Five Minute Friday

START.

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Randomness.....

• Last night at 9:00, I opened the refrigerator for a little diet coke, and decided that I couldn't stand how icky it was one more second. At 11:00, it was all sparkly and shiny and leading me to ask, "how does all that ick get inside my refrigerator?" or maybe the question should be "realistically, how often should I be wiping out the inside?" Mom, you don't' have to answer that.

• When you avoid Walmart shopping for long enough, you start to run out of everything. And when you give in and go to what I like to call The Heart of Darkness, you can spend $150 dollars without buying anything fun at all. Well there was a couple bags of Halloween candy. That's fun.

• I'm feeling a little down about Halloween. I really like Halloween. The start of Fall. The start of the holiday season. Fun family time. Pumpkins. Cute witches and ghosts. Combining orange, lime green and purple. First of all, it has really snuck (is that a word?) up on me. Then there is the fact that I forced myself only to get a few fall type decorations out so that the house didn't look cluttered (if someone actually comes to look at the house).Then I decided not to try and have guests Halloween night - without Kenny here, because it is a Monday night, blah, blah. But the tipping point is not really knowing what to do with Carly? Too old for costume and trick-or-treating? Really not wanting to give in and stay home and hand out candy?

• Yeah!! Kenny is coming home for the weekend. Should I still say he is coming "home"? It is home until someone else decides they want it to be their home. Then I will pack all our junk and actually hire a mover. Until then, he is coming "home".

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STOP.

burying st. joseph

He's not just any st. joseph statue.

Celeste says he has a good history.

Not just any old statue. This one has been there, done that.

He is going to bring us a buyer for our house.

So Carly dug a hole.

We buried him upside down and facing the house.

That's what the internet directions said.

So, St. Joseph, patrol saint of home and family,

we are ready. Send us a buyer!

happy fall, ya'll

We have had a few weeks of fabulous fall weather!

There have been a couple of winter-like and then summer-like,

but overall perfectly fall-like.

And all I can say is, "bring on some more!"

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Carly passed out a few fall happies -

New Orleans pralines

all cute with

Doodlebugs Stationery!

kinda like a pinata

The party favors that I found today

left by the roofers.

I see a flat tire

or tetanus

in the future.

{can dogs get tetanus?}

wordless wednesday :: peace

deep breaths

All I can say is that it is done.

I think that the leak might even be repaired.

I guess we will see tomorrow when it rains all day.

his new digs

It's been 3 weeks since Kenny moved into his new place.

He is settling into apartment living

and trying to make the furnished digs feel like home-

minus Carly and me.

This past weekend, we made the trip to see him

and his new place.

It really hit home that he has moved,

and we are living 300 miles apart.

The girls made themselves at home.

Hey, Daddy has TLC, and we brought snacks-

what else can you ask for?

Glad Miss MM made the trip with us,

it kept it more like a vacation.

I asked Carly what she thought.

She said she was surprised because

she thought it would have a bunch of old lady furniture.

hmmm?

I found it interesting to check out Kenny's pantry and refrigerator.

Unless Kenny is grilling or preparing a big meal,

I do all the everyday grocery shopping.

Mini Shredded Wheat? who knew?

new orleans ... day III

We started the day back at Cafe du Monde.

The girls thought that was the best choice.

I decided on a repeat too.

A Bloody Mary from across the street at the Corner Bar.

Might be the best one I have ever had.

Next was a visit to the Insectarium.

I'm not much of a bug fan, but it was really well done.

There were all kinds of interesting insects.

They even had a garden spider just like the one we had in our yard.

There was someone standing by the spider that told us all kinds of things about her. We saw ants and beetles and mosquitoes, katydids,

flies, walking sticks, spiders, butterflies, ladybugs and more.

The Japanese garden was cool. There were butterflies everywhere.

They really liked Carly's shirt and Kenny's white cap.

We ate lunch at Mother's.

I'm still torn by what I should have ordered.

There were so many choices and it all sounded good.

I decided on a crawfish ettouffee omelet with grits and a biscuit.

I'm still sad that we were too full for the pecan pie.

When we left, we walked toward the Warehouse District.

Although not on our original plan, we ended up at the children's museum.

It was a great way to wrap up our weekend. The bubble room was one of their favorites.

Big bubbles, little bubbles. It took practice!

There were a lot of interactive exhibits

and surprisingly there were a lot of great ones for tweens.

We haven't been to the Children's Museum in Memphis for a couple of years

because Carly has really outgrown the exhibits there.

Carly decided that she needs a light table in her room.

Her and Miss MM spent a lot of time there

drafting out a house plan.

What a fabulous weekend!

Looking forward to going back.

Five Minute Friday

START. . What's up? Well here it is in a bullet list.

• The spring was full of concern for Kenny's job.
• August brought job loss.
• Interviews.
• Discussions. Decisions.
• Job offer.
• More discussions and decisions.
• Job acceptance.
• Kenny moved 300 miles to start new job.
• "For Sale" sign goes up in the yard.
• Carly and I are continuing on.

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Today's little points ...

