home

My people are home.
I repeat, my people are home.
They are home.
They are safe.
They are tired.
They are brave.
They are changed.

I am proud of them.

My apologies to the airline for blowing up their website checking planes, arrivals, departures, connections, alternatives.

It was even a little dicey getting them home yesterday.
A late plane.
A delayed plane.
A broken plane.
A missing plane.

But, after all that...

They are home.

Stranded.

So, yeah, the Captain and Jordan were supposed to leave Honduras yesterday morning and be home last night at 10:15 pm. 

But to do that, they need a plane.

Which never showed up.

Because it made an emergency landing somewhere else in Honduras.

So my people are stranded there. 

I want them home, but I don't want them on a plane that's not operational.

Emergency landing?

No thank you.

The good news is the airline put them up at a 5-star hotel.  Nicer than the digs they had been staying in all week.  I'm sure the hot shower, dinner, and cozy bed felt good last night. 

I know they are just ready to get home.

I know I am just ready to have them home.

Long day today as they should be leaving Honduras at 9:00 am and home at 10:15 pm.

The trick is there really aren't a whole lot of flights that fly out of Honduras.

Fingers crossed and prayers up.

Keep on truckin'

We're making it.
The Captain and Jordan and the team are safely in Honduras.
Spotty wifi at the hotel allows an occasional text from the Captain
They are working hard and having a good time.
I'm proud of them.
Stretching out of their comfort zones. Making a difference.
Sure do miss them, though.
Coop and I made it to Nashville. And back.  Twice.
We are weary.
Been out of town eight out of the last eleven weekends.
It's caught up with me.
Headed out one more time this weekend for one more volleyball tournament.
Then finally some settling down.
In the meantime, my laundry baskets are full.
My pantry is empty.
My emotions are high.
My anxiety, too.
But it's good.
Carry on.

Go!

My brain is on overload.
Stuff for the Honduras trip for the Captain and Jordan.
Passports.
Copies of passports.
Did they take malaria meds?
Hand sanitizer.
Two ounces only.
Toilet paper.
3:45 am arrival.
Need jar of peanut butter.
Travel size toothpaste
Don't drink the water.
2:00 am alarm clock.
Stuff stuff stuff
Go go go!

I'll be out of pocket until next week. Sending my people off.  Then to Nashville.  Then back to Nashville.

Deuces.

Thursday

Thursday.
The Captain and Jordan and 28 other kids and chaperones will be heading to Honduras on a school mission trip.
I'm so excited for them.
They have to be at the airport at 3:45 am.
I'm not so excited about that.
After I take them to the airport, Cooper and I have to be at his school at 5:30 am for a 5th grade field trip to Nashville.
We should return at 10:00 pm.
Then Cooper and I head BACK to Nashville for a church youth leadership event.
Jordan's tourney last weekend was in Nashville.  So, for those keeping score at home, that will be my THIRD trip to Nashville in one week.
Holla.
Lots to do between now and then.
Especially for my international travellers.
Lots lots lots.

Monday Miscellany

Woke up confused this morning.
Was I at the beach?
Hotel?
Home?
Getting up for work?
School?
Volleyball?
Church?
What time is it?
What day is it?
Where am I?
Who am I?

Our tired booties drug in last night at 9:30.
But, we had a great weekend.
Jordan's team won FIRST PLACE!
WOOO HOOOOOO!
It really was a good weekend.
Makes it a tiny bit easier to come home late when you're the gold champion.
Woot.
So much fun to watch her play this weekend.

How'd your bracket hold up?
I am feeling a bit better that I'm now tied with Gauge going into the Sweet Sixteen.
We're sitting on ten correct picks.  Not too bad all upsets considered.

Speaking of upset...
I'm upset about my Tigers.
We'll be back better than ever next year.

Big week ahead.
Cooper and I are headed to Nashville.
Twice.
More on that later.
And the Captain and Jordan are going to Honduras.
More on that later, too.

In the meantime, I'll be dosing out the malaria medicine and making school lunches like a boss.

Ciao!

Deuces.

