August 2006 Archives

I tried to upload more pictures, but get an internal error. Something about the configuration...

Anyway, I went to hang with Angela and Samuel the other day and got him all to myself. Julia was in school so there was no competition. He is so cute. We went to the playground where he fell down and got that powdery dirt all over him. After spitting out what got in his mouth, he came to me to wipe it off his hands. He doesn't like his hands to be dirty. Smart boy. He also pointed it out on his sandals. It had gotten in there too and he kept grabbing at them until I took them off and wiped his feet too. I had only one wipe to work with because as I was leaving, and the diaper bag was already in the van, Angela and I figured I wouldn't need more wipes because I wouldn't be gone long. I think that's in the Murphy's Laws book. You will always need in the future what you don't think you will.

Angela is looking great and doing well. She passed the 36 week mark. I have a picture of her which looks like she put a perfectly round ball under her shirt. You will have to use your imagination.

Christina posted the first update the day after Hurricane Katrina blew through. It generated a lot of comments.

At CrabAppleLane one year ago today. Thanks, everyone.

Last week Nanc and I went up to Lake Superior for a mid-week get away. We were lucky and had absolutely wonderful weather! We met about half way and then drove together. When we got up to the boat we ventured to one of my favorite beaches and actually swam in the water! A little chilly, but refreshing. We went to Madeline Island for dinner at a really good restaurant and the food was great! The next day we went to Sand Island and hiked the 2 ½ mile trail to the lighthouse. After we toured the lighthouse (climbing to the top) we went down on the rocks to take pictures and get a better view. The last day we just went souvenir shopping in Bayfield before we headed home. On the way home the sky kept getting darker and darker until it finally started to pour. Thankfully it waited ‘til we were heading home! All in all a great way to spend some of the last few days of summer. Nanc took some pictures too, so maybe she’ll be able post some more of the scenery.

This sculpture, from the City Park Sculpture Garden, is titled Mother and Child. There are three subjects, though. Your guess is probably better than mine. Mom, Patsy, and I met at City Park two weeks ago to go see the New Orleans Museum of Art and the City Park Sculpture Garden next door. Admission is free to Louisiana residents and they are both worth the visit. In addition to their spectacular permanent collection, NOMA is featuring an Ansel Adams Exhibition and another exhibit called Katrina Exposed. A few more pictures here if you're interested. We enjoyed all of it and then went to a nice Chinese Buffet at a place that David brought me to a few months ago. R & O's was the first choice but they were a tad crowded at 12:15 on a Sunday afternoon. Who'd have thunk? I'm going to try to go again next weekend and maybe throw some money in the donation box. City Park really needs it. The Adams Exhibition will only be here about three more weeks. Quote of the day from Mom, the flatterer, after seeing a few dozen Ansel Adams prints:

"Robbie, you could do this."

The blue ginger here is about to open. Terrible name for it. It's really not all that blue and it's not ginger, either.

I've been involved recently in helping Angela care for Samuel and it's been fun. He is a sweet little boy, a brilliant conversationalist though non-verbal, and just a treat to be with. Angela is a patient lady-in-waiting, as you know, and she's feeling fine. Moving a little slow but then, that's the order of the day with Samuel (slow), Angela (slower), and me (slowest). Only Brooke, the big black lab, is swift as she races through the gardens after lizards, who are even swifter. Anyway, today I'm waiting for a refrigerator repairman since I will be home all day, and I got to thinking about the years gone by. How did I spend my days back when?

08-22-1948 Saw movie, "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dreamhouse"
08-22-1949 Came home from trip.
08-22-1950 Jerry and Bill came over.
08-22-1952 Went riding with Max Ramsey.
08-22-1985 Went fishing. Angela caught two redfish.
08-23-1987 Family picnic. Hot day. No rain.
08-20-1988 Bought Maytag Washer. $464.35
08-20-1989 Day in French Quarter for young folks; we babysat.
08-22-1990 Went to Fitzgerald's with birthday group.

A few notes on these entries. I don't know what trip. I don't remember Jerry and Bill. Max Ramsey was a grammar school classmate. I can't imagine why I went riding with him. This was right before I started UofM and I can't remember seeing him all through high school. The Maytag washer is still going strong and -- get this -- has never had a service call! I'm sure you can figure out why I haven't torn the house apart looking for the missing years.