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new roof finished just in time for the rain storm so we could discover that the new roof leaks, flower beds a wreck following 3 days of careless roofers, the dumpster that was placed in the front yard for the roofers was removed last night at 9:00 while the yard was still muddy (yep, big ruts), still no T.V because the roofers removed the satellite and as the helpful (NOT) lady from direct T.V says "you can't just put it back up".

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Today's big points ... .

All that to be said... thank you for a little tennis on a gorgeous day with friends; thank you for lunch outside with more really good friends who showed concern, offered help, and then distracted me and made me laugh; thank you for a beautiful October night and the desire of Carly to go hang out with friends at the high school football game. And thank you for a sweet, loving, caring husband who is worrying 300 miles away that I might be losing it. I love you Sweetie. Really, I'm fine!

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STOP.

new orleans ... day II

Where else would you start your morning?

We had to wait in line for a table and

Carly asked "is it really worth it?".

By the time we were finished,

she was asking if we could order another plate full.

Lesson learned ...

on a windy day, do not sit down wind of the the beignet table,

you will get covered in everyone's powdered sugar!

Jackson Square on a a beautiful October morning.

We spent the morning in the aquarium

(on a post beinget sugar rush).

We had a good time

although I want to go back and catch the otters when they are frisky and playful.

It makes me think of us going to the Memphis zoo, and taking a section at a time.

I could see Carly camped out at the otters for hours.

While I made a bathroom stop,

they found this tank that you could climb in and look out.

When I downloaded my pictures, I found about 20 shots a lot like this one.

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The girls liked the interactive section and

had to be run off from petting the sting rays.

Looking for the sea turtle? or maybe the sharks? or the biggest sting ray?

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The closest thing to an amusement park ride that we found.

The girls rode this glass elevator.

The first 3 stories are inside the mall

but then it goes up several stories on the outside of a hotel.

It is probably a good thing that Kenny clarified

"only once" before they went up.

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Back outside and enjoying a beautiful day.

We hung out on some steps and

listened to these guys.

They were really good.

Kenny and I loved the washboard player.

The girls loved the dog.

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Another lesson learned ... we snacked early afternoon and

then went to the Acme Oyster House at about 4:30.

We were able to walk right in, sit at a good table, and not feel rushed.

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We got a dozen raw oysters and

the girls tried their first oysters

(we even got the T-shirts to remember it).

This is the good picture of Carly's experience!

Miss MM, on the other hand, ate a 1/2 dozen.

We had more po-boys, and I had a sampler plate with

jambalya, red beans and rice, & gumbo...Super Yum!

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Back to our favorite corner to listen to more music.

The girls really liked these two girls.

They even bought one of their CD's.

I heard Carly singing to hers in the shower yesterday.

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Have you ever seen that Pixar short film with the 2 street performers that are trying to get the little girl to give them her coin instead of her throwing it into the fountain?

This guy came through and joined in one song. He reminds me of those guys in the film.

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We hung out and listened for a while --

making requests - Wanted Dead or Alive by Kenny

Coldplay by Miss MM.

I don't know if Carly ever made a request?

They didn't know Little Pink Houses but they played Jack and Diane. We were there long enough for it to get dark.

We saw a small "Get Your Pink On" parade

and then this wedding party

new orleans ... day I

We arrived late afternoon on Friday in time for a walk down Canal Street,

onto Royal Street and into Jackson Square.

It had been years since Kenny and I had been to New Orleans.

It was Carly and Miss MM's first trip.

I told them that I was 12, when I went to New Orleans the first time.

We went to the World's Fair in 1984.

We hadn't been in the Quarter anytime and

the girls had gotten their first beads

and seen living statues.

They were hanging out in Jackson Square

while I was wandering around with my camera.

There is no shortage of photo material in N.O.

Andrew Jackson and St. Peter's with the sun setting.

Kenny making friends.

Hanging out, watching Ole Man River. Getting our first taste of street performers.

These guys were really good.

Then discovering our favorite street performers this trip.

Carly and Miss MM were just standing on the sidewalk listening.

I went into this little shop, looked out, and

discovered that they had just made themselves at home.

I think Carly and Miss MM were won over when they played

Taylor Swift and Bruno Mars.

Enjoying the French Quarter at sunset.

We thought we were going to eat at Acme Oyster House,

until we saw the line.

So we went across the street and ate at Felix's.

We all had po-boys and gumbo...YUM!

Back down Canale, headed to the hotel,

one last stop,

frozen yogurt at Pinkberry.

wordless wednesday :: the big easy

wordless wednesday :: toadstool

silly cousins

From a recent visit with Beege and Libba.

I'm not sure what Carly and JC were doing.

Kind of looks like the end of a jazz number?

B.E.A.U.tiful

We had fabulous weekend weather.

We took advantage of it by spending a lot of time outside.

Saturday morning, we hung outside in the front yard (so I could sit in the sun).

Carly and Sofie played. I read.

I didn't even mind picking up sticks and cleaning some in the garage.

We had two perfect afternoons for tennis &

time to play on the playground.

Sofie has run and run and run.

Thank you God for beautiful weather and good days.

just make yourself comfortable

Sofie continues to leave her bed and make herself comfortable in the chair.

She doesn't seem to understand that she can join a human in the chair,

but she is not allowed to just use it as her bed.

Although, she looks like "if I keep my head down, she can't see me"