Making a Difference

Teachers are making a difference in the lives of their students and their families every day.   It is one of the reasons I became a teacher.  But now that I am retired, I was thinking about how to continue making a difference.  Or at the very least, feel like I am contributing.

Last month, a friend posted on Facebook that she was participating in the Texas Mamma Jamma Bike ride, riding to beat breast cancer, in honor of her mother.  I love this friend and so made a donation.  If you want to make a donation here is a link to her page.

.https://fundraisers.mammajammaride.org/fundraise?fcid=327567


The ALS ice bucket challenges that were blowing up our Facebook feeds were drawing so much attention to the issue of ALS.  A friend and colleague of mine lost a dear friend to ALS.  So instead of wasting water, I just made a donation in her friend's honor.  Here is a link if you wish to make a donation.

https://secure2.convio.net/alsa/site/Donation2;jsessionid=E8C755C15FA0A81F80A9EBEC766677DB.app202b?df_id=27420&27420.donation=form1

This month is Pediatric cancer awareness month.  This of course hits a little closer to home with our dear friends reaching the one year anniversary of their young son's diagnosis and nearing the end of his treatment plan.  Another friend has organized a blood replacement drive in honor of this anniversary/celebration.  Here is the information about the drive.  Please come out and donate if you can.

Rex Ryan Replacement Blood Drive

The Rexstrong community will be holding a blood drive to mark the year anniversary of Rex’s initial diagnosis of Stage 4 Neuroblastoma Cancer on September 12, 2013.

 Since that day, Rex’s life has been a roller coaster of hospitalizations, courses of chemotherapy, radiation, immunotherapy and a stem cell transplant. In addition, he has had 54 blood transfusions none of which would have been possible without folks like you donating to the Blood Bank. Time and time again, Rex has overcome any obstacles that this disease has thrown his way and I can think of no better way to celebrate his journey than this Blood Drive.

Information on the date and time of the drive is contained below.

 It is really important that you make an appointment before September 20 so that the Blood Bank can plan accordingly. The process has been simplified and you need only click on the link below to sign up.

 This is a voluntary event.

 Date:   September 20, 2014

Time:  10:00 am – 2:00 pm

*Time subject to change depending on participation

Sign up online: http://goo.gl/jODsi7

Location: 

Parking lot in front of Eanes Independent School District's Administrative Office

601 Camp Craft Rd, Austin, Texas 78746.

Contact: 

Debbie Smith

512-750-7141

dsmith@eanesisd.net

Please eat prior to donation; Photo ID required

For several reasons, I cannot give blood that day but will be sitting with Debbie thanking people for coming. I have ordered yellow wristbands that say "Win the day" to pass out to all those participating in the blood drive.  "Win the day"  is a saying the hospital and the Ryan family have adopted during Rex's care.  

Then I noticed that in October, there will be a Walk to End Alzheimers.  So I signed up both Lauren and I to walk this 5k to help raise funds.  This also hits close to home, since it was Lester's maternal grandfather that endured Alzheimers.  Our children were very young at the time.  I remember how hard it was on Lester's grandmother and his mother.  Recently I have found out that the mother of a very close friend is also suffering from Alzheimers.  So I have made a donation and plan to walk the 5k to help bring attention to this crippling disease

If you'd like to help me out, join me in the walk or make a donation, here is a link to the  information and my page.  If you want to walk, sign up with my team called the Wolff Pack.

http://act.alz.org/site/TR/Walk2014/TX-CapitalofTexas?px=9613282&pg=personal&fr_id=5433

Here is a picture of Lauren and Michael with grandma and grandpa.

I know I cannot support everything that comes along but I had this overwhelming feeling that I needed to do something more.  Hopefully these things will hold that feeling at bay for a bit.  Until the next issue arises.....

Exploring-Trip 1

One of the things I promised myself when I retired was that I would make the time to explore the towns and cities around Austin.  Day trips, so to speak.  My plan has been to take a day each week and go exploring.

