Note I just sent to my boss

I have to send a list of accomplishments to my boss each year. I sent mine tonight with the following note attached:

"I know it’s late – if you don’t use it that’s ok, but I wanted to try to get something to you in case you need it.

I would like to add that this year I lost my Daddy, I lost my friend Randy (ok that was last year but close enough to this year to count), , my first niece was born and was in the NICU for a month, I lost my boss, I lived through the fear of getting a crappy boss, (I ended up getting a great one ;) ), I decided to move in 2-5 years but was offered a transfer quickly, I found a tenant for my Baton Rouge house, I bought a house in Ocean Springs, I lived through the residential lending process, I almost lost the house and ended up living in my car but the deal went through at the last minute, I had my gall bladder removed, I sprained my ankle, my husband had a mass removed from his neck because 3 doctors couldn’t figure out what it was (it turned out to be nothing bad), I had 2 dogs at the LSU vet school at two different times, (one in ICU)………..and I still only ended up taking about 1.5 xanax altogether.

In retrospect, I think maybe I should have taken MORE."

Well I mean the whole thing. Loans/rates/fees/insurance/movers/lbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. I just want to sleep until it's all over.

Moving closer to the dream

House hunting. IS. Insane.

Part The End - Nov. 14

Lastly, I want to post the introductory comments of one of the organizers of the event last night. I couldn't say anything more perfect:

"There are so many people to thank that it would take the Pike County phonebook and recite it from A-Z because it takes a great community to nourish and cherish a great artist.

McComb, Mississippi is that community and Roger Lawrence is that artist. We are very fortunate to know both and we thank you all.

We honor Roger Lawrence as he has graced us with a spectacular presence in our collective lives and hearts.

Thank You Roger.

Thank you for the rivers on our walls, the pumpkin in our library, the indian, the Topisaw, the waterfall, the still life writ large in watercolor, oil, tempera, chalk, crayon, and dust.

Thank you for the Bouge Chitto halcyon days where our summers are now reflections on water, glen and glade. Where cypress tree cathedrals conspire with kudzu under cobalt skies and golden suns.

Thank you for the back-beat at The Courtyard dances when our 'Generation' was 'New' and all the rage.

Thank you for opening your studio door that opened our hearts, minds and souls with your gentle words and passions that took fire.

Thank you for teaching our children, our mothers, fathers, sisters and sons; that we too are artists when we follow your lead.

Thank you for the stiple brushes you gave, the splatters and splashes you made with color wheels exploding into space.

But most of all thank you for this hour of bringing us together with your friends whom are not divided by time or age.

Thank You Roger Lawrence for making our world your canvas. Because of you our lives are even more beautiful and true.

Thank You Roger."

-Bill Tyler -

Part II - Nov. 14

So I went to McComb to attend said event (benefit for Roger Lawrence) with my Mom and my Aunt Frances.

It was FUN. Back in my Mom's high school days, Roger was in a band called "New Generation" with Jim Hewitt, who I ended up growing up across the street from. Jim's son, Jamey, is a year younger than me. We grew up together building forts in our backyards.

Last night, Jamey got together with his uncle and 2 other awesome musicians and gave an AWESOME blues concert for us. I knew Jamey played guitar, but WHO KNEW he could sing like that?!!! I had no idea - I was BLOWN AWAY! It was awesome!

Then we got to hear a few songs from Bobby Lounge - blues pianist/ singer/ and all around entertainer - whose song "I remember the night your trailer burned down", about how he and Jimmy were in the livingroom talkin' about a watermelon grow'd as big around as a white wall tire and wasn't studyin' no fire is one of my favs. His songs also discuss a family whose house had fallen off the foundation so they were having to watch TV on a 45 degree angle and feed their mama, who had rolled under the bed and gotten stuck, out of the cat dish.

Ahh......it was good to laugh.

And good to be surrounded by familiar faces, generous friends, and a community that I couldn't wait to get out of but I have grown to appreciate more and more as the years go by.

Part I - Nov. 14

Roger Lawrence is an artist from my hometown of McComb, Missisippi. No, I don't know him well, but I've known OF him my whole life. He's a fixture in McComb. Graduated high school with my mother. (I found out last night, in fact, that my mother was his 1st grade girlfriend - Scandolous! lol) Taught art to many of my friends and family. Pieces of his art hang in many homes I have visited throughout my life.

