Prudhomme City Chronicle

On Saying Goodbye

2010-12-30T06:28:00.000-08:00

So we held our own version of a state funeral for the Mayor. It was beautiful and amazing and devastating. Our daddy was beloved by so many. It is a testament to the kind of life he lived that so many people came to say goodbye. After the services, we had a huge party because that's what the Mayor always said he wanted- "When I'm gone, I want y'all to have a big party where everyone celebrates my life. " So that's just what we did. And it was beautiful and amazing and fun. Everything he would have wanted.

Until we meet again, farewell to the Mayor... to Poppa Smurf... to CajunCharlie...to Le Grand Chew... to our wonderful and loving husband, Daddy, and Pa-Pere.

A Tribute to Charles Francois Daigle from Kate Mottram on Vimeo.

Rip Off Recipe- Sausage Stuffed Eggplant

2010-06-15T06:16:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So the other day I was shopping in Rouses Market and, while perusing their ready-made meals, I saw sausage stuffed eggplant. It looked delicious! Since we have an abundance of eggplant in the summer garden, I thought I'd try to make some myself. So I got on ye olde internets when I returned home and found this recipe, which sounded pretty yummy. I had a quite a few veggies (from the garden and grocery) and cheeses in the fridge that needed to be used before they went bad; I decided to incorporate them into the dish. Also, we really love the pork up in this house, so I doubled the sausage. (SIDE NOTE: This reminds me of a story from this past weekend's trip to NOLA. As my friend and I were walking down Royal Street, there was a guy in front of the Supreme Court with a pot-bellied pig in a shopping cart. My friend was all, "OH! Look! A piggy. Let's go back and talk to the weird guy and pet the cute pig in a shopping cart." And I was all, "NO! a) I do not like weird guys when I am sober and b) I do not like pigs unless they are served on a plate, preferably in the form of bacon or sausage." The end.)

The end result of all this was one hella delicious eggplant dish. Since this recipe involved quite a bit of "Eh. Why not?" the amounts are approximates. If you decide to make this dish, you can modify it as you see fit.

Sausage Stuffed Eggplant:

Eggplant, halved lengthwise (I used 3 from my garden; they tend to be A LOT smaller than the grocery store version so I ended up with about 2 cups of leftover stuffing. If you're using grocery store eggplant, I'd get 2. Maybe 3. Good luck with all that.)

1 tablespoon of olive oil (I really have no idea about this. I just poured some into a pan until it looked like enough. But recipes like tablespoons, so I'm going with that. It's called science. Not.)

2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped (These were sitting in the fridge. We also had two tiny ones from the garden so I threw those in, too. That came out to maybe 2 tablespoons, so I don't think you need 4 tomatoes. But hey, if you're a tomato lover, you just might.)

3 or 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (I used 4, but we love garlic.)

2 small bell peppers, finely chopped (I used my garden peppers which, again, tend to be quite a bit smaller than the grocery store version. You could probably go with one decent sized one from the grocery.)

1/4 of a red onion, finely chopped (This was in the fridge, so I decided to throw it in. If I'd had it, I would have chopped up a medium yellow onion. Do with that info as you'd like. I never claimed to be Julia Child.)

Salt and pepper

1 pound bulk sweet Italian sausage (I can never find this in the groceries in Lafayette, so I just get the links, uncase them, and tear them up.)

1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs

2 eggs, beaten

*1/4 cup Romano cheese

*1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese

*1 cup mozzarella cheese (* The cheese amounts are very approximate. I just threw in what looked like a good amount for us. Adjust it to your taste...or don't. Hell fire, people! I'm not a food scientist. Have a glass of wine and roll with the recipe punches.)

1 cup spaghetti sauce (Whatever kind you like. I'm a fan of the Paul Newman sauces, so I used a cup of his sweet onion sauce. If you make your own spaghetti sauce, that would be delicious in this. Also, I hate you.)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place the eggplant cut side up on a baking sheet. Brush the cut sides with olive oil, sprinkle them with some kosher salt and some freshly ground black pepper. (That's me being a food snob; you can just sprinkle with some Morton's salt and McCormick black pepper from the can, and the world will not explode...or so I've been told.)
3. Shove the baking pan in the oven and roast the eggplant for 30 minutes (or so...until they look yummy and, when you poke them with your finger, they're soft. So technical, I know.)
4. While the eggplant are roasting, chop up all your veggies and get your olive oil into a skillet. Heat the olive oil over medium high heat, throw in the veggies and saute until wilted. (I am NOT a fan of crunchy veggies in anything but a salad, so I usually go for broke on this and REALLY saute them down.) Toss in the sausage and brown. Drain off the grease.
5. Remove from heat and allow to cool a bit. Throw in the beaten eggs (This is why I allowed it to cool. I have a phobia about mixing beaten egg into hot things and ending up with scrambled egg), breadcrumbs, cheeses, and spaghetti sauce. Mix it.
6. At this point your eggplant should have come out of the oven, and you've been letting it cool. If not, do that now. When they are cool enough to handle, scoop out the meat out into a bowl. Don't go berserk. You want to leave enough meat in them so that they retain their shape. Now you have little eggplant shells. Yay! Using a fork and knife, mash and slice it up in the bowl. (More technical stuff, I know.)
7. Fold the eggplant meat into the sausage mixture. (This is your stuffing, in case you didn't know. And I'm about to use the word stuffing, so I thought you should know.)
8. Spoon the stuffing into the eggplant shells. Sprinkle with some more cheese. (I sprinkled with all three because I had it. The original recipe calls for just mozzarella. But I love cheese. More cheese FOREVAH!)
9. Place back into the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes until heated through and the cheese is all yummy and bubbly and brown. (I should note that I turned the oven back to 350 degrees when I took the eggplant out. I don't know if you need to do that. I just like 350 degrees. Maybe I have OCD.) Pick the cheese that fell off of the eggplant and melted on the baking sheet, making crunchy yummy cheese thingies, and eat them. Wait. That's just me. What was I saying? Oh! Yeah. Okay, now it's all done. Serve it.
10. You can warm some more spaghetti sauce to serve with it, as the original recipe called for, or you can do what I did. Which is to forget that part, and just hoover down the delicious end product. It worked for me.

Sophi P. Cakes- A Sophisticated to Punk Cakery

2010-06-05T07:41:00.000-07:00

by Cajun Kate

So I posted this on my tumblr, but it's too great of a place no to share the story here, too!

The cutest little bakery has opened in Lafayette! One of my friends called me last week and asked me to go get cupcakes with her at this new place- Sophi P. Cakes. I hadn’t heard of it; she told me they were on Facebook, and she had been drooling over their photos of cupcakes. I couldn’t go with her, but when I got home, I looked them up on Facebook. Oh my YUM! I definitely wanted some of that!

As luck would have it, this week was my birthday party at work, so when Cara asked what kind of cake I wanted, I told her I wanted cupcakes from Sophi P.’s. Cara ordered some red velvet ones for me, and they were DELICIOUS! So delicious that I went to the store yesterday and got an assortment of cupcakes for the husband and I to try- Atomic Chocolate, S’mores, Walnut Cream, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cake. (You can see them in the pics above.) Hello, HEAVEN! I was so impressed with their cupcakes that I’m ordering a cake for a family gathering in late June.

Yep. It’s official. I’m addicted. But that’s okay, because I am supporting a small family-owned business. And I really LOVE that I can do that!

My Eggplant Fries Recipe

2010-05-29T17:14:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So, by popular demand (meaning one person asked me for it- Thanks, Sarah R.!- but I like to boost my self-esteem in any way I can), here is the recipe I use for eggplant fries…when I am not feeling lazy. If I am feeling lazy, I skip the egg part and just do flour. But the egg method is preferable if you like a thicker coating, which I do.

Eggplant Fries:

Eggplant, peeled and cut lengthwise (The eggplant from my garden are smaller than the grocery store eggplant, so I usually use 2 or 3, but 1 big ‘un from the grocery would suffice. Cut it into “fries,” people. It ain’t rocket science. If it was, I’d never be able to make these. I can’t even do normal science.)

2 eggs

½ cup milk

1 cup flour

Seasoning (Whatever you like in whatever quantity you like. I use Tony Chachere’s liberally.)

Vegetable or canola oil

Beat the eggs and milk together in one bowl. Mix flour and seasoning in another bowl. Heat an inch or two of the oil in a heavy-duty pan. Get it nice and hot. Dip eggplant fries in flour, shake off excess, and dip in egg mixture. Dip once more in flour.

Fry in batches (don’t overload the pan!) until golden brown on all sides. Drain on paper towels. Salt and pepper to taste. Keep fries in a warm oven until you’re ready to serve.

Enjoy!

Serves 3-4. (or two in the gluttonous Mottram household)

(Note: These are actually really good as an appetizer served with a garlic aioli for dipping. You can google a recipe for that. I’m tired of typing. What? I told you I was lazy.)

(Almost) My Daddy's Crawfish Étouffée Recipe

2010-05-29T11:56:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So actually, this recipe is very close to my daddy’s. Daddy uses margarine, but I like butter. Try it both ways and see which you like better. I season with Tony Chachere’s Famous Creole Seasoning, but any spice combo will do. Salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder are the main seasonings I would recommend. This recipe uses no cream of mushroom soup, no tomato, and no roux; it is all about the succulent crawfish. (Can I get an, “Amen!”?)

