The Non-Wedding Weekend Entertainment Part 2: Painting with a Twist

After the swamp tour we went back to the hotel to rest and prepare for our evening entertainment. Becky turned me on to the idea of Painting with a Twist. PWAT is a local business that caters to wanna be Picassos. Who like to drink. I know you shouldn't drink and drive but now I am seeing the wisdom of not painting while you drink. Oh my goodness we had fun. We had a preset picture that PWAT prepares ahead of time by just outlining the basic part of the pic. They then attempt to teach you to paint. Kudos to the teacher that night who was responsible for a group of 12 drinking adults. We managed to do credible pictures and kept most of the paint off of ourselves. Rick decided he didn't like the presented picture and talked the instructor into letting Bryan and him do their own thing. My sister Barb started out painting the preset picture and then when her black border got too large she just went with the flow and did an abstact that I wish I had kept























AND A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL!!!!

The Non-Wedding Weekend Entertainment Part 1: Swamp Tour

I have learned to love the state of Louisiana. My first few years here will filled with loathing of all crawling things that seem to be of abundance every where you go. Time has lessened my phobias and I have grown to appreciate our wonderful natural environment. Unfortunately our wetlands are disappearing along with the wildlife that depend on these areas for survival. I wanted to share with my family the beauty of the swamps. I asked around to long time locals about the best tour and was referred to Champagne's( pronounced shom-pine..not like the drink). Brian Champagne conducted our tour in a flat bottomed boat. The bayou simply said is wondrous. We saw birds, centuries old trees, alligators, and a few spiders. The local fauna is beyond description. Brian was a wonderful tour guide and I cannot recommend him highly enough. My sister Barbara told me later that she initially did not want to go but was so very happy she did. I think that sentiment was held by all. I will close this blog by saying that much needs to be done to preserve our wetlands and that beauty like this should never be lost. Thank you Champagne's Swamp Tour for a wonderful morning.

Family and Friends Like Family: The Non-Wedding Weekend

My family and two of my dear friends from Oklahoma had reservations to come to Joshua and Syd's wedding in Lafayette and as you know it was moved to August in Iowa. Since everyone still had plane tickets to come to Lafayette they decided to come on ahead and we would just have a mini reunion and celebrate my early birthday. It seems that in December I will be 60 years old. I really didn't think that was right and rechecked my birth certificate to be sure. I still feel like I'm 40 with just a lot more cellulite. Anyway I had a "birthday" celebration and a mini-reception for Joshua and Syd. Barbara, Patti, Mindy, Carrie, Jill, Rick, and Bryan all stayed at the hotel along with Becky and of course myself. The first night I hosted a buffet and Janet and Reno Leblanc came along with Westley Quebedeaux.

I was thrilled that everyone took the time to come and planned several events for entertainment. In the next blog I will have pictures from the swamp tour and the painting party. I simply loved having everyone here and enjoyed my "vacation" in the Presidential Suite at the Hilton. I do owe a huge thanks to Bryan's partner Rick Green. I pride myself of being able to get the most for my dollar but Rick is the uncontested king of getting the best for less. I had booked the suite for only two days that ended on Saturday. My guests were staying through Sunday and I just didn't have an additional 400$ for that last night. Rick slicked up his hair, took me in hand, and off we went to the reception desk. I LOVE watching a master at work. He complimented the manager on his style and gave him the details about how I was just HATING to leave the hotel and that the cost was just WAY to much...so what could he do to help me. The man didn't hesitate and dropped the cost to one that I could afford. Now what you need to know is that I had already been down earlier and they turned me down flat. Love you Rick. You are the bomb!

September 11, 2011. Ten Years Later

It's been 10 years since that day. It was yesterday in my mind. I have watched TV most of the day on remembrances and miracles that came from that day. Lost husbands, wives, mothers, dads, sons and daughters.. their survivors talked and their pain is still etched on their faces. Time has gone on but today they remember that what started out as an ordinary day became extraordinary in its horror. I was transfixed by the stories and even though I have heard them nearly every year since that day, I sat here with tears rolling down my face at the loss, the fear, and the bravery. I have listened to Stanley and Brian's story of how Brian rescued Stanley in the South Tower. I am in awe of Brian staying to help a stranger and how that single day has made them friends for life. Midway down they passed a lobby area and came across a guard and an injured man. The man had broken his back and the guard would not leave him and asked that Stanley and Brian would call for help. The injured man asked that they tell his wife and child that he loved them. That guard stayed behind because he would not leave that injured man. Stanley and Brian called EMS but the tower fell before anyone could get there. The guard, and I wish I knew his name, died a hero for his compassion for his fellow man. The men and women on Flight 93 that crashed in Shanksville, Pa on that day will always be remembered as courageous. Todd Beamer"s "Let's Roll" will go down as a call to battle, for ordinary people to do extraordinary things. The firefighters, police officers, medics, the search and rescue dogs gave their all. Many gave their lives in an effort to save others. Yes they were doing their jobs but they were extraordinary in their selflessness, in their willingness to run into fire to help others...to give their lives. There is a generation of children who weren't born then. To these young 10 year old children it is an abstract happening. Pearl Harbor happened 10 years before I was born and I remember studying about it and watching history shows but it didn't touch me emotionally like 9/11 has. I want my grandchildren and their children to read my blog books and realize that something devastating happened that day and to never, ever forget. Never to let their guard down and become complacent in their freedom. I want them to know that on that day we stood together as a country, we cried and we mourned our collective loss and we moved on. But we haven't forgotten.

