The Ruffinista

Cue The Doors

2012-01-23T22:58:00.000-06:00

Who would have thought Snidely Whiplash was so powerful?

Can we have an amen for Snidely Whiplash and his dastardly ways? Ever ready to screw anyone and everyone in his way. Or perhaps he's Dick Dastardly...

Whomever he is, perhaps bad karma will come his way one day. He's not smart enough like Dudley Do-Right was...he'll forever be sucking the crumbs off the floor, selling his soul to the lowest bidder.

I've never learned life the easy way. Silly me, I prefer to have it this way:

Hey Snidely: Pretend you're looking in the mirror:

Go for it.

Engagement

2012-01-04T10:08:00.000-06:00

Clif and Megan sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T17:30:00.000-06:00

It was so nice to have Clif and Megan (and Belle, the beagle) in for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. They left earlier to head to Jackson, Ms. to see Megan's family. It was a nice, quiet weekend...no drama, no worries. They'll come soon enough on Tuesday. Megan and I stayed up Friday night until past 1 AM talking about everything.

Everyone but Megan and me had shopping or truck repairing in mind for Saturday. I made turkey, ham and cheese platters for Bill and Karen's after church service party, and then I made a breakfast casserole for this morning. They needed to hit the road early to get to Mississippi.

Cousins Karen and Bill had a nice subdued party this year. Lots of people sick, plus it was raining so it was a small but lively crowd. But that did not keep Bill from lighting the neighborhood up with booming fireworks. There was absolutely no one left on the block sleeping after he and Eric Hall finished playing 10 year olds. Clif and Jerry Nash helped out also.

This morning we got up and opened presents, ate breakfast and Clif and Megan headed off in the rain. Saying a prayer for them to get there safe.

Enjoy our pictures.

Pre-Party Megan & Clif

Close-up (Fabulous)

Cute Couple

The Old Folks with the Tornado

The Tornado's Profile in case you didn't recognize him.

Megan and Cousin Karen

Cousin Isabel, Senior at LSU bound for a Journalism

Job in New York, hopefully

Cousin Isabel and Cousin Jean (Jean jetting off to Hawaii tomorrow with the "hot crowd"

Mr. Ruffin (Is that really a smile on his face? God must be coming soon.)

Megan, Clif and Isabel

Isabel, Karen and Cousin Dollye

Haley Hall, Mrs. Nash and Cousin Brenda

Eric Hall

Christmas Morning

2011 Year in Review

2011-12-20T22:19:00.005-06:00

May 20th - the light of my life, my son Clifton, and the very first person on the maternal side of his family to do so, graduated from college at LSU Baton Rouge and snagged a super job with an industrial construction firm all on his own.

April & May - Jim and I had a spectacular spring camping at Lake Sam Rayburn even though there was a drought. There is something to be said for enduring a friendship and love for 29 years. We live to camp.

May - Our beloved Norman went missing.

January - December - I learned some harsh truths about friendship, about honesty, about lying under oath (not me) and greed. You have to be honest when you're asked.

June 1st - The Scouter (nicknamed 'NO BITING'), our Jack Russell terrier that has lost his mind and bounces off of walls, and gives unlimited hours of entertainment to Jim and me, joined our family. God made him for us, God made us for him (I only say that because I rescued him from an abusive breeder in Dodridge, Arkansas.)

April 1st - a great weight was lifted from my shoulders when the woman who gave birth to me, who judged me all my life and never loved me, who blew me off when my father died tragically, who told me she should have aborted me like my dad had wanted (3rd child and NOT a boy), who had no affection for my son, passed away of alzheimers. Don't think the date of her death was not lost on me. I have made many therapists rich people.

December - Thankful for Clif and Megan spending Christmas eve and Christmas morning with us, Karen's and Bill's Christmas Eve Party, my Times carrier (threw the paper in the garage when the driveway was flooded,) the Wounded Warrior Project, the Salvation Army, Thomas the grocery sack person at Brookshires, and the Prayer Gang.

A Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to All.

The Ruffinista

Glass Houses

2011-12-04T17:36:00.000-06:00

I live in a glass house. I wave at the folks that stare at me often. Smile and wave. In my wisened 57 years, I have come to embrace my glass house...the dog pee stains that I couldn't quite scrub out of the carpet, the Spiegel lithographs that I bought when Jim and I were first married that still hang in the great room and both scream, "we're soooo out of date" to anyone who is listening. I walk around in holey underwear and have been known to wear the same outfit two days in a row on the weekend.

And my mouth. Oh yes, it does get me into trouble at times but by far you can't come 57 years and think ugly thoughts about others constantly. Face it, age has humbled me. The same old woman I laughed at in my twenties, wrinkled, overweight, limping, inappropriately dressed is now me. But I do try to think of both sides of a situation regardless of the circumstances...to have empathy for all. And I am loyal to myself and my family and friends always.

The origin of this phrase? I thought it was from the Bible: Ha! you dope. The proverb has been traced back to Geoffrey Chaucer's 'Troilus and Criseyde' (1385). George Herbert wrote in 1651: 'Whose house is of glass, must not throw stones at another.'

I've been in a situation for a long time now that has broken my heart because of everything involved. I've been accused by many for different reasons of not being on the right side and other statements such as being the highest paid paralegal in Louisiana. In a nutshell, I'm about to lose my job. That paralyzed me for months. I couldn't go forward. I thought one person held my destiny and lauded it over me for the past year...not a good situation to be in. Did I mention that I hate lawyers?! (Interrobang indeed.) Kind of sad to find that in a paralegal.

We just finished putting my son through college and we're loaded with debt and slowly paying it out. Now is not the time to be jobless. But I finally faced my fears and started looking for a new job. It won't be easy but I took that burden out of my closet and taped it up in my glass house for others to see and as a reminder to me not to be scared of others that hold sway over me.

So what next? Well, Mr. G has these little rocks that he picks up in the lot next door to their house and piles them in a huge pot in the garage. I'm going to put that pot in the back of my truck and take my sling shot and go visit a couple of glass houses. I'm a pretty good shot if I do say so myself. I said I was honest and loyal....but I'm also a little mischievious.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T23:12:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone...we'll be watching Macy's Parade. I'm up to my ears in pumpkin pie, pecan pie, cornbread dressing,
cranberries
corn pudding
sweet potatoes with marshmallows
asparagus/english pea casserole
crescent rolls

and I am grateful for everything in my life right now.

Clif came home, we miss Megan but know she is with her mom, dad and brother for the Alabama game.
Clif and Jim are going to the Arkansas game Friday, geaux Tigers, for the day. Scout and the little girl, Belle are with us.

Jim and I had a nice four days at Lake Sam Rayburn in the RV, relaxing.

I'm grateful for my paycheck that arrived today and for Mr. G and Joye. Thank you both very much.

Christmas is coming, I have four more days off.

Check out the Occupy Wall Street people who seemed to have disappeared.

Hmmmm

Happy Thanksgiving

Mortality

2011-10-27T14:36:00.000-05:00

Another one of my classmates from highschool died this month. It's so much fun getting email from the alumni website. It's either news about a get-together for all of the people who have kept in touch over the years and still look like their 18 year old selves or are rich success stories, or it's passing on obituaries of classmates who got to the end of the road before the rest of us.

Now mind you, I went to school in Houston, TX at a NOT SMALL AT ALL high school. Hell, there were 954 seniors that graduated in 1973 (as opposed to my husband's 1967 senior class of 30 people in Mansfield, LA.)

And of course I did not know all 954 seniors, just mainly the people in my daily classes. Actually, my senior year I hardly knew anyone because my group ran with the older crowds that had already graduated. No, I spent the better part of the 1972-1973 school year riding around smoking pot with my friends who liked to skip school.

When it came time to graduate, it was not my grades that almost cost me a walk across the stage. Kirby (Iselt, the principal) told Nancy (my mother) that I had not legally attended school enough days in the school year. But then Nancy pointed out that Kirby would have me for another year and he quickly signed my diploma.

So another classmate died. We're all around 57 now. Not a good dying age. But then some of us have been ridden hard and put up wet....and some are just innocents. Me? I'm the former. Taking inventory of my 57 year old self, I'm giddy with laughter. God I couldn't have done a worse job had I scraped the concrete the whole way down the road of life.

Ulcerative colitis, Osteoperosis, COPD, Arthritis, High Blood Pressure, and GOD AM I DEAF.

Another part of my body falls off every day and I just put it back on with either duct tape or super glue. Lord I shake my head at that 20 something beautiful woman and want to go back and ask her, "Why were you so insecure? You had it all. Why couldn't you just boldly go out and conquer the world? What were you thinking?" And then I think: "You could not pay me to go back." It's such a long way and I'm sooooo tired.

Andy Rooney signed off from 60 Minutes a couple of weeks ago saying he didn't want to quit his job or die. Mr. Rooney, You get to lay down and rest when you're dead!

Olabelle

2011-10-11T17:15:00.003-05:00

I listen to Imus in the Morning most mornings while getting ready for work. I like the chatter between Imus and all his crew. You don't really have to watch, you can just listen. They're funny. Of course don't use me as a guage because I also listen to Opie and Anthony in my truck on the way into Shreveport. They're filthy and hilarious.

Back to Imus. He has guest singers sometimes and he has good taste usually. Of course he started as a disc jockey a hundred years ago so he knows everyone in the business. He has Levon Helm on alot. Mr. Helm was a vocalist for The Band back when I was a teenager in the 60's/early 70's. They sang Up On Cripple Creed and The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, to name a couple of their songs.

Cut to the chase...Levon Helm's daughter was on this morning with her band and they are so good. I went and downloaded a couple of their songs. You have to hear their rendition of Down By The Riverside. She is second from the right. They are super and I don't listen to "come to Jesus" bands ever. It is fantastic....take a listen. Click on the arrow.

Riverside

A Hero

2011-10-04T13:23:00.000-05:00

JR Martinez is on Dancing with the Stars. I don't watch Dancing with the Stars but I did watch All My Children (until ABC Grrrr! cancelled it) and JR Martinez was on All My Children. Evidently the stars did a dance interpretation of their most memorable year last night and his brought the house down. Once again I don't watch that show but I read the article about him dancing last night on the Daily Mail , which I read every day (they have good pictures.)

So I wanted to know more about him, hence I looked him up on lunch break today and found his website and a documentary he is a part of. His website is www.KnowJR.com and below is the trailer for that documentary.

His story is fascinating and he tells his story all around the country to lots of folks. Now I will say that his first appearance on All My Children stunned me but immediately I thought Oh he must be an Iraq veteran. In fact, he is. And I'm so used to his appearance now and his subsequent surgeries have made him a handsome man. I went straight to the Wounded Warrior Project and donated.

After watching the trailer for this documentary and reading his story, once again it makes you look outside your everyday drudgery and say, Hey, my COPD and my arthritis aren't so bad, girl. Buck up.

Thank you for your service JR and all veterans.

My Subpoena

2011-09-28T16:35:00.008-05:00

Have you ever taken off your clothes in front of a group of professional men for 4 1/2 hours? Not lucky enough? I recently had the pleasure of doing the verbal strip tease of my life in front of not one, not two, no not even three, BUT five "attorneys."

How do you greet a lawyer with an IQ of 50?

. . . "Good morning, your honor."

Well, first off I never received a subpoena, but rather they just told me to show up at one of the attorney's office at 9:00 a.m on a Wednesday morning to be deposed on a certain case. I'm scared to death as I walk in the reception area and sure enough there are lawyers mulling around, sitting, drinking coffee, laughing like they were at a party. Me? Scared to death. Shaking. The receptionist asks me my name, says to have a seat and shoots me a simultaneous empathetic/"I hate lawyers too" look and asks, "Are you ok?" To which I mutter, "noooo."

What do lawyers use for birth control?

. . . Their personalities.

We all crowd into a glass conference room complete with court reporter (I liked her, she seemed to be the only real person in the room.) And for the next 4 1/2 hours, they commence to pelt me with a million questions. Every personal statistic, my work history, my lack of qualifications to be a CPA although I never claimed to be a CPA. Just a bookkeeper who rose through the ranks. Oh, and lots of quesstions about time, such as

"Now Ms. Ruffin, did you not say that you wiped your nose from left to right on June 10, 2009?"
"Excuse me?"
"What if I told you someone saw you wipe your nose from right to left? Would they be correct and you be a liar?"

Now I don't know about you but I have no idea what I ate for breakfast yesterday, much less which way I wiped snot off my body.

What can a goose do that a lawyer won't do?
. . . Stick his bill up his ass.

Tick, tick, tick tick, the time crawls by. And then we have the good cop/bad cop routine. I've had my ears boxed in my lifetime but I would have been better off if I would have hung two pieces of cauliflower on either side of my head.

Now I'm hoping they'll call me back to testify because this is my strategy for next time:

Saturday Night Steak Dinner

2011-08-31T17:39:00.000-05:00

For as long as Jim and I have been married, we have had "Friday" or "Saturday" Night Steak Dinner. It's a tradition (from my family of drunks.) When we first got married in the early 80's, steaks were on Friday night to coincide with the watching of "Dallas." Oh yes, we Houston suburbanites gathered round the dinner table with friends for the weekly watching of JR, Sue Ellen, Bobby, etc. The fare was always ribeyes or strips (Texas style on the grill no matter the season.) Accompanied with baked potato and salad, Texas toast and you had yourself one fine dinner.

We lived in a condo in Houston back then. Fran and Don Holm, our friends, often had dinner with us or vice versa. They were a great couple, older than we were by a few years. She was from French Quebec (hilarious woman) and he from Oklahoma, I think. She's the one who taught me how to cook lobster: "you just dunk their little heads in boiling water to kill them quickly and then salute as they slide the rest of the way in the boiling pot - don't feel bad, really, they forget who you are immediately!"

That was back when the Trivial Pursuit Game craze was popular. Jim and Don took the game seriously but Fran and I loved to laugh and could care less about history or geography. I remember one night Fran's cousin, Edward, was playing with us. She and I were asked a question by "serious" Don and Jim about one of the oceans. We had no idea what the answer was so Edward put his patting palm in front of his mouth and whispered, "Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh" Fran jumped up and screamed, "Indian Ocean!" Don threw the card down and screamed, "I quit!" We have all moved away from Houston now (20 years) and have since learned that not only did they divorce, but she passed away quite a few years ago. God bless you Fran.

I digress...just a small trip down memory lane. Clif, our son, was born in 1987. And after some years, Friday night steak dinner became Saturday night steak dinner. Why you ask? Clif, high school, football. Friday night lights. Jim never missed one of his games from the time Clif was a freshman to the time he was a senior in high school in 2005. And I only missed a couple of those games. Sometimes I didn't do Ringgold, LA (seriously, look it up on the map.)

Now that Clif has graduated and is in Houston, we keep Saturday night for steaks (in coincides with 'Cops' my favorite.) Last Saturday night was no different, except we "fancy" it up now with grilled asparagus instead of salad and miniature golden yukons in tarragon butter instead of baked potatoes. 29 years of marriage conversation - arguing political fare and tsk, tsking at LSU's player woes excepted, it was a pretty good dinner.

Oh yeah, we have a new garbage disposal:

An Open Letter to Joe Alleva and Les Miles

2011-08-22T11:12:00.000-05:00

Gentlemen:

I can't tell you how anxious my husband and I have been about LSU's opening season football game in Dallas against Oregon. My husband, Jim, the RABID FAN, has been studying all summer the mountain of statistics from last season's SEC games. We had our hat in the ring for tickets to the Dallas game from the git go and also our hotel reservations. We have been season ticket holders for eleven years. We scrimp and save every year even though ticket prices have skyrocketed. Our seats are basically four rows from the top of the stadium. Prime seating.

My husband and my son have attended all post season games, driven from our home in North Louisiana to Atlanta and Arizona and Florida and everywhere in between. Both my husband and my son graduated from LSU in Baton Rouge. In a nutshell, we have spent lots and lots of money on LSU.

SO WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED LAST WEEK?

If we can prepare for the season opener by scrimping, saving and preparing, why can't the damn football team do their part?

Why was half the team allowed to break curfew?

Why were they all gathered in a parking lot of a bar like a bunch of thugs at 2 o'clock Friday morning? My momma always said nothing good goes on after midnight on the streets.

Why was the leader of the team not setting an example by refusing to go no matter what was going on?

Why was the leader of the team involved in a classless brawl in which he allegedly kicked a man in the head?

Why do the members of the team get four extra days to get their stories together?

What happens when they get a slap on the hand by police and then by you two if they are indeed guilty of any charges?

When do the fans get to be number one?

Oh yeah, what happens when college football implodes and that fine stadium sits empty and neither one of you have a job?

Thank you for your time...

Susan

Come on September

2011-08-17T15:38:00.000-05:00

Shreveport now has gone 44 days straight with 100+ degree weather. As I sit here in the house typing with the air conditioning cranked down and the hurricane fan we usually use outside the RV on camping trips cranked high, I'm wondering how the world got to this...this, this extreme edge of the cliff in EVERYTHING. The average rainfall in Shreveport is 52 inches a year. We have had 17 inches so far this year. Yikes.

I used to dread hurricane season when I lived in Houston in my youth. September was stay-inside-all-the-time-month because it rained and rained. I was a wee lass when Hurricane Carla came through in 1961. I believe it was a Category 5 storm. We had a fairly new home at the time. The main thing I remembered was the wind and rain falling so hard we had to put towels around the window sills all around the house because it was either a poorly built house or the wind and rain were pretty fierce. And we had to change them out every hour on the hour. We all gathered in the den (our family of 5) and we'd take turns wringing out towels for the next go-round. In between, we played Barbie's by candlelight. Except for dad. He wasn't much into that. Hell, what I wouldn't give for a good old fashioned Category 5 now up here in Shreveport.

They could even name it after me, I wouldn't care....you remember all the women revolted because hurricanes were named after females. Well let me step up to the box. Coach put me in. Hello, Hurricane Susan. We'll take any kind of rain now, go ahead put some wind with it. I may have to follow the ants underground.

I just finished taking Mr. G to Logansport for lunch with an old friend and it is 108 degrees in Logansport this afternoon. Can you say suffocating. 45% humidity.

God please turn on the sprinklers...

Stupid Cat

2011-08-10T10:31:00.000-05:00

This is a very STRONG GRAPHIC LANGUAGE video but once you get past the first twenty seconds, this guy has a great message. And it's quite funny....cats...and dogs have no frame of reference for anything.