Last night, the town in which I grew up came together to celebrate Roger Lawrence and to help out a friend. Roger is sick, can't paint right now, can't talk without the aid of a computer, and is walking with a walker. The link to the whole story is here: http://www.enterprise-journal.com/news/article_2ff38448-e5d0-11df-9202-001cc4c002e0.html

One thing that amazes me about his art is the variety.

Watercolors in bright colors.








Oil landscapes so real you can feel the cool breezes off the river.






Pointillism portraits of familiar faces.







And the list goes on...http://www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-Of-Roger-Lawrence/123259717696999#!/album.php?aid=14383&id=123259717696999

I live with a Wookie

Sharing

Pros Part II

My sister-in-law's family is huge and fun, welcoming, thoughtful, and they love my brother and my niece.
Udda has a pool! (Thanks for reminding me Kathleen ;) )
They are already settled in Biloxi, so can send us to vets, doctors, hair salons, etc. We won't have to wade through loads of these before we find good ones.
My sister-in-law's grandmother is the oldest practicing attorney in Mississippi. And her brother is a lawyer too. Just in case we get sued for being fabulous.

A new CON also:
The Mississippi Master Gardeners want me to go back through their classes to participate in their volunteer activities, even though I've been a Louisiana Master Gardener for over 5 years. But they only have classes during weekdays. And I work.

I'm super bummed about this. But, maybe it'll be a good break, and I'm sure I'll find other ways to garden and learn and volunteer.

Pros and Cons

Cons for moving:
I love my house
I love my neighborhood
I love my work group

Pros for moving:
Kaylin
My brother & Alex
Easier for my mother to visit us both in one place
My BFF Dale is there
My BFF Charlotte is there
My BCF Holly is there
Closer to other family too, plus I'll have out of town work in Jackson where the rest of my family is.
May have out of town work in Starkville and McComb
New house, with yard and room to garden, modern amenities, possibly a pool (I can't buy that where I want to live in Baton Rouge)
Comfortable, familiar job but in new surroundings, with new people and fresh challenges
I can go to Kaylin's dance recitals, take her to a random movie on a Thursday afternoon, take her to school occasionally, get to know her friends, help her with homework, but still sleep late most mornings ;)
My bean-o loves the beach
Still close enough to NOLA to go do fun stuff there
My brain feels relaxed when looking at giant expanses of water
Fresh start/ perspective/ challenges/ friends/ surroundings for Jason and me
My realtor is cool

What was I saying?

Oh right - so......WE ARE MOVING. I'm having daily panic attacks about it, but honestly things could not be falling in to place better. I put a casual word out around April of this year that I wanted to move to the coast, thinking that MAYBE it would happen in 2-5 years.

And then in October I got a call from the Supervisor in Mississippi that he had a spot for me. And the rest is a whirlwind of trying to figure out logistics and finances and omg I don't do CHANGE well.

I mean, I'm excited, don't get me wrong, but I'm so SETTLED here. I have my nest made. I am comfortable.........yeah maybe TOO comfortable.

Jason and I have never moved together, never bought a house together. I bought the house we live in now before I met him. And I love my house. LOVE it. I can't give it up, so we are going to rent it out. I can't let go....plus I think it is a good move financially because we don't owe much on it and it should be easy to rent out.

And that's where we are at this juncture.

anybody know anything about this?

A most perfect 36ish hours

Left Baton Rouge early Wednesday morning. Stressed a little about work, but excited to have some Kaylin time.

Met the realtor in Ocean Springs for our first ride-around. I had only met her once in her office. LOVE her! She's awesome. Fun, she seems to "get" me. We had a blast looking at houses. There are two I did not hate. One I think I would seriously consider IF they came down about $80K HA!!!!



It's an "Ishee" house. Ishee being the Frank Lloyd Wright or A Hayes Town of the Gulf Coast. The house is cool. REALLY cool. Lots of character. And has lots of features I DO like, but...3 features that sort of weird me out.

1> It has a loft over the great room that is only accessible by a little attic-style ladder. It seemed sturdy. I went up the ladder. But...how practical would that be?

2> It has a giant tub IN the master bedroom. Which you get into by walking up three CARPETED stairs. ok um......EWWWWWWWWWW. That has to go. #1 - carpet in general creeps me out completely. And #2 - that's too much nakedness and moisture and humidity in my bedroom kthanks.