Serve it over Louisiana rice. FYI: I like Cajun Country Rice from Falcon Rice Mill in Crowley, Louisiana. My daddy was a farmer (rice, soybeans, & corn) in Acadia Parish, so I only use Louisiana rice. (If you use Minute Rice, for the love of God, I do not want to know this. If you’re my friend, it may be grounds for termination, and if you’re not my friend, likely I will never, ever speak to you.)

I also like to serve it over eggplant fries (as in the photo above). I get plenty of eggplant from my garden so it’s an awesome way to use it. But I must give credit where credit is due. I got the idea from D.C.’s Sports Bar & Steakhouse in Eunice, Louisiana. (I’d link to their website, but they don’t have one…No, seriously! They don’t!) D.C.’s serves it as an appetizer.

One last caveat, if you dare to use Chinese crawfish, I will know… and I will hunt you down… and there will be consequences and repercussions. Just say no to Chinese crawfish, people! LOUISIANA crawfish ONLY!

Without further ado, my version of Daddy’s Crawfish Étouffée :

1 pound crawfish tails (If you have leftover tails from a boil, these are best! If not, packaged LOUISIANA crawfish ONLY!)
Tony Chachere’s seasoning
5 or 6 tablespoons butter (Sometimes I pull a Paula Deen and use 7 or 8. What?)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped (or more…or less. Whatever floats your boat. Experiment.)
2 cloves garlic, minced (or more…or less. Whatever floats your boat. Experiment.)
1/2 cup finely chopped green bell pepper (or more…or less. Whatever floats your boat. Experiment.)
1/4 cup finely chopped sweet bell pepper (or more…or less. Whatever floats your boat. Experiment. NOTE: This is a major adjustment to my daddy’s recipe, but I really like the added sweetness of it.)
1 cup of liquids (Pssst! The secret ingredient is beer for part of the liquids. Daddy always uses beer. I do 1/2 cup beer & 1/2 cup water, but if you had some nice seafood or fish stock, I'd use that instead of water. Sometimes I use a bit more than a cup. It depends on how much sauce you like. If you’re serving over rice, a little more is usually better.)
Green onions, chopped, green part only (Just throw in a handful or two)
Italian parsley, minced (Just a bit for me; sometimes I just garnish with it. Some people like to add up to 1/2 a cup. Not me. Experiment.)

Season crawfish tails in a bowl.

Melt the butter and add the onions, garlic, and bell peppers, stirring constantly, and cook until wilted. This step is key. Do not rush it. Use a medium to medium high heat and really, really let them wilt down. Think it’s wilted enough? Go a little longer.

Add the beer and the water or stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Add the crawfish and simmer another 15-20 minutes. Don’t go too long on this as you don’t want to overcook the crawfish and have them become tough.

Add onion tops and parsley and simmer 5 minutes more.

Ladle over Louisiana rice.

ENJOY!!!

Serves four. [Or two, if you live at my house. We’re gluttons. ;-)]

* Addendum email from my daddy after he read this blog entry:

JB-

Tried to offer a comment on your blog about the étouffée (A2Fay), but am not smart enough to figure out how to do so.

Anyway, one thing to remember is that the crawfish are already cooked. So, that is the main reason not to cook them longer than what you prescribed. A few more helpful hints:

Not everyone has a rice cooker. An easy, simple way to do it, sans a rice cooker, is to use a small heavy duty sauce pot. Add a cup, or two, of medium grain rice (my preference over long grain,because medium grain, when done, doesn't separate like cooked long grain). Add a cup of raw rice to the sauce pot; this should give you about two cups of cooked rice. Add enough water so that it reaches the first joint of your index finger when placed just on top of the leveled rice. Turn heat on high. When the water begins to boil, lower the heat a bit to observe when its bubbles are coming from under the top rice level. When this occurs turn the heat on low, place lid on pot. Depending on the amount of rice you are preparing, it should be done in 15-20 minutes. Check, before turning off the heat, to insure that the rice is cooked by using a fork to turn over a bit of the top. If the rice appears to be still "wet," let go it a bit longer, and then check again. This sounds like a big production, but it isn't. I can give you one quick lesson, and you will be willing to try it instead of using a rice cooker.
The second thing is that, if you feel you have a bit too much liquid in the étouffée, you can thicken it. Thoroughly mix some corn starch with water, and add some to the étouffée. Let simmer for a short while to see if it thickens to your liking. If not, add a little more of the mix.

Incidentally, I like to use beer for my liquid. It sounds like a waste of beer but, in my opinion, really adds to the taste of the étouffée .

Love,

Dad

DELETE IT! Easter 2010: A Peaceful, Family Love Fest

2010-04-05T10:42:00.001-07:00

by CajunKate

So, we celebrated Easter. Ah, Easter! What a calm, fun-filled holiday, right? The colorful eggs, the cute bunny thing, the chocolate treats, the pastel couture, the screaming...wait, what? Uh-huh. And I am totally guilty of starting it. Bad, bad aunt. How did the Daigle Easter celebration go from love fest to sibling scream fest? Well...

Easter Sunday began with me discovering my basket had arrived from the Easter Bunny, and it had EVERYTHING I wanted in it. Mostly because I went shopping with the Easter Bunny at CVS pointing out to him exactly what he should purchase for me. My Easter Bunny needs hands-on direction if I'm to get everything I want. And, when it comes to Easter, since it's my favorite holiday, it IS all about me. Um, and the Risen Lord, of course... uh, here's my basket:

Oh, and the Zandinator got an awesome basket, too. See his cute little basket? His mom gave it to me. It's the same basket he's seen every Easter morning since he was born. Isn't that SO cute? Also, old. REALLY old. Like "that basket is 40 years old!" old. Thus, we can conclude that Zandy is old. Poor Zandy. Here's the old guy's basket:

Around 2:00 we headed out to the Daigle Easter celebration. Now, normally, this celbration would take place at my parents' home... except my parents have been homeless since July when they sold their home to Ted and Molly. Well, they have a home. It's just not ready. They bought a family member's home and had it moved. It's right next door to their old home, now Ted and Molly's home. They were supposed to be living in it by December. It's now April, and my parents are living in their camper at a campground a few miles from their new house, which looks like this:

Yeah, not close to being ready. So, my mom decided that we should all go to the campground for Easter. Why didn't we just go to Ted and Molly's? I have no idea. And if there's one thing I've learned in 40 years of being the First Lady's child, you don't question these things. Just go with it. Otherwise, you risk the possibility of "questioning her judgment" and, trust me, you do not want to go there. So, off to the campground we went. When the nieces and nephews arrived, Daddy asked Mary Grace what she thought of Ma-Mere's "house," to which Mary promptly replied, "I like dis new house, Pa-Pere!" So, there ya go. A stunning endorsement of Mom's choice of Easter venues.

Now, a few weeks ago, Max had so much fun using and took so much interest in my camera that, when I ran across an awesome deal on woot.com, I just had to get him his own digital camera. Now, contrary to popular belief, I am not stupid. I didn't show up with a digital camera for Max and nothing for the rest of the clan. I got all of them a little something. The rest of the boys got water balloon kits and Mary got a Barbie. But Max's gift was definitely a hit. He was SO excited!

We had to run up to the Eunice Walmart to get an SD card because I had forgotten to bring one from home, and Max needed it because he had discovered that the camera had video capability... and this is where the screaming comes in. Max, who had repeated no less than 500 times that he needed a YouTube account so he could upload his videos, took video of Sam. Now, I don't know what Sam was doing on that video, but I am assuming that it was something goofy and/or embarrassing because, the next thing I knew, Sam was chasing after Max sxreaming, "DELETE IT! DELETE IT, MAX! I don't wanna be on YouTube! MOOOOOOOOOOOM! Max is gonna put me on YouTube! I DON'T WANNA BE ON YOUTUBE, MOOOOOOOOM! DELETE IT, MAX!" Which, ya know, is kind of funny the first time, but then when Uncle Bydee gets in on the act and encourages Max to video Sam in shots Uncle Bydee sets up of himself tripping Sam, bouncing footballs of off his head, etc., you end up with at least an hour of such screaming. Until MOOOOOOOOM is rolling her eyes and aggravated and has had "just about enough already!" And, as we all know, when any Mom busts out with that line, the party's over. And, truly, if I had known that a camera with video would have caused all that screaming and pouting, I never would have gotten it. Probably. Maybe. I mean, I did get to capture these moments of Sammy's angst, which I think are absolutely hysterical. So, you know...it was TOTALLY WORTH IT! (Sorry, Molly!) Behold the Sam angst!

We took a break from the wailing, to eat the Mayor's signature crawfish etouffee, which was outta sight delicious, as usual. And I brought a ham that I had bought from a school fundraiser. Here's what I have to say about that: NEVER buy a ham from a school fundraiser. It was awful. The worst ham I've ever eaten. Sorry, family!

But, in all seriousness, it was a great afternoon. We had so much fun hanging out and eating with the family. But next year, I'll remember- no video of Sam. We need to find a new way to torture him. Juuuuust kidding, Sammy! Maybe. Probably.

Hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Easter, my peeps! Keep on, keepin' on! Oh, you can see more pics, HERE.