So here's the deal.
I'm going to work.
And then I'm coming home.
Packing some stuff.
And going to a volleyball tournament.
Then going to the beach.
That's pretty much it.
Of course our tourney location is not really near our beach location.
So, we have a nine hour drive ahead of us upon conclusion of the last match.
Which could be late-thirty.
Erg.
Looks like some tandem driving for me and the Captain.
Maybe we could make Jordan drive too.
She has her driver's permit.
Could be a good chance to get some night time interstate driving hours under her belt while the Captain and I catch some zzzzz's.
I kid.
I may or may not blog next week.
Depends on how functional my brain is.
I'm not expecing much activity up in there.
The beach is truly my happy place.
This will be the first "vacation" that the four of us have ever taken alone.  We've always travelled with family.  So, while I will miss those that we usually travel with, I'm really REALLY looking forward to hanging, resting, and renewing with my peeps.
So, bye-bye my cupcakes.  Play nice while I'm gone.
I'm outta' here!

Ciao

We got this postcard from Italy.
Sounds like our friends have had a great time.
Sweet of them to think of us during their trip
And send us this postcard.
Just one little problem.
No clue who it's from.
No idea.
None.
Zip.
They didn't sign it.
Nor do we know anybody who recently went to Italy.
Or who goes to Italy every year.
Their "annual sojourn"
So anyway.
Glad they had a great time.
And sent us a postcard.
OK.
Ciao.

Heading out. And not.

Have I mentioned Jordan and the Captain are going to Honduras in March?  On a school mission trip.  More about that later...

But, they got their passports yesterday!

I have a passport.  But it's expired.

Coop doesn't have a passport.  He wanted to know if kids 10 and under can get into another country free.

Speaking of leaving town, I'm NOT leaving town this weekend.  The Captain and Jordan are headed to Nashville for her tournament.  I'm staying at mi casa for Coop's game.  Looking forward to the weekend at home to color my gray, read my book, and dust this house. 

Peace out people.

On the road again

This weekend kicks off club volleyball season.
Well, the practices have been going on since November.
But today starts the grand highway tour of the southeast.
I'm going to Alabama.
With a banjo on my knee.
The boys aren't going.
Basketball here in town for them.
OK, other than accidentally washing and drying Jordan's set of Greek alphabet flash cards and being obsessed with the fake girlfriend story, that's about it for me.
Deuces.

Yes, all of this is true.

Hi y'all!

Did you think I fell off the fiscal cliff?

I took a little bloggy break and enjoyed the most delightful holiday.

Back to work today.

I see no penguin pajama pants or cream cheese in my immediate future which is very unfortunate.

Let's see if I can review some of the highlights of our holiday...

Yes, each of these things actually happened.  Regardless of how ridiculous they may sound.

We had a fish funeral on Christmas morning. RIP Kane the Second.

I watched an insane amount of football.

I ate an insane amount of food.

I was an insane amount of lazy.

We headed on a 455 mile journey to Texas to see the Captain's sisters.

His grandmother and aunt went with us.

They are not in the best of health.

They brought a wheelchair and a walker.

And a pee bag.

And a poop bag.

(Sorry people - just keeping it real here.)

There wasn't much space left in the truck.

I found a small spot to wedge my head right between the wheelchair handle and an exceptionally large Christmas present.

By all means, when you are travelling with six people and luggage and medical paraphenalia and bags and stuff to make sure you bring the biggest most gigantic Christmas present you can find.

Twenty minutes into our eight hour drive, Aunt asked to stop.

At one point we stopped at a Wallie in Arkansas to potty and two women were duking it out on the floor of the Subway.  Kicking and throwing punches.  As Jordan said "Women on the floor, weave everywhere.  Security!

At 10am, they asked about stopping for lunch.

Worse than my kids...

Me, Jordan and my two SIL's managed to keep a group convo going for eight hours. 

My crew stayed in a 116 year old bed and breakfast owned by my SIL's family.

G'Mom and Aunt stayed at a hotel down the road.

But we all gathered in the big ol' house to hang out and eat and visit.

Cooper brought his portable ping pong net and paddles and arranged a tournament.

Have you ever played ping pong on a 110 year old glass topped dining room table?

I have.

I came in fourth.

It was fun.  We had trophies and everything.

I got up one night at two in the morning to make sure I had turned off the oven from fixing dinner the night before. 

It would be very awkward to burn down my SIL's family's 116 year old house.  Oops.  Sorry.

Speaking of awkward, the pee bag may or may not have ruptured on the 116 year old wooden floors.

Awky awk awk.

Pee. On. Da. Flo.