3> It has a giant unfinished 2 story garage - bigger than the one we remodeled here. And honestly I don't know WHY this garage gives me anxiety, but it does. It's great storage room. It's great potential pool house in the future. But for some reason it causes me significant concern.
So I think I would want this house if that tub was GONE and replaced by a fantastic master closet, that garage was gone or some sage was burned in it or there was an exorcism in it or something, and of course, if the price was WAY less. I'm not saying I don't think it's worth what they want for it, I just don't have that kind of $. PLUS I'd have to put a pool in myself.

I do love how it's very open in the great room but then has lots of little nooks and crannies. There's room for my piano even.

House #2 is even more promising, but it has a super-tiny plunge pool that, at first, I thought was a good feature but now I'm thinking may be a deal breaker. I want a bigger one. Not huge, but I need to be able to swim a lap. Plus, there's really nowhere for me to have a good studio.

So we keep looking. We aren't in a hurry. I haven't had the precognitive dream I usually have about this sort of huge life-change, so I'm not rushing anything. In the meantime, I'm feeling out the area and it's feeling better and better each time.

After looking at houses all day, I got to see that baby!!!! And OMG I ate her alive with just a little salt and pepper.

She is hilarious and I could just sit and watch her and squeeze her all day long. My brother and Alex are the best, funniest parents of all time. It is so amazing to watch them and see how much they enjoy this little girl.

She goes to bed @ 7pm, and Scot and Alex go to bed @ about 7:15 (hehee) so I left and went to Barnes and Noble to meet my Daley-Dale! On the way I texted Holly (my cuz) and she came by too. We hung out there until they closed @ 9pm (LAME), and then Holly went home and Dale and I went to Waffle house, where we sat until 10:45 peeling crayons and explaining to everybody in the Waffle House why we were peeling crayons. (It was for an art project - Dale teaches art at an elementary school).

Then I met Charlotte for breakfast at Denney's Thursday morning. Charlotte!!!! Whom I haven't seen since, oh.....1979 or something crazy like that (well it feels like that long anyway). She and her hubby are moving to the coast and looking for a house right now TOO. SEE!! I seriously feel that all lines are converging and leading me to the Mississippi Coast. But I'm taking it slow.

I have no doubt that things will all fall into place when they are supposed to.

A scrapbook page or 2

Happy Birthday Bean!!

My buddy turned 14 years old on Thursday. At this point, he's still as spunky as ever, but his GPS system could use updating. He runs into things if something gets moved. He rarely hears us. We have to carry him up and down the stairs to potty. He is working on about a 95% success rate for getting to the door on time.

And I don't care. I'll deal with that as long as I need to. As long as he's still enjoying lying in the sun, sleeping next to us at night, playing with his toys, and getting excited about breakfast and dinner, I'll carry him where ever he wants to go.

Happy Birthday Bean-o! You're my #1 little buddy!!

Pretty Grrrl

She likes to hang out on the landing between my studio and Jason's computer room. She's got a black spot on the back of her tongue just like Greta! Finally getting a beard!

Jasmine's chewy

What could be her first chewy ever. She wasn't quite sure what to do with it at first. While she was chewing it, she kept looking at me like "is dis really for me?". It was so sweet, but it makes me sad, too. She is SO sweet, but it just seems that no one took any notice of it before.

I am so thankful that the vet @ the EBRP shelter took the time to call giant schnauzer rescue multiple times to get in touch with us. She belongs here with us.

Happy Birthday Butt Cheeks!!

Yesterday was my hubby's birthday. Boston Creme Pie is his favorite. In the past, I've purchased them from various places around town. I never really liked any of them. So I decided to make him one myself. Yeah, it's a day late, but I was in Washington part of last week and I didn't get home until after 10pm last night.

It's not perfect. My custard didn't set up, so I added more corn starch and it's a little lumpy. But, I think it still tastes good. I hope he likes it!

P.S. Jason and I went to see Jamie Wax's "Goin' to Jackson" several years ago. We loved it. The "Butt Cheeks" reference is from that play. If you haven't seen it, do.

Damn dog take #152

She ate my shoelaces.

sigh.

