Beautiful small wedding

The Wedding was beautiful. We flew to New Orleans, on December 12th, just our small family,( Me, Husband, Son, Daughter and soon to be Son in Law), did the sightseeing thing and then in the evening went to a quaint little restaraunt in the french quarter that had an interior courtyard and guest house and garden. Where they met a wedding officiant and a photographer to conduct the ceremony. After the Ceremony, We took pictures in the guest house and the court yard, then we had a delicious 4 course gourmet meal. It was small, quaint and beautiful. We felt like family at the restaurant. Thank you Brousard's. I highly recommend, if you are ever in New Orleans.

Then the next morning we all boarded the cruise ship for a 5 day cruise to Mexico. I got sick, but that is another story. All in all it was just wonderful, a true dream come true for my daughter and my Son-in-Law.

Operation Wedding - Full Steam Ahead

Kyna and Cody have decided to Elope (kinda). It was my suggestion, and they loved it.

To begin with, we have a trip planned to New Orleans for a day, then on to board a 5 day cruise. Its a work planned thing from my Office, but The owner of the company has graciously offered to pay for Spouses and Kids for the cruise and flights to and from New Orleans.

Kyna wanted Cody to go along, but he had to pay his own way. We scrimped and saved and he was able to get it done. So a few weeks back, I mentioned that they should try to get married on the cruise, thinking of the enormous amount of money they would be saving, not to have to do the big ceremony. (Something that was really bothering Cody, because his family is so dysfunctional) They loved the Idea, so we were off and running. Kyna was more excited about this event, that I saw her excited about the big wedding planned for next summer, so I knew that we were doing the right thing.

We found a lovely little boutique, and was able to purchase a wedding dress that was half the price of David's Bridal, then we found her shoes, and trousseau and a nice suite for Cody. The Bouquet has been made, the something old has been done (actually she has a lace purse made from my Wedding Dress, and also My mother gave her a little cameo necklace, that belonged to my Grandmother) That one made me cry.

The only thing left to do is get the marriage license. They are going to drive to Shreveport next week to pick it up. But we could get it in New Orleans on the day of the wedding if we needed to.

We found a minister in New Orleans, a photographer (from Craig's list of all things) She is a graphic artist and freelance magazine photographer. Can't wait to see how those pictures turn out. We found a place to have it. In the french quarter, a gourmet restaurant is letting us come in before they are open (since we already have a reservation to eat there) They have a beautiful courtyard with a fountain, and they will be married in the garden. The guest house on the property has a balcony, and an old kitchen, they will be allowed to take photo's there. Coincidentally the photographer was the person that took the pictures of the restaurant for their on-line site.

After an overnight stay in New Orleans, we will all board the boat, I bet we don't see much of them, they will be on their Honeymoon, and I will the proud Mother, telling everyone, look at my Beautiful Children. I am so Blessed.

We are planning to have a reception honoring them after we return. Probably in February, because we are full on - planning a 50th wedding anniversary party for my Mother and Father on Saturday, Jan 31st, and I just can't do two events that close.

Fondue Fun

This week we celebrated a birthday for my future son-in-law. We already consider him a member of the family. He and baby girl love to go to on special dates to a restaurant that specializes in fondue. I thought that I would surprise him with a fondue pot for his birthday, well Kyna wanted to get in on the fun as well, she found a pot at a garage sale that was still in the box and never used, and I found one at a resale shop (a really good one that you can use to cook meat) That means there were three pots, enough for a full fledged meal. Cheese, meat and dessert.

Then after looking around for a cookbook to go along with the pots, we found that this fondue restaurant was coming out with their own cookbook. So Kyna tried to order it on-line, and it was sold out. I happen to go right by the restaurant every day, so I went in and picked it up. It was more expensive than ordering it, but we were sure to get it in time for his birthday then.

So He loved the pots, and he and Kyna had a lot of fun, purchasing the ingredients and making a really great batter, several kinds of condiments, and we had the best meal. Even Husband, came out of his dungeon (aka world or war craft) to participate (this was a wonder of all wonders)

My Kitchen might not recover for a while....

