized anxiety attack, a 3:00 dental appt.. Then it is tacos for supper. Mine will be made with refried beans and all the fixings, but I will make boing boing beef for the people to eat on theirs.

What are y'all having for supper tonight?

This lovely camellia bush was seen from my computer room window just basking in the sun yesterday morning.

I decided to go out and take a picture of it. This image illustrates our need to get a better camera. My original image is very large in size and looks quite good. Reducing it pretty much destroys the quality of the image. Still, it’s not all that bad.

It was given to me by Katie about 8 years ago. A drought and my subsequent neglect probably stunted its growth somewhat. I take much better care of it now and it seems to be thriving where it is. I also have another one she had given me the year before. It is thriving on a much grander scale but it is only in the early stages of blooming right now. I will take a picture of it later when it is covered in blooms. It is quite magnificent in its sunny location. Conventional wisdom says camellias don’t like a lot of sun. My experience says otherwise.

Patsy and I went to see Cold Mountain earlier today (Yesterday now). It is filmed as a sweeping epic but the story doesn’t really need/merit that kind of treatment. At about 2-1/2 hours, it didn’t really seem all that long to us, though. We never got impatient or bored with it like I sometimes do when a movie drags on too long. Renee Zellweger was quite charming and stole every scene she was in. Hollywood likes that kind of performance and I think it will earn her the best supporting actress oscar. I did not recognize Natalie Portman from The Professional and Beautiful Girls. She was terrific in those. She’s all grown up now and she has a smaller part in this but she is still a great actress (Note: I didn’t see the two new Star War movies). We enjoyed the movie and give it 3 stars. It should be seen on the big screen. All of those unnecessary panoramic shots will look better on it.

I bet Sister Catherine would have thought the same thing about this.

I don't see the harm.

Introducing Murphy.

Quite adorable pictures from Mary and Eric.

Congratulations again, Mary.

Eric and I are proud to announce the birth of our little girl,

Murphy Shay Lealos
(Murphy, because that was my Dad's nickname for me and he was with me the whole time during surgery) and Shay, for Shay's Rebellion for those history buffs out there. Well actually we liked the Irish name, Shea, but Eric changed the spelling for historical reasons.

After a long day of waiting, she was born Friday, January 2, 2004 at 5:23pm. I'll save the gory details for another time. But if anyone has had a C-section after 3 hours of pushing, you know what I mean.

She weighed 7 lbs. 14 ounces and was 22 3/4 inches long. She has long fingers and big feet, perfect little basketball player material!

Can't think of a better way to start the New Year!
Happy New Year to everyone!

Rob, since being off a computer for a while, I can't remember how we are supposed to attach a picture. I'll send it to your email address if you wouldn't mind posting it for me. Thanks!

The deed has been done, check out our reunion blog for details, few as they are at this point.

Sam’s E-Z Spaghetti Sauce

2 packs McCormack’s Italian Spaghetti Sauce w/Mushrooms (French sauce is also good)
1 15oz can Hunt’s Italian Chunky tomato sauce
1 6oz can Contadina tomato paste
2 teaspoons oleo margarine
1 clove garlic
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon sugar (Carrot may be substituted to remove bitter taste from tomato paste)
A sprinkle of thyme leaves

Follow directions on spaghetti sauce mix. Add oleo, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, and sugar/carrot to tomato sauce and tomato paste while they are heating to boil. Add mix when liquids come to a boil. Dad usually added about 2 more cups of water to liquids than the packages called for.

Joey and I went to see Lord of the Rings last night. We went to a 10:30 show and didn’t get out until 2AM. I enjoyed it a lot but I think I need to talk to someone who has read the books to tie up some loose ends for me. Maybe I’ll pick up the books myself. I’ve heard they aren’t an easy read. We watched the other two movies earlier this week to refresh our memories about the story. I hadn’t seen either of them since seeing them at the show and I got a lot more clarity this time around.

We watched them on our new DVD player. Joey’s brothers bought us one for Christmas. Of course, we’ve been fighting with it all week to get it hooked up right. Or, I should say, we’ve been fighting with each other. Electronics baffle both of us. I have a fancy receiver that has hook-ups for a DVD player, but I couldn’t see the picture when I hooked it up. Then I found out that we needed an RF modulator because our TV didn’t have hook-ups. I hooked that up, but then there was no sound coming out of my home theater system, only the TV. So then someone told me to split the wires and hook up some to my receiver and some to the DVD player. That worked, except that in the process of pulling the TV out so many times to work on the back wires, we pulled a speaker wire out. I had no idea where it plugged in so Joey took a guess. He was wrong though because the back speakers aren’t working. UGH! I’ll have to fiddle with it some more today. I would love to pay someone to work on all of this for us.

I went deer hunting in Mississippi with Joey twice this week. Can’t say that I enjoy it very much. He begs me to go with him so I appease him once in a while. We didn’t see anything either time and he was very disappointed. He would love for me to be with him when he kills. Riding on the 4 wheelers in the woods is fun though. The season is almost over. It’ll be just in time for Mardi Gras. He won’t get a rest then. Business is picking up.

I made Daddy’s spaghetti and meatballs last night for dinner. Joey has been begging me to cook it for him- he’s been “fleet-footing” me. I’ve been off for two weeks and only cooked once. Not too bad! We had cabbage and black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day at Joey’s mom’s house. She cooks them every year. About 6 years ago we ate our cabbage dinner and then went to the casino where I won $1000. I eat it every year hoping it will bring me the same good fortune. Did anyone else eat cabbage and black-eyed peas for New Year’s?

I got a call from the director of the workshop I did a few months ago. She has offered me a part in the play "Life With Father" which will be performed in March. I will let you know the exact dates if you want to get your trip-tick and muscle someone into riding with you, or take a train. That is a fun trip. Sue, Katie, and I took the train round trip to MN in 1975 for X-mas. Anyway, the part is of the maid. It is actually 4 different small roles. The director, whom I respect tremendously, thought it would be a fun, inside joke with the audience that the maid who gets fired all those times for flimsy reasons is the same person, but acts like a different character each time. It will be challenging, but exciting, to do that.

I must work on Aaron's science project today. We have been crying, sighing, and formulating what it needs to look like. I know we are making it harder than it needs to be. I keep trying to delegate the task to Michael to help him with this project, but that isn't happening either. Yesterday, I spent two hours painstakingly drawing a vine all around his triple poster board with leaves and peas. His project is on growing kidney beans. I thought about it later and need to check his criteria again. I am pretty sure the parents aren't supposed to do any artwork on these projects. Shoot. My logic says if he could buy materials for many dollars and glue it on for a border, why can't he (hypothetically) pay me to create the materials? Why does it have to be a store bought resources? I just about want to home school when these kinds of things come up. If only he and I weren't so lazy...

I look forward to school starting again in a couple of days. The kids eat and make messes all day. Mother, you can feel vindicated for my slovenly ways when I was younger, which lasted until I was about 40. I am starting to become the mad housewife. I am not that domestic and I have many unsatisfied interests while I huff and puff and clean the house good and try to stay on top of it. And to add insult to injury, it never really is 100% straight and clean in every room. So?

On with the day...

Watched X2 X-Men United today. It was a worthy sequel. There is a five minute action sequence involving Nightcrawler that was just phenomenal. That sequence alone was worth the price of the pay-per-view. I give it 3 stars. It also looks like there will be a third one.

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