Their Bad Fan

by CajunKate

So I've been pretty neglectful in giving the Lady Cajuns softball team the props they so richly deserve. The gals are up in Oklahoma right now for the College Softball World Series. They beat LSU (in Baton Rouge!) in the regionals, and Houston (in Houston!) in the super-regionals to get there. Today they played their first game. It was against Florida, the #1 seed in the nation. Florida has lost only three games all year...oh, I'm sorry, make that FOUR as of about ten minutes ago! Yeah, that's right! The Lady Cajuns won 3-2. Naturally, the game was Tivoed, so you know what's coming shortly. That's riiiiiiiiiiiiight. Illegally uploaded video to YouTube. (I'm just gonna keep violating copyrights until someone sicks a lawyer on me. *shrug*) Next up for the ladies either Virginia Tech or Texas A&M tomorrow night on ESPN2. Ooooooh, hey, maybe I can do one of those fun play-by-play thingies like Burt did for the Hornets a few weeks back. Only mine will have to involve wine...oh, and cheese...maybe some bread.... probably definitely some cursing...dang, this just keeps sounding better and better. It may actually happen.

UPDATE: Game highlights below!

You Throw Like a Toddler

by Cajun Kate

So have we seen this? Mariah Carey "throwing" out the first pitch at some baseball game in Japan? And believe me by using the word "throw," I'm being very generous. Dude, I am the most physically inept, nonathletic lump ever visited upon the world. My second grade teacher had to call my mom to tell her that I was failing P.E. because I couldn't learn to skip, and my mom had to tutor me on the weekends until I learned this valuable gross motor skill, so I know from goofy inabilities in bodily movement, in general, to say nothing of coordinated ability. Let's not even go into that whole "aerobics dance unit" in high school gym class. Suffice it to say, it was ugly, my friends. And yet I feel, and I say this with utmost confidence, that I would look like a freakin' Cy Young Award winner if Mariah and I went head to head. So here's to you, Mariah Carey! Thanks for being one in probably five billion people who could actually make me feel like a true specimen of athletic prowess.

Portuguese Goodies!

by CajunKate

So today the mail carrier knocked on our door. Highly unusual, as neither Alex nor I was expecting a package. I heard Alex saying thank you, and then once the door closed, he yelled, "Oh, YEAH!" To which I replied, "What is it? What is it? Is it for ME?!?" (Now really, did you honestly expect any other response from me?) And it was for me...oh, and Alex, too.

Alex's mom and dad have been on a trip up to the Northeast, and the trip included a stop in his mom's hometown of Fall River, Massachusetts. (Sidenote: Fall River is also the town where Lizzy Borden axed her parents to death, and Alex's mom grew up in a house right down the hill from the infamous Borden house!) Alex's mom is first generation Portuguese, and Fall River is home to lots of Portuguese immigrants (the highest percentage of Portuguese Americans in the country). Every year at Christmas, she sends us goodies from the Portuguese bakeries and butcher shops, but this year she didn't. It was strange, but what are you gonna say, right? Hey, Mom, what the hell? Why'd you stiff us on the annual Portuguese awesomeness? Not so much. Well, I guess she was just waiting until she was there in person to make the orders this year because the bakery goodies arrived today.

She sent us sweet bread, sliced raisin rolls, and Portuguese muffins. Everything is delicious, but Portuguese muffins are my favorite. They look like English muffins, but are nothing like them in texture or taste. They're so yeasty and dense and slightly sweet. Freakin' carb out heaven! I like to toast them up and slather them with butter. Say, I bet they'd be really good with a drizzle of honey! Well, I think we've just found my mission for the weekend.

Say hello to Portuguese heaven from a box. Ooooohhh, come to Mama!

Normally, I'm a giver, but these are mine...ALL MINE! Aw, crap...and that Alex guy's, too, I guess. Sigh. Now I know my mom said marriage was work.

