Trip To New Orleans

In March, I decided to take an extended weekend and drive to New Orleans for a long overdue restorative visit with family: Aunt Chookie (90 years young and going strong) and my cousin Pam, who was always like my big sister.

Our family dynamic is unusual in that we lived next door to one another. Pam and I had all of the benefits afforded by geography yet none of the rivalry/strife inherent in an immediate "under the same roof" sibling dynamic. Chook has been the significant maternal influence in my life. She was always there with positive affirming guidance, attention, and love as I was growing up.


Here are the pictorial highlights of the trip:

Well, one of these days I will master Adobe Photo and blogger.com. Until then turn your head 45 degrees to view Aunt Chookie's Voodoo Doll. She is lifting his "loincloth" to reveal her
latest incantations strategically positioned. So in addition to guidance, you can see she also shaped my warped sense of humor.

For my upcoming birthday, we went to a restaurant (near Hammond) on the Tcheunfte (Cha-funk-tah) River to indulge on seafood, shopping, and general fooling around....

"La croupier" settles the bill at Morton's for Sal's birthday lunch

Pam, La Chook, and Sal in front of Morton's after a delightful celebration

Sal on the Tchefuncte river.

No pictures of subsequent shopping. Wide angle lens not available to capture the amount of crap we bought on the Northshore and toted back to New Orleans.

Gardens

It was an exceptionally beautiful Sunday. The carillion bells at Villa De Mateo woke me about 6 and I watched the sun rise from the upstairs window. As it was getting light, the birds arrived to remind me their feeders are low. They empty three large canisters in a day.


I enjoyed a leisurely morning reading the paper in the hammock and listening to the wind chimes and the fountain. After that late killing freeze we had, I had to cut so much back. It is just starting to bud and bloom. Come August, the yard will be back to the full tropical jungle that I love.

This is the staghorn fern I got from "Jerry's Jungle" north of Houston last Saturday. I looked at a few websites, mostly from Florida for instructions and advice on attaching them to a tree and put it on the cedar tree in the backyard. It was fairly straightforward once I determined a position I was pleased with.






I dug in the hostas that were in pots a few weekends ago. They are the small dark leafy plant with white edging in the foreground planted around the base of the oak. They will grow into nice glossy mounds and will fill in completely by summer.

How to decorate a telephone pole. I got the tin yard art in Wimberly Texas because it reminded me of the 3 Harris girls. The vine is Sweet Pea. In a few months, it will be covered with pink blooms.
The gardener's assistant hopping over hostas.




Front Yard

Pansies that are still braving the heat.
The light green low bushes in the foreground of the 2 pictures above are Plumbago. They are real butterfly magnets. I have been checking them daily for signs of flower buds.Look what I found today! Buds! This was the inspiration to fetch my camera and take some pictures.

Well, I can't get this picture rotated, so rotate your head 45 degrees. This is a Bird of Paradise in the front that produced 6 huge white and cobalt blue "birds" for me this year. This is the last remaining flower.

My Humble Office

This is my little space. I am in the corner of the day area, so it's not what you'd call a quiet retreat. I have some speakers from home hooked up to my computer and my iPod can help muffle the noise of "milieu therapy" on the other side of my door. This was an interview room with profanity scrawled on the wall, no climate control, no drops for phone, computer, etc. It took me about 6 months to rehabilitate it for occupancy. The coveted window does not come without a price - it leaks with the slightest shower and the County has no intention of fixing it, but plants thrive here and so do I.

My view is of Texas Women's University, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Methodist, and the back dock where the constables bring our involuntary clients from the EC.

OT Luncheon 4/26/07

OT MONTH CELEBRATION


April is "OT Month" and today our dear PT counterparts threw us a luncheon at QM Hospital. This year's theme, "Working with OT is a Picnic". As tradition dictates, they have arranged activities that involve clinical equipment and modalities utilized in a novel manner to challenge and humiliate us.

















The OTs From Ben Taub Mental Health Services Prepare For Disgrace
Standing, Left to Right: Elderine, Janet, Sally, Rick, Sammy




No photos available of actual activities. It is not nice to document the exploitation of your co-workers with images on the 'Net. Suffice it to say, Rick and Sammy won all events; Rick by chicanery and Sammy by virtue of youth and superior fitness. Damn them both!!


Hey, the best parts of any event are the fellowship and the food:

















Sally, Elderine and Tiffani at the picnic table waiting for Rick and Janet








So I had the chance to order Frenchy's Creole Fried Chicken, any Southern girl's weakness and birthright. And what did I do? Fool that I am, I opted for a Subway salad that turned out to be slimy and bland. So I had no choice but to swipe some of Rick's french fries. Yes, he is smiling, but what you don't see is that he is kicking me under the table.









Ping, Director of Rehab Services for HCHD, stops by to check up on Theodora and Sammy





The ever reclusive Laurie (spill-it-all-girlfriend) B. drags Sal into her office for another girl-to-girl chat.