Woo Hoo! I missed it!

No snow in Shreveport! Devin called me at 6 a.m. this morning after I had been out with friends until 3:30 a.m. to let me know they had snow. Good thing I love that kid because not many people can get away with waking me after only 2 1/2 hours of sleep. :-) There was 4 inches of snow in Pointe Coupee. I do regret that I'm not there to take pictures. I would have loved to have taken pictures of the pasture behind my house. It's beautiful on the average day, so I can only imagine what it looked like today.
My general manager emailed me this morning he told me that I am officially band from winter travel. I tend to either have snow or flat tires every time I attend this economic development conference.
I head home tomorrow. It's been a good conference. I just hope and pray my trip home is a good one.

Argh! How do I get so lucky?

As most of you know I hate winter. I hover around the I-10 for a reason. No snow. Mild winter tempatures. Well guess who is in Shreveport? And guess what they are forecasting? Yep I'm in Shreveport and they are forescasting snow. Seems like everytime I come to Shreveport it snows. Just hoping I can get back in time for our Christmas party on Saturday. It can snow as long as I'm in the comfort of the hotel and the roads do not close! Yeah Yeah laugh at me all you living in Yankee territory. And Yes Nicole...you are a yankee! lol

A Weekend of Concerts...

The weekend before Thanksgiving I had the opportunity to see 2 great concerts. The first was after the football game. Walk On's had the Molly Ringwalds. They are one of my favorite local bands. My friend Jamie and I went. Although we were told "Yes Mame" several times that night by college student and also concerned that they thought we were cougars on the prowl that night, we had a blast. A lesson learned...although that scene was a lot of fun 8 + years ago. Not that cool these days. I know it's hard to believe it but I've grown up.

The next day I took Devin to New Orleans to see Metalica. Great show...the best I've ever seen. Not my favorite concert, but definitely the best show. It was Devin's first concert. I told him he started at the top, and every concert from here on out will be disappointing. lol I'm glad I got to take him to his first concert!

LSU Games

So what do you do when the games start to suck? Take artistic photos of the stadium through mom's sunglasses of course! lol

Go to my photo's website at Shutterfly to check out the photos from this season. We had a very fun tailgate with some meter readers and linemen that I work with.

You will also Mr. Wayne and Mrs. Cynthia in the photos. Mr. Wayne is doing much better. He had brain surgery in the summer and you can tell he has come a long way.

Thanksgiving Preparations

We are planning a pilgrimage in honor of Thanksgiving. Just as ye ole ancestors made a pilgrimage from the old world, so will we to The Woodlands of Texas. Who am I fooling? It's going to be a sequel to a National Lampoons Holiday movie. Any way we are all planning on going visit Mike next week. Not sure who all will go, but the entire family is invited. Since Mike doesn't have a whole lot of kitchen implements, I decided to get a head start and freeze some of the dishes for Thanksgiving dinner. I'm very excited about the way the dishes came out. Hopefully they taste as good as they look. Here's a picture of my Toffee Sweet Potato Pie and Spinach Madeline.

My 30th Birthday

Sorry I'm running behind on blogging. I've been busy. My 30th birthday was awesome. I had signs from my house to the office announcing I was 30. I spent the day with Devin on a field trip. We went to see some plays in Baton Rouge. Then the family surprised me by coming to my house and throwing a party. The next day when I got to the office. I found it deocrated and my brother sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Thanks to everyone for their well wishes and beautiful gifts. You really made my day very special.
Thanks to Julie...I'm stealing her idea to post my photos on Shutterfly so check it out!

Home Improvement Project

What happens when you house 160 people on company property? Well your inventory of sheets and towels triple. Since Katrina and Rita we had cleaned out an extra room in our office. This is where we stored all our linens, air mattresses and towels. Well because Gustav was our largest storm in our 70 year history. Changes had to be made to our storage room. The company hired my dad and I to build the shelves. Here are some pics from the project. More to come later.

