Christmas Day 08

I had to work Christmas Day but we had Christmas dinner earlier in the day at mom's house. I convinced my dad to let me take a picture of his boobie that might have to undergo a mammogram.

We all ate at the kitchen table, including John. We pushed the table towards the window and that gave more room for moving about. Katee was in Norway so it was just me, Charlie, my mom and dad and my brother.

Later in the day Auguste came by our house and delivered tasty divinity he had made. He stayed and talked with Charlie for an hour or so.

Norway Kate

She's called twice and sent emails since arriving in Norway last Friday. I took this picture last Thursday morning when she was getting ready to have Auguste drive her to Dallas so she could catch her plane.

Finals Over!

Another college semester down for Katee. Some folks are on the four year plan. Some the five. Katee? We'll just celebrate each completed semester and tally them later.

And those glasses are so gone! Ask her about the day she spent at the eye doctor learning to poke her eyeball with her finger so she could get contacts. (Kathryn)

Back on Carbamazepine

Charlie went to the doctor today. Doctor wanted to up the Carbamazepine. We looked at the bottle. Someone has not been taking it at all. At all. The last time it was filled was over a year ago at K-Mart.

Do you see why I want to run away? I'm never gonna get to be a super star or a super hero. Stoopid families. (Kathryn)

P.S. The video of Charlie having jerking movements is on May 23, 2008. I haven't processed it. It was a result of him taking Seroquel.

Trust You R Self

...because I can't trust Katee's car because it keeps breaking. Charlie pushes on to figure out why it's being funky. Katee is counting the days she will fly to Norway. She'll be gone for Christmas. I'm just not sure how I feel about that. Happy for her. Sad for me. Happy for her. (Kathryn)

Obama Mama

How can a college student not want to back a man who wants to make higher education more affordable? Katee is living in this shirt. (Kathryn)

Worship

Goddess bless New Zealand! I need to go to a church like this. (Kathryn)

21 Katee

Katee is 21. We are celebrating for days... Here's a video of a man who turned 100. Not that when your 21 you worry about that but when you're the momma of a 21er the notion begins to enter your brains. Please no bent over in a wheelchair future for me...(Kathryn)

Fall Fall Fall

Katee crawled in to bed with me today. She's not feeling well (brain). We may have to see about getting her meds adjusted. She's taking four classes at LSUS. In a week she will be 21.

Watched Graduating Peter this weekend. An HBO documentary about a teenager with Downs Syndrome. There were things he did well like bowling. And other things he struggled with like tying his shoes (why the hell didn't they just get him shoes with Velcro?).

And why the hell did they make him at age 15 start working at boring ass jobs -- sweeping out city buses, washing dishes and washing clothes. No wonder he was depressed. If I thought all I could do was crap jobs like that for the rest of my life, I'd be depressed. Crap jobs are okay if you are older and have to pay rent and put food on the table but one hopes you've got a plan to move into something you like eventually. But how do you know what you like if at age 15 you are never given the chance to discover your passion. Having mental retardation doesn't mean you can't have passion. Like riding on a city bus or something else.

Peter should have had the time to explore and develop interests. He reacted with typical teen boredom when forced to do what he didn't like. Who wouldn't? There are so many interesting things to do in the world why shut down his options like that? (Kathryn)

Secret Crush

I had to struggle to get through the first episode I saw because the accents are so off. But... then somehow this thing has grown to be a favorite right up there with Pushing Daisies. Those are two shows Katee and I are enjoying together. DVRing lights up my bleak life.

How could I not watch it? The thing is set in a fictional town one hour north of Shreveport (Kathryn)

I'm Thinking About Doing the Etsy Jig

Our Lady

Before Hurricane Gustav sprinkled its way up here I spent $7.71 on hurricane supplies. We were advised to stock up on bottled water and food supplies that could be eaten out of a can.

Our limited funds meant we would have to risk it. We did have a manual can opener on hand so whatever was in the pantry could be opened.

I did end up going to the Family Dollar store and getting two white Lady of Guadalupe candles and two packages of tea light candles. I guess that means we are as stocked up as we are going to get. Now it's just wait and see what path Hurricane Ike is going to take.