Weight watchers starts on Saturday. Wish me luck, I'm going to need it.

Lifes Issues

I am somewhat stressed

I was sick with a sinus headache for about a month. I finally went to the Doctor and she noticed that I had not had a routine blood draw in a year. I have Diabetes, and some of the problems associated with that involve the organs of the body, they check those systems by drawing blood and running it through several checks. One of my Liver test came back high, so Dr. wanted me to follow up with an Ultra Sound. I have had those before and they have come back ok, so I was not worried that this would be any different. Well was I wrong. I got another call from the Dr. and she wanted me to come in first thing the next day to go over the tests. Why? I asked her. She said, "we'll discuss it tomorrow, I want to refer you to a couple of specialists", I worry all night, and make it to her office the next morning, I am brought in for another blood draw, and then sent back out to the waiting room, after 2 hours of waiting, I ask the receptionist when am I going to see the Dr., after a few more minutes, I am called back, handed a paper for two Dr referrals and given the results of the ultrasound, and told to call and make appointments with a Urologist, and a Gastro Dr. I spend the rest of the day, trying to do that. I miss the day at work, because I had to wait so long. Yesterday, I went to see the urologist, and he tells me not to worry, the condition I have has probably been going on for quite a while and it is not related to the diabetes, I have just one working Kidney. He thinks that I must have been born that way, but I have had ultrasounds before and nothing was mentioned about one Kidney doing the work of two, so I think that It was not that way from birth. I am relieved about that.

I still am waiting to see the Gastro Dr. My Liver is acting up and Family Dr. wants me to follow up to make sure everything is Ok. It is still 2 weeks before I can get into see him.

So now, I am planning to start Weight Watchers next week, got to get rid of this Weight. (a baby gift) Thanks Kids.

To add to that stress, I am at odds with someone. this person is upset with me and called and let me know how upset. Said some things that really hurt. I was thinking that I had done a kind thing, but this person did not feel the same way. It was just too much for my emotions to handle and I could not get the call out of my head. I cried all the way to work, and several times during the day, then on the way back home I called my Mom and I cried again. Mom made me feel better, and said she thought that I acted from my heart and that I did nothing wrong. This person is upset, and lashed out at me. I might feel the same way if I were in thier shoes. There will have to be some forgiving before I will be able to really move on. I am still very sad this person feels this way, but nothing I can do about it now. I am going to have to call on God's strength to really get thru this one. I am really sad this person chose to be this way but not suprised, because this person has let me know in the past when they were unhappy. Just don't think that I will be able to be close to this person again, once bitten.... you know.

Nice to be appreciated

This month at work has been Accounting appreciation month. We have been given things, received flowers, got taken out to lunch, been flowered with Gifts and many other things. It has been nice to be the recipient so many nice things. First, we received a nice little lunch box, filled with cookies.
Then we got a nice binder with a movie gift card in it. Then we got taken to a nice lunch place. I received a gift card for Sonic, Braums, a Boyd bear statue, nice little candle holder, Potpourri, Carmel apple, Popcorn gift set, Pen desk set, There has been something almost every day. It was really fun. I appreciate all of the thought that went into this. It is a nice place to work. Every day, we have been playing bingo, via E-mail. Tomorrow will be the last day. I think my favorite was the meal at PF Chang's. The food was delicious.

Thanks to all of the Accounting supervisors for all of your work in planning a good accounting appreciation month.

Empty Nest and New Found Family

This post is way past due.

1st, I am having to deal with empty nest. I thought I couldn't wait for empty nest, but I am finding it lonley. My Son moved out early in the summer (May I think) with his girlfriend. The girlfriend did not work out (I'm happy about that), but you never know, she may work out one day. I know he loves her, but she just has some issues that are hard to get past. Now my Daughter has begun a job, that she works different hours than me. afternoons till 10:00 PM and on weekends. My son-in-law (I feel like he is my son as well) started a job working nights.