The Original Mess:


Framing:


Shelving:

2008 Louisiana Youth Tour Video

Here's our promotional video for Youth Tour!

Getting Some Autumn Fever...

I love this time of year. Especially decorating during this time of year...because of the beautiful colors. Here are my creations for autumn.
In the background of this pictures you can see the makings of Project Monkey Grass. That's for another blog posting.




The dining room table.

Just a little bit of goofy for a Friday...

As most of you know the big 30 is approaching. I have to say...I'm excited about it. I can't wait to see what this next decade has to offer. My twenties were good to me and the one thing I can say is I partied hard and I survived! I really have some great memories and accomplishments from the last 10 years. I also know that I learned a lot about myself and who I really am.
As I reflect on this I can't help but think...how in the hell can I function in society? It's an absolute miracle since I was weened off a bottle by a cow named Brazo and potty trained by a dog named Fifi! :-)
My mother used very unique techniques for teaching these important life lessons. I guess she knew I was driven even at a very young age, and would never let an animal out do me. So she convinced me that only babies needed bottles and the cow in the pasture next door was still a baby and he needed my bottles. Then my grandparents told me that they had potty trained their dog Fifi. Hey I figured if a dog could go to the bathroom, so could I. Yes I know these two stories really explain a lot, but I thought it was a good laugh for a Friday.
The only down side to turning 30 so far has been the image that looks back in the mirror. I really had not noticed, but I guess after my stint of working 17-22 hours a day the true colors came through. I remember waking up one morning walking down the hall of my office to the restroom to get ready for work and looking in the mirror and not recognizing the person looking back. I don't know who that woman was in the mirror, but she was old!

And Gustav Leaves a Big Wake...

As we attempt to return to normal, it seems that Gustav continues to cause damage. Two of my really good friends at our sister co-op in Baton Rouge have lost their jobs this week. The reasons for these 2 guys losing their jobs have been because of issues during the storm, but that's not true it was politics.

I know most of you don't care about this but I have used this blog as a journal and I'm hoping it will help just to get my thoughts out. I'm having a very hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that these people will no longer be around.

One of these guys has truly been my best friend, mentor, partner in crime and drinking buddy. I will miss him greatly. I wish them all the best and hope for a new and better beginning for them. For those who are still at the co-op, you are in my thoughts and prayers also because I know times are going to be tough for a little while. Just hang in there.

Ike Ike Baby

You know you are all going to sing along with this in your head!

Ike Ike Baby, Ike Ike Baby
All right stop, evacuate and listen
Ike is here with some big ambition
People, close your homes up tightly
It's blowing like a hurricane daily and nightly Where will it stop?
Yo-I don't know Turn off the lights and let's go To the coastline
Ike rocks like a vandal Start up the car and watch me drive like an
animal

Dang, hardware store sales boom
Ike's killing my plans like a poisonous mushroom Deadly, evacuate
they tell me Anyone left will be charged with a felony Love it or
hate it, you better get away Ike will hit the bull's eye, the storm
don't play If you're on vacation, Yo, Ike stalled it Check out the
eye while the bands revolve it

Hurricane Ike Ike Baby, Hurricane Ike Ike Baby Hurricane Ike Ike
Baby, Hurricane Ike Ike Baby

Now that the people are jumpin'
With their stuff packed up and the gas done pumpin'
Quick to the road, to the road no fakin'
Pass McD's get a burger with bacon
Burnin' 'em and follow the symbol
I go crazy when I hear some imbecile Revving, in a souped up Pinto
Now I can roll, it's time to crack the window Rollin' in my Chevy
Tahoe With my window down, I can feel Ike blow My laptop's on
standby, Waiting for some Wi-fi This spot hot? No - and I gotta fly
Kept on pursuing to the next block I busted a left and I'm beating
the clock The light was red

