Who are the Jones' anyway?

HOBL has always wanted a generator to run the whole house

when the electricity goes off.

We we are now living in an area that we no longer

have to evacuate for storms so he finally

had that generator installed.

Now we can have the comforts if a storm puts out

our electricity. Upon having it installed

our new neighbors decided that they wanted a price for

a unit also. I asked them if they had decided to purchase one

and the answer was,

"Probably, we have to keep up with the Jones"

meaning us, the "new kids on the block".

We are not the jones and I have never liked

that saying. It's my issue I am sure.

If the Jones' started a marriage with not much

money between them who worked hard,

bought old homes and remodeled them then

sold them for profits until they could 

finally purchase a home of their dreams,

then I guess we are those people.

If those people said "no" to their children

many times for things that were not necessities

like 3-wheelers and expensive sports camps,

then we may be the Jones'.

If the Jones' were people who saved, saved, saved

even when the saving meant they had just enough

money to pay their bills and nothing extra, then

we fit the bill.

I never expected to live in such a grand but comfortable home.

Yet, the fact is, there has never been a home that 

I have lived in that I did not love.

Even our very first house post Hurricane Juan 

that was 800 square feet and costed

less than the vehicle we own now, I loved.

I loved it because both my children lived there.

It was the home we lived in when BB learned to 

walk and started school. It is the home we 

brought gypsy baby home to as a newborn.

Each home was where we needed to be at the time.

This one is a dream, one we could afford only because

of where it is, in Plaquemine which is almost like

moving back home to the bayou.

Real estate here is cheaper than Thibodaux.

HOBL has always worked hard to make each of our homes

a beautiful place but I have never heard him say

he liked any of them.

This home he has said many times,

"I like our new house"

For him, I see it as a reward for the hard work he has always done.

The beauty of the home for me is not only the material part

but that, like today, BB and Bean and Kd

can just drive over for lunch, to hang out.

Like yesterday, that in 20 minutes I can be at 

gypsy baby's apartment and we can spend the whole day together.

Another thing I have realized is that many think that 

if you live on the Island Country Club you are the "Jones"

But the truth is, what I have come to realize is that

all of the people I have met here in the country club 

are just like us, hard working people who take pride in what

they have accomplished, none born with a silver spoon in 

their mouth like I always imagined the "Jones" 

to have been.

Nope not the Jones' here, just the same old little 

Riera couple who have stuck with this life until 

the time came that we could own this beautiful home

without having to worry about their retirement future.