There is a long stretch of state highway to LD's school. This four lane, mostly without traffic road goes on forever. The road is lonely day or night. Gives me the creeps but the alternative route takes about 20 minutes longer. I do not want to drive this stretch alone at night and I am a brave woman.

The new semester began today so LD stocked up on school supplies, more shoes, junk food for the dorm and new make-up. The kids dress like kids and most do not wear make-up although the town around them is filled with beautifully made-up groomed women who believe "a woman without jewelry is like the sky without stars." I'm talking really Southern dressed up women. I pulled my hoodie over my head, put on sunglasses and kept quiet.

I'm glad to be home but I miss LD.

St.Casserole

Hey.

I've got a house full of children. LS, LD and LD'sBFF are here! Mr.C. made gumbo and took them to the movies. I did laundry for the girls. I love having everyone home!

Tomorrow, LS drives them back to school.

I'm driving up to see LLS and LSiL on Tuesday. Call me and keep me company! I'll arrive for my week in the Blue Room Suite on Wednesday. I'll eat at the table of the World's Best Cook. I hope to snuggle with Assumpta and Dibley, the Katrina Kitties. They don't remember me but I remember them.

Life is busy and full here.

I'm going to see genuine Fall leaves on my trip. I'm going to talk and eat and love being with my sisters.

More later,

St. Casserole

LD wanted another lamp for her Art School dorm room. I'll take her this today.
Two action figures and one Ken type copper wired to a lamp base. Everything but the light bulb is from thrifting.

St.Casserole
Writing Sermons and Making Stuff

Week Three of the Empty Nest

Looking around the family room today, I noticed that one of my children left a message for me. The house was quiet, the kitchen sink empty, no tv's blaring out but, there up on the ledge on the high windows, I spotted one blue peanut butter M&M.

Good job, kids! I cannot get it down with the dust mop or the telescoping cleaning wand thingie!

I miss you.

Love,
St.Casserole, the Mom

I am happy. Lovely Daughter is home! I drove to Hub City to meet her ride and brought her home! She's full of dorm stories, loving her teachers and enjoying her new school. Wonderful.

Mr.C. flew off to Houston for a meeting. He'll be home this afternoon. Lovely Son is working.

Sister and the Cats went wild when they saw LD.

When LD wakes up, we'll search for dance clothing. No, not a dance dance but a dance class she attends each morning. Tights and leotards and whatever girls wear for the class. This isn't the dance class for the actors but a dance class. I'm confused.

She's in all AP courses, on the Ultimate Frisbee team and happy.

I'm happy, too.,

St.Casserole, the Mama

Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat.

We have rain! Lots of pouring heavenly buckets of rain right now. Our brick back porch is flooding, a reminder that I need to trench new areas of plantings. Only rain shows where trenches or french drains are needed. The new landscaping, added over the past year, changed the terrain.


Traveling mercies to SB and MB as one goes to a conference and the other returns home.


I won't be painting the wrought iron chairs and table today. I bought a charming set for $2 at a garage sale Saturday. With new paint, new seats and a glass top for the table, I'll have a great set for...somewhere...not sure where I'll put these.


I found an office sized shredder at the salvage store several weeks ago. At 90% off, I thought I'd give a cross cut shredder a try. My table top shredder cost more and does less. The tiny pieces look like the cat litter the humane society uses for cats, so I'm adding hand fulls of shredded newspaper to the Cat Boys boxes. Perhaps this shredded paper will be my new cat litter source. At least the local paper will have a use.*


I saw the new paint yesterday at Little Church. The interior is sheet rocked, sanded, and primed. At first look, I couldn't understand why the walls weren't the color we chose. Then I realized I was looking at primer. New sanctuary light fixtures look great! We are all thrilled! Far from finished, we can see what will be, God willing.


I'm missing LD all day long. She phones home but is distracted with all the details of a new place and new people. I'll fetch her on Friday for the weekend. Can't wait!


In 2008 Books Read, I finished the fourth Twilight book by Stephanie Meyers on Saturday. Now I'm picking up Julia Spencer-Fleming's new book.

