Uht uh

Take care of your yard crap. Santa has now fallen in a drunken stupor, and Mrs Claus is watching out for him. Isn't that always the case?

Birdy, via definition

This is a clay sculpture of a swan, with Christmas robing on him. He's dressed as a reindeer. Keep in mind he's a statue.

birdy

mary is face down in the dirt, as well as a sheep.

birdy yet typical

Note the fish mailbox, and the portrait of children. Not good.

pretty

I found this on 2nd street, bsl, and it's really pretty.
T

birdy yet typical

this is the new Christmas decor trend-i found countless examples of this here in the bay. what????

not birdy

this is a beautiful restaurant in downtown bay st louis. i've never been there, i'd like to go, but it's pretty.

So cute

turning 26

favorite memories of the weekend:

1. surprise party thursday night, with friends from Lagniappe, susan's food creations, and i got an Ipod!
2. dinner at waffle house, mmmmmm
3. weekend trip to the Grand Hotel in Fairhope, AL, my favorite spot ever
4. breakfast there
5. dinner at Lakewood Golf Course, mmmmmmm
6. champagne
7. shopping in Fairhope with Andy
8. taking pictures with our new camera
9. missing kate, but knowing she was in good hands with Mumsy
10. no phone calls
11. having my hair done at the Spa
12. staying at the Grand Hotel
13. 62 degrees F
14. working on Baby Swanky, my new brand of baby blankets
15. seeing Kate after being gone for 3 days
16. spending time with my husband
17. playing poker without having to go to the casino
18. anticipating Christmas
19. thinking about Jesus
20. going to First Methodist Fairhope, AL and hearing a Christmas cantata of music today
21. seeing Poinsettas
22. thinking of fun Christmas memories
23. making earrings in Fairhope at Bayview Beads, a fun store
24. looking at Christmas lights
25. shopping

If you want to know more about the trip, I'll post tomorrow.....

name dropping

well this was a first. after a fun night with susan and ashley underwood last night eating mexican and enjoying the hot tub, i awoke this morning for a mad dash to the post office to collect a parcel. the lady at the p.o. talked to me a LOT...i waited in line, etc, and then she continued to tell me about all the Christmas presents she purchased for herself...shoes, mainly. a pair of dior, a pair of gucci, a pair of prada. what? this is bay st louis! people wear their pajamas to the only grocery store in town-where could she possibly wear a pair of prada shoes?
anyway, she continued to let me know she spent 1100 on these 3 pairs of shoes, on sale, of course, and i am in awe. who in this culture has that much money to throw away on shoes, especially a postal worker?
i am not making this up.
kate and i had a crappy day today. one of the worst. i'm pms-ing, she had 2 shots today, plus the doctor said she had a cold, thanks to her 3 days in day care. fabulous. she was fit to be tied all afternoon. spanking after spanking, cuddle after cuddle. i wanted to die. i begged andy to come meet us at the doctor, so luckily i didn't have to hold her down for the shots; daddy did.
i cared for her afterwards, and she went to bed on time. i discovered her humidifier was broken, so we made a trip to walmart to get a new one so she could breathe tonight.
she's woken up a lot tonight; more than usual. i hope she can make it to the a.m.
i need to make some time to work on my quilts for the local children's store. i spent all night cleaning my house, doing laundry, etc. and now i'm too tired to work on my "hobby."
goodnight.

