HAPPY BIRTHDAY to BRENT!

Just wanted to say Happy Birthday to my sweetie, Brent. His birthday was actually yesterday but my day was pretty full so I never got around to posting, although I did add a song that says it all. I let him listen to the song and he really, really liked it. We had a really great, extra special day and I think he was rather pleased. He's putting a new stereo in his truck and he has that all picked out we just have to go get it installed so who knows when that will be. We took the boys to the beach and played and they played soccer in the water. I think they had more fun with a tracking device from the Coast Guard they ran across than anything else. We looked for shells so now we have bunches and bunches of shells in glasses all around the house. I would post some pics but I forgot my camera. Which leads me to the story that Brent found my Nikon that I had lost -- well, I guess I just misplaced it in a rubbermaid box in the closet so now I have my Nikon back which cost a pretty penny so I can start using that one again and keep the other one in my truck for such occasions as yesterday. I even took out my video camera which I always leave in my truck but I recently decided to stop leaving everything in there in case it gets stolen and we had the truck serviced at the dealer so I had to purge everything, and quickly. OK, back to my sweetie's birthday. We had his mom and dad and my sister and nephew over for a shrimp boil. I had everything set up outside and Brent cooked everything outside but by the time we ate we just had it all on the table inside and dug in. The shrimp and andouille together was a real surprise to me that it tasted sooo great, but he added lemon and onions and potatoes and corn and it was a great dinner. Just like a crawfish boil except we used shrimp. We're thinking about doing crawfish this weekend if we can find somewhere that has them on such short notice. It's supposed to be really hot and it seems like the ultimate end to his well-deserved vacation. His mom always makes his cake and it was DELISH. It's his favorite and now I think it's mine too. It gets better every time we have it. Even Tricia said it was really good and I had to bring a piece up to the hospital with us this afternoon so she could eat it for her lunch on the way over there. YUP, me too. When we got back I had a huge cup of coffee and a piece of cake and Ian helped me drink the coffee and eat the cake but it was highly enjoyable. A few weeks ago he got a new mower so he said that was his birthday, Father's Day and Anniversary all rolled into one gift. OK by me, just don't go getting any silly ideas that I'll fall for something like that. Silly, silly man. Still planning his party -- but I have to reschedule with the people who have the catering center and decide on the food. I know it's going to be the BBQ but I just have to tell them which meat and sides we want. Me and Tricia worked on the invitations and the list the other night at the hospital and I'm going to see about a slushie machine for the kids -- then when it's all gone I can add liquor for ME, ME, ME!!! yeah. Sorry to divert my attention ... back to the business at hand. I started thinking about a really cold, icy, pina colada and ooopps there I go again. Note to self: must stop. OK, so where was I? Oh yeah so it's still on but when he goes back to work next week I'll know more because I can do all my phone calls and get the business taken care of.

Momma looked surprisingly upbeat and alert today. I think she's doing exceptionally well considering all she has been through. I don't want to go on and on about that because it gets me sad so please keep us in your prayers is all I ask.

Brent has been working on the deck around the pool this week, redoing his motorcycle and ordering new parts for it and I think, in general, trying to stay busy and forget about his birthday. But he'll be really happy when it all comes together and he can just sit back, relax and enjoy it. I asked him yesterday how come every year on his birthday he'd rather cook his own meal than go out and he said "because I cook it better." And in his defense he was right. We're going to miss him next week when he has to go back to work but Ian has summer rec and Liam starts baseball camp the next week, which Ian may go to but I didn't realize that Summer Rec and baseball camp coincided so he'll have to make a choice because the baseball camp costs a lot more $. I think they would both love it and then I could drop them off and go spend the day with momma helping her until it was time to pick them up around 4pm. Also looking in Lamar Superkids for Ian but I'm going to check their website now to see if any spaces are available. With Momma going into the hospital in May and the end of school, I forgot to look for the registration form and send it in. My luck it's already too late but we'll see. If so, I'm thinking about Wacky Science Camp which is right up the highway. I know Ian would enjoy it and get him interested in science. I also have two playdates worked out where I can switch off although I'll probably just keep them because that just feels more comfortable. I get really freaked out if I think the boys are going to be riding in someone else's vehicle on the highway and slam into a tractor-trailer rig and everyone ends up decapitated. I know it's morbid, gross, etc. but that's the way I think. So my friend sent me a list of free and/or inexpensive things to do with your kids this summer and it includes the Houston area so I'll be taking a closer look at it because it seems like everything they want to do all summer is $300 for each session. Yikes. And with two that is compounded and can get really expensive. I couldn't imagine having to do it for 3 or 4 kids. We're planning a mini-vacation for later on in the summer to get the hell out of dodge. Hopefully by then momma will be home and home health will be able to come in several days a week so assist her and then we're planning on a weekend away. I told Brent if he wants it then he has to plan it. Just let me know when and where. I'll be keeping my nose out of it so he can make all the arrangements. It gets really frustrating doing all the planning all the time so I shan't be partaking in that any longer. Nuff said hopefully. Does anybody else feel like that? Well, Father's Day is Sunday, and our Anniversary and my nephew, Drake's, 16th Birthday is Monday. He'll be 16 on the 16th. What is that called? I know it's special though so I have to figure out something he wants and he's a brat so he's not going to appreciate whatever it is I decide to give him.

