Looking forward to the bugs...

This weekend is our annualy Lemoine family reunion. My dad's mom, his 7 siblings, and their kids and their kids. That's right, I have A LOT of family. 14 aunts & uncles. 12 first cousins & theirs spouses. 13 second cousins. Not including myself or the girls, or coco. This is the first year in a while that most of the will acutally be there. A few here & there will be missing, but most should be around. We missed last year b/c we moved into our new house that weekend. Worth missing for your own new real estate! I've got a little trepidation about an afternoon visitng with dozens of family members at one persons house. Mostly because there are a few members of the fam that shall remain nameless that have become troublemakers in their old age. There are, however, a few bright spots that will come out of it. You know those cousins or family members who always make you happy and feel warm & gooey inside because you just enjoy being around them? Not for any reason other than that they remind you of the greatest times in your childhood? I've got a bunch of those and i am sooooo excited about seeing them.

Plus, bebe will be making her Lemoine family debut. MOST of my family has yet to meet her. Ridiculous? Yes. Especially since my family considers itself close, but that's an entirely different post for a day when I'm ready to vent. Hahah...still love them all, despite the heaping shovel full-o-crazy that they all bring with them.

Anyhoo...the BEST part about this weekend will be the boiled crawfish and beer at mom & dad's house and watching them fawn over bebe for the entire weekend. Ever since she was born, they're putty in our hands. It's wonderful to see them so in love!







Can't wait for the weekend to start!

poop

Just having one of those weeks where things are a little off. Poop is the theme for the week. Or Crap. Or merde (en francais). Or just plain shit. Not only have I been shat on 3 times this week, but it's gotten on the couch, my clothes, and in my nostrils...yuck. Green. Guacamole in color and texture. But I love my little bit so much, it's almost acceptable...almost.

And then there are the plumbing issue. A toilet at work that REFUSES to not leak. Despite being re-set a number of times. Now mr. penguin decides we'll just "leave it, since it's an old building and all." That's a great idea except there's f'n water all over the place. Any other good ideas in there genius. I'd love to hear em! Oh yeah, and then there's the sink and faucet. mimosa's mom got me an incredible faucet and sink worth nearly $1K combined for F R E E. Not a bad deal huh? Nothing is that simple. The faucet had to have 29834239478 different converters b/c apparently ELKAY is some foreign language for "make your life miserable. oh yeah and spit out water too sometimes..." It's finally installed, after 4 trips to home depot and lowes, one to the neighboring hardware store, and one to coburn's (which finally helped me). Then the sink. ohhh...the sink. Very nice. Stainless steel even. But a PAIN IN THE ASS. Had to move pipes b/c the sink is bigger than the old one, which is DEFINITELY a bonus, but a pain nevertheless. Then the clips that come on 90% of sinks in the friggin world don't work on this one. nope. i have to have a special kind of clip. Thanks Moen! The search continues for those, so 3 days later...our kitchen is still dissheveled..despite only needing to install a measly sink. It's gonna look great when it's done. If i dont burn the house down first.

To top it all off, my Lolly is sick. Really sick. On top of her stomach issues, today she's home b/c she's a spewing machine...must be a day bug. I certainly hope it is, b/c she has no vacation time and so she gets no pay. Overtime for me i guess! And dont even get me started on work...

A change indeed

A spring retreat. That sounds nice. I definitely agree with my adirondak friend that it's about time to find a little something to break up the monotony of daily adult life. While my exhaustion comes from only one job, there's enough of it to go around. These days, work has been exceptionally busy, bucking the national trend. Aside from being busy, it's been an increasingly difficult pill to swallow. One of those things where people tell you you're good at what you're doing, but you don't really agree with them. at all. It's definitely a challenge to show up some days with any sort of decorum or vigor for the work that we do. It's not to say anything against working here, because it has truly become a great place to work. Obvious exceptions exist, but such is the modern workplace..especially in studio format.

