Busy, Busy, Busy!

My first summer vacation in 11 years has begun with a vengeance! Even before it started, I got my two little grandsons for a visit, which is always pleasant surprise. Anytime I have them, I am in constant motion...HA! Not only do I spend all day attending to their needs (cooking, cleaning) I'm also entertainment supervisor....HA! As usual, nothing that is planned with my oldest daughter goes as planned, which is a trait she has inherited from her father.....ugh! Drives me up a wall! I am the planning queen, and she is the "fly by your seat queen." After keeping my grandsons for several days, I had planned to spend the next 3 weeks on vacation in Galveston/Houston with her and the boys and help out the next 3 weeks in Leesville. At first, I was told I couldn't have them at all during June, then she said she needed me to come and help out up there, so I said yes.....to help out, but as usual, she got an attitude within the first 24 hours of my arrival, we got in an argument, I came home, and I cancelled all  plans made with her. I left here an optimist that this time would be different. My youngest daughter had planned to spend some time with us on vacation with us, but cancelled her plans with us because as she said " she was not in the mood to deal with her sister's demanding personality and my inability deal with it....HA." I returned home.....not even 24 hours later,  a pessimist, admitting defeat once again, and had to admit to my youngest daughter she was right.....again. She had to  laugh, " I told ya....if it is not her way mom, your time with her will be miserable!" She was was dead on.....again. I have a hard head, which is a trait my oldest has inherited from me, so poor baby will never win with me as her mother.....lol. I cannot accept her inherited traits from her father, and we clash when she exhibits my "hard headed" traits. We just have to accept that we will not be able to do things together for an extended amount of time; however, after we separated and we calmed down....things are pretty much back to normal.....we do tend to get along on the phone....so we will just keep it like that simple and sweet....that is.....till the next time.  HA! Hopefully, I will get my babies back again this summer. They were upset Grammy was leaving.

