Golf Ball 2006

Mary & I (we're both the new girls at Fore!Kids)

Kirk & I Towards the End of the Evening

Kevin & Liz (Kev is Kirk's Friend)

View of the Ballroom (Mary & I are in the bottom right-hand corner)

The Fore!Kids Foundation held their 7th annual Golf Ball on Friday evening at the Hilton Riverside, and of course I had to be there to work. The Ball is a silent & live auction, dinner and dance. We had tons of items up for auction, including golf memorabilia, golf rounds, dinners, etc. The biggest items were the $20,000 sapphire & diamond ring, $10,000 diamond necklace and (for the guys) a foursome at the TPC Sawgrass, hotel stay, air tickets, golf lesson at the TOUR academy and hotel gift certificates. Needless to say, those items went for mucho dinero, which is wonderful since all of the money raised goes to children's charities. Kirk and I had lots of fun, but it was a long day/evening for me. The Boogie Men didn't stop playing till 12:30 and then we had to clean-up our stuff. Also, we finally got to use our free 2-night stay at the Astor and it was a much better experience than the last time we had stayed there.

More Halloween Pictures

Where's Fred When I Need Him?

Grampy & Daphne
The Scary Pumpkin (carved by Grampy)

Halloween 2006

Almost Ready

Is that Daphne?

Goth Girl (Elise) and Daphne (Morgan) with Skeletor

We had lots of fun trick-or-treating tonight! Grampy was able to join us and even helped carve the pumpkin. Morgan dressed up as Daphne from Scooby-Doo, which is what she wanted to be last year, but we couldn't get the costume in time (long story). So I made sure to order it extra early this year and I think it looked absolutely adorable on her! There are TONS of kids in our neighborhood...so many that it almost looked like Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras! Ok maybe not, but close. There was a party at the end of our cul-de-sac with tons of food and Morgan came home with way too much candy!

Jared's Birthday Party

Hana, Eden & Morgan

Jared showing off his new Heely's(shoes w/ wheels on the heel)

Singing "Happy Birthday"

Saya cutting the ice cream cake

Today we drove to Long Beach, MS for my nephew Jared's 10th birthday party. My sister-in-law Saya made lots of yummy Japanese food...it was a full spread! And then we had delicious ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. Morgan has already asked for one on her birthday but I had to inform her we don't have a Dairy Queen on the Northshore, so maybe I'll have to find one from somewhere else. Also, today is my friend Yvette's birthday! She lives in Atlanta, so no birthday party for her, but maybe we can celebrate when she comes in town for Thanksgiving. Happy Birthday, Yvette!

Katie's Birthday Party...Better Late Than Never

Morgan & Katie

Yummy cake!
Katie enjoying her pizza!

Happy Birthday, Mom and Granny!

Today is my mom's birthday and today is also the first day at her new job. Unfortunately, she had to spend the day travelling to a training session in Canada, but when I called her this evening, she and her co-workers had gone out to dinner to celebrate and sounded like they were having lots of fun. We had ordered her some yellow roses and had them delivered to the hotel, so when she checked-in, the bouquet was there waiting...she was very excited and happy to get them!

It's also Granny's birthday today! We just talked to her and she said at 88, she still feels young! Saturday was Katie's birthday...she turned 4 and had her party at Northshore Gymnastics last night. I'll post some pics of the party when I have more time (that might be a few days from now since the people from Zurich are in town and I won't have much time for anything).

Happy Birthday, Mom, Granny & Katie!!!!!!!!!!!

10-Year Reunion and Yvette's Big News

Me, Jessica, Natalie, Yvette & Sherry

Well, it's been 10 years since I graduated from Mt. Carmel and we had our reunion on Saturday night at the Ernst Cafe in the Warehouse District. The reunion was ok...I was glad to see my old high school friends Natalie and Jessica, plus Yvette was in town from Atlanta and told me some very exciting news. Yvette and her husband Brian are expecting their first child in June!!!!!!! I am so excited for her! I actually started screaming when she told me. I know her parents are super excited, too, and have been waiting for this for a long time. Morgan has been their "practice grandchild" since she was born, so they now will be pros when Yvette's baby gets here. And I'm sure her super talented party planner sister Meredith(who helped so much with my parents' anniversary party) has already started planning the baby shower! Anyway, back to the reunion...Kirk and I had planned on staying the night at the Astor where we had a free 2-night stay; however, that was quickly changed when Morgan called up with a tummy ache. We picked her up from Kirk's sister, cancelled the reservation and drove back to Mandeville. I was actually ok with it and ready to climb into my own bed. Morgan, of course, felt better as soon as we got home that night. I still can't believe I graduated 10 years ago!