I love airline travel (NOT)

Dear Delta, when I got to DCA today you offered me a seat an earlier flight for a $50 fee. Would have LOVED to, but sorry, but I'm not paying your $50 fee to volunteer to go earlier.The flight I was actually on was overbooked, and you were giving people $400 vouchers to volunteer to go later. Look closely at the cost/ benefit analysis of this plan. You will find that someone forgot to carry a 1 somewhere...

I have just been down lately. It's been a tough year. There is so much I am thankful for, but things I'm sad about too. My Dad. Being far from family. Being 41. Watching my husband struggle with his own depression at times. And sometimes the sadness kind of bunches up on me. And then I get pictures like this of my niece, and the world seems right again:

P.S.

It's 5:30am. I haven't slept. I let my Ambien prescription run out. I have been super motivated though. I've cleaned windows and repainted staircases and cleaned out even more junk from my studio.

I have also determined that there is some sort of critter living in the walls up here. I'm having flashbacks to Dooce.com's post about the crazed racoons/ airbombing squirrels/ weird random cats living in her new house...

http://www.dooce.com/2010/07/21/susan

Stained Glassy

I have been wanting to make some little thank-yous for a few people that were super sweet to my parents while my Dad was sick. And I've also been feeling kind of stained-glassy. So I pulled out my supplies:

and made some hanging-in-the-window-angels and things.

I thought it was only appropriate. They were angels to my parents. It was killer to write the accompanying cards, but I wanted to let them how how grateful I was for their time and kindness. It felt good to get that done. I've been procrastinating it because I knew it would be hard. I hope they like them!

Attempted Murder

My trainee just tried to kill me. I got through 1/4 of it and had to fall over dead. And then I spit it out.

Slogging Through

I have so little motivation these days. Is it the heat? Too much emotional drainage this year? Just plain-old burnout? I don't know. I'm trying to fake it through, but it's not FUN. I need some FUN. I need some PASSION in my life. I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm still passionate about gardening and reading and Kaylin and my dogs and scrapbooking...but it all just feels forced. And work, Ugh! Don't even ask me. I'm still doing my job, but every little thing just feels like SO much EFFORT. Even the littlest things.

I don't really WANT to do anything...know what I mean? When I wake up in the morning, there's nothing that I'm excited about doing. Does anyone else go through times like this?

I have good ideas of what I wish I wanted to do.
I wish I wanted to write on my blog, but I don't have the words.
I wish I wanted to work on my garden, but it's too hot.
I wish I wanted to want to fix/redo/spruce up my house, but I don't know where to start, I don't want to spend any money, and....it's too hot.
I wish I wanted to paint. Well, I always want to want to paint but that's rare even in good times.

Part of it, I know, is that I haven't felt good. I sprained my ankle at the beginning of July (end of June?) and I haven't gotten back to my walks. I haven't been eating what I know I should be eating. I haven't been taking all my medication as prescribed. So yeah, it's my own fault.

So I should just suck it up, get with the program, do what I need to do. Wake up in the morning and do it. And the motivation will come back, right?

And now that I've confessed my supreme laziness and patheticness, perhaps I will be embarrassed back in to living like I'm supposed to.

And if Mr. Weather could bring us a couple of days of less than 1000 degrees, that would be helpful too.

Jasmine

Jasmine's fancy new haircut! She looks like a schnauzer finally! She's HEART-WORM FREE WOOT! and she actually weighs more than Greta and is now on a diet. Quite a difference from the scrawny, pitiful thing we pulled out of the shelter in December!

Missing my computer :(

Greta knocked several keys off my computer when an unbalanced washing machine startled her from her nap. Instead of running in front of me, or behind me, she ran over me, and I happened to be typing at the time.

Geek Squad has it now. I want it back :(

I'm Totally Psychic

Yesterday I needed scrapbooking glue. And I've really been wanting a circle cutter. So I jumped into Melody and headed to Hobby Lobby. Only I just had this FEELING that I needed to go to Michael's instead. And I did. And....THEY HAD THEIR CIRCLE CUTTERS ON SALE 40% off!!!

I'm totally psychic.



Today I played around with it. Love it! It's kind of like a spirograph with a blade. Which makes me want a spirograph. And it also makes me want a LARGE circle cutter. This only cuts circles up to 6 inches. Which is fine for starters.

