After our breakfast of beignets in Baton Rouge, (say that five times fast) Cam took us on a tour of the LSU campus.
He was happy to be back on campus.
We walked by the football and basketball stadiums.
And tried to see Mike the Tiger but I guess he was inside.
We walked over to where they play baseball.
Cam watched some players warming up.
Cam and Sam shared some Tiger spirit.
It was a nice afternoon.
Friday will be my last day as your aide, but not as your friend. 
After much deliberation, I have decided to resign from my position as an instructional aide at Recently, I earned my substitute teaching credentials. My idea is that if I leave the part-time aide position, I should be able to work full-time as a substitute teacher for the district. The additional money I could make would allow me to stay home with my nine-year-old son, Sam this summer.
Hopefully, I will still be at Bel Aire on a regular basis, just in a different role. I have already been asked to work at as a substitute teacher here in February and have dates at other schools as well.
Almost a month ago, we woke up in Lafayette, Louisiana and headed towards Baton Rouge to see where Cam earned his undergrad degree and more importantly eat beignets.
They weren't on Cam's food list but earned honorable mention on Eric's.
On the way, we drove for miles on an elevated highway over the swamp. It was amazing.
Our plan was to get beignets at one of Cam's old haunts, the Coffee Call. When we got there, Cam learned that a Wal-Mart had taken its place.
But all was not lost; they had built a new Coffee Call in the same shopping center.
Cam was pleasantly surprised with the interior. (Do you see him in line?)
They were so, so good.
I had to stop uploading pictures last weekend after seeing these and go make French toast.
I stuffed it with Mascarpone Cheese flavored with brown sugar and vanilla.
Sam and Cam thought it was good that way but the thought of these beignets made me want a sprinkle of powdered sugar on my French toast.
I added extra fresh blue berries for good measure.
After enjoying our po-boys, we took a stroll through a park Cam played in as a child.
We saw a mama duck and her ducklings.
These geese remind me of the talking geese from some animated movie. Charlotte's Web maybe?
Sam is so brave.
Fearless.
Powerful.
Happy.
Beautiful.
When Cam was asked to name his top of "Five Foods to Eat Before you die," #1 on his list was an oyster po-boy in Lafayette, Louisiana. Apparently, there are several good places to get one there. After our visit to Shadows on the Teche, Cam took us to Olde Tyme Grocery. I should have taken a picture of what the place looked like inside. It was packed to the max. After we decided what we wanted, Sam and I escaped to the tables outside while Cam placed our order.
You can see the eager grin of anticipation and enthusiasm over the sandwich and the availability of Zapps Potato chips.
Ready for my second bite of the oyster po-boy. Wondering why I only wanted us to order one to split and I had chosen a shrimp one.
I'm not sure if the picture does the taste justice but they were good.
Do you see Cam's reflection in the door? Thanks for taking us to one of your favorite places, hon. And thanks for giving me half of the best sandwich instead of just a bite.
One of the things we enjoyed greatly on our trip to Louisiana was the native birds. This black-chinned hummingbird greeted us often by perching on the feeder right outside the window next to the dining room table.
The day after Christmas, we were treated to sweet potato pancakes for breakfast.
I wanted to spend time together but had negative feelings associated with plantations. In my mind, they are synonymous with oppression and slavery. I would have been more interested in learning about the plight of the slaves who survived on the plantation than the family who benefited from their labor.
Maybe in the week after we celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr., I can begin to read to Sam from one of the books that made an impact on me. In A Better Day Coming, Adam Fairclough educates the "general reader" about "the history of race relations since the American Civil War." Much of the information in his book was never presented to me in my educational career. I learned that there was slavery, then the Civil War, then the Civil Rights Movement and finally today. But that period of time after the Civil War where the blacks, who had been treated like property, were still horribly oppressed was skimmed over.
We talked about Barbara Ehrenreich's book Nickel and Dimed. Barbara was, "Inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which promised that a job -- any job -- could be the ticket to a better life. But how does anyone survive, let alone prosper, on six to seven dollars an hour?"
Regardless of my feelings about the ethics of the society of the time or the family who lived and operated the plantation, it is part of our history.
It was a beautiful day.
The grounds were lovely.
It was nice to have time with Jim and Liz.
And run around outside.
In my quest to find work that will allow me to make a difference, I having worked some low-paying jobs myself lately. The difference is that I don't have to. I am grateful to have been one of the lucky ones.
This week, when Barack Obama announced his historic bid for the presidency, Cam and I started reading his book, The Audacity of Hope, together. In the prologue, Obama acknowledges, "I can't help but view the American experience through the lens of a black man of mixed heritage, forever mindful of how generations of people who looked like me were subjugated and stigmatized, and the subtle and not so subtle ways that race and class continue to shape our lives."
I am thankful for the glimpse of our past I was given and hopeful that as a nation we can be kinder and more compassionate to one another in the future.
After a lovely Christmas day with Cam's Dad's side of the family, Cam & Sam headed out to the backyard pond to try their hand at fishing.
Then spent some time talking about the mechanics of casting.
Sam illustrated his casting know-how.
Then the pole was his.
Success.
Chilling.
Fishing.
I brought Sam's coat out with me but you can see how much use it was getting laying on the ground between them.
Sam moved to the other side of the gazebo to try his luck over there.
Cam got some pictures of me watching Sam untangle his line.
Then helping a bit.
While they were fishing, I decided to take advantage of the better cell phone reception outside and give my family a call. They packed up and went inside, leaving me out there talking. I was able to talk with my Grandma, Aunt Shirley, Uncle David, Aunt Gayle, Dad, Mom, Sister-in-Law and Brother.
When I woke on Christmas morning, I was greeted by the glow of the sunlight streaming through the window illuminating the table already set beautifully for Christmas dinner.