P.S. I'm proud to say we've got six cans of tuna waiting as storm riding nibbles.

Hurricane Gustav Didn't Stop the Pick-Up

...the rains are here from Gustav and our recycling just got picked up. That's dedication!

I'm not the only one who loves their new blue can. Darrell Rebouche and Robert Trudeau like'em also. This month another part of Shreveport will get roll their recyclables to the curb.

I Am So Sorry

This is not my house.

My hoarding is not set to music.

I wish I just had a bowl for rice. I would eat with my fingers. And wear a ysaffron robe. (Kathryn)

Yipes!

Here's a disturbing movie. My dad worked with many of these guys during his days at Mid South Wrestling.

I recorded the movie Monday. Now to find the time to watch it.

We are dreaming in SB Land

The Haynesville Shale promise of riches has everyone buzzing. The New York Times covered it and there are rumors that the BBC is in town.

Fire on Prospect

There was a devastating fire in the 400 block of Prospect on Monday. All the local media covered it. KSLA. Shreveport Times. KTBS.

No one was injured but the house was completely destroyed.

White Trash Green

Four screws from home, cotton rope and wooden clothes pins from Family Dollar. For about $3.50 we have a clothes line on the back porch.

Every little bit helps not to heat up the house. And save the earth. Oh. Yeah. That. Too.

Double Decker Bike

I might need one of these. Found it on Sherri Talley's blog. (Kathryn)

Movies

I finally erased these from the dvr:
Tiernery Gearon: The Mother Project Sundance
Tina Barney: Social Studies Sundance
I Always Do My Collars First KLTS
Peter Beard Sundance
Helmut Newton Sundance
Height of Sky Sundance
Iconoclast Eddy Vedder & Laird Hamilton
Making Waves: Louisiana's Radio Story KLTS
Summer Camp Sundance
Blue Vinyl Sundance
Yves Saint Sundance
Tom & Viv
The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros

The above pic, 70th Street Babe, has nothing to do with those movies. However she would fit in nicely with some scenes in The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros.

I Need to Live in this World

There was an event today I wanted to go to but it was at a loud noisy place like my place of work. I just couldn't bring myself to go there. I feel all cracky. (Kathryn)

I haz the blahz

Feeling disconnected to everything. What is life? What is the purpose of being here. I seemed to remember knowing purpose when I was four. Somewhere along the way I've misplaced it. Could it be in my white Easter purse from 1967? (Kathryn)

so it's not just louisiana, then.

Hey guys, it's Katee, writing my once a year post apparently. I felt the need to share this little nugget of information with as many people as possible, and I figured this would be the place to do it.

Before I write anything, read this article:

Kindergarten teacher makes class vote special needs child out of classroom

Holy shit. Really?

You know, I thought I had it bad in school. I always had these bitchy, angry, menopausal teachers who hated me and made sure my life was a living hell, but at least none of them ever had my peers tell me exactly why they hated me and oh, hey, you should leave the classroom now because you're annoying. I don't know when kindergarten classes became a democracy, either. Call me old fashioned, but I was under the assumption that the responsible adult was the one in charge of what happens in the classroom, but I suppose you have to get all Lord of the Flies on us when a classroom lacks a responsible adult.

In my opinion, the proper punishment would be for the teacher to be placed in front of a crowd and have all the people who don't like her tell exactly what's wrong with her and why they hate her and see how this bitch feels. What kind of god-awful human being subjects a five-year-old kid to something like that? Kudos to the mom for keeping her cool, man. Had that woman admitted to me -- completely unashamed, mind you -- that she put my baby through something that awful, I'm pretty sure I would have punched her in the face.

And as for all the people arguing that one kid with special needs shouldn't disrupt learning for all the "normal" students: fuck you, dude. I'm willing to bet 99% of the people with this opinion are upper middle class douche bags who don't want their kids exposed to anything out of the ordinary. Let me let you in on a little secret, though. If your kid grew up being around a more diverse peer group the world would probably be a better place because they would be familiar with people who are, you know, different. Ignorance creates fear and fear creates prejudice, so the next time Johnny says, "This kid Bobby in my class in being loud and annoying and I think he's retarded," maybe it would be a better idea to sit him down and explain that "retarded" is not the proper term and that Bobby has feelings, too, rather than calling and complaining about your little boy being exposed to somebody who is different.

