Cooper's Summer Camp

Cooper has been enjoying two weeks at "Camp Grandma and Grandpa" as Tim's family has gracious agreed to watch him while we were in New Orleans and since we're heading up there again this week they were kind enough to let Cooper stay an extra wee.

He's having fun by the looks of it - and I know a few small ones who are pretty happy he's there too... check out the video also (courtesy of the boys' blog)!

I miss NOLA

Hi everyone. I'm back from New Orleans, and Tim's in the air right now on his return flight. We had such a great time! Here's a photo recap:

Here's the view from our hotel (I think you can click to see the full 270-degree panorama). We were on St. Charles in the heart of the Central Business District.


My first night in town a local friend had recommended a great "Creole Tacqueria" so we took a cab to Juan's Flying Burrito in the Uptown Garden District. The flying burrito consists of everything but the kitchen sink: shrimp, chicken, beef, beans, rice, veggies, pico, guac, you name it! I had shrimp tacos that were to die for!


On the second day I met up with Tim and his friends for lunch and then went out on my own while they finished their day of conferences. I ventured first to the French Quarter and to Canal Street -- here's a panorama...

And the first thing I saw, kid you not, was a Nine West outlet, so you KNOW I had to take advantage and get cute New Orleans shoes!

I ended up on Bourbon Street, which is pretty tame during the day -- and tons of musicians begging for money. Check this guy: he's not really crossing the street, he's frozen there, like a mime. That dog isnt real either. See the couple taking his picture... she tried to pet his fake dog and he came alive and scared the crap out of her! Wish I had captured that on film!
After Bourbon I headed to Cafe du Monde to try the famous beignets (fried dough with powedered sugar) - but locals call them doughnuts.
This is Cafe du Monde on the right (green awnings) and some of Decatur Street. It was raining so forgive the crappy photos please. I was getting wet :)
This is the oldest church in the area. At night there is a statue at the back whose shadow creates the nicest image of Jesus on the church's back wall, see:


All around town are these neat scultured fleur-de-lis painted by various local artists... aren't they gorgeous? And here's just some snapshots of the awesome architecture of the are:

Greetings from the Big Easy

Hello to everyone - we're in fabulous New Orleans! Tim had to be here for work, so I took a few days and a direct flight a day later and I'm here to enjoy the evenings with him and get a little R&R to myself during the daytime.

We're in a very classy hotel in the heart of Canal Street and near to the French Quarter/Bourbon Street. Thankfully this area wasn't deeply affected by Katrina. The photo above is of the famous Cafe du Monde and their beignets... fluffy dough deep fried (OH YAY!) which is sooo off the healthy diet, but it's worth it. I hope to make it to Emeril's for their banana cream pie (as recommended by a gal pal) and today we had lunch in a food court in the business district which ironically enough served nothing but international cuisine and absolutely nothing Cajun or French... weird.

Luckily our new laptop is coming in handy and the city of New Orleans provides free wi-fi access (3 hr max at any session, again, ...weird.) And I promise I will do something tomorrow that is photo-worthy. I took a 270-degree panoramic of our view, but it's not too impressive. The property across the street is under construction which I hope doesn't go into the night, and the historic trolley goes right by our window as well. My car service driver said before Katrina the trolley would go deep into the Garden District (think "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" a la Clint Eastwood) but since the storm it doesn't go much farther than our hotel so I'm not sure if I will venture on it tomorrow.

I return on Thursday morning (car service picks me up at 8am... what kind of vacation is that!) And Tim comes home on the same flight, just a day later.

Cooper is at "Camp Andrew" for a week (thanks dude!) and we will claim him next weekend so the family doesn't grow tired of his company (or his hairballs)!

I'll post pics when I get back Thursday!

Au revoir!

BUt only because you've been so good..

PHOTO UPDATE!!! (In random order)

First, visit my online gallery of our Blue Ridge family vacation here (requires a free account with Kodak.com) http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=ak7qh0t.74idwn39&x=1&y=jzn74r

My office moved this week ... and who doesnt love moving right? (Sarcasm!)



And then my mom dropped into town so we met for lunch:


I finally got the photos I wanted of the "Wall of Witness" at our church. Basically, every family that was part of this fundraising campaign the last 3 yrs to build a new children's building debt-free got to paint a tile...

Here's the entire wall


And our tile bears the verse Tim and I have chosen as our "family verse". Joshua 24:15 "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Had a yard sale a few weekends ago -- made $400 between us and the other couple selling items. It was exhausting though!


A lovely hibiscus in our yard. I hate how many plants the previous owner planted, but I sure do love it when they bloom... this one can stay (for now.)

A much-overdo update

So sorry it's been forever since I posted a fair update. I will make this one quick in the hopes that I can post some better info and photos soon:

• We had a yard sale at our place last weekend with another couple from church -- keeping our money and our items separate we each managed to make $200+!! And get rid of some of our junk! The items that didn't sell surprised me. Biggest sale of the day: Tim sold almost all his camoflague pants for a $1 each. Biggest discount of the day: I sold my breadmaker to a lady for $3... sigh. At least she got a good deal - it even had the instruction manual!!!

• Tim's loving his new group at work - his boss is respectful of Tim's talents and he still gets to do all the fun anciliary stuff without the heat from coworkers for being gone a lot. Later this month he's off to New Orleans for a conference, so I'm going with him! Watch out NOLA, here we come!

• Our home warranty continues to pay for itself as we had the AC serviced this week for only a $55. It was so bad the last week or so that it was 86 degrees INSIDE the house when it was only 81 outside. And with Cooper home inside all day that's not fair or safe. So we had a technician service it and sure enough it needed recharging BUT two other problems became clear: (1) the guy who mows our grass kicks up clippings into the AC handlers which caused clogs and (2) the position of the dryer vent to the outside is directly over the AC unit so all the lint gets sucked in and seized up the AC motor's ability to pull hot air out and pump cold air in. The wacko that owned our house continues to amaze us!

• Our car is almost paid off! This is a major achievement only bc when you take out a car loan you cant imagine where you'll be in your life once it's free and clear... not much has changed in our lifestyle since we bought the sports car, and rest assured Tim's not selling it if our family situation changes! He loves that car.

• My health is improving, though I still have the numbness in both my feet. Your prayers for healing are appreciated and I feel the spirit of your prayers.