Will This Party Never End?

Who doesn't love those goofy paper party hats Brits wear? I've been remaking some long duster vest things and have an abundance of sleeves scattered about. I took them to mom's house Sunday and made everyone wear them while we ate chocolate cake and danced for four minutes to the song Hallelujah by Rufus Wainwright from the Shrek soundtrack. This was the only photo that didn't have Katee's picture and she said the only way I could take a picture was if I didn't post one with her in it.

I then regaled them with my Samuel L. Jackson story:

On my birthday I was in the high limit blackjack pit on a fifty dollar table. I was shuffling the cards when a black man wearing a cozy hat approached my table. He didn't make eye contact. I said hi (in my friendly casino employee voice). It was after greeting him that I realized it was Samuel L. Jackson.

He switched directions after seeing the minimum bet was fifty and went to the twenty-five dollar table. I only had two players. The quarter table was loaded. Mr. Jackson came in with a white man and a white woman. The woman juggled a notebook. Both stood around while he settled down to play.

Seconds later there was shrieking and then the general yahoos started scrambling in from the regular part of the casino. The black man and black woman on my table agreed with me that there was no reason to act like you were raised in a barn and resort to hysterics when you spotted a celebrity. Finally, security was dispatched and Mr. Jackson was able to play a couple of shoes with a little bit of peace. I went on break and when I came back twenty minutes later Mr. Jackson had vamoosed. (Kathryn)

Not A Bad Birthday

This is what I woke up to on Thursday. I promised the person with the purpled out eyes I would not publish this picture but I apparently lied so I gave her a little bit of space by keeping her anonymous (I think it's okay that I lied because this was all a part of my birthday celebration).

Chocolate cake and Hy-top ice cream.

Ya-hoo. What more could a gal ask for?

Oh wait I forgot ...Samuel L. Jackson spent part of my special day with me.

The end. (Kathryn)

The End

News reports stated that Monday was the dreariest day of the year. It just punctuated what we've been feeling the last ten days or so. For Charlie the highpoint of sadness came when the tow truck carted away the Blazer last week after the insurance company declared it totaled.

A moment of silence for the music he lost...

While he did remove the stereo from the vehicle he forgot to remove the CDs from over the visor. The next day when he went to where ever they had towed it the CDs were gone. (Kathryn)

adulthood.

When did I grow up?

Somewhere between the mood swings and heart breaks and joy and tears, I grew up. I only say this because I've figured out how to be responsible. I guess it dawned on me last night when my manager from Blockbuster called to ask if I knew how to get a hold of Ken who hadn't shown up, I volunteered to go in. It was my night off and I was going to go in and close, when I had to open today.

I don't know why. I guess it's because I don't want to let people down. I don't want to look like a brat because I'm not. I've been thinking too much about this lately. There's so much that comes with being an adult. It's scaring me a little. I'd love to go back to being 14 again. :
I have too much on my mind to even begin to write down. (Katee)

Not a Military Family

We are not a military family. My father served stateside in the Korean war. None of my siblings served in the military. There was a point where my husband thought it would be a good idea if Katee wanted to enlisted. I nixed that idea. We are not lucky people. We do not win lotteries. But I have a feeling we would be "lucky" when it came to body bags.

The one family memory I have of the military is when a cousin came back from Vietnam with severe facial and brain damage. "He's just different now," was the only thing my mother's family would say.

On KTBS last night there was a story of a Shreveport mother who served in Vietnam and was now proud that her two sons were heading off to war. I watched the young man in the story and saw fear. The mother went on to say "I knew the day they enlisted, that they would face the reality of being in Baghdad." The youngest kid is a senior at Byrd and will be leaving for basic in May.

Faiza Al-Arji is a Baghdad mom who blogs. When bombs started raining down in her city in March 2003 she went to the flower shop to buy roses because she wanted to be happy in the last moment of her life. Al-Arji says the meaning of "Marine" in Iraq is murderer.

What's the chance that these two mothers of sons will ever sit down and chat over a cup of tea? I say this in my most radical feminist voice isn't that what being a woman is all about?

B-12

I forget how good B-12 makes me feel. I've slipped into the habit of only taking two droppers a day when I do better taking five.

This afternoon before Katee and I ride out to run errands, I slick the orange liquid under my tongue and then do it again before 4 p.m. I can feel the quiet in me and enjoy sitting on the porch knowing the litter box needs my attention but for a few minutes I'm connected to the world and not wrestling against it. (Kathryn)

Quick-Mix Concrete for Fortification

I know this is not timely but maybe if I jot this down I'll use it at the end of 2007.

It seems to me that the last two weeks of the year and a zombie attack have a lot in common. Brain dead folks running around in both situations! Especially near malls and big super stores.

My plan is to load up on supplies (food, crafts, kitty litter...) and hole up in a big secure compound 'til the thing blows over. I'll only go out for movies but then in this situation I might turn to movies on demand through my cable provider.

I thought up this plan when my brother and his family came to town to spend Christmas at his in-laws big compound in south Shreveport. They spent a lot of time schlepping supplies back from Wal-Mart. Surely there's got to be some place on the internet where Hot Pockets can be ordered?

I gloated over my brilliant idea of hunkering down for the last part of the year until that lady ran into Charlie on Wednesday -- well into the first week of the new year and proof that brain dead folks are out all the time. (Kathryn)

Goodbye Blazer?

A moment of silence for the little 1988 Chevy Blazer. Charlie was in an accident yesterday while on his way to work in Bossier City. A lady rear ended him and he slammed into another car.

The front and rear ends were damaged. Who knows if it will be totaled. It had 150,000 miles on it and wasn't worth much. Charlie is just sore and missing his little car.

It's been an exciting year for the Blazer. It was stolen and recovered in July. Now we'll have to see if it will survive its latest ordeal. (Kathryn)