Phoebe took care of her own appt!

She wanted to schedule a hair cut. So I told her now that she’s driving and getting close to graduating, she could begin to handle those tasks. She scheduled her appt with Ulta earlier this week and today was her appt . She officially handled it and came back with a super cute cut. ❤️

It's true y'all, life is what you make it.

It really is our choice. 

If you choose to be happy, you'll find the good in everything. 

If you choose to be miserable, you'll find the bad in everything. 

We've got one chance at this thing called life, let's make the best of it. 

No one wants to hear us complaining, putting others down, claiming to be better than others. We're all human, maybe not all are humane, but we are human. We all breathe air, have hearts, we come from our mother's womb, and we are all mortal. The only thing that makes us seem different are our situations and our choices. 

And remember, the worst prison is living in fear of what others think. 

Be happy. Be kind. Be helpful. Take pride in who you are. Be trustworthy. 

I found my happy when I was able to be myself, 100%. Not living up to anyone's expectations but my own. Having open and honest communication, barking at the cat, acting like a kid, laughing a lot. Sure, it's not perfect, but that would make things boring! 

I choose to be myself and I choose to be happy. I hope you'll do the same. 

And stop judging others, you really don't know their situation. Some are too ashamed to share because of the fear of being judged. Stopping to lend a hand speaks so much higher than speaking down about someone. 

Rest In Peace Miss Jane aka Mimi

https://obits.nola.com/us/obituaries/nola/name/jane-philibert-obituary?id=35274432

Jane Vanderbrook Philibert, age 74 of New Orleans, passed away Saturday, June 11, 2022. She was a graduate of Francis T. Nichols High School, where she was on the flag team, and The University of New Orleans. Jane was a member of Alpha Xi Delta Sorority and served as Chapter Advisor for many years after graduating. Jane worked at Tulane University in the Business Library for 20 plus years, Louisiana State Attorney General Office and several lawyers in the New Orleans area until retiring to take care of her mother. Jane was known for her homemade fudge, bacon wrapped breadsticks, dirt cake and over the top birthday celebrations for people. She had a flare for attire that went with any holiday or occasion. She was a die-hard Mardi Gras fan, attending and participating in parades since she was a little girl. She was a member of the crew of Pandora and then the crew of Iris until her last ride in 2019. Preceded in death by her parents Edward Joseph and Doris (Born) Vanderbrook, Jr. She is survived by her son Rudolph L. Philibert, Jr; 2 grandsons, Aidan Edward, and Evan Brock Philibert, her brother Edward Joseph Vanderbrook, III and his wife Darlene, her nephew Edward Joseph Vanderbrook, IV and his wife Kellie and her great nephew Edward Joseph Vanderbrook, V, sister-in-law Elisa Philibert Siragusa along with other family members and many friends. Her son asks that anyone attending her services please bring some small token of remembrance of Jane: i.e., something Mardi Gras themed or something that depicts how you remember her. Relatives and friends are invited to attend a Funeral Mass at 11:00 am on Saturday, June 25, 2022, in the J. Garic Schoen Chapel of Jacob Schoen & Son, 3827 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA 70119. Visitation will begin at 9:00 am. Interment will be in St. Vincent de Paul #2 Cemetery. To view the Mass via livestream and sign the family guestbook, please go to www.schoenfh.com.

RIP Grandma Gioia

https://obits.nola.com/us/obituaries/nola/name/eleanor-gioia-obituary?id=51520962&utm_source=webshareapi&utm_medium=share_button&utm_campaign=wsapimobile_beta