Happy Fourth of July!

2009-07-05T07:23:00.001-07:00

by CajunKate

So the Zandinator and I ended up having a very relaxed and awesome Independence Day. We didn't really have any plans, so we sat around on our lazy a**es in the A.C. for most of the day. Which I believe is patriotic in and of itself. But that might just be me.

Around 3 PM, we decided to go to a movie. We saw Year One. I wanted to see Public Enemies (vetoed by Zandy for Johnny Depp and length) or The Proposal (vetoed by Zandy for being a chick flick), so we agreed on Year One. And by agreed upon, I mean that I was promised popcorn, a Diet Coke, and more A.C. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I even laughed out loud at some parts.

After the movie, Zandy suggested we get sushi. I am always up for that! We went to Shinto Sushi. This was a new place for us suggested by Greg and Clelie. I ordered a Sapporo. Yes, I drank a Japanese beer brewed and bottled in Canada on the birthday of our nation. Yay, America! We ordered five rolls. A server, not ours, brought over a plate with two rolls on it and said the names of them in a really low and heavily accented manner. I looked at Alex and said, "Which ones are these?" We spent a few minutes trying to figure it out, then gave up and dug in. A short while later, the same server brought over a platter of five rolls. And I said, "Uh...something's wrong. We only ordered five rolls, and we already had two." At that moment our server came up, and it was deduced that those first two rolls? Yeah, the ones we basically devoured? Uh, those were for another table! Whoopsie! But hey, we got free sushi! Yay, America!

After Sushi, we came back to the house, and Zandy asked me if I would like to go see the fireworks downtown. WOULD I?!?!? This was not a chance to be passed up since Zandy is not known for his love of crowds and uh, you know, ...people. We even went early so he could take me to Jefferson Street Pub for a couple of drinks. What a great husband! Yay, America!

At about 9:45 pm, we headed over to Parc San Souci to get a good viewing spot. The Acadiana Symphony was just finishing up when we arrived so we got to hear their last song. They were awesome. Next year, I want to go see their whole set. Anyway, the fireworks started right on time. The staging area was the top of the parking tower next to the park. Uhhhh, is that safe? Whatever. Nothing caught fire. Although, we did have to move because, due to where we were standing originally and the wind direction, I caught some fiery debris in my left eye. Who do I sue? Yay, America!

The display was short but very fun. It was more than I expected for Lafayette. I got a few good pics and some video.

To sum up: laziness, A.C., not bad movie, gorge fest on food of former World War II enemy nation, fireworks, possible lawsuit. Yay, America!

Hope all of you had a fun and safe holiday! Keep on, keepin' on!

Prudhomme City, Here They Come!

2009-07-04T10:17:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So Ted and Molly and the tribe moved out to Prudhomme City. I posted quite a bit during the day on my Tumblr, so you can go there to get the lowdown and some pics. I can sum it up here: OH MY GOD, I AM GOING TO DIE OF HEAT EXHAUSTION!! Yeah. I'd say that pretty much sums it up. But I am so, so happy that Ted and fam are in Prudhomme and close to Mom and Dad. The boys and Mary Grace are going to have a blast growing up there. I did.

Oh, and here's some video footage Gabe took on my ~~precious~~ iPhone.

P.S. The boys looooooooooooove the iPhone, especially the video feature. And like any good princess, Mary Grace loves looking at herself on the iPhone.

Colin and Quinn Video Extravaganza 2009

2009-06-30T18:38:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So I took the video and put together a lil movie about our time in Columbus. Here ya go! Enjoy!

Columbus Day Seven: But I Don't Wanna Go Home Version

2009-06-30T10:48:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So Day 7. Yeah. F**k Day 7! Day 7 always sucks a** at some point. The point where we have to leave and drive 15 hours back to Louisiana. That point sucks sooooooooooo much!

I can't even really write about it. Here's the brief version:

We went to Jen and Tim's around 9:30 AM.
We got in as much nephew lovin' as possible.
We let Jen feed us a delicious lunch.
We said tearful goodbyes. Really tearful. F**k, I hate that part.

And here are some pics:

My Colin! Oy, look at dat face!

My Quinn! Could he be any cuter?

My boys! I wanna steal them. For reallsy.

My cutie patootie nephews!

They loooooove their Uncle Bydee.

Quinn with his Nanny Kate Transformer

Colin in the garden

Concentration Quinn Face

Probably my fav Colin pic of the trip. That is Colin in a nutshell!

And some video that will make you want to jump through your computer monitor and inahale these precious boys:

I adore going to Columbus. I abhor leaving Columbus. The end.

P.S. The full Columbus Tour 2009 set can be found on my Flickr page.

P.P.S. There will be another Video Extravaganza this year, but it won't be as extensive since I didn't bring my video camera because I couldn't find the battery, and I kept forgetting that I have a video option on my digital camera. Basically because I am an idiot. But you already know that.

Columbus Day Six: Sister Saturday

2009-06-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So Day 6 began at the crack of dawn, and I didn’t mind one bit. In fact, I nearly ran out of the door in my PJs and bed head to get my Jack and Benny’s on. Ah, Jack and Benny’s! How do I love thee? Let me count the menu items. Well, maybe not. That would take all blog as I have a slight obsession with the place. More so even than with Schmidt’s Sausage Haus, ye of the beloved cream puff and Bahama Mama, and that’s saying something. Let me put it this way. All tallied, I have been to Columbus seven times now. I have never, NEVER, not gone to Jack and Benny’s when I am in town. I think I would crawl over broken glass while being forced to eat beans if it meant that at the end of it I would be able to eat breakfast at Jack and Benny’s.

At 7:30 I picked up Jen, and we headed downtown. We arrived five minutes before they opened and were the second ones in the door. I knelt down and kissed the doormat on the way in. Not really. But I wanted to.

Outside

Inside

The menu at Jack and Benny’s is very extensive and it’s ALL breakfast food. That’s it. Breakfast all day. Well, hello there HEAVEN! Am I right? Yeah, I’m right! Jen and I each got the Jack’s Dad which is two eggs cooked to order, hash browns, corned beef hash, and toast. You can even get rye toast (rye toast, people!), and that is exactly what we did. This is a major clue that we were raised by a Yankee mother. We actually eat and love bread that doesn’t say Evangeline Maid on the package. Also, the corned beef hash. I don’t know how it is that, being raised by a Yankee mother as I was, I had never had this stuff until last year at Jack and Benny’s, but I am now totally in love with it. I’d marry Jack and Benny’s corned beef hash if it were legal. When are we gonna make that a federal law, huh? Way more important than gay marriage in my book.

We also got a Buckeye pancake, which has peanut butter and chocolate chips in it, and a coconut pancake to share. Yeah, cuz, ya know. There was no way that oval platter overflowing with food would be enough for us. It is at this point that I thanked the Baby Jesus for giving me a sister. A sister who loves and adores the Jack and Benny’s as much as I do.

Buckeye Pancake

Coconut Pancake

The Jack's Dad

After our kick a** breakfast, we headed over to Target in Easton to pick up some flip flops and a tank top for Jen. Can you believe this girl has NO flip flops?!?!? We had been discussing this on the back porch the day before when she innocently said, “I love all of your flip flops. Don’t the things hurt between your toes though?” And I was all, “Uh, no! Not at all.” And she said, “Oh, I never wear them because when I was little they used to make the skin between my toes blister.” And I was all dumbfounded and said, “Dude! Flip flops have come a long way since 1983! WTF? You need to get on board the flip flop bus ASAP. Your life will never be the same. They are God’s gift to shoe wear. Cheap, comfy, slip on and off at a moment’s notice. What’s not to like? And Target is flip flop nirvana. You need to give flip flops another chance.” And then she said the most mind-boggling statement of all, “Oh, Target has good flip- flops?” Like WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA? What planet have you been on, girl? So I decided then and there that it was time for an intervention. And that is how we ended up at Target where I insisted that she get two pairs, a black and a brown, so that she could wear them with anything. Each of them even had a wedge heel. That’s a total bonus cuz for her that’s like a wearable step ladder. She may not have to ask for help reaching things on tall shelves during the summer ever again. And we picked up some liquid bandage just in case there was a “between toe” issue.

On the way out we stopped for Starbucks iced coffees (YUM!) with double shots of expresso (ZING!). That was just the ticket we needed for more shopping. Jen had pointed out a Trader Joe’s on the way to Target, and I wanted to stop and check it out. I have been hearing about Trader Joe’s forever, and I really wish we had one in Lafayette. It’s like an affordable, smaller Whole Foods. But I must not have said out loud that I wanted to stop there because when I was asked Jen, “Where do I turn?” She said, “Oh, we’ll just take this street all the way back to Gahanna.” And I got all hysterical and screamed at her, “We’re going to Trader Joe’s, guh!” And she said, “Oh, we are? You didn’t say anything. I’m sorry. Turn here.” And then I had to apologize for getting all panicked and psycho over the fact that she inadvertently suggested we not stop at a place that sells food and cheap wine. Yeah. There is something wrong with me.

But here’s where it gets bad. The girl literally lives seven minutes from Trader Joe’s, and she had never even been in there. Dude. I think that might be a venial sin. So I extolled the virtues of Trader Joe’s and once inside, she was rightfully impressed. For some reason, she thought it was like Whole Paycheck, which it totally is like that but very, very affordable. The poorer man’s Whole Foods. We picked up some Greek yogurt I had heard about and wanted to try, two tubs of cookies for the boys (my suggestion, of course), and some Two Buck Chuck. Awesome!