I watch my dog Scout run crazy every afternoon when I get home from work and I'm playing with him. There's no brain in that tiny head. Random thoughts are the norm in his life...smell this, lick this, eat this, bite this, fling myself. He sleeps in his kennel in the kitchen and cries pitifully (I myself would hold a grudge if I were him) every night when I put him to bed, yet every morning it's like he hasn't seen me forever! Hi! Hi! I love you! You're great!" Jump! Jump! This animal eats dirt and pine cones. He throws himself against cabinets when, "Oh my god, you're going to feed me dry kibble...how Wonderful!" Super! Jump! Bark! Jump! Bang!

So why you say do I show the next video?

Case closed.

I'm Back, Here I am, Here, Right Here; Present; On Deck

2011-08-07T22:23:00.000-05:00

I could tell you why I was away for so long but I won't let the people who scared me away win!! This is MY PAGE. I AM NOT A DOUBLE AGENT. So there you, you, you sheister ~~people~~ persons who have money on your side.

Why thank you I've been mostly well since I've been gone. Very hot summer. A veritable drought, don't you know.

Two wonderful things have happened in my life since we last talked.

1. Cue the Pomp and Circumstance.

Clif Ruffin, My love, My son, The first person on my side of the family to graduate from college. No kidding. I've gone to college many times in my life but never graduated.

I'm so proud of him I'm bursting.

2. Cue the music

My precious Scout, lover of all things and people, especially me. HE LOVES ME FOLKS! He likes me more than he likes Jim. I've died and gone to heaven. He loves swimming!

However, not for one minute have we not looked for:

Gone but not forgotten:

After June 1

2011-05-11T11:39:00.000-05:00

Scout is coming soon. In the meantime:

What do you think folks?

2011-04-28T14:56:00.000-05:00

Should we or shouldn't we?

Must think of a name for him....

Deefer? (as in d for dog)

or

Normandy (Norman dog)

or

Petey

or

Walter

I Miss My Dog Norman

2011-04-11T13:11:00.000-05:00

MIA - 3 Weeks

2011-03-23T05:45:00.003-05:00

Well, Mr. Wanderer have we gone visiting one too many times?

One Flu Over

2011-03-02T22:02:00.000-06:00

I have never had the flu in my life. I've just been lucky or perhaps I'm a fastidious hand washer... Until last week. It snuck up on me and slapped me in the face. Doc (my internist) said to me, "It hit you like a ton of bricks, didn't it?" Oh my god, I was feeling halfway ok one minute and the next I was on my knees with chills and a 102 fever. At some point I would have had to die to feel better.

I'm much better now, back at work in my new, new palatial office. Just the cough left which I'm taking antibiotics for to ward off the inevitable pneumonia I always follow congestion with. Ah, the rewards of COPD. Keep smoking you dummies.

I have to mention the evil that I'm scared of in my life right now. I'm way over my head in combatting this evil. I must persevere. My son graduates from LSU in two months. Lord hear our prayer. We are so proud of you bubs.

Headed to the lake this weekend.

Double Agent

2011-02-16T22:42:00.000-06:00

Great Finds

2011-02-03T22:51:00.006-06:00

I was on kottke.org the other day (he has the neatest stuff) and saw a post about rock stars and their parents, we're talking 60's and 70's here. It was fascinating and it was on Life Magazine.com which got me to looking at quite a few groupings of pictures. If you have a few minutes, check it out. Below is Eric Clapton and his grandmother.

I also found the motherlode of best books:

....and this is their website; http://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/archive/2010/11/online_best_of_3.html#

Your welcome. My favorite book website is overbooked.org but you must be familiar with ALA magazine recommendations such as Kirkus, Booklist, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, etc. to cull the good reads.

And although I spend an enormous amount of time on http://www.foodnetwork.com/ , my real love is:

http://www.southernliving.com/food/

And can we have a funny for today?

Happy Super Bowl...

My Dreams

2011-01-30T22:17:00.000-06:00

I've always been a dreamer. They don't scare me too much. But sometimes they do. And sometimes my dreams are colorful. I have a dream I remember from years ago that had a green tint to it. And it involved one of my sisters, and it was lovely as opposed to our estranged relationship. It was in the country. It had a barn and trees and yellow flowers tinted green. Maybe we'll meet up some day in a bowl of green jello?

And there is this dream I have of going upstairs and at the top of the landing there is a dead end. Yet just to the right is a trap/attic door (sideways I guess.) And this hand is constantly trying to reach out and get me. But every time I get to the top of the stairs, I slam the door and go back down the stairs. And this does not scare you Ruffinista? No, it pisses me off that the hand is not offering the million dollars that I know is in my future...

I have had numerous dreams where people take their arms or legs off and hand them to me. Am I an axe murderer and don't know it? An exporter of human body parts? A watch/bracelet/shoe salesman?

I've started writing my dreams in a journal and trying to face and laugh at them...because some of them are hilarious and some of them are truly stupid. I've been told that it is the subconscious trying to toss the stress of the day. And believe me, stress is at a premium in my world right now.

On a totally happy note, my precious son has landed the job that I spoke of previously after he graduates in May. His dad and I are soooooooo very proud. A dedicated, conscientious petrochemical project engineer coming at you Houston.

More cold weather heading our way...

A Week at Twisted Oaks

2011-01-21T12:59:00.003-06:00

Kind of sounds like a retirement home or a mental institute, eh? The nurse walking me around the grounds, me with a sweater over my shoulders, squirrels running about my feet eating nuts. Birds chirping. Quietness and solitude everywhere.

Actually, it's more like the grinding of the garbage truck, golfers yakking and making noise on the green and an occasional airplane in a landing path at Shreveport regional. I'm at Mr. G's (my boss) house. This is my new office. We've been locked out of our offices on Pierremont for a while now by his 22 year old daughter. Don't even ask, it's a long and sad story.

But this isn't so bad. I have use of a gigantic Apple computer. This thing is fantastic! I'm ready to move to the dark side. Steve Jobs is a genius. I love the way it's laid out. And Safari as a browser is just fine. And iWork and Text Editor are awesome. And I love this huge screen! I hark back to the 60s when my mother told me not to get so close to the TV or it would ruin my eyes. I'm almost IN the TV...er, computer screen now. And Mrs. G has a Macbook Air that's great. Her grandchildren make videos on it. Seriously, she has a 5 year old grandchild that makes videos of herself.

Sorry, Mrs. G, I stole a picture. She's precious and smart.

My son just landed in Baltimore for his big interview today. As I said before, he's in his last semester at LSU in construction management and interviewed with a company in Houston. The home office in Baltimore wanted to interview him and today is the day. I know he just landed because I've been watching his flight on the arrival board at bwiairport.com. Do I not have a life?

I've been switching between the airport website and weather.com to look at the radar as there was light snow and windy conditions. He would kill me if he knew I was doing this. But I've already sent him three emails lifting him up. His girlfriend Megan is supposed to let us know when she hears anything. And naturally when his flight leaves this afternoon to bring him back, I will watch the arrival boards in Charlotte and Baton Rouge all the way to midnight.

A mother's work is never done.

Have a good weekend.

Busy December

2011-01-17T12:02:00.000-06:00

God it's been fifteen days. I didn't think I had been doing much but have evidently been doing something. First a couple of pictures of Clif and Megan in New York before Christmas. They had a blast...

They saw just about everything that five days would allow but there are still tons of stuff you still don't get to see.

Let me just take a minute to brag on Clif. This is his final semester at LSU. He graduates in May in construction management. He's had some interviews. He had a very promising interview with a construction firm in Houston about a month ago. They have called him back to interview at the corporate offices in Baltimore and he is so excited. Of course MY first question was, "You're not moving to Baltimore are you?" He said probably not, that the job is probably based in Houston. Jim and I are so proud of him. He's a fine man, and we love him very much.

A few Christmas pics...4 months of photography classes and check out the quality of these pictures. Was I drunk during class? Should the teacher have used a hammer to pound aperture and shutter speed into my head. Or did I get too fancy and think I was Ansel Adams? I vote for the latter.

Above is Megan's teacup poodle Holly on the end of the couch and Belle the Beagle is next to her legs. Jim and I got to dogsit Belle for about a month while Clif and Megan were in New York and Orlando (her folks gave them the trip to Orlando to see her brother in the Capital One Bowl. And Belle and I got on like a house of fire. She is so cute and so tiny (20 pounds) compared to Norman.

And I don't know if Norman is protesting the visiting dogs' visit (now that they're gone) but he has decided to 'go visiting' again and was gone two days again. He came home for dinner last night and a 3 hour rest but he took off again.

Will update on my on again off again job next time.

So New Yet So Old

2010-12-30T23:03:00.003-06:00

And didn't we have some fun this Christmas season. So thrilled that Clif and Megan were in New York having the time of their lives and will be in Orlando tomorrow night for the Capital One Bowl (Megan's brother plays for Alabama).

I have some very sad news although I cannot elaborate. I think I'm losing my job. I'm without an island and many people in my working situation all have their own islands yet no one will throw me a life preserver. Maybe one day I can speak of the heart breaking, gut wrenching things that are going on right now. It has truly broken my heart. I used to think I could stay "neutral". I don't have a dog in this fight, I'm low man on the totem pole, but things have happened.

Jim and I are going to spend New Year's Eve here at the house. Boiled shrimp, basil bread foccacio, smoked sausage, marinated crab claws. Definately football. I'll take any teams at this point. Image me watching Oklahoma State vs. Arizona. Have I gone crazy or what? And I actually was rooting for Arizona.

And I took thousands of pictures for Christmas and only two turned out. Can you imagine? I took a photography class this semester. I've lost my balance folks. I'm an unanchored soul so to speak. When did honesty and saneness go out of vogue?

Happy New Year everyone.

The Reason for the Season

2010-12-11T18:08:00.000-06:00

Giving. If I could give anything this Christmas season, my biggest wish would be peace. Peace to anyone, peace to everyone. Peace of mind. Peace. It even looks funny as I type the word. Like it's the first time I'm looking at it. Am I selfish to want to give to others the one thing I would love to have as a present this year?  Here, have some peace compliments of me. Your welcome.

Clif, is going to be quite the traveler this season.  He graduates from LSU in May and next week he flies to Houston for an interview with a construction company. When he gets back, he and Megan fly to New York for five days. It's our Christmas present to them this year.  They each earned spending money for the trip this summer.  Then when they get back, they spend a short two days with us (Christmas Eve and Day). Then they head back to Baton Rouge and fly to Orlando (compliments of her parents) for the Capital One Bowl. Megan's brother is on the Alabama team. And then Clif comes back up here a few days later to go to the Cotton Bowl. At 56 going on 80, I don't think I could do half of that schedule unless I had a Rascal.

Clif came home this weekend to bring a lot of stuff to put in storage. He's moving from a house to an apartment for the last semester because they lost the lease on the house.   The one thing Jim wanted him to help us with was washing the fifth wheel. So we're out there this morning in the pouring rain with the power washer, these two old people with their son supervising. Scrub harder Mom! Put some elbow grease in it Dad! Clif chose the power washer as his tool. Of course, the fact that neither one of his parents know how to operate the power washing has something to do with his choice. But by god, that damn RV is clean. Now we'll be able to see out the windows next time we go camping.

I find myself in the evenings looking for things to laugh at on the computer. Gee why Susan? This is sooo old but I got a good laugh just the same. Jim Gaffigan and Hot Pockets.

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T10:31:00.003-06:00

Okay, so we leave for the lake shortly but not before a Happy Thanksgiving wish to all. We're having stuffed pork chops for a different tone this Thanksgiving since Clif and Megan are headed to Alabama for the Iron Bowl.

I wanted to leave you with a couple of things. First, if you'll notice farther down on the right side of my blog, I always let you know the books I'm reading. Well I just finished Ape House by Sara Gruen. It was a good book but at the end she tells you the novel is loosely based on some bonobos at the Great Ape Trust in Iowa? She directed me to this website and there are some videos of two of the bonobos, Kanzi and Panbanisha, that are both fascinating and hilarious. Below is one of Panbanisha and Mocha the dog. And I think the website is greatapetrust.org. There is also a video of Sara Gruen, the author of the book with one of them.

Finally, my photo narrative for class last week is below. Tony said I did good. Gold star please.

It's my grandmother's pecan pie recipe. Duh.

Quote for the day: "Here I am 5 o'clock in the morning stuffing bread crumbs up a dead bird's butt."

Photo Narrative

2010-11-19T14:56:00.000-06:00

The assignment for next photo class is to do an 8-10 photo narrative. In other words, tell a story in eight to ten pictures. He was going to make it a one picture assignment but those are really hard to do. So I've got to tell a story in eight pictures or so. I have an idea. I've only started taking pictures but I have the first two (I just can't decide on the second one.) I may have to make it a 10 photo narrative. This will give you a hint but you'll never guess the story from these few pictures. Or maybe you will...leave me a comment if you know what it is.

This is a photo of our teacher, Tony Reans. He is a struggling artist along with teaching at LSUS. You'll notice the bulk of the class (approx 10 people) sits on the back row. What does that say about us?

We were playing with white balance and exposure in this class.

I'll leave you with a clip of something that disturbs me. It's of a classroom at LSU Baton Rouge (my son is a senior there and definitely NOT in this class.) Now I know college professors are pretty liberal by nature but this guy is off the farm.

Leaving work early today to shop for Thanksgiving dinner...oh the culinary possibilities...

Compoundwords

2010-11-12T15:31:00.000-06:00

This week's photography assignment is to photograph compound words, wherein you take a word like basketball and photograph perhaps a woven basket with a ball in it, ergo BASKETBALL. Well, I've done a few but it's harder than you think. You just can't go find a dead fish and photograph it with a twig from a tree. Here are two of my attempts for you to guess. Probably easy...the answers are at the bottom of this post.

One Science Teacher to Another:

Hey let's take the kids on a field trip for a lesson in physics so they can learn motion, energy and force....

The answers to the compound words above are touchdown and Scotchman (although I believe there's another compound word that comes to mind for the second one - axxxxxx). That would be my boss, Mr. G. Just kidding Mr. G.

It's Your Birthday

2010-11-08T10:03:00.003-06:00

I did it last year and probably the year before but you're going to have to endure it once again...only rap video I've ever liked...my man..."two quarters"...

Although I started this last post Friday or something, it is now Monday, November 8 and IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! Good day to start off. Jim gave me a couple of bottles of perfume starting the day off right along with the promise of dinner at Chianti's sometime this week as our schedules allow, therefore combining birthday (56) and anniversary (28 years). Clif called from Baton Rouge and wished me a HB. Then Mr. G's daughter came to the office and bitched me out for being late to work. She's a whopping 22 years old and just dropped out of Tulane. Nothing like being reprimanded by a spoiled child. Mr. G may be rich but he sucks at parenting.

I got one of my "wish list" items for my birthday. It's a KINDLE! Joye and Mr. G gave it to me. I've already downloaded my first book, Ape House by Sara Gruen. I love it. I also bought myself a new battery for my camera. We have photography class tonight and our assignment was to photograph the alphabet in the real word (as in nature for example, or objects) and play with the aperture setting on our cameras. It's been an interesting week. I'll give you a few examples.

The Letter C

The Letter X

The Letter D (which should be my grade on this picture)

The Letter Q

I'm so glad I'm not wasting my great talents.

Agog

2010-11-04T11:08:00.028-05:00

I'm thinking this is a joke but sadly it's not.

In the Blink of an Eye

2010-11-01T09:50:00.000-05:00

The last time I went back to college, I went to LSU-Shreveport and got my paralegal certificate. It's been a few years. The building I took the courses in was fairly new. I raced up to the second floor every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday eager to finish so I could make more money. Now that I'm filthy rich as a paralegal, I thought this year I'd go back for fun. Hence, I'm taking a photograhy course. Just in time by the looks of most of my pictures.

Dog in movement - blurry

Camera in movement - blurry

So I've been to a couple of classes now and have just naturally started taking my camera with me everywhere I go. Not just for assignments, but also Tony, our teacher instilled in us during the first class that you have to ask yourself some real questions before you take a picture. Why? What do I want to convey?, etc. And he also basically said you have to kiss a lot of frogs to get a prince, as in take lots and LOTS of pictures to get a good one. So I'm in with that.

However, I have a couple of complaints to register about Bronson Hall and the older parts of LSUS. Always. First off, where do educators get off painting the inside of institutions prison grey? And do these children who attend this school think nothing of peeing in the elevators? And is it necessary to display your ignorance all over the school with a sharpie or a pocket knife in the form of the "f" word or the "c" word? And young man with the dred locks, 'do you know that the fact that you did not hold the door open for an elder or a woman SAYS EVERYTHING about you and nothing about me?' Mothers of America Unite! The world may be going to hell in a handbasket but by damn, our sons need to be gentlemen doing it. GOD, I'm old. Get over it Susan.

On to shutter speed class. Take it off AUTO ladies, we're going in the trenches. If you have a Canon, put it on TV (time value?) If it's a Nikon put it on S. Go find some moving objects and play with the shutter speed. Go from 1/100 to 1/2000 and all in between and see what you get.

I am now qualified to photo yellow flag laps at NASCAR races and slow moving birds (ostriches, chickens and the like.)

New Office Part II

2010-10-28T15:28:00.000-05:00

So now I'm almost completely set up at the new office and I'm pretty well set in my driving routine. I still love the drive, maybe I'll hate it one day but in the mornings I get to clear my head on the way to Shreveport...

And on the way home in the evening I get to unwind and listen to my favorite radio person. I love the intro to his show.

Joye and I are taking a photography class at LSUS on Monday evenings and we love the teacher. I have finally learned (and am still learning) how to get off the Auto mode on my digital camera. In other words, we're learning about shutter speed, aperture, ISO. Look at this, isn't this exciting:

Now I know what you're thinking...why the hell did she take a picture of a fan? Well, ladies and gents, that's no regular fan, that fan is on high! I increased the shutter speed! Ha. A regular Annie Liebowitz, Ansel Adams.....speaking of Ansel Adams, one of our assignments was to go see the Ansel Adams exhibit at the Norton Art Gallery. Joye and I went yesterday morning. There were no less than 8, yes eight men in suits following us around the place. When we first walked in, one of them stopped us and said, "Ladies, please put your phones on silent and do not TOUCH any of the paintings or photography. We felt like thieves the whole time there. Eight suits!

By the way, I've gotten into the habit of taking my camera with me everywhere I go now.

I have to take many pictures of moving things so I'm off to the atrium to snap the water fountain in motion. Ewww! The excitement of it all.

Photo thought for the day: "Look, I'm not an intellectual - I just take pictures!" Helmut Newton

New Office Updated

2010-10-08T12:52:00.000-05:00

Between moving all that furniture and boxes, my back is killing me. Actually, I'm just about getting settled and I couldn't love this place more. Below are moving day pictures.