Houston, We Have a Problem...and It's YOU!

by CajunKate

So the Zandinator and I ventured down to Houston to catch the Astros vs. Cubs game on Tuesday. The trip to Houston takes about three hours, and it is basically a snoozefest of scenery. Let's face it, I've been down this strip of I-10 often enough to have it memorized. I no longer have any fascination with Lake Charles, Orange, or Beaumont. (Not that I ever did.) In order to entertain myself, I stuck my face in a book the whole way. I'd picked up the latest installment, T is for Trespass, in Sue Grafton's alphabet series. I've read all the others. Normally, I am not a big mystery fan, but her novels are very sharp and funny. Plus, the main character is a kick ass, quirky female private detective, so what's not to like? Now, I know what you're thinking, How rude of you! Poor Alex! You just sat there and ignored him the whole time? Yes, I most certainly did. Listen, Alex is not a big talker. We've spent more than one trip sitting in silence once I ran out of ways to annoy and disturb him. He actually prefers when I deploy book reading as a pastime on our trips. Do you have any idea how annoying it is to have me nattering in your ear about inane s**t for three hours? Trust me, you'd be screeching into the nearest Barnes and Noble within mere minutes.

Anyway, the trip down was uneventful, except for the horrendous traffic we encountered once we got close to the city limits. Dude, I really want to like Houston. I try. Really I do. But the place has me grinding my teeth and screaming obscenities within minutes of my arrival EVERY time! This is in response to what must be the worst, most obnoxious, rudest drivers on the planet. My only saving grace is that I avoid rude hand gestures since we all know everyone in Texas has a handgun tucked under the front seat and isn't afraid to brandish it at a moment's notice. And what do I have? An atlas. It's no contest.

We arrived at our hotel, Homewood Suites by Hilton, and lounged around in the room until we left for the game. We had paid for a parking pass online when we got our tickets, but once we got down to the stadium area, we never could actually find the parking area for the stadium. This was bad planning on our part, but we just assumed that it would be easy to identify. You know what they say about assuming. Finally, Alex decided to give up and paid fifteen bucks to park in a lot about a block away from the stadium. We headed to the stadium where I took part in possibly the most cursory security check ever. I don't know what it takes to have Minute Maid Park security actually look in your bag let alone root around in it, but I'm guessing that you have to be wearing a turban and an "Allah Is My Homeboy" t-shirt.

The stadium itself is very, very nice. It still looks brand spanking new. I was really disappointed that the retractable roof was not open. Alex can attest to this as I must have said no less than twenty times, "I thought this place had a retractable roof." Alex, having no idea whether it did or not, endured this until the twentith time when he replied with something along the lines of, "Oh my God! Stop! It's not open; they're not going to open it! Get over it already!" I'm not really sure because I was too busy staring at the ceiling and saying, "I thought this place had a retractable roof!"

We had time to wander around the concourse for awhile and peruse our dining and beer options. Of course, everything was ridiculously overpriced, but that's a given. I noticed that one of the stands had a special for a Chicago Dog, so while Alex waited in line to get one for me, I went off to find what really mattered- the beer! I found a stand selling Shiner Bock and paid $19.50(!) for two of them. Then we headed down to our seats, which were near the third base line. When Alex handed my Chicago Dog to me, I was dumbstruck. Take a look.
If the color of that relish brings to mind nuclear waste, then you and I are on the same page. One would think between the relish and the unidentified pork product hiding under it, I'd have abstained from eating it. And one would be WRONG.
I hoovered that doggie down in no time flat. And shortly afterward, I began to sweat, and I mean SWEAT. Not become Southern ladylike "dewy," not perspire, but SWEAT. At first I thought maybe the jalapenos on the dog had brought it on. I tried drinking my beer.
Tasty! And conveniently located in a snazzy personal cupholder! But completely ineffective in staunching my sweat glands. I should have taken this for the bad, bad omen that it was.

I tried to take my mind off of the sweating by playing with my new camera.

The scoreboard

Cool Cubs graphic

The train

View from our seats

Holey Moley! That's first base and that's what I call some optical zoom, baby! I luuuuuurve my new camera!

In the fourth inning, the three huge guys at the end of the row went off to get beer or whatever and, spying my chance to go to the ladies room without having to crawl over them, I was thus distracted from the fact that the Cubs were at bat. That's how it came to be that I hauled a** to the bathroom and was on the throne when I got to hear how Ramirez hit a two run homer for the Cubs. Another bad, bad omen.