After our fantastic quality time together, we decided on the way home that we would make Saturday Morning Sister Time a tradition from now on. Loves it! And we totally shook on it, so she can NEVER back out. I am evil. But in a good way.

Back at the house, Tim had picked up Bydee at the hotel and Tim’s parents came by to drop off the boys and Schmidt’s Bahama Mamas for us to take back to Lafayette. I LOVE Tim’s parents! Also, David, his brother, who was actually the one who got them for us for free because he has an inside hook-up. It so pays to have connections.

A bit later, Tim’s friend Odee and his girlfriend Sam came over, and we headed down to ComFest. This was a lot of fun, but it was super crowded and with the boys with us, it made it hard to partake of the music and drinking which, let’s face it, is what I expect when I go to a festival. Helloooo, Louisiana here! Anyway, we ended up separating into guys and girls. We girls took the boys to play on the playground and jump in the space walk thingy. We stayed about 2 ½ hours and then decided we were whipped. We texted the boys that we were leaving and got the heck out of there.

We stopped of at CVS on the way home so I could play “Crazy Spoiling Auntie” and buy the boys Transformer toys and candy. Then we picked up some fresh sweet corn at Smith’s Market and went home where I busted open that Two Buck Chuck faster then you can say, “This b***h needs a drank!” Ahhhhhh, all bettah!

We spent the rest of the night playing with the boys and visiting. We had phenomenal ribs and corn for supper. Seriously? Those ribs? F**king fantastic!

We had the traditional bye-bye fest that night. Quinn cried. Oh my Lord, my heart was broken. But before we left for the hotel, Jen asked if we would please come by before we headed back to Lafayette in the morning. That didn’t take much arm-twisting, naturally, and was agreed upon immediately.

For you, that means you get a Day 7 blog. See? Evil. But in a good way. The end.

Whoops! Pics! Gotcha again!

Colin and his Hawaiian Shaved Ice at ComFest

Quinn checkin' out ComFest on his pack mule, a.k.a. Uncle Bydee

Swangin' Quinn!

Colin and Bydee

Quinn with his Push Pop, a.k.a kiddie crack

Colin with his Mini M&M's, a.k.a kiddie crack

Find all the C-Bus 2009 Tour photos HERE.

Columbus Day Five: Bye-Bye Alex and Hello Birbigs!

2009-06-30T08:37:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So Day 5 started off with a fairly early wake up call, so I could make sure that Alex got on the airport shuttle from the HI Express. And let me just pause here to give a shout out to the Holiday Inn Express in Gahanna. We’ve stayed there three years in a row now and absolutely love it. It’s very clean, the staff is super nice, the maid service is first rate, and the breakfast is AWESOME! Those cinnamon rolls are the bomb diggity, and I’m not even that much of a fan of the cinnamon roll in general. And I don’t know what they use as an air freshener there, but you know those Febreeze commercials where the people like fall on the rugs and curtains and bury their faces in them? That’s what I wanted to do every time I stepped off onto the 4^th floor this trip. Love ya, HI Express Gahanna!

Okay, moving on. Alex and I woke up a about 8:30 and got him ready for departure. We went downstairs and enjoyed our delicious free breakfast. I insisted that he leave for the airport no later than 10:30 AM for his noon flight. I wanted to be sure that he had plenty of time to make his flight. Blame my high anxiety levels. That’s what I do. Cuz it’s TRUE!

Once Alex was seen off safely, I gathered up my laptop and went down to the pool to catch up on my blog and picture uploads. Even though it’s an indoor pool, it was still incredibly relaxing. Jen called me at what I thought was 11 o’clock to see if I wanted to go with her to pick up the boys at 12:30. I said yes, but then realized I was in the wrong time zone on my laptop and was still in my swimsuit. I didn’t think unsuspecting babysitters needed to be exposed to that, so I remained at the hotel and got ready at a leisurely pace while waiting for Byron to return from Louisville. When he got back, right on time at 1:00 PM as instructed by Mrs. Anxiety here (Good job, Bydee!), we headed over to Jen’s place. On the way there, Bydee unwittingly opened the door to the perfect chance to gross him out when he asked what we had done while he was in Louisville. I responded, "Oh, we took the boys swimming and then we ordered Chinese food for supper at Jen and Tim's, and then Alex and I came back to the hotel... (pause for effect, turn to Byron and yell at the side of his face) and then we f**ked like rabbits!" Purrrfect timing since he screamed "AHHH! EWWWW! Do not want! TMI! Gross!" Ahahhahahahaha! Nothing is as fun as harrassing Bydee. NOTHING!

We had plans to head over to Cincinatti to see my new favorite comic Mike Birbiglia, a.k.a. "Birbigs". We hung out for awhile and played with the boys then around 3:30 PM, we headed over to Hilliard to drop the boys off at Tim’s parents for an overnight. Quinn, after almost a week of weird schedules and missed naps, had a minor meltdown because he wanted Bydee to ride with them to Hilliard. (What am I? Chopped liver?) But Byron was feeling the effects of a night of Maker’s Mark in Louisville, so he stayed behind to take a nap and recover. Once we were in the car, the boys fell asleep almost immediately. The drop off at Tim’s parents was fine, and I got to see Jen and Tim’s niece Valerie, daughter of Tim’s brother David and his wife Britt, who is just the cutest little chunky monkey babay.

We picked up Tim from work on the way back, and the boys had a few beers and relaxed before we headed over to Cincy at about 6:30 pm for the eight o’clock show. On the way, we stopped off for a restroom break for the guys and tried to get them some beer, but we happened to stop in a dry county. Curses! For them. I didn’t give a s**t since I couldn’t drink. Yeah, I don't really do compassion when I can't partake in the drinking.

We probably should have left a bit earlier for the show, especially since none of us know Cincy at all. But, thanks to ~~my precious~~ the iPhone, we made it there. We were a bit late, arriving at 8:30, but Mike had just gotten on stage. The comedy club, Go Bananas, was really nice. Jen and Bydee had never been to a comedy club before so they were both shocked at how intimate the setting was. We were seated maybe 20 feet away from Mike.

Before we left for Columbus, I had forced Byron to watch YouTube videos of Mike Birbiglia and he thought he was hilarious, but neither Tim nor Jen had ever seen any of Mike’s videos. I was a bit worried that they wouldn’t like him, but I think Mike has two new fans. They loved him! I, of course, laughed so hard I cried. It was awesome!

After the show, they announced that Mike would be out front and there was merchandise, including CDs, available for purchase. Jen and I went into the bathroom after the show, and when we finally got to the merch table, there was no Mike and there were no CDs on the table, so we went outside to meet up with Tim and Bydee. They decided to go into the bar next door to get a drink for the road, and I decided to go back into the comedy club to actually ask about the CDs. When I went in, I asked the guy at the table about the CDs. Some guy over to the left piped up, “I don’t know what happened. They didn’t show up. Here, you can have this keychain or something.” I looked over and HOLY S**TBALLS!!!!! It was Mike! I talked to him for a minute and told him I’d come all the way from Louisiana for his show (which was close enough to the truth), and he let me take a pic with him.

Me with Birbigs!

He always makes what he calls his “picture face” in photos, which I think is hysterical. Anyway, he was super nice as I gushed all over him and he told me he hoped to see me at another show sometime. Which I def plan to make happen! When I came running out of the club, I was all “BA-DAM! Look at this, b***hes! I got a pic with Mike!” And everyone was duly excited and thrilled for me.

In the bar, Bydee and Tim had asked for their drinks to go and, of course, the bartender was all, “What? Uh, we don’t do that.” Bydee spied some plastic cups on the bar and just poured the drinks into them. You can take the boy out of Louisiana, but you can’t take away his to-go cup.

The trip back seemed much quicker than the trip down. I guess the Mike Birbiglia anticipation on the way there had something to do with it. Anyway, we made it back to C-bus, and I had convinced Jen on the trip back to get up early and go to Jack and Benny’s with me at 7:30 AM. Bydee and Tim were having no part of that since they were both going to be nursing hangovers. My evil plan to spend some quality sister time with Jen came to fruition with frightening ease!

Everyone tucked into some late night leftovers, but I limited myself to a handful of Doritos because I wanted to be plenty hungry for Jack and Benny’s in the AM. Food obsessed pig here!

Eventually, Bydee and I headed back to the hotel where Byron’s self-imposed ban was over because the all night freight train known as Zandy was back in Louisiana. We both fell into a deep and blissful sleep. Him to sleep out his alcohol consumption and me to prep myself for the AM gluttony at my fav C-bus breakfast joint.

And you've been spared because I didn't really take any pics on Day 5. You can thank me later. The end.

Columbus Pics

2009-06-29T18:25:00.000-07:00

So I didn't get around to writing the last of my daily blogs, but I did manage to get the last of the pics uploaded. Enjoy!

HOME!

2009-06-29T01:56:00.000-07:00

Got in @ 3:30 am. Whew! Will upload Day 5 & 6 blogs, pics, and videos tomorrow... er, later today.

