company is coming

The past couple of weeks we have been very busy doing different projects around the house. Some projects started because company is coming into town...and others started because we have more time because it is quarter break. No matter what the reason the project started, it has to come to an end quickly because company is coming.

I am starting to realize how quickly our house will fill up with company. Karen and Greg arrive Tuesday night for a day visit and the Weiss and Madden clans arrive sometime on Wednesday. That is right both of our parents and Morgan (Leland's sister) are coming for Thanksgiving. Most people think we are crazy but we love them all. So we said yes. The hardest thing has been deciding what pies to make because everyone has their favorite.

I still need to pick up the house, buy the groceries, and figure out how we are going to store all the food. I never realized how much I have depended on the outside "frig" to store food. Last year we put the pies on the back porch of the apartment because we did not have enough frig space. My family has always used the enclosed front porch and Leland's family has always used the garage. How do people do it in a warm climate? I am thinking creativity is needed.

We are hoping everyone has a good time, there is not a lot to do in Ruston.

bye, bye skunks

Shortly after we bought our home we found many unexpected surprises...one was skunks living 10 feet from the front door. They had been nesting under a old tree stump and probably have returned every spring for years. I have plenty of experience with skunks, as a child it took years to get rid of the ones nesting under my neighbors shed (my family stills tries to forget how many times the dog and cat got sprayed). The two month process of digging everything up to put chicken wire down began and the process was made even more complicated because I hurt my back. So Leland had to dig up 10 over grown shrubs and remove the stump by himself. We are lacking a before picture, so you have to use your imagination.

Leland finishing putting the chicken wire down.

After we finished the chicken wire we place landscaping carpet down. We decided that after getting rid of poison oak and 10 shrubs...we were happy with a rock garden. The side walk at the bottom of the picture is to the front door, the front of house has a privacy wall.

Here is the almost final product. We finished laying the rock down but we did not take a final picture. In time we will add potted plants, a bird feeder, and a park bench. Our fall goal was just to make the skunks go bye, bye for good.

fall finally came

I love fall. Autumn colors brighten by day. Here are some pictures Leland took.


Occasionally we have days that remind me of the Northwest, this was one. I took for granted the crisp blue skies until I moved away. Now I live outside, when the crisp sky is accompanied by a gentle breeze.

random pictures

Leland took the Impala to a car show that one of the student groups at Tech put on as a fund raiser. He came out as one of the winners and the Impala looked pretty. Unfortunately I did not think to take a picture before she went back into the carport.


Chi Alpha had a costume party and I went as a railroad worker...although people kept asking me if I was Mario. A railroad worker is a perfect costume, the overalls I have because they were my dad's from when he worked for the railroad. Here is kitty and I after the party.

view from our patio door

I just wanted to share a funny picture from our back yard.

Everything grows really well in Louisiana...those grasshoppers are at least 2 inches long.

Early Morning Freight Drag

There's not much that goes on downtown in the hours before the sun comes up, but don't tell that to the KCS.  

Just a few minutes before sunrise, an eastbound freight drags a heavy train up the shallow grade to Ruston's downtown.  In the background, the university's Wiley Tower catches the first rays of the coming day.

In a couple of hours, the local will be through, swapping boxcars on the siding just east of downtown, followed by strings of double-stacks and the occasional freight drag.  Good morning, Ruston.

The Next Storm

It's Saturday, 10am, and Ike has made landfall over Galveston and rolled into the Houston area. Hurricanes seem to set a tone unlike other storms. It's a tone of foreboding, waiting, wondering, and slowly being able to see it develop across the skies to the south. Unlike fast moving thunderstorms and squall lines, these hurricanes are tracked for days as they cross the Gulf, growing in size across the warm waters. In Northern Louisiana, Ike is expected to bring another shot of rain and wind over the next 36 hours, however, the real damage lies in the wake of its various landfalls. Damage and destruction along the Texas coast should be well covered and is expected to be quite bad due to a twenty-foot high swell that came ashore last night.

The ferocity of these storms, however, has not only been spent on the shores of the United States. Ike, Gustav, Hanna, and Fay have left a lasting impact on neighbors to the south that aren't as well covered.

Meager Living of Haitians Is Wiped Out by Storms

Hurricane season continues.