it happens to everyone, right?!

Ok, so let's say you're coming up to a red light and you think you've stopped but you're still rolling and you touch the bumper of the guy in front of you...or you're parallel parking and bump into the bumper of the car right behind you...or you see a friend in front of you and, as a joke, you bump their bumper to get their attention and then you laugh and wave. It's happened to all of us, right? That's what the bumper is there for--to absorb those little "taps" that happen occasionally! It's nothing to get worked up about...and it's NOTHING to call the freaking police about, right?! well, if you were the yahoo i bumped yesterday, that would be WRONG! Lets call the cops and get an accident report...and get you a ticket, Missy! UGH!

Here's the story: I was at an intersection in Lafayette and we were stopped for a red light. I saw the cars start to move on the side of me and in front of us so i started to apply the gas when I realized that the car directly in front of me wasn't moving yet. I immediately hit my breaks but i don't break before TOUCHING his back bumper. It was so light, i didn't even think he'd get out of the car...but he did so i did. There was absolutely NO damage! not even paint transfer! I think he got the lovebugs that were on the front of my car and that's it! And then he's talking about how he's ok--not hurt or anything--but he's shaken up! (GIVE ME A BREAK! It was LESS than a tap!) But it's his wife's car so he needs to call her to see what she wants him to do. He then tells her he was REAR-ENDED (a LITTLE harsh for what really happened) but there was no damage and wants to know what he should do. So she--having not seen anything and going solely on his overblown description of what happened--says he should call the cops and get an accident report done so that, if they ever want to sell the car, there's an accident file on record saying what happened if there's any damage to the vehicle! (Are you following that screwed up logic?! So now there WILL be a mark on the carfax for the car...idiots!)

So then he doesn't want to move the vehicles and we're causing traffic to back up during the lunch hour...so after about 10 minutes, he calls his wife again and asks if its ok to move the cars out of the road and she tells him yes, so we move the cars! (Are you picking up on one of my big issues with this fella?!) So then we wait 45 freakin' minutes for a cop to arrive! When he does, it is THE cutest cop that I've ever seen in Lafayette! He's really nice but i think he was secretly rolling his eyes at the accident he was having to report. He has us both fill out our descriptions of what happened and proceeds to type it all up. He gives the guy his insurance stuff back and then he gives me mine along with a ticket and tells me that we really didn't need to call the police if there's no damage! I agreed and said that it was the other guy's decision! He was really sweet and told me to call my insurance and just let them know how minor it was. I think he felt silly for giving me the ticket, but once they're on the scene, they have to file the report and give the ticket. On the ticket where it asks about the amount of damage, he wrote in "none!" I love that! There wasn't even an option for that and he had to write it by hand!

It was SO completely ridiculous! It was a tap! You're supposed to get out of your car, check for damage, and then just wave and say "No worries!" This is what normal people do, anyway! I hit the one panzi who couldn't think for himself and had to have his wife tell him what to do! UGH!!! Anyone have any advice on who I could talk with to get the charges reduced to a non-moving violation?! I mean, seriously!

delayed reaction

Hi there, long-lost readers...or perhaps it has been I who's been lost?! May is always a ridiculous time of year for all of the end-of-school hoo-rah. My blogging absence has been partially because, after sitting at the computer for HOURS on end trying to design a semester exam that my students could have a fair shot at passing (which is NOT an easy task as my students were not really the "academic" type to begin with and I just cannot make a 'gimme' test to save my life!), I just didn't have the interest or wherewithal to compose intelligent and meaningful insights into my life! (Ha!) And then partially because my friend Sherry tagged me in her blog and I've been stuck as to what I might reveal about myself in my response! School has been out for one week now and summer boredom has set in, so I thought I'd take a moment to catch up on my lapsed blogging responsibilities...first order of business: the tag!

The instructions about this tag are pretty simple. I believe I'm just supposed to reveal three random things about myself...but that gets harder when I consider all of the things I've already blogged about in this forum! Lets take a jog down memory lane, shall we? WAY back in the infancy of my blog, I waxed eloquently upon the magic and wonder of Crayola Color Wonder markers (one of my favorite posts, I must say!) That first year of my blog gave me an opportunity to remember my Dad's legacy. I wrote about the impending doom and then the resulting catastrophe of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. On the lighter side, I also wrote about the crushes I'd developed on local and national meteorologists (with an oh-so-embarrassing response from said local meteorologist!) as a result of the obsessive amounts of storm coverage I was watching! As I look back and reminisce, I realize that I've covered many of the significant and not-so-significant moments of my life for the past 3 1/2 years. There have been times when I didn't feel comfortable revealing details, but I have used my blog to express the emotion I felt through the experiences...it's been a good place for me. I've definitely slowed down from my 'blog twice every day' momentum of the first year, but I have tried to stay somewhat consistent in my efforts!

And so now I must come up with three random things about myself to satisfy this tagging! Hmmm...I have thought about this for a while, but I'm afraid I've not come up with anything particularly exciting or revealing! My disclaimer thus given, I will begin!

