laptop was KIA and Ive been MIA

I'm writing to you from a Mac....that's right, my laptop was KIA last week....such a sad, sad time. Ive been struggling to put together a post without erasing it and when the darn thing finally quit on me, it just gave me an excuse to not even try. Justin was kind enough to offer me this Mac, so I feel compelled to update. I don't like the way the keyboard feels, I don't like that it seems to have been made for someone who is left handed, it feels awkward, backward, wrong somehow, like I'm cheating on my laptop, so I'm just going to muddle through :)

We have had a busy week or two. Justin and I decided to pamper ourselves and the kids for the summer and get a membership to Francos, a very nice athletic club in Mandeville. Four pools, two water slides, sauna, spa, full upstairs gym, and children's areas that the kids are happy to get to visit, even if it means getting out of the pool.

Natalie is well for now, watching her like crazy....she's never been in a pool that wasn't our personal pool and exposed to this many people. It worries me, but the truth is that I want her to live as normally as humanly possible. I'll stop taking her if there are any signs that she may be getting sick from it, but she is just so happy in the water, I just cant see taking it away from her unless I absolutely have to. There will be no school this fall, she falls short of the October 1st cut off, so she has another year at home with mommy. That's not a bad thing for her, I think she needs the extra year, not because she is not ridiculously intelligent, but because she is just so spoiled, she doesn't listen very well, and this will give us a little extra time to work on that :)

Caitlin is enjoying her summer so far....she keeps asking me what we are doing this summer. I'm assuming that she means a beach trip or something along those lines. Ive tried to explain to her that its just not safe, I don't think she is grasping just how far reaching this oil spill is. Tar balls have been washing up in Alabama for the past two days and the oil sheen was supposed to reach the FL panhandle yesterday. Caitlin and I lost most everything we had in Katrina.....I know it sounds silly and its not even close to the same thing, but I just hate to explain to her that, once again, life as we knew it is gone, a trip to the beach will have to be planned far in advance, not the day before. How I hate to break that child's heart. She is so proud of the fact that she was born in Ft. Campbell, Ky. So proud that she was born somewhere other than here, she roots for the Titans and cheers for Ky in the college realm as well, even in spite of the fact that they are in the same conference as LSU.....but she is a Louisiana girl. Loves her seafood and her time under the live oaks at the park, and she finds beauty in our off kilter ways. I just don't want to tell her that its another change, not that she couldn't handle it, like i said before, maybe I'm just chicken :)

My accomplishments are limited to housework and work outs. I actually used the upstairs portion of Francos and worked out for a whole hour. Gonna try and do it again today. Another staff meeting, picking up Caitlin , squeezing in a workout ugh! guess I better get moving huh? ~J