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I learned something about myself today

September 14, 2010 by Kelli

It’s not totally outside of my capabilities to be organized! I mean, I’m not a sloth, nor am I completely unorganized. But in certain areas of my life, I’ve always assumed that I wasn’t created to be one of those “think ahead” kinda girls. But today I totally thought ahead.

It, um, wasn’t that hard actually.

We leave in two days. TWO DAYS! And while I have a million things spinning through my head of what I need to do to get myself ready for a ten days adventure, I also have a gajillion things running through my head of what needs to be done for the little people I am responsible for on a daily basis. Namely, feeding them while I’m gone.

I am not a bake meals and freeze them ahead of time gal. In fact, I don’t know how to make a single casserole. And if I did, I am most certain my children wouldn’t eat it because they’ve never wrapped their lips around a casserole in their lives. So sorry to my parents and in-laws, but I’m not that organized.

Baby steps.

But, take a gander at this:

That’s food, food, glorious food! I shopped today and stocked the freezer so full I almost couldn’t close it. There’s chicken, beef, fish, frozen vegetables, chicken nuggets, waffles and pancakes in there. I even bought popsicles and ice cream – two things I never buy – so that you guys could come out on top and be the good guys.

How awesome am I?

Now, check this out:

Milk, juice, fruit, eggs, enough bread to feed the state of Rhode Island, yogurt, lettuce and pickles. I even restocked the ketchup and barbeque sauce, which have been low/gone for weeks.

Ah, but that fridge is but the icing on the gigantic cake of awesome! Check. this. out.

That is an entire cabinet filled with no less than 75 snack baggies all individually filled with a variety of goodies from cereal to trail mix to the ever popular Cheez-Its. Just grab and go. No thought, no preparation. If I were like this more often, folks, my life would be so much easier.

Of course, I would hate to deviate too far from the half crazy world I live in. If I were really becoming organized I would survey my cabinets before heading to The Walmart. If I did this I’m most certain I wouldn’t end up with this:

In case you’re wondering, that’s four bottles of Paul Newman salad dressing in the first picture and ten cans of tuna in the second. Why so much tuna? It’s hard to say given the fact that we don’t really like tuna. Lee likes it and he will eat it…when he remembers to since it’s hidden in the cabinet next to the trash can.

Top of the list for our next house? A Pantry!

The Paul Newman makes a little more sense. It’s the only dressing we eat and we eat it on just about everything. Wanna spice up the chicken? Paul Newman. Wanna add some pop to your beef? Paul Newman. Wanna fall in love with cucumbers? Paul Newman. Four jars, though, is a bit excessive. Again I blame it on the lack of pantry. Two of those were hiding behind the tea cups and I only found them when I was moving things around to prepare the snack cabinet of awesome.

So parents? I thought ahead just for you. I prepared something just for you. Not a meal, although I may make a pot of spagetti tomorrow for you to have on hand through the weekend. (Mostly for you – the only kid who will touch spagetti around here is Landon. Tell me, please, what kind of kid doesn’t like spagetti?!)

And now I’m going to rest my weary head upon a pillow because tomorrow’s project is to tackle the nasty surface called a floor in our home. Don’t look too closely at that last picture, you might be repulsed at how we are living (but only for about 12 more hours!)

Filed Under: Family, Life, Motherhood, shameless self-promotion Tagged With: leaving children behind, Motherhood, preparing meals ahead of time, preparing to go on vacation

I Said “A Boom Chicka Boom…”

September 12, 2010 by Kelli

This post has nothing to do with that title – I have just really wanted to title a post that for a long time now…

Actually, this post really has to do with nothing at all. You’re ripe with excitement to read further aren’t you?

Maybe I should do an entire post of one liners.

So there was this blogger who walked into a bar…

Nah.

We’re T – four days and counting until the big trip. I’ve had some freak out moments in the last few days, the biggest being when I realized that we might have to cut Hallstatt out of the itinerary. My Hallstatt. My preciousssssss.

I fretted and fraught (fraught?) and worried and moped. But it was a reality that we had planned way more than we could probably feasibly accomplish in our short time over there. And I really didn’t want to cut out Tuscany. Something had to go. Until…wait a minute. Maybe not.

What it boiled down to is this: We need to be flexible. We I need to be willing to cut out Hallstatt if it becomes apparent that there is just no way we’re going to make it all the way there and still have time to book it down to Tuscany. And so I still have hope, my friends. You see, the goal is to try and stay off of the AutoBahn (and Autostrada) as much as possible. We want to explore and get the flavor of the land. We want to round a curve and be looking down at a village nestled in the mountains. This means that it will take longer to travel. But it also means we’re going to have an adventure.

