Late Breaking News

YES! YES! YES!

THe governor just vetoed the legisltors pay raise.. YES!!! I loved his comments: They are asking too much of the taxpayers. IF this passed, then it should not go into effect until after the next legislative election, which would be 2012. An annual automatic increase in pay is a slap in the face to the voters. We need reform, and we need it NOW! A pay raise of a paid official should be voted upon by the people who voted to elect these officials."

YES!!!

Politics

I hate politics. I try to listen to the candidates. I do my research on who has done what in the past, supported things that I feel are of importance, look at the issues. I vote. In every election, even the small ones that just seem to pop up for random issues. However, I really hate politics. More so the politicians involved in politics. Guess you can't have one without the other. Here are some reasons why:

I hate mudslinging: Didn't these people learn that if you can't say anything nice, to say nothing at all? Stop twisting fact into half truths but leaving out vital imformation just to sway voters to your side. I really try not to vote for people who do a lot of negative campaigning. Tell me about YOU. What YOU stand for, what YOU plan to do, HOW YOU plan to do it. Not something that your opponent did thirty years ago, when he was 12, and probably learned a life lesson from.

I hate campaign ads. For the reason above. It annoys me to turn on the tv, and hear them. I stop watching tv.

I hate the way some politicians hold all of the power and force issues to go their way using that power. Case in point: Our wonderful legislators in Louisiana. Wanted a pay raise. (Why? It's a part time job. You ASKED us to put you in office, You KNEW what the pay was before you begged and whined to get put there. You have a full time job outside of this position. SHut up and deal with it.) SOO they hold up the governor's bills that he wants to have passed, stalls them in committee or on the floor until they "vote themselves a payraise". YES THAT'S RIGHT, THEY VOTED THEMSELVES A PAYRAISE!! A HUGE HONKING PAYRAISE! TRIPLING THEIR SALARY!!! And until they had that issue taken care of, nothing that the governor wanted to have accomplished was going to get done. The governor has some wonderful things he wants done with health care, education, and children's services. Things that would truly benefit the whole state. However, because of these politicians, none of that would be accomplished if they didn't get what they wanted. Soo they vote.. the payraise passes (barely), and a lot of the legislators who didn't support the payraise signed a waiver to donate the money to charity or to flat out refuse to take the raise. (Don't think I don't know which ones did this, because I made it a point to find out. It will greatly influence my vote next election.) THEN they made the raise so that they get a raise EVERY FREAKING YEAR!!! And the governor is refusing to veto or sign this piece of legislation. (IF he doesn't sign it within so many days, it automatically becomes a law. If he vetos it, then he will get nothing accomplished his whole term because these politicains will hold a grudge. BIG bunch of overgrown babies.) Power... that's what it comes down to.

and I hate uninformed voters, too. Those people who will just believe what they hear, don't bother to check it out, and then vote blindly b/c they like the color of the tie the candidate was wearing on the campaign ad.

no matter how long the road

Growing up, I spent a lot of time with my cousins. Family time was really big in our family. I remember Sunday Dinners after church at my grandmother's house. (The fried chicken, potato salad, mashed potatoes, fresh from grandpa's garden veggies, and fruit salad. Every time I have fruit salad, I think of my grandma.) ALL of the aunts/uncles and cousins would be there. ANd it didn't matter the age, the cousins all played together. We fought, we argued, we made up, we were just kids. I can remember the adults cooking dinner and laughing.

I realized today, that even though my cousins and I are grown, married and have kids of our own, we are still as close as we were growing up. We may not see each other weekly, and sometimes we go months without a phone call. BUT when we do get a chance to get together, it's just like when we were growing up.. EXCEPT now we are the ones cooking, and laughing. ANd our kids are the ones that are playing, arguing, making up. The cycle continues.

Even when the road between our homes is much longer now than it has ever been.

TOday I went to my mom's, my cousin was in town with her husband and her kids. She called and asked if we wanted to ride over and visit. Even though we only got to visit a few hours, it was fun. THe kids played games that only make sense to kids. Something involving a checkerboard, stuffed animals, and unopened candy. The adults, sat and laughed and talked and laughed some more. No one wanted to be the first to leave and break up the fun. Even though she had a long drive home, she didn't want to leave either.

I miss those big family gatherings. I called a different cousin today. We were talking and she stated that she too missed those times. While a weekly gathering may be a bit much now, we have decided that we are going to try to do a big family barbecue at the end of the summer. THat's our goal. Now to make it a reality.

My husband spoils me

Today he surprised me. He gave me diamond earrings. Beautiful Diamond Earrings. I was shocked. For no reason, other than he wanted to give them to me. He bought them on our cruise. Held on to them for a "random day". Today was the random day. He never does stuff like this. Ever. I mean he buys me little things to let me know he is thinking of me.. a cell phone cover with an LSU logo... or a swim suit for the pool... or my favorite snack from the store. but never DIAMONDS!!!

I love him. HE spoils me. I will keep him.

I love where I live

I really do. WHile I don't love the actual house (I want one with just ONE more bedroom and all of the rooms a little bigger), I do love the location of my house.

I live exactly 4 miles south of my sister and 4 miles north of my mom. And yet, I see them very seldom. WE talk on the phone at least once a day, but actual visits are more likely to occur about once every two weeks or so. Not from lack of interest or dislike of each other. But just from being busy all the time.

Looking back now, I realize just how great of a relationship I have with my two sisters. It didn't seem like it growing up, there were times when we got on each others nerves. But when I think back to my childhood, I remember the fun stuff mostly. ANd then I realized that although we have gotten older, married, have children of our own and more responsibilities than we ever thought possible, we really haven't changed all that much.

