You Know Hurricane Season is Here When...

The casinos start giving away generators!

I’m Ready, Are You?

At work we have been asked to volunteer to be on a hurricane team. Since the hospital remains open, we must be staffed in the event of this emergency and provide relief for the workers who remain. During Katrina everyone worked rotating seven day schedules. In the past the “A-Team,” including Mr. T, would always be called in if there was a hurricane approaching, and the “B-Team” would relieve the first team. This year they have chosen to provide a different team designation that rotates with each call-in and utilizes colors. Basically team blue is the “A-Team” on the first call-in and the yellow team would relieve them after seven days or so. On the second storm, the yellow team will be the first responders with the blue team providing relief.

Management has also allowed some people to be permanent members of the first responders. I have joined this team and will be in the hospital for every storm. I figure it is easier to get to the hospital than out of the city in a massive evacuation.

The primary source of complaints from those who remained last year was the food. So this year, I’m prepared. When I went “make grocery” yesterday, I got some supplies that should last me seven days through the storm. Here is a picture of the supplies and the camouflage bag (Ms. Pat gave that to me) that I was able to put most of the stuff into. Now I am ready!

The Goodies

Can't get it all in the bag!

Hats Off to Dad

My dad gave a brief talk in church yesterday about being a father. He talked about the joy, pride, fun, and disappointment he has felt during his experience of being the father of four boys. It was an interesting to get a glimpse into how he perceived some of the most important moments of our family’s life. He felt pride in teaching me how to drive a standard, he could laugh at some of the many trips to the emergency room (especially one involving a fork in my mom’s pinky for which I was responsible), and how he learned to cope with the difficulty that comes with having teenage sons.

My dad is great! He has been his sons’ biggest cheerleaders, even when we thought we may have disappointed him. He has loved us individually—we are each unique and he has appreciated the attributes of us individually. He has taught us all to think through situations, to act wisely, and, when we are forced into that situation, to make lemons out of lemonade.

I am not a father, yet. But this Father’s Day, my dad reminded me of his gift to me—the legacy of a great dad. My prayer is that I will be just as faithful to God and to my children’s spiritual development as my dad was to ours and that I would follow in his footsteps of being a great dad!

I’m Looking for a Dog

Now that I have hung my previous set of pictures, I am looking to get some more and hang in what will be my dining area. Let’s get serious and talk about money for a minute. The previous prints that I purchased, framed, and hung became kind of expensive, at least to me. This time I will try to keep my purchases a little more reasonable.

I bought the previous pictures at the French Market because they all had a New Orleans style theme—the St. Charles Street Streetcar, a carriage in Jackson Square, Café du Monde, and Preservation Hall. Immediately after purchasing these prints, I noticed others were selling copies of George Rodrigue’s Blue Dog paintings. These were already framed and had the Blue Dog in various places, like in front of the T.V. or behind some drums. They are very colorful, small (6” x 6”), and would work well for a cozy dining area. So, I think I am going to get a couple of dogs, Blue Dogs that is.

By the way, this is a Blue Dog.

P.S. If anyone would like to buy me an original Blue Dog or even a print (the less popular ones start over $1000), you can feel free to do so, I will not even complain about having to frame it.

I Finally Did It

That's right, I did it last night. I bought some pictures a couple of weeks ago in the French Market, but it took me weeks to buy the frames. They were a weird size, so it took a little ingenuity to find pre-made frames and to frame them, but I did that a few weeks ago. Last night, I hung those pictures on the wall. Maybe I should have waited until this morning, though, because I did not do it how I intended, but once the holes are in the wall, it seems there’s no going back. To let you know how I wanted the pictures, I wanted the two on the right to mirror the two on the left (in other words, the one on the far right should be exchanged with the picture on its left).

The Pictures

Utterly Amazed

That was my response when neither Wendy nor Tonya commented on my blog about my reading list. I was surprised because I thought they may suggest a couple of books with titles like The Dirt On Dating or Marriable: Taking the Desperate Out of Dating. By the way, if you do not know who Tonya is, her picture is below.

Tonya

I was back at my parent’s house last week for Vacation Bible School at Jenkins Memorial Baptist Church. I had a great time helping with the preteen class and doing recreation. I will post some pictures soon, but I am working on getting people to sign releases so I can put their pictures on the internet.