Mindy's New Room

Here are a couple pictures of Mindy's room. I'm planning on getting a lamp for the nightstand. I'm also going to add a club chair, ottoman and floor lamp where the bean bag chair is (formerly the location of her computer desk).

A few pictures...

This is the Presidential Suite at the Le Pavillon in New Orleans. It was incredibly luxurious.





And it's official!

Home Alone...

And lovin' it! I just seem to get so much more done without having to think about cooking, makeup, or leaving the house.

My weekend started with the little girls on Friday night. I picked them up from school along with a couple of their friends for a swim party. I took their friends home about 6:30 so our evening could begin. We drove through McDonald's (where the girls used to think I knew every person that worked there. They finally figured out that I just read their name tags and addressed them by name). We got home a little after 7 and changed into our jammies. The first movie was Pursuit of "Happyness". I don't think Morgan even made it to the end beore she fell asleep. Next, Jordan and I watched "Mean Girls". I was dozing by the end and couldn't stay up for the 3rd one (which was going to be "Night at the Museum". I went to bed about 11 while Jordan stayed up to wait for Butch to get home from poker. She's the little night owl. She played on the computer while watching Nick at Night. I heard Butch come in and the two of them having a conversation---unusual since neither of them talk much.

The next thing I knew, I woke up to Morgan trying to get in my bed. Jordan was telling her to get out. It was then that I realized that I was now sleeping with the girls and Butch was on the couch. I don't know how that happened! They get what they want---no doubt!!

Saturday morning was off to a rocky start as Steph arrived for Indy without the clothes Morgan requested. It tickled me to see her deal with the moodiness of girls. Butch helped by getting Morgan to smile and I gave her a little talk about how hard it was to have such a crappy mom---that almost made her laugh out loud. Anyway, they were out the door by 7:30.

Mindy's new furniture arrived around 8, so I spent most of the day putting her room back together. I call it Mindy's furniture which would imply that she could take it when she officially moves out, but that's not going to happen. Realistically, she's already gone---just the remnants of her childhood remain. And since I put most of that stuff away (don't open the closet), the room looks a little sparse and sad. But at least we have another guest room with a queen bed and full bath. That is going to come in handy now that all 3 girls live out-of-town.

Later....

There oughtta' be a law...

prohibiting 2 1/2 hour commencement ceremonies! We went to New Orleans this past weekend (Butch, Sandy, Stephanie and me) for Mindy's graduation from Tulane. It was looong. Luckily, the speakers were pretty interesting. Brian Williams from NBC news was the keynote speaker. At least the diploma awarding ceremony was right at an hour.

We had a great time being together and certainly had our share of good food. Our favorite was Mindy's place of employment, The Commander's Palace. They treated us like royalty by giving us the best table in the house, sending treats from the chef, many people stopping by our table to introduce themselves (including the head chef), and treating us to a myriad of desserts (the bread pudding was the best). We had lunch at Copeland's Cheesecake Bistro, brunch at Brennan's and went to the Pelican Club for dinner on Saturday night and the Camelia Grill for breakfast on Sunday. Butch only mentioned the "B" word (bloated) once. He was such a good sport--didn't even complain about the expense. I must admit, my favorite thing about New Orleans is the food. You just can't get a bad meal there!

We stayed at a historic hotel---Le Pavillon. Since Central Parking handles their parking, they gave us the Presidential Suite---2 bedrooms, library, living room, dining room and entry. It was the most beautiful place---like someone's home. Too bad we didn't get to spend much time there.

Best of all, is seeing Mindy so happy in New Orleans. She just loves everything about New Orleans. Next time we go, I want to take a swamp tour, ghost tour of the Garden District and some of the plantation tours outside of the city.
Oh, we got some good news while we were down there_---Steph's house sold after being on the market for only 3 days!!!

I've sunk to a new low....

Last week, while in St. Louis, I stopped by Archivers. As I was shopping, I came across some papers that looked very familiar. Suddenly, it came to me that they were the patterns of the new pajamas I just bought a couple of weeks ago. Sure enough, the designer was Karen Neuberger---same lady who did my p.j.'s. I wonder which came first, the jammies or the paper. I never knew that I would eventually be wearing my scrapbooks!! I guess I've sunk to a new low...

My Blissful Corner

I have a nightly routine that I think many of you will envy---especially if you have little ones running around (don't worry, your time will come---sooner than you think). Every evening, our routine goes something like this (okay, exactly like this):
Butch gets home at 6:00 and dinner is on the table (unless it's a Lean Cuisine night, then it's in front of the tv).
Clean up kitchen.
Get "jammies" on.
6:30---get mail, soda, laptop, Sudoku book, scrapbook magazines, stitching, and all 3 remotes (yep, I control the remotes)! and settle into my chair for the night.
iChat with Mindy.
7:00--watch Ellen while taping our evening shows.
7:45---start watching the 7:00 show. Now I'm just ahead enough to be able to see all of our favorite shows while fast forwarding through the commercials.
9:00---Butch gets a bowl of ice cream, kisses me good night and goes to bed.
9:00---11:00 or 12:00---I do whatever I want.
When I head to bed, I turn on the fan, push all the covers except the sheet on top of Butch, turn off the tv, turn on my little book light and read for about 15-30 minutes.

How does my routine change when Butch is out-of-town (you ask)? I start my evening at 5:00 p.m. with my "jammies" and have either tomato soup, Cream of Wheat, or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dinner. Then it all pretty much goes as usual. Ahhh, I love my life!!!

Considering I start my days anywhere from 4:30 to 5:30 a.m. with the treadmill, I think I'm entitled! Still hate that thing.