I miss you,

St.Casserole
*I sound like my Father. He crabbed about the local paper, too.

Lovely Daughter is registered, moved in and THERE.


ARRGGGHHHHHH!


St.Casserole

Well.Hey.

Today we drive Lovely Daughter to her new school. New School, one of the State specialty high schools is 220 miles away. She'll live in a dorm room with two girls and these three roommates share a bathroom with three other girls. I doubt any of the suite mates have experience sharing a room or bathroom.

I'm not thinking of her adjustments to room mates. I'm thinking of our empty nest.
I realize adult and almost adult children return home but today is the beginning of a new portion of our lives.

I'm not happy to see LD go.

I waited my entire life for children. While I was unsure about how I'd do with marriage, I was clear I wanted children. When God blessed us with LS, then LD, my heart filled to bursting. Marriage to Mr. C. turned out to be a pleasure. Parenting with him suits me, too.

Now, they are leaving our nest. LS begins his junior year at University in a few weeks. He's moved to College Town and begun a job to get ready for registration.


I feel weak and whiney. Crabby and unsure.

We feel good about the specialty high school. She will be secure and safe there, at least, as safe as one can hope for these days.

The school requires auditions and a stringent acceptance policy. For the first time in years, she will attend classes with students who WANT to be at school. Her public high school here is filled with kids who are enduring classes to fulfill state attendance regulations.

Learning is better when students want to be in school.

We've thought this through. We signed the forms. We are ready.


But, I am not ready.

St. Casserole

Parenting

LD's cell phone disappeared last week in the hands of a teacher. LD knows she isn't to use her phone at high school but did, and well, she's been without a phone for days.

She borrowed my phone and I noticed a text message from a Tennessee area code.

"Who is she texting in Tennessee?", I asked Mr. C.

"I don't know but I got one of his text messages on my phone, too."

"What did he say?"

"The text was 'I am falling for you in a big way.'"

"No kidding???"

"I thought about texting back 'Don't text me again, you a***hole."


We parents are entertained easily.


St. Casserole

Great day! Mr. C. and I drove LD to new student orientation at Art School!She's going to fly the nest for her junior and senior years to study theater.We are proud of her but sad to have her leave home early.

The school is beautiful with a combination of old college buildings restored in pleasing ways along with a new towering building of modern architecture. Wish my college had dorm rooms as large and gorgeous as these.Wish I'd had the opportunity to study art in such a place!

She's delighted.We are happy in a proud parent manner with dashes of bittersweet regret that she'll be away her final two years of high school.

Her drama teacher here told her that everyone is accepted to the school.Why he said this,I don't know. Truth is, less than half of those who apply are accepted.

Proud parent here.

Ready to preach the Acts and John passages this morning.

St. Casserole

Happy Mardi Gras!

We celebrate Mardi Gras big-time here. Kids are out of school Monday through Wednesday to go to parades, balls and stalk the streets.

The grocery stores are stripped of beer, cokes and King Cakes.

Three parades roll in Biloxi today. One or two in Gulfport, I think. Up and down the Coast people are catching throws at parades, drinking too much and eating as much party food as they can stand.

Some park and walk to the parade routes. Others put RVs on the route then spend the night holding their place. Most of 90 in Biloxi is cordoned off by the police to protect the route. Best seats to see the bands and floats are in front of City Halls where the bigwigs invite the powerful to catch beads, eat and drink.

Our Mardi Gras is smaller than New Orleans and, maybe, a bit quieter. I hope so because the big truck parades and famous New Orleans parades are fun if you have a safe place to view but horrendous if you are in a jostling crowd of drunks.

My favorite New Orleans parade places to watch are either from the front yard of a St. Charles Ave. home or from the balcony of the Boston Club. Here on the Coast, let me have a place at one of the City Hall stands.

Today, my favorite viewing place is right here at home.

I've enjoyed Mardi Gras for many years and this year, I do not give a hootie about any of it.

LD and Mr. C. are out getting new cell phones and trying (again!) to get LD's learner's permit for driving. Last phone call from Mr. C. said they were #120 in line. The last number called was #89. If Mr. C. is lucky, LD will be distracted by the learner's permit and he won't have to take her to a parade. Mardi Gras isn't the setting to let 15 year olds wander parentless at a parade.
Shoot! I don't want to wander without an escort at the parades either~!

