Mom's Cattery

My mom breeds Abayssinians in Norway. We're hoping for a new kitten to join our family in 2008. Want to know more?
http://oracles-cats.com/

Entertainment Opportunities Tonight

1. Walk main street

2. Dinner at Clementine's

3. One of two bars

Good, Bad and Ugly Part Duex

The Good

• I received my Kiehl's order today. I feel pretty smart about this one -- sent it to the hotel last week when I ran out of my favorite face wash.
• Tasty Japanese food in Lafayette last night.
• Good friends to spend Thanksgiving with. In fact, we got 2 different invitations.
• Job opportunities for Shane.
• Nearing project completion at work.
• Drive thru daiquiri shops.
• Ankle is healing.
• Our room attendant -- Jerry is a hoot!
• Free Internet and 800 calls from the hotel -- makes telecommuting much easier!
• Grandcentral.com -- my personal switchboard for office calls.
• MBA connections.

The Bad

• New critters in the room.
• Clutch problems in the truck.
• 2.5 weeks to go with the air cast.

The Ugly

• My weight! :-(
• Trying to accomplish multi-departmental projects -- it's frustrating but rewarding once it's done.
• No place to buy a good desert to bring to turkey day dinner.

Disco Biscuits

Why don't they post the Richmond show for download? Shane says it was the best biscuits show he's ever seen!

http://www.livedownloads.com/bisco/

Getting Your Nails Done at Wal-Mart

My girlfriend back home didn't believe me when I told her Wal-Mart was THE place to get your nails done in town. It's true. I spent some time there after work last night getting a pedicure and new set. They did an awesome job, even with my broken ankle! But why do they only take cash or check? I don't even carry my checks with me anymore.

Shane's been helping our Thanksgiving hosts hook up/fix the air conditioner at their home. We need the air conditioner on Thursday even with the cold front that supposed to roll into town on Wednesday night. Too many people and a roasting turkey in a mobil home does not make for a pleasant temperature.

Ruby Tuesday's for dinner last night (getting sick of Chili's) and early to bed. Oh, I finished my Danielle Steel book last night. I think I'm giving her up -- poor writing and boring story lines.

Bowling & Beowulf

Shane's bowling game is improving. At least he's becoming more consistent. Just 3 games yesterday.

Then it was Beowulf at the local theater. Loved the theater, it was empty, new, clean and inexpensive. The movie, however, was not what I expected. Guess I should have read more about it before I went. Who knew it was animated? Who knew that an animated movie could be gory? Too much blood!

Yesterday also included a great Cajun brunch in the city of Lafayette and lots of games. Shane won Connect Four, Rook, and Nickles!

Glad I have work to go back to today ;-)

Oh, found another guest at the hotel -- some kind of lizard.

Here I Go Again!

Here I am in beautiful Timbuktu again for another 10 days. Since it's Thanksgiving next week I'll only work for 3 days. So, I need something to keep me busy ...

So far:

• I've seen 3 cockroaches in the room.
• We've received an invitation for Thanksgiving dinner.
• Shane was disappointed with his bowling score and fell flat on his face -- literally!
• Two black men that talked to me said they better stop for fear of my husband beating them up -- all they did was say hi and ask my name. Is this a southern thing?
• Nachos = chips with cheese.
• Boudain is quit tasty.
• We're in a "suite" this time which means we have a fridge and a microwave.
• Slipped in the shower -- not good since my ankle is broken already. Ow!
• Almost didn't get the concert tickets we wanted for 12/27 cuz of foul internet connection.

And it's only Sunday morning.

This Is the End

And my trip here is about to come to an end. We're headed to Atlanta, GA, tonight to attend this music festival: http://www.the-echoproject.com/

My time in New Iberia, LA was a nice change of pace. I got to see how Shane spends his time down here in the south, met some cool people, had a few good meals (and some bad ones too), and most importantly got to spend some time with my husband.

In case you're wondering where I got the name for this blog. Timbuktu is a city in the West African nation of Mali. It is an oasis in the middle of nowhere. Although there is air service, the city remains most easily accessible by camel and boat.

The Good:

• CNN Headline news informed me earlier this week that in 2010 everyone will be able to contribute to a Roth IRA regardless of income! Great, great news.
• Telecommuting for a week.
• The bird that sings to me every morning from the tree in the Lowe's parking lot.
• Spending time with hubby.
• Good times and good food.

The Bad:

• Whoever create the spitball that is on the concrete outside our room.
• The guy who didn't speak English but wanted to bum a smoke (I didn't have one but couldn't communicate that to him).
• Chili's
• The Internet outage -- thank goodness for McDonald's.

The Ugly:

• All-in-all a good trip. Nothing ugly to report today.

What's With All the Small Dogs?

The manager has at least 4 different pomeranians all in different colors!

Between the dogs and Harold the maintenance man, and my room attendant I have lots of company during the day. Still, I miss my co-workers!

It was nice to have lunch with Shane today -- more po boys!

As a Side Note

This area is served by CLECO Corporation. Nearby Lafayette is served by Southwest Louisiana Electric Membership Corporation. Yesterday the power surge here forced me to hurry over to McDonald's to work for 2 hours while I waited for the Internet connection at the hotel to be restored.

Also worth mentioning is how long it is taking our friends Bill and Peg to get electricity hooked up at their new property -- months!

Another example of the cooperative difference!