Mr. G doesn't come to the office so much anymore, so once again I'm by myself. It's not too terribly lonely being up here. I do miss his banter though. And Brookshire's Uptown has the best gourmet deli and tons of good food that isn't offered in Mansfield. Zipping to the grocery store, the liquor store and the bank is a snap and the morning 35 minute drive involves Glen Beck on XM radio. And the afternoon drive involves Mark Levin. So I'm a pretty happy girl these days. I miss having lunch everyday at the house with Jim though - that's one negative.

I finally got my computer right. It's been acting up for months now, catching a new virus every other week. My new computer tech is a whiz and he installed Windows 7 on my computer so I'm very happy about that. I love it. However, he has just about convinced me that My next computer will be an Apple. And he's just about talked me into giving in and buying an iphone.

When I have the office cleaned up I'll post new posh pictures.

New Office

2010-09-28T17:22:00.000-05:00

My boss, along with the Ruffinista and the LLC has moved our office to Shreveport. My truck crossed over into a new rut for my daily drive. It's gone from a 5 minute drive to a 35 minute drive. However, I love being in civilization. There are actually people here. No longer am I prisoned in the palatial offices of the law office. Now, instead of the back of the old post office and the little log courthouse on Madison, my window view is the atrium of Pierremont Office Park second floor. Morning sun, pleasant fountain, lots of palms, glass elevators. I feel like I've died and gone to heaven.

We're right behind Brookshire's Uptown on Line Avenue, the flagship of the grocery chain, along with several shops and restaurants. And on the other side of us is the fabulous Cuban Liquor (the Waldorf Astoria of liquor stores-wines galore.)

I've spent the last couple of days with movers, communications people and computer techs getting us up and running. With the exception of a few gliches, we are back in the JRG LLC business.

And the neighbors stop by and say hello. Something that is so foreign to me. At the old office, my only co-workers were AM talk radio. I have actually met three of my office neighbors and on a first name basis with the maintenance man and the building manager.

You forget the good things in life until someone forces you out of your rut and you wake up. Thank you Mr. G, hello Shreveport.

OK the Neighbors

2010-09-14T15:51:00.000-05:00

I live in a neighborhood of 24 houses (in a U shape) in a rural area surrounded by hundreds of acres of cow pastures owned by one Billy Ray Bedsole. However, he is deceased and his wife and kids own it all now. So just about all of the homes (except for the 8 or so in the middle of the U shape) have barbed wire fencing at the back of each of our lots. And the cows stick their heads through the barbed wire and eat our grass occassionally.

I have a rich conglomeration of neighbors. You know the best neighbors are the ones you don't know. We all know each other not well at all, which is good.

Our next door neighbors to the west are a nice couple around our age. However, his name is Bubba and although he is a very nice person it totally disqualifies him in the bff category. He spends alot of his free time shooting at the coyotes in the woods, day and night. We hear a rifle crack and know Bubba is got a bead on Wiley Coyote.

Our next door neighbors to the east are a young couple of girls (thirty-somethings). Lesbians, actually (not that there's anything wrong with that.) They spend a lot of their time in their backyard above ground pool suntanning. The glare off of their bodies was so great that a couple of years ago I had to plant bridal wreath on the side perimeter. This is the first year the glare has lessened.

Across the street is the 85 year old neighbor who is lovely. But she can talk...and talk...and talk. She'll keep you for an hour talking (no kidding). Sometimes I have to sprint in the house with a shout out to her if she's in her yard. During the autumn she spends enormous amounts of time across the street from our dining room window pretend-raking her yard and watching us have adult beverages in the evening.

Across the street and catty corner down a little lives an extremely religious couple. Their kids are grown. His name is Baba pronounced like yabba. When we moved in the neighborhood 13 years ago he confronted my then 10 year old at the time in the backyard and screamed at him, "Do you know God?!" Scared the crap out of Clif.

Then there's the Henry's and the Ebarbs down the street that call the cops on each other all the time. Boundary disputes. Parking trailers and SUVs across property lines, whatever. Then one of the sheriff's deputies from De Soto Parish comes out, usually Bubba's son (not to be confused with Baba) to separate them.

And then there's the Kumquat's across and down the street that cut the beautiful 20 year old magnolia tree down last summer to make room for the Direct TV satellite.

And what about cousin Jean that dances in the moonlight on her patio? Just kidding Jean.

Or Nash the wrecker driver that brings his work home with him?

But guess who's the most obnoxious neighbor in the hood? Those damn Ruffins with that tirebiter that chases cars up and down the block.

Say Anything Again Susan

2010-09-09T14:01:00.000-05:00

I live in time-out with Blogher. My pictures are too big or I don't post often enough. So I decided to just put my name and age up top. I always have good ideas for posts but never get around to them and then either forget them or they become irrelevant due to time passing. The "Say Anything" post is desperation.

We went to Rayburn again for Labor Day and had a great time. However, I had to wear my old bathing suit because I could not find my new one. Catalina (the cleaning lady) put away all of my clothes last week after washing and drying them. Jim goes crazy the day after she comes because he thinks she hides his stuff. Catalina (her family is in Mexico) is so sweet and is about 4 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs no more than a fly (however, whenever she empties the diswasher she somehow manages to put everything essential in the cabinet above the refrigerator-go figure.)

She is a God-send. I love to come into my house after she's been there. It's sparkling clean. It smells so good. And I get very angry with Jim if he's the first one to set foot on the fluffy carpet. The first month she cleaned my oven without my asking and I dropped the oven door blinded by the bright, clean inside. Aside from everything else, she sweeps the patio and garage, cleans the windows and plows the north forty. Well maybe not the plowing.

Why bring all of this up, you ask? The nightmares. The nightmares I've had three days in a row now. It seems I'm in some sort of club or casino and my boss is Don Imus (I listen to him at 5:00 a.m. every morning) and his wife is this 4 feet, 6 inches tall woman who looks suspiciously like Catalina. And I am working for them and I have to wear my bathing suit to serve drinks at work. Everyone else is dressed in street clothes and Catalina keeps chasing me through the club in circles with a mop in her hand (she previously used a string mop but last week I insisted she use my Swiffer). And the nightmare is never ending and I'm really tired...

Why am I hoping that next week she does not hide my underwear?

Finally Bimini

2010-08-29T23:03:00.000-05:00

Oh, you just thought you were going to get bimini pictures for free. Sorry, it will cost you. I have had Bronchitis for the past week. As in COPD, Bronchitis, Asthma, cold, which I caught from WHOMEVER! The COPD, I caught from Lark cigarettes, the Bronchitis, I caught from Doc Williams sugar coating COPD (caught from Lark cigarettes), the Asthma (caught from the Bronchitis, caught from Lark cigarettes) and the cold (caught from the little shithead that grabbed my cart, wiped his nose, rubbed it all over the handle of the Wal-Mart basket I carefully selected a week ago last Thursday.)

Because of my COPD, I have a Nebulizer, which treatments I have to take 4 times a day. It involves a liquid medication poured into an inhaler, hooked up to an air pump with an in-and-out breathing aparatus. Oooo, I just love getting old. So, I'm much better than I was on Saturday, Aug. 21, when "it" had me in its grips. I go back to Doc on Tuesday at 2:00 for a follow up. Can you not wait?

And now we have picutres of the unfinished boat, which I totally intend to have finished by next season. This Labor Day weekend is the only reservations we have left at Rayburn. After that, it's literally first come, first served. However, Jim and I are headed (most weekends in the fall) to the Baton Rouge KOA with our RV. Jim has season tickets to the LSU games and I have many dates with the Denham Springs, LA antique shops.

The Bimini

The Back Deck Re-Upholster

Bimini Up and Close

The Front Seats - Still Need to Upholster the Reclining Cushions - Piece of Cake

The Front Center Seat needs special re-upholstering.

Must have Sunset!

Or Sun and Set

And God...

Ruffinista: "It doesn't take a village, it takes one person, determined, never looking back, doing the best that they can."

The Eyes Have It

2010-08-26T11:17:00.001-05:00

Mr. Ruffin has had a tough couple of weeks. First off, I've written before regarding his UNdexterous hands, er, claws. He was minding his own business in the shower last week...now Jim is an intense man, he was brought up playing football by the "no pain, no gain" theory (did I mention that he ran into the goal post in high school and knocked himself out?)...so as I said he was in the shower shampooing his head intensely...clawing his scalp to make sure EVERY piece of grime and sweat would be washed away when BOINK! I heard swearing and hollering.

"What happened Jim?"

"I poked my eye out washing my hair!"

"You WHAT?!"

"I poked my eye out!"

Sure enough, when he got out of the shower, he had busted the blood vessels in the white part of his left eye. All red, blood red. He got dressed and lay down and I put some eye drops that Dr. Shelby had given him previously in his eye. It stopped stinging so instead of going to the emergency room, we called Dr. Shelby's office and made an appointment for the next day.

Next day rolls around and GUESS WHO IS 30 MINUTES LATE for his appt. with Dr. Shelby? Jim Ruffin, that's who (I hate to go with him anywhere sometimes because I am a fastidious ON-TIMER.). They would not see him. They said he was too late. Jim borders on being blind usually, well not actually but his eyes are terrible and he's always losing his glasses. So he blows them off and just lets the eye heel by continuing the drops. Until he uses them up and has to go to Wal-Mart to get some Murine...fast forward to yesterday after lunch.

"Hey Susan, will you put some Murine in my eyes?"

"Sure Jim, just a sec."

Well he goes ahead and starts without me and puts some in his right eye.

"Hey Susan, this shit burns."

"Well, maybe your eyes are tired. Let me do the other eye."

"Ow!, this shit really burns, damn!"

I look at the bottle and have the worst feeling in all of my life, like my liver and stomach and heart had been pulled out of my insides through my left nostril...

"MY GOD MAN, THESE ARE EAR DROPS!!!!"

Jack Rabbit Jim jumps up, tears to the bathroom, turns on the faucet, and starts splashing his whole body with water...then does a backflip, hangs his neck over the sink looking upward, screaming, "SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH!" So I douse a washcloth and wring it over his eyes with warm water for it seems like 2 hours but was probably only 5 minutes. He jumps in his work truck and drives to Dr. Shelby's office. Well they're only too glad to see him immediately, without an appointment, for free. Go figure.

He's okay now. He'll be 61 on Saturday. We're two peas in a pod.

Quote for the day: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will not they both fall into a pit?" Jesus

A Day in the Life

2010-08-18T14:29:00.000-05:00

5:30 a.m. - Yawn....Hello osteoarthritic right knee (swish leg under the covers), meet osteoarthritic left knee (swish other leg under the covers - it's cool to feel the sheets touch my skin yet so very excruciatingly painful)...it's time to start the day (raise both arms in the air and flex fingers with Heberden's nodes five or six times). Swing feet to the floor. Yeah, there they are, those poor swollen ankles I was so hoping would find the fountain of youth overnight (injured in a car wreck 40 years ago and never properly healed)..."you sad, inflamed arthritic dogs you." Push myself out of bed and grab the wall for balance. "This is the way, to start a new day." Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, shuffle. Grab executive chair at desk for balance on the way to the bathroom. Wince trying to roll it out of my way due to osteoarthritic shoulder. It's only an executive chair on rollers but it feels like the starting left tackle on LSU's football team has hit me. Ahhh, the dressing room, getting closer to the bathroom. "Hello, Mr. Wall, mind if I hold you up for a sec?" Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, shuffle. Enter bathroom.

5:35 a.m. - Turn on shower.....

Just kidding, I would not put you through any more torture...or laughing. Bette Davis was right when she said, "Getting old is not for sissies." Who would have dreamed in my immortal 20s that I could really turn into one of those OLD people who look like shit? No, no, don't go there. Of course there are millions of older people who are beautiful and lean and svelte and prospering as geriatrics. These people aren't real. They're all from Jupiter or Manitoba or somewhere. The real old people are us, the flabby, wrinkled, liver spotted, thinning haired, shrivelling, arthritic, "no photos please", inhabitants that move less and less each day. You could kind of say we're perfecting slow motion.

Maybe it's the hotness of August that has gotten to me (it was over 100 again yesterday) or perhaps I've been rode too hard and put up wet too many times. When Jim and I were at Rayburn this weekend, our conversations kept drifting to either our ailments or the wonderful days when we tent camped and hiked miles and miles. Except during those wonderful days of tent camping and hiking, we were complaining that we wished we were older and had an RV with air conditioning and could sit and look out at a lake somewhere.

And now sitting in my palatial office space in Mansfield, LA, I'm wishing I was burning up at Rayburn in the 100 degree plus weather. Never satisfied.

Ruffinista words of wisdom: You know you've been married 28 years when he's totally comfortable confiding the following phrase: "Susan, my hernia hurts when I fart."

Say Anything

2010-08-13T19:34:00.000-05:00

Hello, I'm still here, I just have not been finishing any of my blog posts. I'll have a good one started and then Mr. G insists that I do some work and the next thing you know I've lost my train of thought. Geez, where does he get off thinking he's so important.

We've had some excellent weekends (or in my case, 4 day vacations) at Lake Sam Rayburn with lots going on. Clif, being home for the summer interning for Balar Engineering, and I re-upholstered the boat in luxurious off-white leatherette. Actually, we did a pretty good job. Clif laughed out loud when I brought home a whole bolt of off-white marine grade vinyl (15 yards) to the tune of $200. Seems I did my ciphering wrong and only needed 7 yards of fabric. Criminey, it's not like I'm Treasury Secretary or something.

And since Jim and I were tired of being burnt to a crisp all the time, we finally forked over the dough for a bimini over the boat this summer. Burgundy. I wanted navy but the votes were 2 to 1. I lose. Hmm, really need a picture to show you how great it looks:

Now don't you think navy would have been prettier? Actual pictures to come soon. In the mean time I'll leave you with a few pictures from this summer:

Looking North on the lake you cannot even see land on the left - 114,000 acres.

Tarzan Island right in the middle of the lake. Jumping off the rocks is scary.

Mr. Ruffin, a/k/a Captain oh my Captain

More island.

The house that almost fell into the lake until the owner reinforced the corroding bank and then got fined by the Corps of Engineers for reinforcing the bank and not leaving it au natural...wait a minute, isn't this a manmade lake?

Always end with a fabulous sunset.

Stop back by soon, but not too soon.

Inspiring words from the Ruffinista: Life is just one beautiful sunset after another.

I'm About to Lose Control and I Think I Like It

2010-06-30T15:47:00.006-05:00

I've been so desperate for a belly laugh lately, I spend about ten minutes every morning on You Tube looking for my attitude fix for the day. You know, something to put you in the right frame of mind if you're not already there during roll call. Some days you just need an adjustment to all the Division Orders; Oil, Gas and Mineral Leases, the ding ding of Quick Books transactions, the Avaya telephone's staccato ring and the same old "Mr. G's Office!" And THE PAPER, ALL OF THE PAPER, paper in files, letters on paper, paper mailed, paper stapled...PAPER, PAPER PAPER!!! Oh and don't forget the descriptions: the Southwest Quarter of the Northeast Quarter, the North Half of the Southwest Quarter of the Southeast Quarter. So may I share with you a couple of attitude adjusters?

Now that makes you feel better, doesn't it?

Ruffinism for the day: "A parent's only as good as their dumbest kid. If one wins a Nobel Prize but the other gets robbed by a hooker, you failed." - Sam Halpern

Get Off of My Cloud

2010-06-25T10:11:00.000-05:00

I have joined the Netflix heaven. It's the instant streaming movies/tv shows website. The "no downloading necessary" hook is what got me and now I am being reeled in (no pun intended) by WiFi technology. I do have DirectTV and have a DVR but things take forever to download. With this new technology (or perhaps it's been around for years), I can stream a movie and/or TV show in seconds. I have a wireless router on my computer in the living room and a Wii hooked up to the bedroom TV. Netflix sent me a DVD to insert in my Wii and download a program and "voila" I can download in less than 10 seconds a movie or a TV show.

Now I've begun to watch "The Tudors" (fabulous) and my 23 year old son says Dexter is good. And I can get just about any old movie I want when I want it instead of waiting for TCM to play it. It has tons of movies you can download instantly. This is promising, as summer has mostly reruns on TV.

Breaking news: Did you know that Monday was the longest day of the year? Yep, winter is just around the corner.

Back to Netflix. It let's you queue up movies/tv. It also asks you to rate some movies/tv so it can make recommendations to you (which is helpful). And Clif says the more you rate and the longer you're a member, the more right on they get in recommending. Well color me HD. I'm in for the long haul.

And when they come to pry my cold, dead body from my 42" Sony TV? "My, my," they'll say, "what a waste of life." But I'll have a commanding knowledge of entertainment in the afterlife. Genius.

A quote from Sh*t My Dad Says: "We're out of Grape Nuts... No, what's left is for me. Sorry, I should have said "You're out of Grape Nuts."

."I just want silence. Jesus, it doesn't mean I don't like you. It just means right now, I like silence more."

YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK IF YOU SERIOUSLY LIKE TO LAUGH.

The Babysitter

2010-06-15T15:37:00.000-05:00

My 32" HD Vizio TV. My babysitter. In my bedroom For me. At night. For as long as I can remember, I have always been afraid of the dark. As a child, my door had to be cracked so the hall light could come through. My dad called me a baby which stuck to the back of my throat like gristle most of my life. I basically got over my fear of the dark when I replaced the hall light in my teenage and adult years with a TV...on...all night long. With the volume blaring, and now that my hearing has diminished in my old age, earsplitting and shattering. God I amaze myself by waking in the middle of the night and wonder why the neighbors have not called the TV police on me. LOUD. However, my Vizio is my sanctuary. I can crawl in there any time of the night and watch Turner Classic Movies or The Nanny or Roseane or Cops or ~~Taxicab Confessions~~ (just kidding-is that even still on?)

It's not that I like to wake up in the middle of the night necessarily, but sometimes my kidneys give me no choice and other times, well, it's probably because I have the TV on. But it keeps the boogey man from coming into our house. And I know this is going to sound silly but I like to wake up in the middle of the night because I know I have time to go back to sleep for a couple of hours. It's kind of like a pat on the back for a night well slept. And look Susan, you get a bonus...you get to sleep a little longer. Crazy huh? But very consoling.

In the summer, I like to kick the A.C. down to 66 or 67 degrees so that my comforter is inviting and silky. And I have a half dozen down pillows at the head of the bed that I fall into. Lord, I know that if my bedtime routine is this glorious (even though I have to have a babysitter), heaven must be some kind of place.

Ruffinisme for the day: Consciousness; that annoying time between naps.