Trying to force some creative inspiration

So...I joined a scrapbooking page to get inspiration and force myself to get creative. They give away prizes and such and, well, I like free stuff. So here's my first ever "official" scrapbook page post. The challenge was to do a page based on a sketch - my final result is very similar to the sketch. I couldn't resist using these pictures of Kaylin. They just crack me up every time I look at them.

Late Spring 2010

THE LIGHT FANTASTIC - 2nd book of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. I needed another easy / comfort book. These books feel like an old warm blanket to me.



ON THE BEACH (Nevil Shute) - What would you do if you knew all the bombs, the rest of the world was over, and you were just waiting around for the end? I love a good apocalyptic book. I know, weird, but I just do. 99% of these are survivor stories though. You know - there's a handful of survivors and they are huddled together trying to defend their remaining soup cans from . But this one is different and man o man it made me really think.



THE EDIBLE WOMAN (Margaret Atwood) - I think I would have had a completely different experience reading this book had I not read it directly after ON THE BEACH. I kept overlaying the premise of ON THE BEACH on the plot of THE EDIBLE WOMAN. And how would we feel about gender roles and getting married and trying to create a "normal" life if the bombs had all been dropped. So yeah - given that in my brain, the protagonist was trying to decide what she wanted to do with her life and sort of going crazy at the end of the world...it was great.
WHITE TIGER (Aravind Adiga) - I did not expect the ending here. It was good. Kind of Kite-Runner-ish but about India.
ALICE IN WONDERLAND - Movie hype got me thinking that I had never actually read the books. So I did. They were like .99cents on the Kindle.
NO ONE WOULD LISTEN - The Bernie Madoff case. And WOW this was interesting to me. The guy that wrote the book was in the same business as Madoff and realized YEARS prior that something was fishy. Tried multiple times to alert the SEC and they ignored him. I love stuff like this. The writing was not annoying, and it wasn't overly complicated. I think that most anyone could read it and understand what happened even though the mechanics of hedge funds are mind boggling.

Winter/ Spring 2010

LOLITA - ok I know. Kiddie porn. But I wanted to know what all the hype was after all these years. And honestly, it by far wasn't the worst inappropriate relationship book I've ever read (I'm LOOKING AT YOU, PIERS ANTHONY, WHO CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD AS A YOUNG ADULT WITH ONE OF YOUR SMUT BOOKS, WHICH I AM OBVIOUSLY STILL ANGRY ABOUT. I've never read anything else by Piers Anthony. And when I was young I really liked that pun-ridden series of his. Now I can't even remember what that series is because of that one book of his (which wasn't even in the series) THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE XXX SECTION AND NOT IN THE YOUNG ADULT SECTION. And I mean really. I'm not a prude. But you can't just go around catching people off guard with that nastiness.)



So yeah Lolita. Whatever. In the days of Elizabeth Smart and Jaycee whatshername that was kidnapped and found 17 years later Lolita is not all that shocking.



CLOUD ATLAS - Wow I really liked this. It was just good. And different. The whole a-butterfly-flaps-his-wings-and-500-years-later kind of thing. This is one I can actually see myself re-reading. And I never re-read books. Well.....very rarely.



And then, at about this point in the year, I lost my Dad. And then in order to cope, I lost myself in books. It's a comfort. An escape. A reminder of the blessings I do have. So I re-read THE COLOUR OF MAGIC. The 1st book in the Pratchett Discworld series. May seem inappropriate, but I knew it would make me smile, and I knew I wouldn't have to think. So it helped me through the first few days of February.



BELOVED (Toni Morrison) - Again, I just wanted to know what the hype was. And wow I was blown away. Beautiful writing. VERY surprising story. I honestly never expected either (the writing or the story). Who'd have expected supernatural occurrences in an Oprah book?



RAINBOW'S END - Ugh. It wasn't bad, but it was just sort of blah. And yet for some reason it has stuck in my head like a bad song. When I'm taking my morning walk, it sneaks up on me and all of a sudden I'm visualizing all the data I'd be bombarded with if I was "wearing".



IN THE SANCTUARY OF THE OUTCASTS - Note to self: I need to write a blog entry about my experiences @ Carville (and also the word DisEase). This is a book that was written by a guy who was in the minimum security prison at Carville at the time when half of the facility was the prison and half was still the Hanson's Disease Center. Hanson's Disease used to be called Leprosy. I have been out to Carville many times over the years to work in their credit union. It is one of the most amazing places on earth. There are several books written by patients - this one is from a different perspective. I totally get it.