And if we miss Hallstatt, we’ll just have to go back, right? Deal!

Moving on…

See? More one liners. There is always room for one liners.

Too bad these aren’t the funny kind of one liners.

They’re kind of boring actually…

Ah well.

Sloan woke up with a low grade fever tonight. I gave him some Tylenol and piled him back in bed where I hope he’ll wake up fever free for school tomorrow…because I’m that mom. If you’re not dying, you’re going, kiddo.

We’ll see.

We will also be buying Emergen-C in bulk tomorrow. And Zinc. And Echinacea. I will not come down with a fever on my dream vacation. Oh, and to our parents who are splitting kid duty for the ten days while we are away: I’m so, so sorry. Here’s to hoping whatever Sloan has doesn’t spread. Or maybe he doesn’t have anything. Here’s to hoping that.

Speaking of Sloan – he and I had a duke it out, we-might-not-make-it homework session tonight. I won. Barely. We’re having this minor issue with child #1 in that every.single.time we bring him to the table to do homework, he brings along a massive chip on his shoulder. He is heaping with sass these days and it’s never more apparent than when he is under educational duress. It is especially evident when it comes time to do russian homework. Ay-yay-yay.

When it was all said and done and that which could have been completed in twenty minutes was finally finished after an hour of sweat and tears (no blood, thankfully) I felt defeated and dejected. Now that I know he is running a low grade fever I feel a little better, but the truth is – homework is often painful.

But, just before bed, Sloan grabbed my hand and led me back to our bedroom and sat me down on the bed. “We need to have a little talk,” he said.

“I had a bad attitude tonight and I was just angry and upset and sometimes russian is really hard and I feel like I can’t do it. But I didn’t act right. I wasn’t ‘quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry’ and I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?”

He did that on his own. Without any prompting.

My heart is still a little gooey. Of course I was quick to offer my forgiveness and apologize for my lack of patience. Amends were made and we agreed to work as a team to make homework more fun. It is moments like those that I truly, truly love being a parent. Sure it’s cool when they hit a home run or draw you a picture, but when they exhibit a heart attitude that you have worked so hard to help shape and mold? That is when parenting is most rewarding. Just when I felt like I was the worst mom ever and totally incapable of successfully parenting that boy, he reminded me that his sweet little heart is full of gold nuggets just waiting to be dug up and harvested.

Do you harvest gold? Did I just mix metaphors?

So yes…parenting is wicked hard. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

I wouldn’t even trade it for Hallstatt, Austria.

I Said “A booma ticka rocka ticka rocka ticka boom!”

The End.

Post edit: Sloan woke up fever free this morning and he happily skipped to school (well, happily skipped onto the school bus anyway). Whoop!

Filed Under: Family, Kids, Kids do the darndest things, Life, Motherhood, Random, Russian, School, Sickness, Sloan Tagged With: Hallstatt, Hallstatt Austria, Homework, Motherhood, parenting, Raising Kids, Random, Sloan, Working with Children

A Note to Samuel Clemens

September 9, 2010 by Kelli

Dear Sam,

I decided to read your book to my children last week. You know, the classic novel you wrote that captured 19th century boyhood with charm, wit and mischeif. I wanted my kids to have an adventure with Tom and Huck. I wanted them to know about what life was like back when days were not dictated by Miley Cyrus and iCarly. “The good ole days.” That’s what they were. I thought it would be a good idea to introduce my children to the children of your alter ego – Mark Twain.

I read yourbooks myself as a kid. I loved them. I remember adoring the love/hate between Tom and Becky, the thrill of the chase between Tom, Huck and the robbers and the awe at their receipt of $6,000 for capturing the bad guys. 6 thousand smackers! That was the largest sum of money I could fathom. And I wanted my children to experience the thrill of a great story…a piece of Americana.

However, my dear Mr. Twain…er, Clemens – can I call you Sam or perhaps, Mark? Sam? Okay. However, Sam, it appears that I had forgotten the nature of your writing. Your words, so eloquent in your time, were a bit more than my children could decipher. For instance, this sentence spoken by dear Aunt Polly had my poor children so puzzled I fear they will never allow me to pick out a book to read them again:

“He ‘pears to know just how long he can torment me before I get my dander up, and he knows if he can make me out to put me off for a minute or make me laugh, it’s all down again and I can’t hit him a lick.”

