Leaving Shreveport Soon

Since this town has some rather large casinos, I assumed the husband would be on his way to one of them after we got checked into our room at the Hampton Inn. Instead, he was interested in getting dinner out of the way and back to the room to rest. It could be because the rain was pouring down and the tempeatures had plummeted and the only clothes we bought with us on this trip were shorts and t shirts. The weather and our clothing was not conducive to running from a large parking lot to a casino. We have a suite of rooms; two televisions equal no arguments. I tagged the one in the bedroom and after a lesurely bath in the jacuzzi tub, dressed in a t shirt, I was ready for some televsion and some sleep. We are anticipating some heavy rains on the drive today. In 4 hours we should be back in Lafayette but right now I'm in a different coffee shop in a different hotel awaiting the husband. I never wake him. He loses too much sleep with his job so when he gets a chance to catch up, I stay out of the room. I can see the tall bushes surrounding the hotel. Their leaves are flipped underside up from the wind that is cruising through. It's 52 degrees here right now which is unheard of for the month of April in the deep south. What's up with that? Where is the weather coming from? I'm not going to complain too much. I prefer this weather over the heat of the summers here but I do wish I had a sweatshirt and a pair of pants instead of a this pair of shorts and this thin t shirt. It's time to check out the breakfast bar. I'm sure coffee and toast will be what I have. After all..it's another hotel breakfast room. I'm outta here to watch the news and sip on my second cup of coffee. I'll be happy to be home in a few hours. Happy Saturday to one and all!f

Still in Tulsa

Well here I am once again warming a chair in the breakfast room at ye ole Holiday Inn Express. I sit here with a cup of hot coffee clutched in one hand and a slice of toast in the other. The toast is all I can tolerate of the free breakfast offered here. Beneath the warming lights the biscuits and gravy, omelets and sausage links await those braver then I. The food causes me to shiver and my stomach to do small little flips. I've been hanging out at the Holiday Inns for too many years now and the only thing I can eat from the breakfast offered is the toast. I watch as those less exposed fill their plates and pick up their forks. I have to look away. Oh, I remember all too well when I too enjoyed the food here but those days are long gone. The husband would always bypass the breakfast room except to pour himself a cup of coffee and then drive down the street to a little cafe to pick up something to eat while on his drive to the location. I'm there. The omelet that is perfectly folded with the cheese visible oozing out of the fold, the slippery gravy with the bits of sausage and the sausage links that have a rubbery blend to them no longer entice me. I'll sip on my coffee and nibble on my toast while those that don't spend a lot of their time in a H.I.E. take advantage of the free breakfast offered. Cold cereal, cinnamon rolls, fruit and bagels are offered and those I can tolerate. It's the hot foods that make my tummy quiver. We are headed home today. We may not get all the way home. Shreveport may be where we spend the night. The casinos are beckoning and the husband doesn't have a job in the near future so we are going to have a litte "us" time on this trip. As I face the exterior window the view is of the trees bending in the wind. The locals assure me that here in Tulsa there are few tornadoes. I waited anxiously last night for the storm that was forecast. The rain arrived with the thunder and lightning and wind. The wind wasn't gathered up into a funnel. I'm thankful. I've lived in Oklahoma three different times. I would prefer to leave this part of the country to the natives that are accustomed to ducking tornadoes. It's just not my "thing". I'm ready to go home. The temperatures have dropped along with last night's storm and my backpack full of summer shorts and skorts leaves me with another reason to head south. I'm waiting on the husband to wake up. He has had to go to location early each morning so I'll let him sleep as long as he wants this morning. I'll be right here in the breakfast room sipping my coffee and surfing the net while watching the winds and the sky for any sneak attacks.

Packed and Ready to Roll

From my  bedroom window, I can see the bushes and tree limbs bending in the wind. As these winds move through here and collide with a high pressure front from the north, tornadoes will be spawned over the states north east of us. I'm hoping there isn't a high pressure front hanging over those states tonight. Speaking of wind.....

We leave tomorrow for Tulsa and an early start it will be. The hotel room has been reserved and will be waiting on us to arrive. We should be in Tulsa by 1600 hrs if we leave Lafayette at 0600 hrs. I've packed more then enough clothes for the 4 days we will be gone. I'm ready.

But then again, maybe I'm not really ready. The tornadoes tearing through Oklahoma have left me with  reservations about making this trip at all. I've lived in Oklahoma a few times and those times were peppered with tornadoes, a weather anomaly I'm not fond of.

Should I get blown away on this trip, I'm sure there will be some that said "What made her go? She knew what she was getting into!"

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Toto and I don't meet up somewhere in Kansas.
It's time for the steaks to be grilled. There won't be another home cooked meal for the next week and that doesn't make me sad at all. I'm done!

Shear

I took a moment to survey the landscape. The landscape was body parts that had been sorely neglected in the past few months.

Yesterday was my day to right the wrongs or at least improve the landscape a little. From toes to nose, attention with razor, hot wax and cremes left me feeling much improved. Nothing that anyone else would notice but these things were akin to an oil change and a general detail cleaning. Since I was paying so much attention to myself, I made my way to the hair stylist and had a shearing done.

