You don't know what you've got until it's gone!

I'm in love y'all. I'm in love with the state of Louisiana...all over again. I love the smell of the fresh cut grass in Daddy's yard. I love the site of all the tractors pulling trailers full of cut sugarcane.  I love sitting in my Sisters room drinking bloody Mary's, eating sour cream & onion Ruffels and watching Twilight and New Moon with her.
I love cleaning Daddy's house and cooking dinner for my Sister and my Dad and "doting" on them. I love calling my Son and telling him that "Momma cooked supper if you want to come by." And him showing up 30 minutes later and watching him eat two plates of food.

I love sitting in my Sisters bedroom floor with Rusty and downloading music for him. Just sitting next to him and smelling the diesel fuel smell on his work uniform. I love just sitting next to him and hearing his deep voice telling me about his day at work.

I love walking outside and seeing the fields of Sugarcane. I love driving across the bayou and seeing a boat full of people getting ready to go out fishing. I love seeing my bff, my Nieces and their children. I love my Great Niece walking up to me today and saying "Taunte (Aunt) Dionne, where's my hug and where's my kiss?" (Just makes my heart swell.

I love getting messages from my Nephew who has been offshore since the day before I got here telling me that he'll be home on Thursday and that he can still pierce my Tragus and my ears for me if I still want him to.

I love that I'm thinking of taking off by myself tomorrow and going to Lake Fausse Point State Park (my favorite place in the world to go hiking!!!) just to see the beauty of my home state.

The longer I'm here, the more I realize what I love about this state, and how damn much I miss it!

Update on my trip home...and Pics!

Hi everyone, man how I've missed blogging. But, I'm home and I'm having a blast! I wanted to share some pics of my trip! I've got a bunch so I'll only put a few here for now! I've been posting them all on FB for those of you who are on my friends list!

Leiah and I were supposed to meet up this past weekend but she's been having a really rough go of it the last couple of weeks and couldn't make it. If y'all know her, go by and show her some love!!

Here's the pics that I've got for now!

These are just some of the foods that I've been eating since I got here. Yes people, I'm going to weight a damn ton by the time I leave here!

 This a a half of a cheese burger Poboy from Bon Creole. There are three burgers on this thing! Can you imagine a whole one? Whew! I couldn't even eat half of it (thank God!) but dang was it good! Y'all know I'm not big on seafood, but if you're ever in New Iberia, Louisiana then you've got to stop at Bon Creole. Look at their shrimp poboy... (again, this is a half of one of their poboys!!!)

Yes! There really is that much shrimp on one of them! It's literally falling off!! This is a whole seafood poboy from Bon Creole...

 Boudin balls. This was the first thing I went and got to eat after getting into town. I could live off of these, no lie! If you don't know what boudin is, this is what it looks like....

 Boudin is a "sausage" that has rice and pork with green onions and seasonings in it. It's almost like "dirty rice" sausage. They take it out of the casing and then batter it and fry it to make boudin balls. They taste like heaven!!

Crispy chicken LoMein from Kim's! They just don't know how to make Chinese food in North Carolina people!

 And I couldn't forget their chicken fried rice!

My brother in law's famous beef spare ribs bbq'd. So damn yummy!

This past friday night they had the boat parade for the sugar cane festival and my sister and her husband had a party at their house. They have their yacht parked behind their house on the bayou and we all climbed aboard and watched the parade and bbq'd! Tomy (my BIL) bbq'd some hot tamales! I wish I would have taken some pics of them. They tasted amazing! I wish I would have taken pics!!

Like I said y'all, I'm gonna weigh a damn ton by the time I get home lol!

I'd planned on posting more pics than just food pics, but I'm getting tired and I've got to get up kind of early tomorrow! Gonna see if I can talk my bff into going hiking with me at my favorite spot! I'll be sure to take lots of pics!

I miss y'all!!

I'm on my way....almost.

Tomorrow morning I have to be at the airport at 4am. I'll be home by 11am. I'm so excited I can't stand it. Two whole weeks with my boy, two whole weeks with my Dad, two whole weeks with my Sisters, my Nieces, my Nephew. My home.

I'll be there on my Mom's birthday, which means that I can go to the cemetery and "visit" her grave. I'll be there for my Sister Diann's birthday, so I'll get to celebrate with her. I'll be there for the Sugarcane festival, which means that I'll get to party like there's no tomorrow.