My goodness, Sam, even I had to stop and think about that one for a minute. We made it one chapter into your lovely novel before I realized that the kids eyes had glazed over and they were no longer listening to a word I said. They didn’t even get the fact that Tom had just whooped the big stranger on the path back to his house. You know, the boy he “‘lowed” to ‘”lay” for. That one. Yeah, they missed that. Crazy, huh?

There’s also the tiny issue of political correctness – a term that I am certain you would despise were you alive today. I simply cannot, in good conscience, Sam, read the slave Jim’s true character name as you wrote it so many years ago. It was an acceptable term then (acceptable to some, of course)…now, however, it just isn’t a word that needs to be used. Someday, when they’re older and can comprehend the beauty of your novels and they can understand the context in which they were written, I’m sure it will be fine for them to hear (or read for themselves) about Jim and his great escape from slavery by Huck’s side. But now, when they are too young to understand and too indescreet not to use certain words in public, I simply wouldn’t be able to read your novel in it’s purest form. And that seems unfair to you. And to them. And, honestly, to Huck and Jim.

So forgive me, dear Mr. Clemens, if I put this book back on the shelf of a few more years. Forgive me if I show them the movies made of your iconic tales instead. I want to inspire their imaginations, Sam, I really do. But they can’t be inspired under such educational duress. I did find, today, this book, which has been edited and abridged specifically for children. It only tells a piece of the story, but it does introduce them to the scrappy Tom, a character I so loved growing up. I think I will give it a try…you know, when they’ve had time to forget how utterly and completely bored and confused they were the first time I introduced Tom and Huck.

Don’t take it personally, Sam. I still love your books and I still plan to expose my children to your iconic tales. But I’m sure you understand that it’s better to give them a love for literature, not an absolute dread. Thanks for your books. Thanks for your imagination. Sorry it didn’t work out this time around.

Sincerely,

A literature nerd who forgot that sometimes classics are not neccesarily proper for young children

Filed Under: books, funny stuff that happens, Kids, Motherhood, Random Tagged With: Huck Finn, Mark Twain, Reading Tom Sawyer to young children, Samuel Clemens, Tom Sawyer

Today I plan to melt your hearts

September 8, 2010 by Kelli

Yesterday was Tia’s first day of preschool so it was only natural that I pull out my trusty magic camera and take 697 pictures before she left.

The results were glorious. She was cute, naturally. She can’t help but be cute. And Sloan was ever the charmer.

“Mom, you can take two pictures of me and that’s it. I don’t want any more.”

Right. I took a couple more than two. Don’t tell…

It is the shots of Landon, however, that will leave you with a toothache. This is due in part to the fact that his hair was so spectcular when he woke up that I had to wet it down and slick it to the side. Chubby cheeked cherub with slicked back hair?

Sweetness.

Combine that with a pair of pants that I found at a little shop in Orlando this summer – pants with suspenders – and you have a recipe for pure love. It also makes for some great pictures. So I present you my children. You’re welcome.

And, of course, the first day of school wouldn’t be the first day of school without a good old fashioned tree climb. In a dress…

And one more of Landon, because sweet mercy! That face is amazing. Don’t you just want to eat him up?

Filed Under: Family, funny stuff that happens, Kids, Kids do the darndest things, Landon, Motherhood, School, Sloan, Tia

Fluctuating Between UberExcited and Totally Freaking Out

September 6, 2010 by Kelli

We leave for Italy in ten days. Let me write that again in case you didn’t catch it the first time.

TEN DAYS!!!!

Someone actually asked me a couple of weeks ago if I felt guilty spending the money on such a “lavish” trip when the economy is bad, so many are in need and on and on. Um…no. I don’t “feel guilty.” I am proud and grateful, actually. Proud of my marriage of ten years. Grateful to a husband who loves me so much that he wants to do nice things for me and have an adventure with me. Grateful that God has blessed us with the funds to be able to take this trip (and the wisdom to be wise with our money and budget accordingly so we could save what we needed over the course of this past year).

We are not wealthy people. Not even close. But we are blessed. And we work really hard to be good stewards of those blessings. We don’t always do a great job at being good stewards. Sometimes we (ahem…I) make frivolous, unnecessary purchases. Sometimes we forget to tithe at church. Not because we don’t want to, but because we just…forget. We are working on these things (and many other things!). But we are careful with our money and we do try to use good judgement in how we spend it.

