10/3 x 48

Last year, I sacrificed myself of the altar of ritual humiliation by sharing several charming photos from my growing up years. I have no intention of repeating that today. Instead, I choose to do it by sharing some pics from this past year. Some have been posted..others are new--I hope you enjoy them!

But before that, here's a prayer attributed to St. Theresa of Avila. I'm going to try to remember this every day this year......

To everyone who reads about my life at Maison Cou Rouge...thank you for being part of my life.

Oh, and thanks again, Mama...I love you!!!

Lord, keep me from the habit of thinking I must say something on every subject and on every occasion.

Release me from the craving to straighten out everybody's affairs.

Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details- give me wings to get to the point.

I ask for Grace enough to listen to the tales of others' pains. Help me to endure them with patience. But seal my lips on my own aches and pains- they are increasing and my love of rehearsing them is becoming sweeter as the years go by.

Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally it is possible that I may be mistaken.

Keep me reasonably sweet; I do not want to be a saint-some of them are so hard to live with- but a sour old person is one of the crowning works of the devil.

Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places and talents in unexpected people and give me, oh Lord, the Grace to tell them so.

Make me thoughtful, but not moody; helpful, but not bossy. With my vast store of wisdom, it seems a pity not to use it all-

But thou knowest, oh Lord, that I want a few friends at the end.

Boy and me after he placed 3rd in 200m at the state track meet in May

Debo, CruiseGran and Jula with me in New York in November

At the Grand Mosque in Kuala Lampur in April

Bratislav and Borislav--aka "Big Bro" and "Little Bro" -they've been with us on Symphony then Serenity so long, they are family

Last Formal night on Serenity in April..yes, BIG, that's you.

Mama and me in NYC

Sister Mary Martini and the Goth at her Halloween party last October

Georgia Running Back Coach Tony Ball with me at Football 101 Fundraiser in June- I played fullback (like Boy) and I had just caught a pass in the scrimmage!

Grumpy Guy should know by now not to mess with my dessert on Symphony..especially if it's chocolate!


Our whole family on Symphony this summer- we disbursed Aunty Mame's ashes.

At the Pagoda in Burma in April

And finally early this morning.....October 3, 2008...

Boy not looking too awake...wearing his "away" jersey for the game tonight

Doesn't Girl look silly with a bow on her head at HER age??

I got bling!! An X's and O's tennis bracelet with diamonds!

Just Curious

I just looked up from my desk and saw

There are 16 men in neon yellow vests, a bobcat, a backhoe and a hydraulic dump truck scraping up the grass near the sidewalk directly across the street from me.

Wonder what's up.

Ah, my tax dollars at work again!

Oh, and for my knitting buddies, here's a pic of the finally finished baby blanket for Kate, my friend's newborn daughter. Yes, FINALLY FINISHED!

My adaptation of a Danish pattern for the Crown Prince's baby blanket. Lisa Souza Merino Sock yarn in "mother-of-pearl" colorway.

Alabama Head Coach Arrested

BREAKING NEWS... AP-Tuscaloosa Authorities arrested Alabama head coach Nick Saban in the predawn hours Monday at his home in Tuscaloosa on animal cruelty charges. Saban, 56, was charged with 85 counts of animal cruelty in an alleged attack which occurred Saturday night in Athens, Georgia. Police said that as many as 92,138 witnesses saw Saban and a large group of violent young men under his control hit, kick, crush and destroy a large pack of mostly-docile bulldogs. One officer was quoted as saying, 'I haven't seen bulldogs treated this badly since the Michael Vick case.' Developing............

It’s better to laugh than cry

Thanks, Charles, for the heads up....

HEY LARRY!!

Boy's stats for Friday were 15 carries for 144 yards.

(Ok, ok, I know I could have called, but I'm trying to make up for not posting alot recently. Sue me...wait, don't take me literally!)

Oh and he just got word he's a National Merit Commended Student. Two appearances in the Sandersville Progress in one week. Scary. With our local weekly paper, the only people whose names appear twice in one week are little old ladies whose cats needed rescuing......