Happy Birthday to Stephen and Omar

He is 24 today. Happy birthday, Stephen. I wish you much happiness and many more birthday celebrations. Make a wish.

Oh yeah, last night's teen awards gave out one to some up and coming songster with the best grill. Wierd-looking on an otherwise pretty girl.

We had to go to a new restaurant this year since Sonia's Lawrenceville location closed. We had been going to Sonia's for over ten years. We could have gone to Sonia's Buford location but everyone was starving and didn't want to drive that far. We settled on Dos Copas and it was a good choice. We filled up on chips, salsa, cheese dip and delicious food.

We had a fun time listening to Stephen talk about his first day of school. He has some rough students. The assistant principal made an announcement this morning to remind students of things not allowed at school to include inappropriate attire, cell phones, pagers, grills, automatic weapons. The students in his class all smiled at him to show their lack of grills except one student. Stephen told him he had to remove it. He sheepishly said for them not to watch then he sucked out the saliva before putting it in his pocket. Stephen blessed the food before we ate and concluded with, "Please don't let me get killed at school." Scott told him that was blasphemous. He said, "It was sincere." Then David said, "If you get killed, can I have your motorbike - strictly for selling purposes."

Kellie loves her new school, Brookwood Elementary! This is her 3rd year of teaching first grade but first in Gwinnett County. She said that it is a big change from her school in Gray, GA. Her Brookwood students first day achievement was like her middle of the year students in Gray. She was surprised at how advanced the students are. She is very happy to be teaching in Gwinnett! Brianne begins the teacher cohort at her school tomorrow. Greg begins classes next week. Bunk takes his senior pictures in two weeks. Patrick got braces last week. He is the fourth and last child to go through orthodontia. And the price has more than doubled since Stephen's treatment years ago.

Best wishes to everyone for a great school year!

In case you're wondering, this is what bedrest looks like. Joey's good friend got married last night at the St. Louis Catherdral in the French Quarter. I asked my doctor if I could go and he said yes, a little reluctantly, and told me to leave early. It was a beautiful wedding and afterward, the entire party second lined behind a brass band to the reception hall (The Riverview Room). The entire party second lined except the elderly grandparents and me, that is. There was a limo waiting to escort us to the recepton as the elderly and I were unable to walk the few blocks to the reception. I was able to see the second line as they got started, and it looked like so much fun. Joey said all the people around Jackson Square were stopping and taking photos and clapping, and some even joined in the procession. The picture of us was taken on the balcony of the Riverview Room. That's the Crescent City Connection bridge in the background. Daddy used to grumble when he watched any movie about New Orleans because they always showed the characters driving over that bridge to get to the city. Everybody here knows that, unless you live on the west bank, you don't take that bridge to get to the city.

This is a picture of Samuel sleeping in his new "big boy" bed today. His new room isn't totally set up, but we're hoping to make some headway today. We have his rug now, but we're still waiting for the headboard they damaged, and we have to find some pictures to hang on his walls. Joey keeps trying to convince me to let the bass and deer antlers stay, but they don't really go with the pirate theme we've got going in there. Samuel slept in his bed yesterday for the first time, just for his nap. He did well. He's taking his nap right now in his new bed and tonight will be his first night in it. I'm hoping to avoid any trauma with the new baby taking his crib, like 18 month old Janine had when Katie came home from the hospital. He'll have a good amount of time now to forget about the crib because the new baby will be in my room for 8 weeks before he/she gets in that crib. He's such a good boy! Oh, and Janine those pillows are working out great- thanks for picking them up for me.

Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis. Courtesy of my friend, Dave. Just lovely.

Happy Birthday, Katie

Have a day...

Thought I'd mention that this blog was three years old on Saturday, August 5. Remember this? I meant to mention it that day and maybe say something to mark the occasion. What can be said? It has been a remarkable endeavor made possible only by the fabulous contributions of our family. Take a bow, everyone.

Also, does everyone have my new email address? If not, leave me a comment on this entry and I'll send it to you. The old one was deleted this morning.

You know what trouble I's talkin' 'bout. I’s talkin’ ‘bout Mr. Ashley Wilkes. He’ll be comin' to Atlanta when he gets his leave, and you sittin' there waitin' for him, just like a spider!

Mammy (Hattie McDaniel) - Gone With The Wind

This was taken at City Park's Scupture Garden today, too.

Somewhere, there's a dirty diaper that goes with this...

