RECOGNITION

We all like to be recognized by those around us. Recognition can be good but can also be a bad thing. Is there anything worse than walking into a room full of people and NO ONE speaks to you or seems to know who you are? You feel as if everyone in the room has a friend---but you! The more we get out and around---the more we will be recognized by others.

Today was the annual SOCA 5K that the LA Tech Architecture Department sponsors. Basically we run through one of the areas of Ruston that is at the lower end of the economic scale. This area is a feeder for the school where I volunteer. Students are drawn from other areas of Ruston, but all of these students are bussed to Cypress Springs.

As we ran around the area, many were out in their yards or on their porches greeting us and encouraging our running. It was the best part of the entire run---greeting and being greeted by the area residents.

As Sheila & I ran by one of the houses, there was a school age girl and her mother out in the front yard waving to all of us. All of a sudden the little girl says,

"That OLD lady comes to our school!"

Sheila and I both cracked up. She immediately said, "Blogging Material". NOW the reason we do not want to run with another, is if you don't tell the story on yourself---they WILL!

I ALWAYS CRY

I recorded the Royal Wedding and watched it at my leisure tonight. The best thing about recording it was fast forwarding through the HO HUM! It was beautiful---and I must admit I am always a little teary at most weddings.

When Diana married what's his name, I set my alarm and watched the live coverage. It was such a "Camelot" moment. A beautiful start and wedding extraordinaire! Camelot faded and life surfaced----I watched a royal funeral after an ugly ending to that marriage.

The wedding, though beautiful, is only the start of something than can only grow more beautiful with the years and living. It is always such a blessing to see those couples that end well as they fade into the sunset together. It just doesn't happen enough like that--how sad.

MELT MY HEART!

While in Erie, there is limited room in the vehicle with 2 baby seats in the back. I would climb over the base of Elliot's seat and squeeze in the middle of the back with the two sweeties. We would talk and roll down the window and laugh and sing when riding around Erie. I really didn't give it much thought--just that I was close to two of the grands.

Camille told me that after I left, after putting Henry in his car seat to make a trip, he looked over and pointed and said, "Lulu's seat". YES INDEED!!! Lulu's seat!

WHAT TO WEAR---WHAT TO WEAR???/

The standing rule when I was growing up was DO NOT leave the house with holey (NOT HOLY) underwear----YOU MIGHT BE IN A CAR WRECK! It was MOST important to keep up appearances and HEAVENS you didn't want to be in the emergency room with everyone standing around staring at your tattered underwear while you bled to death! "SHOCKING---LOOK SHE HAS ON HOLEY UNDERWEAR!" as your life blood poured onto the floor.

In keeping with my good upbringing, I am sitting here watching the weather bulletins about all the tornado possibilities and trying to decide WHAT TO WEAR! I mean --after all---if the trees that surround my house all fall on it---I may have to be rescued and possibly even injured and need to be taken to the hospital. I have checked and my underwear is in tact, but I need to go to bed so I can get up and run (if I'm still here and not in Oz). I've come up with the perfect plan---I will sleep in my running clothes-shoes & all.

I can hear the emergency personnel now---

You wouldn't believe it---she was in the bed all dressed for a run. HOW STRANGE!

BUT HEY her underwear was not holey!

GOD'S GIFTS

SO I'm home and alone and feeling really sad. I am lonesome and the 10 days of constant company and sweet little boys is all over. I am back in Louisiana and feeling pretty sorry for myself.

AND THEN GOD STEPS IN---

I was blowing off the drive and picking up sticks when I see the new (well new to me since I have not introduced myself) neighbor is also out working in his yard. I go over and introduce myself & what do you know they have 2 little boys- 4 & almost 2.

The 4 year old is quite precocious. He is already riding his bicycle and quite good at it. I tell his parents he can ride down our long drive anytime he wants and will be out of the traffic and safe. I head back to the house. The next thing I know here comes Christopher, alone, down the drive. He rides his bike around the drive a couple of times and then gets off and parks it. We then start exploring what is around our house. He climbs the tree house, we chase a lizard, and then he sees the wagon hanging-put up---no one to ride in it. He twirls the wheels, I take it down, he asks for a ride. The next thing I know we are riding together down the hill --over and over---just like I do with all my Grands.

Thank you, God---for filling my emptiness.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HEHE!

Happy Birthday, Henry!

