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We made it home... whew. Now, life begins at it's normal pace of craziness, especially with the school year quickly approaching!

Tomorrow I will go off to band camp with my alma mater Lehman Catholic High School - always a good time. Long days on a sunny football field, playing music until your lips fall off, yeah. Good times.
Unfortunately, I start the week with a severe sunburn from vacation, so this will be quite interesting.

Please pray for us this week as we try, as always, to get a LOT done in a LITTLE time... and that we have fun and stay safe doing so.

Thanks!

Magnum

Last night was our eventful trip to the French Quarter... and boy, it was one like no other. First of all, we decided to reserve a room at a hotel so we didn't have to go far and to continue our sightseeing in the morning - during the day time. We didn't, however, reserve a hotel room because we wanted to get smashed....

My father-in-law had other plans.

He didn't come with us, but he did secretly give my dad a drink suggestion when we were to arrive at the famous Pat O'Briens Dad had this huge grin. A waitress was walking our way with the biggest beverage glass I had ever seen in my life...

The Magnum.

It's just a hurricane for a giant or two.

We took our time and the 7 of us (Mom, Dad, my Mother-in-Law, Gordon, Alicia, Jon Paul and I) sipped away. People would come to us and ask to take a picture with it. They would come and tell us to "Chug". When we would leave to go to the bathroom and the waitress would ask us if we needed a seat or a drink when we came back, we said "No, we're with the magnum" and we were left alone.

In the end, I think we drank about 1/2 of it's 384 oz (3 gal) glory... and we were still able to walk out with no problem... goal accomplished.

This morning we walked around the quarter and even bought a few pieces of art for our house, and took some fantastic pics. The French Quarter is actually quite beautiful during the day! :)

Gators 'n Things

Sooo... Monday, we went on the Honey Island Swamp Tour (where Honey Island is, I don't know... there was no island involved)...





We saw many many alligators, cool birds, turtles, and other beautiful wildlife in the Louisiana swamps. It was pretty much fantastic. I actually got to touch the tail of a 15 ft. gator... you don't get to do that every day! WAHOO!

Let the Good times roll!

We arrived safely in Louisiana last night - tired, but excited about our week of vacation that lay ahead.

We woke this morning and decided to hit the casino in Biloxi,Mississippi for their splendid Sunday am buffet. Gulfport/Biloxi was one of the hardest hit areas from Katrina. It was the first time we had been over there in the 2 years since... and as bad as it still looked, it was so good to see that it was cleaned up and many hotels had been rebuilt... not many homes, but quite a few hotels. The trees have finally started to grow and, if you didn't know there used to be thousands of homes along the 60 miles of gulf side estates, you might have thought it was actually a pretty area (knowing there used to be homes there made the pretty areas quite depressing to see).

Oh, and the buffet was quite delicious :)

On the agenda for the week:
A swamp tour at Honey Island Swamp Tours, a golf outing for the boys, an evening of Hurricanes at Pat O'Brians and a Hand Grenade at Tropical Isle (click here for a live webcam!) followed by beignets and coffee at Cafe du Monde, and in general just sight seeing around New Orleans (French Quarter), a visit to the beach near Gulf Port, visiting with friends and former co-workers... and probably more...

One cool thing: When we got here, Jon Paul's parents gave us the phone number of a man who tracked them down to tell them that they found our fire safe box floating down by his house after the hurricane. It took him a long time of talking to people to figure out who/where to get it to... so tomorrow we will pick up a box that held our passports, social security cards, marriage license, savings bonds, and who knows what else......

I will post some pictures when I have a minute and access to a computer that I can transfer pics from memory card.

"Laissez les bons temps rouler!"

Accomplished

Amongst my long list of "To Do's" this summer, I was to turn our third bedroom - otherwise known as the craft room or guest room - into exactly that: a craft room/bedroom. Before it was really more of a storage unit that happened to have craft supplies and a bed in it. Thanks to a $25 drafting table purchased at a local thrift store and some plastic containers, I (with the aid of my hubby) was able to successfully accomplish turning this 10'x10' room into a suitable guest bedroom and a craft room... and even a gift wrapping center (the gift wrapping supplies are in the drawers beside the bed: 1st drawer bows and ribbons, 2nd drawer gift bags, and 3rd drawer tissue paper). All of the other stuff cluttering the room was our garage sale pile that moved out to the shed.
For the first time, I can actually walk around in the room and not worry about stepping on something... AND I know exactly where everything is.

Needless to say, I can scratch this job off my list.

When life sends you rotten bananas...

Make banana bread!




That is precisely what I did this morning! I found this amazing recipe on my favorite recipe retrieving site All Recipes . This is definitely helpful because my cookbook selection is limited.

Anyhow - I found this recipe for banana bread and it is delicious!

Tony?

Though we prayed and prayed, searched and searched, no wedding ring was found. Thank you for your prayers and comforting words.

Tony, Tony come around...

Something's lost and can't be found........

Have you ever lost something that makes that feeling in your gut twist and tug? Maybe it was something someone let your borrow, or something very expensive.

Well, this weekend, my husband lost something very expensive - not necessarily in monetary value, but in sentimental and sacramental value - his wedding ring.

After losing practically everything I owned in Hurricane Katrina - even many things with significant value both monetarily and sentimentally, this loss seems worse... and I felt dumb for feeling sad about it. Thanks to my friends and sisters, I have realized that it's okay to be sad about it.

Please unite with me in prayer to St.s Jude and Anthony - that it will be found as Jon Paul and I go back to the camp grounds where it was lost.

Thanks.

Thirsty

I often find that when I am eating out in a restaurant, I drink like crazy... It's not uncommon for me to drink an entire pitcher of Diet Coke or water. "I'm part camel" I heard once in a movie (anyone remember what movie?)...

I heard another quote today that really made sense.

"You don't buy drinks, you rent them."

Rent them from who? I don't know. It doesn't matter.

All I know is that by the time I leave the restaurant, I have gone to the bathroom 1-2 times and most likely urgently have to go once I get home too... Then I'm fine.

Anyone else?

Weeds...

So, I was weeding the garden the other day... it was quite overrun with considerably large weeds. Since we have been having a 'drought' those large weeds were taking necessary water away from the important plants that I have been working on since MARCH.

I had also learned from last year to spread things out a bit... not planting things so close. I had no idea how BIG plants can get! How does that little seed turn into a plant that is bigger than me?

Anywho - I was weeding the garden. It was hot. I just wanted to be done already. I kept weeding, pulling and pulling. I finally completed weeding the 22' x 5' rectangle. I gathered half of a monster trash can full of weeds. I looked at the garden and was amazed by how nice it looked once it was weeded - and how spacious considering the existing plants are quite large by now.

The big shocker came a day or two later. Where did my green bean plants go? hmmmmmmmmmm... I wonder.

Ordinary Life

Jon Paul and I lead an ordinary life... We do what we can to serve the Lord. We do what we can to be the best at the duties He has put in our life. We do what we can to be the best spouses to each other. We do our best to be our best... sometimes we get close... otherwise, it's just something we strive for every day. I suppose the day we become our best is the day we enter the Kingdom of God.

Anywho... enjoy the ordinary passings of our life. There may be a chance that something exciting happens... who knows!