I don't know why the teacher thought this was appropriate, but I really and truly hope she is banned from working with kids ever again, and God forbid she ever have a child with any type of special needs. I shudder to think what she would do if her kid had autism or anything of the sort because I wouldn't be surprised if she tied it up in the back yard or something.

Foam Head

We've been working on sealing up air leaks in our almost hundred year old home. Bought a piece of styrofoam insuluation at Lowe's yesterday. Had to wedge it in on top of my head in the van to get it home. It made me miss the truck.

We're gonna create a box that goes in the attic and covers the opening of the attic pull-down stairs. Bought insulated curtains for Katee's room last week.

All a Twitter

The good news is Katee has finished another semester of college. She made the Dean's list and I finally paid the last payment of the semester to the school.

Charlie took Seroquel this week. It made his body go all wonky. Captured it on video. Will post it later. He's not taking that anymore.

Discovered Twitter. Made a video on it and started a twitter.com account.

Cherub and Angel

What lovely young people Katee and Auguste are. They spent Saturday and Sunday with their mommas and other family members.

Katee bought me a radio alarm clock. It's a much needed Mother's Day present since I broke mine a couple of months ago.

The other part of my present included the two of them taking me to church. They went to church with Auguste's momma Saturday night. (Kathryn)

My Brains Hurts

I has hurted my brains by trying to learn to put together TV stories.

Think lighting, think good framing of shot, think of the story, think WWWWWH, think don't get shaky video, think, think, think think... (Kathryn)

My Spacing it Up

I won a video camera from KTBS. It was in the house less than 10 minutes and Katee had to start taking pictures with it.

I could complain but since I bought her a camera a couple of years ago and have completely stolen it from her, I will not utter a word. Just blog a post on it... (Kathryn)

Eggs

These egg cartons go back to my mother in Haughton. She's found a farm couple who sells eggs with the richest colored egg yolks you've ever seen.

We're living on hard boiled eggs around here. Now if I could perfect my egg poaching skills.

To learn more about Kitti and recycling click here. (Kathryn)

Wristcutters and Dirtfoot

Katee's semester will be over in a couple of weeks. She was an English major but I think she's switching to history.

We had a good weekend. Watched Juno and Wristcutters. Is it just me or does the music from Wristcutters sound like the kinda of music the Shreveport band Dirtfoot plays? (Kathryn)

How I Entertain Myself at Work

I pulled this out of my lunch box. That's why it's got a little folds in the paper. (Kathryn)

Threads

Vacation ended Tuesday night at 8 PM. That's when my work week started. I'm reading Jill Fredston's Rowing to Latitude:Journeys Along the Arctic's Edge and I think I'm finding some new ideas on dealing with a draining job even though the book really has nothing to do with that.

I'm intrigued by the trailers for the new Jackie Chan and Jet Li movie The Forbidden Kingdom. There's a lot of swirling fabric in it. I might not wait for DVD on this one. The last movie I saw, Fido, came courtesy Katee and Netflix. (Kathryn)

Silent Film of Our Bottle Garden

Experimenting with the camera on movie mode. The bottle garden grows in the front yard of our house on Dalzell Street.(Kathryn)

Recycling?

Ms Peachez has found a better use for one of those red Family Dollar carts. I discovered this fun Shreveport character about a year ago.

Vacation time means playing around with You Tube and contemplating making my own movies.(Kathryn)

Vacation Middle

Day five of a nine day vacation. I've cleaned a little. Haven't taken many pictures. Went to the doctor with Katee today. Now I'm washing dog beds and contemplating washing dogs. Did wash Bebe the Maltese a couple of days ago. (Kathryn)

Dog Fat

The best way to pass the time while waiting in line to pay for groceries is to read magazines. It's amazing the things you can learn such as: if your dog is obese, help has arrived.