Saturday, I volunteered to do a couple quick things at Lauren's school for her, since she is in Nebraska for the season opener.  I also needed to stop by the San Marcos outlets and visit the Vera Bradley store.  Since I was already out and about, I decide it would be my first day of exploring. This trip took me from Austin to the outlet mall to Luling and on to Flatonia, Praha, Schulenburg, Hoyston, High Hill, LaGrange, Smithville, Bastrop and home. Below you will see pictures of places I visited and sights I saw.

I started with Luling.

My first stop was going to be the visitor center but I took a glance at the Watermelon seed spitway on my walk there.  Supposedly this is a one of a kind indoor spitway and is home to the World Championship Watermelon Seed Spitting contest.  It is held in late June.  What I thought was interesting was that it said with advance notice you could arrange a  demonstration of spitting and pro techniques.  Maybe another time.

Next stop was the visitor center and the Central Texas Oil Patch Museum.  

The visitor center is small but has several things for sale, such as Watermelon Thump tshirts.  It is connected to the Oil Museum.  The lady there was very friendly.  If you like them on Facebook, you get a discount on the merchandise.  The museum asks for a dollar donation per person.  It has on display many of the tools, hard hats, caps, etc related to the oil business.  It is housed in a historic building which used to be the Walker Brothers Mercantile. There is an example of a drill site set up.  It was small but very interesting to someone with no knowledge about oil drilling.

The lady in the visitor center told me about the  decorated pumpjacks around town and gave me a map to find them.  The brochure lists the locations of 16 pumpjacks around Luling.  I found all 16 but 4 no longer have their decorations.  Most of them had easy access to stopping and taking pictures.  Here they are:

My plan had been to eat lunch at City Market BBQ but the line was weaving in and out of all the tables and appeared to be at least an hour wait.  I'll try them again another time when in Luling.

Before heading out, I stopped in at the Watermelon Shop.  I'd been trying to get there every time I'd been in Luling but hadn't had any luck.  Today was the day.  If you need anything "watermelon" this is the place to go.

Now it was time to hit the road.  I headed out on Highway 90E towards Flatonia.  My first stop was at Buc-EE's just outside the Luling city limits. If you haven't been to a Buc-EE's, you need to stop  It is an experience in itself.

I had read that Flatonia and surrounding towns were the homes of the Painted Churches.  I found all of them but unfortunately by the time I got to most of them, they were in the middle of Saturday evening services so I didn't get to see the insides.  Oh well, a reason to come back. 

In Praha (the Czech spelling for "Prague") I found the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church.  It was built in 1895.

Upon arriving in Schulenburg, I drove past Sengelman Hall, the Czech Bakery and The Polka Music Museum.  None were open. The Carnation Milk Company's first plant was built in Schulenburg in 1929.  St. Paul's Presbyterian Church is not one of the Painted Churches but I thought it was interesting with red doors.

Dubina holds the title of the first Czech settlement in Texas.  Here is Saints Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church.  On the edge of the property were these outhouses.  I wonder if they actually still use them...

Ammannsville was  settled by both German  and Czech immigrants.  Here I found St. John the Baptist Catholic Church.

Hostyn over looks the Colorado River and was first called Bluff.  It also was settled by both German and Czech settlers.  Here was a beautiful grotto.  It is a replica of France's Grotto of Lourdes and built in 1925 in thanks for the end of the 1924-1925 drought.  It is located on the grounds of the Holy Rosary Catholic Church.  The sun was at a strange angle and my pictures do not do it justice as far as it's beauty.

High Hill used to be on the stagecoach line but got bypassed when the railroad came along in 1874.  Here I found the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church.

By this time, it is time to be heading back to Austin and most places have closed for the day so below I will just give you a few highlights of places I want to come back to in the future.

LaGrange-

Monument Hill-Kreische Brewery State Historic Site, Luka's Bakery and Weikel's Bakery.  Although I did purchase a few items from Weikel's Bakery, most of the good stuff was gone for the day.