1. I am ridiculously "connected": I have a blog, a myspace, a facebook, a blackberry curve (which I LOVE and which allows for a much more enjoyable texting experience!), and I twitter! I'm sure that there is more that I could do, but I thing I have my hands full at the moment!

2. I absolutely love, love, love LOST! Maybe it's the literature-lover in me, but I find the storyline absolutely fascinating! The writers have done such a good job of developing the characters in surprising and unexpected ways, yet still in keeping with who they are as characters within the storyline. And the storyline has expanded SO much since its inception! It's been a wild ride, but one I plan to stay on until the bitter end! I cannot wait to see how it's all resolved...but that will also be a VERY sad day! I also have a pretty significant crush on Henry Ian Cusick who plays Desmond (He also played Jesus in The Visual Bible: The Gospel of John) and I was quite relieved to find that he survived the season finale! ha!

3. If I could be independently wealthy and have whichever career I choose, I would become a professional photographer. I am well aware that with all of the advances in photography equipment and technology, this is a common interest for many...but count me in with that lot! I remember saying that I wanted to be a photographer when I was in junior high but dad said that I shouldn't make a career out of a hobby (dad-speak for "get a real job!") so I planned a career all around my love of academia, reading and literature! ha! But I've always loved photography. I am still very much a novice and I just don't devote enough time or effort to develop my skills, but it's fun to noodle around with a camera in my hand and see what I come up with! I am the most neurotic event photographer you could probably ever have, but I think the end shots are reasonably well-done. I like photographing people best. I enjoy scenic photography, but I think I prefer the range of expression in portrait and candid photography. Of course, I'd also love to try my hand at travel photography...which is a big part of where the 'independently wealthy' qualification would come in handy! ha! My nephew Grayson is my most common subject, so I thought I'd include a few of my favorite shots of him. (These were taken with my Canon Powershot A520 point-and-shoot. I have a Nikon N80 film slr...haven't yet upgraded to a dslr. I'm making myself learn the basics on film first!)

Ok, that's three random facts! These may not be particularly new or insightful, but I've fulfilled the tag and now I can move on to other things!! ha! ...and I'm not so great at tagging other people, so I'll let that go for now, but comment back and let me know if you choose to participate in this blogging foolishness!!

seizing the day...whatever that means

Have you ever had a day where you feel like you're being beat over the head with some particular message? Over and over, from every different angle...today has been one of those days for me. Well, it's been something that's been in the back of my mind for the last couple of weeks, but today has been a solitary, reflective sort of day where I feel like I'm drowning in this theme of seizing the day and not allowing the moment to pass you by. It's been in everything from the cartoon that was playing on noggin when I turned the tv on this morning (my nephew was here yesterday and that was the channel the tv was on when I turned it off...I do not really watch noggin on a regular basis!) to the movie that I caught the last 30 minutes of this afternoon; it was the theme of three of this week's tv shows that I tivo-ed and watched today (yes, I watched a lot of tv today!) it was in the statuses of facebook friends and the particular Post Secret cards that caught my eye...it just seems like that message is everywhere today: Carpe Diem. Do what matters now. Don't let the moment pass you by!

And I think I've picked up on this theme so readily because that it has been my heart's cry (yes, heart's cry--it may sound cheesy but I don't know how else to say it!) for the past few weeks--longer, really. I try not to talk about it too often because it seems to be a reoccurring yet never-quite-satisfied longing which everyone is probably sick of hearing about, but it hasn't gone away...do they ever? But the thing I struggle with is not knowing WHAT it is that I'm longing for. What will satisfy me at that soul-level? I feel paralyzed by indecisiveness! I would go after it full-force...if I only knew what I was going after!

I've always been curiously drawn to this passage in Proverbs 13: 12 which says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." I'm drawn to it because I feel like my hope is deferred and my heart is sick, but I don't know what I'm longing for! I long for fulfillment and purpose. I want to do something that makes a difference. I want to have meaningful interactions with strangers and colleagues and friends. But I don't know how to make that happen! My days so often unravel into a jumble of frustration and disappointment and I definitely don't feel like I'm "sucking the marrow out of life."

For so long I've done what I thought I was supposed to do. I'm a rule-follower at heart, and I don't know how to function when I'm not following the rules. But I feel like, in order to truly do those things--in order to really live life--I'm gonna have to make choices that won't please everyone...and I've been a people-pleaser for so long. I've lived my life playing it safe...and I'm realizing that it hasn't gotten me anywhere I want to be. I chose teaching because it was safe and practical--teaching is a great job for a mom, ya know. Except I haven't become a mom...and while I love literature, I don't particularly love teaching. I am living in Lafayette because that is sensible and practical. My family is here. We all go to my mom's house for lunch every Sunday and that makes her happy. I am single because life is easier that way. I avoid intimate emotional attachments because those are often messy and involve me making myself vulnerable and bare--something I try my best never to do.