Aura & Aura Week

2010-06-13T11:26:00.000-05:00

Well, I've had a couple of weeks off for "Rest" and "Relaxation" but it has not come without a price. My breathing sucks. Jim and I went down to Lake Sam Rayburn for a week and boated and sat in the sun...and swatted biting flies...and sweated...and bickered. No just kidding, but the biting flies forced me to wear Off! for perfume the whole time. Jim was on a mission with his flyswatter. I've never seen a man take such erotic pleasure in popping insects.

I don't know what kind of pollen was high down at the lake but it kicked my ass. My breathing was labored. I have COPD, diagnosed a couple of years ago in a lab in the hospital consisting of one huge giant breathalizer machine and three hours of my time. Doc calls my ailment bronchial asthma but that's just a nice word for emphysema. So I have what I call a puffer that I use on bad days and on real bad days I have a nebulizer that finds me at my dressing room table breathing mist in and out through a tube for 15 minutes.

What's the point of this? Hark back to 1969 in the backseat of my sister's pea green Pontiac Le Mans at 7:15 on any school morning with her and her best friend, Diane, and me riding out at Addicks before highschool. Picture us rolling reefers in the car. Now picture us OUT of rolling papers and my sister gets this bright idea to roll the weed in NOTEBOOK PAPER and smoke it. My god people, have you lost your minds?! Why not just put your lips around the tailpipe of the car and breathe, morons?! And get this, my sister tells me to take a hit and hold it in my lungs as long as I can, "cause you'll get a better high."

Now, flash forward to Doc two years ago showing me how to use my Combivent inhaler. He told me to take and puff and hold it in my lungs as long as I can, "cause you'll get better relief from the medication."

God's got a sense of humor.

Enjoy some of my pictures from Rayburn during the end of May and first week in June.

How I spent most of my time...chair leaned against the RV, looking up:

View from our RV:

Swimming hole:

We finally got the boat out and spent most of our days on the water, some gorgeous houses.

And the final house below that I've had my eye on for years and waiting for it to go on sale:

Ruffinism for the day: Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it. ~Jane Wagner

What a Schmuck...

2010-05-19T09:43:00.000-05:00

Dear Constiuents:

As an alderman in our fair city, I felt it my duty to inform you of a new procedure I have established at City Hall (all on my own) regarding water bills. Now you folks know you have TWO (2) months to pay a water bill before the city even sends you a cutoff notice. Two months, yes, to pay on average a $30.00 water/sewer/garbage bill unless you leave your toilet running (of which many of you do) or if you have a leak under your house but choose not to fix it, well because, you can't see it and pretend it's not there.

Well this is what we're going to do now when you come home and find your water cut off (by the city) after having two months to pay it. Instead of giving out my brother-in-law's UNLISTED (for this very reason) phone number, who is the superintindent of public works, like I did last night to a sweet young thing knowing full well that all bills are handled through the office during regular office hours and that my brother-in-law has no authority (nor do I for that fact) to turn her water back on and then SHE DROVE OVER TO HIS HOUSE AND PLEADED HER CASE (we know she'd never lie) IN HIS DRIVEWAY UNTIL HIS CRAZY WIFE CAME OUT SCREAMING ABOUT HIS BLOOD PRESSURE GOING THROUGH THE ROOF, well folks, this is what we're going to do:

PLEASE, PLEASE feel free to call me at my house (318) 872-XXXX or my cell phone (318) XXX-XXXX any time of the day or night. As a matter of fact, here's my wife Ginger's cell phone too (318) XXX-XXXX and my childrens' phone and cell numbers (318) XXX-XXXX (318) XXX-XXXX (318) XXX-XXXX (318) XXX-XXXX (318) XXX-XXXX (318) XXX-XXXX. That way I can talk to you directly and get your concerns and then perhaps give you the mayor's numbers because he might want to go out every night and turn water back on for thieving delinquent constituents such as yourself. If I can be of further assistance, please, please call me...we'll be in touch.

Most Sincerely,

Your Alderman
Guy Bridges Hall, ~~The Depraved, The Jerk, The Schmuck~~, The Third

Road Rage Mansfield Style

2010-05-15T22:54:00.000-05:00

Did I tell you about the time I was heading to work (2 miles/3 minutes) and was held up by the old man going 10 mph on the Oxford Road? I had to park my car and run along side of his truck to scream at him to get off the fu....g road. WHO TEACHES THESE PEOPLE TO DRIVE? Bobby Boyd, that's who. He was the driver's ed teacher for years and years in this town...and his students ARE EVERYWHERE DAMMIT! The bobbing heads, the folks who look left and then right and then left and then right and then left and then right to make a frigging RIGHT turn!! And can I have an AMEN for the folks who don't test my patience by pulling in my path when I'm in a hurry.

Hurray for you Mr. Pickup Truck with trash overflowing from your bed on your way to South Mansfield for not pulling in front of me on my way to my very important job....of filing and paying bills for a rich man. Accolades to the old woman, who should not be allowed out until after the working people get to their very important jobs, for picking up her prescription from the pharmacy at 10:30 in the morning.

Sweet Jesus, I love that the Haynesville Shale has come to De Soto Parish but the goddamned water trucks, the lowboys, along with the usual log trucks and chip trucks are more than I can take.

I sat at the new LED lights at Washington and Hwy 84 and the sensor did not register my truck other than making a lefthand turn. DON'T ASK. So it took four, FOUR cycles to recognize that I needed to go straight. And I am so ready to buy a gun and threaten the traffic lights at that intersection with death but then realized my husband would probably direct the crew to fix it.

Is there no relief? Have we come to this? Is Lake Sam Rayburn my only relief valve in life? Who the hell can we blame?

Well of course...It's George W. Bush's fault...I'm so glad we've settled that. Silly me.

The Cool Spot

2010-05-10T09:30:00.000-05:00

We had our first 90 degree day yesterday, and although I am grateful that it's not cold weather anymore (because of my aching bones), I found it hard to welcome the excessive heat. I like to ease into my hot weather months, not have them sneak up and grab me by my sweaty neck. Hence, my never ending quest for the cool spot in the summer months.

There is nothing more satisfying than flipping over a warm pillow where your hot cheek has been and putting your head on the fresh "cool side"...sleep comes so much easier (even if it's for only another hour or so before you have to flip it again - ick, old age and insomnia). It's like an AHA moment. Ditto with climbing in between the bedsheets of a bed that's been made. I can swish my legs back and forth and relish in the air conditioning. YES, YOU YOUNG PEOPLE, older age is reduced to the small victories in life. I crushed both of my ankles at 17 in a car wreck and 38 years later it feels great to swish in bed under clean, cool sheets. Remember the small victories.

We were at Rayburn this weekend and met a few new people. We also got the boat out of storage for the first time this year. We brought it home with us because we have an appointment with Campbell Marine in downtown Shreveport on Monday to get a service and a few repairs.

When Jim and I go out in the boat at Rayburn (an 18 foot runabout...135 hp as opposed to the 250-300 hp bass boats), we always pick a fairly secluded beach to swim and exercise. Sorry, he exercises and I float on my floatie...and Norman explores. I love floating and swimming. And yes, in the heat of the summer, 120 acre Lake Sam Rayburn has WICKED cool spots. AHA moments that sneak up on you.

Sam Rayburn is so vast and huge, there are sandy beaches, hard rock cliffs, rock coves with wildlife like ducks, teradoctyls as Jim likes to call them (I think they're raptors myself), alligators, frickin' beavers, deer galore and the occasional fish (we just wave at those fellas). But I am forever looking for that COOL SPOT to stand, tread or float stationary in. AHA, I love it.

My last Cool Spot? The shower...after the torture of the yard in August. Only in August. You have no excuse to take a cold shower unless you have tortured yourself against the back fence with the mower kicking up dust and the poison ivy on Billy Ray Bedsole's barbed wire fence, the f*****g WEEDEATER (sorry but the adjective fits perfectly) kicking up all kinds of weeds at you. You walk in the house to the bathroom, pull clothes and vines and dust and WHAT THE HELL IS THIS under my bra...an acorn - I DON'T HAVE ANY OAK TREES IN MY YARD!? I didn't even get close to it but how the hell did the cedar tree frond encroach my shorts? And you're sweating and you get in a barely warm shower and then slowly, oh so slowly turn the hot water down...AHA...suddenly, it's like your floating on the lake.

I'm sure you can think of dozens of cool spots that thrill you, or maybe you can't. Then you can be jealous (or wary) of me. Here's to a full summer of cool spots for you.

SAHMs, I Salute You

2010-04-25T23:57:00.000-05:00

All I wanted to be when I grew up was a stay at home mom. That did not happen for me exactly, but at 55 going on 80, I have come to terms with it. The other day someone brought up the fact that if you did not stay home with your children during their formative years, you were not developing them to their potential.

OK, OK, I still beat myself up about the time Clif called me from the new house on N. Princeton in 1997 after I picked him up from school (my chosen lunch hour) and delivered him for the first time to the hacienda as a latch key child at the tender age of 10. He called me at the library an hour later and said he had set the pinestraw outside the breakfastroom window on fire that almost burned the house down. I hollered but not too harshly I hope.

Yet Clif and I had a love affair in Marshall, TX in January, 1990 to January, 1991, when we eventually moved to Mansfield, LA. He was 2 going on 3 and we had the best time in our lives playing together...walking, swinging, tricycling (he not me), playing at the schoolyard down the street, swimming at the tennis club, kicking through fall leaves and vaccuming. That bear liked to vaccum.

I have worked all of my life. From the time that I was 16 years old. My first job was at Joske's Department Store in Town & Country in Houston, TX. I sold linens, tallied sales on an electric cash register that gave me fits. It was the kind of register that you had to put the sales ticket in the top. It was so eerie being in that department store late at night and empty.

Then I worked at a hardware store down Katy Freeway with my best friend. We both were the only girls and the youngest employees at the hardware store. We both had to get our paychecks by sitting on our bosses' lap each week. Ick. This was back in 1972 when sexual harrassment was HA! unheard of.

My first venture in the business world was working as a receptionist for an investment banking firm called Stewart Johns. My first day I had to go out to all the salesmens cars and get their umbrellas...in the soaking rain.

I then went to an investment banking firm on their trading desk. It was much larger and because I was the only girl on the trading desk, I was subject to entertaining clients with the traders at strip clubs.

Many years later when I met Jim at Western Geophysical, I was secretary to the Vice President of Eastern Hemisphere Land Operations. Jim worked overseas. He came in from overseas, we met and dated. He swept me off my feet and we went to Acapulco to get engaged. When we returned the President lauded Jim for making a conquest but fired me for taking away one of his valuable employees. Go figure.

And all I ever wanted was to be a SAHM. The last eight years I have worked for a miserly, filthy rich attorney who values me less than his house maid.

But I have outfoxed them all. One of the only two of the loves in my life is happy in Baton Rouge and set to graduate next year from LSU - a goal common to all Moms, whether staying at home or not.

Ruffinism for the day...the journey all important, the love especially sweet, the side riff raff-not so much. The Ruffinista.

McDonald's Fishing Toooornament - I won it!

2010-04-21T22:41:00.000-05:00

We had a blast at the lake last weekend. We have never been on the lake for the McDonald's fishing tournament but we decided to fight the crowd this year. We were warned of boats everywhere on land, on the lake, churning up the water, racing back and forth. It was rather interesting. Fishermen are serious people when money is involved. These guys all have bass boats with 250 hp or 300 hp motors on the back of them. One guy told us he has to wear goggles BECAUSE HIS BOAT GOES 80 MPH.

Ha! Jim and I refer to those boys as twirlers (think about it and don't ask me to elaborate on the nickname). However, I did have the pleasure of waking up Friday morning in the dark at 5:00 a.m. and watching the red, green and white light parade from the bedroom window as at least fifty boats cruised out from the boat ramp nearest us...and then took off at full speed at 6:00 a.m.

We've met a few couples that camp (understatement-these folks have 100k+ fancy rvs) regularly down at Rayburn Point. Ricky Don and Sue explained the tournament rules to us (weighing in on the hour and/or overall). And some of the rules are the stupidest I have ever heard like both people in the boat have to be entered in the tournament, if one catches a fish they both have to go to weigh it in, and this is how serious these folks are - YOU ARE SUBJECT TO A LIE DETECTOR TEST. Right then and there.

You ask how I won the tournament? Thank you for asking...I snagged two whole baggies of frozen filleted perch from Sue's freezer. Who says I can't fish?

We also found out that when Norman runs with us while we're on the bicycles, his favorite cove to go swimming in to cool himself off after a five mile run has a sixteen foot alligator in it. Gracious me, the little feller wouldn't have a chance, he's been flirting with jaws...so we must now find another spot for him to lay in after his run.

How Does The Garden Grow?

2010-04-18T22:47:00.000-05:00

Quite nicely this spring:

Coming soon! Results of the McDonald's Fishing Toooornament from last weekend on Rayburn. Including Norman's brush with the alligator and boats and boats and boats with a little Led Zepplin (why oh why god) and some tall fishing tales. Fishermen are some crazy characters.

Channeling Mamaw

2010-04-14T09:49:00.003-05:00

At 56, I find myself growing more in physical appearance like my maternal grandmother everyday. Her name was Lenore Lipscomb Williams. But we called her Mamaw. For most of my childhood I thought Lenore was an UGLY name, more befitting an old fat woman...which she was. And yet, today in 2010, I think Lenore is one of the most beautiful names that rolls off of my tongue. What comes around, goes around.

Mamaw and Papaw lived in my hometown, Houston, TX. They were from Malvern, Arkansas via Wylie, TX. They followed my parents to Houston in the 1950s. When I was young in the late 50s, they lived two houses down from us, but their house might as well have been in Brazil. As children, we were not allowed down at Mamaw's house except on very, very special occasions. And then we were relegated to a corner of the living room to play Tiddly Winks QUIETLY! Believe me, Tiddly Winks SUCK as entertainment. It has all the excitement that round, flat plastic discs flipped into a plastic cup can summon.

My sisters and I used to sneak outside to climb the fine and HUGE mimosa tree in her front yard but Mamaw would always catch us and scream, "You kids get out of that tree before you fall and kill yourself!"...mumble mumble..."sue me for all that I'm worth." She had an immaculate house, a husband she sniped at, and who sniped back at her. Mr. Ruffin and I have pretty much followed Mamaw and Papaw's daily regimen going on 28 years now. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

CRIMINEY DUDE GET TO THE POINT! Mamaw made the best spaghetti (of which I have successfully immitated) and fried chicken (maybe not so much) in the world, Papaw listened to Paul Harvey on the radio every morning. She loved purple periwinkles and called couches "divans." She played the piano superbly yet sang like Teddy Kennedy. She was known for using such salty language as "fiddle faddle" and "balderdash." Mamaw and Papaw slept in single four poster beds that were as high as a dresser (you needed a ladder to get in them) all of their lives. Mamaw actually had an old pedal pump Singer sewing machine that I learned to sew on. And her house smelled of old people. Not a bad smell, actually it was a pretty good smell, like old timey perfume and fluffed feather pillows. Imagine my surprise the first time I walked in my house and smelled Mamaw's house. Hmmmm.

And I have to admit I'm quite happy channeling Mamaw these days. I'm kind of glad she and Papaw were my kinfolk. The nut doesn't fall far from the tree.

"Hey kid...you lost your training wheels!"

2010-04-04T21:52:00.000-05:00

We were at Rayburn again this weekend but children were the great equalizer...from the twin curly haired boys next door and their two springer spaniels that ate all of the eggs in the boys hunting area before they got up, to the two boy cousins who kept running up to our rv and Norman, and trying to get Norman to chase them (little did they know all they had to do was bring food), to Janet's (the host) son who left for Michigan (and a new life), to Joshua, Mr. Training wheels.

I got to the park at about noon on Thursday with few people there except Josh and his sister. They both had bikes...Josh had plastic training wheels that you could hear across the whole park when he pedaled. He was Mister Destruction, he slammed his bike down in front of the bathhouse many times that day, talking serious to it as only a dirt biker can. He looked too old to be burdened by training wheels...and sure enough his sister, on her sleek bike beat him in every race they had. I harked back to when I learned to ride a two-wheeler. 5 years old...Come Friday morning, Joshua was riding his bike without training wheels. I screamed, "Hey kid, you lost your training wheels!" He screamed back, "My Mom has them." I thought to myself: high time Joshua! Come Saturday morning Joshua was riding his sister's bike and she was riding his. However, as a big sister, all races ended with her winning because she cut through our yard.

Enjoy my weekend pictures - Norman got the run of his life many times.

Ruffinism for the day: Life is so daily...aren't we the luckiest people?

Isn't it rich?

2010-03-31T23:54:00.000-05:00

Oh gee, those are the lyrics that remind me of Mr. G, my boss...he is truly one of the richest people I have ever known...as in money rich, as in filthy rich. I have never known someone before who can just breathe and money comes his way. Let me introduce you:

Dear Blogger meet Mr. G - I apologize ahead of time, I have to tell you this short story:

So now you know I'm not going to give you his financial sheet or anything. He is an attorney and tree farmer. He is one of the smartest people I've met. He is to the oil and gas industry what Einstein was to relativity.

I've worked for him for almost nine years as his paralegal and he truly amazes me everyday. He owns thousands of acres of land and much, much more mineral acres. I'm sure you have heard of the Haynesville Shale (or maybe not) in Louisiana. It's the greatest gas find in the continental United States in a long time. The last two years have been hectic and I won't bore you with the millions and millions he's made (mind you, not me, and he's very frugal when it comes to the trickle down economics theory that Mr. Reagan embraced.)

However, Mr. G has always said that if more people in De Soto Parish let him negotiate for them instead of being cheap and trying to negotiate on their own (hello pot, hello kettle), they would end up with so much more bang for their land.

Case in point...I have to tell you about this because it just cracks me up. He negotiated an Oil, Gas and Mineral lease with a certain oil company on a small portion of his tree farm a year or so ago, which netted him a lot of bonus money up front and tons of money in royalties on the backside. Not to mention this particular oil company has paid him much money for well locations and timber damages on his property. GET TO THE POINT DUDE.

Ok. So my favorite landman for this oil company visits us the other day and wants to negotiate a deal for water for a new well also located on Mr. G's property. This oil company dug a pit next to the original well that was successful. THEY DUG THE PIT. And in the interim between finishing the old well and staking the new well...GOD FILLED THE PIT WITH RAINWATER...But because it is Mr. G's property and BECAUSE HE PUT CERTAIN CLAUSES IN HIS ORIGINAL OIL, GAS AND MINERAL LEASE, this oil company was forced to negotiate and proposed to pay him $7,000 for the water in the pit THAT THEY DUG and GOD let it rain in on Mr. G's property. Manna from heaven, yes?