Cedar Creek-

Berdoll Pecan Candy and Gift Company, McKinney Roughs Nature Park, Central Texas Museum of Automotive History

Bastrop-

Bastrop Opera House, Lock's Drug, Riverwalk,  Maxine's on Main

So you can see I already have my next adventure planned out.  

Happy travels!

ALS & the Ice Bucket Challenge

All these posts on social media, especially on Facebook, got me thinking.  I know that could be dangerous, right?  Especially with someone who has a lot of extra time on her hands.

I'm all for raising awareness for things such as ALS.  In fact I think we go though life totally unaware of the struggles people are going through, unaware of the severity of situations, unaware of the horrific afflictions that others are experiencing.  UNTIL it hits close to home.  I don't think we do this on purpose, life just gets in the way.  So when the Ice Bucket challenge began as a way to raise awareness for ALS, I was on board with the idea.  However lately, I guess I have become a little cynical.  Or a little tired of the videos blowing up my Facebook feed.  Or....I don't know.

I don't mean to upset my friends who have experienced losing a loved one to this horrible disease.  Please don't take my thoughts the wrong way.

I made a donation today to ALS in memory of Charelle Tushelc Burnett, a dear friend of Carin Champion.  Carin is a friend and colleague of mine.  I have never met Charelle but have heard several stories of her from Carin.

I did not do the ice bucket challenge and I have no plans of doing it.  Although if I were creative, I might have come up with some other method of doing the challenge such as how Carin and her friend Ingrid approached the challenge.  You can try to see their post here.  https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10203334671822275&set=vb.1075116949&type=2&theater

Awareness is great.  Support is even better.  I guess my thoughts are as follows:

I hope everyone who is participating in the challenge actually makes a donation.  Probably they are since the ALS Association website says that they have raised 88 . 5 million dollars in 29 days.  The increased awareness has provided unprecedented financial support.  Yea!  I am so happy.  They will be able to do so much with that money.

Awareness is the key, I get that but I also have to wonder how much water has been wasted during this challenge.  According to The Washington Post, it is over 5 million gallons.  I know we waste a lot of water with faulty sprinklers and leaky faucets but this kinda irritates me when  you think of all the places around the world in drought status or where there is no fresh clean drinking water.  I love how Matt Damon participated in the challenge.  As the co-founder of Water.org, he chose to use toilet water.

I believe more people are aware of ALS because of this challenge but do we really know anything more about it?  Maybe we should find ways to raise awareness like participating in the Walk to Defeat ALS.  Heaven knows we could all use a little exercise.

But then in the end, I have to wonder, does it really matter?  As long as the people have donated.  As long as the foundations are receiving tremendous amounts of money in order to try to find a cure.  Maybe a bucket of ice water over the head is worth it.  Maybe, just maybe, this crazy challenge has brought out the better side of humanity.  One where we are helping each other, thinking of others, and actually doing something rather than just talking about it. Or worse, ignoring it.

Side note:
As I reread this post in preparation for posting, I realized something.  When a dear friend and colleague found out her 18 month old son had stage 4 neuroblastoma, my daughter and I jumped in with both feet to raise funds for the family.  We  created t-shirts, wristbands and hoodies and sold them around the country to gain financial support for this family.  My daughter posted pictures of people wearing their gear on a special Facebook page.  So how is that different?  I guess it's not really.  My daughter and I did exactly the same kind of thing that I just ranted about.
Boy oh boy, I told you a woman with too much time on her hands was dangerous.

Anyway, whether you participate in the Ice Bucket Challenge or just donate to ALS, find the time to do it.  The people suffering  need your help.  The loved ones suffering need your help.  It would mean alot to everyone involved.

Read At Your Own Risk

For the most part the recent responses to the death of Robin Williams have been respectful and endearing.  It's the news reports or the people who are commenting on social media that have made crass or rude comments/jokes about his death.  More specifically regarding his method of demise-suicide.  These people just don't stop to think.  Obviously they have never lost a loved one to suicide.