Looks like I don't have to worry about this.

We are going to C. and P's to watch the Super Tuesday returns tonight. This means we can miss the night parades, too.

Eat, drink and be merry, y'all. Tomorrow is Lent.

Call me a curmudgeon,

St. Casserole

The tradition of making faces at the preacher continued yesterday in worship at Little Church. Begun years ago by LLS, the entertain-yourself-while-listening to older sister/Mom grew to new heights of silliness with LD crossing her eyes, smushing up her face and performing the slack-jaw-bored expression.

The preacher was grateful the actress sat on the second row.

Humbly because that's all one can be when LD is present,

St. Casserole

Today

Finally. Cold weather here! Frost on the roof! After months of heat with humidity, the weather turned crisp. I am one happy RevGal.

John Holbert, the homiletics professor at Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, speaks this morning at a local church. {The flower money pays for this. God bless the flower money!} John's topic is " What's Good about the Good News? Preaching the Alternative Reality of God."

Preacher quick recipe: Pumpkin Muffins-two boxes of Duncan Hines Spice Cake mix, two 15 oz. cans of Pumpkin, two teaspoons of vanilla. Combine the ingredients with electric mixer. Batter will be very stiff. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-24 minutes. Simple, delicious muffins with no eggs or oil.

I am very happy. Landscapers pruned, weeded, replaced dead plants and put out pine straw in our yard. Workers caulked windows and doors along with painting trim. My front doors are a subtle but odd color of green and look great. Getting work done here is frustrating, miserable and expensive. This week's crew did beautiful work. Amazing.

If your child is in theater, she becomes an instant drama critic. Hilarious discussion around the dinner table last night with LD dissing a local theater group who presented "...something about a cat and roofs" (trans. Cat on A Hot Tin Roof) "Dad", she said, "Did you know it was written by a guy from Mississippi?"

I will wear socks with my flip flops today and a turtleneck with my shorts in honor of the chilly weather.

Moving Right Along,

St. Casserole

Calm Down! This ONLY the Contest Announcement!

In honor of LD getting her braces off today and being in her first High School Play this evening, I am proud to announce a St.CasseroleContest!

Friends, please prepare yourselves to enter the St.Casserole Comment Contest tomorrow!

Grand Prize, to be shown here tomorrow, will be given to the best comment about why you should win the Grand Prize to be shown here tomorrow. There will be no runner-up or place prizes, only the Grand Prize to be shown here tomorrow. This is win or lose, cut bait or fish, drive or get out of the car, saddle up or shut up type contest.

Your best hope is your wit, brainpower and not telling another soul about this contest so that I get so few entries that every one's comment looks good because I will be humiliated by desperation to be shown here tomorrow.

This is, however, not about me but about LD's no brace's smile and her play tonight and about you who should be sharpening your comment skills to be shown here tomorrow.

Until then, I remain, ever your,

St. Casserole

P.S. You could practice by leaving sucking up kinds of comments today!

LD flies home from Aunt Camp today. I pray her flight will be uneventful, that no one will treat her as though she is older (she looks it!) and that she will be surrounded by traveling mercies until she returns home.

Ever the Mom,

St. C.

A. my computer is running faster after the Computer Guy realized that LS laptop takes all the bandwidth when left on. doesn't sound quite right to me, but that's what CG said.

B. Fish's fracture IS healing and he'll get a new cast Monday. Our vet got my firey letter about Dr. Awful, D.V.M. but didn't apologize for my rough treatment from the relief vet. I don't suppose our vet knows how to do this.

C. I miss LD who is up at the sacred (at least to me) Presbyterian conference center in N.C. where at least one adult leader thinks Katrina damaged New Orleans and no where else.

D. Temps are in the 90's here. Hotter than hot this morning at 5 a.m. Yuk. Pass the ice tea!

E. I'm glad to be back online. I've forgotten all the Pulitizer quality blog posts I thought up while I couldn't use my study computer.

As ever,

St. Casserole