My Husband works weekends and when he is not working, he is glued to his computer. I fix his meal and set it in front of him as his computer and that is about all I see of him. (I guess we are really disfunctional.

So this weekend, I decided I was not longer going to stay home and feel sorry for my self, so I went to a quilt show all by myself. I enjoyed it. So next week, more quilting. and maybe I will go see a movie alone. I don't mind shopping alone, and going to some things, but I can't go out to eat alone, don't need to anyway. Thinking about joining weightwatchers. I have some health issues I really need to work on.


But this week I found someone new "Family wise"

Both my brothers have kids that do not live with them. My youngest brother, while he was divorced, had a child with his girlfriend. He got back together with his wife, so they chose to not keep ties with his daughter. My mother was heartbroken, but it was his girlfriends wishes, and he choose to abide by them. She is very young, maybe 4 or 5 I think.

But my older brother, found out just this year that he also had a child. He did not know about her. Her mother and he broke up just out of highschool (30 years ago). She left him for his best friend. It was a really roughe time in his life, and for a while, we thought that he might not bounce back from it. but he did. Well one weekend, a few years after she left him, she came back into his life, it was just a long weekend affair. I know it was not right, but he was not quite over her at that time. It was before he met his now Wife.

This ex-girlfriend was really wild and had substance abuse problems and this past summer she called him. She said that she was in recovery and need to make some things right. She told him that she got pregnant as a result of that weekend affiar and he had a daughter. He was shocked. We all were, as well as hurt, that she kept this info from him. She made him promise that he could not contact the girl. We did not even know her last name. All we knew was her name was Dusty and she was 29 years old. He graduated from Haltom High School, and was now married and living in Washington DC. She had 4 little kids.

Well I did not promise that I would not try to find her, so you guessed it. I found her thru "Isearch.com" I knew her fathers name, he had a myspace account, and dusty was linked as one of his friends. It worked out that My daughter also had a myspace and we were able to send her a message. We did not tell her that Bro was her dad, but she read between the lines and her mother had to tell her the truth. She called my Bro and they had a two hour conversation.

The are now in the process or ordering a paternity test to verify the truth.

Well I was in hotwater for a little while with the Girls mother (it's ok.) She told me years ago, that she did not like me, because I protected my brother too much. My Brother's wife thought I overstepped my bounds as well. Maybe I did, but I could not see him going thru his life not knowing her, especially after them losing thier Daughter in law and grandchild. I trully acted out of love for him.

Sorry Bro and Dusty if I got too snoopy. But hey, you kept your word. You did not try to find her, but Lil Sis did.

Love you.

New Beginnings

I have quite a lot going on in my life at the moment.

My Daughter got engaged to her boyfriend, and while I am thrilled, I am also hoping that they don't plan to be married too soon. He fiance is in between jobs, suffers from depression, that he takes medicine for and is about to be out of it because of the expense. He is somewhat trying to find another job, but not as hard as I hoped he would. I think it is because he just is not sure how to go about it. I am going to have to spend some time helping him, and planning a wedding the I can't afford all the while trying my hardest to get daughter to look into going to school. She wants to, but I will have to really push to get her up and at it.

My Son has gotten his first apartment, and he moved his Girlfriend in with him. I love her, but I think he should have tried it without her for a while. The main reason he moved out, was because she wanted to get out of her Grandmother home, and I can't blame her for that. It was hard for her. She is a young mother already (two year old daughter with her abusive ex boyfriend) D-son love the Little child as his own and I am happy for him. I guess that I am un-officially, "Nana Karen"

I am a little aprenhensive about my Children both putting the cart before the horse in thier relationships, but they are both old enought to make those decisions, and I believe that they have found relationships that are for the most part Healthy and are both being very responsible.

I am happy for them, and love both my "New Kids" (in-laws) My Son in Law - treats me like I am his mother (He does not have one) My Daughter in Law - not so much just yet, but I am working on her.

I am moving my sewing stuff into my sons old bedroom, wow a room of my own. Can wait.