There was a bird in the house.  Flying around.  Bird. In. The. House.

The Captain refrained from buying Cooper a samurai sword at the antique store.

Thank you.

I discovered that The Captain is insanely competitive at playing Taboo.  We played lots of Taboo and Catch Phrase.  Good stuff.

The Aunt, when she did speak during the weekend which wasn't much, talked in a baby voice.

My sweet little one year old niece and my sweet little eight week old nephew are precious.  I'm in love.

We loaded up the gypsy wagon and headed back on Monday.

At the hotel that morning, the Captain managed to lean against the alarm with G'Mom's suitcase ancd call the fire department.  Nice.

G'Mom got a nose bleed.

Jordan got car sick.

Two miles from her house, G'Mom thought the left her house keys in Texas.

False alarm.

Thank goodness.

We finally got home late Monday afternoon.

I kissed the ground.

I loved loved loved spending time with my SIL's and their hubbies and their sweet babies. 

Yesterday we had the 5th Annual Dipapalooza at Connie's.

More cream cheese.

Yes, please.

I really think cream cheese should be a stand alone food group.

I need to go to detox today.

But instead I'm headed to work.   The kids are still out of school.  They are lucky ducks.

How many times did I say cream cheese in this post?

I loved my holiday.  I laughed so much.  And loved my family.

So back to reality today.  Have to get my brain turned back on.  And I hope my pants will still zip.

Ciao!

Another trip. And a maybe trip.

Me and my little travel size toothpaste are back on the road tonight.

No, not volleyball.

Although there is volleyball this weekend....

Coop and I are headed to Nashville for a church youth leadership thing.

The Captain and Jordan are staying in town for a one-day tournament. Grand prize for the winner of the tourney? A no-expense paid trip to the national junior volleyball championship thingy in Columbus, Ohio in July. With three more months of practice thrown in for a bonus.

So, yeah, Go Team.

Kind of.

I guess.

In the meantime, have a nice weekend. May you find a chocolate bunny in your basket.

It's ginormous

So, tomorrow we are headed to Atlanta for a ginormous volleyball tournament. I've never done this big one before. But, from what they say, it's ginormous. And by "they", I mean Connie. I asked her about it, and she said, "It's ginormous."

It's a six hour drive.

Six.

Six hours.

If I'm going to drive six hours, I should at least be rewarded with a beach. Or a Mouse.

Instead, I think I've got over 150 volleyball courts in my future. For three days.

Do y'all know how loud 150 volleyball courts is going to be?

Loud.

(Note to self: Pack Advil....)

So, after all that frivolity, it's a six hour drive back home.

Six.

Six hours.

Any trip that involves a time change and the possibility of mass transit is serious business.

At this point, another Crazy Volleyball Mom is driving, so Jordan and I are riding with her. Yesterday, it appeared there was a teeeeny chance that she was going to bail on me. And for about thirty minutes, I bordered on a panic attack. But I pulled myself together.

No, the Captain and Coop aren't making this trip. The Captain is headed to Nashville today. For just two days. And Cooper has school and all. Plus, he has a game on Thursday night.

Oh, how did he do last night? How sweet of you to ask. He had a single, two RBIs, and a stolen base. And he looked darn cute.

See?

Yay Number Twelve! (JuJu, please forward this link to Cute Baseball Coach Brother. I'm sure he will want to see a pic of an ADORABLE recruit.)

Lots to do today. Including squeezing in eight hours of work........But my Hair Girl was able to get me worked in this afternoon. I wept with joy.

I'll be checking out of the ol' blog until Monday. So y'all play nice while I'm gone.

Five on Friday

Hello Friday. So nice of you to show up.

Five things for you on this lovely day.

1. There is no volleyball tournament this weekend. But guess what I'm doing? Making not one, but TWO two and a half hour drives to Arkansas to transport a certain teenage girl who is currently sporting a lime green cast. Long story. But let's just say driving 500 miles over a 30 hour period wasn't the original plan.

2. Cooper's man cave tent is still proudly residing in the middle of my den. It features five dining room chairs and six fitted sheets. I guess it's his version of Occupy Den. I've been trying to tolerate this for the last few days, but I'm thinking we may need to raze this little establishment. I don't want to be the kind of mom who says "no you can't set up a tent in the den" which, I think, would lead my kids to counseling as an adult ... but I am getting a little weary of the set up.