My family and  a few of my closest friends know that I have lost a loved one to suicide.  My brother Jeff.   It's not that I don't share the information on purpose.  It's just that the topic of suicide seems to set a lot of people on edge.  It seems that people are uncomfortable talking about it.  Also it's the looks I see in people's eyes sometimes when I have said something.  I know they mean well but somehow, I always walk away feeling like now they feel sorry for me.  I guess that's ok but sometimes it makes me uncomfortable to know that people feel sorry for me.  Most people I encounter have never been on this side of the suicide table.

Allow me to give you a little background on my brother.  Jeff was born in July of 1971.  He arrived home to find he had 3 older sisters and he had long been anticipated.  He was the "little prince."  He was funny, outgoing, and very smart as a young child.  He was about 10 when my parents divorced and as so often happens, he got stuck in the middle.  As a teen he turned to drugs and alcohol.  He spent some time in rehab.  He missed my wedding because of it.  But that was ok because I was hopeful he was getting the help he needed.  While in high school he moved to the Seattle area with my mom, step dad and sisters. Things were looking up, at least from my vantage point. He completed high school there.  He had a girlfriend and an apartment and was planning to go to school . I didn't live there and only visited once a year, so I can't say for sure but I'll bet he had his moody days and I wouldn't be surprised to find out alcohol and possibly even drugs had snuck back into his life.

One evening in October of 1989, my youngest sister called and told me that Jeff had died.  He had used his rifle and shot himself. He was 18 years old. I barely remember the conversation.  But if you talk to Lester, he will tell you that that night is etched in his memory.

Recently, I read an article called "Building Bridges-Suicide Prevention Dialogue with Consumers and Survivors" that was put out by the US Department of Health and Human Services.  In it they said, "Suicide-talked about, attempted, completed-ripples like a stone dropped in a pond,..."  Well I can tell you first hand that it is not like a stone.  It is more like a boulder!

According to their statistics,  in 2011, suicide was the 10 th leading cause of death in the US with a suicide occurring every 13.3 minutes.  It was the 3rd leading cause of death among 15-24 year olds and is 4x higher for males. Depression and addiction are the leading causes of suicide.  Access to firearms, which are the most common means for males, also exacerbates the problem.

I feel like the media has criminalized mental health problems. People, especially older people, are ashamed to seek help.  Like there is a stigma associated with mental illness.  I think they have oversimplified the reasons Robin Williams took his own life.  My gut feeling is that people who die by suicide don't have one reason for this act.  Depression, addiction, mental illness...all they want is for the pain to stop.  I believe they want to end their pain, not necessarily their life but they can't see through the pain to think rationally and long term.  They can't imagine the long term effects their suicide will have on their loved ones and the community.  They have lost all hope that things can change.

I know that agencies will tell you a list of signs to watch for and I do believe that if you are vigilant, maybe you can get help for someone who is contemplating suicide.  But I also believe that no matter what you do, how closely you listen, how closely you watch, there will always be those that slip through the cracks and take their own lives.  Some suicides may be premeditated...what I mean is that they have made comments, or shown signs.  But I believe there are some that we would never have seen coming.  Robin Williams may have been one of those.

I have no blame for my family in respect to not seeing the signs with my brother.  I know they would have done something had they know that was going to happen.  So for people to post on social media sites comments or jokes like "It's a shame no one could make that big a difference to you Robin when things got too hard to handle..."  That's bullshit.  Don't assume he didn't have a loving wife and kids that weren't there for him.  We've seen press releases and comments about the devastation his family is enduring.  Do you really think they would have ignored the signs had they realized the end result was losing him. The emotional toll and the effects of losing a loved one to suicide endure for the remainder of your life. All survivors go through stages of shock, anger, and guilt, and even depression themselves. It is devastating and life changing.

Sometimes, if you are very lucky (if that's what you want to call it), a bright spot can be seen through the darkness that is called surviving the aftermath of a suicide.  In my case, there were two such bright spots.