But I'm becoming aware that the safe choices I've made have, on some level, become the velvet cage in which I've enclosed myself. And I don't know what the next step needs to be. I am both ready for a change and scared to death to do anything to make that change a reality. I thought that change was going to become a reality last summer, but yet another unravelling and with it, a year of uncertainty, frustration and trial. So here we are on the cusp of another summer...back at square one, so to speak. As so I wonder: When will it come together? When will things 'click'?! What part do I have in making that happen? What part is out of my control? And why, even when I've accepted that I'm not in control, do I still feel responsible for the outcome...or lack thereof?! I realize that I'm not making much sense at all. I'm sure I'll come back and read this in the light of day and cringe at both the coherence and content...but it's what I want to express right now. It's what is real and painful at this moment. I will end with a poem by Langston Hughes which expresses these sentiments much more eloquently than I could ever hope to do:

Dream Deferred

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink
like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

ready to ride!

Grayson loves helmets...and glasses. This picture just makes me laugh! Watching him walk around with that helmet on always makes me think of Dark Helmet in Spaceballs.

it's a baby!

Erica had her ultrasound last week and we found out...it's a baby! *whew!* we were worried there for a second! More specifically, we found out that it's a boy. So, no girls in the David Hintze lineage as yet! I guess it's all up to me...hmmmm, then we might never have a girl! Anyway, here's a few pics of the little guy. I will respect his privacy and not post the "boy" shot! I do have some boundaries!!

A profile shot

The top of his head--when Grayson saw it, he said "gawww, that's big!" Where does he come up with this stuff?!

A foot

A face shot--this pic is a little creepy!

Does anyone else ever think of the episode of Friends where Rachel can't see the baby in the ultrasound when you see ultrasound pics? It always makes me laugh!

my appreciation for smart-alecks in all forms

I've been working on a poetry unit lesson on sonnets for when we go back to school (ugh!). As I was looking through some of Shakespeare's Sonnets, I ran across this one which I've always loved and thought that I would share it here with you!

"My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun"

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red:
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak,--yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go,
My mistress when she walks, treads on the ground;
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

There is no real point in using it to demonstrate any aspect of the Shakespearean Sonnet to my students because they just wouldn't get it (ugh!), but I wanted to post it here in the believe that my average reader might be a little ahead of my dear repeater freshmen!

introducing Thomas Cooper Frey

Cooper was born around 2:00pm this afternoon to my dear friend Joni (Hanks) Frey. Cooper was originally due on March 11th, but he seems to be a laid-back guy who was in no hurry to arrive--but arrive he has! Cooper is Joni and Tommy's first child. As I thought it best not to alarm a 6-hour old infant with bright camera flashes, these pics were all taken without flash in a dim hospital room...so they're a little blurry.

Joni and Cooper

Tommy and Cooper

Awwwwhhhh!

Erica and Cooper

Me and Cooper

(Erica did not have the same qualms about using a flash...and Cooper didn't seem to mind!)

I think Erica pinched him or something...

I leave you with a foot! :)

I'm sure more pictures will follow in the days and weeks ahead! You know how I love taking pictures of babies!!

Easter, part one: the hunt!

Well, of course there was a great lunch and lots of Easter candy to be had, but we start the picture-taking fest with the two big events of the afternoon: The Easter Egg Hunt and Pocking Eggs! These are the pics of the hunt. Pocking follows in a separate post.

Warning: I've posted way too many pics, but I like them all!

Eva

Grayson and Mammie are inspecting his basket.

Can you see the Easter egg? Yeah, neither could Peyton!

Presley caught on eventually!



And where was Damon during the hunt, you might ask?! hmmmm...

Easter, part 2: pocking eggs!

I don't know what y'all do with a basket full of boiled eggs, but around here we pock 'em! Pocking eggs was always a part of our Easter family get-togethers, but I'm realizing more and more how strange and unfamiliar many of our South Louisiana traditions are to outsiders, so I'll explain: (actually, the person who wrote this blog will explain!)

It works like this. You take your hard-boiled egg, and your opponent would take his. Both of you would hold them with the pointy end exposed, and the two of you would rap them together until the point of one or the other broke. The broken egg became the property of the person with the intact egg. This would go on until nobody had an uncracked egg.

Here are some pics of this strange but really fun tradition!

Erica and Presley are really excited about their freshly dyed eggs!

Peyton and Presley are modeling with the eggs!

The girls are getting the hang of it!

Explaining to Pawpaw how it's done.

I just liked Presley's expression in this one.

The victorious pock!

Grayson and mom ditched the pocking for a serious conversation.

Erica with the last egg standing!

Presley with the victorious egg!

What do you do with a bunch of cracked, hard-boiled eggs? You peel them, of course!

Eva is saying "get off me!" You can tell that she has older siblings...and a pesky Pawpaw!

Me and my mom

Evidence of my mad photography skills!

Well, I don't know about all that...but these are some pics from our "Trahan family photo shoot" at Rip Van Winkle gardens in New Iberia, LA, last weekend. We never did get a good family pic--2-year-olds can be a bit temperamental--but we got some cute shots of Grayson.