Eleanor Barrios Gioia passed away on Monday, March 27, 2023 in Covington, Louisiana, at the age of 94. She was born on Monday, May 28, 1928 and was a native of Triumph, LA, a former resident of St. Bernard, Slidell and Picayune, MS, and a current resident of Ponchatoula, LA. She was a very loving, caring, and nurturing mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and great great grandmother who would do anything for her family. She loved visiting with her children, her grandchildren, and their families, especially the family crawfish boils, crab boils, and family vacations. She hosted the best Thanksgiving and Christmas parties at her home for her family. Eleanor was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Joseph C. Gioia, Sr.; son-in-law, John Walsh, III; parents, Victoria Ancalade Barrios and Justin Barrios; brothers, August Barrios, Evon Barrios, and Lloyd Barrios; sisters, Jane Henderson, Joyce Matthew, and Thelma Hingle; and great grandson, Kail Joseph Verdon. She is survived by her devoted children, Adeline Walsh, Linda Hughes (Harry, Sr.), Joseph Gioia, Jr. (Lou), Michael Gioia, Sr. (Tessie), Dominick Gioia, Sr. and Penny Erato (Paul); grandchildren, Harry Hughes, Jr., John "Jay" Walsh, IV, Joseph Gioia, Jr., Corey Hughes, Sr., Michael Gioia, Jr., Shannon Verdon, Carlo Gioia, Scott Gioia, Christian Gioia, Eric Strother, Dominick Gioia, Jr., Jason Gioia, Justin Gioia, and Malissa Gioia; sisters, Marion Weber, Anna Bea Lightell, and Emily Lind; brother, Vernon Barrios, and many great-grandchildren, great-great grandchildren, nieces, and nephews. Relatives and friends are invited to attend the Graveside Service at Forest Lawn Cemetery, 1751 Gause Boulevard West, Slidell, LA 70460 on Saturday, April 1, 2023 at 11:00 am. A crawfish boil will follow at LN Hughes Funeral Services, 21400 South I-12 Service Road, Ponchatoula, Louisiana 70454. Share your thoughts and memories of Eleanor in her guestbook by visiting Lnhughes.com. Arrangements are entrusted to LN Hughes Funeral Services of Ponchatoula, Louisiana.

Wedding 2b

That’s what we named this event. We were both married once before and our first “ceremony” in 2019 was with the Justice of the Peace. We originally had to postpone our elopement because we wanted all 3 of our girls there. Maya wasn’t going to be able to make it for 2.25.19 due to situations beyond her control. The next year was NCA and Phoebe worked so hard with her team throughout the year, I couldn’t ask her to miss NCA. There were additional conflicts this year, so  Damian and I decided to just do it anyway! So we made a weekend of it and had our wedding photos done at the chapel we booked in 2019. I got to wear my wedding gown, feel beautiful and take nice photos with my love. The chapel has livestreams so our families were able to watch the ceremony and see me act silly as always. :) We stayed at the Sage Inn & Spa in Kyle, TX. I had my hair and makeup done at The Marquis Salon in Austin, by Emmaleigh, who was amazing. We had a couples massage Sunday morning and then met up with his friend CJ for dinner at Lambert’s. The photographer took a few pics with their cell phone so they could share those with us the day of. It was a magical, relaxing day, not an ounce of stress. It was perfect. ❤️

Photo album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/tp69Rmk3xi3h7d2L8 

Halloween 2022

We worked hard to fill these gloves with candy for the trick or treaters. Phoebe went off to a friend's house, me and Damian decided to watch a few episodes of a series, so we left the bowl outside of the door with a sign asking that they please just take one. Needless to say, kids will be kids, and the first 4 doorbell approaches, the candy filled gloves were gone. Lol! Thankfully we still had a little stash leftover from the glove filling. :) Then kids began asking for bottled water! I was like sure, anybody else want water?! I was so excited kids actually wanted water! :) Another Halloween down, another Thanksgiving around the corner!

Phoebe’s 2022 Summer

Phoebe is having the best summer and it warms my heart! Although I sure do miss my boog. 🥰

She got her drivers license when summer began. 

Beach house vacay with Nanny, Cliff and cousins. 

Hanging out with her dad in Louisiana .

Hanging out with Kinleigh, MawMaw & PawPaw in Picayune.

Driving the golf cart with PawPaw.

This kid sure does love spending time with her family. 😍 We did something right raising her! 😁  

Matthew McConaughey Remarks over Uvalde mass shooting

https://youtu.be/cJOw0XUyTQs 

Such a great message. Some things that really stood out for me were:

“We’re not as divided as they say we are”. 

“We can’t truly be leaders if we’re only living for Re-election”.

He also said that we don’t need to touch the 2nd amendment. We need to teach responsible gun ownership. We need to put background checks and other criteria in place. Someone under 21 should not be able to purchase an AR-15. 

There was no leaning left or right. He was there to help us learn more about the tragedy and the effect it had on so many. I’d tear up when he would. It was emotional to watch, but he nailed it in my opinion. Definitely worth the watch. You’ll learn more about those innocent children and teachers killed in Uvalde. 😔

Accomplishing things! 🙌🏻

Since leaving my job and becoming self employed , I’ve been accomplishing some long overdue tasks. I’m starting to feel human again. ❤️

One of the first things I tackled was to go to an allergy specialist. I’m still trying to figure out what causes my dry eye issues and redness. After 200 sticks in my back, it’s been determined that I’m allergic to CAT HAIR (the cat sleeps in our bed)! As well as mold, dust mites, certain trees, pollen, and coconut. 