Shortly after Jeff's death, his girlfriend told our family that she was pregnant with Jeff's child.  Of course my family was a little skeptical but I can tell you that girl is his through and through.  From the moment she was born in June of 1990, the family genes were evident.  She looked just like our side of the family.  Blood tests confirmed it as well.  My beautiful, niece, Jessica, turned 24 this June.  She has had loving people in her life all along but she has also had her share of trials and tribulations.

The second bright light in this madness arrived in August of 1990.  Our daughter, Lauren Michele, arrived!  After being told that we would never have children, this little bundle of joy was just what we needed. We call her our miracle baby. I'm not really sure where I stand on the spiritual intervention deal, but some parts of me believe that she is here because Jeff left us.  That God, or whomever, knew we needed this.  Maybe it was Jeff.  If so, thank you little brother.  Although I wish we could have kept you as well.

Looking ahead, it will be 25 years this October.  Wow!  Jeff has been gone longer than he was alive.  How is that possible?  If I am calculating correctly (and that's a big if) he would have been 43 last month.  What I wouldn't give to see my baby brother as a middle aged man!

Here are some things I know for sure:
Suicidology.org will give you a list of what to look for and how to respond
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is there if needed-800-273-8255 24/7
I miss my brother every day.
Robin Williams will be missed both by his fans across the world and his family.
Ignorant people are just that...ignorant and not worth our time.


If you have gotten this far in this post, let me thank you for allowing me to rant about the ignorance people show in the difficult times of others.  Thank you for letting me share my story and hopefully share some insights into the feelings and thoughts of a family member that has lost a loved one to suicide.  These are my thoughts and only mine.  My sisters, parents and other family members may disagree with my thoughts, but all I can say is "to each his own."

Love to all, especially you Jeff,
Jennifer

Healthy Update #1

Well it's been 14 days since I visited Texas Diabetes and Endocrinology.  I received lots of great information at that meeting.  The mid level medical tech started me on 2 oral meds and daily insulin injections.  Although I didn't want to have to do injections, it hasn't been bad and my glucose numbers are coming down steadily.  They have been lower than I've seen in months.  Not quite where I need them yet but working on it.  Next Tuesday I have an appointment with a dietitian.  Thought that might give me some added information.  I'll let you know how things are going along the way.  Thanks to everyone for their moral support.

Going For a Healthier Me!

Everyone has their own troubles and trials in their life.  This post is about something that is happening in my life right now.  I know that my issue may not be as devastating and heartbreaking as someone else's but it is my diagnosis to deal with.

About a year and half ago, my doctor diagnosed me with type 2 diabetes. First I was scared.  Then I was angry and refused to do anything he suggested.  Which in reality wasn't much, except a very strict prepackaged food plan that was VERY expensive.  I attempted this plan twice and failed.  Since then I have received very little support, counseling and/or guidance from my family doctor and I have all but ignored the fact that I have type 2 diabetes.

Yes I know you are probably saying...This is dangerous.  You need to take care of yourself.  But I think a person has to go through the stages of grief or something like it.
I've been scared.
I've been angry.
I've been in denial.
I've been depressed.

And now I think I have finally come through that black tunnel and out the other side ready to acknowledge this beast and deal with it.  I have made an appointment with Texas Diabetes and Endocrinology for a consultation and some advice/guidance.

These things I know already.
I need to monitor my levels and have started a log to take with me to my appointment on August 1.
I need to get more exercise and have started walking with Lauren.
I need to lose weight and am attempting to eat healthier by making better choices.
I need to give up my diet cokes but this is harder than one thinks.  I'm working on it by cutting back on the number of drinks I have each day.

The biggest thing I have figured out or that has finally come to me is that I have to do this for me.  Not for my family, not for a wedding next year.  I have to be selfish and do it for me and for only me.  If I do that everyone else will benefit as well because I will be healthy and happy.  I have finally reached acceptance.

I am posting about this here so that others facing similar hurdles can see that they are not alone in their fight.  I am posting this here to hold me accountable.  I am posting this here so that my friends and family can be supportive of the changes in my life.

Thank you to everyone in advance for your understanding and support and love.  I will keep you updated with my progress.  Here's to a healthier me!

