Happy Birthday Julia!

Today is Julia James' birthday!  She is my "oldest" grandchild and the main reason we moved back to Louisiana from Houston, TX.     She is the firstborn of my daughter Alicia and her husband John.    They are the "travel nurses" and so now Julia is mostly on the road and NOT in Louisiana near us.    Today, she is in her favorite place...Disneyworld....staying in a luxury room in the Animal Kingdom Lodge overlooking the savanah and watching wild animals and eating in fabulous restaurants and having breakfast in bed and  enjoying a special birthday cake in the shape of Barbie!

Ah...what a life.  I'm so happy for her and Joshua her 6 year old brother who lead a very special life traveling with their parents, being homeschooled (or roadschooled).  They are trully enjoying a life of freedom along with education!

Joshua James



With what is going on in our world today, especially in Egypt, I can't help but think how fortunate we are to live in a country of freedom and opportunity.    I praise God everyday for His Hand on our children and our country.  We should work to preserve this for our children and grandchildren preserving their innocence as long as we can.

We will be traveling to see our JuJu and Josh in March and enjoy some of their time in Florida.  We have other family there and we all will be going to a wedding on the beach in Sarasota (my first beach wedding!) and of course getting in some "Micky Time". 

Have a great time today Julia and know how blessed you are!!

Little Mikey

I experienced something this past weekend that I had never before.  We had to put our Yorkie to sleep.

 While I was out of town in Houston, Wayne called to tell me that Mikey was not doing too good.  He was laying in the same spot in our bedroom and had not moved.  That did not sound good.
Mikey had been with us for 15 l/2 years and in the last 2 years he was showing signs of deterioration and old age.  He had lost his spunk, was aggravated with the grand kids, was not going outside very much, etc.  He had developed a stomach condition and threw up quite a lot.  He had lost most of his teeth.
He was starting to relieve himself in the house (we changed most of the flooring to tile for that reason), and he was getting blind.  We knew the day was coming for the dreaded trip to the vet.

When I returned from Houston on Friday night...Mikey was still laying almost lifeless in the middle of the walkway into our bedroom.  It was almost like he didn't want to go to his normal spot under the dresser...like perhaps he wanted to let us know that he was not well.  The vet had told me that dogs do not show their pain...they hide it.  I wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in his bed.....he didn't move.  We went to bed knowing that the vet was open l/2 a day on Saturday and we would take him if he wasn't better in the morning.    Early in the morning, I heard him moan....well, that was it.  I didn't want him to be in pain.

We got up and I tried to offer him water (he had not gotten up to eat or drink in over 24 hours).  He just turned his head away from me. 

At that point, I picked him up and held him wrapped in the blanket, and said my goodbyes.  It was sad.  He had not really been an "active" participant in our family for some time...but he was with us for so long that Wayne and I both felt sad and moved by the way he looked.

So, off to the vet.....I had a meeting to attend that I could not miss....so I didn't go....I don't think I could have watched the procedure....even though I knew it was painless and he would no longer have to feel bad.

It's taken me a few days to write this....to document the last days of Mikey.  I've tried to find a picture of him...I guess he never came out of his cave long enough for us to snap a picture.  He was cute in his day...a little big as Yorkies go...so the girls had named him Yorkzilla.

We still have Coco  who is our female Boxer....she is 13 years old...so getting close to her end.  However, she still has some spunk....sleeps most of the day, but has a great appetite and is loving and great with the kids.

I'm trying to get her used to getting in our 5er and feeling comfortable there...so we can take her on trips with us.  We'll have to see....she's pretty set in her ways!

Fun Day with Family & Friends

We had an extension of our Christmas Celebration with the arrival of our daughter and family from Tampa, FL  where they are travel nurses.  They came home on their 5 days off to see a new baby born in John's family, to celebrate Julia's birthday with family and to exchange Christmas presnts with everyone since they could not be here in December.

I was requested to cook Julia's favorite meal....Roast Beef, rice and gravy and Joshua's yeast rolls.  I added a family favorite of Broccoli covered with white sauce and cheese.  I had a ball in my kitchen cooking a 10 lb. sirloin tip roast  as per "Emeril" and it came out excellent if I must say so myself!  Nana (the other grandma brought fresh fruit salad, cajun rice dressing and 2 KING CAKES....yes, it's that time.  Alicia had of course brought the Birthday Cake decorated in "rock star" motif and Julia dressed like Hannah Montana.  It was a fun day, complete with Miley Cyrus music!

Julia James (9 years old)

Here's the progression of the food...

I did the tradtional (my family) stuffed roast ....stuffed with garlic and green pepper...cutting slits in meat I season with a rub....into the slits and all over then stuffing with the garlic and green pepper...now this was a 10 lb. sirloin tip roast so I used about 5 or 6 toes of garlic and about l/2 pepper...the rub I used was Emerils Essence which I made up from Emeril's recipe which he posts with many of  his  recipes.  After seasoning and stuffing I dredge the whole thing with flour and then brown in a large skillet.

After browning I put into a large roasting pan (I needed my oven for other things),   I love the Nesco Roaster for large roasts, turkeys, etc.  I baked at 325 degrees for about 4 hours (l/2 hour per lb.)  If cooking in a regular oven I put in granite roaster and bake at 350 degrees...see earlier posts...(The Way Momma Did It)

this is a 12Qt. roaster and the 10 lb. roast and a 12 lb. turkey fits perfectly

While that was baking I started on the white sauce for my broccoli casserole:

added grated cheese

poured over steamed broccoli and topped with more grated cheese

and of course the "Joshua" rolls.....rising to to be baked

Josh loves bread and rolls and especially these yeast rolls...so we call them "Joshua" rolls

Josh is on the left, Lindsey (neighbor) is in back and Alexa (cousin) is next to the birthday girl, Julia.

Another cousin, Jacob, has his back to the camera helping with opening the presents!

The youngest at the party...twins Jessica and Katie had a good time too!

Beautiful Day

It's 61 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.

  Man I wish I could spend the whole day outside....however, I had work to do for my business this morning.  So...got that done and then went out for a mile walk...then Wayne and I had a punch list of things to be done in the "Pointe".   The glass in the Overhead cabinets had become loose and on our maiden voyage we even had a crack happen  

This overhead was empty except for a rack from the refrigerator which probably banged up to it in the ride.  Oh Oh!  So, upon checking Wayne found that all of the glass inserts were loose....so he took the time today to secure and glue all of the overhead glass inserts 

We also are thinking about taking our Boxer with us on our next trip.  Now Coco is 13 years old and has arthritis.  When we go into the RV for any work or packing...she stands at the door and cries for us to come out.  She doesn't seem to want me in the RV....so we thought we'd invite her to come in and "check it out". 

 We have a wonderful neighbor who takes care of our pets when we travel.  But for an extended trip...we just don't want to impose.  We have to find a house sitter or take Coco with us...so...up in the rig she went.  Now...she cannot climb up the steps any more....so we worked with her and tried but she just would not do it.  So here we go lifting 45 lbs. of stiff muscle....and long legs...into the "Pointe"!

She acted very nervous....went around the whole rig sniffing....made it upstairs without much effort....but she was as anxious to get out as she was about us being in there.  She went to the open door and jumped out landing on her face....I screamed....she twisted....didn't know if she would be able to walk....but jumped up apparently OK.  We cleaned her off, and lifted her back into the rig.    We tried to sit with her and make her comfortable, but she was not a "happy camper"!  Don't know if this is going to work....but we'd love to bring her with us.  She is old, but still has some spunk.    Maybe she is too old to teach her some new tricks  or another way of life!    We'll see!!