After returning home, I needed some serious "casino therapy." I have only one friend who I can stand to gamble with, otherwise I go alone. I really needed some "alone time" after the "episode" with my oldest daughter; however, I did miss my friend, so I went to the Treasure Chest in Kenner Friday night by myself for my alone time. This is the first time I have gone by myself in quite some time. Most of our casino buddies (people we gamble with on a regular basis) have just assumed that my friend is my husband, others think we are "dating" because once we open our mouths, they can clearly hear our cultural differences ( he has a strong Middle Eastern accent and I have a strong Cajun accent). At first, I would explain we are neither. I didn't want my friend to "freak out" that people were thinking we were married/dating,  but it was usually a long explanation, so I have just opted to let them think what they want.....too much "splaining." It has never bothered me, and now that I know him a little better,  I don't think it bothers him either.....we just want to gamble and have a good time. If he is bothered by it, let him do the explaining...HA. I really could care less what these people think. That is why I call it "casino therapy".....I can just be who I am and to hell with what others think. We have also started going to casinos in NOLA, which I completely like, because no one knows me on a personal basis there. When I go to the Amelia Belle and Cypress Bayou (which are very close to where we live) I run into all my friends, parents of current/past students, past students, coworkers, etc. When this happens, they want to visit, have a conference, reminisce about our past experiences, etc. which aggravates me. I like no one knowing me, knowing I'm a teacher, knowing I have advanced degrees in education, etc. I just wanna be just a plain ole person having fun losing my money! HA! A few weeks back, I gambled with a NOLA criminal court judge. After several hours of gambling together, somehow our occupations were brought up in the discussion. It was funny because we both enjoyed coming to the casino for the same reason.....no one knew what we did for a living. We could "dress down" and we were just like every one else. When people find out what you do for a living, they tend to want to talk about their experiences with your line of work, and those of us who tend to live under a microscope in our communities, go to the casino to get away from our work and be like everyone else. The very last thing I want to do is bring up work related issues. I promised to not ask him about "the NOLA criminals he has thrown in jail if he promised not to ask me to diagnose a learning disability with his children." We both had to laugh, but we were serious, and shook hands on it....LOL! I really enjoyed my night by myself at Treasure Chest. The regulars wanted to know "where was my husband." HA.....I just said, "he is at Harrahs with his guy friends" and left it at that. I had one regular take the opportunity of my time there alone to "strike up a conversation" with me for the first time. I had seen him there quite often, but his persona was that of an "arrogant know it all." He is incredibly good looking with a "knock out body"....that is for a mid 40's guy...HA. You can't help but notice him, but I had never talked to him. We chit chatted while gambling about our grown kids, cards, etc., then all of sudden he started paying my commission. At first I wasn't paying attention, but then I noticed my little commission slot was empty and I told the dealer he had made a mistake....and the guy says, no I paid it. So I thanked him, and thought to myself.....God I hope he doesn't want anything in return....HA, or expect me to return the favor at some point, but he didn't make any forward advances or ask for anything in return. So I just thanked him when he left. About an hour later, another guy sits down next too me. I had never seen him at Treasure Chest before, but he had one of those super personalities, funny as shit, very talkative. not incredibly good looking, but not "fugly" either.....which for those of you who know me, I am more attracted to a guys personality than I am his looks. Doesn't hurt being good looking, but a good personality is a deal breaker. He also, out of the blue, started paying my commission. Like the "arrogant guy", I was like....oh shit, hope he doesn't want anything in return. He "poked out" quite a bit on my commission. I was starting to feel uncomfortable when he finally decided to take his money and run. I thanked him, and he shook my hand and said he enjoyed gambling with me and left. I could help but text my friend and tell him maybe I should come without him more often! HA! At about 3:30, I too decided to take my money and run. I had made $400 and was getting tired. My friend was not answering my text, so I decided to just go home and sleep. I went home, slept for a couple of hours, then decided to go to Harrahs since it was my birthday, which I am NOT discussing....HA.  I had text my friend to see if he was still there, but he still wasn't answering. I had figured either he was sleeping, or he was still at Harrahs with a dead phone. When I got there, I went to the tables we gamble at and didn't see him, but I saw an empty spot that had  and a chips  and pack of red Marlboro's and a Murphy's lighter....I had to laugh....I knew that was his spot because of chips and red  box Marlboro's. He likes to go and play the machines when he gets frustrated, but I wasn't willing to walk around looking for him, so I went eat before I sat down. When I got back, sure enough, both him and his friend had been there for over 24 hours. LOL! He introduced me to his friend. I sat down with him and started playing. His friend decided to go play poker, so we were able to sit by each other. He looked very tired, but he was so aggravated with his friend. We were able to gamble together for about 3 hours. When his friend lost his last bit of money, he decided to leave. I wish I would have left with them.....cuz I lost back all that I had won at Treasure Chest + $200....ugh! I was so aggravated. I decided to leave. My night at Harrahs was definitely not as fun as the night before at Treasure Chest. The next day, my friend invited me to go back to Harrahs. He had to take his "work buddies" to the French Quarter, so he was going to be able to go back to Harrahs. I told him I would meet him later. I was helping my Aunt clean up all the mess the AC contractors had made in her house while fixing her AC. After a long, hard day of cleaning, I met my friend at Harrahs. There was no spots available at his table, so I plopped my self at another table and played until 3 A.M. My friend had to bring his "work buddies" home at 11, so I barely got to see him :(. He only has about 2 months left here in LA before his job is done. I'm really gonna miss him when he leaves. Actually, I am very sad about it, but I truly have enjoyed his friendship, and I'm sure we will stay in touch. With him being so busy at work, we are hardly seeing each other. His weekends are also quite busy with "his peeps" now, so I am looking at this as God preparing me for his job ending and his eventual move back to NC. Although I will miss him terribly, he really needs to go back to be near his children. Not only do they need him, but I can tell he misses them.....I would too. Today I just slept, then got up, and went with Katie to Houma to run some errands. I came back, ate a bite, then took a long nap. Now, I am going to help Katie set up her temporary room for the summer. Below is some pics the kids sent me over the last few days. What a beginning to summer, eh? I need to "slow my roll" as my future son in law would say....LOL.

My youngest daughter and boyfriends hands....taken in honor of their son, Jaden Paul,  who past away on May 30, 2011. The tattoo on my daughter wrist is a bible verse....John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that who ever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." Although we grieve his passing, we are grateful that Jaden will have eternal life. We will see him again in Heaven......that is God's promise to all who believe in his son.

More pics in honor of our sweet little angel, Jaden Paul. Top pic...Daddy with all his tats. The tat on his right arm is Jaden in Chines handwriting....LOL. Bottom right photo is Mommy and Daddy. Notice the tat on my daughter shoulder....a tattoo artist transferred Jaden foot print onto her shoulder with "Jaden Paul" written above it. I'm not a fan of tattoos, but I can't help but love these.....how can you not love them.



My grandsons at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

My grand puppy, Teddy,  enjoying "the life" on the porch with Grammy as she drinks her morning coffee.