And It's a Wrap!

Vacation that is...for now.  My life is now one big vacation due to retirement.  But actually I am talking here about my vacation with Lester.  We just returned home from a trip to Reno and California.
Here are the highlights starting with Reno.

Problem #1
We arrive at the Austin airport at 7:00 a.m. to find our flight to DFW is delayed enough to cause us to miss our connection to San Francisco where we have a rental car waiting for us so we can drive to Reno.  The ticket agent cannot find another flight for us into San Fran.  Not one!  Finally we decide to forgo the car in San Fran and fly to Reno.  We'll deal with the car later.

After arriving at DFW, Lester attempts to deal with the rental car.  Nothing but a refund can be done.  Fine. $300 back in our account. He will just start over and book a new rental car, but lo, and behold, now the rental cost will be close to $1100 for the week.  No way!  Where there is a will there is a way, I guess and soon he has us booked to get a rental at the airport in Reno for $315.  Only one catch.  It has to be returned to Reno and we are flying out of San Fran.  So we have decided to  take that, go on our travels through California, spend a day coming back to Reno at the end, and returning it.  Then get another rental car to drive back to California and deliver it to the San Fran airport the next morning when we fly out.  $350  more. Oh well...here we go.

Lester was bowling in a tournament in Reno with some of his guy friends.  Since no other wives came a long, I was free to excuse my self from the watching of said bowling.  Instead I gambled and lost money, gambled and won money, shopped, laid by the pool and gambled and lost money.  On Saturday evening, we picked up our rental car from  the Reno airport and headed to northern California.

Here are the highlights from the trip.

• Roosevelt elk herd in a meadow
• Sun Dial Bridge in Redding
• views along the coastal highway
• Redwood National Forest
• Big Tree-1500 years old, 304 ft tall
• Drive through the Avenue of the Giants
• Immortal tree, Dyerville Giant, Eternal tree house
• Shrine Drive Through Tree and tree houses
• ocean views
• sea glass at Glass Beach
• cattle crossing the road
• Richmond Bridge-double decker 5.5 miles long
• Pebble Beach community
• SF Giants baseball game, drinking hot chocolate on July 1st
• shopping and eating along Fisherman's Wharf
• Golden Gate Bridge and park

Problem #2

On July 4th we arrived at the SF airport at 7:00 a.m. for our 9:15 flight to Phoenix and connecting flight to Austin.  But guess what!  Our flight has been cancelled!  US Airways has nothing available until 8 p.m. with 3 layovers getting us home the next morning.  Ummm, no thank you.  They send us to United.  We can try standby on a 10:45 flight but it's not looking good and they'll book us on a nonstop to Austin at 4:10 p.m.  We will get to spend the whole day in the SF airport.  Yea!  Not!  We try for the standby and just as they call us to board, the family they've been waiting on arrives. Booo!  Now we wait till 4.  Kinda felt like Tom Hanks in that movie....stuck in the airport all day. Great news though, there is a nail salon, so I get a mani/pedi to kill some time while Lester watches episodes of Cheers on Netflix.

Finally board and arrive home in Austin around 10 p.m.  Aaahhh my own bed.  Glad to be home.....for now....until our next adventure.

Happy Father's Day Lester!

Today is a special day for fathers everywhere.  It's Father's Day!  Today is the day our family officially celebrates what a fabulous father Lester is.  Almost 24 years ago, Lester became a father after several years thinking that it would never happen.  From day 1, he has been amazing with his 2 kids.  He only ever wants what is best for them. I know he is very proud of the adults that Lauren and Michael have become.  As hard as it is to see your babies grow up, I believe he has handled it
with grace.  Here's to you my dear husband!  You are an amazing father and husband.  Love you to the moon and back.

Friday the 13th, a full moon and a lucky penny! Ha!