And then, of course, shortly after I returned to my seat, f***ing Pence, the 'Stros right fielder, hit a grand slam homerun. Alex was all, "Hey! That's cool! I don't think I've ever seen a grand slam in person!" until he noticed that I was giving him the furious, death stare. Between the glowering look and the rivulets of sweat pouring down my face, he probably thought I was about to engage in the head-spinning scene from The Exorcist and start spewing out my nuclear waste relish all over him. That's right, I was STILL sweating. At this point I morphed into my spoiled five year old alter ego and began incessantly whining, "It's sooooooooo hot! What's wrong with this place? Why don't they turn on the AC? I thought this place had a retractable roof!" Alex said that he, too, thought it was hot, but he sat there looking as cool as a cucumber.
By the end of the sixth inning, Alex suggested we head for higher and cooler ground. It was cooler on the concourse...well, enough to alleviate him. Me? Not so much. We walked around watching the remainder of the game from the concourse. I talked Alex into (i.e., whined incessantly until I got my way) buying me a pretzel which I stuffed into my face as I prayed for the Cubs to break out a miracle in the top of the ninth. No such luck. And that was it. On the way out, the Astros fans began chanting "Cubs suck!" I trudged out of Minute Maid Sauna wet, stuffed with nuclear waste and sodium, and a loser. Sigh.

Houston wasn't done with us yet. Alex got lost three times on the way back to the hotel and three times the next day on the way home. We tried to find some cool place to eat breakfast, but eventually gave up and headed home stopping in San Jacinto to eat at a very mediocre Mexican chain restaurant, Tortuga.

All in all, it was a fun little trip. I did get to watch baseball and drink beer. But, most importantly, I finally learned my lesson. Houston hates me. And guess what? The feeling is more than mutual, so you can suck it H-Town! Yeah, that's right! You and all your little gun-toting, hellatious motorists and your ungodly sweat lodge of a stadium can SUCK it!

The End.

My Sally Field Moment

by CajunKate

So this semester was tough, like three major emotional meltdowns involving tears and teeth gnashing and wailing of biblical and marriage testing proportions, BUT the baby Jesus..he likes me! He really likes me, for behold the grade report! (Oh, and that reminder from the admin...um, BWHAHAHAHAHAHA! Yeah, right!)

(Click to enlarge)

Off to Houston tomorrow to watch the Cubs beat the Astros! *fingers crossed*

Happy Anniversary, Pere et Mere!

by CajunKate

So today is an historic day in the history of the Daigle family. Forty-four years ago, the Mayor and the First Lady (a.k.a. Charlie and Gwen) got married. In those years, they've managed to navigate the whole for better or worse, in sickness and in health , for richer or for poorer thing. It's pretty amazing, isn't it?

Several years ago, I absconded with a bunch of slides that were sitting around gathering dust at their house. Dad was (and is) into photography, but at the beginning of their marriage, I guess slides were all the rage, so most of the family memories are on slides. Two years ago, for Father's Day, I gave Daddy a collage of four framed photos made from slides, ones he'd taken during his tours in Saglek Bay (Labrador, Canada) and parts of Asia. When I was looking through the slides selecting those pictures, I was stunned to run across some bad photos from their wedding. This was a shock because I'd never seen photos from my parents' wedding. This (the fact that I had never seen any pictures from my parents' wedding) and, also, the fact that the 'rents do not wear wedding bands (I have no memory of my parents ever wearing them) strikes some people as odd. So today I did two things. One, I took photos of some of the few existing slides from their wedding as the slide projector (yes, I have a slide projector. I know, NERD!) displayed them on the wall. (They are abysmal and horribly blurred, but DAMN(!) look how hot and skinny Gwen is!) And, two, I gave them a call today to wish them happy anniversary and, surreptitiously, videotaped our conversation and interviewed them about their lack of wedding footage, absence of wedding bands and, finally, marital advice for others. Unfortunately, the feedback from my phone is pretty bad, but still... it manages to capture Charlie and Gwen in classic fashion. Also, I've included some of the really bad wedding pictures. Keep in mind that these are pictures of slides being displayed on a wall. Yeah, I know... seriously sad.

Anyway, happy anniversary, Momma and Daddy! I love you guys with all my heart! I know you know this because I would bet I am the only one of your sextet of children who actually called you today to wish you happy anniversary. Just remember, this is proof positive that I am the one who loves you the best so, you know, just saying...it may be time to take another look at the allotments in the will.