There is nothing I love more than being with my husband. I think he’s hilarious, fun, sweet, caring and easy on the eyes. Why would I not want to see the world with this man?! I can’t wait to spend ten days alone with him, exploring and making memories to last a lifetime. Memories that we will look back on in fifty years (God willing) and laugh with fondness of the days when we were able to travel the world without a box of depends and a walker…

We won’t regreat doing this in fifty years. We won’t regret it ten days from now when we step on that plane. And I have a couple of photos to prove why.

One of the first places we will drive through is Lake Como, Italy:

From there we’ll be driving through southern Switzerland into Austria. We’re planning on heading to Salzberg, although we have since found this gem of a town and are now contemplating skipping Salzberg, or at least just spending less time there, so we can have more time here:

Hallstatt, Austria. Did your heart just skip a beat? Because mine does every time I look at this photo. I want this very shot on my own camera. The hair on my arms is literally standing up right now. Isn’t God’s creation magnificent?!

From Austria, we plan to scoot down to Italy where we will spend four days in Tuscany at a gorgeous resort like this (we’re waiting on confirmation that we will be able to stay here):

We plan on tooling around Tuscany visiting Florence, Sienna, Montepulciano and wherever else the apartment owners tell us to go. Just me and my man. Why would I feel guilty about that?

I will tell you what I do feel…a little nervous. If I think about us being gone for ten days, driving through foreign countries, too long, I start to panic a little. What if something happens to us? What if something happens to one of the kids and we’re so far away. What if, what if, what if???

So I try not to think about it. Because the fact of the matter is, something could happen to one of us at the end of the street. I can’t live my life in fear of the what if’s. I can think about them and I can even panic momentarily, but then I need to move on and trust that the God of the Universe is in total control. Our children will be in the loving hands of all four of their grandparents. They will probably be spoiled mercilessly. They will likely be watched closer than they are when I’m home. You know…because I encourage them to play in the street and juggle knives.

I’m kidding. I never encourage them to play in the street.

And I am praying with full trust and belief that my God will answer my prayer, that Lee and I will be kept safe and we will be reunited with our children as a stronger, more united front in our marriage and parenting. I think this trip will make us better parents and better partners. So no, I don’t feel guilty about leaving for ten days to celebrate my marriage.

I do feel fleeting moments where I’m quite certain I could dissovle into a massive freak out.

But mostly I’m just so excited it’s kind of hard to sleep.

Not that hard, though.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Post edit #1: I wrote this last night when I was wiped out from a fun but busy weekend. However, when Lee and I went to bed we started talking about the trip and got so excited we couldn’t fall asleep. So Lee got up and searched the internet for more places to go and things to see while I tossed and turned, imagining all the fun we’re going to have. So it turns out we really are so excited we can’t sleep.

Post edit #2: I had the wrong date in my head when I wrote this. We’re actually leaving in eleven days. Whic isn’t quite as thrilling as leaving in TEN days. Re-read this tomorrow and I won’t be a liar…

Filed Under: Family, Lee, Life, Marriage, Motherhood Tagged With: Hallstatt Austria, keeping a marriage strong, Lake Como Italy, Marriage, Tuscany

Happy Labor Day

September 6, 2010 by Kelli

A one year old Sloan being ever so patriotic.

We are laboring today. We’re laboring about whether or not to get out of our jammies or simply stay in them all morning.

We’re laboring over whether to make breakfast here at home or go out.

We’re laboring over whether to be productive or sit on our duffs watching football and eating snacks all day.

We’re laboring over whether to make beds or simply let them sit in their sleeped in states all day.

We’re laboring today over maps of Italy and Austria as we plan our anniversary trip, which we leave for in ELEVEN DAYS!

Yes…we are laboring today. It’s the greatest labor of all.

Happy Labor Day!

Filed Under: Family, Holidays, Life Tagged With: Labor day, lazy day activities

Kickboxing

September 3, 2010 by Kelli

Yesterday I took out my frustrations and stress in an hour and forty five minutes of intense exercise. I started with cardio kickboxing. I punched, jabbed, upper cut and hooked with all of the anger I could muster. I imagined I was hitting a certain entity that is causing a bit of stress right now. Half way through the class I realized that I was clenching my teeth and swinging with such force that my arm nearly popped out of socket.

It felt good.

