The Kids:

• Eldest Child is heading off to HIGH SCHOOL.  Yes, it totally merited those caps.  It is scaring the bazookas outta me.  Does she care?  I don’t think so.  Me, terrified.
• Only Son is finishing his last year of elementary school.  Still the tiny little guy, same size as his baby sister, but willing to take her in a duel.  This Middle Child perplexes me in how much he loves school but doesn’t want to show that he thinks school is “cool”.  He is refusing to let me purchase the 5th grade class shirt.  Sigh.
• Mini Me has exploded onto the scene.  She’s going into 1st grade and is ready for high school.  She’ll be taking her formal talented drama screening this fall.  If she doesn’t make it, there is something seriously wrong here.

The Cats

• Hugo is the daddykins at 7.  He doesn’t leave my bed unless I’ve come home and am sitting on the couch… then he comes to the front room to stare at me to inquire as to why I haven’t made it to bed yet.
• Mouse is still white and still deaf and is now 3.  He has the run of the house since Hugo isn’t going anywhere that doesn’t involve me.  But, he mainly sticks to windowsills or sofa cushions above Eldest Child’s head (preferably ON her head).
• Charlie, our Katrina wild child, has declared himself a wild child yet again.  He’s five this year… a reminder of the storm and how much time and how much and how little has changed.  He decided the outside life was no longer for him.  He now protects the yard from the random cardinal or squirrel and if another cat should think of coming within a yard of ours… they’d better think again.

The Books:

• Well, let’s just say they keep on coming and they get better and better.  I hope to review more often.  I am now working as an elementary librarian at the school where Only Son and Mini Me attend.  Luckily, it’s an advanced school so we have a wide variety of books to read.

NOLA:

• Lots to talk about, lots going on, lots still to do.

I hope you missed me.  I hope you’ll be back.

NOLADawn

Interestingly, not much has changed.  We had a girls’ night dinner on Friday night and the big shebang at a fancy French Quarter hotel on Saturday, with spouses invited (about half took up that offer.)  Most of us hadn’t seen each other since we promised to K.I.T. when we left school in May 1989.  Some had gone to the 5, 10, or 15 year reunions.  However, with the popularity of facebook, we found almost 70% of our class online.  Not everyone could attend because, unlike the NOLA tradition of staying near family, many classmates had moved away.  Some were for jobs, some for spouses, some for Katrina.  But, we were able to get about 50-60 girls in for the two-night affair.

Funny thing.  When I looked around at the tables… we were all sitting in our cafeteria spots.  Habits are hard to break, even after twenty years.  We eventually mingled and realized what we’d been missing all this time.  We all went out afterward to a (you can picture it in your head) Bourbon St. bar and danced and sang until 4 a.m.  In the time since the reunion there have been sporadic gatherings and promises of monthly ones to come.

We’ll see but, I know I hope the spirit of our school continues on.

My library had to be packed up to move to the new school site and I had to prepare my library for the new school.  (oodles of fun, I HIGHLY recommend it)

It’s hot as Hades out there, can’t even stand to walk outside, much less partake in any family events.  I only have one kiddo left in summer camp.  And, she’s raring to go to Kindergarten so she’s not really digging the whole summer camp scene. The eighth grader and fourth grader are itching to get at my last nerve, but I have locked it away and they can’t have it.

GNOWP has gone on without me, sadly.  I couldn’t participate this year, much to my dismay.  At least I still got to keep in touch with them via Twitter and facebook.

I’m gearing up for the new school opening this August.  I’ll likely be back to work on July 20th to get the ball rolling.  Luckily, my two youngest, have tested into the academic magnet school where I am, so they’ll be with me and get a great enriching education.  BUT, it means all new uniforms, new friends, new everything.  I have a feeling they’ll be OK.