Really bad pic, but whoa! Skinnie minnie Gwen, huh?

Another bad blurred shot. I love it that my parents are completely unaware of the fact that pictures from this day actually exist, and are all like, "Is that weird? That we have never been able to produce a wedding photo?" Of course not! Who the hell takes pictures of major life events? Only every normal person on earth but, hey, I mean normal is SO overrated, isn't it?

Mom being walked down the aisle by her dad (our Pap-Pap). Can I just say how much I looooove that all the women are wearing hats? I love hats! Why can't hats make a comeback?

And finally, the video. Again, please excuse the horrible feedback from my phone. I know there must have been a better, more pleasant for the auditory senses way to have done this but, um, I haven't graduated to that level of nerdiness...yet.

Love and Fear Pic

by CajunKate

So I finally got around to ordering my NCAA tourney winnings camera, and it was delivered today. It's very fancy and beautiful, and it scares me. I ordered a package deal and when I opened the box today, I took a picture of my new camera and all its stuff... with my old camera. Cuz, you know, that makes sense.

The Basketball Diary

by B.Daigle

This year has been the best season the NBA has seen since Jordan hung up his hightops. The Western division has been the better half of the NBA for the last few years, but this year was downright ridiculous as far the competitiveness and parody between teams. No one expected the Hornets to be in the playoffs, but they won the Southwest division and came within one game of having the best record in the Western division, but the Lakers and their one-sided trade for Paul Gasol prevailed. I had a regular season ticket package to the Hornets and also saw the first game of the current series against the Spurs at the Hive. It's been a long time since I invested myself emotionally in a professional sports team, but here I am living and dying with the Hornets and it gave me an idea.


My favorite sportswriter is Bill Simmons of ESPN.com. Bill has a few formulaic columns and one of my favorites is the running diary of a game. It has been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and I thought it would be fun to take a stab at it, so here goes!


Here we are live from the Daigle Condo in the Big Easy anxiously awaiting the start of Game 5 between the Spurs & Hornets!

8:45 PM CT - I love a doubleheader during the playoffs because it usually means the viewers of the second game don't have to put up with a pre-game show. I don't need a couple of ex-players, ex-coaches, or irritating Stephen A. Smith to break down a game for me. Thanks, but no thanks.

8:50 - The Hive is all yellow again tonight with free t-shirts being given to every fan. I contemplate going get the free t-shirt I got at Game 1 but that would mean climbing a flight of stairs. I'm not that emotionally invested.

8:52 - Tyson Chandler sets a perfectly legal pick for Chris Paul but a tremendous acting job with the flop by Tony Parker draws the foul. When the Spurs won their first couple of championships I was happy for them because they were a small market team and Tim Duncan seemed like a really nice guy. Since then their two biggest contributions to the culture of the NBA have been the flop and crying to the refs. I loathe both of those things. I also used to like their coach Greg Poppovich, but after he resurectted the disgusting and boring strategy of "Hack-A-Shaq" during the first round against the Phoenix Suns, I saw how desperate he had become. A 4-time NBA champion coach should not have to resurrect such a loathsome strategy. So loathsome, the NBA outlawed the practice in the final two minutes of a game. So yeah, I ain't got no love for the Spurs and I've only given you the 3 of the reasons.

8:56 - "Marvelous" Marv Albets mentions the Hornets were a little late taking the floor for pre-game shoot-around because Byron Scott had them watching a montage of parts of inspirational sports movies like, Remember the Titans, Glory Road, etc. Reggie Miller then mentions Scott told his team they need to treat this game like it's Game 7 and not game 5. Insight like that is why I cannot live without color commentators.

8:57 - Chris Paul scores and the obligatory Ric Flair, "Wooooooh!!!" plays and the crowd (as always) yells, "Wooooooh!" right back. There's a long story behind this and its not that interesting. The fans have taken to doing the "Wooooh!" randomly in the concourse before games and some a**hole never fails to scare the crap out of Melissa and I by yelling it in an ear-piercing tone when we least expect it and I give myself a $7 beer bath.

