I'VE BEEN REPLACED!

That day I have long dreaded has finally come-I HAVE BEEN REPLACED! Today on our trip to Austin, I learned that Bobby has a "New Sweetie". SHOCK and on the eve of our Anniversary! Our entire married life my job has been "Navigator". I have become quite proficient at reading maps and giving BC driving directions. I was really confident of my skills and pretty sure that I would have this job forever.

Bobby bought me (????) a GPS for my birthday. We have used "Sweetie" a couple of times, but the trial by fire came today. We drove "through the woods" from Natchitoches to Austin-truly rural Texas! When you fail to see even C stores and you drive through the "Davy Crockett National Forest", you are in the woods! "Sweetie" got us here without a glitch.

My directions usually included something along this line-

"THHHHHHAT WAS OUR TURN!" "YOU NEED TO BE IN THE RIGHT LANE (we are in the inside left lane of 3 lanes) NOW!" This is just an example of my yelled directions as we are hurling down the road at 70 miles per hour.

"Sweetie" on the other hand gives you plenty of warning. "You will turn right in .5 mile" "Take the next right and stay right" She always has a kind voice and never raises her volume. Personally I think they should program them to say,"IDIOT-you missed your turn!" If you miss your turn, "Sweetie" calmly says "Recalculating" "Recalculating". She never gets flustered and never screams.

The danger is you can get lulled into just listening to "Sweetie" and not use your road sense and heed the stop signs, red lights, etc. You tend to just listen to what she says and forget the dangers surrounding you. That could be a very bad thing.

The only time today that I did not feel usurped was when "Sweetie" became confused. We now drive into the area of Austin that Scott lives on a brand new "toll road". "Sweet" is not aware of this road. She was very confused and had us driving through the middle of nowhere and kept trying to straighten us out and get us on the route she knew about. "RECALCULATING RECALCULATING!" was her cry over and over. I got a good chuckle since I knew where we were going and being the good navigator that I am gave BC great directions to complete the trip.

All is well in Austin and since I forgot my camera hook up to the computer, pictures will come after we get home. The Grands are truly grand and we are enjoying being with them.

I am happy to report that we finished our 10 mile run this AM. My leg did fine. I had the calf covered with adhesive analgesic pads to trick the muscle into thinking it was warm. After I got going, it never hurt until I stopped running. We were really slow, but WE FINISHED! The only problem was the cloud of analgesic vapor that trailed behind me as we moved on down the road. All of the dogs and anyone outside must have thought the door to the gym locker room was open. The really good thing is NO RUNNING until Monday! As Camille so aptly would put it-GOOD TIMES!

DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO!

Camille is getting her chuckle for the week from an annoymous comment on my last blog. She is living vicariously through someone brave enough (behind the veil of annominity) to call my hand on giving advice to do one thing and actually doing another.

WELL, LUCY, LET ME ESPLANE (as Ricky would say)! Dr. Sonja and I have conferred and are 99% sure that I have a muscle problem. My hip has actually gotten better since the Massage Terrorist worked on it last week, which is a good indication that it is muscular. (That or the arthristis medicine kicked in) The calf that is in a major wad now may have started by me over pronating to compensate for the hip. Dr. Sonja looked at it today and said it was in the solar plexis (or some other big name) muscle. She felt along the bone in my lower leg and there is no pain, so no stress fracture. I have gone and gotten the big adhesive pads with analgesic in them to trick that muscle into thinking it is warm before I run tomorrow AM. I am not crazy enough to continue running if the pain gets worse. After all of these years of running, I listen to my body and can pretty much identify what is not doing any permanent damage and what pain I can actually run through. SO-long SLOW run tomorrow which is not as much pounding-unless the pain is unbearable! I actually stayed home today and did not lift or walk in an effort to give it a chance to heal and we will be gone this weekend-so almost 3 days of rest before the Monday run. THE DEFENSE RESTS, YOUR HONOR!

We are on our way to Austin tomorrow AM to see the Grands via Natchitoches. Now I know you are thinking that is the REALLY LONG WAY AROUND, but BC has business there, so business before pleasure. Saturday is our wedding anniversary and what better way to spend it than with our kids and grands! We are looking forward to seeing the new house and "eyeballing" all of them. It is one thing to talk with someone via phone wires or email-but there is not quite anything like putting an eyeball on them. You need that visual for assurance that what you are hearing is actually the facts. Pictures to come of all the fun in future blogs.