I sweat out a lot of stress in that first hour. I situated myself in the back corner of the room so I hope no one noticed the ferocity with which I worked out. I may or may not have looked like I was going to kill someone.

I followed the kickboxing class up with a forty five minute core strength class. It was at that point that I myself nearly met my Maker. I continued to sweat out frustrations and ended with fifteen minutes of stretching that allowed me to relax just a little bit. I left invigorated, tired, sweaty and feeling much less angsty.

I can’t walk today.

I’m sore from my eyeballs to my ankles. Thankfully my forehead and toes were spared. Coughing, sneezing and laughing are dangerous activities and sitting down is torture. I kind of have to just fall back. And reaching for something that’s up over my head? Out of the question.

So for one hour and forty minutes yesterday I was in charge. Today I realized that kickboxing got the best of me. Add to that Landon being up between the hours of 2:30 and 5:00 and you’ve got a sleepy, sore monster of a mommy. On the plus side, it’s a gorgeous day today, Tia has a play date scheduled which means the opportunity for me taking a nap is high and I’m hoping to sweet talk my husband into coming with us to the Zoo tonight to kick off this lovely, long weekend.

So now I just have to figure out how exactly I’m going to brush my teeth given the fact that I can’t move. This could be interesting…

Does anybody have an exciting plans for the weekend? Our exciting plans? Nothing. I can’t think of anything that sounds more fantastic.

My second Katrina post is up at 5 Minutes for Mom. This is the one I was most excited to share so I hope you enjoy reading it!

Filed Under: Exercise, Landon Tagged With: kickboxing, sore after exercise

Why I won’t be blogging today

September 2, 2010 by Kelli

and that’s just the first basket…

Filed Under: Blogging, Life, Motherhood, Random Tagged With: laundry, mama got behind, staying at home

the one where I wax poetic

September 1, 2010 by Kelli

Just kidding. I’m not going to wax poetic about anything. I actually am going to partake in a little verbal vomit. See? Vomit. It’s not a very poetic word. I should change the title of this post, but I don’t want to. Maybe I’ll be inspired as I write and maybe I will begin to wax poetic about life and it’s deeper meanings.

But probably not.

I really don’t have much to say these days. Probably because I’m old and my high falutent weekend in New Orleans has made me feel a bit like I got beat with a rubber mallet then tossed to the side like a rag doll. This mama isn’t used to seeing 2:00 am unless it’s to administer medicine to fevery babies or fill hungry tummies.

I’m tired.

Speaking of last weekend, I must say that there were moments when I looked around and thought What in the world am I doing here? I felt very…how shall I put this…midwest. I was surrounded by all of these interesting, funny, stylish, green, city folk and here I was, the minivan mom from the suburbs. I tell ya, I had to fight from saying things like, Well Golly Gee, or Aw shucks. I think I may have had an I declare or two in me, but I held back. And upon my return I had a strong urge to sell my car and start using public transit and to keep all the lights in the house turned off and check my carbon imprint (or is it my carbon print…or footprint?). But, well, shucks guys, that would make this suburban mama a little less comfortable so I think I’ll keep trucking along as I’m going in life.

‘Cause it’s swell.

Speaking of swell…um, I really don’t have anything else swell to say. I was looking for a transition. That was a poor effort. Did I mention I’m exhausted? Sloan told me yesterday that he no longer wants to be a policeman when he grows up, but he would like to be a shark trainer instead. When I informed him that he would have to be very brave because that’s a dangerous job he gave me the look that only a 7 year old going on14 can give. You know the one, right? It’s that look that says, Duh, Mom. What are you, like, some sort of midwest hick?

“I’ll start working with the sharks who are already trained. Then I will move on to their friends that need to be trained.”

Right. What was I thinking?

“Hey mom,” he went on. “You remember that time when I was a baby and I met that shark?”

“Um, no.”

“Yeah, remember? I was a little baby. It was my first time to Florida and I met a shark.”

“Sorry, bud. I don’t remember that at all.”

“Oh. Well…I might have made that up.”

Gee willikers, my kid is super neato.

I should get up and get moving. The dog is laying at the foot of my bed and I can hear her stomach growling quite fiercely. I had all these lofty goals to get up early and get a lot of work done (because I have a lot of work to do) but I had the migraine of the century last night and didn’t sleep much. Thank God for modern medicine, eh? I may have overdosed slightly but I knocked out the headache so I win. I offer my deepest apologies to my liver which is now working over time to rid my body of toxins.

