Erin's Blog?

I should call this the Erin Blog because I feel that most of the information is about Erin. But I do have a comment about Jake at the end of this post. OK - So the picture is Erin's picture that she painted for Art Class. She got 2nd place in the Art Show for this genre. Next news - the kids got their ACT scores. Jake got a 23 (not bad as a Sophmore) and Erin got a 30. The Avg Score for a Senior is 19-21(?). So the kids are smart - Do I give Jim credit or is it from my genes? Oh, the never ending debate.

New Car

We finally had to make the decision to get a new car. After many hours researching on line, and a couple of test drives, we bought a new car. The decision was forced upon us, when the Blue Jeep (125,000 miles) broke down on the Causeway (2nd time in 3 months). The tow bill was $225 (ouch). The decision came down to a Ford Escape, Ford Edge, and Saturn Vue. We decided that the Ford Escape had the best gas mileage but only in a V4 and we were concerned about the power the car would/wouldn't have once the whole family was in it. The Saturn Vue was an excellent price, I could get alot of perks, but it was just too small for my adult size kids. So that left the Ford Edge. Its a bigger vechile but the kids (and Jim) will fit comfortably in the back for our long trips to Dallas, Maryland and Florida. If you were wondering what will happen to the Blue Jeep, we are keeping it. Jake insists that it's his car and will fix it. I figure if it can drive the 1 mile to school and back, then it will do. It pretty much has to last more 1 year. Then off to the junk yard.

PROM

Erin had a great time! Before Prom, she went with a bunch of friends (and date) out to dinner. They went to a nice (expensive) restaurant, that had a Prom deal - $60 a couple including tip. After the Prom, was an party at a friends house (who lives in the neighborhood, thank God - no driving).

The Trip to No-Where!

Yesterday morning, I got up at 5:30 to make a 8:40 flight (thru Dallas) to Phoenix. I had a one day training seminar for work. The flight took off on time and everything was going well. Until we started our decent into the Dallas. The turbulence was crazy. We had 3 major drops (it felt like a Roller Coaster) before we pulled up and aborted the landing. I was very very close to tears. The Dallas Airport closed shortly there after and we were sent to Shreveport, LA. Now those who don't know, Shreveport is a very small. So small that we had to sit on the tarmac because 6 other flights were also detoured to this airport and they couldn't accomodate all these planes. So our plane and a couple others couldn't get to the terminal. We sat there for 3 hours when they finally decided to send us back to New Orleans (because the Dallas airport decided to shut down for the remainder of the day) Apparently, Dallas was having major thunderstorms, tornado warnings, and flooding. When we got back to New Orleans, we hoped to reschedule our flight for a later time. No such luck. New Orleans Airport took on 11 flight that were also deverted from Dallas. The place was a mad house. So needless to say I went home (and happy to do so). The positive side is that I got alot of reading done.

Braggging Rights

Erin volunteered in her Chemistry Class to be a representative for Mandeville High School in a Literary Rally at SLU. The Rally is basically a test given to those respresentatives from a variety of Local Schools, in the Subject they volunterred. So, out of 23 kids, Erin got 1st place, she smoked them (5.5 points greater then the closest score) Here's a link. http://www.selu.edu/resources/litrally/results/index.php?test=CHEM&div=1&st=Submit

Now she goes on to test in April at LSU.

Irish/Italian Parade

Last weekend, the kids and I had an opportunity to ride in the Irish/Italian Parade in Chalmette, La. It was fun! We threw Beads, Footballs, Potoatoes and Cabbages (it's tradition to throw food for an Irish stew.) The ride lasted about 3 1/2 hours. This was the first ride for the kids and they had an Excellent time. Best part, it was free. A friend's Uncle is the local distributor for Red Baron products and needs riders for the Float.

USS New York

It was a Great Navy Day. The temperature was 74 degrees on a beautiful sunny day. A bit hot but

I loved it. The ceremony was unorthodox for the Navy. Usually it's just speakers, but this time they had preformers. The USO, Rebecca Lynn, Charlie Daniels (he wrote a song for the Ship) and a Fireman from New York who sang the National Athem plus another song at the end of the ceremony. He was fabulous, I could have listen to him all day. They didn't have the normal party afterwards (too many people, 4000+) but that didn't keep us from partying. A bunch of contractors and Gov't workers spent the evening and night in New Olreans painting the town red. Here's a link to the ship: http://www.ussnewyork.com/wordpress/