8:58 - Manu Ginobli flops on a 3-pointer and draws the foul. Manu Ginobli was voted the 6th man of the year. I don't like Ginobli and his hook nose and bald spot and Argentinian DNA. I don't like how he's overrated driving the lane because teams never take his left away. I don't like all the credit he gets for being a great 3-point shooter when he only hits them consistently at home. I don't like how he's the most agregious complainer/whiner I have seen in a foreign player after Dirk Nowitzki. Manu leaves me cold. I want to spit a loogee in his bald spot.

9:00 - I love the T-Mobile commercials with Charles Barkley and Dwayne Wade. This is my favorite one.

9:03 - Craig Sager is the best sideline reporter in any sport on any network, hands down, period. Just Google him and the word "suits". Seriously. I dare you. This is my favorite moment with Craig this year and it happened right here in NOLA.

9:08 - First, we had Coke and Pepsi with lime. Those aren't on the shelves anymore. Now we have light beer with lime already added. Isn't this an admission that these beers don't have flavor and need it added? I'm just saying.

9:10 - The Hornets have missed their last 6 shots. I will now pour boiling water on my face.

9:13 - Good times! Double technical on the Spurs and the Hornets. I am fondly reminded of my years playing junior high basketball and routinely getting "T-ed up" every other game. I'm still hurt I never won the Sportsmanship Award.

9:14 - Bonzi Wells checks in for the Hornets. Byron Scott swears the Hornets had to make the trade for Bonzi during the regular season for the playoffs. I think Bonzi is certifiably crazy and a liability. Then again, I'm not coaching an NBA team. I also think Byron forgets he can call timeouts in the second half.

9:16 - Kurt Thomas of the Spurs always looks pissed off. Maybe he just has bad hemrhoids.

9:18 - Robert Horry (a.k.a. Big Shot Rob) checks in and sets the record for playing in most playoff games. Incidentally, he can also still pass for Will Smith's stunt double.

9:20 - The rookie, Julian Wright, checks in for the Hornets. I will admit I was of the biggest critics of the Hornets drafting Ju-Ju. I was wrong. The lesson as always is that I am an idiot.

9:21 - Hey, hey! Popovich tells 30 year veteran ref, Joey Crawford he's wrong and gets a technical. Apparently, the Spurs and Crawford have a history. Crawford is probably just tired of every Spur player coming over to talk after every call. Nobody likes a whiner.

9:22 - End of the first quarter and I've only had one beer. Its always a good sign if I'm not drinking heavily before the half.

9:24 - Tim Duncan is 0-6 shooting. I daydream about what I would say if I was a color man after hearing this stat from Marv. Maybe he's still feeling the effects of that flu, Marv! I know I would be a great color man.


9:25 - Looky here!! The 10th commercial for Miller Chill. Ladies and gentlemen, its horse urine with lime and salt!!!


9:33 - Melissa complains that Duncan is like a robot and shows no emotion. Now maybe someone will listen to me that Tim Duncan is really a Terminator sent from the future to create an NBA dynasty everyone slowly learns to hate.


9:36 - Well it took all 5 players on the Spurs to touch him on the way to the basket but Chris Paul finally managed to draw a foul. The NBA..it's FANtastic!


9:40 - TNT shows all the famous people in attendance at the game tonight from Dwayne Wade to that guy who got kicked off....I mean voluntarily left Grey's Anatomy. Wait...famous people in New Orleans?? Shouldn't you be in the Lower 9th Ward posing for pictures and not at some silly basketball game? Oh yeah and donate some money from you charity while you're at it. Can you tell I've had it with NOLA whoring itself out in the name of recovery but at the expense of the citizens and their needs?

9:46 - David West has 20 of the Hornets 36 points. Don't look now but he may be on his way to a career night.


9:50 - Halftime and Peja gives what I think is an interview to Craig Sager, but I think he was using his bad English. Chris Paul said Peja has a good English and a bad English and he uses them at will. I'm pretty sure Craig got the bad English.


Now, Simmons would have given you the second half, but he's a professional and I am not. My superstition kicked in and I thought the note taking was hurting us and so I quit. Just like that the Hornets had their normal great 3rd quarter at home and went on to the win the game with a career night from David West and blew the Spurs out of the water like I used to beat Byron at Battleship.

Unfortunately, West and Chandler both ended up leaving the game with injuries and we went on to lose Game 6. Say a novena for my Hornets to win Game 7 back in New Orleans and advance to the Western Conference finals. If that happens we will probably play the Lakers and get to hear about how Chris Paul came in second to Kobe Bryant in MVP voting for 7 games. Good Times!!!

