Ahhhh...I've been so happy lately. 22 years ago today we were blessed with a beautiful baby boy. We named him Clifton Victor, after his paternal great-grandfather and maternal grandfather...I am on cloud nine today. Clif and Megan came in from Baton Rouge yesterday with their dog (precious dog) Belle to spend Clif's birthday with us. Jim and I got him a stereo/gps/ipod/cell phone/magical mystery tour gadget to fit in his two story GMC Sierra (sans Nerf Bars). We took Megan and him to Superior Steakhouse last night because they only had Monday and Fat Tuesday off, and it was the very best meal I have had in my life, and well should be as it (the meal) was the price of a brand new stainless steel Maytag 24-inch built-in large capacity dishwasher with nylon coated racks. Personally, I prefer the vinyl coated racks that rust and break off tynes one at a time so after four or five years you have a plastic playpen for your glasses and dishes to take a bath. More friendly that way.
And now they're gone, headed back to LSU, and as they put it, late nights at the library the rest of the week. I'm so glad I'm not in school anymore. Jim is trying to get Clif an internship this summer with LJ Earnest. They're the construction company that is building Hwy 171 through the Mansfield part of eastern Louisiana. That would be a great coup.
They're such a cute couple, eh?
OK, a question for the day. Do I go to the bank and credit union and withdraw all of our cash and put it in the fake pizza box in the freezer?
Jim and I are going camping this weekend to Lake Sam Rayburn which is all the Valentine's present I need. However, just because he's a good guy, he bought me a holding tank for the RV, beyond my wildest dreams - one of these...
I guess you can figure out what it is. Boy those suckers are not inexpensive. $200. There are holding tanks in the RV but it's for when you're going for more than the weekend, which we are.
Really I'm kidding about the present, Jim has a box from Dillards already in the RV...taped. He says Valentine's day is for girls and never wants much but I got him a couple of sports magazines and am making him bread pudding for dessert Saturday night. After 26 years, nothing says I love you like a full stomach. When he was growing up his mother used to make his family desserts quite often. I know he missed it when he married me. It warms my heart to see him make himself a dessert after dinner. He'll get him a bowl of frozen yogurt and stick 2 cookies in it like he's at a restaurant.
Quote for the day: The four most important words in any marriage..."I'll do the dishes."
And two (2) weeks later I get to inform you that Norman showed up one and one-half (1 1/2) days after I blogged about him missing which makes me about two (2) weeks late in telling you. I apologize. Things have been happening. I was sitting at the breakfast room table Tuesday evening when the scratch at the back door sent me three (3) feet up in the air screaming NORMAN. I threw open the back door and grabbed him in the most debilitating hug I could muster at the time, choking him, threatening him with the hardest squeeze I was taught by my sumo wrestling coach. Only after he gagged repeatedly did I let go and scream from deepest part of my heart, "Where in the fuck have you been?!!!" I got no answer. He was skinny after only six (6) days on the loose. I want him spayed or neutered. Jim says it will change his personality. Have you ever cooked a steak for a dog?
Other important news came not one day later from one (1) of the loves of my life. And it came in stages. He attends college and just moved out of the fraternity house into a house with three (3) other fraternity friends. He called me on the way to class to tell me that someone got into his truck and took his "Garmin" GPS navigator that we bought him for Christmas.
OK Clif, we'll replace it, did you leave your truck unlocked in your new neighborhood in Baton Rouge? No, of course not. Five (5) minutes later he had gotten to the LSU campus to tell me that someone had also taken his backpack from his truck, and oh, by the way, his laptop was in it, and oye vey, his passwords were in his laptop. Go to Capital One, freeze your present account, open a new one. And once he got home he realized that his shotgun and case were also missing from his truck. Now, it's serious, called the police, they came out and made a report. We got serial numbers and receipts on everything, notified every person in the world. And do you know what the greatest loss of the theft (by the way, a few other people were robbed of their possessions from their cars in the neighborhoood that night) were his notes from his classes the first week back from Christmas break. LET'S KILL THE THIEF NOW.
And since then I've had a couple of medical procedures. But one cannot dwell on what one has no control over, such as ticklish feet or hairy legs or shingles or the heartbreak of psoriasis. I want to do a quote tonight but it's Grammy night so I'll leave us with a singing quote or two (2):
They're such a cute couple, eh? 