The lake. Those are not loons. Dad told me the name but my memory is not recalling the name. Something hooded - Nancy can you help me?

This past weekend we had our annual picnic at my mom and dad's house. We had great weather, sunny, mild temps and no bugs! Some of us camped in tents & campers and others either stayed in their house or were only there for the day. The kids had fun tubing (Steve brought his boat) and swimming. I think Haytham gets the award for most hours in the water; well behind Allie that is. The two of them were inseparable! It was so funny to see them jumping in the water then running up on the dock to do it all over again. The kids also played a game called Apples to Apples. I'd never seen it before but I guess it's the game to play. The kids also played football, horse shoes and a new game Gary brought up. It's a homemade game made from PVC pipes, golf balls and string. It looke easy, but was kind of tricky. And, of course, there was plenty of food for all. I think it'll take my mom and dad a week to recover from all the commotion! Here are a few pictures from the weekend. Carol

Mike's daughter Ashley had twin girls last night. Welcome Hailee Jo and Kylee Blue!

Mike didn't have a lot of details last night. We knew she was having twins and we knew it would be a c-section as one of the babies was breech. Her due date was 8/25. Her labor was stopped a week ago but the doctor said he would not stop it again.

Hailee is 5 lbs 12 oz and Kylee was 6 lbs even.

Eyes are on Tropical Storm Chris now but it doesn’t look like it’s going to amount to much. Thought I'd ask this here, too: A hurricane is bearing down on you and the call goes out to evacuate. You've decided to heed the call. What do you take with you? Bear this in mind: What you take with you may be all you have left after the hurricane passes. Hurricane Katrina made that painfully obvious. Many people thought they were packing for a short vacation like they had done so many times before. Do you own anything that can’t be replaced even with insurance money?

Update: This question doesn’t just apply to Gulf Coast residents. If any event causes you to evacuate or seek shelter, that applies. Even if you just go down to your basement or storm cellar (Does anyone actually have one of these?) when the tornado sirens sound, you are doing so because your residence may be damaged or destroyed. That may include the contents that you didn’t bring with you.

Pete Fountain, famous New Orleans jazz clarinetist and classmate of dad’s (I went to high school with his sons), lost a photograph of himself playing his clarinet with Louis Armstrong. It was destroyed along with his Gulf Coast home. No amount of money can replace that. Many, many people lost wedding and photo albums in the flood waters. Hopefully, they were done by a professional that’s still around and still has the negatives.

In the Greater New Orleans Area, another common loss was cookbooks. Food is such an important part of New Orleans culture and many people scribble notes in the margins. The one pictured to the left is the first River Roads Recipes book. There are now four and Patsy has all of them. The first one was published in 1959 and is very quaint by today’s standards. It features recipes like “Coon à la Delta by Mrs Orville E Comer” in their Game Chapter and it also features a whole chapter on “How Men Cook”. Don’t let those put you off (As if). It is probably the premier Louisiana cookbook and has great recipes for other traditional New Orleans fare like jambalaya, crawfish pie, and filè gumbo. Our fabulous crawfish pie recipe is based on one in River Roads. I digress. When I inquired at the local bookstore about River Roads Four for Patsy’s Christmas present back in December, the lady at the bookstore thought for a second and then said yes that she had the newest one but the first, second, and third in the series were sold out because everyone was replacing them after Katrina. This quote from that Washington Post article kills me:

She feels worse about losing her mother's recipes. "She's got Alzheimer's now. I know a lot of her recipes, but I'd give anything to have her handwriting."

Took this Tuesday night. They were on the railing directly opposite our back door but mosied down a few feet when I came out with the camera. The third one from the left is the mother. The babies stick to her like glue. They are waiting for Patsy to come and throw them some morsels. On those nights when Patsy doesn't get out there soon enough, they come wait for her. They've also been known to peak in the pack door with those little faces.

This snake was ambling around my deck on Sunday and I couldn't kill it. I still have guilt feelings over asking someone to come to Synchronicity to get a harmless snake out last year, and he killed it. I didn't expect him to do that. I was hoping he would just put it outside. That chopped up snake smell was horrible and took all night to get out of my usually sweet-smelling store. This one has the potential to hurt us, but I still didn't feel right about killing it. Katie suggested I get the hose and blast it down the road, but I didn't want to do that either. It may be under my house, waiting to ambush me. Gee, I hope not. Oh well...