Life Is About... Surviving Bad Juju!

If the Universe sends a strong message... you better pay attention! 

And by a strong message, I mean bad juju. Have you ever been stalked by bad juju? Like one bizarre incident after another? And after awhile it doesn't seem so coincidental, does it. Cue Twilight Zone theme.



Thanksgiving week was one big bad juju extravaganza for my family. (Yes, I know it is time to blog  December fun but I can't move on till I make peace with blog about the bad juju. Blogging is cathartic, you know.) 

Anyhoo,  back to Thanksgiving. We get a week out of school to deerhunt  celebrate Thanksgiving. Oh, how my family loves this week. We don't hunt. We travel, dine, shop and frivolously entertain ourselves. And spend time with family and give thanks, of course. We aren't totally shallow, after all... just partially shallow.


This year, our destination was New Orleans (NOLA). Did we make it to NOLA? NO! Such a disappointment since I was so looking forward to introducing the delights of NOLA to my mother and my little boy.




So how did the bad juju begin?


It was a dark and stormy... Ha! Just kidding! Actually, it was a beautiful sunny day when we headed south towards my mom's house in East Texas.

What could possibly spoil such a promising beginning?

Forgetting our NOLA music (Harry Connick, Louis Jordan ect) to set the festive mood of the trip, that is what!  



Just an inconsequential bummer, or so we thought at the time. But from that point on, the Universe thwarted us at every turn.

Really, it was as if the Universe channeled the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld: No music? No NOLA for you!

It took three loud clear messages before we finally got the hint. Yeah, we can be a bit thick, unfortunately. 

Bad juju one:  Hub forgot his blood pressure pills-- but he was able to get an emergency week's supply from a pharmacy in Texas.


Bad juju two:  A tiny scrape on my knuckle, that I spotted as we left our house in Oklahoma, morphed into a raging painful swollen oozing staph infection by the next morning at my mom's house in Texas. A red stripe was actually streaking past my wrist. Scary! Thankfully, a Saturday clinic set me on the road to recovery.

At this point, we should have seriously rethought our travel plans. But no, so...

Bad juju number three:  Four plus hours into the trip, between Lafayette and Baton Rouge, the check engine light came on.  Oh, yes, it did! And it took two cranks to start the car. Not a good sign. All this at a Welcome Center too... some welcome!  

Finally, the Universe had our undivided attention.

Way too much weirdness on top of a weird day so since it was almost dark we stopped at a hotel in Baton Rouge hoping the car would magically unglitch over night. Of course it didn't--- in fact, the car was even more difficult to start the next morning so we headed back towards Texas. 


We did not turn the car off the rest of the way back which meant tricky bathroom and snack scrounging breaks at convenience stores. Hub even put gas in with the engine running-- Now that was really taking a big chance considering the bad juju!

No explosions but the Universe sent one last parting shot to make sure we kept skedaddling out of Louisiana.

Bad juju number four: At one stop, my little boy noticed a hubcap was missing! Who loses hubcaps anymore? Actually, we think it was stolen at the hotel because our hubcaps are held on with screws. 

Bizarre, just bizarre.

After crossing the stateline back into Texas, we felt less on edge and things started looking up. The car needed a new fuel pump which, thankfully, was covered under the warranty and was repaired the next day! Yippee!

We may have missed streetcars, pralines, beignets, po-boys  and jazz but we ended up having a wonderful hometown Thanksgiving week anyway. Lots of laughs, eats, movies, shopping and games... so there, big bad juju! 

Whew, did you make it this far? If so, thank you. I love all my readers but you are my favorite reader! 

I certainly feel much much better... festive and merry even!

Wishing you and yours a holly jolly and good juju only holiday season! 

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A Winter's Day Nature Walk

Beauty is where you find it and in the winter you take what you can get-- the starkness of an old dead tree against the bright blue sky caught our attention.

The grass in the back forty is almost as tall as Talon!

Can you spot him? I reckon he needs to trade the Elmer Fudd hat in for a pointy red gnome hat!

Talon is outstanding in his field! ;o)

He couldn't get enough of hiding-- kept saying: Can you see me? Of course, I pretended I couldn't-- except when snapping shots.

Checking out the creek with Gram

Fuzzy seed heads

Here are a few photo effect experiments from Picnik-- which do you like?

this is called Holga-ish

Sepia with red hat



Black and white with red hat



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World's Largest Chocolate Fountain!

This 26 ft tall chocolate fountain at the Jean-Phillipe Patisserie in  the  Bellagio Casino is the largest in the world! Definitely a chocolate lover's dream!

The top section is only visible from underneath.  I read that the fountain circulates two tons of chocolate. Wow-- That is a lot of chocolate! Do you think it is the same old chocolate day after day or does it get replaced with fresh occasionally?

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My Baby Brother and My Baby Boy!

My brother met us in Vegas for a couple of days. Talon was so excited-- he thinks his uncle is so cool. Well, who wouldn't with chauffeur service like that!  My brother is thirteen years younger than me and I remember toting him around just like that-- How time flies!

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Gawking Around Las Vegas!

 Did you know Sin City is an absolute mecca for a photo memer? My family spent a few days there last week and I spotted blues, yellows and reds galore.  Here are a few of my faves. Some are funny, bizarre, quirky, amazing and/or cute-- depending on how one rolls, of course.   Which is your favorite?