3. I'm just going to say it. I don't care about this year's Super Bowl. Not at all.

4. I got this text from Jordan yesterday: "I just got beefaroni sauce all over my cast."

5. Sunday, the Captain and I will celebrate 18 years of wedded bliss. Man. Eighteen years.

Hope you all have a most excellent weekend.

here we go again

It's been quite awhile since I have used the word "volleyball"

Hope you've enjoyed the respite.

Because club season starts this weekend.

See also: On the Road Again

I'm going to Alabama.

With a banjo on my knee.

And puppy chow in my bag.

Connie & Niece M are not traveling partners this year. Sad face.

But the Captain & Cooper are making this trip with us this weekend. Happy face.

See you Monday. Play nice while I'm gone.

From Texas to Tennessee

The Great Texas Thanksgiving Adventure is now history.

The "elder set" cancelled at the last minute. So no wheelchair. Or alleged catheter.

Here's the weekend summary ala numbered list.

1. We ate. And ate. And ate. Having a real live chef sister-in-law does not disappoint. We were just like baby Kennedy and ate every three hours. Time for our next feeding....

2. Speaking of baby Kennedy. Precious, precious, precious.

3. Football. My poor Hogs. Man, what happened? What a bust. So sad about that. Pitiful.

4. We watched more football. Yum.

5. The Captain may or may not have dropped his drawers in the middle of the den to try on a pair of shorts.

6. Cooper built a bigfoot trap out in the backyard.

7. Did I mention we ate a lot?

8. I delved into Pinterest. I know, I know.... Shouldn't have ever even gone there.

9. There was mass use of communication equipment -- seven phones, three laptops, an iPad, a Kindle. We were highly connected.

10. There were no ghost sightings or bumps in the night in the 115 year old B & B where we stayed. Although, Cooper did wake me up once in the middle of the night to tell me he thought was going blind.

It was a perfect weekend - well, except for the part where the Captain stood in the den in his underwear...

And now we are back.... to a forecast calling for 2" of snow tonight, an early morning orthodontist appointment, laundry out the wazoo, volleyball banquet tonight, and a tree that still has no ornaments on it.

Happy Monday!

Texas Bound

By the time you read this, I'll probably be in the car with the Captain, my two kids, the Captain's grandmother, and the Captain's aunt on our 1,000 mile round-trip Great Texas Thanksgiving Adventure.

Other miscellaneous items in the car will be: three bags of M&Ms, a box of CheezIts (Scrabble version for our gaming pleasure), a wheelchair, a walker, two laptops, one DVD player, 467 movies, Christmas presents, and a partridge in a pear tree.

And Jordan may or may not have packed four bags. Four bags. FOUR. I can't confirm, but I think one of them contains only hair products. Apparently beauty has its price.

I'll probably be taking a bloggy break until next Monday. If you want to know what I'm up to, check me out on Twitter for real-time updates of my most exciting life.

So, for your reading pleasure, I present a few things I will and will not do this weekend:

I will not shop on Black Friday.

I will not see Breaking Dawn movie.

I will eat like a pig.

I will talk sports smack with my crazed LSU fan brother-in-law and my converted LSU fan sister-in-law.

I will celebrate a mighty HOG victory.

I will not call the Hogs so loud that it wakes up baby Kennedy.

I will enjoy being with my family.

I will miss my other family (Mom, Connie.... Mom's dressing.... )

I will watch football until I'm comatose.

I will not say I told you so when we are stuck for three hours on the Arkansas interstate due to construction.

I will be thankful.

I am thankful for all of you, my little cupcakes, and am happy that you come here every day and read all this blah blah blah stuff.

Hope you all have a blessing-counting, thanks-giving, food-eating, family-loving, football-watching kind of day.

A little knock knock and then let's go.

Today is the big day. It's the Fourth Grade Talent Show.

Cooper will be doing knock knock jokes. And will be getting a pie in the face. They have a door and everything. This is a first class production, this fourth grade talent show. After he totally annoys his partner with knock knock jokes, his friend gives HIM a little knock knock....

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Piefer

Piefer who?

Piefer YOU!

At dinner last night he prayed that "the talent show will go OK and that there will be no mishaps with Matthew's magic trick." What on earth is this Matthew kid doing? Sawing the teacher in half?? I'm a little nervous about that.