Funny Email #2 Patti and her Vac

I love my family. We have a full range of really smart, funny and loving people who comprise InaLee's children and grand children. What you are going to read is a series of emails starting with an email from my sister about her new vacuum cleaner and follow up emails from a few of the rest of us. These are from June 2006. To those of you who aren't related or know us these will be boring but I want them included in my yearly book to my family.

From Patti: June 2006
My 30-year-old Hoover died three days ago. After careful analysis (i. e. I whipped through the best buys in Consumer Reports) I bought a new Hoover self propelled vacuum online at my favorite Texas vacuum dealer.
I had to share this significant moment with my sisters because only you will understand how relieved Mom would be that this new one will trap 100% of the dust mites (and I'll bet our bedroom has plenty of them!) She would also be very proud that 1) it will actually TELL me when the rug is clean instead of just spewing the dust back at me from the top of the machine AND 2) I got it tax free with no shipping costs!
Big bonus - it is purple. Alright, mulberry metallic. Just imagine what I can do with this sporty model.
My new baby arrives in five business days with the usual attachments, an extra 20 ft. long hose, and stuff that Vacuum Depot sells such as an Ultimate Dusting Brush!
Will keep you posted

My response:

I am just quivering with excitement for you..... and a big, Loooong hose too. Mine is 6 years old and barely sucks, I have to frequently grab hold of it and blow its tubes out to make it work and its only about 2 ft. long.. It doesn't stand upright by itself anymore, I have to hold it in place and then turn it on and worse yet I get no conversation. I live for the day when I can trade this old horse in for a new, long-hosed,powerful, sucking machine that talks dirt to me.
Love, your unfulfilled sister
deb

Response from Niece Carrie:
All the cool kids are doin' it.With all of Patti's excitement about a new vac, I had to go and get one myself. (And, my 16-year anniversary is in two weeks!) I was going to buy one at the same place Patti bought one, but the one I have been eyeing just went on sale for 1/2 PRICE at Kohl's (sorry, Patti) -- so off I trotted to Kohl's with my three kids. Let me just tell you, THREE KIDS takes a lot of the joy out of vacuum purchasing. No wonder people say having kids changes everything -- even the thrill of a new vacuum purchase.But once I got home, I too experienced the elation of vacuuming my carpet with all the power of a new vac. I feel like I have new carpet! I have also been using my long hose a lot too. I even made the kids "feel the power." :-)Dearest Auntie Patti -- thank you for inspiring me toward my goal of being a better mom with cleaner carpet. Now Drew can crawl w/o getting cat hair stuck to his little hands. :-) Yuck!

Response from Patti:
Amen, Carrie. Can't you just FEEL the energy! You sound so fulfilled by achieving this goal. Just envision what you can accomplish with three children tomorrow.

Response from Niece Robbon:
Nope...the vacuum is the big deal for the anniversary. Sorry-that is allyou have to look forward to. Ha ha! I was telling Patti yesterday that I love our new vacuum. Mark bought me one before Mia was born because I was freaking out about all of the hair inthe house and couldn't stand the thought of a baby covered in dog & cat hair. It is a Hoover vacuum but with a canister for the refuse. At first Iloved the exhilaration of seeing everything that it was picking up and thought that my house felt so clean. Enjoy it while you can Carrie!! Of course it has a looong hose and the handle stays up. Need you ask? : )) Butnow that I am still picking up the same junk every time, I realize that ahouse is never clean. Ugh! The canister just freaks me out every time! Girls' gathering? What is that? I don't know that I will be able to carry on an adult conversation without mopping up slobber or cutting up someone'sfood.Robbon

Response from Patti again:
I got my new vac yesterday and it is everything I desired! Because it was our anniversary, I paid more attention to Jack than the Hoover. I even waited until we got home from seeing "Prairie Home Companion" to get it out of the box. Jack screwed the handle on and I swept away! Wow, that long hose is going to come in handy sucking up spiders. And I don't have to worry about them creeping out later.
I say, "If you need a new vac, don't wait 25 years." Shoot, in another 25 years, I won't even care if I have a vac -- or maybe even know what one is for!
I'm on a roll now. Maybe my next acquisition will be a new mop bucket and squeegee!
-
Response from my Nephew Kryss:
Im glad you all have your vaccuums....hehe...we have a good vac....but IMUCH prefer our upright (vacuum style) Hoover Steam Cleaner.....itrocks.....and the price was fantastic too! FREE!! Hehe....a friend wasmoving to California and didn't wana move it too.....it was pretty muchbrand new....she gave it to us...heheIm copying this to jen....she has FAR more interest in being a clean freaklike all of you.....hehe....Kryss

Love you all!!!!! I laughed again and hope this brings back memories.