rockin the holidays

last week i took off from work. i spent time working, catching up on work, and having fun. i went to the mall for the first time in a year and a half, and it was great. got some things at the MAC counter, and all is well. i walked for about 3 hours so i got good exercise.
kate and i went to the children's museum in gulfport with friends melissa and son chase palmer last thursday, and it was fun. kate immediately took off and played, putting on 3 hawaiian leis and not caring a thing about clinging to my leg, like i'm used to. it was a great amount of freedom for me. she had so much fun, you can see a video of her there on her blog.
kate has been to daycare 2 days now. i can't believe this. the first day, her report card said this: "Kate had a great first day of daycare. she didn't eat much, she had 3 bottles (3 too many) and she took a nap in my (the teacher's) arms. she did good, though."
it was SO strange being away from her that long.
i had a good ole time: bible study, got my nose pierced. it was something i'd been thinking about for a long time, and it hardly hurt. it stung for about 10 seconds, but that was about it. now i just feel like i have a big booger in there but it is really cute.
i went to the casino for the first time this past weekend, and i played blackjack. i watched the tables for hours so that i could learn strategy, and i walked home with $100. not too shabby.
kate went back to day care today, i mean, "mom's morning out," and i worked in the office all day. it was a long day, but good. not something i'm up for every day. i was excited to go pick her up.
tonight we cooked steaks and worked on our mounds of laundry. birthday countdown: 4 days.
birthday depression: 4 days.
i had a fun weekend. friday night was our big Christmas party. we went with an 80's theme, and everyone arrived in costume. we had about 30 people. it was great, 80's music all throughout.
saturday morning we took kate to have her photo taken with santa, and she didn't really like it. click here to see how she did. there were 3 pics of here total. i looked at the other kids' pics, and she did better than most!

i went to the waveland Christmas parade on saturday afternoon with friends susan and ashley. the parade lasted 5 minutes and i walked away with some marshmellow halloween candy. yuck.
we spent the afternoon playing board games and then heading to second saturday, bay st louis's artwalk/store open house each month. it was lots of fun. we ended up at mcdonalds for a treat and then to the casino.
i still haven't talked to my mom since thanksgiving day. i feel good about it; i am sure she is pondering things.
we are going out of town this weekend for fun without kate to fairhope, al. this trip was donated by someone who knew what the ministry would do to a couple-try to tear it apart-so andy and i are going to have some alone time. i know you all are thinking-this means sex! but really we need to work on communication, romance, and then whatever else. getting in the daily routine in a married couple's life can be a challenge, then add to that romance, and it's tough.
like here's my day today: 8 am wake up, overslept. get self ready. 830 get kate out of bed, dress her, feed her. 9 am out the door. (andy left at 8 am) take kate to mom's day out; realize i forgot baby bag. go back home, retrieve baby bag. 930 am arrive at work for breakfast; work. lunch at 1130 with visiting team potential people from orlando, fl. schmooze. 1230 back in the office. 3 pm finish work; go work on selling a website for andy. 4 pm pick up kate. 415 pm head to grocery store. 5 pm arrive home, put away groceries, feed kate. 6 pm andy arrives, finally have alone time. 630 kate bath and bed, start cooking supper. 7-8 pm cook supper work on laundry. 815 eat, do dishes. 9 pm open laptop to check email, finish laundry. and on and on.
boring i know but i'm sure you were wondering.
i will blog some pictures soon since we got a new camera last week. thank God!

tomorrow is d day

kate and i went to the lynn meadows discovery center today with melissa sykes and son chase. he is about 19 months. kate loved it. she took off, ignored me, had fun. she is so funny. it made me much more secure about tomorrow-the bid day care day. i know she'll do great-my plan is to snag her before nap time. i treasure nap time-she gets one, i get one, it's quiet.
so i'm much more secure in it now. thanks to those who wrote me notes of encouragement-i agree with yall.
new camera today! canon rebel. it's awesome. big xmas gift for andy.
we anticipate using it tomorrow for our rock the holidays shindig. i'm still working on my costume.
kate had no nap today but she was really sweet. i love it when she sits in my lap and lets me stroke her leg and she just snuggles in close. i really feel what love truly is at that moment.
the "non working vacation" was a joke. i worked every single day. but i still had lots of fun doing fun things, so it was good. we are about to experience a software upgrade, which will require a LOT of work but i'm up for the challenge.
the rash on kate is improving, thankfully. she's been much happier. me , too.
this weekend will be fun yet busy. tomorrow night is our big Christmas 80s party, then saturday we have pictures with santa, and second saturday. i LOVE second saturday. the shops downtown all have open house, and everyone goes. it's great. live music, great fun.
i always love the month of december. it's always so pretty, so cold, so fun. my birthday, Christmas, and new year's eve. what a fun month!
we hope to spend new year's even in new orleans, as mumsy is on her way to us. the last memorable new year's eve was spent in columbus, ms with the family doing karaoke....little did i know i'd become pregnant that evening. what a surprise! (a good one, though.)
well that was probably too much information but oh well.
i really am trying to find time to sit down and sew some baby swanky blankets, but i always forget to have time for that. i really want to pursue that.
lagniappe is keeping me busy. kate taylor keeps me busy, too.
i can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