ALREADY DEAD: A NOVEL - Jason had this downloaded on the Kindle so I read it. I'm sick of vampires. Sick.
MARCH (Geraldine Brooks) - Great book. Pulitzer winner 2005. Remember the March sisters from Little Women? Remember that their Dad was off to war? Will this book from HIS perspective. His commitment to the Civil War and the sad consequences of having too much pride.
ok I think that's all through about....Feb? Mar? Sometime around there.









Here's what I read up until the summer:

The rest of 2009

Here's what I read in the remainder of 2009:

THE YEAR OF THE FLOOD (Margaret Atwood) - Atwood is growing on me. This one was actually pretty good, although being the nosy investigator that I am, I want to know what happened and why. This is a post-apocalyptic book. Really good. But I wanted more about the actually apocalypse I guess. I'm morbid that way.

THE CORRECTIONS ( Jonathon Franzen) - ok Franzen must be a supercool guy, right? Because David Foster Wallace was his BFF or something. And Wallace couldn't put up with just any random dumbass. And yeah, Franzen's writing style is fine. Unmemorable which is good, at least it didn't annoy me. But I don't really get they hype over this story. I didn't find it any different than the 100 stories written in that "stories of american life and poor us and our 1st world problems" John Updike / Philip Roth genre. Maybe I missed something.

MY NEW ORLEANS (essays by various authors) - I actually turned down some pages to which I could refer back. I liked some of the thoughts presented here. As with any multi-author collection, I liked some and didn't like others. Worth reading.

AMERICAN GODS - I like Neil Gaiman a lot. For some reason, I can't read his stuff back-to-back. This was the first novel of his I'd read in awhile. It was probably my favorite. If you are fan of any sort of mythology, this is one you'd get a kick from.

THE HELP - yeah yeah sometimes I get caught up in the hype of the day. This was a good one though. I can never remember character names but that one woman - you know which one I mean - is a BE-YOTCH. And so is Karma. She'll get hers.

WHY I LIVE @ THE P.O & OTHER STORIES (Eudora Welty) - Although I love Eudora Welty as much as the next Mississippi girl, her writing is not actually something I've ever just easily picked up on a whim. However, I've always wondered just WHY this woman did live at the P.O.? And so a while back, I read Mississippi Sissy. I wrote a blurb about it on this blog previously. And Mississippi Sissy made me think of Eudora Welty in a whole new way. I way that involved bourbon. So when I saw this one on the bookshelf I picked it up. And now I know why the woman lived in the P.O. And yeah, it's pretty funny.

AMERICAN PASTORAL (Philip Roth) - I was thinking this was the 70's version of The Corrections, but actually, it was a way better story with some craziness and intrigue and murder and heartbreak. Glad I read it.

UNSEEN ACADEMICALS (Terry Pratchett) - It's Terry Pratchett. I laughed. That's all I need to say about this one.

THE MOVIEGOER (Walker Percy) - ok I'm glad I read it just because it's a local guy and whatever. And yeah - I read a lot too and probably don't interact one on one with people more than I have to. Sue me.

OK that does it for 2009.

is NOT amused with your so-called "peas"

But your "carrots" are acceptable

Oreos

It was the year 2000. My BFF Charlotte was staying with me, and we tend to get silly. Whilst sitting at my dining room table, the conversation turned to the newly introduced mini Oreos, which we had independently and coincidentally tried THAT VERY DAY.

We agreed they SUCKED, but couldn't exactly decide why.

This (not surprisingly) led to a jaunt to the grocery store where we obtained additional mini Oreos, along with regular and doublestuffs for comparison's sake.

Returning with our bounty of chocolatey goodness, we were able to draft the assistance of my chemist husband. Experiments and documentation ensued.

And what resulted was, perhaps, the best letter ever written to a corporation. And which remained unsent, lost, and languishing in an electronic hell for 10 years.

UNTIL NOW.

Charlotte FOUND THE LETTER. And now, as my birthday present to you all, I will share. And hell yes, I'm sending it to Nabisco tonight too.