Hope you enjoyed the diary and if we make it to the conference finals, I may do another.

How Nerds and Lame People Celebrate Pic

by CajunKate

So last night I took my last final. It did not go well, but still... it marked the end of a hellish semester. I did my best to celebrate, but I'm old and withered, so I ate pizza and did online crossword puzzles. (NERD!) I'd like to let you believe that's a beer in the coozie, but uh...yeah, it's just a Diet Coke. (LAME!) You may also be wondering why I am eating pizza from a bowl. That would be because it was the only clean dish left in the house. (LAZY A** SLACKER!) The next few days will be dedicated to setting right all the wrongs produced by my complete and utter lack of house cleaning in the past few weeks (including washing dishes). Yeah, so if anyone has a Hazmat suit that I could borrow, that'd be great. That litter box is gonna be a doozie!

Old and Crappy Camera Phone Pics

by CajunKate

So I didn't have time to take pics (studying for my last final! Yay!), but it doesn't matter because no amusing subjects presented themselves anyway. Therefore, you get these really old and funkily lit camera phone pics. Enjoy...if you can; they're really bad!

Crappy Camera Pic #1: I took this pic of Alex when we went down to NOLA last year around Easter for a romantical weekend (back when we still had fundage for such things). We stayed at the Hotel Montleone (very swanky and I got to order room service!) and ate at Commander's Palace (delish and high class). This pic was taken at Commander's. It's a terrible picture, but Alex looked so great, dressed up as he was. Sigh. That was great weekend. (Now I'm going to cry.)

Crappy Camera Pic #2: I forced Byron to pose for this pic at a Cajuns basketball game one night to document what I consider to be his woeful fashion sense. In fact, I am perpetually appalled by his complete lack of fashion sense. The boy does not have a clue and, worse than that, doesn't give a hoot! The kicker for me this night was the socks pulled all the way up. I hate this outfit as a whole, but the ridonkulous socks take it to a whole other level. He's way too handsome to be dressing like that! Gotta get that man on What Not to Wear. Needless to say, when confronted by me that night, he was all, "What?!? Everything's CLEAN!" Well, that is a positive, I suppose.

E'rybody Wanna Be a Blogger, But Don't Nobody Wanna Do the Bloggin'

by CajunKate

So, I am now experiencing a unique phenomenon- people telling me stories and saying, " You should blog about THAT!" This is tricky because, well, whatever happened didn't actually happen to me. This makes it virtually impossible for me to put my patented hilarious and witty spin on it (yeah, yeah-laugh it up over there!) But I'm such a people pleaser (yeah, yeah-keep laughing it up over there!), that I just have to oblige. The first suggestion came via email from the Mayor. Since it was an email request, I am going to take the lazy way out and just reprint the email. Also, since it is quite strange, I don't think I can do it any kind of justice. The Mayor really needs his own blog just for moments like these. From Daddy:

BELIEVE IT OR NOT!! Heard some noise that sounded like it was emanating from the TV room wood stove one evening. It didn't last long. Mom heard some noise the next day. No noise for a day. Then yesterday evening while watching TV I heard it again. I grabbed a flash light, carefully cracked the side door open and saw a black eyeball peering at me. I closed the door thinking it was a rat. Slowly cracked open the door once again, got a good look at the intruder, and it was not a rat. It was a grown female Wood Duck. How in the world it managed to come down the chimney is beyond me.

I caught and retrieved the poor duck. It was exhausted. We, Mom and I, gave it water to drink, and I placed her, along with some bird feed and water, in a small dog carrier. I checked on her later that night. She had calmed down, and was moving around. Alas, she didn't make it through the night. I guess between her inhaling wood ashes, a lack of food and water, and stress, it was all too much. Things like that bum me out. Earlier attempts to determine what was making the racket did not reveal the duck. I still feel kinda bummed out for not really searching the stove earlier.

Strange goings-on in Prudhomme City.