Live Blog: Lafayette or Bust

2009-06-28T16:29:00.001-07:00

Nashville behind us; Memphis, here we come!

Live Blog: Lafayette or Bust!

2009-06-28T12:37:00.001-07:00

Howdy, Kentucky!

Live Blog: Columbus

2009-06-28T07:34:00.001-07:00

Sunday morning goodbyes

Live Blog: Columbus

2009-06-28T07:33:00.001-07:00

Sunday morning goodbyes

Live Blog: Columbus

2009-06-27T09:49:00.000-07:00

Mmmmmmm!! Trader Joe's cookies!

Live Blog: Columbus

2009-06-26T12:47:00.001-07:00

Going to Grandma and Paw-Paw's so Mommy and Daddy can go to the comedy
show in Cincinatti tonight.

Live Blog: Columbusl

2009-06-26T12:44:00.000-07:00

Going to Grandma and Paw-Paw's so Mommy and Daddy can go to the comedy
show in Cincinatti tonight.

Live Blog: Columbus

2009-06-26T12:18:00.000-07:00

Snack time!

Live Blog: Columbus

2009-06-26T11:46:00.001-07:00

Hangin' out!

Live Blog: Columbus

2009-06-26T11:39:00.001-07:00

Uncle Bydee and Colin watching some Cartoon Network

Live Blog: Columbus

2009-06-26T10:26:00.001-07:00

Chillin' in the hotel room watching MJ's Thriller video on BET. RIP
Michael Jackson.

Columbus Day Four: Thurman-ators and Celebrity Death

2009-06-26T08:26:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So Day Four had been christened THURMAN-ATOR THURSDAY!!!! (Note: You must say that in a deep, dramatic voice like the one on those monster truck rally commercials.) And I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I was. The plan was to go to Thurman Café at about 2:00 pm to avoid the long lines. Alex and I slept in and were relaxing around the hotel room when I got a text from Jen saying Tim’s boss had cracked a tooth and had to go to the dentist at 1:00 pm, so Tim would not be able to leave work. Of course my first thought was, “That doesn’t mean we can’t go to Thurman Café does it?!?!?!?” What a selfish b***h, huh? Jen assured me that Tim insisted we go without him. Whew! Crisis averted! It was then that I was all, “Aw, man, poor Tim! That sucks!” See, I can be compassionate…once my needs are met.

Alex and I jetted over to Jen’s work and picked her up. Back at her house, we woke Byron up and sent him back to the hotel to take a shower and pack up for his overnight trip to Louisville with his friend Kathy. The wait was interminable. Well, maybe just for me. Finally, Byron returned just moments after I had fired off a text reading, “Uh, r u coming back?” Oops. We all jumped in the car and headed down to Thurman Café in the German Village section of Columbus. Thanks to my iPhone, we had no problems navigating our way there. (Had to get those iPhone props in!)

Once there, we were seated pretty quickly. The café is a pretty small place with limited seating and a very funky décor where visitors are encouraged to leave signed dollar bills and such on the walls and write on the booths. Fun! We left one of Alex's business cards.

After perusing the menu, I was the only one brave enough to order the Thurman-ator. Bydee and Alex ordered the regular Thurman burgers, and Jen got a Macedonian burger. I happily informed the waiter that I would be having the Thurman-ator, and he told me that two people had ordered it that day and they had almost finished it. He gave me a tip to facilitate the finishing of the Thurman-ator. He told me, “Go easy on the pop.” And I was thinking, “What the hell is pop?” when he kind of nodded toward my diet Coke, and I was all “Ohhhhh, soda! Ha! Oh, Yankees!” Not aloud, of course. That was in my head. I’ve got some manners!

We ordered some appetizers- pretzel bites (YUM!!) and a combo basket of fried and onion rings (YUM!!). This is when Byron morphed into competitive eater coach. He informed me that I would not be allowed to eat any appetizers. I started laughing and informed him that I could just, you know, get a to go box if I didn’t finish the Turman-ator. He started barking at me, saying things like, “Don’t think like a quitter! That’s like climbing Mount Everest half way and saying, ‘Oh, I’ll just come back and finish it later.’ You don’t do that!” Then Alex chimed in, “You don’t go to base camp and ask for a to go box!” This continued until the food, mercifully, arrived. But before my burger got to our table, the waiter had to stop off at several other tables so they could “ooh and ahh” over it. I s**t you not. That’s on the real. Then when the waiter set it down, a little old man came scrambling over with his digital camera and asked if he could take a picture of it. Yes, seriously. Then it was our turn to take pictures of the burger and me and the burger.

Finally, I was ready to dig in and the waiter came by right then to ask if we needed anything. I said, “I’m having trouble figuring out how to attack this thing” thinking, you know, he might have a tip, like with the pop thing. He said, “Yeeeah…good luck with that.” Huh.

I ended cutting it in half and then eating the top half of a half then the bottom half of a half. Does that make sense? Anyway, I was doing pretty well. Then Byron started moaning and groaning about how full he was. And started making retching noises. Then Alex pitched in with retching noises. Thanks, guys! I finally got about three quarters of the way through, and my “coach” Byron started saying, “Don’t do it! Just quit! You’ll throw up! Just quit!” Uh, what happened to that whole Mount Everest simile? I was soooooooooooo full. I probably could have forced myself to finish, but I definitely would have gotten sick. And that’s just retarded. So, I grabbed a napkin and waved it in the air in surrender, and everybody got a big kick out of that.

Now, let me say this loud and clear. Yes, the Thurman-ator is huge. But, more importantly, it is DELICIOUS!!!!! DE-LISH-OUS, people! I loved it. I don’t think I’d ever do it again. I’d just go with the Thurman burger next time, which is the normal sized (though still a very big burger!) version. Definitely met ALL my expectations and then some. Great experience! So, thanks Thurman Café! You rock!

After Thurman Café, we piled back into the Vue, each of us in our own special food coma. I can't speak for anyone else, but I was wondering if there was a Wal-Mart nearby where I could pick up a muu-muu. Oy, so full!

Back at Jen’s, Byron took off right away for Louisville. Tim was home by that point, so we sat around talking and visiting until the boys got home. The first words out of Colin’s mouth to me were, “Nanny Kate, can we go to your hotel pool?” So that’s what we did. Packed up the kids and hit the pool. Tim stayed behind and took a nap, so Alex pulled Daddy duty for a while and played “monster.”

Also, while at the pool, I got a text from Seth reading “RIP Michael Jackson.” I texted back, “Seriously? He’s dead?” And he texted back, “Some say so. Just heard he’s in a coma. I just like spreading gossip- TMZ style.” Ha! He cracks me up. Then Jen went into the lobby and said, “Kate! It’s true! It’s on CNN! He’s dead!” So I ran into the lobby and sure enough, MJ and Farrah Fawcett died on the same day. While I was chowing down on a Thurman-ator, Michael Jackson was dying from cardiac arrest. There’s a message in there somewhere, isn’t there? Huh. Can’t think of what it might be.

After swimming, we headed back to the house. The boys ate a little supper then went to bed. We ordered Chinese food, but I was still so full of Thurman-ator (mind you, this is a full eight hours since I ate the thing and we went swimming!) that I ate like two dumplings and was all, “No, no! No more food.” Truly a historic moment.

Anyway, Alex and I were wiped out, so Jen drove us back to our hotel, and we promptly crashed into bed. The end.

Oh! There are a few more pics from Day Four on my Flickr, naturally.

Live Blog: Columbus

2009-06-25T18:55:00.000-07:00

Swimming with my boy Quinn!

Live Blog: Columbus

2009-06-25T15:30:00.000-07:00

Three boys in da pool!

Live Blog: Columbus

2009-06-25T12:31:00.000-07:00

I almost did it! So close and yet so far!

Live Blog: Columbus

2009-06-25T12:27:00.000-07:00

The Thurminator!!!!!!

Columbus Day Three: Swimming Pool and Summer Treats

2009-06-25T07:11:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So I'm going to keep this post short and sweet. There's a reason for this. I am behind on these d**n things, and I just spent an hour writing, editing, and adding pics to the last one. I'm over it. Why? Because I AM LAZY! Duh! You know this, people!

Here's the rundown:
1. Pick boys up early from daycare. Tim, Bydee, and Alex head to downtown Columbus to eat lunch at North Market and pick up a jug o' beer at the Elevator Brewery.
2. Me, Jen, and boys go back to hotel and swim for 2.5 hours. After 2.5 hours, Quinn is not ready to leave and announces that he could live in the pool and swim for ONE HUNDRED hours, NANNY KAAAAAAAAATE!!!!
3. ICE CREAM!!!!!!!!!!!! (The men meet us there.)
4. Home. Exhausted. Whoops! Grocery store and Farmer's Market for supper necessities.
5. iPhone, camera, piggyback rides, basketball, and blue horsey. Bedtime for boys at 8 PM goes over like a lead balloon. Sample quote: "But Nanny Kate, I just wanna go back to the hotel pool wif you. I don't wanna go doh-doh." (FYI: Doh-Doh is sleep.)
6. Blue cheese stuffed burgers and roasted corn! Oh my! Yummmmmmmmmm!
7. Hotel for me and Alex. Byron decides to stay at Tim and Jen's so he can, you know, sleep rather than listen to a freight train in the bed next to him all night as he did the previous evening.