Applications Now Being Accepted

When days are crazy and/or difficult, it is imporant to have friends who will lift you up. I am blessed to have a few. I hope I tell them often how much they mean to me.

Here's a gift from one of them, Layne. Made me laugh. Made me start speculating on who could fill the positions available.

Five tips for a woman.....
1. It is important that a man helps you around the house and has a job.
2. It is important that a man makes you laugh.
3. It is important to find a man you can count on and doesn't lie to you.
4. It is important that a man loves you and spoils you.
5. It is important that these four men don't know each other.

Interested parties, please apply to the following, stating in which position(s) you are interested.
Please address all emails to :
Elizabeth
Goddess
Maison Cou Rouge
elizabeth@maisoncourouge.com

Maison Cou Rouge

It just occurred to me that Larry, Jula and their kids Dude, Rabbit and Panda have never been to visit the Middle-Of-Nowhere, Georgia since we moved here 8 years ago. (Do you feel the guilt wafting your way, little brother??) My darling stepfather, D hasn't been able to visit either. So for them, and all my friends who wonder, here is what the bricks and mortar Maison Cou Rouge looks like...

Typical Victorian (1910) Southern house--

The back patio and door--which everyone uses- only strangers come to the front!

Of course MCR has a guardian alligator- I grew up in Louisiana!

His name is Gaston, from the children's Christmas book "Gaston, the Green Nosed Alligator"(a Cajun Rudolph)


The patio next to the back door where I like to sit in the mornings when it's not a bazillion degrees outside.

SO COME VISIT, DAMMIT!

44 More Things about ME!!

As my sister-in-law Jula (married to Larry) would say, the big bright white spotlight is focused on me this week....so I should bask in its glow. I just love these sorts of emails...and I'm so grateful to my friend Kay for sending this one to me. She's always good for a laugh, or joke or cartoon--usually hilarious and often a bit naughty. So, just what you wanted--44 unusual things about me!!

1. Do you like blue cheese? YES YES YES ..Any way, any shape, any country
2. Have you ever smoked heroin Oh my God, no… I’ve never smoked anything. Seriously.
3. Do you own a gun? What a stupid question..I’m Southern. The question should be how many.
4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? Cherry to my diet limeade.
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Don’t we all? After all, they call it “practicing” medicine.
6. What do you think of hot dogs? Natural Casing snap dogs –love ‘em and do not want to know what’s in ‘em.
7. Favorite Christmas movie? A Christmas Story. “It’s a major award”."SSSTTTTUUUKKKK". "Fraahhzzhheeelllay" .
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Coffee with a chaser of sparkling water.
9. Can you do push ups? Only a few- Great, something else to feel guilty about.
10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? My pearls, probably. Love my pearls.
11. Favorite hobby? Knitting.
12. Do you have A.D.D ? Oh, look, a Chicken.
13. What is one trait you hate about yourself? I’m shy around strangers.
14. Middle name? Martha Elizabeth Hutchinson Horne Pryor. Pick one.
15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment. How’s my friend in Thailand? Wish I could see the ocean. What am I fixing for supper?
16. Name 3 things you bought yesterday. Christmas presents online.
17. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink. Fizzy water. Coffee. Alcohol.
18. Current worry? IRS
19. Current hate right now? IRS
20. Favorite place to be? On board a Crystal ship.
21. Where would you like to go? Anywhere a Crystal ship is going.
22. What shirt are you wearing? How do you know I’m wearing a shirt??
23. What year would you go back in time to? I like right now, thank you.
24. Can you whistle? The regular way, but I RREEAALLY want to learn how to “hail a taxi” whistle. I have failed to date, though try valiantly to learn, I do.
25. Favorite color? Maison Cou Rouge blue
26. Would you be a pirate? Of course—it’s a life at sea!
27. Favorite girl's name? Alexandra
28. Favorite boy's name? Dijon?? Brutus?? Algernon?? Pheidippides?? idk…
29. Last thing you dreamed about? Oh, no, Dr. Freud, we’re not going down THAT road…
30. What's in your pocket right now? See number 22
31. Last thing that made you laugh? A funny thing my friend in Thailand posted.
32. Best Halloween costume? The Men in Black alien costume I wore when my son was in first grade.
33. Worst injury you've ever had? Pregnancy.
34. Do you like where you live? Wouldn’t live anywhere else. Except #20.
35. How many TVs do you have in your house? Ok, this is embarrassing…6 .
36. Who is your loudest friend? My husband.
37. How many dogs do you have? One- our dogter Chip.
38. Does someone have a crush on you? Oh, I HOPE so.
39. What is your favorite book(s)? Too many to list…but start with Eat Pray Love, Cold Mountain, Pillars of the Earth, Anna Karenina.
40. What is your favorite candy? Heath bars.
41. Favorite Sports Team Brentwood High School War Eagles.
42. Favorite Sport? Horse Racing.
43. What were you doing 12 AM last night? Looking at my friends’ websites because I couldn’t sleep.
44. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? How badly have the kids trashed the kitchen during their midnight snacks?????