I also get to meet Leiah during the festival. She's driving down to celebrate the festival with me. It seems like we've been planning this forever lol. Can't wait to meet her.

I found out yesterday that My Aunt (Mom's Sister) and my Cousin Michael and his wife are going to be leaving to drive from Tennessee to Louisiana the day before I leave to come home. So I MAY be staying in Louisiana for three weeks. I haven't seen my Aunt in 11 years. Since my Mom's funeral. I haven't seen Michael in probably 14 years. So I'm going to try to stay for another week to have a "mini family reunion!" Yay!

That also means that I'll be in town for the 21st Annual World Championship Gumbo Cookoff. You can read all about it here. Amazing food, amazing fun. Looking forward to that too.

All in all it should be an amazing trip. There's so much to look forward to for me! I'm gonna miss the hell out of Mr Luvah Lucah, and my puppies though!

I'm a hot mess with nervous energy. I'm ready to go. I'm all packed up (totally over packed, as usual) and ready to go. Have I mentioned that I'm ready to go?

I'm not sure how much I'll be blogging while I'm gone, but I'll try to keep you all up to date! Take care y'all!

FYL Blog Hop...I get to meet this lovely lady in 10 (or 11??) days!!

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This week my guest poster is none other than Leiah. She's a fellow Cajun that I met here on blogger. We hit it off and have been friends since then.

I will actually have the pleasure of meeting her in a couple of weeks when I go home to Louisiana to visit my family. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am about that!!
After my surprise wore off when Dionne asked me to do this, I knew exactly what I wanted to write about. Since she is the Homesick Cajun after all, I wanted to put into words just what life in Louisiana is like. Unfortunately my words weren’t doing justice to the Bayou State.

Then I remembered Mr. Johnny Janot. Mr. Johnny was born in Eunice, Louisiana and was a recording artist before he became a successful deejay. One of his most famous songs was called ‘I’m Proud to be a Cajun’ and there is a line in there that says it better than I ever could – “Trying to explain it to someone who knows nothing of the Cajun culture would be difficult. So much of it is carried in one’s heart and mind, that it’s so hard to put into words but perhaps a few of these things might help to explain.” He then goes on to list why he’s proud to be a Cajun.

So with that in mind I decided if I couldn’t put into words just how special life in Louisiana is, then I would have to let my photographs do it for me.

One of my favorite things to do is get in the car with no particular destination in mind and let the roads take me where they want. I’ve come across things that seem to be frozen in time. I’ve discovered some of the most beautiful old homes you’ve ever seen. More importantly, I’ve come to realize that after taking one of these drives I’m completely relaxed and not at all hurried. That’s the thing about Louisiana – life seems to move at a slower pace down here.
With that said, on what is for most the worst day of the week - take some time, enjoy that cup of coffee, take a slow deep breath and relax. Even if only for a few minutes, enjoy a little glimpse of what living in Louisiana is like.



Thank you asking me to be a part of this and I hope you all enjoy this look into what we think is a little slice of Heaven on earth.

Leiah, thank you so much for agreeing to do a guest post for me! I've never heard the song in the video before, and now...I'm in love with it! See you in a couple of weeks girl!!

I'm slacking, I know! But...I got two new tatt's! Lol...

Seriously, I know I've been slacking. I've just being going through some personal stuff that I can't talk about here. Never know who's prying eyes are watching if you know what I mean. And I'm sure that there are at least a couple of people who would love to see me blab about it here, just so it would cause more damn drama. Not gonna happen, move along.

Anydramafreelife, Friday I got inked again. Yup! Ha! I love it! I got two new tattoos! And you know that I just had to show 'em to y'all!

My Mom always said that if she would have know that she was having four girls she would have named us Faith, Hope, Charity and Miracle. So, I've been wanting to get a tattoo for my two older sisters for some time now. They're ALWAYS there for me. Even when we fight. Even when we argue. I'd be lost without them.

I didn't want to put Denise and Diann on me though. Lol...that might look a little funny. Anyway, this is what I did instead!

I'm so in love with those fleur de lis! One of them is lime green and the other is ocean blue. My sisters favorite colors!

 Kind of hard to see, but a little closer!

So, that's what I've been up to. As of tomorrow morning I'll have only a week left before I leave to go home for my visit with my family. So freakin' excited about that. Though I'm at the stage where all I can think about is how much I'm gonna miss my gorgeous hubby while I'm gone! It sucks being away from him for that long!