I found a new PCP for Phoebe that is in The Woodlands. She’s finally scheduled for a wellness exam since Dr. Penn retired. I’m also looking at replacing her specialists with the nearby TX Children’s location. It takes 1.5 hours to get to her specialists in Houston! 

I’ve completed some Cricut projects, without rushing. 🤗

I cleaned out and donated from several rooms in the house, and the garage. 

I’ve made so much progress with organizing! Some pics below. I’m still deciding on the labels. 

My work has started to pick up rather quickly, but I’m planning to control it so I can continue to spend time on the little things! 

I was able to spend quality time with my family that was in town recently. And I get to take my mom to MDA next week with no deadline stress. ❤️🙌🏻 

Honeymoonin’ in Hawaii

Click here to see photos from our trip. Such a beautiful place 💕

Staying at The Grand Wailea resort in Maui through Saturday. Arrived Tuesday. 

https://www.grandwailea.com/

On Wednesday we went parasailing. https://ufoparasail.net/

Then went zip lining. Mac & Loki were a great zip line crew. We were with a family of 6. They were fun with great personalities. Twin boys (Jack and Owen) and 2 teens, the mom and dad. 

https://nszipline.com/?fh-u=643725f2-f980-42b2-9071-7df9607c8480

On Thursday, we walked around the shops at the Grand Wailea then went to the strip mall next to the hotel. Gucci, Louis Vuitton, etc… I didn’t dare go in those places though, lol. We had lunch at Pint and Cork which was delicious. After walking around for a while, we headed off on our next surprise adventure, which turned out to be a sunset dinner cruise. It was all so perfect! This man really gets me and puts so much thought into everything. ❤️

On Friday we drove the road to Hana. Stopped at Twin Falls to see the waterfalls. And we got some pineapple coconut ice cream (so yummy) and a pineapple smoothie. Went back to the hotel and hung out then had the concierge make us reservations at Maui Thai Bistro for dinner. And again, delicious! 

On Saturday we flew to The Big Island (Hawaii), after waiting in an insane security line! We arrived at the hotel and since it was the first hotel that we’ve seen offer room service since Covid started, we dined in. It was great. 

On Sunday we had breakfast at the hotel, in the Orchid Court. There was a short wait but the food was amazing. We headed to our next surprise adventure which turned out to be dinner and stargazing at the top of the volcano Mauna Kea. Man this guy gets me! I can’t say it enough!! ❤️🥰 They say we should expect to see 8-10 shooting stars per hour. It is the highest point above the Pacific Ocean at 13,840 ft. It rises more than 33,500 feet from base to peak. the top of the mountain and the ocean floor. 

On Monday we went on a helicopter tour of the island. Damian got me the seat next to the pilot. It was beyond amazing. I was speechless. The whole time I was thinking how much I love Damian, the thought that went into each experience is overwhelming. I am a lucky girl to have found this gem. I can only hope that I make him feel just as loved. 

After the helicopter ride, we headed back to the hotel to relax and get ready for our photo session and dinner. The photo session was fun and dinner at Browns Beach House was amazing. We sat outside with a view of the beach right after sunset. It did rain lightly on everyone a little but was still amazing. They surprised us with a dessert and wrote congratulations in chocolate on the dish. Super delicious! 

On Tuesday, he had scheduled massages for us in the morning. It was just what we needed before heading home. After the massages, we packed up and went to view our pictures from the session. We then checked out and headed to the airport. 

We returned home to be greeted by Tammy and Phoebe at the door. Phoebe put a lei around each of our necks and they had decorated the living room with Hawaiian decor as well as a pan of yummy brownies. 😁 

Rest easy, my Jackie boy

Today was one of the hardest days that we’ve faced in a long time. We had to make the decision to send JackSon across the rainbow bridge. Damian couldn’t get him to get out of bed this morning, so he laid with Jack to comfort him. It was a couple hours later that we decided it was time. He will be missed, so very much. He was one of the best dogs. My heart hurts, but it’s also full and comforting knowing how much love and attention Jack has had the past few years. At one point we tried to rehome him because we thought someone else could give him more attention than we were able to at the time. We decided that we didn’t want him to go, and we’re so thankful that we changed our minds because he made our new family complete. We are all truly heartbroken but thankful for the time that we had with him. He is and always will be part of our family. We hope you finally get some rest Jackie Boy. We woof you buddy. 🐾❤️🐾  (Sissy *Jack’s girlfriend* is pretty upset too) 🥺