And, if you made it through all that, here's a little eye candy in honor of my friend who loves photography..

Passion Flower from Kew Palace, London, England

Atlas Shrugging

Must act like a grown-up….Must do work….

Gawd, I look at my desk and see the piles and piles of stuff I have to do and it almost makes me want to go crawl back into bed. As I sit at my desk and look out my window,

it’s a “severe clear” day—just gorgeous (ok, the grass really needs cutting, but I steadfastly refuse to deal with that task) and makes me want to go outside and read, or knit, or anything other than copying documents to send off to the IRS to justify why Grumpy Guy’s company took a vehicle expense of $22,966 in 2006. I just hate the IRS. It’s amazing anyone tries to start a business in this country any more.

As I’m on a rant, I absolutely refuse to watch news programs anymore. Coming from a news junkie, that’s saying something. I’m sick to death about the debates, the campaign, Wall Street, the economic bail out…celebrities behaving badly, and Cialis and Viagra commercials. Has anyone in government read “Atlas Shrugged?” (Ok, that’s rhetorical…of course not, that’s why they are in government..) Well, this Atlas is shrugging…

Hi! Welcome back to the friendly little blog known as Maison Cou Rouge. Sorry I went off for a bit. I’m back with a fresh cup of coffee and have remembered to take my meds. Good thoughts…breathe…pleasant and peaceful thoughts…right….

So, what’s been up here?? We had a fabulous visit from CruiseGran, who came to see Boy play football two weeks ago.

It always happens that we play the biggest, roughest AAA school when she visits. But no matter, Boy was Captain for that night, which made us all proud.

Anyone who has teenagers will find it amusing that she came all this way to visit with the kids, only to have them both disappear all of Saturday. So Gran, Grumpy Guy and I were left to devour an entire leg of lamb. We stayed up WAY too late and had several rounds of chardonnay. And a little limoncello. Laughed way too much and watched the LSU football game and the Georgia game simultaneously. We are talented. It was great having her here, and we’ll all get together in San Diego next month for my cousin’s wedding.

Well, last Friday’s football game was a different story. Brentwood played Edmund Burke.

And the run through pretty much shows what we did to their D line all night. I’m not sure of the stats, (brother “Larry” has asked that I give scores and stats, and who am I to deny a proud uncle??) as they weren’t in the paper, but I think Boy led in rushing. The opposition was really keying off our halfback sweep and so fullback Boy running up the gut really made progress. Several pretty 20+yarders, and he scored the first touchdown. We won 28-0, and even the freshmen got to play. Great prep finish—now we head off to our region games.

By the Way to the other readers of MCR (if there are any…), my nephew Dude has been cracking heads on HIS football team, the Byrd High School Yellow Jackets. Well done, man!

Girl has been running, of course.

I got the bad mommy of the week award for not listening to her when she said her calves were hurting. Only to realize she’s been running in her spikeless track shoes designed for 800 meters and a rubber surface. Bad mommy, no cookie. New shoes are too heavy, but we have some time before region to remedy that situation.

Now that I’ve had my fun, it’s back to the IRS. Why are they picking on me?????