So yesterday was Friday the 13th.  Superstitious?  Not really.  But it was also a full moon and had we been in school, I most definitely would have expected some craziness.
For the past few days I have been house/dog sitting for a wonderful family.  Yesterday I  left for a wee bit to get  my hair cut.  In the salon parking lot I found a penny, heads, up.  So feeling lucky I picked it up and put it in my pocket.  Did it bring me luck you ask.  Well, you be the judge. Here's how my day turned out.

1.  My hair cut looks great.  My stylist, Hayley from Hair by Hayley, works wonders!
2.  I had been waiting to hear some good news that was due by Thursday evening but did not receive it then.  Feeling disappointed about that, it was surprising when the news did come unexpectedly on Friday morning.  Yea!
3.  Arrive at the house, take the dogs out of their kennels and decide they can walk with me to the end of the drive to get the mail and the trash container.  Close the front door and head out.  Return to the front door after getting the mail and trash container to find it locked.  The key is inside.  Search for another key the family may have hidden nearby without luck.  Text the mother...no other key.  Call a locksmith who says he will be here in 20 minutes.  An hour later he arrives.
By this time Lauren is here as well.  (We were going to lay by their pool.)  As the locksmith struggles with the 3 doors on the house, Lester arrives with lunch for the 3 of us.  We eat and wait on the locksmith to do his magic.
Over an hour later, the locksmith says the only thing he can do is drill through the deadbolt lock on the beautiful front door.  I text the owners and they agree to let him do that.  While he does that, I take the lucky penny from my pocket and throw it in the tree line.  I don't need that kind of luck!
He struggles with it but finally gets it done and realizes that the deadbolt is not locked.  Of course it isn't, how can you get locked out with a deadbolt?  The locksmith then says it has to do with the handle on the front door.  It is locked or broken.  Since I know there is no lock on the handle section, I assume it is broken.  He wants to drill thorough that as well.  I saw no.  Thanks for your help, pay the $60 I owe and send him on his way.
But we have still not gotten in the house.  Now I also have to go to the bathroom.  Uggh!  We wander aimlessly around the house trying to figure out what to do next and waiting for the owner to call me.  Lauren decides to try  the old credit card trick and Voila!  the front door opens.  Hallelujah Lauren!
So almost 3 hours later, and $60 poorer, we are in.  Now we examine the door handle and it is indeed the problem.  If this had not happened to me, it would have happened to the family at some point.  They are very understanding.

So was it Friday the 13th?  A full moon?  A lucky penny?  Did the lucky of the penny clash with the bad vibes of  Friday the 13th?  How does a person explain all of this?  Just life, I guess.

Mother-Daughter Trip!

Lauren and I went on a mother-daughter trip to celebrate her college graduation.  She graduated in May from Texas State University and will be a teacher.  Dad and I asked what she wanted for a gift and she said a cruise.  We agreed on a driving trip to New Orleans, with a few days to explore and then a cruise out of New Orleans for 4 nights to Cozumel and back.  Here are the pictures from our adventure together.  We had a fabulous time.  It was fun to spend time just the two of us.  Love that girl!

Oak Alley Plantation

New Orleans fun

Audubon Aquarium and Zoo

On board the ship

Cozumel

Nottaway Plantation

Reading me one of her Cajun fairy tale books

Winning at the Isle of Capri Casino in Lake Charles, LA

Blood on My Hands...or Rather on My Tires

A horrible experience occurred today.  Tragedy for a raccoon family.  Lauren and I were headed out to see Oak Alley Plantation today.  We had just gotten off I-10 and were driving down a 4 lane highway.  I was in the far right hand lane with no other traffic around, other than a car far, far behind me.  A mother raccoon and two babies begin to cross the road up ahead and were in my lane.    I began to move over into the other lane, thinking the mother would be frightened by the traffic and retreat.  However she did not do that.  She continued onward with her darlings following her.  I tried, I really tried, to avoid them but in the end I hit the mother.  I know!  Horrible!  As I looked in my rear view mirror I saw the babies turn around and run back into the grass.  Momma was laying in the road with her feet wiggling in the air.  OMG!  What do I do now?  Do I collect the babies and raise them as a surrogate mother?  Do I put her out of her misery? Help ! What is the right answer?  We kept on going. That's what we did.  Then I called Lester and told him what happened and he called me a raccoon killer.  How horrible!  Like I didn't feel bad enough already!  Now I am in New Orleans and hiding from the animal police  because I am afraid they are looking for the person who failed to stop and render aid to an injured animal.  Or for the person responsible for orphaning those sweet little raccoon babies.  Now all I can do is hope that the papa raccoon will step up and help those little guys and that they can forgive me for my actions against their mother.  It was truly an accident.  Pray for my soul everyone.