Yo -- so I continued to I-37 to San Antonio Wish I was there in a
blink like a jeanie How I'd love to be sippin' a martini Jealous
'cause my girl's living fine She left yesterday and was there by
nine Ready to give my homies a call My homies acting ill because
their car just stalled Humidity, the air is sticky as hell Ike's on
his way, the weatherman yells Moving toward the gulf coast real fast
I'm in my car, can't give it no gas Bumper to bumper the
interstate's packed I'm trying to get away before Ike attacks Police
on the scene, what can it mean?
They hooked me up, now there's another lane free If you're on
vacation, Yo, Ike stalled it Check out the eye while the bands
revolve it

Hurricane Ike Ike Baby, Hurricane Ike Ike Baby Hurricane Ike Ike
Baby, Hurricane Ike Ike Baby

Yo man, let's get out of here! Word to your mother!

Most Unusual Date Ever...

My date, Scott, is the guy on the right.

As most of you know, I have had some doozies of dates before, but this one takes the cake. Usually these dating experiences do not turn out to be really that great, but this one was really a good one.

As you know we have been in recovery mode since September 1. We had some out of state crews come from Oklahoma to help us. Great people! One crew was leaving to go home last Friday, so the foreman of the crew came up to me while I was handing out dinners Thursday night and asked me if I would go to dinner with him. Not wanting to make my supervisors upset, I hesitated but then agreed to a dinner date.

After they finished unloading their truck he came up to me and asked if I was ready, I said yes. He said well lets grab a box and where would you like to sit? We took our boxed dinner and went to the warehouse. Then he offered to go to the freezer to get me an ice cream...too sweet!

We really had a good time for a date that didn't cost a dime and we didn't go anywhere. I think I made some of our linemen jealous because I was paying more attention to our out of state crew. lol

It was the most unusual date ever but probably one of the best!

The Snake Bite Curse continued yesterday...

Things continued to get worst in Bayou Sorrell yesterday. I left New Roads at 10:30 so that I could have lunch to the crews by noon. Yes you read right it takes an hour and a half to get down there. On my way I get a phone call from our safety coordinator who is overseeing a crew working down there. He tells me he needs a jacket...the one with the long sleeves that tie in the back (a straight jacket). When I ask what is wrong now he informs me that a barge has crashed into the Bayou Sorrell bridge and they are stranded on the other side. What was a simple jump across the bridge has now become a 52 mile drive down a muddy levee road. I will say this despite the problems down there they are doing really good. Today we are 96% back up on our entire system and I just found out I have the day off on Friday!!!

We just can't get a break...

It's day 14 of storm recovery. I haven't had a day off since August 24. I'm tired and my guys are tired. Bayou Pigeon and Bayou Sorrell can best be described as a black hole. On Thursday night we finally got a feed from our transmission lines that we were waiting on another power company to fix...I'm not mentioning any names but you know who they are. Our guys worked until 12:30 Friday morning restoring that area. At 6:00 a.m. that morning Ike broke a pole on that same transmission line. Once again everyone went out. Saturday night the transmission line came back up; an hour after our crews had left the area a car ran off the road and broke another pole on a 3 phase line (a major feeder line). I feel sorry for those poor people living there and for our crews who can't seem to catch a break. We can't win for losing down there.

On a more positive note. I spent the night in my own bed last night. We are hoping to be back at our regular schedules starting Tuesday. Yeah maybe I will start getting more than 4 hours of sleep each night and hopefully I will soon have a day off!

Also I now have a crew from Oklahoma and they are all my new boyfriends...can't wait to tell that story on a later date! Tee Hee hee!

Gustav Pictures

I know some of you are interested in what's been going on here. I have some pics from my press releases. I am still living in my office and working 18 hour days. I'm hanging in there and taking it day by day; sometimes hour by hour. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. As of this posting we have 69% of our power restored from 100% down after the storm. We have 230 people on hand compared to the 41 full time employees. We have 2 tractor trailers with bunk beds 1 tractor trailer with showers and we are distributing 690 meals a day and have a Coca Cola truck full of beverages for our crews.
Carrying food and supplies out of our caterer's store. They were flooded the day after the storm.

