Heavenly Tylenol

A couple of years ago, I had given Sam (then 8 years old) some Motrin for a konked head, and it made him feel better. A few nights later he had a bumped and bruised elbow from a soccer fall, and I got out the Motrin to give him -- he said, "No, I don't need the headache medicine, I need elbow medicine!" I explained to him that Motrin would work for him for a headache OR a sore elbow! He thought it was the coolest thing that the medicine would "know where to go...!"

I have thought about this often myself, and I agree, it IS very cool! Just a few days ago, I was sharing Sam's story with a friend, and we laughed and marveled at modern medicine, and how we can get relief wherever the pain is.

At a funeral I attended yesterday, a preacher from another faith was invited to share some thoughts, as he had been a good friend of the deceased. He talked about the exact same thing, but took it a step further! He said that when we take Tylenol, or Advil, or Ibuprofen one day for a headache, it takes care of it. And when we take it the next day for a sore ankle, it takes care of that, too!

He said that God is like those medications. No matter where we are hurting, or why...take Him in, and He'll take care of it. He encouraged the family to draw on that relief right now, in all the unique ways that their own pain might be manifesting itself.

My friend was sitting down the row from me, and we looked at each other and smiled. We had just shared Sam's story a few days before -- and we have both felt His "pain relief" in our lives. It's a true concept: Even though we don't know how to pinpoint the pain sometimes, or understand why we have to hurt, and it hurts in different ways, and we can't make it stop...He knows, and He eases the pain.
 
I'm grateful for Heavenly Tylenol.

Brother Fred

I attended the funeral today of a dear family friend, Fred Harris, who we've known since we moved to Tennessee 22 years ago. This man was so loved! He filled the chapel with family, friends, church associates, friends from other faiths and those who worked with him in the temple. He lived an "ordinary" life that, as it turns out, was extraordinary.

He and his wife, Georgia, were in the old Franklin ward when we moved here, and our Harris names were next to each other in the ward directory. That's how I remember my first contact with him, his low, distinctive voice calling me to relay a message that had been left for them by mistake. It turned out that we got each other's messages a time or two during those first few months.

I knew he worked for RC bottling company for many years, I knew he retired from that and became a school custodian. And I knew he had a special place in his heart for kids, and like to spend time with them and help mentor them, and help them stay on track to graduate from school, stay out of trouble, play basketball, whatever. He had appeared in the local paper a time or two to honor his efforts.

Today I learned that through most of his busy adult life, with jobs, kids, church activity, etc. he still found time to be a "Big Brother" to inner city kids for years and years. Someone mentioned in one of the talks that in years to come, there will most likely be many adult men who will say, "I am better because Fred Harris took time to love me and care for me when I was a boy."

I know that he and his sweet wife have taken my daughter under their wing many times in her tumultuous life, and given her love, support and friendship. I can still see Randi as a
6-7 year old girl hugging Georgia around the waist as we greeted them at church. And I saw Randi hug her today.

Fred was just Fred. No matter when or where you saw him, always a smile on his face, a kind word, a wave. He treated everyone equally; there was not one person, ever, who didn't get his best.

In so many ways Fred has been an example to me. I am better for knowing him.

Thelma & Louise

Admittedly, I've never seen the movie "Thelma & Louise," but I know the concept of two 'wild' women on the loose, escaping from life, and taking a road trip. (I also know they go off a cliff at the end, ne'er to be seen again...but we'll skip that part! HAHA)

So anyway, my friends, Christine Parris, Alycia McClurg and I had been planning a GIRLS WEEKEND GETAWAY since earlier this year. We ended up with New Orleans as our destination. Well, as it turned out, Alycia was not able to come with us, so we took her EXACT LIKENESS with us on our little escapade, so she could enjoy things vicariously.


"Exact Likeness"

Christine and I left mid-day on Friday, and drove all evening to Nah-lins. We had ordered directions, "TripTix" from AAA, but once we got on the road discovered they were for Susan Harris (not Lynette), so although they were to New Orleans, they were coming from Nashville, and ending up at a different part of Nah-lins. We were an hour and a half, on a late Friday night, up and down St. Charles street, back and forth on confusing one-way roads looking for our hotel. (Poor Susan Harris, she probably had difficulties, too, trying to use our custom directions!) But...we did find the lovely Bienville House hotel, in the heart of Nah-lins, and hit the hay and slept very well!
 