One Year Ago

My friend Allison Winans was getting married, and Kate and I enjoyed her wedding in Louisville. Here we are!

sentimental

click here to see my old, beautiful home on main street in louisville, ms. this brings back a lot of memories for me!

memory land

oh my gosh. an old video of me cracks me up. this was pre kate, pre bay st louis, august 2004.
click here to laugh.

gift wishes

my favorite calendar.
i really love that one.

my favorite cosmetics company.

my favorite handbag company.

my favorite restaurant.

something i use a lot. snapfish.

a new perfume i'd like.
sephora.com

winter wonderland

well no snow here at the beach. but it is cold. good enough. last week's meeting with nutritionist was awesome. she taught me a lot and gave me a booklet to use. i feel more knowledgeable. like i have the secret. so i'm working on cutting calories and increasing exercise. good luck to me.
andy's old computer crashed, so i've been spending the past few nights trying to get old pictures of kate from it and putting them online. it's bringing back old memories of little tiny kate. i love her.
there's a funny picture of kate with her cousin lily when they came to visit us in louisville and they are both leaning severely on the couch because their mommies were out getting pedicures and the daddies were babysitting, taking funny pictures of the babies. i'm sure the daddies were laughing.
we had a fun day today. a big surprise phone call-we put kate taylor on the waiting list for the methodist church day care center here 3 months ago, thinking they'd never call us. well they did. i was shocked. almost couldn't take it in when they called me. i was on my way to biloxi to stroll around the mall and finish my xmas shopping, and the call was surprising. i called my boss and talked it over with him, and he too agreed that it was a blessing and would be wonderful. 100 bucks per week for 830 am until 530 pm, come and go as i please. this certainly beats the 70 per week we were paying to find someone to come to church to care for kate while i was in meetings/phone calls, etc. add to that the stress of trying to find someone to DO it. so it was a unanimous yes, send kate to day care. immediately with that decision came denial and tears-i am a mother, i cannot send my child to daycare. i should be able to be a good mother as well as have a full time job. not so. i need help. jesus hung on the cross by himself and he didn't need me, too.
so kate will be going to her "mom's day out" as i will call it, for 3 mornings a week. i met the director and she was really sweet, seemed to know what she was talking about. i met the teacher and she had a child the same age as kate, who will be in the class. she was awesome. the class will only have 6 kids at the most, so the teacher can take good care.
my concerns:
kate still takes a bottle. (they told me that once she sees everyone else not doing it, she won't want to either.)
kate doesn't sleep on cots. (they said she'll get used to it.)
kate loves her mommy. (she is a BIG mamma's baby. she basically hates everyone else.)
kate is so special she deserves ALL the attention. (um i know i'm asking too much but she's my baby.)

so here's the breakdown: basically it's going to be harder on me than her. they suggested leaving her extra long the first week to break her in-what will i do with all that free time? i'm used to going mad with a job and a kid and a house to take care of.
i will be biting my fingernails.
but my pastor assured me, i can't do this alone, i need help so that i can help those that are homeless here in the bay, so that i can focus on others other than myself and kate.
in my head, i know it's awesome. it's so hard for me to do this! i can't fathom someone else caring for my precious baby girl, but i know i'll have to realize this, whether it's now or when she's 5 going off to her first day of kindergarten.
she is precious yet she also drives me crazy. i yearn for adult life, adult conversation.
hmmm.
so these next few days will be a challenge for me, to say the least.
Christmast shopping has been fun. i'm trying to keep it to a minimum to keep us in the black.
so if you don't get a present from me, that's because i am broke.
i had a long day today-shopping with a grumpy girl, doctor's appt for her for her serious diaper rash, waiting 1 hour for the pharmacist to make the concoction to heal her, etc.
mumsy gave her a bath, and she screamed the whole time. she wanted mommy. why does she only want me?
got some great MAC products today. always the best.
i'm really looking forward to our 80's party this friday. it should be so fun.