Hope you're all doing well!

PINT

One of My Favorite People....

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Here you go! :) Tell me what you think and/or if you want it to be longer? Love ya.

Ahhh . . . Where to start?

I don't even remember when or how I came to meet this wonderful lady I am honored to call friend or as I affectionately call her, "Momma".

This is truly a special friendship. We've written back and forth so many times and I've confided some pretty heavy stuff, but I know she will never betray our bond and friendship. I thank you for that Momma!

When she asked me if I would guest post over here I was thrilled! I knew exactly which of my posts I wanted her to showcase. It is one of my "work in progress" posts because I'm always adding new things to it!

Workplace Solutions to Increase Productivity 

I'm constantly trying to think of ways or incentives that will increase employee productivity. Here are a couple of ideas I have mulled over in my head.

My first idea is to allow employees to drink on the job. Not get outright smashed at your desk or anything, but enjoy a drink or two in the morning and a drink or two in the afternoon at your desk. BYOB, by the way. Here's the catch . . . If you appear intoxicated or can't function, you get sacked. The idea is that everyone will be way more relaxed and not so stiff, creating a more friendly ambiance, thereby bringing up office morale. Additionally, everyone will be in fear of getting sacked for being intoxicated that everyone will work even harder.

Whenever the holidays or my birthday roll around everyone always asks, "What can I get you? What would you like?" I always say, "An emergency martini kit for my desk." No one has listened so far, except for my Momma Carol, but she made me promise to take it home.

My second idea is to let everyone take a mental health day once a month. It will not be counted against your vacation or sick time. It's a free day that you can use as you please. The idea is that employees will look look forward to having one day off a month and will be less prone to take a sick day to go have some fun when they know they'll have this free day at their disposal. The catch . . . No pending items on your desk. A free day once a month as long as all your crap is done? Productivity will go through the roof.

Third (and final) idea. Allow each employee to telecommute at least once a month. Who wouldn't love to work on an item while lounging at home in your pajamas? Here's the catch . . . You must readily be available on your mobile phone and have access to a computer during your normal work hours. Employees won't feel as stressed out having to get to the office in the morning and save money on gas. Those living in a cave without computers or cell phones . . . You miss out!

Yea, yea . . . I know . . . I'm a daydreamer . . .

Added July 28, 2009

I can't believe I hadn't thought of this before. A designated area for people to take naps (during their breaks and lunch times, of course) if they so choose. BYOPnB - Bring Your Own Pillow and Blanket. If we had one of those, I wouldn't have fallen asleep in my non-airconditioned car in the parking lot today, with the windows cracked (for fear of being in the ghetto), under the shade of a tree (in our otherwise barren parking lots where shady spots are a freakin' commodity), and woken up all sweaty and gross feeling. At least I felt rested. I felt even better after sitting in front of the fan and drinking a bottle of cold water.

Added August 12, 2009

Hour lunches all around! The office completely shuts down at 12:00 p.m. That way you can have lunch with whomever you would like to have lunch with without having to rearrange the entire office lunch schedule. That is all.

Added October 26, 2009

Monday work hours should be cut down from eight hours to six hours. Offices would simply open two hours later on Monday. That way no one would hate Mondays and no one would come in all freakin' groggy and hating life. Did I neglect to mention this would fall under 'Perks' so (in true Meeko Fabulous fashion) nobody's pay would be affected.

Added February 10, 2010

First off, NO CLOSED DOOR MEETINGS. This has been a recent development in my office. It's bad for morale. The people behind closed doors may be discussing their freakin' vacation plans for all I know, but the rest of us that are sitting out here are sitting wonder what the Hell it is that we did wrong each time that door closes. I believe in an open door policy. There is no need for secrets. It's bad for morale and doesn't make people feel like they are included as part of the staff. I know there are certain things that have to be discussed confidentially, but I'm sure it would be different if the door closed and people felt safe in this office and not as if they have to constantly be watching their backs.

Second, no one is allowed to talk to anyone until they've had at least one cup of coffee. What's that you say? You gave up caffeine? Don't give me that crap. Fine. Don't talk to ME until I've had at least one cup of coffee, k?

Meeko, thank you so much for agreeing to be my very first guest poster! Love you boo!