Back to School

Since I have not blogged in 12 days, you would dare to assume that I've been a busy woman. While that is partly true, I also have to admit that I've had a few moments of actual quiet relaxation and subtle accomplishment. My desk calendar looks like someone threw up! There is something on it for every single day. However, thanks to a good amount of balancing between DH, my mom and myself - I actually managed to find a few hours on Monday night to sit and watch the first two episodes of Supernatural Season Two. Man, those are two hot demon hunting brothers! Love that show but missed so many episodes on busy Thursday nights that I decided to just buy the seasons as they come out and enjoy them on my own time.

I also found a little time last weekend to create Ash's birthday party invitations (bowling pins) for her 13th bday party at Main Event. Funny that she was excited about having a party there since we had her 6th, 7th and 8th bday parties there I think. After 8, she declared the place "uncool" and we haven't looked back. However, things that were uncool in mid-2000's are now cool again. Who knew? I worked hard on those bday invitations! I was so proud of myself for getting them cut, printed, decorated, labeled and mailed all in the same weekend. Then Ash says, "Mom, did you put RSVP on the invitations?". Well, duh, of course I did not. Crap! Oh well, no one bothers to RSVP anymore anyway. Guess I'm saving them the trouble of disappointing me?! Yeah, that's it. Now I won't harbor resentment towards those mothers for their inability to RSVP. I'm already feeling myself relaxing about the situation. This birthday party is gonna ROCK!!!

I also squeaked in a little time to work on a baby scrapbook for a dear friend whose shower is this Sunday. Not sure when I'll find the time to make more than two pages before Sunday but I'm remaining optimistic!!

Just found out I'll have an extra pre-teen in the house all weekend. One of Ash's close friends is bailing on her home this weekend while their kitchen remodel is in the stinky paint phase. I don't blame her, my parents remained in their house during that paint phase and my mother ended up in the hospital because her heart was short circuiting and I'm positive my father and brother lost additional brain cells.

My baby boy is not handling the changes at school very well. He still thinks his BFF is just on vacation in Vegas and will be back soon. Heck, Mommy went to Vegas twice this year and came back both times. When you ask each day if he played with anyone at recess, he always says 'no, no one would play with me'. Now, I'm a sucker for my kids playing the "no friends, sympathy card". Ashton played it for years and I fell for it every time. Sorry son, I'm older and wiser now - I'm not getting suckered into this one. I'm not going to carry 40 lbs of solid guilt on my shoulders for you. You know how to make friends and you are a fun kid - get out there and prove it to the other kids in your class. If you weren't such a snob about girls, you might find some awesome friends in that catagory. I'm afraid I'm going to let you ride this one out. You can do it. I have faith. Plus I carry enough guilt around every day about: 1) being a working mom; 2) being Catholic; 3) being a working mom - that I just don't have the energy to carry much more. These are some big shoulders but give a gal a break - okay?

So that is basically what has been happening in the past 12 days. Oh yeah, I'm also trying to kick up my Scentsy biz but that seems to be going nowhere fast. My downline is kicking butt and I'm just not finding my groove these past two months. Oh well, no time for guilt there either. It is what it is.

Views from NOLA

DH and I spent this weekend in New Orleans. We made our first trek to this fine city when we were dating - 20 years ago! We've been back more times than I can count. We try to go every other year but don't always get to go that often. It looked like we weren't going to make it this year until he planned a business trip there the week of his birthday and I got the brainstorm to join him. He went out on Wednesday and I flew down on Friday and we flew back together today. We had such a great time and explored some new areas and ate at new restaurants - including Joey K's which was featured on the Food Network show - 'Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives". Cameron had the soft shell crab and I had a roast beef debris po' boy! Both were divine! We also ate at Mr. B's Bistro which is part of the Brennan Family restaurants. YUM!!! Our days included a tour of the World War II museum and a longgggg walk down Magazine Street. We also toured the Open Market and were pleased to see so much rebuilding and expansion going on all around. NOLA is trying hard to come back after Katrina!!! It's still a city full of culture, great food, great music and some great drinks! I cannot wait to go back in 2011!