Henry is 2 today. MY HOW TIME FLIES! I told his Dad that my memories of my children at 2 are all a blur. It LITERALLY flies by! Henry has had a wonderful day -courtesy of his Mom & Dad. He has played and toured all of his favorite Erie fast food eateries. This chapter of his life will soon close and he will become and "Official Texan". I can't believe he will not remember these years in Erie---but except for pictures and what we tell him-there will come the day that he doesn't remember.

Have no fear-Erie---I will remember and I will tell him the stories of his first two years.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY #3 Grand. And as Henry says----P A R T E E all weekend long!

PEESE---MORE COW!

I have a full book of Henry quotes, but will only give you a couple tonight. I KNOW all of you don't realize how cute and precious my 2 youngest grands are!

"Henry, how old are you?"

"He He two"

"Henry, are we going to have a birthday party?"

"P A R T E E!"

"Henry where's Daddy?"

" Dadda gone work"

"Dadda in truck"

"Dadda doc-tor"

"HeHe doc-tor"

"Henry where's Lulu"

"Lulu downstairs"

"HeHe tickle Bubba"

"HeHe share"

They are both are SO CUTE!

THIS IS NOT NORMAL-ERIE!

I am not sure HOW to tell all my friends in Erie--that your weather is HORRIBLE! I know you probably love it here and don't think a thing in the world about it, BUT as a Southern girl through and through----I just don't know how you take it! At home it is warm and we are planting our gardens. It is cold and wet and not very pleasant here. It reminds me of Seattle--but colder. I guess that has something to do with being near the water and probably near the same latitude. ANYWAY---you should consider having a second home and living down South with us until about May and then come back up here until about November. You would LOVE our warmth!

We are busy people here---but the happening of the day was Henry falling while playing at the Y and busting his lip. Fortunately I had Elliot home with me-so his Momma had to only deal with getting him home. He has quite the puffy and cut lip---but he's all boy and will survive. He was going strong tonight when The Ackley's came over for dinner with us.

While they were here and I was listening to the sounds of the children playing and families visiting, I was reminded of my growing up years. We would have company and the kids would get wound up and play until we almost dropped. The adults pretty much ignored us as long as we played and stayed out of their way. It was a warm memory of good times growing up.

SNOW DAY IN ERIE!

What do all the parents in Erie do during Spring Break and it is snowing? YES- Louisiana friends-it actually snowed and sleeted up here today. UNBELIEVABLE! They go to Chick-fil-a and see the cow. Henry LOVEd the cow! He ended up on the floor dancing with him and was NOT happy when we had to leave for Bubba to take a nap. This was during the second showing of the house today which we had an entire 1 1/2 hour warning about. I did get to see Bethany & Sweet Jonah today. He is really a handsome baby. Camille and all her friends are doing an AWESOME job as Mommies! It is quite the challenge to keep the house straight for potential lookers with Henry liking to pull out and Elliot doing his share by spitting up on everything within site. We seem to be in a constant rotation of eating/changing diapers/changing clothes/wiping up/wiping down/cleaning up and then we start ALL OVER Again. After a full day, we did talk about what needs to be packed/sold/etc. for the upcoming move. AND THEN WE ALL FELL INTO BED!

DAY THREE IN ERIE!

Drat Drat---DOUBLE DRAT!!! My camera battery has died!!!! I didn't bring my charger----WHAT A NUMB SKULL!!! The Jennings had 2 seperate showings of their house today---so the day revolved around that! Now here is a question for all -----how do you keep a house clean with an almost 2 year old pulling out as fast as you can put up and a 6 month old spitting up & dirting diapers as fast as you can clean him up? It is QUITE THE CHALLENGE! Henry is excited about his party. He says "He He is 2---PARTY!" He then said, "DaDa is 2, Momma is 2" I couldn't ever get him to say Lulu was 2, but he did finally repeat that Lulu was old. He is QUITE the jabber-mouth. Talks ALL the time! TOO CUTE FOR WORDS! Elliot is a little snuggle bunny. The sweetest laugh and smile, but quite different from his brother. It makes me realize how different we all are--and aren't we thankful. We did go visit Aunt B & Aunt Free & River today. Such a sweet little family and great friends for the Jennings. Plan to cook for them one night while here and of course we will be together for the P A R T Y!

DAY TWO IN ERIE

DADA IS HOME----LOTS OF PLAYING!