Morgan Scores Again!

At Bat

Waiting to Run to 3rd

We had our usual Friday night softball game and Morgan made the final score of the game! Her team still lost, but they played hard and Morgan was happy to have scored. She made a single and then stole 2nd. Her teammate singled and Morgan ran to 3rd and then home!

A Surprise Visit

Kirk and Morgan decided to surprise me yesterday by showing up at my office. Morgan had the day off due to the St. Tammany Parish Fair and Kirk was babysitting, so what's a duo to do on a Friday?? Play golf, of course! For those of you who don't know, my office is at the TPC of Louisiana (yes, it's a golf course), which is where the Zurich Classic of New Orleans will be played this year from April 16th-22nd. A lot of updates have been made to the course since the last and only Classic to be held here two years ago. It was moved back to English Turn last year due to hurricane damage to the TPC. Anyway, it's a gorgeous place even if it takes me a long time to get here everyday. So Kirk and Morgan surprised me and then went out to the on-course driving range and then played 9 holes of golf. OK, so Kirk played 9 holes but Morgan putted and repaired divots. Obviously one of the perks of my job is the free golf for me and my family, which I'm sure Kirk will be taking advantage of often. In this pic to the right, if you zoom in you can see Kirk teeing off at hole 1. I was taking the picture from the balcony at our office. After they played golf, I met them in the clubhouse where they had some lunch. It was a great surprise to see them!

Last Day at WLAE

Directing my Last Show

Me Being Goofy (My former boss Ron in the background)
The Lunch Crew (Dave, Jay and Me)

Monday was my very last day at WLAE. :( It was very weird packing up my stuff and leaving at the end of the day. Our usual "lunch crew" went to eat at Drago's Restaurant for lunch and then I had to direct 3 shows. I started Fore!Kids today...trying to settle in and get started on some things. It's a VERY long drive to get there and back. It took me 1 hour and 15 minutes this morning. But I'm excited and ready to be busy.

In other news, Morgan had a doubleheader this past Friday and scored a run...yippee!!!

Fore!Kids

Well, I'm starting a new job! A few weeks ago on one of our TV shows, the new President of the Fore!Kids Foundation was a guest. Well this past Friday night, he called to tell me he had a position open on his staff and wanted to meet with me to see if I would be interested in it. I met with him yesterday morning and then he had me meet with one of the board members and last night he called to offer me the job, which I have now accepted. As of October 3rd(my start date), I'll be the Director of Sponsor and Player Relations of the Fore!Kids Foundation. It is a non-profit organization committed to raising funds for children's charities. The main fundraiser of Fore!Kids is the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, which is a PGA Tour event. In my new job, I'll be responsible for dealing with not only the people from Zurich Financial, the title sponsor, but also the PGA players who have committed to playing in the tournament. I'll also be helping to plan the Zurich Classic and other fundraisers throughout the year. It sounds like an exciting job and a really good opportunity and I'm looking forward to starting!! I'll miss WLAE and my TV job, but hopefully I'm on to bigger and better things!

Fall Softball Begins!

Playing 2nd Base During First Game

Looking Cute as the Catcher
Batting

Is that Morgan in There?

As I mentioned in a previous post, Morgan is on a softball team at Pelican Park. Last Tuesday was her first game but they only got to play one inning before the skies opened up and the downpour came. She didn't get to bat that game because they put her 4th (cleanup) and the first 3 batters had struck out. She played 2nd base and got the only out for her team that game...she stopped a ground ball and threw to 1st base. Yeah, Morgan!! Her 2nd game was on Friday and Morgan got to play center field, 2nd base and even catcher! She doesn't like catcher but she looked so cute in the gear! Also, we found out that now the games have started, she also has practice on Thursdays, so that means softball on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday...so much for a free day!

First Set of Golf Clubs

I know I haven't posted in a long time, but with mine and Kirk's work schedule and Morgan's school andextra-curriculars, there's no time for anything else anymore. Yes, you all are going to want to report us to 60 Minutes or Dateline, but Morgan now has dancing on Mondays, softball on Tuesdays and Fridays, tennis on Wednesdays and choir during school on Tuesdays. That leaves only Thursday as a free day. She also wants to add gymnastics to the mix but we told her no! We'll see how all this goes for now, but she wants to do all of these activities...trust me, I'd be happy with her not doing any of them. We went to Academy Sports today to buy a few things that Morgan needed for softball...cleats, batting glove, bag, black shorts, practice balls, etc., etc. Somehow we ended up stopping in the golf section where Kirk proceeded to buy Morgan a set of junior golf clubs and a glove. We're all going to the driving range tomorrow morning to practice (yeah, I'm not very good). These are pictures of them in the backyard hitting Birdie Balls, which Poydras would retrieve for them. So we might have the next Michelle Wie? Or maybe she's the next Maria Sharapova? Or maybe that softball girl whose name I don't remember?