Crews working Rougon Road between Hwy 190 and Section Road in WBR Parish

Crews working the main line out of Livonia towards Maringouin

PCE Headquarters area

PCE Headquarters

Giving crews an update at the PCE Warehouse

Preparing towels and sheets for arriving crews

Flooding on Hospital Road in New Roads

Pointe Coupee Farmer’s Grain Elevator in Batchelor

I've Done the Unthinkable...

Who would have ever guessed that I would willing give up my tickets to the opening game of the LSU football season? I hated to do it but it was must. Saturday is going to be my only day off for what I am projecting is going to be a long time. I need to stay home and get things in order: pay bills, clean, laundry and pick up things in the yard. Yes Gustav is on his way and it looks like Hanna will be on his heels. Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers...I fear we are going to need all of them.

We have been operating in emergency mode for the last couple days. I am confident in our plan we have in place, but all plans go out the window once the storm makes landfall.

I hope to have some time to post next week, but a I can't promise.

My plans are to move into the office or more likely with my grandparents on Monday. I did this during Katrina and Rita to be closer to our crews and the office, which is tough to leave your family behind not knowing if you will be able to communicate with them after the storm and knowing that they could be with out electricity for quite a few days. Another thing is it's a lot more nerve racking when you leave a home you are still paying for. I just pray for the best.

Hopefully we have spent a lot of time planning and preparing for nothing.

We've Got Spirit! Yes We Do...

We've Got Spirit! How about you?

Back by popular demand...our office is having a tailgate party to kick off football season. On Friday everyone is going to bring their favorite dish and we are going to dress in our favorite school's colors. It's time to play football!!!

Searching for an Assistant

I am currently searching for an adminstrative assitant. For those of you who don't already know my secretary resigned 2 weeks ago. Things have been really crazy here at work and I am just looking forward to the day when we are back to normal.

Yeah! The Olympics are here...

I love the Olympics. I can't wait to sit and watch the continuous coverage. I know with all the controversy about it being in China and all the negative reports maybe I shouldn't be as excited as I am. But for as long as I can remember I have loved the Olympics so I plan on watching as much of it as I possibly can. Go USA!!

DC was great!

We had a great time and a really great group of kids. The trip was exhausting but it is all worth it. Now I am in the office trying to catch up on work before I leave for the beach on Saturday. Whoo Hoo the Beach...it's finally here!

Washington DC Bound

Hey everyone...just wanted to let you know that I am going to Washington DC this week for Youth Tour. Check out my Youth Tour Blog to see what's going on.

www.youthtourla.blogspot.com

Proud to be a Graduate of Catholic of Pointe Coupee

I know, I know...I don't say this often, but after this weekend I will say I am proud of my high school. On Saturday, I attended the ordination of Father Andrew Merrick and Father Jamin David. I went to school with both these guys and I am very proud of them. The Bishop announced that in the church on Saturday was guest Bishop Shelton Fabre a 1981 graduate of Catholic of Pointe Coupee along with Father Andrew (Class of 99) and Father Jamin (Class of 2000). I will say that I am very proud to have graduated from a school that currently has two priest and one bishop as fellow alumni. I am thankful for my catholic education and for those people who inspired/supported these young men in their calling.

John James Audubon Bridge

Here are some pictures of the bridge and right of way construction. This project is 2 years in and it is scheduled for completion in 2011.




The square converts are being put in because of the black bears in the area. The round coverts are too small for them therefore the square converts provide them with a more natural habitat.

Company Picnic 08

On May 10th we had our annual company picnic. Here is a pic of my dad and I at the picnic. It was a lot of fun. The weather was hot the beer was cold and from what I hear the crawfish were spicy!

Just an update...

Not a whole lot going on around here except for the building excitement about the LSU baseball team hosting a regional this weekend. I have not been this excited in a long time. These past few weeks have been a lot of fun!