The end. Wait. Here are some pics. Gotcha!

Colin

Quinn

Colin

Quinn

The Gang

More pics HERE!

Columbus Day Two: Finding Uncle Felix

2009-06-25T06:31:00.000-07:00

by Cajun Kate

So Day Two started off at 6:30 AM with a text from Alex letting me know he had missed his flight. At first I thought he was just being Alex and messin’ around with me, and I was all, “Ha! Ha! You’re funnay!” and he was all, “Uh, dude. I’m serious.” I immediately called him to find out what was going on. He had apparently gotten to the airport 45 minutes before his flight, thinking this was plenty of time to get on his flight in the rinky-dink Lafayette airport, but there was a huge church group departing for some convention, and he couldn’t get through security quickly enough to make his flight. Ugh. So instead of arriving at 10:35 AM, he would arrive at 5:40 PM. Ugh.

After our chat, Mrs. Anxiety here, could not go back to sleep. So at 6:30 AM I set about taking care of all my techie stuff. I got a lot done. Emails, pictures, blogs, tweets, etc. At 10:15, I called Alex to make sure he was awake and ready to head to the airport. His flight was leaving at 11:50. He was in line to get a haircut. Are you serious?!?!? But Zandy “I Fly by the Seat of My Pants” Mottram did actually make it to the airport and onto his flight. WHEW!

After I had been assured that he was on the plane, Bydee and I headed over to Jen and Tim’s and we decided to go to Creekside Diner for lunch. It was absolutely delicious. You may have seen my live blog of my Reuben sandwich, but I think we’d all like to see it again, right? Right!

Mmmmmmmm, teh heavenly sandwich!

Lunch with Bydee

Lunch with Tim

Lunch with Jen

After lunch we went back to the house, and Jen and I sat around visiting. Tim and Bydee took naps. Jen told a story that revealed my indoctrination of the nephews into iPhone obsession is almost complete.

At daycare, Miss Diane, the boys’ sitter, had misplaced some money and she asked Quinn if he had seen it. He said no. She teasingly asked him, “Well, Quinn, how am I supposed to find my money?” This is when Colin piped up with “There’s an app for that!” Ahahahahahahahaha! That is AWESOME!

Tim and I headed to the airport to pick up Alex at 5:15 PM. It was a smooth, quick trip there and back. Tim and Jen live 10 minutes from the airport. Very convenient.

Back at the house, Jen had picked up the boys from daycare, and they were waiting for camera and iPhone.

We all went outside to hang out and play, and Colin decided that Alex’s name was Uncle Felix. No matter how many times we tried to correct him, he would repeat Uncle Alex to us and then turn around and call him Uncle Felix. Alex got a huge kick out of this. And Alex being, he had to turn it into something sordid yet hilarious and said to me, “Babe, it’s cool. That’s my porn name.” Oh, Zandy! And later, “You can call me Felix in bed tonight.” Oh, Zandy!

The rest of the night was spent just hanging out, playing with the chirrens, and then GORGING on grilled snow crab and beer brats.

Frisbee!

Cell phone!

Piggyback ride!

Tinker Toys!

Basketball!

Rooftop sitting!

Transformers!

About that snow crab and those brats- OH MY LORD! DEE-LISH-OUS! For reallsy.

Tim with his culinary masterpiece! Grilled crab!

Beer Brats

I thought I might start to grow an exoskeleton if I ate anymore crab, so I put down the nut crackers, and we headed back to the hotel for a deep sleep filled with dreams of Thurminators (Oh, it’s coming! Hold your horses!). For me at least. I had tried to warn Bydee about Alex’s “snoring” a.k.a. “Rafter shaking, OH DEAR GOD!, what is that?!?!? An earthmover?!?!? snoring.” My defense against this is Tylenol PM and ear plugs. Worked like a charm, as usual. Bydee did not want to take the Tylenol PM. Something about he didn’t think it was necessary to drug himself in order to get a good night’s sleep. Oh, Bydee! Must you always learn the hard way?

Stay tuned for Day 3! And Thurminator Thursday!

P.S. You can check out the full set of pics from Columbus on my Flickr. You can thank me later.

Live Blog: Columbus

2009-06-24T17:23:00.001-07:00

Uncle Alex is tuckered OUT!

Live Blog: Columbus

2009-06-24T17:21:00.001-07:00

Bydee's world has finally righted on its axis. He got his Elevator
Brewery jug o' beer!

Live Blog: Columbus

2009-06-24T13:49:00.001-07:00

ICE CREAM!!!!!!!!!!

Live Blog: Columbus!

2009-06-24T11:53:00.000-07:00

You can call me Michael Phelps.

Live Blog: Columbus

2009-06-23T19:25:00.001-07:00

Snow crab legs! It's what's for dinner!

Live Blog: Columbus Lunch

2009-06-23T12:13:00.000-07:00

My lunch! Rueben from Creekside Cafe. I know you hate me right now,
and I can honestly say that I don't blame you AT ALL.

Columbus Day One: Travel and Technology Tykes

2009-06-23T07:17:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So Day One began at 9:00 PM on Sunday. That’s when we backed out of the driveway of Chez Hovel de Kable and took off for Columbus. People, it has been a long, long time since I did the drive through the night thing. And, people, you know something? I am way too old for that s**t.

I drove the first leg of the trip from Lafayette to Nashville. With Baby Bro asleep in the passenger seat, it was a long, long drive through the state of Mississippi. The “Dueling Banjos” theme ran through my head several times as we hurtled through hillbilly country. At about 3:00 in the morning, I thought I was losing it. My eyes started getting that gritty feeling, and they were all, “Duuuuuuuude, this is not working for me.” I was never so happy to see a sunrise.

After switch off, I tried to get some Z’s. But I don’t sleep well in cars, so when I awoke I had been asleep all of an hour. I just gave up and kept Bydee company the rest of the way. He got the shi**y weather and traffic jam part of the journey. Ha! Sucks to be you!

We pulled into Jen and Tim’s at about 1:30 PM. The boys were still at daycare so we shot the breeze for a bit then at 3 PM, we came back to the hotel, had a snack, and took a two hour nap. I don’t think Bydee wanted to get up from that nap, but I was all, “You get you’re a** out of that bed, mister! You can sleep when you’re dead! I’ve got nephews to eat up with hugs and kisses.” And he was all, “This is gonna be a long friggin’ week. *sigh*”

Back at Jen and Tim’s the boys came flying out of the house to greet us. Is there anything so delicious as adorable nephews who are simply apoplectic with glee over your arrival? I think not.

We played for a bit, then I pulled out my camera, and I’ll just put it this way. Nothing changed from last year. It was all, “May I see your camera?” every five minutes after that. Here’s some of their handiwork:

Blue Horsey- Up close and personal!

Uncle Bydee- Up close and personal

Blue Horsey- Distant and impersonal

But I hadn’t brought my video camera, so I had to throw my new iPhone into the mix so they could trade off periodically and I wouldn’t have to hear, “Is it MY turn?!?!?” every thirty seconds. This turned out to be a genius move since when Colin, who’s three, gave it back to me, he’d managed to move all the icons around. Something I hadn’t been able to figure out how to do over the course of three days, he figured out in about five minutes. So I asked how he did it, and he was all smug about it and sighed and said, “Let me show you, Nanny Kate.” Outsmarted by a three-year-old. Well, not the first time and won’t be that last, I’m sure.

Tim’s friend Paul came over with his girlfriend Heather, and we all sat around visiting and, of course, there were horsey rides, basketball, Frisbee, and Monsters, Inc., as well. But I think the highlight of the night was when I went to the bathroom, and Colin was all, “I have to pee and poop; I’ll come with you.” And so it was that we ended up taking turns sitting on the edge of the tub, watching each other do our respective businesses, while planning our adventures. A short recap:

Colin: Nanny Kate, I want you to come back to my house tomorrow. (*grunt* plop!)

Me: Oh, I am! I’ll be here tomorrow and a lot more days.

Colin: Yeah. And, Nanny Kate, tomorrow can we ride on your back again? (*grunt* plop!)

Me: Yep. And play Frisbee.

Colin: And hide and seek? (*grunt* plop!)

Yeah, like that. It was all I could do not to burst out laughing at the absurdity of it. Then, when it was all said and done and I had helped with the wiping and the re-dressing and the washing of hands. He looked at me and said, “Nanny Kate, I love you. You are so beautiful.” And I devoured him whole.

The rest of the evening was filled up with lots of playing and laughter and visiting. And of course, supper! (My favorite part of the day! Right after breakfast and lunch!) We had this deliciousness:

MMMMMMMMM! Papa Murphy's stuffed crust pizza!

I’m not the only one who thinks this is heaven on a plate. Check it:

Shortly after supper, it was time for the boys to go to bed, and Byron and I were beat so we headed back to the hotel where we both managed (barely) to brush our teeth before collapsing. And I dreamed of Thurminators. Hmmm, what’s a Thurminator, you ask? Oh, you’ll see. You’ll see! And when you do, you’ll be sooooooo jealous of me. Or disgusted with me. One or the other. Stay tuned!!!

What that? No, I didn’t decide to spare you the pics! HA! Fooled ya! Shpladow!