Good-Byes and a Road Trip

Yesterday I said good bye to a lot of great friends and colleagues and to the school I've taught at for the last 6 years.  Well, not really good-bye since I'm sure I'll sub around there a bit in the fall.  But good bye as in I am no longer a staff member on that campus. It hasn't really hit yet cause it just feels like the end of the school year.  Not the end of a school career.

Once we did that, Lauren and I had lunch with our sweeties, texted Michael good bye and headed out on our road trip to New Orleans.  We'll spend a few days in NOLA before catching a cruise ship to Cozumel.  This is Lauren's graduation gift from mom and dad.

Last night we stopped in Lake Charles, LA or more precisely Westlake, LA at the Isle of Capri casino and hotel.  We ate a crappy piece of pizza for dinner and tried our hand at a few penny slots.  The casino was cruel to us.  Taking our money and not even letting us play a little bit.  I have a tendency to lose at the casinos but at least most of the time I can play for awhile and get some entertainment out of it for a few hours.  But not last night.  We finally gave it up and headed back to the hotel room for the night.

Today we are headed to Oak Alley Plantation and into the French Quarter where we will check into our hotel and get started exploring New Orleans.  I think beignets might be first on the list so Cafe du Monde here we come!

Keep checking in to follow our adventures.

Retirement is Here!

The last day of school is tomorrow and my retirement officially begins on May 31.  Although I will have to report to school on the morning of Monday, June 2 just to turn in keys and stuff.

It's kind of a weird feeling thinking that I am old enough to retire.  I don't feel that old.  Well, most days I don't.

People ask me how I'm feeling.  Not sure what answer they are looking for....should I answer with the following?

Awesome I can't wait to get out of here!

Happy, feeling great about my decision.

Sad, what will I do without all of you?

Hallelujah it's about time!

Or

Oh no I've made a huge mistake.  Please don't make me go.

I have probably felt a little of all of those at some point in the last few weeks.  Well, maybe not the last one.  :)  Maybe that is what I will feel in August when all the new school supplies fill the aisles of Dollar Tree and Target.  Or when Lauren is setting up her classroom for the first time.

Nah, probably not.

People ask me what are my plans?  Wait a minute!  I'm supposed to have plans?  I thought I was retiring and I thought no plans was a major part of retirement.  Has someone led me a stray?

Actually, here are a few of my plans.  (yes I do have a few.)

Help Lauren and in between that, sleep in, read, sit by the pool or in it, meet Lester for lunch (yes he is still working), read, nap, read, sit by the pool, etc.  You can see where this is going.

However, my biggest plan is to keep in touch with friends.  So amigas,  let me here how you think we should do that.  Because most of you will be working.  Oh, sorry, didn't mean to rub that in.  :)

For now, think about it and get back to me when you can.  I hope everyone has a great LAST day!

I'm Back!

It's been a long time since I posted on this blog.  Now that the school year is winding down I'll have more time to continue using this blog.  Especially because of my big news!  Are you ready for it?  I am retiring!  Yes I am!  After 29 years I am ready for a new adventure!  I know, there are a lot of people who can't believe it!  Even I have a hard time believing it is really happening.  I guess because the year is ending, it just feels like a normal end.  I'll post more about my thought process and plans.  In the meantime, check out this other blog I contribute to:  http://jandlwolff.weebly.com  Lauren and I are working this blog together to give 2 perspectives on all things educational.  Enjoy your end of the year activities.