On Monday, the 16th, we'll be married 18 years! I find that so hard to believe considering it seems like yesterday we were dating and childless. Ooohhhh, let me ponder those thoughts for a moment. We dated for 7 years before we got married. Anyway, he was my best friend, he still is my best friend and there isn't anything that I do not tell him. Even if you say "Don't tell anybody," everybody always says "well, besides Brent." Yeah, I guess it's a given that I'd never keep anything from him. So I guess the cat's out of the bag. Even if I say I won't tell him, I usually do. If not right then, it usually crosses my mind later and I end up blabbing it. But don't worry I usually tell him not to tell anybody and he NEVER tells anybody. Well, unless he finds out something then he tells ME. Which is also a given. Maybe I could find a babysitter and we could go out and have a nice dinner by ourselves and ponder the thoughts about what it was like before we had kids. At first you think the children are going to change you and your life is going to be different, but in the end your kids aclimate themselves to you. When we had Liam, I really don't think we stopped anything. Two boys is a little different now, but we're not half as boring as some of the people I know. At least I hope not. I do know after this week just how much those little boys are attached to their daddy. They do not want to do anything without him. I told them next week we'd go to the movies and eat lunch and they both decided we had to do that after their daddy gets off so he can go with us because Brent would like that so we have to wait on him, but if we want to go to the library, movie store or to the neighbor's to swim in their pond that was OK because Daddy didn't really care about that. Now how sweet is that? I kind of get it but then I kind of get sad about it too.

Book Review by a very bored, SAHM upon whom no one should actually base an opinion as "Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one" so here we go: Bought a great book at Barnes & Noble the other night. It's the Encyclopedia of Cajun and Creole Cuisine. It has over 600 pages of the most authentic recipes and stories about the history of Louisiana. The pages, well, you know how I feel about the pages... they are great. I cannot keep my hands off of them. They are thick, smooth, well-written and the photography is beautiful. I love looking at pics from the days gone by and the everyday life of the Acadians, Cajuns and just people, in general. If you get a chance to browse through it or buy it, it is well worth the money, well worth it. Brent liked it too and we followed the recipe for the shrimp boil and it was lovely, truly tasty in all aspects. My respect and admiration to Chef Folse for such a great book, a piece of literature in itself.

Well, it's Family Fun Night. Whoo-hoo! No, I'm really excited about it. Thinking it's Sports Connection or a movie night. Brent has to tidy up and take a shower so I guess we'll make our decision. I LOVE SUMMER TIME! I love that I don't hate Sunday evenings anymore because I have to get clothes ready for the week, locate lunches, go over homework, read with Ian for 20 minutes and all the other little nit-picky crap including making sure they get to bed on time when it doesn't even get dark until 8:45pm. If I didn't say it loud enough, I LOVE SUMMER! Ciao Bella!

P.S. We didn't get up before 8:45 all week and it was absolutely blissful. Hopefully next week they'll sleep even later!

P.S.S. or P.P.S. (?) How come other people can get away with short blogs about their daily boring stuff but it takes me a novel? Am I long-winded, do I have a lot to say or do you even care??