By the way, I've always noticed fat people have skinny dogs and skinny people have fat dogs. (Kathryn)

Monday: Waiting for the Trash Man

Bird watching from the front porch, contemplating cleaning out the litter box, pounding thighs for Chicken Parmesan... it's been an exciting start to my 9 day vacation. (Kathryn)

Surgery Boy

I wasn't on top of what Charlie was doing with himself (medically) so he had surgery two Fridays ago. Surgery on both feet that will probably do more damage than the original condition. But if you say "take a pill or cut on you" he's ready! He's a true American Hero because of all the money he's donated to area doctors and hospitals. (Kathryn, dripping with sarcasm and one day away from vacation).

Pretty Babies

Some of my nieces and nephews are in town because their mother (my sister-in-law) is sick and she is staying with her mother. I've not spent much time with the kids because of work and my wacky schedule -- working nights I'm awake when everyone else is asleep. Next week is my vacation. I'm ready. Maybe I can play with the babies then. (Kathryn)

Pinked

Almost three hundred dollars. That's how much we paid to fix the pink Honda two weeks ago.

Then this week in the parking lot of the Salvation Army on Stoner Street it wouldn't start again. I called Charlie. He came because the AAA membership is in his name.

I went home for coffee and water for him. He stayed under the hood jiggling wires. Just as the tow truck was seconds away from arriving he found a loose wire and attached it. Tinkerbell started. We canceled the tow and headed home to find black electrical tape.

He's my hero because I hate car trouble but with two vehicles that both have over two hundred thousand miles, it happens. (Kathryn)

Hammered Copper

Charlie's kitchen remodel continues.
This is the "new" countertop, which is the old one sprayed with Krylon Fusion for Plastic Paint Hammered Finish in copper.
See the old yellow laminate ones here . (Kathryn)

First Mow

Charlie cut all the fresh spring weeds down today. Everytime I see these mini hills of green I think of my youth in Oklahoma's Green Country. How convenient for Easter egg hiding after these tender leaves mound up. (Kathryn)

Gas Face

$3.15 a gallon for a gas at Circle K in southeast Shreveport on Saturday morning. I'm suffering from a severe case of "Gas Face." Priceless! Was in the hoity-toity section of SB Land to take care of nieces and nephews. Shot some lovely pictures of them. Yay for getting my creative on! (Kathryn)

Bye Hy

I penned a ode to Hytop. This economical brand is leaving the shelves of the local market:
Oh great cheap brand of premium quality. You of great strength and value with added savings to my Thank You Card, who will take your place to help me feed my family so I can save enough to put $4 gasoline into my mini van?

On the bright side I have tasted the new brand's no-salt canned corn. Food Club tastes good. By the way what's up with canned corn? Regular not only has salt but sugar added. To get non-sweetened corn you have to go the no-salt route. Food Club apparently also has organic items in its line. (Kathryn)

Spring Clean

Charlie's been cleaning. Moving couches and firing up the attachments to the vacuum. It's the sap rising and him not taking any carbamazepine.

Spring seems to be the time when he's most manic. In past years he's gone several months without sleep. For the last several years he has had a good psychiatrist watching over him. But Dr. B quit practicing in November. Charlie finally got in to see a new psychiatrist yesterday. In the meantime juices are flowing, deep cleaning continues along with Dollar Tree kitchen remodel. (Kathryn)

Blizzard-o

Snow is in the forecast for SB Land. We have no provisions. It is the day before pay day. Pray for our souls.

Meanwhile... Charlie's min pin Skye is tucked under the electric heating pad awaiting the blizzard. (Kathryn)

Return

I work at a riverboat casino in the Shreveport Bossier area. This is our busy time of the year. It's because folks are spending their returns with us. Is it better to spend it with us or buy some more junk? Modern day life confounds me.

More SB Land casino adventures here here here here here. (Kathryn)

Money Draw House

I'm trying to squeeze in making more art. These photos are from a new piece called Money Draw House. The photos are of the little palm sized book attached to the fabric strips of the house.

I'm feeling a renewed urge to produce after hearing about Shreveport artist Frances Drew passing away. Four of my pieces will possibly be a part of the exhibit called The Money Show at artspace in March.

I'm trying to convince Charlie to team up with me to submit ideas for the Katfish4Kids project. He knows finishes and loves to paint. (Kathryn)