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.