Dad

The second suggestion comes via Alex. Thursday at noon he called me on his cell phone. This is an unusual occurrence. Alex and I are most definitely not that couple who talk on the phone three or more times a day. We rarely if ever connect via phone during the day. This is how you know we do not have children, i.e. no frantic phone calls for diapers, fevers, and "Do you know what your kid did now?!?" situations. But, as I am teetering on the edge of sanity this semester, he called me so that I could ramble incoherently while he murmured soothingly. (He is such a peach! I don't know how I ended up so lucky.)

Anyway, while we were on the phone, he was pulling into the gas station when he said, "Oh, crap! I've got a cop with his lights on behind me. I'll call you back." When he did call me back, he had received a moving violation for an illegal left turn. Now, he maintained that he had been taking a left turn there for the past eight years, so he asked the cop when they changed the intersection. The cop told him a year and a half ago BUT the intersection had been under construction the day before, and after Alex got his ticket, the guy at the next pump was all, "You got a ticket for that? S**t, man, I've been taking that turn for the last ten years. When did they change that? Good thing I was coming from the other direction today!" (Oh yeah, we're so happy for you, buddy!) Then when he went into the station to pay, the clerk told him, "Hey, you need to be careful at that intersection. They just made it a no left turn, and I've been watching a cop give out tickets like crazy. He's given 23 tickets in the last two hours!" To which Alex replied, "Too f***ing late for the heads up for me, lady!" Not really. Zandy is a nice boy. He just told her he'd already been busted. Now, Alex has been driving that intersection for the past eight years, and he swore that one was always able to take a left there and was very suspicious about it being under construction the day before. When I was on the phone with him, he was pretty laissez faire about it but throughout the day, as he told his story to everyone at work (all frequenters of that intersection), they were all, "That is some bulls**t! That was always a left turn allowed lane!"

So by the time Alex got home he was all lathered up and screaming, "I been wronged by The Man!" and he decided that he might want to fight that ticket and went back to the intersection and took pictures indicating the contrasting turn instructions (old left turn good lane marker vs. new left turn bad sign). So he's been wandering around obssessed with stickin' it to The Man, and I am completely indifferent. Of course, I am not the one who has been wronged by The Man. So, yesterday, when he got back from taking his pictures and was feeling gloriously vindicated by his pictorial evidence, he was all, "You need to blog about that!" And because I love him and because he keeps me sane with free talk therapy, I am. Here are the pics he took:

VERSUS

And finally something about ME! ME! ME! (The way it should be if the world would just up and get with the program already.) Yesterday was the Krewe de Chew annual spring crawfish boil. Alex and I didn't go because I had to study for finals. (Damn you, UL! Damn you!) But since I have the most awesome daddy in the universe, he drove all the way to Lafayette and delivered a big ole Rubbermaid container filled to the brim with delectable crawfish, and in a move that truly shows how pathetic my life has become, I viewed the two and a half hour peeling marathon as a welcome respite from studying and school work. Now that it's all said and done, I have hands that still smell like crawfish (even though I've washed them thirty two times with salt and with soap) but much more importantly, I have a ginormous bowl o' Cajun happiness:

Ohhhhhhhhh, baby! I have my plans in place for turning some of these delicious critters into my all time favorite crawfish dish- crawfish pie! So I'll be celebrating the end of the semester on Thursday with a big a** crawfish pie and an accompanying big a** glass of wine. I can't wait!

Dreams and Spying Pics

by CajunKate

So blogger daydreams do come true. And things that you never even wished for miraculously light up your life. And the neighbors never fail to liven up the 'hood.

Blogger daydream comes true! My ticket for the Astros vs. Cubs game on May 20!

WHAT?!? My new dryer has a light inside so I can see everything without turning on the overhead light? I love you, new dryer!

Two cop cars at the neighbor's house this evening...again. Not sure why, but no one was arrested. Darn.

UL Pics

by CajunKate

Two different shots of Stephens Hall. (The hall of hell where I actually attended class tonight is not pictured.)

Economic Stimulus Pic

by Cajun Kate

So the title is a bit deceiving. While I do actually have a pic to share with you, and it is related to the economic stimulus check (I suppose), I have some other miscellaneous stuff to offer before the big reveal.

First up, on a desperate hiatus from essay writing to grab a desperately needed Diet Coke, a sort of creepy dude in blue jean cargo shorts opened the door for me at Circle K and called me sweetie. Due to my ongoing issues with self-esteem and social retardation, I found myself momentarily flattered instead of skeeved out. Is that so wrong? Don't judge me, okay!? Sadly enough, this is my world, people!