As for me… I’ve been doing what else.. reading and watching TV.  I rewarded myself with a Kindle2 for lots of overtime work and I’m thoroughly addicted.  Keeping up with my favorite authors on Twitter has become a new fave pastime.  Check some of them out at my twitter page http://twitter.com/noladawn

I promise (ok, I’ll make an attempt) to keep my blog updated more often.  Life tends to get away with you when you work too many hours and have three active kids.

Missed y’all!

NOLADawn

We woke up Sunday morning and decided we should go.  I convinced my sister-in-law, whom I love dearly, to call my brother-in-law, who…not so much, to see if we could just go to his house since he lives just outside of Baton Rouge.  It’s closer in case of an Ivan fiasco and cheaper in case of a Katrina ordeal.  He agreed and we cancelled the B’Ham reservations.  We left at noon on Sunday.  With contraflow in full effect we made great time (considering the 34 hours for Ivan and 28 for Katrina) of 2 1/2 hours!  We got to the house and immediately brought our five cats, in their kennels, into the house.  Our two choc. labs we brought into the fenced back yard.  SIL’s two dogs went to the back yard.  Our niece’s two lap dogs came inside in their kennel and her cat did likewise.  We were greeted with, “What’s that stench?”  Ummm, that would be a kitten that got sick on the car ride???  We’re going to clean the cage as soon as we get a chance to breathe.  Mind if we pee first?  Well, we brought the cats outside to clean out the cage and they were never allowed back in the house!  Nor any of the dogs, or my niece’s cat.  We were told where we could eat and drink and were told we were using too many of our OWN towels.

When power went out on day two… the generator was hooked up.  The tv and fridge were hooked to it, along with a couple of fans for the den and garage (for our poor indoor pets!)  Little did we know that they had a window unit cranked up in their bedroom!!

My kids were ridiculed for how much they ate (too much for the youngest, not enough for the boy, and just comments on how skinny my oldest was.)

I brought a book along for when the power went out.  Of course, that choice was questioned too, as it was a Katrina memoir.

I was even criticized (without even talking about it myself… I guess it was the bumper sticker on my car) for voting for a n*#%&!!!!  Well, let’s just say, I started drinking to keep my sanity then.  And of course, my Edge network went out about the same time, so my link to people with common sense, my Twitter folks, was gone.

The first they mentioned about coming home- we were on a mission.  Hubs and SIL went out at the crack of dawn and bought supplies for the trip home and we were off.  Home to find a house cold with a/c and my Direct TV working just fine.  Twittering non-stop now.  Boy, I missed NOLA.

People, remind me next time to head for Birmingham, please!

Time heals all wounds?  Not when they keep getting ripped open.  3 years to the day and another one one the way.

Afraid to LEAVE ~ Afraid to STAY

Can’t we get a fucking break, really?

The rules: All you have to do is Google your first name with the word needs behind it and post the results. Don’t forget to tag tag tag (if you are the tagging sort)!

So, I typed in “Dawn needs” into my handy Google search and presto… here are 10 of the 27,700,000 results from Google.

1. Dawn needs to get over herself.
2. Dawn needs a reality check!
3. Dawn needs a head count before Thursday of this week.
4. Dawn needs to be as mature as Buffy was once she started slaying.
5. Dawn needs a big glass jar to grown her own “brain in a vat.”
6. Dawn needs to go to the local media and give them all the facts.
7. Dawn and homeboy need to make it discreet and get a room, I don’t wanna see all that. (LOL, my personal fave!)
8. Am I the only one that thinks Dawn needs to do a nice Maxim/FHM spread?
9. Dawn needs the boot, and fast!
10. Dawn needs no introduction in the media world.

Not tagging anyone in particular.  If you haven’t played and want to, let me know and I’ll stop by!

• NOLA girl reads books, loves cats.
• Mom of three minus sanity cubed.
• I teach so watch the grammar.
• New Orleans raised, storm can’t faze.
• Malibu makes anything better, even people.

Phew.  I feel better now.  Back to your day.