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Bienville House Hotel - downtown Nah-lins

So well, in fact, neither of us woke up 'til 9am the next day! So we rushed out the door to get our day started.



Hotel Lobby as we headed out to adventure!
Leave it to Christine to cut up with the bellmen --
I'll have to get the photos from HER camera!

 We caught a cab downtown (Lesson learned: don't do that again! Ride the trolley, $12 vs. $1.50). We started with an early lunch at Mandina's...fabulous!



Alycia loved the french garlic bread!

Then we headed out to see the sights...



We loved how the houses and office buildings had this
old-fashioned look, wrought iron fencing, etc.





This cracked us up...an advertisement on the trolley wall
for "The Occasional Wife" to do home, office, events, projects,
and everyday life. We both decided we need one of THOSE!



Alycia enjoying the gentle trolley breeze...





These people sat right in front of us on the trolley, all dressed in
their LSU gear, the little cheerleader, etc. So cute...! So we
took a picture of 'random trolley people' to share!



The 'random trolley guy,' Sandy, who moved over so Christine
could sit down, ended up giving her his number, so she could
call him and go out to dinner! Boy, can she work a crowd!
We told him we had a great friend for him....Alycia!  haha





The houses & buildings were so
narrow!  Some old, some new, some
run down, some very nice.





We loved the ivy on this one...





We didn't ride the horse & carriage, but...

 Finally, after riding several different trollies, north & south, east and west, we ended up at the French Market. It was roasting hot, and we were grateful for the shade!



All THREE of us enjoyed organic fruit/yogurt smoothies!
Even though the checkout girl tried to rip Christine off
in giving her change...

We tried on fun dresses and jewelery...Alycia tried this one on, and loved it, but...she's still waiting for the sleeveless G's concept to take hold. Course, I still don't think this one would work.

We bought magnets, Christine got the cutest dress for Katie, and we both got alligator heads and claw keyrings for our boys...(eewwww).



This is a hammock-like swing that hangs from
the doorway. Christine loved it. Alycia, too!
Christine's holding the African fan one of the
vendors gave her...she said it was pity when he
saw her poor, hot, red little face. I say it's
because 'the girl can work a crowd!'

Alycia loved this necklace; she has the perfect
black and red outfit to match at home!

Magnet mania...



We met Louis Armstrong...



Colorful stuff hanging from the ceilings...

We headed back downtown to walk the streets and look at the shops...



This "gold guy" was just standing there, posed, and the artist
seated was drawing him. We ran into stuff like this all day!





Alycia got sucked into VOO-DOO land!
Aaaaaahhh!



We loved all the cool lattice-work and
iron fences and stuff. It looks like lace!



This guy was SHAKING and moving, and holding
a sign that says "Hurricane Survivor"



This kid had taps on his tennis shoes,
and was dancing and clapping
like a crazy man...for tips!



Christine just liked the look of
this girlie "pink" store...

Street Artists

After we had walked and sweated enough, we headed back to the hotel to cool off swimming in the darling pool at the hotel. The buildings are all soooo narrow, not many have any space for a pool downtown, but Bienville House did, and it was so quaint, and well decorated, and lovely...of course, we chit-chatted with other people there from Michigan, and Christine worked the pool area...



Bienville House Hotel Pool

Then we headed back out to get some dinner...at the House of Blues! We were so excited to see this historic place, and listen to some great Nah-lins music, and enjoy the whole ambiance of nightlife there!



"Three Amigos" on our way out to party...




BUMMER!!! "House of Blues" was closed for a private party!



So we went across the street to "Olivier's Creole Restaurant." It was so nice, linen tablecloths and napkins, greeter in a suit, we wondered if we would meet the dress code -- but gratefully, Alycia was VERY dressed up, so they welcomed our business.



Bring on the fabulous EATS!

Blackened Trout, steamed veggies and jambalaya...
mmm, mmm, good!

  

Alycia was all about the triple chocolate cake!