Old E-Mails #1: Beer Bottles, Kegals and My Advice

As I was cleaning out some old emails that I have saved I ran across some oldies but goodies. I will be posting some of these. These are pre-blogging gems! The original email is posted then the comments that I got. I did 'X' out some names but it is mostly the same
For those of you who don't really know me... this is a warning. Nothing is off limits as you will soon read.

The Grand Geezer = my mom
The geezers = my older sisters
Geezerette = me because I am the youngest



03/09/2000 09:40:35 AM



Subject: some sound advice

Dear nieces,
Although only Carrie has seen fit to write to her dear
old aunt and keep her in the know, I decided to write
one more time with some sound advice. IF YOU DON'T
USE IT YOU WILL LOSE IT. I know most of you, if you
got that advice from the geezers thought it meant your
typing skills. On second thought if they gave it they
probably did mean your typing skills but I am here to
let you know it applies to other aspects of your
person. Lucky Carrie, because she keeps in contact
with me already knows what I did last night. I went
to a friends house to have my cooter measured( At this
point Robbon is in melt down.. wanting to know just
how to divorce Mark on the basis of crazy
relatives.)My friend is a RN who specializes in
incontinence. In passing conversation she mentioned
that the same muscles that control incontinence also
are the same ones that umm... well increase the
tightness of the vaginal vault. Those pesky old kegals
that are about as elusive as the G-spot as far as I am
concerned have been a mystery to me for years. I was
told to exercise them prior to the birth of my
children but the doctor never explained to me how to
do so.... so I thought I was doing them right..... but
its kinda like breast exams.... you tend to forget to
do it on a regular basis. I apparently stretched them
out like bow strings when i delivered my 9 and 10
pounder and haven't had them in shape since. The
obvious outcome of unexercised kegals is that you end
up at 84 visiting your kids and grand kids and sitting
on plastic because you cant make it to the toilet in
time... in fact you don't even realize you have to make
it to the toilet.( I am speaking here of the grand
geezer... god bless her) Well my friend( the RN) was sharing
with me that women in South America can pick up beer
bottles by the necks using only those muscles... I
personally would ask for a different waitress no
matter how entertaining that would be to see. I also
told the nurse that to share that information with kegal
impaired women like myself is not a kind professional
clinical move. She just wanted me to know so that I
could have a goal to strive for. At any rate my resting
kegal measurement is 2.5 ( which by her raised
eyebrows and no comment meant she was suprised my
stomach wasn't falling through my cooter every time I
coughed) My fully clamped cooter muscle measurement
was 52.3... that was fully strained with eyeballs
bulging out. Those south American woman I mentioned
fall in the 400 range.... of course they are sluts. I
got hooked up to a computer via a probe that was
inserted into my vaginal vault( I did it myself) and
information was fed into the computer... ie; name(I
used an alias) weight(I lied alittle) and height. Then
you get to choose the color of the graph line and
other little decorative things(like do you want your
results in a wide or narrow graph line or do you want
it in a pie shape) that cannot possibly be important
to any woman but an interior decorator. It provides
up the the second information as to your muscle
tonicity and gives you biofeedback when you reach your
goal. As I am squeezing I told the nurse she was going to
have to shut up.. because yelling squeeze, squeeze
squeeze in my ear was distracting me... you can't laugh
and squeeze at the same time.... to give you an idea
and this is really gross(even for your auntie) try
really laughing the next time you have a BM... it
doesn't work. I finally told her I didn't know if I was
using the right muscles...ergo enter the next
probe.... this one is attached to a "Prometheus
exerciser" it's a pulsating stimulator that sells for
400.00. This one delivers a mild electrical current
that you can increase in intensity... the current
causes the muscles on the pelvic floor to
contract..... and guess what... I am using the right
muscles just not hard enough........ hooray. The
treatment lasts for 30 min. It contracts for five
seconds and rests for 10. This little gizmo actually
increases the strength of your vaginal muscles. I was
gonna get a new vacuum cleaner but have since
changed my mind.( I just looked up Prometheus he
was the god who gave mortals fire...what a hoot) At
any rate all is not lost for your aunt as I know
you are all worried. I will be able to increase
muscle tone and strength without a problem I may
never get to the beer bottle stage but that's not
something you could talk about anyway. The kids
wanted to know where i was going I answered to
my nurse friend. Of course they asked why and I answered in
truth, so that I could learn to strengthen my pelvic
floor muscles so that I wouldn't end up like gramma.
Joshua answered with his hand over his ears "Jeez
couldn't you lie" and started singing(reminds me of
Carrie) I asked Becky if she wanted to go as it would
be valuable to her as she gets older (not the most
common mother/daughter bonding experience.. but well
who can say). She held up her hands in a weighing
motion... hummm she says (holds up one hand) go out to
dinner with my friend then raises her other hand..or she says go watch mother and her
friend be total idiots. Toss up mom.. but I will
pass.. I am hungry. Well I am glad I went. I am
telling you girls... keep it in shape. When we get
old I will be the only aunt allowed to visit. Of
course I probably won't have my mind left but at least
I wont wee-wee all over everything. Write back
brats... I love you all and miss you more. By the way
I don't have a current e-mail for Rachel(lucky her) so
Jennie...if you feel its warranted forward on to
her. This has to top the vinegar story. Talk to you
soon
love, Aunt TC (tight....ummmm well you get
the drift. lololol