Lagniappe Presbyterian Church
Participating in the Restoration...

www.lagniappechurch.com

Lagniappe Year-end Letter

One of the 'ground-up' homes built by Lagniappe. It was completed in time for Pansy Brown to enjoy Thanksgiving in her new home.

December 3, 2006

Friends of Lagniappe Church,

What a year: Over $300,000 given toward families and homes in the Bay-Waveland area, over 5,000 nights of volunteers at Lagniappe, a 10,000 square foot facility, 7 completed bunkhouses, 4 weeks fully booked for next summer, 12 interns serving last summer in 2006, hundreds of families helped and loved, regular worship on Sunday mornings and 4 complete 'ground up' house builds on tap to be completed by Christmas morning.

Suffice to say, we're exhausted. This has been the most gratifying and terrifying year of my life. We have coined a new term at Lagniappe, several in fact, but this one is of note, the term is 'bay-polar'. It means we laugh and cry in the same sentence. We love being here and long for anywhere else. We have hope and hopelessness as bookends on most days and we see the Glory of God in the midst of brokenness. It is a beautiful place to be and God is truly at work. Curt Moore (another Lagniappe staff member) often reminds us that the ground where Lagniappe sits is holy ground- things happen here. God is at work. Aslan is on the move. Narnia (and Bay St. Louis) are thawing.

In the midst of construction projects, resident needs and the normal 'joy' of sixteen or so staff trying to live in community with each other we often don't have the time to be very 'southern' about things. We take issues right down to the essence. We call it 'shuckin the corn'. We often have to do it 'right down to the cob' in order to deal with what is going on. That having been said, and in light of the fact that we have made no general appeal this past year beyond our initial request for funding let me 'shuck the corn' with you. We need your commitment to Lagniappe. We want you to tithe to Lagniappe.

I imagine right now some of my friends are getting their theological feathers ruffled. Hold off the hounds for a moment and just listen. We want 10% of your prayers not your money. We want you to tithe your prayers to Lagniappe. We want you to keep us before the throne of heaven every time you pray. We need people who will be the Aaron's of Lagniappe, holding up our arms in prayer that we might continue in this good work. Satan hates this place. He has tried to destroy it several times this past year. God owns all the money. He'll get that to us any way He sees fit. We need people who love the Lord Jesus Christ to storm the throne room of heaven on our behalf. Surround us with prayer! Go to your mission committee and ask them if they would commit to 10% of the time they pray for missionaries to pray for us. Ask your board of deacons to do it. Ask your elders. Ask Sunday School classes. Ask all who would to put Lagniappe before the throne of heaven to do it 10% of the time they pray for missionary endeavors. We need it. We really, really do.

If you do, and we hope you will, then logon to our website and let us know. There's a section to let us know you are praying. We send out prayer updates as often as we can and we'll send those directly to you. They ONLY go to people who have signed up and requested to be on that list. (NOTE: when they aren't coming regularly- REALLY pray, it means we're treading water.)

God bless you and Merry Christmas. We do know it's the end of the fiscal year, so if you want to put something in the stocking for Lagniappe we'll probably have a bay-polar moment and laugh/cry at the same time giving thanks to God for His goodness. If you need help or additional information from us just call.