SWEET CAMILLE & SWEET ELLIOT

Things didn't go exactly as to plan today---but this is a precious little family. LOTS of loads of laundry---meal plans---grocery shopping---cooking---playing----babysitting while parents go for lunch--cleaning house for showing-----etc etc etc. Hope to start with the sorting and packing tomorrow---after the house showing. It melts your heart to hear this sweet little voice say "Lulu!". The pile of mush that is left just slides away when I look at the little one that looks JUST like his mother did and can give you the sweetest cuddle!

DAY 1/2 IN ERIE

I've been up since 4---too tired for words. Henry is talking a blue streak! JUST LIKE HIS MOMMA DID!

SHOCKED

I have to be very careful what I put on my blog. You do know that once you put it out on the WWW it's there till the cows come home, don't you? If I wrote what I am currently thinking and processing, you would -well most of you- BE SHOCKED! Time to back up ---count to 3----and take a DEEP Breath! On a HAPPY NOTE---I am flying the blue skies to Erie tomorrow to visit with #1 Daughter & #3 & #4 Grands. I CAN'T WAIT! I did have to get out my winter clothes that I had already stored! It's cold up there!

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

I usually do not begin my "Armadillo Wars" until August when it is dry and the ground becomes hard in the woods. THAT BRAZEN HUSSY has already shown up this year and I have just begun to plant. I'M READY! He's already made me mad --so he just needs to paint a bulls eye on his butt----HE'S DEAD MEAT!

NANNIE'S SHARP WIT!

My sweet MIL--or Nannie as we affectionately call her---can be quite the card! She has been suffering from a form of dementia for more than 10 years----but fortunately her memory is not affected nor her wit-at times.

Pappaw just celebrated his 90th birthday and we had a BIG party for him. The day before the party was actually his birthday and one of my sweet SIL's went by to see them. Pappaw has the propensity to retell "His Stories" MANY times. His memory has been affected by diminished blood flow caused by heart disease---and of course the fact that he is 90-SO we hear the same stories over and over and over.

While Kathy was there visiting with her daughter, Pappaw launches off into one of his stories and Brooke is listening. Nannie looks at Kathy and says, "If he starts that tomorrow, I think I'll just evaporate." LOL--BIG TIME!!!! I often say "Beam me up" but I've never thought about evaporating. LOVE HER WIT!

TODAY'S THE DAY!

Today begins the week long last part of the LEAP testing for all of my 4th grade students. SO IMPORTANT! I am as nervous about it as they are! If you think about it---say a little prayer. One little guy that I tutored is 13 and in the 4th grade----just cannot get past the LEAP! If I could just have a moment of your time to tell you the obstacles some of these kids must overcome. It REALLY is amazing that they do as well as they do! I tutor my long time student this afternoon after school for the math part of the test and then that's it for the week. It's all up to them at this point.

GOOD CAUSES!! LEGACY PARK

One of our local young mothers has a baby who is disabled--born with Downs Syndrome. She has 3 beautiful children including this sweet little boy. She noticed the lack of playground equipment for her son and began to dream. She dreamed of equipment which would enable a child in a wheel chair and a non-disabled child to play together. She came up with the plan and now she is on a mission to raise money to put this equipment in our local Lincoln Parish Park.

It is NOT cheap--but she is not deterred--but on a mission. I have GREAT admiration for her and her efforts.

Today there was a 5K and Kids Day in the park to raise money. There was a good turnout and LOTS of people there and I am sure still to come.

I got up and ran 6 miles with my running group at 5:30. I then came home and changed out of my soaking clothes (it was 78 degrees at 5:30) and left to go to the park. The 5 K course was GRUELING--hill after hill. I intended to walk--but when that horn goes off---for some strange reason I take off too. It was not pretty but I finished. ALL FOR A GOOD CAUSE!

UNSUNG HEROES

This is my niece-by-marriage (she married my nephew), Jessica. Jessica is the teacher in the 4th grade English class that I tutor for. I was thinking today after I left, she is definitely one of the "Heroes" in my world. When I worked, I was a CPA. I was rewarded very adequately for what I did and sold the practice I had grown when I got ready to retire. Jessica, and the legions like her go to work EVERY DAY and have a profound effect, not only on the children they teach, but in the future of our city, our state, our nation and the world. They are sorely underpaid---but unselfishly give of their time and talents to better our world. Her job is not an easy job. This is an "At Risk" school----this means the students often have difficult home lives, there are discipline problems, there is little outside support---the problems are legion. Yet she and her team of 4th grade teachers--show up everyday and do their jobs---AND DO THEM WELL. I have been a first hand witness to what their job entails and the superb job they are doing of over coming obstacles and doing the very best job possible with the circumstances they find themselves. My Heroes---TEACHERS----I never really truly appreciated what they do until I stepped across that thresh hold and participated in their world. THANK YOU---to ALL you teachers!