Classic Quinn: "Let me just explain this to you, Nanny Kate"

Colin and Blue Horsey

Quinn playing basketball

Colin: "Can't talk! Figuring out this iPhone thing!"

Quinn doing his "I'm AH-dorble! You are powerless to resist me!" face

and Colin doing his "I'm AH-dorble! You are powerless to resist me!" face.

O-H-I-O! Ohio! Here We Come!

2009-06-21T08:38:00.001-07:00

by CajunKate

So Bydee and I are making our annual trek to C-Bus to see Jen, Tim, and our delicious nephews Colin and Quinn. We are leaving tonight at 9 PM tonight. Please keep Bydee in your prayers as he will be trapped in a car with me for 15 hours. This is the reason our trip is annual. No one can (or should be forced to) handle that more than once a year.

I have MY PRECIOUS (new iPhone) with me, and I've set up this here blog to allow for mobile blogging, so you'll get some real time posts along with daily recaps like last year. I'm a blogging machine, people!

Stay tuned! Also, I'll be posting to my tumblr, as well. Hmmm, what's that? A narcissist? I don't know what you mean. I only live to serve, and the public has demanded this. And by public, I mean the voices in my head.

P.S. I spoke to nephew Colin on the phone this morning and he said, "Nanny Kate, I want you to come to my house! Oh, and Nanny Kate, I have a gun! A toy gun, Nanny Kate." You're in luck, Colin. I am coming to your house, and I'll bring... my shank! My toy shank!

Did You Say Beer and Food?

2009-06-13T09:37:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

(* FYI! This is gonna be a long, pic heavy post. Fair warning!)

So I don’t know if you guys remember or not, but I am a food-obsessed pig. Yeah. This means that when my birthday rolls around, I always try to find a unique, delicious, and expensive dining option. Late last month I stumbled across the Abita Dinner Series. This is how it came to be that Thursday, June 11, 2009, from here forward will be known as “Most Holy Abita Dinner Day.” Here’s how it went down.

Bydee and I hopped into the Vue at about 2:30 PM on Thursday. Neither of us had eaten lunch. I had purposefully done this because I am gluttonous and wanted as much room as possible in mah tummy to fill with Abita and food. But I am a loving, wonderful, and generous sister, so I stopped at McDonalds. After much debate, it was determined that we would get the meal that comes with two cheeseburgers, and I would eat one of the cheeseburgers, or as I like to call them “a most unfortunate snack.” We spent the first 30 minutes of our drive b***hing about how horrible McDonalds is. A whole 30 minutes on the topic of fast food. We are nothing if not lame.

The rest of the trip was spent talking about different topics. One topic was drinking and people who don’t drink, which included statements like this:

1. People who don’t drink, and have no logical reason for it, make me really nervous.

2. I don’t care if other people don’t drink, but don’t judge my drinking. Anyone who says something like, “Really? A drink? But it’s only ten in the morning!” will be an immediate victim of my one strike rule. They have no chance of becoming my friend…or even an acquaintance, really.

3. I’ll f**king set my alarm for 3:00 AM and drink a scotch if I f**kin’ feel like it! You can take your judgments and stick ‘em up your a** while you stare at my middle finger!

We are nothing if not classy.

When we arrived at Chez Sista and B Daigle's in NOLA, we were greeted by the AH-DORABLE Baby Zah-Zah. I don’t see how it is possible, but she gets cuter every time I see her. Bydee agrees since every time her name comes up, he yells out, “That kid is beautiful! Gerber baby! Get that kid in commercials!”

Zah-Zah in polka dots!

Michelle, Melissa’s sister, was there. Michelle is hilarious and awesome in every possible way. She cracks me up. One of my life’s dreams is to go out on the town with Michelle. I have every reason to believe it would be epic.

Burt got home about 5:30 PM, and Melissa’s parents, whom I happen to like very much because they are hilarious and have awesome accents, arrived to babysit Zah-Zah. After convincing Byron to let me iron his shirt, we all got ready and were out the door to the cab at 6:30 PM. The cab fulfilled the “responsible adult” part of the evening. We were under no delusions that we would not be drunkity-drunk-drunk by the end of the night, which fulfilled the “irresponsible adult” part of the evening. Ying and yang, people! Learn it, love it, live it!

The dinner was at Ralph’s on the Park, a very fancy-schmancy restaurant. We were led upstairs to a private dining room. This is when we all realized that we would be sitting at a table with strangers, and I had a mild panic attack. My RSS (Retard in Social Situations) disorder does not allow for eating with strangers until at least two drinks have been consumed, so that explains why I burst through the door onto the porch where the pre-dinner bar was set up, slammed my hands on the table, and yelled, “Beer! Now!” Not really. But it could have happened if Burt had not taken the lead and hustled us outside and gotten a drink into my hand within 60 seconds of arrival.

The pre-dinner beer was Abita Light. It’s not my favorite, but was def the best choice cuz, duh! No one wants to fill up on beer. The pre-dinner turned out to be my least favorite part of the night. We were all crammed out onto the tiny upper gallery. You heard me. Outside. In June. In 90 degree, 80 percent humidity weather. Me no likee. Also, there were supposed to be passed hors d’ oeuvres. There were, but the thing is they were plates with like ten items on them which were devoured by the ten people closest to the door from which the server emerged. I got one fried eggplant stick. That sucked. Eventually, I was all, “Seven o’clock yet? Inside! Inside! Sweating! No likee!” And Melissa was all, “Um, I think she needs to go inside and sit down for dinner.” So we did.

We all sat down at our lovely table.

Table setting

Our table marker read “Carter/ Diagle” :

They spelled our last name wrong and sat us with complete strangers? Unacceptable! But the Carters were not there yet. And in a true sign from above that Baby Jesus loves me, they NEVER DID! Amazing, no? We had the table to ourselves, and it was AWESOME! (Later in the night, I made a loving and beautiful toast which consisted of the statement, “I’d like to thank the Carters for not showing up! Yay!”)

Chef Chip Flanagan came out and described each of the courses to us. He was funny and charming, and I was determined to get a pic with him once I got enough liquor in me to throw my RSS out the window. Then beer was delivered for the first course, and the room lit up with a chorus of angels and divine light. Or maybe that was just me.

Anyway, the rest of the dinner went like this. YAY, BEER! Aaaaaand devour course. Repeat four times. It was magical!

Course I

Course II

Course III

Course IV

All of the courses were very good. But I think we all agreed the second was our favorite. Byron doesn’t like polenta (BLASPHEMY!) so Melissa and I got to eat his. When the waiter came by to pick up our plates for this course, I wasn’t done. I may or may not have threatened him with my dinner knife. Allegedly.

Needless to say, as the night wore on, we got more and more inebriated. Throughout the night, the next table was passing around a table member’s panama hat and taking pics of everyone wearing it. I said to Melissa in passing, “I want a picture of one of us wearing that hat.” And she was all, “Really? I’ll get it.” And I was “LOL! Nu-uh!” And then she got that SISTA! look on her face and said, “Oh, you think I won’t?!!?” and glided over to that dude and the next thing I knew, this was happening:

One of the most awesome parts of the evening was the impeccable service . Seriously. They were efficient, professional, and just so darn nice to our drunken a**es. They treated us like royalty. ADORE! When I left my seat to go to the restroom, the server at the door, who was scanning the room to service any needs of diners, stepped aside and literally did that whole *Sweeping hand with slight bow! Right this way, my lady!* gesture. I said to the server in the hall “Restroom?” and he did the exact same thing in the direction of the restroom while saying “Straight ahead and to the left, ma’am.” When I came back through, I gave him a full kiss on the mouth, then tucked him in my pocket to take home with me. Not really. But I wanted to.

After dinner, we went down to the bar to have a drink while we waited for our cab. Which never showed up. Seriously. We sat there drinking for probably an hour and taking pictures with people. (Bye-bye, RSS!)

The gang with Chef Flanagan

Me with Chef Flanagan

The gang with the Abita brewmaster (can't remember his name- surprise, surprise!)

The gang with some guy who started chatting with Byron at the bar and proclaimed himself "The Sausage King"

Eventually, we asked the bartender to call a cab for us, even though Burt had called like three times already and had waited outside for the better part of the hour. It got to the point where they were closing, and I asked the valet outside if he would call a cab for us, which he ran inside to do because at that point I think he was like, “Anything! Just get the f**k out! You’re drunk and obnoxious!” But, but… we’re fuuuuuuuuuuun obnoxious drunk, Mr. Valet!

Ten seconds later we all piled into the cab, which magically appeared, and within ten minutes we were all back at Chez Sista and BDaigle’s. Melissa’s mom greeted us and kept trying to get us to whisper and be quiet so as not to wake Zah- Zah. A complete exercise in futility for her. Within 5 minutes, Burt was asleep in the recliner, despite the fact me, Bydee, and Melissa were still whooping it up. About 30 minutes later, the rest of us gave up the ghost and went to bed.

Because there is a baby in the house, we were all awake and in the living room by 8:30 AM. We all sat around shooting the s**t and playing with Zah-Zah.

Baby speak for "Hoooooooooold me!!"

At about 10:30 AM, we decided we were starving, got dressed, and went out to Martin Wine Cellar for lunch, which was delicious. I know this because I took a bite of everyone’s meal. Classy! We roamed the store afterward for a bit and got a slice of heaven…err, peanut butter chocolate layer cake to go.