No. Mr. G went home early and told me to tell them it was $10,000 or nothing FOR THE WATER THAT GOD PUT IN THE PIT THAT THEY DUG!!!!!

And you know what folks? The check will be here next Monday.

Ruffinism for the day: You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you get what you need. I'm off Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Thank you Mr. G.

El Patio (Behind my house, not the restaurant)

2010-03-28T22:37:00.000-05:00

I promised patio results and by god I'm delivering those results. Have you seen such backyard appeal? Southern Living ready, yes?

Okay, more specifically and only because I couldn't get the photo dark enough, I failed...but I have seven outfits ironed and have cleaned the house for Catalina, the maid tomorrow:

And this perhaps?

Ok, so I had some other issues going this weekend. The dog threw up.

And then Friday afternoon I decided to pull the 8 year-old riding lawn mower out for it's maiden 2010 voyage. The launching of the ship. Put new gasoline in it. Charged the battery (yes I can actually do a few mechanical things - omen here folks). Checked the oil, and it "checked out." It's been six months since I've been on it. And dude, Jim Ruffin does not do mechanical so I AM THE MOWER. The little "choke thing" on the dashboard goes from turtle to rabbit. Now I can understand that even. We (editorial) started on turtle and slowly worked the engine's way up to rabbit. Two or three backfires later (or sidefires on my mower as you would have it) and we're off.

Now, the front yard does not grow fast so at the beginning of the season, it's like a complimentary mow. I give it a top off to make it happy. The sides and the back grow all of my trash grass that I like to keep high: dandelions, clover, wild flowers, etc., so the real need is there.

I mowed the entire front yard with the mower deck on SIX. Now for you inexperienced yard keepers, that's the level at which you would need to thresh wheat. And it never occurred to me that the mower deck was high. I kept saying to myself, "Boy, I need to get the blades sharpened on this thing." By the time I got to the North side yard I figured out where I'd gone wrong and put the mower deck down to THREE, but the look on Mrs. Bickham's (my neighbor) face when I decided to mow the front yard again was priceless. She's always thought I was a conscientious girl.

Ruffinism for the day: Somebody stop by Home Depot and get me some lantana...thank you.

We're Having a Heat Wave

2010-03-24T22:35:00.003-05:00

I know I'm bitching wayyyyyy toooooo much about the cold for a person who lives in the South. I have to give it you folks up North. You're a hearty bunch. I lived in Colorado for two years and actually experienced subzero weather and may have even blogged about walking out onto my balcony in 18 degrees below zero weather (in my twenties) and having my nostrils stick together...as in my boogers froze my nose shut. I just can't take it anymore.

I have osteoarthritis on one side of my family and rheumatoid arthritis on the other. And since I'm insecure and accommodating, I have decided to take both of those ailments on. Even my thumb joints hurt. Some of my fingers are disfigured. Oh crap, SHUT UP DUDE!

My patio gets my attention this weekend...cleaning out pots and trimming my patio trees. This is the year of lantana. I've come to realize that it will overtake anything, bloom all summer, you CAN'T kill it. And to compliment it I have decided on basil, parsley, thyme and rosemary. And you know if I could do those upside down tomatoes I would hang them from the OK corral fixture at the end of the patio.

So, here's the deal...hold your breath until the end of the weekend. If I post pictures of the patio, you'll know I accomplished something. If not, you'll know I spent the weekend watching movies. Any bets?

Hint: The $300+ steam cleaner I bought in January to clean all of my carpets is still in its box in the utility room.

Ruffinism for the day: My favorite day of the week? Someday

Eastah snap

2010-03-22T21:34:00.009-05:00

Oh yeah we had that Eastah snap...at Rayburn last weekend. No pictures, no accidents, minor incidents. We're on the peninsula in a 'pull through' and thankfully not out in a 'back in' on the point, but THE BLASTING GALE FORCE WINDS that began Saturday and knocked out our Direct TV satellite, was just a hint of things to come. Not to worry, I have movies! State of Play, Amelia, Julie and Julia, Gosford Park - as you can see we don't get to the movies regularly. Not often in my life, and especially in my overweight life has wind gotten the better of me. Dude, Saturday afternoon and evening rivaled a Boeing wind tunnel at full speed. Does the book "Wuthering Heights" come to mind? Heathcliff?

This is how challenging it was: the propane ran out about 2:00 a.m. in the morning, thus the heater said "eff you." And Susan, why didn't you check the tanks before we left? That's okay, we always keep the subzero sleeping bags in the upper bins in the living room of the RV. We used both of them to cover the bedspread. 2:30 a.m. HELLO NORMAN WHAT IS YOUR 85 POUND ASS DOING UP HERE WITH US?! Well sure, add to the heat.

The RV was rocking and rolling all night long. All we needed to add was Sally's YES! YES! YES! or perhaps Harry's, "Are you finished now?"

And we wake up in the morning to snow showers, more blustery winds and even colder weather. This is MARCH/MARSH God and we're in East Texas, what in heavens name are you up to? You don't have to prove to everyone that Al Gore is a nut, we all know it! The lake no longer has white caps, surfers from Hawaii have come to partake in the 400 foot waves.

7:00 a.m. - Jim walks Norman. 7:30 a.m. Norman scratches the back door on the truck to get in. 7:35 a.m. Norman is in the truck until we leave. We readied the RV inside and then ventured out to secure the RV for the ride home. I was ten minutes out in the weather with Jim's gloves because I forgot mine, and then guess who became my best friend until we left at 11:30 a.m? Norman, of course, pussies that we are.

And as we pulled in at 3:00 p.m to home, surprisingly it was snow showers and extremely cold weather. I let Mr. Ruffin unload and I put things up inside and started the wash. Yes, 28 years feels good, we wear it well.

Ruffinism for the day: “I have learned that only two things are necessary to keep one's wife happy. First, let her think she's having her own way. And second, let her have it.” -Lyndon B. Johnson

Calling Baton Rouge

2010-03-17T23:52:00.000-05:00

Calling Baton Rouge

Bad Luck in 3s

2010-03-16T17:41:00.007-05:00

Jim's luck just seems to get worse these days. After the industrial sewage accident and the "dropping the rv on the back of the truck" incident, we decided to stay home last weekend. Clif, Megan and Beagle came in and it was super to see them.

Jim got a new city truck and he and Clif spent most of the weekend looking at it, discussing it, examining under the hood or driving it. (Don't jump to conclusions now.) Saturday afternoon they headed to the maintenance barn to see if Jim's toolbox on his old truck would fit the new one (I can see you thinking ahead and predicting but I'm telling you, you won't see it coming.) Once they decided it would probably fit, Jim drove around to check on a few things.

Now, we love Mr. Ruffin but if you're ever going anywhere in a hurry, DON'T choose him for your ride. He always has to check a few things: a break in the street, a tree down, a Cleco light out, a street repair, a dead cat. Just kidding on the cat. Well, on their way back Saturday evening, Jim stopped on Crosby Street to fill a pothole. He is your "hands on" public works supt.
And he runs a risk anytime he's out of some crazed housewife or some good ol' boy flagging him down (and "flagging" is the operative word here) and wanting to add one more thing to his list, a new driveway culvert, a tree removal, a dead cat (just kidding).

So he was not surprised when a man walking down the street started to flag him raising his hand in the air. Being not in the mood on a Saturday evening, Jim just abandoned what he was doing, got in his truck and drove off leaving the man with raised hand. (Here we go, can you guess?)

He and Clif get home in time to light the pit for "Steak Night" and guess who can't find his GLASSES? They are forever falling out of his shirt pocket when he bends over. And guess who was probably trying to ask Mr. Ruffin if the glasses he found on the ground were Mr. Ruffin's? Jim asked me if I thought the guy might turn them into the lost and found at the post office...I said, "Dude, if it were me I would have thrown them on top of the post office and let you find them. Mr. Ruffin with his glasses at a happier? time.

Quote for the day: Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.

WHOMPF!

2010-03-08T15:09:00.010-06:00

That's the sound of a 5th wheel trailer falling onto the rails of a 2008 GMC Sierra Truck...not connecting, mind you, to the fifth wheel connection in the bed of the truck, but actually caving in the back rails. Mr. Ruffin decided to hook up while I was in the bathhouse yesterday afternoon in the rec area at Lake Sam Rayburn without me. However, he forgot one tiny thing, as in springing the capture mechanism before he backed up. He ended up pushing the fifth wheel off its blocks and therefore RRRRRRIIIIPPPPPPING my truck up. He's lucky he did not knock a hole in the fifth wheel.

I was walking back from the bathhouse. I WAS GOBSMACKED! My mouth dropped all the way to the ground. People watched from miles away:

Even Norman knew something was amiss.

This is an after darkness picture that I snuck out and took when we got home...

because there was SILENCE all the way home. And one day this will be a laughing memory because no one was killed or injured in the making of this disaster. He actually sat in the cab, looked at me and asked, "What did I do?"

That statement is only topped by last week's industrial sewage incident wherein he was screaming, "WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!!" with pee-pee spilling all over his hands.

Lord, I know you're preparing me for winning the lottery by sending these trials and tribulations my way first...right?

Quick Update...take a chance on listening to Hayes Carll, he was on Imus Monday morning and although his voice is raspy and offkey, listen to the tune and the words...he's sooooo good...Texas style.

DEQ and EPA Alert

2010-03-02T23:00:00.008-06:00

Yes, I'll admit there was a sewage incident last weekend at Rayburn. Only because I called in and reported the culprit. Now, every rec area in Louisiana has individual sewage hookups wherein you can dump sewage "as you need." However, in Texas, many rec areas require holding wastewater and sewage in your "holding tanks" and then dumping them at the end of the weekend or, if you are staying longer, deposit in the blue tank with wheels. We'll not go the blue tank route. Usually, staying the weekend allows us to dump tanks on Sunday.

Stay with me, perhaps you'll enjoy our marriage. Fast forward to last Sunday. THIS IS A JIM JOB. ALWAYS AND FOREVER. Make no mistake, I don't do sewage but assist in many ways. I can hold the hose that rinses off ...'things". CUT TO THE CHASE SUSAN. ick.

Last weekend as we were driving out of Rayburn Park, the last thing we always do is dump the tanks. I always direct Mr. Ruffin in lining up the RV dump valve with the "hole in the ground." Then Mr. Ruffin pulls the sewer hose from it's resting place inside the bumper and hooks it up to the RV discharge valve and shoots the other end into the "dump station hole". No problem...until last weekend.

What you don't know is that Mr. Ruffin is all claws and no finesse. He readily admits it...hell I cuss like a sailor. We all fall short. But this is the first time in two years that we have had a wastewater accident.

WAIT...TIME OUT. We always use the bath house for "important business"...let me be specific dude. We only use the bathroom in the RV for minor business.

Jim opened the sewage tank to let it dump first. "Hey, Susan it doesn't sound like we have much of anything in the sewage tank." Susan said, "Are you sure hon, I peed a couple of times."

"Let me jiggle the hose...OH MY GOD...THE HOSE CAME OFF...WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!

"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING!"

"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING!"

Norman was in the back of the truck listening to his master scream. I was...so sorry...laughing my ass off on the ground, er...roadway far from any spillage. And get this...Mr. Ruffin had the audacity to say he felt my pee hitting his hands more than his pee!

Dude! I'm in the truck....wake me up when we get home...you win.

We Bring Rayburn Gossip

2010-02-28T21:41:00.006-06:00

Jim and I headed back to Rayburn Park this weekend. Check out these sunsets:

Once again, we were all by ourselves in the park, except for the hosts who are getting ready for the season. It was cold and there was a fishing tournament on the lake (when is there not on Rayburn?) which causes multitudes of fishermen to race 80 mph across the lake at 6:00 a.m every morning twirling their "engines", but it is so nice to have the peninsula to ourselves. Janet (one of the hosts) and I got to comparing notes on hobbies and she and I have lots in common, except she is from Michigan and I'm from Houston, TX. She talks fast, I talk slow.

I'm working on learning Corel Draw and Paint (trying to learn graphics and digital photography, watched a couple of movies, cooked excellent steaks with Jim, rode our bikes and totally relaxed.

I'm so grateful for our many blessings and my good fortune to have a job I mostly like, a son I adore, a dog who is aloof yet alive, and a husband that I love, although he snores like a freight train. Can I have a clothespin here?

Come on spring...Dammit!

2010-02-22T22:43:00.011-06:00

Al Gore could not have a greater fan...I just thought global warming was a ruse. Please Algore, please bring more global warming to my little world. This ice packing, polar bear sucking, bone chilling, never ending frost absolutely sucks. I actually left the house to go to the office in 45 degree weather without a coat or a sweater today. A mere three miles...What possessed me? Optimism? It usually warms up to 70 degrees on a normal day. I have a fairly new GMC Sierra half ton. I cranked the temperature up to 90 degrees and still could not get warm. And I have remote start...

You have to understand, Louisiana does not get cold. The mosquitoes just buy sweaters. The spiders spin sleeping bag webs. No insects die-off. We all climatize. In the great war to come, the Chinese may kill all of the Northerners with axe handles but we Southerners are confident in death by roaches, fire ants and mosquitoes.

I say this only because we are to have our second snow event in less than a month after at least a ten year drought. Effing off old man winter...

Jim and I went to our hideaway at Lake Sam Rayburn this weekend. We were one of a few in the rec area. Take a look. It's a 120,000 acre lake and there was a couple of fishing tournaments but our little slice of heaven was still deserted.

And the sunsets at Rayburn Park on Lake Sam Rayburn are awe inspiring, God events.

I'm so ready for summer and ok, a brief spring. The boat, my float, screw the coat...

What is this? Update

2010-02-12T09:08:00.005-06:00

As you can see, God blessed us southern hicks a little more overnight.

What is this?

2010-02-11T18:03:00.007-06:00

Well it's official, hell has frozen over. It snowed in Mansfield, LA today. The apocalypse must be coming because it never snows here. Houston gets snow, Baton Rouge gets snow. Mansfield never gets snow. And my pictures are liable to make everyone north of us laugh.

The snow for our yard is stuck up in the pine trees. The Colwick's have no trees in their front yard.

My truck had enough snow on the windshield to make one good snowball and throw it at Mr. Ruffin. He was not amused.

Mrs. Bickham's magnolia tree got a good dusting.

"This" happened coincidentally while I was making our yearly reservations at Lake Sam Rayburn. Channeling boat rides on the lake and swimming. Thank goodness March is only eighteen days away.

Think I'll go put another log on the fire.

Ruffinism for the day: Well, I've wrestled with reality for 35 years, and I'm happy to state that I finally won out over it. - Elwood P. Dowd

WHO DAT...WHO?

2010-02-08T15:28:00.012-06:00

What a fabulous football game. Who would have believed it before it was over. The Colts were favored for two weeks. But Louisiana showed them this year. When Tracy Porter from Port Allen, LA made that interception at the end, the roof litterally lifted from Bill and Karen's house where we were watching the game. Eight adults and one Chico dog screamed loud enough to register on the Richter scale. I'm still reliving it.

The New Orleans Saints are no longer the "aints".

The only hiccup in the whole game was the halftime show. Now I realize they were doing a takeoff on the Who Dat theme by bring in The Who, but really folks, there are so many acts that could have included the whole crowd. Roger Daltry and Pete Townsend are as old as...well not quite me. I went to see them in concert when I was 17. Believe me their voices were much better then. These were two old guys, one with a curly blond haircut more suited to a 20 year old and the other one literally looked like Popeye Doyle (played by Gene Hackman) in the French Connection. Don't you think Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill and Tug McGraw, Harry Connick, Jr., hell Barney the purple dinosaur would have been a better choice?

Don't bother me I'm channeling Frank Shekarski or perhaps Carey Lindley...

On the way home from the party Clif and Megan called from I-10 in between Baton Rouge and New Orleans to inform us that they were headed to Bourbon Street and going to spend the night in New Orleans and by the way, would we transfer money to his account when we got home to cover the hotel room and meals for today? (All you folks with little kids, let this be a heads up.)

Ruffinism for the day: We are the Champions, my friends. - Queen

Mamaw and Papaw

2010-01-31T23:06:00.007-06:00

I got pictures of Clif's and Megan's trip to Disneyworld in January and must post a few:

Megan's brother, Chad Lindsay, was in the UnderArmor Bowl in Orlando for High School Seniors and that's the main reason everyone got to go. He will be playing for Nick Saban next fall.

Clif, Megan and her cousin and girlfriend.

Jim and I headed to Shreveport today in search of a folding table for the RV. (God bless the Little People of the Earth.) We hit Hobby Lobby first and found out that they are closed on Sunday so their employees can enjoy the day with their families. Screw them...just kidding, it's nice to see that they and Chick-Fil-A are earning less money than the rest of the greedy people out there. Note to self: no Hobby Lobby or Chick-Fil-A stock purchases. We hit World Market and found a gold mine of stuff.

Jim and I pride ourselves on being part of the little people (poor) of the earth and had a total blast buying cheap wine, expensive pasta, totally unnecessary beer steins and $1 hand soap. Still, no folding table. We hit Pier 1 which was a total flop. Then headed across the street to Bed, Bath and Beyond. More cheap $1 hand soap. Must be an end of January thing-inexpesive hand soap. I could have bought a $3 basket at World Market, filled it with 10 different kinds of hand soaps, added a $4.99 bottle of wine and had a great gift for someone for less than 20 bucks. I digress.

Jim was thirsty so folks, we headed to the local Sonic for a Cherry Coke! Are you channeling Mamaw and Papaw yet? Wait, wait, was that Mamaw that got the idea to "ride" over to the Stoner Boat Launch and watch the Red River flow with its eddys and debris. We were transfixed for hundreds of minutes. Yes People! XM Jazz, Cherry Cokes and the Stoner Boat Launch! But wait...I'm not finished. We thought perhaps there might be another boat launch north of Stoner sooooooooooo...let's go check out the downtown airport! Maybe there's something fantastic going on there!

I have never, ever been to the downtown Shreveport airport folks, have heard the newscasters talk about it like it's something great to visit. We drive over there and not only is the terminal locked, closed, small 1950's building, but the control tower is empty, there are maybe three small planes (as in Cessna's) parked on the runway and look like they've been parked there forever...there are no people anywhere. However, we saw a huge Federal Express Jet and rode over to check it out. It was missing an engine and was parked outside the Southern University Aerospace Museum to the left of the terminal. Most of the windows in the museum were broken.

YES! We have officially arrived at Mamaw and Papaw. And as if you need proof...we stopped by Auto Zone on the way home for windshield wipers for Jim's truck.