Games: we played lots of games growing up. Card games, board games, games with dice, made up games where we kept changing the rules. WE still do that. We get together at least once a month and play games together. And we still change the rules, although now we tend to agree BEFORE we start the game to stick to ONE set of rules.

Laughter: We laughed a lot growing up. We acted silly. We still do that. WE can all be together, sitting down at dinner, and one of my sisters (or myself) will make a face, a comment, or a gesture and off we go on the road to silliness.

Music: I can't remember a time, growing up that one of us didn't have a radio, record player, tape player, cd player, or mp3 player turned on. While what we listen to has changed over time, we still have music on at some point during the day. I think we spent more time listening to music, than watching tv. (Could be because we had to share a Tv, and never wanted to watch what the others wanted.)

Books: All of us still read as much as we did when we were younger. I read the most. FOllowed by my youngest sister. the middle sister will read, but she really doesn't get into books like the rest of us. And we still like the same genre's that we did growing up: FOr me that would be mysteries/horror/thriller/suspense... my the middle sister: romance... and for the youngest sister: her taste is more along the lines of historical fiction with a little romance in the mix.

I Love my sisters. I love how we are always there for each other. I love how our relationships have changed with time, but yet remained much the same. I love how we get along, rarely disagree, and always stand up for each other. Even if we do make faces at each other when Mom is not looking.

What's up with me?

Nothing. Nada. Zip. My days are pretty much the same lately:

Wake up.

Take Wyatt to daycare. Yes, it's summer. Yes, I'm off from work. BUT I have to pay to keep him space in daycare, soo if I'm paying, he's going. ANd to be honest, he loves playing with his friends.

CHeck the Dawg. Chat with my friends.

Clean house. It's a never ending battle.

Run Errands. Not all days, but at least 2 days out of the week. I have to go to the grocery store, or something that involves leaving the house. I try to do it all on one day, but that doesn't always happen.

Hang out in the pool. NOt a big fancy ingrown pool. Just a little cheap 3 foot above ground pool, but it's cool, and relaxing, and peaceful. When no one but me is out there.

Come inside and eat lunch.

Put laundry on to wash. Really now,THAT"s a never ending battle too.

Back out in the pool, while reading a book. OR if the weather doesn't cooperate, I will play in my scrapbook room, while watching tv.

Pick up Wyatt.

THen, again depending on the weather, we either end up in the pool, or hang out inside.

Cook dinner. CLean the kitchen.

Take a bath.. and read or scrap til I get sleepy.

Day after Day. I could get used to this. Now If I could only afford to do this without a paycheck.

What I did on my Summer Vacation

Day 1: We flew out of Baton Rouge to Atlanta, the to Miami. Wyatt was thrilled with the plane ride. He had never flown before. He was all excited to see the tops of clouds and the buildings as we took off. We stayed overnight at the Embassy Suites in Miami. REally nice hotel, with a beautiful atrium in the lobby, with a waterfall. PSA for the day: do not stay in a room right across from the elevator and behind the waterfall. You will hear lots of people talking drunkenly as they get off of the elevator and the waterfall will make you have to pee all night long. We walked to a nearby restaurant to eat dinner. On the SHORT walk, Wyatt decided he had to use the bathroom. I hear him yell "wait a minute". I turn around, adn my son has his weenis in his hand, fixing to pee on a flower bush. SO I Yell at him "put that thing away before someone sees you and we get arrested." Yep, cop car sitting right at the corner.

On the cruise ship not a lot happened. We drank, swam, drank, ate, drank, watched some shows, drank, and had lots of "cheer". GOtta love when the in-laws come on vacation with you, and then INSIST that the monkeybutt sleep in the room with them. (Note to self, buy inlaws a nice Christmas present this year.)

First port of call: San Juan, Puerto RIco: it rained. I shopped. It rained. I didn't care. Didn't buy much. A pair of earrings and a pendant. Steve and Wyatt each bought a shirt. We walked around and looked at the fort, and the statues and the birds. LOTS of birds. We walked for freaking ever. My feet and legs hurt.

Second Port of Call: St. Thomas. BEAUTIFUL!! We went to Magen's Beach. Crystal clear water, the purtiest blue color I have ever seen. Wyatt saw fish, starfish and crabs. This was his first real visit to a beach. HE was amazed that there was WET SAND UNDER THE WATER!!! I sat on the beach and had an adult beverage, watched the cute guys walk by (there were two) and heard my son yell out "DAD LOOK THAT LADY'S BUTT IS HANGING OUT THE BACK OF HER SWIMSUIT" (his first encounter at the beach and his first butt floss swimsuit sighting) After the two hours at the beach, we were back on our tour of the Island. We were brought to Blackbeard's Castle. We did the walking tour of this area. Very INteresting. LOTS of walking. My legs and feet hurt. My cheap husband decided NOT to pay for a taxi b/c it was just a short walk to ship. Umm.. yeah a 45 minute walk... NOT FUN!!! DUring the tour, I had a few cups of rum punch.. okay 5 cups of rum punch, but who's counting. We did some more shopping.. Steve bought me a pearl necklace, bracelet, and earring set. The guys got tee-shirts.

Last port of call: St. Marteen. We took a bus to a "remote" fishing village, where we boarded a smaller boat to go out to a coral reef. Then we went "down below" (get your minds out of the gutter wyatt was with us) to look through the glass windows at the tropical fish, sea urchins, and sea turtles. My pictures of this did not come out very clear. But it was really neat. Then after a couple of hours, we headed back to town. We did some more shopping. Steve bought me a topaz pendant. The guys each got another shirt. OH, and I got a new pair of sunglasses too.

Then we headed home. Nothing much to do on the ship but drink, eat, swim, and play games. ANd Drink. I drank lots on the ship.

THat's it in a nutshell: relaxing, drinking, sunning, shopping.. the perfect vacation.