Later that morning, Cam's stepbrother, Brian and his wife, Camille joined us.
Since Cameron wasn't the youngest family member at this gathering, Sam inherited the role of Santa and distributed gifts.
Brian & Camille gave him this impressive headlamp to wear when camping, hiking, mountain biking, spelunking and all sorts of nighttime adventures.
Jim tried out his new iPod nano. He and Liz were each given one by Brian & Camille.
While Liz was opening a present, she noticed the box was marked Toni. She said, "I used to have a Toni Doll as a little girl." She was pleasantly surprised to learn Jim had given her another.
Hearing about how I have been enjoying learning to cook Indian food lately, Eric & Sarah gave me a curry cookbook. It has lots of delicious-sounding recipes as well as information about the ingredients. The recipes are from India, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia and are broken-out by region. They gave Cam a book on Wrigley Field's history. Because Sam thinks Napoleon Dynamite is hilarious, Eric & Sarah gave him a drawing game inspired by the movie.
Each one has a strobe light weapon and launcher.
Since it had been dark when we arrived at Jim & Liz's place on December 23rd, Sam and I hadn't seen their yard yet. When I was finished with my shower on Christmas Eve morning, I noticed Cam, Sam and Jim were outside taking a walk around the pond. Before joining them, I snapped a quick picture of the view from their living room.
Then, as they rounded the bend and headed towards me, I decided to play paparazzi and see if I could get some natural photos of them together.
When I joined them outside, Jim said rain was imminent. He decided to go inside while Cam and Sam took me for a loop around the yard.
Cam shared with us his nostalgia about Spanish Moss.
Sam put on a fashion show.
Cam told Sam about how he liked to wear Spanish Moss as a wig.
He and I checked out the view of the pond from the gazebo.
This tree was my favorite of the trip. I was impressed with it in Eric & Sarah's photos and wondered where they had found such a cool looking tree. Who knew it was right in their Dad's back yard. It looks like it should be in a Dr. Seuss book to me.
Strangely, I prefer the Spanish Moss on a tree rather than my head.
Sam wanted me to take his picture in front of "his favorite tree of all time."
So, here is the boy in front of his favorite tree.
And a shot of the gazebo from across the pond.
Last summer? During Hurricane Katrina? Jim and Liz's pond flooded. Despite valiant efforts to save it, the ecology hasn't been the same since. Jim decided to give it a rest and see what nature could do to heal the damage. Algae covers most of the surface. It is lovely in its own way. He joked that he turned the pond red for Christmas.
It did look like it could start pouring any minute.
Soon after we made our escape into the warmth of the house, it did start to rain.
The top picture is of Jim & Liz swimming with a dolphin.
Cam figured we could do our tour of Lafayette from the car in the rain. It was nice to see his childhood home. I have heard many happy stories about time spent here. He said his parents planted the trees in the front yard.
We stopped by a church that had been important to him. We sat in the sanctuary admiring the stained glass windows and listening to some guys practice their organ & trumpet duet in preparation for the evening's service.
After finding a couple of Cam's favorite places to eat closed, we decided to stop at Zeus Cafe, a Greek restaurant. One review says, "They mingle and move throughout the restaurant and dance right at your table. I am 
After lunch, we drove out to see where Cam went to school. I can't remember the name of the place right now but I know the time he spent there was very important to him.
That afternoon, Jim suggested he, Sam & Cam go shopping for some bait in hopes of doing some fishing on Christmas day. The container Sam is holding would house crickets.
Alas, the bait shop was closed. Sam & Cam scoured the yard, driveway and sidewalks for worms. It was either too cold or the robins beat them to most of the big, juicy ones.
When we returned, Jim had hot chocolate waiting for us and Liz had made a wonderful crab and corn bisque for dinner.
After dinner, Jim showed us the pictures of their recent trip to China. I was most impressed by the landscape.
As Cam said, it has been busy lately. Yesterday, we took a deep breath and let out a sigh of relief at the emptiness of our house and January's calendar. The couple of months around the holidays have been exhilarating and exhausting.
Our first stop was at Acadian Village. "An entire 19th century bayou town which has been restored to depict the life of Acadians in southern Louisiana. Buildings include homes, blacksmith shop, general store and a chapel..." They decorate the place with lights at Christmas time. I forget the number but I think Liz said they promised a million lights. For some reason, this simple house was one of my favorites.
I don't have a good grasp of Acadian history but what I understand is that a community of French immigrants who originally settled in Nova Scotia around 1600 were run out of their communities for refusing to swear loyalty to the British who were taking over. In and around 1755, Acadian families were deliberately separated by the British, "settlements and farms were burned, men and boys were separated from women and children."
Liz and Cam talk outside this home. Note the stairs outside the residence. I was told this was common practice though whether it was an attempt to keep more of their money (Jim said there was a tax per internal stairwell.), provide additional privacy for the upstairs residents or other reasons, I don't really know. I did think it was interesting.
After stretching our legs and getting into the Christmas spirit. Jim & Liz took us out for a delicious dinner at a local tavern with a distinctly Cajun feel.
These guys playing Cajun music while the kids did the two-step gave a nice added touch to the atmosphere.
Our plane from Dallas was over 48 hours late taking off.
In Dallas, we were able to spend an afternoon, an evening and a morning with my Dad, Mom, Aunt Alice and Uncle Suvid. We were only supposed to have had a few hours with them so the extra time was a bonus. My mom said her wish came true.
We also spent an afternoon, evening and morning with our friends Pablo and Kristie. We had tried to stop by their house for a quick hello on our way into the city but hadn't been able to make it happen. Seeing them was quite a treat.
The entire trip was full of many wonderful exper-
