A break away...

It's not a very pretty city from a distance,

but when you look at the details

New Orleans

is lovely...

the Garden District was a favorite

the French Quarter street players were full of spirit

and sometime the French Quarter exteriors were like butter

and thankfully we were able to experience a parade

New Orleans

style

and walk away with some beads

(that we didn't pay for with money or wobbly bits)

Truly an amazing city.

And another one that I'm glad we experienced before kids.

Overindulgence...

This past weekend I attended a work-related networking event for meeting planners.

Lots of talking.

Lots of eating.

And drinking.

And talking.

And eating.

This was the amenity that awaited when I returned to my hotel room the final night.

Did I happen to mention eating?

I was so full of food and drinks that I didn't even manage a bite.

Not even a sip of the Disoronno or Bailey's...

it sure looked good though!

Finding reasons to laugh...

I need to write something happy.  Silly.  Something to get over the hump of sadness I have been feeling this last month.  A couple snippets from today…

I dropped off my car for repairs this morning and was given a rental car.  Went to work and my brain turned into mush.  Left work…er, tried to leave work.  I could not remember what kind of car they gave me.  And worse…no clue where I parked.  Finally, I realized I had kept the paperwork in my bag and learned it was a Silver-Honda- Accord.  Do you know how many silver cars there are!?  Do you know how many Silver-Accords there are!?  Not fun.

~~~~~~

On the way home, I came across a wreck.  Actually it was just a broken down car, one nice dude helping broken-down dude push his car to the side of the road.  But nice dude forgot a belt.  As he was pushing, imagine it, pants meet knees.  {hello whitey-tighties}  I swear I have never laughed so hard while stopped at an intersection!

But the thing is, the tighties were not very whitey.  So I get home and ask Fred, do whitey-tighties come in nude…he doesn’t wear them – but being male I assume he knows these things.  I learn they come in black, white and colors like the Michael Jordan commercials.  And well, I have concluded that nice dude’s undies were well worn in…especially given I could see butt crack through the near mesh fabric.  Hey, maybe nice dude is just taking going green to the extreme.  But I can pretty much guarantee two things: 1. he’s not gay, and 2. he’s not married!

When hope belittles intuition...

we were fully prepared

to let go

then the vet gave us

{hope}

it’s just a badly infected tooth

remove it and she’ll be back to normal

my intuition told me it was time

to let go

but I held on to

{hope}

hours later the vet called back

the news was

not good

nothing could prepare me

for the way she 

...looked

the vet had never seen an animal

react to anesthesia that way

but once again the vet gave us

{hope}

maybe once we got her home

she would fully wake

but as she was placed in the pet carrier

her heart

slowed

and her color

changed

and I stopped ignoring my intuition

I told the vet it that she had been through enough

it was time

to let Snuggles go

it was not suppose to happen

that way

I wanted her passing to be

peaceful

I had it planned

I was prepared

but I forgot about the way

{hope}

can sometimes create

so much

pain

every day

I cry

bed time is the worst

my arms have never

felt 

so empty

then I awake

to my daily routine

and listen as Seven

goes around the house

howling and searching for her

Mama Snugs

and in spite of having

a house full

of beings

we all are feeling

a little

…lonely

and I know

it's just a cat

but to me

she was 

a part of

my heart.

Slowly letting go...

At times like these, when babies like Layla Grace are dying. It’s hard to think that in the scheme of all things this is significant, but tomorrow Fred and I will be taking my sweet little Snuggles to the vet.  To be put down.  To sleep.  To euthanize.  There is not a phrase that exists to make it better.

Late last year she lost her sight and the vet discovered a significant heart murmur.  Mr. Vet said they could do a bunch of tests and we could pay them $1,000.  I said no.  I love that cat with all my heart.  But at the time she was fifteen, and I didn’t want to put her through the stress and rather painful tests just to maybe…but probably not, extend her life by a year or two.  

I have had this cat since I was thirteen.  Thirteen now going on thirty.  And when I consider that span of time.  Where I was.  Who I was.  This cat was truly there during the more significant years that molded me into the person I am today.  She was my Mama Snugs.  She gave me her love and her heart.  And I want nothing more for her to find peace and know she did her job well.

Since that vet visit she has never acted as though she was in pain.  That was all that mattered.  She has been happy, purry and pain-free.  Right now she is very weak.  Not eating or drinking.  Her breathing is faint and her heart is giving out.  I would much rather her passing come in the night.  At home and peaceful.  That is all I have ever wanted since we found out her health was failing.  She gave me so much.  She deserves to pass in comfort.  And I pray that she finds that peace tonight. 

How a week disappears...

Writing usually comes easily,

but this week...

I have simply been lost in emotions.

My beloved {Grandaddy} passed away.

I'm still processing...

Valentine's Day is only cool if you have kids...

Tami & David decided to spend time in Atlanta
for Valentine's Day.

They even gave us a little Valentine's card...

Did you know they don't make envelopes for little kiddie Valentine's cards?!

I remember spending hours stuffing, licking and name writing.

Kids get off wayyyyy too easy now days...

probably because their parents now do it for them.

Oh, but wait

this was no ordinary Valentine...

Yes, it says...

Auntie Heather!!!

We're going to be Auntie & Uncle!

And yes, for the white people, that's the Filipino style Auntie...

UN-t!

vs. the white people version ANT.

The purest of love...

 Takes a while to load, but it's worth it...


Last Minutes with ODEN from phos pictures on Vimeo.

Why I don't bake...

This week in getting creative I decided to bake a peach dump cake.  I should note that I do not like sweets.  I like chocolate.  The bitter-sweet kind.  The darker the better.  So, I should have known the outcome of this recipe before I even started...

Ingredients:

(2) 13 oz jars of sliced peaches in light syrup
1 package yellow cake mix
1 stick butter (1/2 cup), cut into 16 pieces
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Nope.  It didn't even occur that maybe, just maybe a full cup of brown sugar was possibly an {insane} amount of sugar.  Because I rarely never bake.  I just thought surly the creator of this recipe knows what they are doing. 

I took one bite.  

Then another to confirm.

And.

Needless to say...

it was disgusting.

Gaah-roudy!

I took a picture because it looked so pretty.

O, how deceiving those looks!

A refreshing close...

Last week I went to dinner with a dear old friend.  An old friend that became a sort of growth catalyst, and I find myself wondering without her would I have noticed the things that needed improvement.  For the first time, I was able to speak freely and comfortably and just simply be authentic.

She set me on the path.  Her words led to my discovery.  I’m sure she never thought twice of those five words, but they motivated me to seek out an answer.  And over twelve years later it was finally discovered.  Maybe the real cataclysmic event occurred a couple of years ago... but she lit the match that started the fire.

Five words.  Something so small.  Simple.  Meaningless.  May forever change a person’s life.  We will never know how we impact each other’s lives, but we do it daily.

And the reward, years later, is to complete the circle by thanking her for the impact she had on my life.  My husband's life.  And our future children's lives.