So I did something for myself…

After becoming debt free, I decided to reward myself, with Jarvis. 😁 He is amazing. I ordered Jarvis at the beginning of March 2021 and he arrived on St Patrick’s Day. This has made my commute to work so much nicer. It is now something that I look forward to! I added the full self driving feature so he can take over if I start to doze off on long trips. I chose the model 3 because it’s practical for me. I don’t need sporty or performance. But I can’t complain on performance since the car can go from 0-60 in approximately 4 seconds. 😬 I’m just a gadget girl and this car is pretty much a gadget on wheels. I didn’t want to post on social media because some people aren’t in a position to get a new car. But then I also wanted to celebrate because I’ve worked hard my whole life and when you spend smart, you can afford nice things. I sacrificed a lot to get to this point, so I am proud. And so excited!! Yes, still! Even if it is going on 6 months old. 

Meet Jarvis… ❤️

Here's a link to him driving himself to me when I summoned him. :) 

https://youtube.com/shorts/wP8QrautY4g?feature=share

A few things about Jarvis:

I never have to pump gas or get an oil change.

Only maintenance is windshield wiper fluid, brakes and tires.

I have a wall charger installed at the house so he charges overnight. 

No keys! He recognizes my phone and wakes up when I’m near.

I can check the temperature before leaving work and when it shows 100 degrees!!! I can turn on the air and it cools down to 73 pretty quickly. No more sweaty Nettie! 😂

With the full self driving feature, I can summon Jarvis to come pick me up. I’ve been kind of nervous to use this but we have tried it and it works! 

Jarvis has solitaire, YouTube, Netflix and other apps that I can use while not driving. 

He has a navigation system and Caraoke! Although Phoebe doesn’t let me use the Caraoke. Lol. 

Anyway, there’s more, but I won’t continue to bore you, just reach out if you have questions!! 

Yay me! 

Jack is losing his vision 😕

We recently noticed that Jack had cataracts. His vision seems to be going rapidly. He has trouble seeing the steps by the back door at night. Breaks my heart. His sugars on the latest lab work were 677. We got him another Libre sensor to wear and the average for the past 2 weeks was 392. He seems to feel better, but we’re still having trouble controlling his glucose. Say an extra prayer for our boy. ❤️ 

This kid now has her permit... oh my!

We went today to get Phoebe's driving permit. She must complete the driver education course and 44 hours of behind the wheel parent-taught lessons by December to get her license. Make it stop y'all! It's really bittersweet... I love to see her moving forward in life and accomplishing things, but on the other hand, that means she's drifting further and further away and pretty soon won't need her momma. :( No need for me to be selfish though, I'm not going to make this about me, I'm happy for her and very proud of the young lady she's turning out to be. <3

And then Google had to go and create this! < insert crying emoji here!!!!! >

Grand Canyon & Utah Trip 5.28-5.31.21

We came in to visit with Maya and decided to go to the Grand Canyon. The view was amazing. Below is a link to pictures from our trip. We flew in to Las Vegas, drove to Hurricane, UT, then on Sunday we went to the Grand Canyon. On Monday we went out for lunch at the ramen place, did a little shopping and then stopped to have a treat at Sweet Rolled Tacos.

2020-21

I’m just going to sum up 2020-21 in this post since I’ve fallen short on blog posts. 

We moved to The Woodlands on May 23, 2020.

Phoebe started 9th grade in a new school district. At the beginning of the year, everyone did remote learning due to COVID-19. When they did return to school, they had to wear face masks. This made it hard for new friendships to develop, but Phoebe had Maya (her soon to be stepsister at the time). Then Maya had to leave TX and move to UT for the rest of the school year. Phoebe was on Strykers at Woodlands Elite, All Star Level 2. We traveled to Oklahoma, Georgia and Florida for competitions. In OK there was ice covering roadways, making it difficult for people to get an Uber to the airport. We called a taxi and we’re able to make it thankfully! Then the next weekend we flew to Atlanta, GA and we got stuck due to a bad freeze. We ended up flying to New Orleans and staying with Angel for a couple of days. 

For 9th grade, Phoebe’s grades weren’t top notch. She took 4 honors classes and one of them being Human Geography AP, which is a difficult course. She almost didn’t pass Geometry, but she pulled through at the last minute and got an 85 on her final exam. She wants to take on level classes in 10th grade and honors English. She is also attending workouts at cheer to try out for Majors, a level 4 team, per her coach’s recommendations. 

