Goodbye Shreveport

Kev's work in Louisiana appears to be over. Here are some things I'll miss about Shreveport.

1. Shreveport is a city full of friendly people from a variety of backgrounds. Unfortunately, it appears to have an identity crisis. It's not really big enough to be a big city, but it's much bigger than a big town. I guess it's a small city. It's in the corner of Louisiana, with some Cajun-ness, but also a lot of Southern and Texan personality thrown in. I guess that's why it's doubled as so many cities in movies.
2. needing to use my Southern dialect versus my Redneck/Hick dialect in order to be understood, which I'm proficient at thanks to a father from Pine Bluff, Arkansas. . .
3. seeing Washaterias. My father always called laundry mats washaterias, but I've never seen them called that elsewhere. . .
4. The food: steaks at Saltgrass (amazing!!), burgers at Whattaburger (yummy!), breakfast with *free* entertainment at Waffle House (including the guy with the money safety-pinned to his apron. . .), and various seafood munchies thrown in. [sigh]
5. The hair cut lady at the mall. Her name is Kamey, and she cut my hair, Kev's hair, and Kyler's hair, and did a phenomenal job each time.
6. listening to books on tape. I never do this at home, but it's such an easy way to entertain on the road.
7. shopping. Believe it or not, I actually enjoyed buying things for me and the kids when we were in Louisiana.
8. The sales people at Cavendar's Western Wear. . . story forthcoming, I promise.

What I won't miss about Shreveport. . .

1. The sales people at Cavendar's Western Wear. . .see above.
2. the lack of family entertainment. We're not casino people, and there's not a lot for kids to do in Shreveport.
3. educating my son on the ways of the world, which are significantly absent or at least well hidden in Paradise. . .
4. The drive.
5. especially if driven with 2 tired, cranky kids. . .
6. Enough Said.

Soon enough, we'll be on to our next adventure. Who knows where Kev will be working next, so be on the lookout for our wild bunch in a city near you. (OH, the horror! Can you imagine seeing our bunch in your neighborhood blue giant store? I can assure you that we're every bit as loud and crazy in person. . .)

Raising a Princess

Kev is bald. He has a little less hair than when he was eighteen, but mostly, he's always kept his hair cut very, very, very short. Enter Princess Kady. I am not a girly-girl, but somehow, my daughter totally is. She LOVES the color pink, dresses, and fixing her hair. Remember the hair-cut lady experience? She's already asking for another hair cut.

Last weekend, we went to Louisiana to see Kev--very low maintenance, very bald Kev. We were getting ready Saturday morning when I realized I had forgotten Kady's hair products. We always use mousse or gel in her very curly hair, and I had brought nothing. . .As I break the news that we had nothing to use on her hair, Kady takes matters into her own hands. She leans out of the bathroom and yells,

"What you got? You got mousse? You got gel? What you got, Daddy?"

hi ho, hi ho, to louisiana we go

Sorry, I have no time to update now. We leave for Louisiana on Friday. Wish me luck. I have a dirty house, a mountain of dirty clothes, no energy, and two very tired kiddos. Have I mentioned I HATE all time changes? I do. Anyway, we are spending a few days of spring break with Kev, although he will most likely be working the entire time. That translates into massive amounts of needed distractions for the kids. All ideas welcome. Please!! However, if we forget clothes or toys or anything else, at least we have our very own copy of The Princess and the Frog to watch. . .Never fear, all is right in Kady's world. : ) Our only concern is how she'll be able to dance when she's strapped in her car seat, because that girl? She danced like crazy when we took her to see it in the theater.

This kind of thing only happens to me, 468th edition

By my calculation, I've had 11 prior posts dealing with deer. (From, the "oops, I hit a deer" post to the "what's he got on his hands" post to the yep, that's our very own deer head in that picture post to the post where I try to make use sound LESS redneck but actually do the opposite, deer are everywhere. . .) Thus, I'm in the dangerous position of labelling myself a redneck once and forever by writing this post. Stay focused, however, and let's lay blame where it's truly due: Bethany. It's all her fault. In THIS post from yesterday, she asked readers to detail what grosses them out. It just so happened that I was having one of THOSE days. . .

I walked in the door at work to our new therapist and a patient asking me if I noticed the dead deer in the parking lot. Yep. You read that right. I looked out the window, and sure enough, there was a dead deer that had presumably been hit by a car and collapsed, blocking the main (but obviously not the one that I use) exit. Knowing that most of our patients are elderly and of the questionable driver persuasion, I knew Dead Bambi had to be moved. . .and quickly.

The Boss Lady, who gets paid to deal with such nonsense, was at a meeting. Not knowing exactly who to call to come pick up Dead Bambi, I asked the new therapist (henceforth known as New Girl) to help me move Dead Bambi. We donned latex gloves and proceeded to the parking lot. Since I was pretty sure New Girl had not dealt with dragging dead deer thus far in her professional (or private) life, I wasn't sure how she'd handle it. I took the front legs, assuming it was the heaviest end, she took the back legs, and we heaved Dead Bambi into the ditch.

Later, I watched a 3 year-old scratch poop off his unwiped bottom and had another kiddo with a perpetual runny nose wipe said nose across my shirt from shoulder to shoulder. I figure those things are par for the course when you're a speech-language pathologist (or in any career dealing with healthcare and/or children, actually); however, no one ever told use we'd drag dead deer off the parking lot when I went to graduate school. . .As for New Girl, she handled Dead Bambi like she'd been dragging deer all her life. In fact, we're considering partnering for the annual Dead Deer Dragging Days held in Redneckville every deer season. . .We might even give up our amateur status to go pro. . .