I just am slowly building up a full bag of "what exactly am i doing?" Some days, I'm content. I think, well...I can do this forever, its not that bad. Others, I'm so completely disgusted that I want to quit THIS INSTANT. The vast majority of the days, I am completely ambivalent. It's an odd place to be. I read somewhere that a good majority of people are unhappy doing what they do on a daily basis. I won't say I'm unhappy, but I'm uncomfortable and could be MUCH happier. But how? Doing what? How do you decide?

I love being outside. I love plants. I love cooking. I love people..........well...sometimes I love people. I guess it all depends on which of my personalities reports for duty at any given time. My thought: A bakery/coffee shop where I grow herbs and veggies outside (or on a rooftop garden) to supply my baking needs. Gardening AND cooking. And coffee. Must have coffee. Sounds like a winning combination. But it also sounds like tons of work and lots of hours away from my girls. And also, opening a business is extremely expensive and difficult. And the failure rate is unfortunate.

Such is my delimma.

Well, life could be worse...and I'm a lucky guy to have a great family to make me want to wake up to and come home to every single day. Maybe they'll give me the inspiration to figure this crap all out. until it's all sorted out, I'll just continue to take pictures that remind me of the simple beauties in life.

enjoy!

it's about that time!

This is truly my favorite time of the year. In a far corner at the back of my yard, a tiny spot of majenta has appeared. The Louisiana orchids are blooming. All across the city, bursts of green and various other colors are slowy popping up. I really enjoy seeing all of the plants coming to life, revealing their delicate foliage and flowers that have been bottled up for months. The cypress are lined with tiny chartreuse flecks, the live oaks are blanketing the city with a thin greenish-yellow film, the saucer magnolias & azaleas are FILLED with blooms.

It's a magical season and every year, I fall in love with nature all over again. Thanks for the inspiration God!

rested...and ready?

You ever wake up and think "is it tomorrow yet"? I had one of those mornings. Getting up to get ready for work, knowing full-well that this day is going to be H E L L. Waiting for *ahem* somebody to review something that should have been reviewed 2 weeks ago. Its due today. And I have 2 other deadlines today. Again, it's going to be a loverly day. Well, if *they* are not worried, then I shouldnt be, huh?

Anyhoo, last night we got 7 hours of uniterrupted sleep. These little oases in the desert of no sleep are like a tiny recharge. It's startling to wake up after sleeping for so long, and just wondering, but then all of a sudden, the dull grunt is heard over the speaker. She's fine. She was just wiped out from going to uncle coco's house, visiting with nana, papa, & aunt sasay. Also, the grocery store with daddy was exceptionally challenging...apparently.

little feet

There's nothing like picking up my little girl after a long day of work. Seeing that beautiful smile and those tiny little feet makes the day just melt away.

Every. Single. Time.


I can't wait for 5.

blah blah blah

Chatterbox. Motormouth. Mouth of the south. Just a few names have been used to describe me over the years. Ever since I can remember, I've just felt the indefatigable need to talk. Not necessarily about anything in particular. Something in my brain hates silence. It comes & goes from minute to minute, hour to hour. It actually just becomes a completely uncontrollable urge to speak. Weird.

And its not all the time either. Sometimes, I want to just sit there and not talk....just be in silence. Then when other people talk, it drives me NUTS.

People have asked me if it was that difficult to just be quiet. well...YES. yes it is. Sometimes anyway. I've been conscious about it all my life and try very hard not to talk too much. Sometimes, I'll realize that I've been talking too much, get aggravated with myself, and withdraw into my own little world. Then it's like a little pity party inside my head.

I think somewhere along the line, I became a really self-conscious person. The kind of person who obsesses over every single thing they do, say, even think. At times, it can be rather debilitating. Being with Lolly for these past 7 years has really helped me to realize that if somebody that amazing can love me for the overactive, chatty, downright annoying person that I can be, then there's no reason I should be so worried about myself. If it were really that bad then I wouldnt have so many friends and family around me. They complain to me at times about my babbling, but they're all still here, aren't they? That must count for something.

So I continue on down my road of talking...talking...talking. Filling the void of silence with abolutely random, uncomfortable, absurd things that probably shouldn't be said. Ever. To anyone. Maybe my new little outlet will help me to say them to myself, instead of others.