Tomorrow begins the Great Texas Thanksgiving Adventure. I'm soooo excited about seeing the Captain's sisters. And to meet the newest member of our family, little baby Kennedy.

I got a text from my LSU crazed brother-in-law saying he now has to work on Friday and won't be watching the game with me. I'm not sure if he's telling the truth or if he's just skeeeeeered about facing the mighty Hogs. See also: Wooo Pig.

We're headed out tomorrow morning with the Captain's grandmother and his aunt. There may or may not be a catheter and a wheelchair involved. No comment on this.

And I found out yesterday that the interstate is down to one lane for half our journey and then closed due to flooding for the other half of our journey. So it looks like we will be heading to Texas via St. Louis....

I told the Captain last night I could tell there would be adventure on this trip. I can just feel it in my bones. Except for my toe. I can only feel pain in my toe because I rammed it on a door frame Sunday night and it's swollen and purple and broken and hurts like *(#&(@*&#. But, in the holiday spirit, it looks very much like sugar plum. So I've got that going for me.

The Captain's chef sister will be cooking Thanksgiving dinner for us. Remember when we went to her graduation from culinary academy? I hope during this Texas trip we can have a nice relaxing visit, with delicious food, sans puke.

I only have about 27,194 things to do before we head out in the morning. But then it's all good. And we'll be on the road. For the Great Texas Thanksgiving Adventure.

I'll let you know how the talent show goes. And if there are any mishaps with Matthew and his ... ummmm.... magic feats.

Peace and love.

byebye

Guess what? We're headed to the beach today! Woot Woot!!

I have to work a few hours, go the bank, go to Target, take the Bloggie Doggie to the puppy motel, finish laundry, pack, make sure there won't be any science experiments growing in the frig while we're gone, get gas, go to a volleyball game annnnnnnd THEN we're headed to the beach. So it's really more like "We're headed to the beach tonight!"

I have already talked to my friend, The Weather Man and asked him to keep all named storms and other various forms of wet weather away from that area for a few days. His reply? "You should have great weather." So that's taken care of....

Still makes me a little sad because fall break beach trips remind me of my daddy so much. Because sometimes you just miss the way things used to be, you know?

And this is -- I think -- only the third time in my life I've ever been to the beach without Connie. Ever in the history of sister everness. Waaaaahhhhh.....

But it will be a nice few days of nothingness.

Just me and my squatty beach chair and 18 books.

And the Captain.

And my kids.

And my MIL.

And 11 other people who are "with us" but not "with us". Which is too complicated to explain. And it doesn't really matter anyway. But it does include a total of six teenage girls (including my own) so, while the chance of rain may be 10%, the chance of teen girl drama is probably closer to 85%. Anyhoo....

The ol' MAMGL blog may be a little hit or miss the next few days.

But, I'll be back.

I promise.

A bit more rested.

And slightly tan.

Over and out.

Not guilty.

Jury duty. Over.

Boring case. But interesting experience. Especially the deliberating part.

Our self-appointed foreman was a piece of work. And I knew we were in trouble when she said the only TV channel she ever watches is Court TV. And then later tried to sneak out with all the evidence. Seriously. Was taking it home.

And y'all, it wasn't anything exciting. It was a car wreck case. The only evidence was a picture of a wrecked truck and a copy of some medical records.

It was interesting how a group of total strangers worked through the decision. However, ol' Juror #5 was quite the hangup and for an HOUR prevented us from making a unanimous decision. (Or "ananamous" as the Court TV Obsessed Foreman called it. She kind of let me down when she said that.)

But, once we figured out that #5 didn't drive then we realized that was the reason she wasn't understanding the issue. So we turned it into something related to walking down the street and wanting a biscuit. Don't ask. It worked. Not guilty. Ananamous decision. The end. We were thanked for our service and dismissed.

So, that brings us to today.

Cooper is still in school. That's a big blah. I've kind of shut down on his last two weeks of school. To the point that I missed a deadline of a project he had due on Monday. And that's so not like me.

At this moment, I guess Jordan is somewhere between Memphis and Virginia. They are going to Monticello today. Then driving on in to D.C. She FINALLY got excited about the trip and the "real" Jordan showed back up yesterday. Thank goodness. She's still working through some stuff, but I think she's moved past eating raw cookie dough....

Alrighty, y'all have a nice day. Play nice.