As the stylist held a lock of my hair vertical from my head, I asked her to measure and tell me the length. She placed her black comb with the inch measurements marked on it and soon said "5 inches".  "Take it down to 3 1/2 inches, blend the rest and cut it to just below my ears."  I sat and watched as the hair fell away and my shorn head appeared. Without trepidation, I schrunched the crown of hair until ringlets formed; I paid and tipped the stylist and walked away happy.

I needed a little change and what better way to lift one's spirits then to have a new "do". I don't think the husband shares my feelings on short hair. I nod my head toward his ultra short cut and tell him it'll grow.

That was my morning. My afternoon was spent in Parks, La. to sample some cracklins at the Cracklin cookoff there.

Tomorrow I pack a few things for the trip we have planned for Monday. A week in Tulsa. A week with no housework, cooking or child care. I'll hang out by the pool, shop in the mall that is close by and hopefully, catch a few movies while the husband is putting in his 8 hours at the shop there.

I missed my nap today and it's already past my bedtime. I'm done here and eager to  climb into my bed. I'm gone.

A List of Things

I went shopping yesterday. I called out to the husband sitting on the patio "I'll be right back. I'm going to find a sofa" and with that said, I grabbed my car keys off the kitchen counter, swept through the living room and swiped my purse off the chair in the corner and headed for the great outdoors.

Slipping into the roadsters low slung seat, I pulled the stick shift to reverse and backed down the driveway onto the street. Moving quickly to first gear, I was on my way.

I had waited until the morning chill had burnt off by the sun that was standing at 1000 so the ride would be enjoyable and it was. My intention was to talk to a shop owner that had offered to order down wrapped cushion replacements for my existing sofa. The shop was closed and not just by having doors locked. The shop was empty and a sign in the window proclaimed "For Lease".

My next stop was the Bassett store that was in the circle around the mall. I had already browsed the local furniture stores here last week so I knew what they offered. I wasn't in the market for a sofa that would start to sag and look exhausted within a few years. I prefer my furniture to last for a good ten years PLUS. This ends up costing me more then the local furniture stores offer but since I seldom have to shop for furniture, I consider this a good trade off.

Since I wanted fabric to match or at least coordinate with what was already in the living room, my only avenue was to order a custom sofa. This took a while. The sofa style, cushion style, filling for the cushions, style of arms,  skirted or with legs showing and then the selection of fabric. A blend? Tight woven? Treated? and my head was swimming by the time I walked out of that store.

Three weeks from now, my new sofa will be birthed and delivered. I'm excited. When the husband asked me what I was going to do with the old one, I sounded snappy as I  replied "Don't worry about it. I'm gonna take care of it." and this because I didn't really want a new sofa. I was perfectly happy with the firm sofa that commanded most of the space in my living room. He hasn't been happy with it since I had the foam in the cushions replaced with the "extra firm" foam which just couldn't compete with the down wrapped cushions that were the original equipment of this sofa. Along with a new sofa, he wants me to replace wall unit that houses books, videos and photo albums.

After months of listening to him complain, I gave up and went sofa shopping. I plan on keeping my old sofa. I've been measuring the floor space to figure out how I am going to accomodate two sofas that are 95 inches long.  I already have my argument for this. I'm going to go with the "I've always wanted a "pit grouping" furniture set.

By the time it arrives here he will be busy with his patio project and the construction company he is hiring to have it done.

He wants the patio larger and I want the carport enclosed and a garage door installed. We plan on a busy summer here at Casa Tellez.

The phone just rang; the client has called and he will be off to Texas soon and this is a good thing. We will need all the paychecks for all the stuff we want/must have done this year.

Easter Sunday 2012

It's Sunday and a special Sunday to many. For me it signals a day to produce a holiday feast. I have a spiral ham ready for the oven and since it only needs to be heated, I'm not stressed about getting an early start. I'm not doing a huge feast. Mashed potatoes, mac and cheese and green beans will accompany that ham and that's all I'm doing.

Staying in bed would be my preference. I seem to be on a mission to destroy my self lately. The chicken, frozen solid, slipped off the shelf of the freezer just as I had yanked the door open. It bounced off my shin before it speared my big toe on my right foot. Since I was on the phone with a friend, I refrained from all the curse words that immediately bubbled up and onto my tongue. Later as the day went on, I watched my big toe swell to twice it's normal size and the nail turn an alarming shade of black and blues. The pain and tenderness matched the colorful explosion happening in my toe. Is it any wonder that hanging out in the king sized bed is my choice of activities for this Sunday?

Sitting here with my foot propped up on the coffee table, I am tuned in to the military channel. WWII documentaries are playing and this is some of my favorite history to watch. The weather here is perfect right now. We are having cool nights and warm days. The "hot" hasn't arrived yet but I know it will be soon here and I moan at the thought. I'm so spoiled by our mild winters and I cringe at the thought of giving those days up to sweltering heat of summer. With a little luck, I may be able to spend some time up north. The husband was questioned about taking a job in Pennslyvania and wanted to know if I wanted to go along.

"It's north of here huh?" I asked. He didn't reply as he knows how I feel about the summers here and how I'm always looking for an escape route out.

It's time to make a move here and my next move will be to the market to get a few things needed for my little feast. Have a happy holiday wherever you are. I'm done here.