Ruffinism for the day: My formula for living is quite simple. I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night. In between, I occupy myself as best I can. ~Cary Grant (he's dead)

Peace Full

2010-01-25T10:08:00.004-06:00

Jim and I headed for Lake Sam Rayburn Friday. Broken Toe Norman accompanied us and we were all three ready for some peace and quiet. The only way Jim can get away from "city business" is to actually flee the confines of Mansfield. We were the only ones at the rec area and virtually had the whole peninsula to ourselves. Friday night's sunset was oh so beautiful, however, my camera was still charging so I missed the picture.

I brought a bunch of new movies I have bought lately. Just got on that kick. The Hurt Locker was soooo good, as was Gosford Park (an old English movie I've been meaning to watch). I have ordered, yet not received Little Dorritt. I don't know if it's a mini-series or movie but my new heartthrob, Matthew MacFadyen is in it. I just love him in Pride and Prejudice, co-starring Keira Knightly. I am an English movie groupie. I love all the Emma Thompson movies, Sense and Sensibility, Remains of the Day, Howard's End, etc.

We did some bike riding and driving in deep East Texas, which is always beautiful. Lots of deer and antelope playing. Well maybe not so much antelope.

And then as I often do, I took a tumble. I like to fall everytime we go camping to make it exciting. I'm so glad no one was around to see me because it was not a beautiful sight to behold. No face plant this time but a skinned knee and elbow like I'm a nine year old kid. And I hurt my neck, I have to hold it just the right way to walk. Feel like I played football.

I have almost finished Under the Dome by Stephen King. I like to read one his tomes every few years. It makes me feel like I've actually accomplished something. However, Stephen King must be gulped in small doses.

Below is the next book I'm going to read, I just received it from Amazon. I read a New York Times review on it that touted it as the next Gone with the Wind. Looking forward to it.

Ruffinism for the Day: You can fool some of the people all the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on. - George W. Bush

Top Ten Reasons for Skipping Christmas & New Years and Going Straight to Hell

2010-01-20T17:02:00.007-06:00

10.

You get laid off from work the week before Christmas after receiving the most fantastic bonus of your life that you have already spent.

Ground Hog Day and dementia are the same holiday.

For the first time in years, the only surprises under the Christmas tree are the Sunday career ads.

You get rehired "temporarily" in January. Ground Hog Day is only a month away.

Your son goes to Disney World and does not invite you and SENDS YOU NO PICTURES!

Mansfield, LA has the seven consecutive coldest days on record with nights back to back in the teens.

Your chocolate lab disappears on the first coldest night. He is found seven days later hanging with a three-legged dog and a female chihuahua in heat (no, no don't go there) two miles away, and he has a broken toe (don't ask).

The vet bill for the broken toe and the fancy lampshade is $210.00.

You have your job back, temporarily - probably until Ground Hog Day.

You lose your MOJO.

Please pray for me.

Clusterfug

2009-12-13T08:48:00.009-06:00

Jim and I headed to Shreveport (30 minute drive) yesterday morning in different vehicles to do Christmas shopping. Well actually, we started out in the same vehicle but when I realized he wanted to "check" a few things around Mansfield first, I bailed on him and took my truck. We would meet up later (the later part being part of the clusterfug). Did I mention I passed Noah's Ark on I-49 on the way to Shreveport? Yes, it was raining rather hard.

I hit Academy Sports first and it was packed but had an air of organized chaos. Out of the many presents I purchased there, I needed to get a pocket knife for Jim. He loses them constantly. No, he's not Daniel Boone flinging his knives into the chests of wild indians. He just lays them down and walks away. The problem is the knives are held hostage by the guns and rifles in Academy Sports. Many macho men hang out in that department and discuss killing four legged animals. I ABHOR hand guns. I waited around about twenty minutes before I had to interrupt a salesman and his customer from their love affair with a 9mm glock. He actually said, "Oh, lady do you need some help?" "Just point me in the right direction," I replied. That's just what he did and returned to his love fest with the glock.

Next stop, JC Penney. Does that not scream BORING middle class? I had ordered some brown Hagar slacks for Jim online and he thought he could order a size smaller than he was because the slacks had an "expandable waistband." Ha, ha, ha, ha....silly man. So we were supposed to meet up in the Men's suits section around 12:45 in JC Penney. I had a brain freeze and got there on time knowing full well that Mr. Turtle would not be along for another 30 minutes or so. I just sat and waited. On Saturdays in December, JC Penney has something called "Door Buster" days. We did not know that then but we know now. Everybody and their brother were in the store Saturday. OMG, the parking lot was like an ant farm of cars. CLUSTERFUG. This is the type of event where you feel like slapping people just to get them out of your way. Even kids, we both wanted to get in their faces and scream BOO! Just to see them cry and run away. Are we old people or what?

OK, calm down, go to T.G.I. Friday's for lunch. It's almost 2:00 so we figure most of the lunch crowd is finished. Well, they were but we got the waitress from hell. She was pregnant and her belly almost fit perfectly in Jim's lap (not that there's anything wrong with being pregnant). She evidently had forsaken her four table station for the relative peace of the kitchen. It literally took us an hour to get our food. All four tables were speculating on whether she was napping or having the baby. Needless to say, I don't think she made a lot of tips that shift.

So okay, gluttons for punishment, WE WENT TO SAM'S. Sure why not? No less than two women tripped me back in the meat section. Of course that was after I threw my body in the frozen counter over all the frozen shrimp. What does this say about us when the biggest item in our cart leaving Sam's was a 98 pack of toilet paper?

Ruffinism for the day: People will buy anything that is one to a customer. - Sinclair Lewis

I Was Going For Tacky, Gaudy

2009-12-06T21:32:00.005-06:00

Well, I fall so short of "The Red Door" and "Splash"...Christmas stores in Shreveport that epitomize tasteful elegance in Christmas decorating. I threw all the ornaments that didn't go on the tree up on the mantel. And I feel certain that Catalina, my cleaning goddess, will immediately rearrange everything tomorrow. Hell, she may invite Curtis, the yard man, in to help her.

I walked down to Cousin Jean's tonight to see her decorations. Her mantel was more elegant than the Southern Living December edition of the natural Christmas. Yet I, me, the hostess of more is happier? Take a look

Jim kept saying this afternoon and yesterday, "Where is the color?" I told him the day that he helped me decorate and take the tree down was when he could pick colors (OMG - red and green...how fabulous!)

For the first year of my life, my tree is FAKE...yes 100% guaranteed not to drop needles all over the place and especially on January 2, 2010, when death row is inevitibe. Guaranteed not to be contributed to the burn pile out between the pines and the cypress trees. Guaranteed not to piss off the tree huggers. And most definitely guaranteed to smell (with the assistance of my $61.00 Frazier Fir diffuser - absolute thievery) very rustic...

Now, bring me some presents Santa. Don't make me shop at the Providence House donation bin - head first.

Ruffinism for the day: The Supreme Court has ruled that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C. This wasn't for any religious reasons. They couldn't find three wise men and a virgin...Jay Leno

Leftovers

2009-11-30T15:10:00.006-06:00

My boss, Mr. G, gives out 4-lb. boxes of pecans every year to friends and family as Christmas presents. I always get a box and never do THAT much baking. So naturally when I went to the deep freeze to retrieve some for my Thanksgiving pecan pie this year, I was astounded to find 3 4-lb. boxes. It's too late to re-gift right? Other than putting them out for the squirrels and birds, I can't think of what to do with 12 pounds of leftover pecans....

That would not be the case with my dressing, green beans, etc. from Thanksgiving dinner. Yes, we still have leftovers and Jim, my Hoover of a husband, will dine for the last time this evening on turkey, gravy, sweet potatoes, etc. ("give it to Jim, he'll eat anything"). He has a cast iron stomach and has been known to eat things no one else will attempt.

And guess who called me today to take our order for Christmas pecans? Yes, Gene Moody the pecan man. I ordered forty boxes again this year for Mr. G (including one for myself). You never know when one might decide to make pralines, or perhaps 100 pecan pies for Christmas. Now if I could just sell them for the outrageous price the grocery store charges for homemade pecan pie, I could probably get on Forbes list.

Just a thought...

Super Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T13:00:00.009-06:00

Clif and Megan just headed back to Baton Rouge. They've been with us the past few days along with Belle the Beagle. It has been a Super Thanksgiving and yesterday could not have turned out better. The weather was beautiful. Sunny skies with a cold chill in the morning, warming up to the 60s in the afternoon. We ate turkey & gravy, dressing, cranberries & apples, green bean casserole, asparagus, sweet potato casserole, rolls and wine. I did the Martha Stewart cheesecloth covering the breasts, soaked in white wine and butter. It was PERFECT! The color was beautiful and it was sooooo juicy. I got the cranberries and apple recipe from Aaron McCargo on Food Network and it turned out perfect. The only thing that did not turn out so well was my pecan pie recipe that I've done a million times. I just did not cook it long enough BUT who cares, one can eat pecan pie with a spoon as easy as one can with a fork.

And Bill and Karen dropped by and watched the Texas/Texas A&M game with us. I'm glad Texas won because I want them to play for the national title and beat either Florida or Alabama for the National Championship because they both beat LSU. Speaking of LSU, meet the Tiger Whisperer:

Click

I'm putting the Christmas tree and decorations up tomorrow. Can't wait to put up the first artificial tree that looks real. I also bought a Frazier Fir diffuser and spray from Lewis Gifts. It will smell just like a real tree and there will be no watering, no needles to vacuum up after Christmas and no dead tree to burn. That should make the tree huggers happy. It's all about getting old and decrepit these days. The cold snap brought out the worst in my arthritis

Clif, Megan and I went shopping on Wednesday to beat the Black Friday crowd. Clif got his 55" Samsung HDTV and it is being delivered on Saturday. Megan chose a beautiful Coach bag and wallet. We probably could have gotten some of this (actually the Samsung was on sale before Black Friday) on sale, but perhaps it would not have been there had we gotten up after 6:00 A.M. Wednesday is a no doubt day.

Best Thanksgiving Quote ever: "I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land." - Jon Stewart

Thursday Edition

2009-11-19T17:13:00.008-06:00

I just found out that Clif and Megan and "little girl" Belle the Beagle are coming up for Thanksgiving and I'm ecstatic. Now we're having a whole turkey instead of just a turkey breast. And we're going to shop til we drop on Friday.

I watched the Top Ten Thanksgiving Problems Solved on the Food Network the other day and got some really good recipes I was going to try on Jim but have had to change the menu up somewhat now. However, there is one recipe I found on that show that I'm keeping. It's Cinnamon Apple Cranberry Sauce by Aaron McCargo, Jr. and it looks fantastic. I just usually buy OceanSpray Cranberries in the can but this recipe looks scrumptious.

Our 27 year anniversary was last Friday night. Jim and I were in Baton Rouge for the LSU/Louisiana Tech game at our favorite urban camping spot. We went into downtown Denham Springs on Saturday morning and shopped the antique stores. There are tons of them. I found a quilt that we marked our anniversary with. It's gorgeous. I bought it at the Rusty Rooster.

Then Jim took off for the game and Norman and I watched movies the rest of the afternoon and evening. Nice quiet weekend.

Headed out tomorrow for a mega grocery shopping trip. This is the one that I spend a whole day on the baking aisle. Along with every other woman within 10 miles. We'll all just trip over each other.

Shopping Quote: The other line moves faster.

It's your birthday

2009-11-08T22:35:00.008-06:00

There once was a woman named Ruffin,

Who thought 54 was nothin',

She dithered around,

And no sooner she found,

November brought 55 and somethin',

Crap, half a century plus five and where are my millions, where is the house off the Mediterranean coast? Can I have a do-over? 50 cent said it best:

Click

Excellent weekend, margaritas, LSU lost, yard mowed, Catalina coming tomorrow, Clif and Megan home safe from Tuscaloosa, phooey on stick figure Nick Saban, God bless Cathy Woods and her family...

Ruffinism for the day: Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional. ~ Chili Davis

Update Un Tout Petit

2009-11-02T17:26:00.009-06:00

Clif and Megan went to a Halloween party last weekend and had some pictures taken.

Are they too cute or what? They obviously went as drover and indian princess but I could have helped Clif with his costume. He went as a cowboy a few years back and I think I still have this outfit in my Lane chest.

My, my....how time flies Mrs. Ruffin.

Jim went down to the LSU game in Baton Rouge and I stayed home to defrost the deep freeze. Well I didn't stay home to do that but it's one of the tasks I accomplished this weekend. It's empty enough for me to crawl in and come out ready to start the first fireplace fire of the season. Got any extra meat, NOT VENISON, I have some room available in the freezer.

Ruffinism for the day: Oh, baby I'm so tiredddddddd - Susan Ruffin

"Para"normal Insanity

2009-10-29T14:02:00.012-05:00

I have been thinking alot lately of out of body experiences and ghosts and such, AND not just because Halloween is coming on us. It started with Paranormal Activity beating Saw VI out at the box office last weekend. I don't know why that stuck with me. I don't go to see scary movies anymore. The last scary movie I saw in the theatre was The Exorcist in 1973 and I was 18 at the time. I just don't like horror that much. And every 18 to 24 year old man (it was X rated then) in that theatre was making exagerated sounds at the bodily functions going on in that movie and cracking jokes. However, I did have nightmares for the next few weeks.

I have had many out of body experiences and a paranormal experience that keep me wondering about some aspects of the afterlife all of the time. I have a guardian angel that has watched over me most of my life. It's not the guardian angel of money however. My guardian angel has saved my life numerous times.

I swear to god that I had an encounter with Henry Lee Lucas. No, I'm not crazy. Google him. My truck had broken down on Britmoore Road in Houston on my way back to work from lunch one day back in the mid-late seventies. I was in blue jeans and my office was about a mile down the road so I stuck my thumb out to hitchhike (not something done now or shouldn't have been then). A red mustang pulled over and offered me a ride. When I opened the door, I remember the driver's eye being all crumpled up and caught him pulling a revolver off the passenger seat. I couldn't slam the door fast enough and say, "No thanks." Goofy, Goofy girl. Guardian angel.

Actually, the out of body experience and my dream last week are really what I want to share. Back in 1983 (still in Houston and married), I was returning from a urologist appt. in the medical center and crying my eyes out because I was going to have to have my first operation...sort of. A cystoscopy where they go up and pull a kidney stone out with a basket. I was petrified and paralyzed. However, many years and kidney stones later I could probably reach my hand up there and pull one out if I needed to now. Ewww! I was driving on a one way street totally distracted and came upon a rather busy one way street. I stopped briefly and still crying hard, drove right into the path of another vehicle. The vehicle drove right through my body and my car. No shit. My lips to God's ears. It left me with a vibrating feeling and I looked twice at the car going on down the road. Twice! Now, I know what your thinking...but! maybe the other driver had a guardian angel too. That's not impossible people and this is my blog by the way.

Last but not least, the dream. Do you ever have recurring dreams? I have lots of them. One of them is that I'm in this old farmhouse, don't know where, but I'm younger. Part of the farmhouse is blocked off by a wall of windows and is in disrepair, like covered furniture stacked against each other, no cobwebs. Actually it's pretty bright until you get up the wooden attic stairs (yes this is a dream and in color) that go all the way to the ceiling of the attic. There is a door in the ceiling of the attic that you just push a piece of wood out of the way to get in the dark room above the attic (my dream folks) with one window. If I go over to the window as I always do with another person (don't know who), all of a sudden there is a frightening pushing back. It's a ghost, I don't know who, but it's so violent it pushes me back out of that room where I came from and it's angry and overwhelming. And it's a physical push and yet invisible. AND WHY DO I KEEP GOING IN THAT DAMN ROOM?! I know it's scary and I don't want to be there, maybe I'm trying to find out who is the ghost. I haven't had the dream in quite awhile but I had it this week, again.

Ruffinism for the day: Eat, drink, and be scary.

A Critical Look at the Fat People

2009-10-10T21:13:00.014-05:00

Living in constant fear of finding a picture of myself on The People of Walmart site, I have had more than a few epiphanies lately regarding my weight. It is a hilarious website, but most of the people they make fun of are overweight, unless it's some loser with outrageous hair or dress (note the irony of my prejudice.)

The Fat People. There's so many more of us now. We could probably take all of you skinny and average people out and rule the world except we have no self esteem nor motivation to do it. The Fat People are on TV now, every Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. on NBC. I sit and watch them working out, huffing and puffing through their exercises while I enjoy popcorn and my adult beverage. Very entertaining.

They use every excuse for their "weighty" predicament. I myself blame my 22 year-old son, Clif, coming out of my body a while back and not taking the extra weight with him as he exited. And I also hold Liggett & Myers directly responsible, as their "Lark" brand of cigarettes was so ensconced in my bloodstream 23 years ago that it took massive quantities of food to de-sconce it from my body. Additionally, I fault God for bestowing upon me the disease of ulcerative colitis which required huge amounts of steroids for multiple years, which in turn begats a ravenous appetite.

No! It is not the fact that I drink and have drunk approximately two Co-colas every day of my soon to be 55 years old life. Or that at the age of 15 (coinciding with the death of my father, but I'm not blaming Nancy) my nightly dinner fare was the home of the Whopper. Or that I love steak, fettucine, cheese, lobster, pistachio nuts, mint chocolate chip ice cream, Paula Deen's gooey butter cake, Tex-Mex food, lasagna, foccacio bread, olive oil, and other food too numerous to count.

I am owning up to my addiction and I have begun to do something about it. I now go after work to The Fat People's work out place, a/k/a Willis Knighton Wellness Center in southern Shreveport and do my share of huffing and puffing on the recumbent stairstepper, recumbent bike, and treadmill ending with a climactic and well deserved swim in the lap pool. I love the water, spread my ashes in Lake Sam Rayburn although I'm sure that is not approved by the EPA. And why am I doing this now at this juncture? Because I went to the orthopedic surgeon for my left knee pain and he said I need knee replacement surgery but I am too fat. There I said it, it's done. I'm heading off in that direction. Say a prayer or two for me.

We went down to Baton Rouge for the LSU game on Friday and the following picture pretty well sums up the weekend. And phooey on the LSU Tigers. I am a "fair" weather fan.

Ruffinism for the day: One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating. ~Luciano Pavarotti (he was one of the fat people)

October Fest

2009-10-05T10:23:00.011-05:00

Jim and I went to Lake Sam Rayburn this weekend and brought Norman along. It was a nice relaxing weekend and not crowded at all. Hardly anyone was there and we had beautiful weather...except for the flies. During certain times of the year and when the weather is blowing from the wrong direction (or not blowing at all as you would have it), the biting flies overtake the peninsula where we camp. And there is nothing to do but keep moving or go in until the wind comes up or the sun goes down. And because I'm so sweet, they like me most. And they bite hard...and they bite often.