After dinner, we caught a cab down to Frenchmen Avenue...there was lots of live music going on in the many clubs, and we were listening as we walked, for one to draw us in. But we ended up being more intrigued by the live music going on OUTSIDE on the streets! There were some good bands, some totally WEIRD bands, and just a bunch of music of all kinds being played.

These guys were really good! We listened to them for quite
awhile, and they were very entertaining!

Alycia rocking out to the good street band...

This guy was literally composing "Fresh Poetry"
while you wait, using an OLD manual typewriter
like my parents used to have!

 

This band wins BIZARRO BAND OF THE NIGHT award!
Notice the cross-dressing lead guy on the banjo...and the
young girl's head is shaved to the scalp, except in the
center, where it's pulled back into a ponytail. The music
wasn't even good, but people stood around just to
look at them!



We finally headed back to the hotel, and thought we'd do a movie or something, but were so tired from all the day's events, we called it a night.

THE NEXT DAY, we headed out to Cafe Du Monde to enjoy the famous Beignets (fried bread covered in a ridiculous amount of powdered sugar).

Unfortunately, the line was at least 100 people long, wrapping around the building, and it was outdoors in the heat, and we were hungry. So...we took a picture of somebody else's biegnets, and headed across the street to the "Rivers Edge" Restaurant for some breakfast. As it turned out, "Big mistake...HUGE!" (Pretty Woman) because the food was very mediocre, and the service was terrible.



This guy was outside the "Rivers Edge"
Restaurant, miming, dancing, and decked
out in this HOT silver gear. We felt sorry for
him, but he was fun to watch!



Look closely at this statue -- notice the
"drunk" sleeping it off at the bottom of
the statue? Christine insisted I document
this as a lesson learned from the wild night
parties we saw the night before!

Then we headed down to Jackson Square -- where there were beautiful buildings including restaurants, and a very old cathedral.

The Saint Louis Cathedral (why it's not called the New Orleans Cathedral we'll never know) is the oldest continually operating cathedral in the United States. It was originally built in 1715, and has been added to and remodeled many times over the years.



(Isn't this a great photo -- if I do say so myself?!)
We went inside the cathedral, and they were holding Mass. We
stood against the wall because the pews were full! The stain
glass windows were beautiful! And the sermon being
preached was right on track about how everyone should live
their religion all the time, because whether you do or you don't
you are being a missionary for SOMETHING.

After about 20 minutes of the sermon, we snuck out, and kept walking down to see what other fascinating things we could find. Christine spotted this little antique shop, and she was smitten...! After all, there were lots of "shiny things" in here, so we just had to stop. Plus, there was dog...she has no will power whatsoever.



Christine had to have some of the "shiny things," so she
got some fun crystal she can hang in her bedroom window.



We got to be missionaries a bit, because when the store clerk asked us where we were originally from (Utah and California), I believe that's how it came up that we were Mormons. He said he always appreciated how the Mormons have done so much family history research, and share it with the world. He brought it up a couple of times in our conversation. He was nice, and fun to talk to, and gave us extra customer service in preparing the crystals for hanging. He called the service a funny word, which of course, I can't remember...


We stopped in this little artist's store, and I tried to take photos
of some of the bright, wild things in there, but the lady stopped
me and said "photos of the artist's work were not allowed."
So we looked around a bit. One of the things they had there were
all shapes and sizes of "big lipped" dolls, and we snuck a photo
outside the shop, which shows one in the window.



Another horse & carriage we didn't ride...

Then, alas, we had to head back to the hotel, and get our car, and head home...we hit the road, and cranked up the fabulous tunes again. Alycia sang along with us, of course.


We rocked out to 70's music:
Seals & Crofts, Boston, Journey, America,
Jim Croce, Bread, Doobie Brothers,
Michael McDonald, and lots of others,
and some "soul" music Christine brought.
Seriously, we sang all the way there, and
all the way home. We shoulda been sangers!

I might have fallen asleep for a moment or two along the way home, but Christine's constant swerving and slowing down severely and suddenly woke me up, so we were good.

We stopped for dinner at Cracker Barrel, and enjoyed one last hurrah before we got back home and back to the reality of needing to eat healthy and behave ourselves!

What a great time!! SAME TIME NEXT YEAR, and in 2011 Alycia has to come for real! We'll even share our beef jerky, Oreos, celery sticks, and sunflower seeds...!