Oh yeah, in case you are wondering-- I gambled and lost all of three whole dollars. I'm not much of a gambler but I'm definitely a gawker!  Viva Las Vegas, Baby!!


Linking up this week to: Blue Monday, Mellow Yellow Monday, Ruby Tuesday, and Rednesday

This one still makes me laugh!!

Mmmm, M&M Store!

Meeting Mr. Yellow M&M! 

Coca-Cola Store!  Apparently there is a store for everything in Vegas!

Aw, love this retro Ronnie Mac!

Oh My! She was inside the Planet Hollywood Casino Mall  looming over families lined up to see the Comedy Pet Theatre Show.   Nobody paid it much mind except me, of course. I kept imagining it coming to life like in some old Sci-fi/horror film:  Attack of the 50 ft Stripper!!

One of the guys in Gregory Popovich's Comedy Pet Theatre Show. Isn't he handsome! The whole crew is Russian and one big talented family.

See this show if you are ever in Vegas with your kids-- the juggling, acrobatics and clowning are amazing but you won't believe all the animals! Dogs, geese, rats, ferrets, parrots and cats-- yes, cats!  Trained cats willingly participating in an act, who knew?!

The Fun Dungeon Arcade is on the lowest level of  the Excalibur Casino. Well,  where else would it be?  We finished off every day of gawking with an hour or two of game playing. My little boy was in hog heaven especially when he got to see the Spongebob 4D movie-- only eight minutes long but air blows, water sprays and the pickle smells!

This photo was taken through the window of the top deck of a double decker bus. The day was cloudy but a bit of blue sky appeared just in time for this shot!

Luxor Casino-- through a bus window!

Pardon another window shot. This one is taken from our 24th floor hotel room--  Isn't it surreal? Wish you could have seen it in person-- the moon was huge!  We arrived at night so only saw the bright lights of Vegas which makes for a spectacular view but when we woke up to this amazing sight-- Wow! Had no idea mountains were so close to Vegas-- and such alien looking mountains at that!

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Lake Eufaula

This was taken Memorial Day weekend at Porum Landing (Corp of Engineers Park) on Lake Eufaula in Oklahoma.

OOOO-klahoma, where the wind comes whistling down the plain...

Because of the musical Oklahoma, many people think the state only has flat plains. But Eastern Oklahoma is green, hilly, woodsy, rocky and full of lakes, rivers, and waterfalls. Northeastern Oklahoma is where the foothills of the Ozarks begin and Southeastern Oklahoma has the Ouachita Mountain Range. I live smackdab in the middle of the two in a region known as Green Country. Just lovely, and there are no tumbleweeds...

To see more wonderfully wet photos, please visit Watery Wednesday.

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Around the hotel...

On this trip to OKC, we stayed at the Renaissance Marriott in Bricktown. Talon loves any hotel but this may be his favorite in OKC. It has beautiful public areas, super cool elevators, watergardens with fish and lots more to explore! Talon highly recommends this hotel!

Talon's first atrium hotel. Very aesthetically pleasing but way too many balconies for a curious little boy.

Love the skylight! Wouldn't I have a great greenhouse with a ceiling like that?! I would have to put on airs and call it my conservatory.

Night view of the skylight and elevators. Talon couldn't get enough of the elevators! There were four total: two at each end. All glass so a great view of the whole interior as we zoomed up and down. We won several races! Of course, the riders in the other elevators didn't know it was a race!

Cool old timey style phone located at the elevators. Talon checked out it out. Of course, the front desk surprised him with a ring back .


Intrepid hotel explorers!

(Yes, I'm still working the sweater. Guess I'll have to give it a rest until Valentine's Day!)

Lovely waterfall! One good thing about indoor waterfalls, I don't have to listen to hubby grousing about the hike!

Looking at fish...

Pretty fish!

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Rudolph the Red Nosed Pumping Unit

Saw this in Texas, of course!

Not something you see everyday!

(well, not prettied up, anyway)

Wish we could've seen it lit up at night!

Here is the security guard! He walked over for a very long chat! Guess guarding Rudolph gets a bit lonely!

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Family Fun at Kidsview Park in Longview!

Talon likes this swing! He's never been too into swings especially after I accidently dumped him out of one when he was a baby!

All aboard, Torrey!

Are these azaleas? Didn't know they bloomed in the fall. Maybe only in Longview...

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La King's Confectionery

Talon became a devotee of LaKing's, another Galveston tradition. LaKing's is an old fashioned ice cream parlor with a soda fountain and candy factory.

Website: http://www.lakingsconfectionery.com/

Ahh, the memories of cooling off on hot summer days with a refreshing cherry phosphate! I know a few of you readers have fond memories of LaKing's as well. Eight feet of saltwater from hurricane Ike did lots of damage and the store was closed for months but finally reopened good as new-- almost.

The gorgeous old cash register is gone. Such a shame! I really wanted Talon to see it.

Cherry Phosphate!

Scrumptious! Aren't the displays beautiful?! Visitors can watch the candymakers in action too!

Oh, this sneaky boy! Finished his malt, then each time my back was turned...

He swiped sips of my soda!

and laughed about it! He had a co-conspirator too! You can probably guess who!

Next time, I won't wander around taking so many photos! NO, I take that back! Next time, I'll order two cherry phosphates!

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