Memorial Day weekend was nice and low key. Thursday night was girls night out...I think the bar tender tried to serve me Old Charter instead of Crown. Friday was rough...didn't feel too hot. On Saturday I caught Clayton's baseball game and did some shopping in Baton Rouge. Sunday I grilled hamburgers and invited the family over. Monday I took on the project of all projects. Washing the exterior of my home. It is days like these when you scrub the entire thing by hand you appreciate the size of it. Needless to say the day could not go by without a "Goofy Addie" accident. I fell while trying to reach the roof, scraped my elbow, bruised my foot and hurt my shoulder. It was beautiful, but that's what you get when you do dumb things.

Today is bridge construction day. I get to ride out to the construction site for the John James Audubon Bridge that will connect New Roads and St. Francisville. This should be fun. I haven't been on the site in a while. I hope to have some pictures to post when I get back.

More photos to come...

I have more photos from my trip. Hopefully I will have time to post them this weekend.

Columbia River Gorge and Water Falls

Portland Was Awesome!

Here is a photo at the foot of Mt. Hood. More to come I just need to catch up on some rest and laundry!

Cinco de Mayo

I have not celebrated Cinco de Mayo in a long time. It was big when I worked and went to school in BR, but around New Roads it's not that big a deal. Well as part of my resolution to party like a rock star before I turn 30 (as if I'm going to stop partying like a rock star once I do) I had a Cinco de Mayo party. It was a lot of fun and plenty of Corona and Margaritas. I recommend the water melon margarita from Martha Stewart's website. It is awesome! We will definitely do this again and I can assure you I will not wait until next year to have another Mexican theme party.

So Ready To Go...

I am leaving for Portland in 11 days. Work has been tough lately especially since I have not had a secretary since Christmas. I'm having to handle a lot of department paper work that I am not familiar with especially all of our educational programs now that the school year is coming to an end. I usually handle the promotions, PR and economic development aspects of our department. Needless to say, I need a vacation. My co-workers are tired of hearing me say I need the beach. Although Portland is no beach and I will be there for work...I am looking forward to just getting away. It should be enough to hold me over until my beach vacation gets here.

Doing What We Do Best!

Just a fun night out at Tsunami's.

Dirty in the Ditchisms

We decided that Dirty in the Ditch needs its own dictionary.

1. Dirty in the Ditch-a great excuse to put your lawn furniture in the ditch to sit and drink while watching traffic.

2. Traditionalist-individuals that pass by and remember you from the previous years.

3. Untraditionalist-individuals that pass by with a look of confusion, have never seen or participated in the festivities.

4. Baffled-untraditionalist who think they are missing a Mardi Gras parade.

5. Tinging-throwing beer caps in the street to hear a faint sound of alumni being blow down the street.

6. Travisty-when a drunk driver rolls over your mailbox.

7. Mitchification-process of breaking lawn furniture under extreme weight.

8. Stilts-people who are so short that when they get out of a vehicle you think they fell out of the vehicle.

9. Fashionistas-traditionalist that are confident enough to wear a crazy hat to the festivities.

10. Carnies-fair workers that walk down the street. You should fear these people and warn others about them. A typical warning is to chant "The Carnies are coming!
The Carnies are coming!"

We could only come up with a few. I know there are some traditionalist out there who may have their own ditchisms, so let me know if you can think of any.

Water Still Rising 4/20/08

You can see how much the water has risen in one week by looking at these photos.
1. Mississippi River in Baton Rouge
2. Camp at Old River
3. Cattle that had to be rescued.

More High Water 4/14/08

Awesome Experience

On Good Friday this year, I had the opportunity to participate in the Passion Walk for Christ. It started at Immaculate Conception Church in Lakeland and ended at St. Mary's in New Roads. It was an 11.2 mile walk that took approximately 8 hours. We said the way of the cross and rosary along the way. It was beautiful and a great way to spend my Good Friday. I'm glad I did it. I will not say that it was easy, but it was not impossible. It was just a good sacrifice.