Jim had a spill on his bike. He rides Norman on a leash while pedaling his bicycle until he gets out of the park, whereupon he lets him go to run with him. It's all very rural with no traffic. Saturday afternoon they were riding and a family of deer crossed the road in front of them. Norman bucked so hard that he pulled Jim straight off the bike. Jim came back with a very nasty cut on his upper arm, road rash all over and a strawberry on his knee. I felt like a mom patching up her 7 year-old.

Jim and Norman, pre-"flight". Actually, doesn't Jim look like he would be a great candidate for People of Walmart?

Norman, very vocal and animated about going for a run. Do notice the state of the art bicycle that Jim owns, complete with rusted fender, duct-taped seat and broken pedals.

Jim, post-injury, look at that knee.

We headed to the marina midday Saturday for lunch, leaving Norman in the fifth-wheel. Norm doesn't appreciate being left behind most of the time and this is what he does for revenge when we're in the fifth wheel. Eh-hem...

You can just see him saying, "Yeah, I'm up here, how was that lunch?"

I've been reading my camera book trying to improve my pictures. I know I need tons of help but bit by bit I think I'm improving. What do you think? Below is Snake Island all the way across the lake.

Some bad rain blew in Saturday afternoon, but I think it makes the lake even more beautiful.

Some tiny flowers I found near our site.

Ruffinism for the day: Guilt is simply God's way of letting you know that you're having too good a time. Dennis Miller

My Favorite Season

2009-09-30T08:48:00.012-05:00

As a side note, I must update that Norman was found after we returned from Baton Rouge two weeks ago. However, when Jim found him with his girlfriend on property behind the golf course, Mr. Debauchee did not want to come home...so Jim left him. He dragged in two days later (limping for effect) and yes quite thin from not eating...love will do that to a dog, don't you know. He had lost probably ten pounds and I had no sympathy for his useless self. As a matter of fact, I did not speak to him for a couple of days, mature person that I am. And as that did not seem to faze him, I took up with our regular conversations.

Norman is a queer duck. Have I not told you that his breeder got rid of Norman's mom? Her name was Odie...big surprise, and she never bonded with her litters so I imagine that is where the little feller got his loving manner. He's not a licker, nor does he get all hyper when we come home at night. He's not excitable unless you have tires on your body and go 30 mph. He loves squirrel and bird but will force Purina dog chow down his throat if he has to. Enough...how did I get off on this again?

Fall is my favorite season besides spring and summer. It was a cool 67 degrees this morning and I had occasion to open the front door at work and let the cool breeze in. I can't wait to light the bonfire in the backyard of pine needles and fallen limbs from earlier this year. We don't have a bonfire until we need the space again to put pine needles and fallen limbs. By the way, Cousin Calvert from Baton Rouge had spoken of a pine needle baler earlier in the year and had promised to experiment on my lawn. Where are you Calvert? He is an attorney and his precious wife, Neila, is one of my favorite bloggers.

We're headed to Lake Sam Rayburn this weekend (see above Lake Bistineau for why we boat in Texas). For the first time in Rayburn Point's history, it is first come, first served in the fall. However, as veterans of Rayburn Point, we know no one will be there this weekend. Nice cool evenings, Saturday night LSU vs. Georgia game. Pray for me folks. Mr. Ruffin will be animated. Maybe I will be too.

I'm asking a special prayer from y'all this evening. I'm at a crossroads for many things in my life. Please pray that I may prevail in my future as to my job, or new job as you would have it. I also need some prayer for weight loss and am very grateful to my Prayer List Gang out of Arlington, VA.

Ruffinism for the day:

Anger and resentment can stop you in your tracks. That's what I know now. It needs nothing to burn but the air and the life that it swallows and smothers. It's real, though - the fury, even when it isn't. It can change you... turn you... mold you and shape you into something you're not. The only upside to anger, then... is the person you become. Hopefully someone that wakes up one day and realizes they're not afraid to take the journey, someone that knows that the truth is, at best, a partially told story. That anger, like growth, comes in spurts and fits, and in its wake, leaves a new chance at acceptance, and the promise of calm. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child. - Popeye Wolfmeyer, The Upside of Anger

Weekend Update

2009-09-21T08:55:00.003-05:00

Baton Rouge again

Norman missing

left without him

new faster route

poolside rv site

complicated audio/video system

FINALLY CATV!

but no LSU game

laptop running

Lightroom2

Corel Draw lesson book

Saturday afternoon mexican/Margarita blowout

finishing South of Broad by Pat Conroy

Sunday brunch with Clif at ACME

long ride home

white crocheted afghan near completion

finally home!

Norman found on Oxford road with girlfriend

refuses to come home

stupid dog

rv needs washing

stupid Emmys

night night

Taking Another Tack

2009-09-16T14:14:00.004-05:00

Sometimes the old way of going at a particular problem gets to be tedious, as in sailing upwind. However, I'm not a sailor and don't know a jib from a boom. It wears you out and takes your breath. My life at the office is getting a little off-kilter these days, dealing with some exhausting circumstances. I've been navigating a minefield of squalls and there's no lake or ocean within hundreds of miles of our little piece of earth on Madison Street in downtown Mansfield. I want to jump from the sinking ship and catch an ocean liner. But as a masochist, I'm partial to the sinking ship and it's got some buried treasure somewhere in it. However, that treasure may only be accessible after the sinking has occurred. Stay or go?

So, as I was ruminating over what to do, I came across MckMama's website (whom I read at least once a week) and she had a really good post. It's simple but deep. "I am the way" is the answer and I forget to ask for His help all of the time. I hold my own church in the shower every morning (complete with specific prayer requests, the Lord's Prayer, Doxology, Apostle's Creed and the Gloria Patria - but no organ accompaniment), and ask for guidance once in a while but forget to call on him for myself all of the time. I stopped what I was doing and specifically requested His help in this circumstance and felt so uplifted when I finished. Float, Susan, float.

Ruffinism for the day: Jesus, it does a body (and soul) good.

Laptop Blues

2009-09-12T20:58:00.011-05:00

It's an admitted inadequacy of mine. Laptops suck. In 1981, I was a pioneer learning a Wang word processor. It was a rather large station connected to the HUGE computer on the second floor of Western Geophysical on Richmond Avenue in Houston, Texas. I'm 55 or I will be on Nov. 8 (I want a porcelain dutch oven in case anyone's listening-Ina Garten cooks in a dutch oven all the time and I adore her.) Laptops have a mind of their own. Sometimes they turn off on their own, and god forbid if you don't shut them down properly.

I worked at the library in 1995 and like to think I got in on the ground floor of learning the internet. I ended up teaching database courses for the State Library in 1999 and made good money doing it. Yet last week when my laptop would not boot up I had to call Clif down in Baton Rouge for instructions. I've been left behind, stranded in the dust, marooned at the dock. He told me to push the Fn button and sure enough, it came on. WHAT THE HELL IS THE FN BUTTON? I don't care, I don't really care anymore. I only use my laptop when we go camping or out of town so I don't want a PhD in laptop computers.

We're here in Baton Rouge for the LSU game this weekend and yesterday for no reason at all my mouse stopped working. I did all the button pushing on the USB and underneath the mouse and changed the battery yet nope, nada, nothing. The laptop even said it did not recognize the device. Oh come on Mr. Laptop, you don't recognize your old cousin Mr. Mouse? And miraculously when I booted it up this morning after it had it's fit over not being shut down properly, suddenly Mr. Laptop and Mr. Mouse are all up in each other's arms like old friends. Sheesh!

Very cozy, eh? And unlike a PC which you can type strokes (read: get your frustrations out), a laptop makes you feel like a pair of brown shoes in a world of tuxedos. I think I can do 20 strokes per minute on my laptop.

We came to Baton Rouge for the LSU game against Vanderbilt (LSU won.) Driving in Friday afternoon was a nightmare. It started raining in Alexandria on the way down and did not stop until the weekend was over. I guess there was a tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico or something but I'm totally waterlogged. We took the fifth wheel to the KOA campgrounds in Denham Springs just east of BR. However, it took an hour and a half to get from the foot of the Mississippi River bridge to Denham Springs (15 miles.) Along with laptops, Baton Rouge driving sucks. There's nothing like putting an interstate through the middle of a city and then not building any other major roads through it or around it.

HEY BATON ROUGE CITY COUNCIL, EVER HEARD OF A LOOP? You know, something that looks like U.S. Highway 190 but does not have 500 stop lights on it?

The KOA campground has putt-putt golf and a swimming pool and pool tables and a $5 breakfast. I felt like I was in the midwest. A real vacationer.

We got to see Clif and Megan a couple of times. We hit Don's Seafood in Denham Springs which was super and ACME in Baton Rouge which was great too. Clif had to spend most of the weekend at the fraternity tailgate site. Along with being pledge educator this semester, he's also tailgate chairman (mainly because he is the construction management major in the frat.)

It took my boss, Mr. G, 7 years to get his undergraduate degree. Clif is working on year 5. Ah-hem.

Super weekend. No pictures, it rained, and rained, and rained.

Ruffinism for the day: Megan sent me an email with this People of Walmart website. Some of the pictures are hilarious.

overeLABORate DAY

2009-09-08T09:02:00.015-05:00

Ho-hum, another weekend at the lake. Actually it was nice and quiet. No pictures, even though I charged the camera up. The weather was rather cool. The new air conditioner in the fifth wheel humming along. Site 34, a pull through, exceptional but for the biting flies you have to pry off your body with a pair of pliers. They draw blood like vampires and you walk around with little pools of blood all over your body. Off! is the only way to keep them at bay. It's like when you pull in, they all go, "The new people are here, let's get 'em!" And by the time you've sprayed your whole body down toxic agent, they're off to the next victims.

The LSU game, even though the team sucked persimmons, was a success, and you have NO IDEA how that maintained the weekend on an even keel. The rabid LSU fan I am married to has been known to jump up and down, turn red-faced and scream expletives at the television. Not to mention throwing his cap, the kleenex box, the couch pillows, anything in his line of sight. It's the g..d..... defense! DON'T YOU FOLKS KNOW THAT? We're predicting an early demise for Coach Les Miles. Of course that does not roll off the tongue as easily as LOU TEPPER, LOU TEPPER, FIRE THE BASTARD...or DINARDO RETARDO YOU BASTARDO...

And Norman accompanied us to the lake, lucky dog. I happened to find him Friday afternoon off the Metcalf Road hanging out with the trailer trash female pit bulls. Our little subdivision is in a rural area off the Oxford Road. Approximately one mile south of our subdivision is the Metcalf. It's where some very poor people live, you know the actual people who throw their trash out of their trailer and let it stay there for life. It's also one of the many roads outside of town that people dump their unwanted dogs. Well, Norman has discovered it and now has a harem of female pit bulls whose titties hang to the ground. You dog you. He has an appointment with the vet this week, the one who said, "Once a traveller, always a traveller." But now the traveller will not be an unwed father traveller.

Sometimes the best part of a holiday is coming home, getting back into the routine. Our ride back yesterday was a hoot. Or should I say a poot...Norman "broke wind" the whole way home. And not just any wind, the kind of fart that everyone in the truck hangs their head out the window. Because of a dog...who will sit there and look you right in the face while he's farting...and enjoy it. Panting with his tongue hanging out. You could have lit a match and the whole interior of the truck would have simultaneously combusted...as in massive explosion. We rolled the windows down and up maybe ten times before we decided to forgo the air conditioning in favor of a breath or two. And he looked at us from the backseat with a straight face.

Next weekend we're off with the fifth wheel to Baton Rouge for the first LSU home game. Staying at the KOA in Denham Springs. Catch me in my bikini by the pool. And no I'm not going to the game even though we have two tickets and have paid for chairbacks for the whole season. The seats are this high (yellow circle upper left): And my equilibrium does not go that high, nor my body. So I'll be back at the KOA with the other campers watching it on TV.

Ruffinism for the day:

I Found Edward A. Charlesworth, Ph.D.

2009-09-03T13:58:00.009-05:00

But was he missing? Terribly...from my life, actually since 1992. As Vivi Walker said in the The Devine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood, "I dropped my basket." Well, I dropped mine in 1989. As in...I went in the looney bin. Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX.

Clif was 2 years old, Jim was laid off from his 15-year job in the oil industry and could not find another one, and Jim's mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. We had also lost all of our money on Black Tuesday in the fall of 1987. There was a lot of pressure and tension in the Ruffin household.

It started with a 911 call and an ambulance ride. Clif and I were in the condo alone one afternoon (we lived in Houston then.) My left foot started buzzing, the creepiest feeling I've ever had in my life. And like a slow, very slow wave, the buzzing started going up the left side of my body. Well, I'm a panic attack person anyway so I'm getting a little spooked. I physically felt the buzz like a vibrating through my hip, my left side, my arm, my shoulder and then it got to my head. All I could think of was Clif being stuck alone so I got the phone and dialed 911 as it started buzzing in my brain. Yikes...

I told the operator about my symptoms and about Clif as I was shaking like a leaf. However, anyone who has panic disorder knows that everything is magnified a hundred times when you're in panic mode. I tried to calm myself down but NO WAY, this was a full blown conniption and all of a sudden I could not speak. BDUH THUK QUAP THO PUADDO...Oh my god. I run out to the driveway and hail the guard (we lived in a gated community), Johnny and I'm making all these unintelligilbe sounds and poor old Johnny is freaking out, Clif is screaming...I'm such a calming soul. I could think clearly at the time (or maybe not) but just couldn't talk. And then the buzzing started down the right side of my body. Defeated, I grabbed my address book out of my purse, sat on the steps, pointed at a phone number and kept trying to talk in some kind of cave man language. And I had a migraine to beat all migraines.

Clif got to ride up front in the ambulance, and I was eventually transferred to Methodist Hospital. I was diagnosed with a Vetebro Basilar Migraine, not a stroke as they originally thought. So they put me in the behavioural unit (read lock-up) for a day until my neurologist convinced the psychiatrist that I was not in danger of hurting myself or others. Hey guys, I was a mom with too much stress, a nutso yes, but a civilized nutso.

This is where Edward A. Charleworth, Ph.D. comes in. The two weeks I was in the hospital, they ran all kinds of tests on me and then I got to work with a doctor, Dr. Ping (I love that name and yes he was Asian and funny and great.) He put me in a room with a recliner and a pair of headphones and my whole world changed! They called it biofeedback then but I'm sure it's got a fancy meditation name now. I listened to a tape of this man talking to me in a very calm voice with music in the background teaching me how to "make my brain go fuzzy" for want of a better term. In two weeks, I learned to relax my body part by part, inch by inch until I could physically, yes physically, lighten my brain and make it go blank, totally relaxed. It's much better than xanax or cocaine or alcohol or any other drugs I've done in my sordid past.

Dr. Ping let me take the tape home and I kept it until my cassette player ate it in 1992. I still used biofeedback with soft music but it was never the same! And today, YES TODAY, I was playing around on Amazon.com and I found Edward A. Charlesworth, Ph.D. Turns out he's got lots of tapes but I found his imagery tape and downloaded it to my ipod and I'm ecstatic again! Orgasmic! This man's voice released me from my insanity(or maybe not). I used to get kicking, screaming, throwing up migraines and he fixed me. Look at him:

And I know you're dying to go buy his 18 minute relaxation tape so you must go here to do that. At least listen to his voice and try not to laugh...I'm serious.

We're headed to Sam Rayburn tomorrow and Edward A. Charlesworth is going with us. However, Norman is missing again.

Ruffinism for the day: "What do you think you are, for Chrissake, crazy or somethin'? Well you're not! You're not! You're no crazier than the average asshole out walkin' around on the streets and that's it." - McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

The Circle From Hell

2009-08-31T14:42:00.008-05:00

Report on "The Circle from Hell Trip": Friday was one huge nightmare, and why not because that seems to be the normal in my life right now. See previous post, complete with trepid anticipation. We left the Ruffin compound at oh nine hundred nearly two hours later than anticipated. Well of course Mr. Ruffin had to do his "chores". He swears it gets him going in the morning but does nothing but exasperate me. (He empties all the trash cans in the house-however, they're never full because he empties them twice a day; refills the dog's bucket outside -not because there is no water, in fact it's full, but because some dirt may have flown in it overnight; opens all the blinds in the house to horizontal precision; and a million other chores too tedious to mention.) Papaw meet Mamaw.

So we get on the road, and it's raining. And raining. And we're towing the boat down to it's new stall at Lake Sam Rayburn first. And it rains all the way down there. Four inches in five hours, we found out later that day. We get to the new boat stall and no sooner pull in on the green Arkansas rock and gravel driveway than the boat tires and the truck tires sink down a good 3-4 inches. The owner has obviously not packed the driveway enough. So we let Norman, our dog out only to watch him terrify Bambi and his mother as he darts off toward the woods.

After much cursing and kicking tires, we get inventive looking for anything to shovel dirt with and wedge under tires. We take turns gunning the engine and rocking the truck back and forth. No good. Expletive. A nice samaritan drives by and goes to his lakehouse to retrieve a couple of shovels and he and Jim start shoveling. Denny (our saviour)(Thanks! Denny!) and I get behind the boat to push while Jim guns the engine and lo and behold, the truck moves. Little by little, inch by inch. And then Jim stops...why? The tires start to sink again and I'm all DON'T STOP, KEEP GOING!!! DON'T (bad expletive) STOP, DON'T STOP, KEEP GOING! And Jim's all, "I HAVE TO ADJUST MY MIRRORS!" and I'm all DON'T (very bad expletive) STOP, KEEP GOING!!! DON'T STOP! and I notice Denny on the ground doubled over with laughter...and I'm horrified. And I'm like, "26 years! it's the 26 years rule, you only get to yap like dogs at each other after 26 years of marriage AND today is Jim's 60th birthday!" We're thankful that Denny came along or we would probably still be there bickering. Mamaw meet Papaw.

So we're back on our way down to Jasper and eastward to get to Carencro, LA to retrieve the fifth wheel when we both decide to take the scenic route (NEVER a good idea) on U.S. 190 over to Opelousas instead of going 20 miles more south to catch the interstate. WE decided that we were tired of the rat race and wanted to go through the "little towns" where you get to see everything. And to be honest, it was very pretty. Many swamps, many winding roads, lots of old fashioned downtown squares with daily routines going on. And the sun had even come out. We got to Kinder (rhymes with fender) and KCS (Kansas City Southern) had a train blocking U.S. Highway 190 and other roads for miles and miles. Just stopped on the tracks...for 45 effing minutes. And I thought Mansfield, LA was the only place KCS decided to tie up traffic.