So on that note, I offer you this:

May your day today be filled with joy, headache free and super duper swell.

The end.

p.s. I’m categorizing this post as random. That sounds about right, wouldn’t you say?

Filed Under: Family, funny stuff that happens, Kids, Life, Minivans, Motherhood, Random, Sloan Tagged With: kids say funny things, midwest hicks, random blog post

New Orleans: Food, Music and Inspiration

August 30, 2010 by Kelli

I spent two and a half hectic days in New Orleans this weekend and it was truly inspiring. The music, the food, the survivors, the fellow bloggers, the hot HGTV hosts…

It really was a great trip. It wasn’t without a few glitches and a few things could have been a little more organized, but I’m certainly not complaining. I ate a lot, slept very little, met some great people and saw just how much work still needs to be done down there. I think the highlight of my trip was talking with a homeowner in the Gentilly neighborhood named Brenda Wheeler. She was amazing, so encouraging, filled with faith and really blessed my heart. Despite the horror of the last five years (after Katrina her marriage fell apart, her mother died, she was displaced and she suffered serious heart problems) she was the most peaceful person I’ve ever had the privilege of speaking with.

I will be sharing her story over at 5 Minutes for Mom this week. I can’t wait for you to read it. I’m even putting together a short video of our conversation so you can see her and hear her words first hand. It was such a blessing to hear her talk about how God has blessed her life and given her strength to endure despite the hardships.

I was able to see the goodness in people as hundreds rallied to help rehabilitate homes that remain in disrepair so that New Orleans residents could finally come home. The average income in the neighborhood where I worked was roughly $16,000 a year so it is no wonder that most houses remain uninhabited, or in a state that is not healthy or safe for the residents. That region still needs help, they still need support, both financially and in basic labor. It was eye opening for me.

I got to drive throught he lower 9th Ward, where I did not see Brad Pitt (Sad Panda) but I did see the houses he built. They’re beautiful and amazing, but they sit next to wasteland. Overgrown lots and dilapitated homes leave a stark reminder of the destruction that happened. And the day I drove through it was pouring down rain. It was almost eery to see the community in the rain like that.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend, including one with me and Carter Oosterhouse who, I must say, is more adorable in person than on TV. I’ve never watched his show, but I know who he is because how can one not be aware of someone who looks like him?! Just sayin’…

And now I’m off to edit video, write a few more posts and get some coffee. I’m at the gym using their free wifi. The gym has become my office as of late. The kids get to play, I get work done and everybody wins. Well, except for my body which is just getting soft and squishy…

These women are three generations who have been displaced since Katrina hit. Their house should be completed and ready to move back in in just a few weeks. The older woman, Lula, lived in an apartment or “ghetto,” as she put it, her whole life. Her daughter Lois bought this house in 1998 because she wanted her mother and children to know what it was like to live in a home and in a safe environment. She wants to bring her aging mother home.

Many of the abandoned homes still bear the water marks from the floods. The X on the front indicated where the water peaked. The numbers are the date that the house was checked and on the bottom the number indicated if any bodies were found. Thankfully this one bears the mark of 0.

I helped build a fence with a group of kids from the Americorp. They were all between the ages of 19 and 23 and when they asked how old I was one of the boys literally let his mouth drop open. “You’re 32?!” he exclaimed.

“Yeah, I know right?” I replied. “I’ve got one foot in the grave.”

“No! It’s just that I thought you were one of the college helpers.”

I almost kissed him, but I resisted. Instead I asked if I could adopt him. Then it got awkward. *sigh*

I was interview by the 2nd City Comedy Troup film team who were working with Sears to capture some of the events of the weekend. It was very awkward. I didn’t know if I was supposed to be funny or serious. I felt like Ricky Bobby. I don’t know what to do with my hands. Good times.

Chris Grundy of HGTV’s DiY, blogger Greta, Hotty Mc-hot-erson Carter Oosterhouse, and me. 🙂

One of Brad Pitt’s cool looking homes in the lower 9th. But no Brad Pitt. I know, right?!

Finally, I leave you with a compilation of clips that I took the night that I explored Frenchmen Street with two of the other bloggers. I harkened back to my college days and stayed out until 2:00 am. It was awesome. I’m totally paying for it today, though. The music in New Orleans is everything you hear. It’s amazing. Enjoy…

Filed Under: Blogging, Life Tagged With: Brad Pitt, Carter Oosterhouse, Katrina five years later, Make It Right, New Orleans