GOD FRIENDS

Camille posted about our "girlfriends" yesterday. While I certainly consider my girlfriends one of the treasures in my life------I also place my "Small Group" or God friends up on the same level. We have lived life together for the past 7 years. We have nursed members, lost members, cried together and done a LOT of laughing together & rejoicing together. The desire to grow in our relationship with our God is our common thread. He has taught us to fellowship together and share all things and we have done just that. We have listened to each other and prayed for each other---this is a VERY special Blessing in my life.

LOVE THOSE GRANDS!

The big guy in the background is #2. He is chasing #3---or maybe #3 is chasing #2---Who's on first? He is quite the character.

I was in Austin a month ago visiting. He walked into the den one morning while I was doing my Bible study---there was no one else around. He said, "UHHHH-Momma Lulu---in case you were wondering, I like to eat my lunch at 11:00." AFTER I cracked up---I asked what he would like to eat.

This trip to Austin, I am sleeping in the "office-computer room" on the futon, so I am in there doing something. He has come home from school while I was back there. He opens the door and just looks at me for a moment. He then says----"Momma Lulu---I usually watch my TV show in here after school--ALONE." I once again---"Got it!".

YOU HAVE TO LOVE THEM!

MY FORTUNE

While visiting in Austin, Gabe took me to lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant that also gave Chinese fortunes. Don't know how to explain that-except the owners must think we expect a fortune cookie from all Asian Type restaurants. My Fortune It is better to be the beak of a bird than the tail of an ox. Yes---I believe I do agree with that and NO this does not have anything to do with my birdlegs!

IN HIS PERFECT TIME!

When driving solo, I don't make a lot of stops and I am "On A Mission" to get to my destination. The trip to Austin is 6 1/2 hours from here---without stops--IT'S A LONG DRIVE! Today things were going pretty much as normal---WHEN OUT OF THE BLUE--near calamity! When I get on the interstate---I tend to think --just put it on automatic pilot and get home. I usually drive with the speed control on most of the time and tend to be pretty conservative with my speed. I had it set at about 72 and was cruising along and not really very aware of much---just thinking. I crested a hill and there directly in front of me---the line of cars were slamming on their brakes. There had been a wreck which was causing major chaos and there was NO WARNING! I SLAMMED on the breaks so hard-I'm surprised my foot did not go through the floorboard. THANK GOODNESS for these new--brakes that keep you going straight and from skidding. SOMEHOW I got the car stopped just before adding grey paint to my nice white car. NO not somehow----God's provision of protection was with me. My days are numbered and He knows the number---Today was not the day!

LAKE COMMUNITY IN AUSTIN

It is REALLY cool here in Austin. The kids live down by the lake. This is a small-I would say almost typical lake community. During the week, there is very little traffic on the streets, and SO they do most of their "local" traveling via golf cart. The house they are building is about 2 blocks away, so I just hopped in the golf cart and ran over there. There were days that I never got into my car. NICE!

It is a hodge podge of property down here---lake houses that have probably been here since the l950's, trailer parks, upscale middle income houses, and even houses in the LARGE dollar range, It's pretty amazing sight, when you enter the "Lake World" as you come down the steep hills from the upper "Steiner Ranch"--a planned community of more houses than we can calculate including the University of Texas golf course and community and the UT-planned retirement community. It is ALL very amazing!

Today was "No Work Day"---we made a visit to Target, had lunch at a little hole in the wall, and then spent 2 hours watching my "Super Star" grands play Spring football. We are going to grill sausages and have that with cheese and french bread. LOW KEY Supper!

TOMORROW----GROAN---back to the Real World!

NO APRIL FOOL'S JOKE-IN AUSTIN

At 4:30 this afternoon, it was 93 degrees here in AUSTIN! HOT! I began my day with cooking a chocolate pie for #1 & #2 Grand. I then put the brisket and potatoes on to cook. By this time, it is past time to go to the Minnie Drive house and paint. I painted, I cleaned flower beds, I watered plants, I blew off drives, & I came home and finished supper. That's all the day I could stand! Tomorrow is football games for the two grands and ANOTHER HOT day! No work--but we have talked about grilling. Sounds like a delightful Saturday!