When we got to Eunice, LA, we got to experience 5 o'clock traffic at 3 o'clock. This town could not be more than 20,000 in population but because they have synchronized 10 stoplights to turn green at the same time, stay green for 5 seconds and then turn red again, we felt like we were in a child's game of green light, red light. And this town must have 20 schools on U.S. Highway 190 because we hit everyone of them as school let out. Crossing guards that could play linebacker for the Green Bay Packers and stop you with their bodies. School buses blinking their red stopping lights every two seconds because heaven forbid those kids would have to WALK HOME FROM THEIR BUS STOP like I did...ewwww, aren't we a little bitter Susan.

Opelousas is a quaint small town but their roads have not been paved since 1900 so I'm positive we left some tire tread and perhaps some engine parts there.

We got to Carencro and picked up the fifth wheel...uneventful except for the swipe of the American Express card to the tune of $336.00. Happy Birthday Jim! You just got the RV top sealed for your 60th...

We met Clif and had a late lunch at Prejean's. He brought his girlfriend Megan, whom we adore, yet she had the flu. He did not bring Belle, the beagle so Norman had to sit out in the kennel by himself. After lunch, when we let him out of the kennel, he headbutted Jim about five times and barked all the way back to the truck.

We headed back to Mansfield around six o'clock ON INTERSTATE 49. Slap me if I ever ask to take the scenic route again. We got home around 10 o'clock Friday night - more than a 12 hour trip. And by damn, we're going to have fun this next weekend OR ELSE...

Going In Circles

2009-08-27T11:41:00.007-05:00

As I was saying (or was I just thinking what I was saying and not really saying it, or did I say it and not write it down and thinking of saying this as a lame form of covering for my absence from my blog?), we're both taking off for somewhat of a trek tomorrow. One of our more tedious adventures, and yes it's going to take awhile, 10+ hours as a matter of fact, according to Streets and Trips...which makes me lightyears behind in technology because everone else has a GPS these days. Witness: our circle-ish triangle for tomorrow.

We retrieved the boat from Clif in Baton Rouge a month ago when we dropped the RV off in Carencro to have warranty work done. In the meantime, we have procured a boat stall at Lake Sam Rayburn for a year. We watched the guy build the boat stalls this summer (it's about a mile or so away from where we camp) and finally approached him as he was finishing them. We got the pick of all the boat stalls (except his of course). So we're headed out tomorrow to take the boat to the boat stall near the lake. The boat is going to be so happy living on fresh concrete and in a new metal building painted green with white trim and surrounded by many people who are proud members of the NRA! Our boat will feel safe, very, very safe.

Then we swing over to Carencro to pick up the RV that has been sitting on the lot at Primeaux RV for a month as they fixed it in their own sweet time. Grrrrr. Read here for that journey. By the way, let me interject that Norman will be traveling with us. Why, you ask? Well I'm glad you asked. Because we can't get out of the neighborhood with the boat without him following us. So, we surrender, he can come, he sleeps all day anyway.

Clif and Belle, his beagle, are going to drive over from Baton Rouge to meet us and we'll go to lunch at Prejean's just north of Lafayette. They have kennels outside for your pets. So, we'll let them share a kennel and Belle will spend the whole time jumping all over Norman and he'll look bored. It'll be fun! Think Jim and I are ready for some grandchildren?

And then we head back home with the RV in tow. And all of this in preparation for our camping trip to Rayburn next weekend for Labor Day. As a matter of fact, I just took a timeout from blogging to upgrade my reservation for the 4th through the 7th to a "pull through" instead of a "back in" (I can't believe one was available-they're ALWAYS booked months in advance-I usually have to get online in November to get a Memorial Day reservation).

We'll have a brand new air conditioner in the RV (they had to replace it - free of charge) and we had them re-seal the top (which was not free of charge) and fix the door lock that I broke last spring when I locked myself out of the RV on a trip that I went ahead of Jim for two days. Truly a total airhead sometimes.

In conclusion, the "circle" trip tomorrow is a total of 498.7 miles. Hell, we could just about cross Texas for that mileage. But then we'd be stuck in El Paso.

Ruffinism for the day: "Who runs in circles never gets far." - Thornton W. Burgess

Thank-You Boo

2009-08-13T09:06:00.007-05:00

We're stuck cleaning the yard again this weekend because for the third week in a row the fifth wheel is out of commission. We took it down to Carencro to have the air conditioner fixed BECAUSE IT IS STILL UNDER WARRENTY. And I cannot STAND any woman (under 60 years old) that calls me DEAR, or LOVE, or DARLIN, or HONEY, or SWEETHEART, or any endearing term that sounds CRASS. However, you can call me CHE or BOO and I'll answer to either one. WHY? It truly is an endearing term used by men, women, and especially women under 30 from South Louisiana that is a total salutation of respect...mostly. The young woman we left our trailer with over two weeks ago of which we had to make a reservation three weeks in advance has totally screwed us. We both (Jim and I) had to take a vacation day almost two weeks ago on a Tuesday...

...so we could get our RV there in time for the 12:00 o'clock noon appointment on the following Wednesday to fix the AIR CONDITIONING UNIT that failed and is still under warranty. "Yes, Boo, you can bring it in but we can't have you bring it until Tuesday the 4th because we are so overcrowded. We'll take total care of it boo." And now? Amanda boo dear sweetheart darlin love two weeks later has absolutely no excuse for our RV not being fixed, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE IT'S BEEN SITTING ON THE LOT IN THE SAME PLACE WE LEFT IT IN (US, JIM AND SUSAN LIKE WE WERE TOLD TO DO.) I'm calling the owner in the morning and YES I will call him boo...

In the meantime, enjoy my yard:

Ruffinism for the day: "Great talker, great liar."

Sugar Ray Norman

2009-08-07T10:15:00.005-05:00

Well, he did it again. He roams out of our neighborhood into pastureland and other rural roads and he's meeting the enemy. He's never met a person he didn't like but he can take or leave other dogs. He is AS FAST AS LIGHTNING. He's been known to race my truck at 30 mph...but once again he could not outrun hostile insurgents or it could even be one lone terrorist. We've speculated on everything from a coyote to a pack of bad hairdressers. Norman's been to the mat.

He looks like Bill the Cat or even Hooch after his rather expensive trip to the vet.

But he's patched up again and misses all his friends at the vet's office. Next time, I think I'll get a rag and a bottle of peroxide. It's much less than $267.00.

Poor little feller. His head is swollen like he's been in a boxing match. I wonder when he'll learn to just turn around and walk the other way. Or RUN, as you would have it.

He'll probably be watching movies this weekend in the house. Damn dog.

BREAKING NEWS

2009-08-05T08:41:00.006-05:00

FIGHT IN THE HOOD! Victim taken to the hospital on Tuesday. In stable condition. Looks like someone is going to be wearing a cone again for 3 weeks. More to come...stay tuned.

Blurbomat Needs to be the Advertisement for Obamahealth

2009-08-02T22:51:00.003-05:00

You need to go here to find Mr. Obama's biggest fan. This gentleman wants Obama-care...however, I'm not sure if he wants it for him and his family, or just for us. The same people who will give us Obama-care are currently doing outstanding work in the following fields:

1. U. S. Post Office
2. The Internal Revenue Service
3. The Office of Motor Vehicles
4. The CIA
5. The FBI
6. The Office of Homeland Security
7. The U.S. House of Representatives
8. The U.S. Senate
9. Government Motors (GM)
10.Clunkers for Cash

The list is endless. And now we need them to cover our healthcare? Do you want your medical records in Washington? Do you want Mr. Obama to pick your doctor, to tell you when you DON'T need an operation, to tell you that your time is up?

I urge everyone to go listen to their congressman/senator on this August break and ASK THEM SPECIFICALLY what this GOVERNMENT health care plan will do and not do. I'm on the front row for David Vitter, Mary Landrieu, Sherry Cheek, etc. Join me.

And maybe there will be a few jokes too. I just hate meetings.

Catalina

2009-07-30T09:03:00.009-05:00

I'm crossing into the twilight zone. Rod Serling is not there, Vincent Price is not there, Alfred Hitchcock is not there, even Barnabis Collins is not there (I am wayyy too old.) However, cousin Jean is there in this spooky place, it's perilous footing, it's darkness, it's every corner fraught with the unknown. It's scariness...I'm getting a maid. Noooo...Yes! Nooooo...are you mature enough Susan? Are you haughty enough to say, "I have dirt and I want you to clean it." Can you wrap your mind around, "Please Catalina, polish the silver today."

That's her name...Catalina. It's exotic, like she's from Turks and Caicos, or perhaps Surinam, or even Figi...no, she's from Mexico but I love her! She's tiny but has the demeanor of a head coach. She interviewed me last week. I think I passed her test. She had to fire a cluttered clergyman to fit us into her schedule...and she will only come once every two weeks BUT FOLKS I have a maid.

You must understand that the only maid I have ever had in my life was when Nancy briefly worked at a bank and I was no more than three years old. The maid's name was Hatti. She was mad all the time and chased me and my sisters around the house threatening us with the wooden green roof slats from our lincoln log house. Or she would make US walk out back and pull a switch from the ligustrum bush. She could strip the leaves off in one swoosh with her hand and commence beating us. I don't ever remember her cleaning our house but maybe I was prejudiced. She was mean. And then one day, her husband came to the screen door and told Nancy that Hatti had died of a heart attack. In my four or five year old mind I was feeling mighty sorry for Jesus because I knew Hatti had probably not changed her mind on corporal punishment and he had better watch out.

So guess what I'm doing this weekend? Cleaning my house because Catalina is coming on Monday. I have curtains to wash, cabinets to scrub, floors to wax, bathtubs to scour. Mow the lawn, trim the bushes...clean the patio, POLISH the silver, bathe the dog...your first impression is always important.

JK Wedding

2009-07-28T23:13:00.004-05:00

I'm sorry, I know everyone has seen this, but it's the best five minutes I've spent lately.
http://
Happy Hump Day.

1997

2009-07-26T17:58:00.007-05:00

I dusted off the flatbed scanner and hooked it up this weekend. I am determined to put all of our family pictures on flash drive or disk and have them organized. It's nice to look through old photo albums but computers are so much more organized and not DUSTY. I got a little teary eyed at my 10 year old son in 1997. He made all-stars a couple of summers and was so excited that he did. It required going to different towns in North Louisiana as opposed to just our Dixie fields (De Soto Parish) or Shreveport.

I may have told you this story before but I'm gonna tell it again because it cracks me up every time. In 1997, Clif's all-star team went to Farmerville, LA (imagine) to play a tournament. I can't remember who won but I know there was a dingbat there watching that day. Farmerville is some little old town of 4,000 people north of Monroe (emphasis on first syllable), LA. We sat all day in the drenching June sun as all moms and dads do every June weekend, sweating, cheering and delighted that baseball season is coming to a close. Well I was anyway.

I carried massive amounts of water, snacks, sunscreen, etc. so I brought a satchel along with my purse, and I even put my purse in the satchel. At one point during the day, Clif raided me of money for hot dogs, etc. when he was not playing. I threw my wallet back in the satchel and did not think another thing of it. When we were leaving the park at dusk, we gathered up the chairs and I grabbed my satchel. Lots of people were heading for the parking lot. I reach in my purse for my wallet and it's not there. I'm panicking, and panicking and WHERE IS IT? I've lost it, run back to where our chairs were, no wallet. Oh God! WHERE IS IT? Clif's looking, Jim's looking, I'm looking, people around us are looking. I didn't say it, surely I didn't say it..."I'VE BEEN PICK POCKETED!!!!" Stunned, Jim and Clif both look at me...did she really say that? Jim said, "Susan, we're not in New York City, we're in Farmerville, Louisiana!" (emphasis on Farmerville) I look in my satchel and sure enough, I had thrown it in the bottom of my satchel instead of my purse. Mortified, Clif said, "I'm never coming back to Farmerville with you again, Mom!" And you know what? I don't think we have been back there.

Above would be Babe Ruth practicing his homerun stance prior to the Farmerville game in 1997.

This is Babe Ruth with our "old buddy" who went to the great dog hotel in the sky quite a few years ago. Actually, I put this picture up because if you could see those two bushes on either side of the bay window now, you'd fall out laughing. We're the only people I know who moved into a house and downgraded it. Well, we have had a ten-year drought.

Stainless Steal

2009-07-21T10:26:00.010-05:00

I got my new dishwasher installed yesterday. I feel like we robbed Lowe's, it was such a good deal. You can read about my old dishwasher here. I love the newness of it. We had a little trouble getting Roy's Appliance to show up. Said it would be first thing in the morning (don't you imagine that as 9:00 or 10:00?), then told me he had to go to Bossier City first to install a microwave...what time did he show up? 2:00 p.m. However, not before I called Lowe's and made my point.

Tamara, the install coordinator, had a bad day yesterday. I told her I was tired of getting the runaround from Roy's Appliance so she said she'd look into it. I hung up. The phone rang immediately and I said, "Hello?" And Tamara is screaming at the top of her lungs, "There's a Susan Ruffin raising hell and giving me crap, when the hell are y'all going to get out to her house?" Upon which I said, "I don't know about Roy's Appliance but I'm already at my house." Silence. "Oh, I'm sorry, Mrs. Ruffin, I dialed the wrong number, I'll call you right back." Don't you hate those days when you screw up royally?

Here's my Maytag dishwasher. I love it. Would crawl in and take a shower if I could.

All By Myself

2009-07-17T07:25:00.004-05:00

I've been here at Rayburn since Wednesday. YES I'M HAVING A BALL. For those of you who don't like solitude, I feel for you. It is liberating for someone who answers to many people on a daily basis. I even answer to a dog.

Yes, I drove the fifth wheel 100 miles, and backed it in Site #47 all by myself. I unhooked, set up, got the satellite going although it did require setting my mouth just the right way while standing on one foot. Those jerks who say just point it at the southern sky are direct descendents of Pollyanna. I had to drag out the satellite finder (yes, there is such a thing and it costs $50 but has paid for itself many times over.) I'm a pretty patient person but many a time I have wanted to fling the #%d*a@n tripod and the dish over the rocks out into the lake.

Back to my relaxing solitude. I even had time to string up the ropelights that I bought last Christmas around our campsite. They twinkle at night and out here on the point they're just the right amount of intrusion at night. Time for an adult beverage and because it was windy, I sat outside and looked at the stars.

Oh excuse me, where is my husband? And my son? And my dog? Who cares today? I will give you a hint, one refuses to take vacation, one is in summer session in Baton Rouge and one is severely depressed and refuses to eat. It seems someone snuck out of town with the fifth wheel and DID NOT TAKE HIM WITH HER.

Yesterday afternoon, a storm came up on the lake as they're apt to do this time of the year. I was out on my floatie cooling off and hoping the 60 spf lotion is blocking cancer cells, when a gust nearly picked up my petite body, floatie and all and slammed it against the rocks. Time to come in and anchor things down.

Mother nature does not fool around at Rayburn. Too much open water.

4th of Julate

2009-07-12T19:02:00.011-05:00

We did do Rayburn for the 4th and am just now getting around to reporting on it. It was so hot, I spent most of the weekend on my $1.50 blow-up blue raft with my head under water. Below is our favorite swimming hole on the west side of the lake.

The weekend started out ominous. Usually my first picture is looking backward from my shotgun seat on the boat and taking a picture of the wake where once upon a time I slalommed behind the boat (what a joke now!) However, below is where I found myself shooting pictures from the boat last weekend.

The battery had fried sitting out in the heat at home for the last few weeks in 100 degree plus weather...so we had to make a trip to Powell Park Marina to get a new battery. By the way, a small 26 year marriage joke on the boat ramp before we left...I had lowered the motor to start it (by hydraulics) and when it wouldn't start, Jim said he would pull it out and we'd go get a new one. I forgot, yes, FORGOT to pull the motor back up so there was some scraping on the concrete boat ramp when he started to pull it out. He got out of the truck and used a few swear words while I turned beet red and pushed the button to bring the motor up. But LO AND BEHOLD, when we got over to the marina to get the new battery, it was a totally minor irritation that SOMEBODY (Jim) forgot to CLIP THE BOAT BACK ONTO THE TRAILER as in it could have slid off! So I did what every mature wife of a 26 years marriage would do...I tripped him walking into the marina (Mr. Boatman!) Have a nice trip? See ya next fall.

I found my next boat below.

Jim and I tried to get close for a better look but damned is someone didn't pop out from below. We pretended we were shopping for boat slips.

Saturday night there were fireworks galore all over the lake even though there was a burn ban on in all of the counties surrounding Lake Sam Rayburn. Below is my view of Snake Island and the beautiful lake. Jim got a good view of them outside but WHY? Especially when it's still 92 degrees at 9:00 p.m., and from my perch it was 68 degrees AND Devine Design was on.

And now for this weekend. I have a new dishwasher being installed this week. I got fed up with our 12 year old dishwasher. The glasses have to dance together on the top rack because all tynes are broken. And the only way for the plates to be separated on the bottom is if you intersperse them with glasses to make them stand up. There was some serious thrashing going on when you turned it on and FORGET listening to the TV in the breakfast room while it was doing it's thing. You might as well have driven the truck in the breakfast room and started it. But I got a new Maytag stainless steel quiet dishwasher. Only bad thing is the mustard yellow '70s formica top it's going under. Oh yeah, I forgot, Candace said I could say "Dijon" countertop now.

Happy Fourth Everyone

2009-07-02T11:07:00.002-05:00

Gone to Rayburn for the fourth. Hope yours is a wonderful one.

Regulate This!

2009-06-29T10:56:00.007-05:00

Well, folks - THIS is a dual tank propane regulator

It looks much like the one on our RV. See that innocent black knob on the bottom. NEVER TOUCH THAT BUTTON. Do you see a sign on it that says "Don't Touch"? Do you see it painted red with a circle and a line through it? It's just sitting there innocently saying, "Unscrew me and pull the pin out and look at me." We did that when after refilling the bottles with propane, we still could not get the gas to work. It ruins the regulator, as in we had no gas for the weekend at the lake in the RV and had to eat microwave popcorn all weekend. No Saturday morning lake breakfast with bacon and hash browns and scrambled eggs and biscuits. No Saturday night steaks and baked potatoes. The weekend was still fun though but HOT. Very hot.

Jim took a bike ride with Norman running - 3 miles - and near the end Norm just took off through the woods toward the lake, Jim rode back worrying that Norman may have had heat stroke or something. I got in the car and Jim rode his bike and we looked all over for him. Found him back at the site underneath the RV....smiling and very wet. There's nothing like a dog smiling.

Ruffinism for the day: "Curiosity was framed. Ignorance killed the cat."