SOME SAY I AM "BOSSY"

There are those individuals that say that I am "Bossy" and I don't moo, so not the cow, Bossy. I must say that I probably missed my calling in life, I should have been a "Life Coach". There are people out there that pay good money to have someone tell them what they should be doing. I have done that for my kids and most anyone else that would listen for years FOR FREE! If you need someone to line you out and tell you just what you need to be doing-GIVE ME A CALL. I am your woman! I am sure this is a genetic thing since we called my mother, "Boss" 40 years ago. My brother, Robbie, watched a "Wild Kingdom" special about elephants and came up with that name. It seems to establish dominance and who is in charge in an elephant herd, they throw their head around and swing their trunks back and forth while blaring out a trumpet calll at top volume. Reminded him a lot of Momma. She could give orders with the best of them. What was truly amazing is that she did not lead by example, she lead by intimadation. Momma was a little woman-shorter than me by almost a head and most of her life skinny, but that did not stop her from throwing her weight around when it came to her kids. Come to think of it, I saw her do the same thing with non-family members as well. She had no problem letting you know what you needed to do and how she wanted it done. If not done right, you got to do it again. I never saw her do any physical labor-NONE-ZIP! Amazing! Now my method of leading, with my children, involved doing it myself and being huffy because they did not want to help. 1000 excuses! To this day, I can work rings around all three of them.

OK-I got off the subject. I have a new project and someone put me in charge-POWER! Now with non-family members, I can actually get people to co-orperate and do what I say. I LOVE IT! Get on the phone-make a call-"I need you to --fill in the blank- on the 12th. Does that work for you?" Hard to say NO! I really like e mail-send a short authoritative note-We need -------and I knew I could depend on you! Please put this on your calendar. Give me a list of volunteers and a list of jobs and I am loving it. ORGANIZING & ORDERING-what I do best!

It was cold this AM while running down the road. Babs ran off and left me, but I have an excuse (some of us always have an excuse). My right leg is in a major wad. The pain now extends from my hip all the way down to my calf and there is a big knot in my calf. I am sure all of this radiates from my hip, but have spent the day analyzing what is going on. Perhaps I am pronating in an effort to take the pressure off the hip and that is causing the calf problem. Our new toys are really neat. I didn't get chimed at until I had gone over 3 miles and my leg had started hurting. Then I sounded like the "Bell Choir of Notre Dame" running down the road. I have the heat pad out and I am on the meds including alleve and I am stretching. Don't know what else I can do. Just keep on running and complaining and moaning and groaning! What is truly amazing is that all of this started after the marathon. God got me through all of those long miles. Truly amazing the power of prayer!

MARDI GRAS 2008

Today ends the annual fesitval of excessiveness-Mardi Gras. While growing up, Mardi Gras was confined to the towns in south Louisiana. In the rural central and northern Louisiana, the pagan fesitval was completely ignored. As a sign of the blending of societal lines, Mardi Gras has slowly but surely moved north. Most of the larger towns in Louisiana now celebrate Mardi Gras to some extent. I personally have never been to a Mardi Gras celebration. I had just as soon stay at home and enjoy the warmth and comfort of my den, but I am glad that folks have the opportunity to attend local parades and balls. We tend to be much more sedate about our celebration in North Louisiana. As far as I know, there is noone flashing the float riders in order to get a few trinkets. Tonight at midnight the party ends and tomorrow begins the clean up. I wonder how the street cleaners in New Orleans feel about this annual celebration. Probably something along the line of -MORE WORK!

Tomorrow begins Lent with the celebration of Ash Wednesday. It is tradition to give something up or forego some pleasure during the period from Ash Wednesday to Easter. I have actually tried this in the past, but do not feel the need to do so today. This denial is to serve as a reminder of the passion and death of Christ. I think about that ultimate sacrifice every day and do not need anything to jog my memory. This sacred season of the church is a celebration of the final days of Christ in His earthly form and is an important reminder of the grace we have been gifted with. I personally think the celebration and party should be postponed and better celebrated Easter Sunday. What greater thing could we celebrate than the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. Many are out celebrating tonight thinking that this is the end of the party season. My personal belief is that everyday is a party and celebration knowing the gift of eternity was completed those many years ago. HAPPY MARDI GRAS !

IN CASE YOU MISSED THE NEWS!

"As I look around me, a bright sky I see, and a shadow beside me. Six more weeks of winter it will be!"