Charlotte Bosarge
Sonya Pickens
Baton Rouge, LA 70809
October 17, 2000

Dear Nabisco,

Thank you very much for making the new "Mini Oreo Bite Size.” It is a great idea. However, something in the new cookie just isn't right.

We had a theory that there was not the proper ratio of creme filling to cookie. We measured and calculated the ratio of creme filling to cookie for each of the regular, doublestuff, and mini Oreos.

First, let me say that we were thrilled to discover that indeed, the ratio of the filling to cookie in the DoubleStuff Oreos was, in fact, double that of regular Oreos. However, this test proved our theory wrong, as the ratio of filling to cookie of the mini Oreos falls in between that of regular and doublestuff Oreos. (See attached spreadsheet.)

That has led us to the following alternative theories:

1> These cookies seem crispier, perhaps “scorched”? Perhaps the small size of each wafer calls a lower cooking temperature, or shorter cooking time.

2> The concentration of cocoa in each cookie could be off? These cookies appear a smidge darker, but we did not have any Erlenmeyer Flasks with which to conduct cocoa content analysis.

3> We observed that the diameter of the creme filling in the mini Oreos can fluctuate between 2cm, and 2.2cm, which leaves almost no "lip of wafer" on which to rest America's favorite creme filling. The "lip of wafer" is a very important part of the whole Oreo experience. Without a proper lip, it is very difficult to properly separate a wafer from the creme filling (for ease of dunking, and similar).

Although our tests were inconclusive, we would still like to express our impression that the overly chocolate taste of the cookie wafers overwhelms the creme filling in the new mini Oreos. We feel that some adjustment should be made to make the taste of the mini Oreos more pleasing. Thank you very much for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Charlotte Bosarge
Sonya Pickens

POOOOOOOOOOOOL!

Lately, having a pool has become an obsession. I think it first kicked in when Jason and I went to St. Croix in 2008 and stayed at a cottage that was 20 steps from the ocean. I must have been in that water 20 times a day. But it's just gotten worse since then.

My dream is to have a lap pool.....


BUT...For those of you who haven't been to my house, I have NO yard. My lot is 120 ft. / 40 ft. On this lot, I have a driveway that is 100 ft. long, a house, a 2 story detached double garage, a pergola, and a large deck. And an entry garden. The only place I could put a "real" pool it in the driveway.

Which I suppose is not too practical.

And there's the fact that Jason and I continue to toss around ideas of moving to the Mississippi Coast ( and could you blame me? Look what's there: (That would be my most precious niece, K.E.S. aka doodlebug)).

I know that when you put something out in the universe long enough, it comes to you. So about a month ago, I started living AS IF I already had a pool. Example: I wake up in the morning, think about swimming, say "I'm going to get in the pool". Jason laughs. I go take a semi-cold shower and envision myself swimming laps. Example: I work in the yard and get nasty and hot. I say "I'm going to get in the pool". Jason chuckles and rolls his eyes. I go sit under the hose and envision myself sitting in crystal clear, blue, cool water.

So last week, I don't know if my talk put the idea in Jason's head or if he was just sick of hearing me talk about it, but he figured out that we could put a 10 foot inflatable pool on our deck.

And yeah, it's not a "real" pool, but I can submerge myself. I can float. I can hook my feet over the edge and "swim laps". I can swim from one side to the other totally under water.Jason bought me a noodle (a pink one), and a little shark that holds the chlorine.

It's a little crowded on the deck, but hey! Now I can garden FROM THE POOL.

I have been swimming about 50 times so far. I feel better already. I'm sure my vitamin D level is up. This morning I spent about 2 hours out there reading. This pool cost us $70. It took about an hour to set up (a few hours to fill). And it may just change my life.

If you need me, I'll be at the POOL!

I often run in to Elvis on my morning walks

K.E.S.;s birth announcements

Drawn, printed, and hand-painted by her biggest fan (that'd be her Nonya).

New Damn Dog

Eats socks. Not chews socks. Slices sections of socks off like a precision cutting machine. Many other fabricy objects are also in danger.

round things

I like taking pictures of round things. So sue me.

Sprained ankle

Hadn't walked in like 3 weeks until this past Monday. Stepped on an uneven patch of grass. Rolled my ankle. Mild sprain. Was really swollen Wednesday, I looked like I had 2 different people's feet.

Bruised now but better, think I may try to walk in the morning.