Secondly, I witnessed 50 Cent's doppelganger purchasing a money order at the same Circle K. Seriously, this guy looked so identical, I almost yelled out, "Hey, Fiddy!" and scarcely avoided breaking into the chorus of "In Da Club." That would have been embarrassing, huh? I know. Most of you are like Who the hell is 50 Cent, and what is an In Da Club?

Thirdly ( is that a word? Whatever), I am making progress on my end of semester crunch list. It now looks like this:
1.. Finish one essay on take home final for developmental psychology class
2. Finish take home discussion question for helping relationships class
3. Study for and take final in helping relationships class
4. Study for and take a final on eleven theories in marriage and family counseling class
5. Study for and take a final on six chapters for adolescent psychology class

Not good, but better.

Finally, you may remember that my washer and dryer and I have been engaged in an ongoing battle of wills. They finally won...or lost, depending on how you look at it. This weekend Alex and I went and fulfilled Dubya's wet dream and spent our economic stimulus check on a new washer and dryer. It's probably not the best decision at this point in time, but if I had to go one more round with WD-40 and the dryer or with violent kicking and the washer, the therapy costs would have been through the roof. So, in the words of Dubya, hooray for us and in the words of CajunKate...

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
(Please ignore the inordinate amount of Febreeze air freshener visible in the picture. I don't know what that's about. I guess we smell, and I am trying with all my might (and Febreeze) to cover it up.)

Ornithological Pics

by CajunKate

Mr. Bluebird on my birdbath

Big fat doves exalt in sitting on top of my bird feeder rather than as the main course on some Cajun's dinner table

Mr. Bluebird returns for another dip

Happy remaining (hours of ) spring to all of y'all!

Nature Pics

by CajunKate

Sunday sunset from my backyard

My lone surviving begonia in bloom

Kii-tay Pic

by CajunKate

Awww, cher! She looks so sweet and innocent, bathing as she is in the sunlight from our bedroom window. So not like she would claw my favorite Banana Republic skirt to death in a heartbeat. Sigh. It's all such a facade. (Oh, and tamp down on the envy of my baby blue carpet. I know you want it, but it's mine, I say! Wait..it's not 1982, anymore? WTF, man?!?)

Not Exactly a Party Pic

by CajunKate

At the Lafayette Public Library on the second floor working on a take home mid-term (and periodically looking out of the window to daydream)

Boooooooooring!

by Cajun Kate

So I know I have been seriously MIA. What can I say? There are officially ten school days left until the end of the semester, and here is what I have left to do:
1. Paper for adolescent psychology class
2. Three essays and five discussion questions for take home final (and finish the last 5 of the 78 article/chapter summaries) for developmental psychology class
3. Take home discussion question for helping relationships class
4. Study for and take final in helping relationships class
5. Study for and take a final on eleven theories in marriage and family counseling class
6. Study for and take a final on six chapters for adolescent psychology class

I just keep repeating The Little Engine That Could's mantra. We all remember it, right? "I think I can! I think I can! I think I can!" Maybe that whole All I Really Need to Know I learned in Kindergarten dude was on to something.

Anyway, I do feel pretty badly about leaving you guys in the lurch. I know how it is. You check every day and are all like D**n, that b***h is lazy! And, while it is true that I am indeed lazy, it's also true that I am only being lazy about anything not associated with school at the moment. My toilets and kitchen floor can attest to this. Not that I've missed them, BUT I have missed you guys! So, in an effort to keep everyone happy- you, me, the blogosphere gods- I am going to try to upload one mundane picture a day from now until the semester is over. All in an effort to let you know that I am still alive and kicking and that I will eventually be back at it, keeping everyone posted on the various Daigle happenings and writing AND posting pics about mundane me on a more regular basis.

First pic: This is what is happening under my desk RIGHT NOW! Control yourself, people! Your excited screaming is waking up the neighbors.
P.S. Alex hates when I let my shoes pile up like this. He turns into a grumpy old man and says things like, What does this look like? A closet? Uh, no. It looks the place where my shoes landed. Duh!

Another pic (sans long post) comin' at ya tomorrow...I hope. Keep on, keepin' on!