Then the comments:

I recommend reading Debbie's email only if you have to pee really bad.
Then, while reading it, you will laugh really hard and, while running to
the bathroom with your hand between your legs, you will realize, maybe she
IS smart!

I'm sitting here....doing...kegals....as....I....type.... (please excuse
the pauses -- it is very difficult to type and kegal at the same time).

Thanks for the laugh!

Carrie



Hello everyone!!

Ok, so I immediately started contracting my kegal muscles (I think) while
sitting in my chair at work. I must admit that I have tears in my eyes because
I have to laugh quietly around here or else people will want to know what is so
funny and I just don't think that I could explain this one!!!! Thank you
Debbie!!! I believe I will stay married to Mark and his family because who else
would ever tell me about the facts of life? Don't think that Barb would tell me
that...what do you think Mindy, Carrie? tee hee Your stories are always
enthralling and I always enjoy them most of the day so thank you for adding my
work address to the list.

So how is everyone? Anyone have a story to top that? I don't think that I do.

Can't wait to hear from the rest of you about this "stimulating" experience.

Robbon

Part 7: Wedding Awards

We had such a good time. I had an awards list that I did for my daughter's wedding and felt that I had to make another for my son's!

Best Hosts for a Rehearsal Dinner: Steve and Peggy

Best In laws: Steve and Peggy, Stan and Debbie, Kurt and Stephanie

Best Aunts and Uncles in Attendance: Patti and Jack, Aunt Bee, Debby and Pete, "Auntie" Ruth

Best Mode of Transportation: Canoes

Worst Mode of Transportation: My sister's car which managed to lose brakes and a tail light while I was driving.

Best Singers: Jeff and Pam Hart et al..you guys are just awesome!

Best site for a Destination Wedding: Hartland Woods

Best Wedding Dinner: Stephanie, Kurt, Carolyn and Allen

Best Wedding Cake: Peggy Hart... my personal feeling is that there is no such thing as 'bad' wedding cake but this one was outstanding!!

Worst Guests: The flies and Mosquitoes

Best Exterminator: Stan and his 6 cans of OFF battled the flies and mosquitos the whole weekend

Best Bottle of Wine: Dancing Bull...brought by JR, the Best Man... I hope someone else notes the humor in this besides me. (Hint: they are both dancers)

Best Temporary Addition to Hartland Woods: Port-a-potties and a tent

Best Decision Made by Pastor Ken: Moving to the Emerald Inn after spending a night in a tent. You get huge points for staying the first night communing with nature!

Most Beautiful Pregnant Guests: Deanna, Stephanie, and Ashley.

Best Description of the Canoe Trip: Deanna Setsura-Kirchner.... I'm still laughing... you had to be there to hear it.... especially with her Russian accent.

Best Hors d'oeuvres: Fried deer tidbits.... YUM

Best Acronyms: MOG(mother of the groom) SMOG(Stepmother of the Groom)DOG(dad of the groom) and FOG(father of the groom)

Best Siblings( and "steps") Present: Rebekah, Seth and Brian

Best Hugger: Jeff Hart. You are a love!!

Best Photographer in the Worst Light: Patti Franklin.... the pictures are such a blessing

Worst Photographer: Me. I managed to cut off my daughter's head each time I tried for a pic of Seth and her. It was dark. She is very tall.

Best Dressed: Syd and Josh

Best Memory(for me): The look in my son's eyes when he saw Sydni.

Most Patient: Steve( Even though he was bound by a contract... ask Peggy LOL)


Thank you to all the friends and relatives who made this day so very special for Josh and Syd. You made his extended family feel so very welcome.