From the WWII Museum:

Notice the date on the above pic! That is DH's bday and also just happened to the be the day we were touring the museum. The headlines read: JAPAN QUITS!!!!

I just love the balconies in NOLA! Such detail! Such beauty!

And we just cannot visit NOLA w/o a trip to Pat O'Briens. A few drinks on the patio followed by a drink in the piano bar (sometimes followed by a hang over - but not this year!).

Summer Time Blues

Hard to believe last Friday I was just waking up in a cabin full of my sisters and looking forward to a full day of fun with them. Now it's Friday again and I'm gearing up to help a friend move tonight, Ash's tennis tourney tomorrow and possibly Sunday. This entire week has been a reminder of how crazy and hectic our lives are.

Getting E home on Tuesday was fabulous!! He's so glad to be home and we are so glad he's back. They didn't get in til almost 9pm so when we dropped Mom off at home, I thought we'd let E say "hi" to my dad and go home. Instead my father decides to be waiting for E in the pool so E, of course, insists on jumping in w/ Pa. It was nice to see that after 17 days out of the water, E remembered everything he'd learned at his swim lessons before he left. However, by 10pm the rest of us were ready to get home and E was not cooperative about leaving the pool. Needless to say, Tuesday was a late night.

Wednesday I picked the kids up after work and we went to dinner and then to Target to stock up on E's favorites. Again, we got home late and got to bed late. Last night, both kids had tennis. It was 104 degrees yesterday so after tennis E wanted to swim. Once again, by the time I got him out of the pool and home - it was late. However, rather than trying to get stuff done around the house after he was asleep, I gave in to my inner-tired and crashed in bed by 10p.

I always look forward to the long days of summer but realize about half way in that our nightly routine is shot to hell in the summer. I am usually so out of sorts by the time school starts that it takes us months to get back into a family schedule. I'm not holding out hope that this school year will be any different with Ash trying out for tennis and volleyball, Jr. National Honor Society, carrying a full load of Pre-AP classes again, Wind Ensemble clarinet and tennis tournaments. My little man is going to have his final year of preschool which will start w/ a new teacher and the discovery that his BFF has moved to Las Vegas. I do not see this school year being much fun for any of us. Have Mercy!

Fun with Phots

Just a few examples of some fun I'm having playing with color on Memory Maker 3.0 Wish I had more time to play.

Camp Aftermath

It is always such a long drive down the winding road out of Northside Marina. After three and a half days of sister bonding, good food, loads of conversation and some booze (okay loads of booze), it is always a time of mixed emotion when CampAPhi comes to an end each year. The hardest part is knowing you might not see some of these ladies again til next year. There is the joy of going home to your own bed, routine, family, etc. but a definite sadness that Camp is over. There is always the dreadful dividing of the leftovers, the cleaning of the cabin and the unpacking when you get home. But you leave with a lot of great memories, belly laugh moments and sometimes a few secrets that you have to carry you over til the next year.

I love my sisters for a variety of reasons. We are all so different and yet so much alike. We come from different backgrounds and live very different lives in a lot of ways. Some are single, some divorced, some happily married, some not so happily married. Some have kids and some do not. Some are cat people and some love dogs. Some never left Texas and some may never come back here to live. If you had an outsider sit down with each of us individually they would probably assume you would never successfully put 15 us in one cabin for 3 days but this year was our fifth anniversary. We are mostly made up of strong, fairly confident women and maybe that is our common thread? Or maybe it is just about a rectangle brick two story house in a little town called Commerce with outdated bathrooms and a silver and bordeaux sign in the yard? Maybe that is all we need in common to continue this bond for many years to come? Maybe it really is just about the bond of sisterhood and having Delta Beta in common?

Whatever it is, there is a nice warm fuzzy feeling in my heart knowing that I have at least 15 gals out there that share a very special weekend with me once a year.