Jack is possibly insulin resistant. :-/

Jack now has Addison’s Disease due to not having enough cortisol. He had Cushing’s due to too much cortisol, but apparently the Mitotane killed too many cells in the adrenal gland, so now it’s not producing enough cortisol. He’ll be on an injection once a month for the rest of his life. We have to give him Prednisone to help restore cortisol. My poor guy, he is acting hungry and tired all of the time. I bought all of the testing supplies but still haven’t been able to get enough blood for the test strip. We got the Freestyle Libre 2 reader and sensor last week, it seems that the readings only go up to 400, so I have no idea how high his sugars are. Every time we check them, it’s at the max level of 400 on the reader. Once it did show 378 and another time 379. But other than that, it just shows HI and when I transfer the data, it shows he was exactly at 400 for all of the other tests. So I’m pretty sure it doesn’t read over 400. The vet believes he may be insulin resistant. I was thinking of purchasing the genteel device to use for testing. But what if that doesn’t work either? Then I’ll be out $70 on that. I already have the meter, test strips, lancing device and lancets not being used. It isn’t about the money, but I’ve spent close to $4k since he was diagnosed in January. My only other option would be to bring him to the vet to get tested once a week, they charge me $40 each time. But then that’s just sporadic testing and I’ll never know how his levels are at any other time. Even if I do test him and his levels are still high after taking 18U of insulin, what would I do? I already feel like he’s on a high dose. He seems miserable, he doesn’t want to play. He only gets up to eat, drink or go outside. We switched insulins from Vetsulin to Prozinc. We’re now at 18U twice a day and his reader still just shows HI. :-/ We’re injecting into the back of his neck area because that’s the only place we can get enough skin to tent. I feel like I’m failing him.

Cushing’s to Addison’s Disease

So what we were worried about happening happened. Jack began the toxic meds (Mitotane) last month to kill some cells in the adrenal gland so they wouldn't produce excess cortisol. But we had to keep an eye on him because if it kills off too many, it could be life threatening from not having enough cortisol. Yesterday Damian texted me at work saying Jack threw up 5 times. We took him to the vet, they ran tests, he's now transitioned from Cushing's Disease to Addison's Disease. We have to stop the toxic meds immediately and give him another med (Prednisone) that restores some cortisol. His diabetes still isn't under control and we've gone from 5 units twice a day to 17 units twice a day. They ran a test that shows his average glucose over the past 3-4 weeks and they said it was pretty high. Me and Damian haven’t been successful in getting enough blood for the test strips so the vet prescribed a glucose reader gadget called Freestyle Libre 2. It will send the readings to my phone after they attach it to his neck with tape. The sensor works for 2 weeks, so we’ll use this route instead of doing a glucose curve that would mean a day full of needle sticks! We are trying another insulin to see if it makes a difference. We’re close to $4k since November for our boy and he still has a long road ahead. Prayers are needed and appreciated. All I can think of now is how we stopped paying him lots of attention years back, how we got a cat when we barely had time to spend with him and then his dad leaving him behind. It all just breaks my heart. But I will try and let the good memories consume me instead of the negative. I’m just really worried and the first place we all go is “I should’ve done this or that more...”. This is hard. 

Additional info on Cushing’s & Addison’s Disease

https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/addisons-disease-in-dogs-symptoms-treatment-prevention/

Update on Jack 3/24/21

3/22/21 - after 7pm Jack vomited. 3/23/21 - had multiple accidents on the kitchen floor, wasn't interested in eating breakfast and he was drinking a lot of water again. Damian texted me around 1pm saying Jack threw up 5 times. I called the vet, they wanted us to drop him off so they could squeeze him in to be seen. They ran some bloodwork, he was dehydrated, his cortisol was really low and he had low sodium and high potassium. All of this was an indication that the adrenal gland is now under producing cortisol, which could be fatal. We were instructed to stop the mitotane, hold off on the pimobendan (heart meds) for the night and only give insulin if he kept his food down for 90 mins after dinner. We need to keep him out of any stressful environments, him getting stressed activates some other hormone which isn't good for him at this time. They also ran a test with his blood work, fructolose(?) or something like that, it will tell us how effective the insulin has been. Which I'm thankful for because I feel like he is on a super high dose.

One Proud Momma 💕

Strykers didn’t hit today but they’ll come back and kill it tomorrow. This girl still wears a big smile on her face. She was finding the positive and I couldn’t be more proud. Be the light Phoebe! ✨

Watch the video of the girls running through the tunnel that we made after their performance and look at Phoebe’s face when she comes out. ❤️