Thanks,
Jean F. Larroux, III

P.S. If you can make the time next year to come and serve please do so. Almost 70% of the community still lives in temporary housing- F.E.M.A. campers and trailers. We have over 500 pending work orders and ambitious construction and reconstruction goals. We have families to visit and residents who need people to just show up and pray with them. In short, we still need you.

well you wont see any new pics of kate on her blog because she broke our digital camera. so i have a feeling i know what we need for Christmas but that takes all the joy out of surprises.
i have been working 40 plus hours this week for Lagniappe working on making sure everyone has paid what is owed, all volunteers are scheduled, etc. it's been strenuous but good. kate has played well by herself some, and she never ceases to amaze me each day. she now knows she's not supposed to touch the christmas tree so now she approaches it, stops, and says "no no." it's so cute! she also lights up at the sight of any baby or picture of a baby, and says, "awww baby!" she's a smartie.
my Christmas tree is leaning. hmm.
being married is hard work. it's hard to not complain about my day to my husband, when i'm stressed about work or kate. and i think my complaining stresses my husband. also, he's pondering his goals in life, so he's stressed too.
living in the bay is awesome but challenging. there is so much work to do, so many people to help, so many phone calls to make, that both andy and i have a hard time not answering the phone, not helping someone in need. neither of us have office hours, or boundaries. we extend and we extend and we extend.
however, i am not working next sunday through thursday. this will be my first major vaca since i moved here. i'm excited, although i have nothing major planned. one of those in home vacations. i'd like to catch up with my fellow mommies in town for some playdates.
our budget is tight. that's good, because it keeps me in line. i could be more in line than i am, and i'm learning.
tomorrow i'm looking forward to Bible study and then meeting with a local nutritionist to learn about proper eating habits-something my parents never taught me. i feel like a child in that area but i'm willing to learn. it's exciting!
growing up, my parents would often ask-do you want one big mac, or two? i'd say, one. my dad would say, nah i bet you can eat two.
that's just ONE example. 20 piece chicken mcnuggets were often in my horizon, as well as super size fries, fried chicken, and never knowing that these items were unhealthy!
i have better food plans for kate.
well i'm turning 26 in about 2 weeks. i'm not excited because i am getting so OLD. generally i am a big birthday person but uht uh. this one seems too old.
good thing-i've talked with the local children's store in town, and they are interested in looking at my baby blankets. i need to make one soon so that i can take it by and hopefully sell them some. babyswanky, here we come.

Important to Remember

The US Government has released some new tips regarding what to do in case of terrorist attack. I've included it in my blog in order to keep my readers abreast of all new information. Please ready this carefully so that you can take care of yourselves. I care about my readers, you know.



If you set yourself on fire, do not run.





If you spot terrorism, blow your anti-terrorism whistle. If you are bald, yell really loud.





If you spot a terrorist arrow, pin it against the wall with your shoulder.





If you are sprayed with an unknown substance, stand and think about it instead of seeing a doctor.



Use your flashlight to lift the walls right off you!



The proper way to eliminate smallpox is to wash with soap, water and at least one(1) armless hand.



Michael Jackson is a terrorist. If you spot this smooth criminal with dead, dead eyes, run the hell away.




Hurricanes, animal corpses and your potential new tattoo have a lot in common. Think about it.



Be on the lookout for terrorists with pinkeye and leprosy. Also, they tend to rub their hands together manically.



If a door is closed, karate chop it open.



Try to absorb as much of the radiation as possible with your groin region. After 5 minutes and 12 seconds, however, you may become sterile.



After exposure to radiation it is important to consider that you may have mutated to gigantic dimensions: watch your head.




If you've become a radiation mutant with a deformed hand, remember to close the window. No one wants to see that shit.



If you hear the Backstreet Boys, Michael Bolton or Yanni on the radio, cower in the corner or run like hell.




If your lungs and stomach start talking, stand with your arms akimbo until they stop.




If you are trapped under falling debris, conserve oxygen by not farting.



If you lose a contact lens during a chemical attack, do not stop to look for it.



Do not drive a station wagon if a power pole is protruding from the hood.



A one-inch thick piece of plywood should be sufficient protection against radiation.



Always remember to carry food with you during a terrorist attack. At least you'll be able to enjoy a nice coke and apple before you die.