Punxsutawney, Pa. -- A record crowd of nearly 30-thousand people waited hours in the pre-dawn cold to find out from Punxsutawney Phil . . . "Six more weeks of winter."
Despite low clouds, fog and freezing Drizzle the nation's first prognosticating groundhog saw his shadow. Phil has seen his shadow nearly 80% of the time since he began forecasting the spring weather in 1887.
Gobbler's Knob, just outside of downtown Punxsutawney, was alive with a large bonfire, live music, fireworks and plenty of coffee and hot chocolate.
The windchill was 14 degrees as Phil emerged from his home to the cheers of thousands of followers.
Scott Harbaugh Meteorologist WPXI Severe Weather Team 11

I am sure Phil has a good life for 365 days 23 hours every year, but the one hour he is on stage must be torture. You should look at the web site and read all about this annual fesitval. What we humans will not do! The poor animal is thinking life is great and then WhAM-back on center stage in the middle of a crowd of tens of thousands of screaming NUTS! What must he think!

FOUR HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE!

Four of us runners have a new toy-Garmin- Forenunner 205. This baby is "Nifty!". Unfortunately when you get to be AARP age, the learning curve for these electronic gadgets can be steep. If only Grandson Caleb, lived a little closer! When you are 7, these kind of gadgets are not the least bit intimadating, in fact it seems to be instinctive as to making them work. This is a GPS computer for running. WOW. You can track your distance, track you speed, track the calories burned, program types of workouts, and alert yourself to a range of pace and on and on. IT IS SO COOL! The four of us got together today at lunch and after a quick bite (cannot forego eating), we proceeded to figure this baby out. After 2 hours of trial and error and collabration, we have it figured out. This could turn around and bite me in the rear, since an alarm will go off if I am not running fast enough. The other 3 girls look at their GPS's during their runs. I am able to completely ignore it while running but the alarm will go off if you don't stay within the parameters. We might end up sounding like a "Bell Choir" running down the road.

Friend Sheila's son, Andrew, is selling firewood. I am rapidly burning through my rack of wood, so I asked to buy a truckload. When Sheila and Andrew delivered it today, she backed into the woods by the woodpile. OOPS-the leaves covered the soft and wet ground and the pile is on the side of the hill we live on. She couldn't get the truck out of the woods. Now I have been around other stuck vehicles, so knew to put a piece of wood in front of the tire. She actually almost got out of the woods-but only almost. Andrew called his Dad to come give them a pull out. When Rob arrived, I noticed this "grin" on his face. You know the "you girls don't know what you are doing" grin. One little pull and out she came. Personally I think Sheila knew just what she was doing and if we only had another truck we could have pulled it out ourselves. I am sorry it was dark and I couldn't get a picture. A GOOD LAUGH!

BS

Did the title catch your eye? Naughty-Naughty! I am actually talking about my BS in accounting that I received all those many years ago. Thought you might like to know just how that happened.

I was a single mom with a job in a bank-not making much money at all, even after 3 years. I had to make a living and support my little family, but the money I was making and no financial help from anyone made this a struggle. It occurred to me one day that I was training the young men, fresh out of college, in their jobs at the bank. The fact that I trained them, while they started work making more money than I did not set very favorably with me. I decided I needed to try to finish my degree. I had finished 1 1/2 years of college when I got married and had a child, so there was 2 1/2 to go. I began school by trying a couple of night classes to get my feet wet and see if I could handle all the responsibility I would have. That went well, so after much thought, I made the plunge. Barbara was a tremendous help with baby sitting and I will be forever in her debt.

I went back to school in the fall of '71 with plans for an accounting degree and student loans to finance that education. I was able to get a job in the controllers office since I had banking experience and worked when I was not in class. I had no help from Momma and my step-father, Bill. In fact, Bill asked me did I know how long it would take me to make up the bank salary I would be foregoing once I got out of school. I was disappointed with their lack of encouragement, in fact discouragement, but stepped out anyway. I was dating Bobby by this time and he was very encouraging. He actually bought a small two bedroom trailer and put it by his parents house for Scott and I to live in while I was going to school. He has always been my champion and I will always be grateful for his encouragement. Once I had been in school for a few months, Bobby and I married and moved to Ruston. OK now I had added being a wife to my other jobs. I must have thought I had a few extra minutes in each day.

The next two years were difficult to say the least. Not much sleep while going to school, working and being a mother and wife, but I was young. When I graduated in May of 73, after taking as many hours and more as allowed every quarter, it was a great relief. I went to work for a local CPA and made up for the lost wages at the bank in about 6 months. During the 2 years I worked for Mr. Holladay, I learned much and even passed the CPA exam. Going back to school, as hard as it was, was the best decision I ever made. When I think back I am not sure how I was able to keep all those balls in the air, but I am thankful that God pulled me through it all.

I used that education well and was able to grow my own CPA practice into a very nice business that was financially very rewarding. There came a time to sell that practice and finish funding my retirement. I now enjoy retirement to the fullest, but one of the best decisions I ever made was to go back school and get that BS!