The Rings

The Rings

Dad & Mom
Dad & my brother Gene
The Norton Girls

The highlight of the night at the 30th Anniversary Party was when my parents exchanged gifts. My Dad(as my sister and I knew) had bought my Mom an eternity ring and my Mom (again, as Mallory and I knew) had bought my Dad a wedding ring. Now my Dad has NEVER worn a wedding ring because it would have gotten ruined in his business, so my mom was finally going to buy him one now that he's "semi-retired." Well the big surprise came when my Dad gave my Mom the little box that revealed a gold wedding band. I was dumbfounded and so was Mallory, since we both knew he was buying her a ring w/ diamonds on it. He said he had finally gotten a present my Mom had always wanted...a wedding ring for himself!! He actually bought himself a wedding ring! Well, that kind of spoiled the gift my Mom had bought for him! He then gave her the ring with the diamonds, which she loved! But all 3 of the rings were beautiful and my Dad ended up keeping the one he had bought for himself since it fit better. We just couldn't believe my Dad had kept that secret from us and actually thought of doing something so clever!

Mom & Dad's 30th Anniversary Party

Our Family

Hana & Morgan The Fabulous Fox Family

I know I've been slacking on this post but work has been slightly busy. This past Saturday Mallory, my brother Gene and I threw a 30th Anniversary Party for my parents at the St. Francis Xavier Parish Center. It was a lot of work, but well worth it. My parents loved the party and we had a really good turnout of family members and their friends. Special thanks go out to everyone who helped make this party possible by running errands and bringing food, and especially to Mrs. Barbara, Mr. Tim and Meredith Fox who all went above and beyond. They helped us secure the room, set-up, decorate, find the song my parents danced to at their wedding, clean up and even brought delicious gumbo. Meredith, you should definitely go into party planning...you have a knack for it!

Congratulations, Morgan!

Morgan found out today that she made the school choir!! She had to audition two separate times during music class and finally heard back about it today. She'll be practicing during the week at school and then they'll sing at different school events. She's very excited!!!! I guess she takes after Grampy and Nanny!

Meet Viola

My sister Mallory adopted a puppy yesterday that is a combination of chihuahua and rat terrier. She named her Viola (pronounced Vi-la) after a character in Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night. Apparently the dog adoption process in North Carolina is a little demanding. Mallory had to interview with three separate people before one lady had to go do a house visit to make sure my parents' house was an ok environment for the dog. Surprisingly Mallory didn't have to leave a blood or urine sample! She was finally able to bring the puppy home today, so welcome Viola!

1st Day of School!

Morgan started 3rd grade today!! I cannot believe she's a 3rd grader already! She started a new school and was so excited about going, especially since she got to ride the bus this morning. It picks her up right in front of our house, so she just has to walk out the door and across the street and she's on her way! She met a lot of new people and one girl in her class is also named Morgan and she lives in our subdivision, too. I guess Morgans stick together because she said they played together at recess. She also auditioned for the school choir during music class...she's already a joiner!

Morgan's Home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After 2 long months, Morgan is finally back at home!! My dad drove her in today and after lots of hugs and kisses, we all celebrated her homecoming by going out to eat at the Abita Brew Pub. I was amazed at how tall she has gotten since I last saw her! She looks so much older, too! I'm just glad that she's finally home!!!!

Happy Birthday Hattie!!

Today is Hattie's 10th Birthday, which makes her 70 in dog years! Hattie is my parents' Scottie dog and they got her when I was a freshman in college. Poor dog...they actually bought her a pink polo to wear! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HATTIE!!!!!

Having Fun with Cousins

Morgan has been staying with Grammy, Grampy and Nanny in Asheville for the past few weeks. While she has been there, my brother Gene, his wife Saya and their kids Jarod and Hana were also visiting my parents, so Morgan got to spend some time with them. They had lots of fun going fishing since Grammy & Grampy bought all the kids fishing poles.

They also got to celebrate Grampy's 63rd Birthday and ate yummy chocolate cake...I'm upset I missed out on that!

And then they went to Tweetsie Railroad in North Carolina and then drove down to Pigeon Forge, TN. While they were there, they got to go to Dollywood for a few days. That's lots of excitement for one week!!