Back at the Daigles’, Melissa and I devoured the cake then I hustled Byron out to the car before he fell asleep in the chair, and we headed back to Lafayette. The trip back was uneventful with Byron sleeping for most of it.

All in all, I couldn’t have asked for a better trip. What a great start to my BIRTHDAY weekend, which will continue tonight (Saturday) with a night out at The Tap Room and Café Roma. Pics and post tomorrow for that.

Wheeeeee! Turning old never felt so good!

Easter 2009

2009-04-13T18:14:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So I uploaded all of my pics and video. Good stuff! To me, at least

Pics on Flickr: Click HERE

Video:

Blast from the Past- Easter Edition

2009-04-12T08:13:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So the Easter Bunny arrived and delivered chocolate bunnies, Heavenly Hash eggs, and jelly beans. Also, embarrassing old photos, which I am promptly posting in all places CajunKate on the internets.

What's that, my beloved brothers and sister? Why would the Easter Bunny deliver such horrific embarrassment on the day our Lord is risen? You'll totally have to take that up with the Bunny. I had nothing to do with it.

Byron

Burt and Erica

Burt

Teddy

Kate

The Original Four (Charlie, Ted, Katie, Jen)

The Final Six (Jen, Charlie, Ted, Katie, Burt and Byron)

Pa-Pere and Charlie

Good Friday- Cajun Style

2009-04-10T20:37:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So today I witnessed Emily's best friend Sydney, a girl who literally may weigh 85 pounds soaking wet, basically eat her body weight in crawfish. It was awesome.

P.S. You can view the entire crawfish boil set on my Flickr.

Welcome to the World, New Baby Daigle!

2009-04-01T16:23:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So it's official! We have a new baby Daigle for Ted and Molly and the rest of us, and it's a... drum roll, please... BOY! I've already updated the Prudhomme City Primer with his info. His full name is Peter Roy Daigle, and he was born yesterday, weighing in at an impressive 8 pounds and 5 ounces. His middle name is in honor of his paternal great-grandfather, Roy Green. I must admit that I am thinking of boycotting the first name and just calling him Roy. This may get me in hot water with Ted and Molly, but I bet Pap-Pap would approve. Also, Cousin Lauren wholeheartedly approves of this, so I can always just blame her.

I just can't wait to begin spoiling him rotten! And to nom-nom on delcious rolls of baby fat. Ah, Daigle babies and all that baby fat. I could inhale them whole. Speaking of which, check out Melissa's Flickr account to see photos of Zah-Zah "Cheeks" Daigle. Talk about nom-nom!

Now, I am already ready for another new baby Daigle. I nominate Melissa to fulfill that request. All in favor?

P.S. If you haven't seen the pics from Gabe's party, you can view them HERE on my Flickr.

I be Tumbling!

2009-03-15T17:51:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So I know I haven't had time to write on this here blog. Between my class and my internship, I have come to the realization that any blog posting will probably not be happening until after May 8th (end of the semester). BUT that doesn't mean you can't keep up with what's going on. I have a Tumblr. It is cool because I can post short blurbs about what I am up to, so if you are missing me on this here blog, you can always check out my Tumblr.

Still, there are some big events coming up (Gabe's birthday party, NEW DAIGLE BABY!! [estimated delivery March 25], Easter, etc.) that I will do my best to blog. However, I make no promises. It's semester crunch time, and I haven't found the time or energy to blog when it was just regular semester time. *le sigh*

Show Me Your Beads!

2009-02-22T14:16:00.000-08:00

by CajunKate

So last night I went to the Krewe of Bonaparte parade. Check it:

The secret is to point your camera at float riders. They then think you are actually taking their picture and pelt you with beads. Awesome.

And for those of you who couldn't be there:

More Mardi Gras madness as the holiday progresses!

Remember THIS Guy???

2009-02-16T17:49:00.000-08:00

By BDaigle

Back at the beginning of January, I went to see the Cajuns play UNO at the Lakefront Arena. It caused me to reminisce. I have bad memories of the Cajuns playing UNO in basketball when I was a kid. UNO always brought a ton of fans to games at the Cajundome and they were obnoxious. When we would go to see the Cajuns play at the Arena, it was dark & smelly and there were a lot more of those obnoxious fans. The worst part though was their coach. Tim Floyd. Tim Floyd spent most of every game coaching from the free throw line in front of his bench and never getting called for it. He stomped his feet. He yelled at the refs. He taunted the fans. He was OBNOXIOUS. He was a poor man's Bob Knight without any of the class.

Anyways, Tim finally got a college job again a few years ago after bombing as an NBA head coach. He's still the same old Timmy. For those of you who know Cajuns fans who suffered through the Floyd years, this is sure to bring a pained smile to your face.

Tim Floyd Gets Ejected.

Eating Healthy? Eh, Not So Much.

2009-01-19T06:22:00.000-08:00

by CajunKate

So much for that whole "eating right in the new year" thingy I had proposed to myself. This weekend, Alex and I went on a date. We ate at Zea's, one of our top five restaurants in Lafayette. Yeah, it's a chain, but it is one of the best chains ever, ever, ever. Every day, Zea has a meat of the day, and on Saturdays the meat is slow-roasted veal. It is heaven on a plate. The fact that it is baby cow heaven on a plate always gives me pause, but it is just so darn delicious that I can never bring myself not to order it. And so I feasted on roasted garlic hummus and the roasted veal with sides of sweet potatoes and Zea's famous roasted corn grits, which I washed down with two glasses of un-roasted Merlot. ( Then we went to see Grand Torino, which almost made me give up my lunch. Folks, wait for the Red Box DVD rental for a buck on this one. Trust.)

One would think after Saturday's gorge fest, I would have chilled on Sunday....and one would be wrong. But I blame Sunday's dietary mishaps on Burt and Melissa because if they had never given us a gift certificate to Don's Specialty Meats then I would never have felt compelled to spend it on this:

That, my friends, is a pork steak dinner. The star of this plate lunch is the gigantic, perfectly seasoned, incredibly tender pork steak. Buried under it are coleslaw, peas, rice dressing and a roll. Not pictured are the ten pounds of cellulite it added to my thighs. On the bright side, I ate the vegetables. That counts as healthy. You may quibble that cabbage slathered in mayo and peas smothered in butter do not count as vegetables. To which I say, "Take your f***ing logic and hit the bricks!"

Classic Poppa Smurf!

2009-01-09T18:41:00.000-08:00

by CajunKate

So, about two minutes ago, I opened my email to find a joke from Poppa Smurf. (For those who don't know, Poppa Smurf is a nickname for Daddy. I don't know who came up with it (any sibs out there remember the origin?), but someone decided our dad looked like Poppa Smurf, minus the blue skin and short stature, of course. For years, my brothers [not me; I was too scared] called my dad Smurf.) The email consisted of a joke. This joke represents, in a VERY classic way, the kind of joke that makes Daddy chortle in his signature laugh. When I read it, I burst out laughing. Mostly because I was imagining Daddy busting a gut laughing. Behold, the type of joke my dad absolutely think is absolutley HYSTERICAL(!!):

There once was an Indian who had only one testicle, and whose given name was 'Onestone'.
He hated that name and asked everyone not to call him Onestone. After years and years of torment, Onestone finally cracked and said,' If anyone calls me Onestone again I will kill them!' The word got around and nobody called him that any more.
Then one day a young woman named Blue Bird forgot and said, 'Good morning, Onestone.'
He jumped up, grabbed her and took her deep into the forest where he made love to her all day and all night. He made love to her all the next day until Blue Bird died from exhaustion. The word got around that Onestone meant what he promised he would do.
Years went by and no one dared call him by his given name until awoman named Yellow Bird returned to the village after being away. Yellow Bird was overjoyed when she saw Onestone. She hugged him and said, 'Good to see you, Onestone.'
Onestone grabbed her, took her deep into the forest, then he made love to her all day, made love to her all night, made love to her all the next day, made love to her all the next night, but Yellow Bird wouldn't die!
Why?
OH, come on... take a guess!
Think about it
You're going to love this:
You can't kill two birds with one stone!!

Ladies and gentleman, that joke, in a nutshell, represents my dad- the one and only CajunCharlie!

Blogging 2009: The Problem

2009-01-08T16:03:00.000-08:00

by CajunKate

So, I haven't been posting anything. I know, I know. Here's the problem. Too much happened at the end of 2008. It was all a big blur, and every time I sat down to write a post about it, I couldn't get anything straight in my head. Then I posted my pics to Flickr and started posting more to Tumblr (because it soothes the ADHD in me), and I was all "Whatever! That's good enough!" It was the best end to a year ever, and yet I can't seem to blog a single thing about it. I will sum it all up in one sentence: I adored spending time with my immediate family and my extended family, and some of us need to move so that we see each other more often so that I am not left with the unsettling feeling of missing people so much that I want to sponataneously burst into tears at odd moments.

That's the end of 2008.

Which brings us to 2009. During the first eight days, I have blogged absolutely NOTHING. Reason? I am now doing an internship. This internship involves me getting up at 6:00 AM every day, trying to stuff my fat a** into clothes which no longer fit (Thanks, Holidays 2008!), putting on uncomfortable shoes, and going to a school for eight hours a day. I might add that I also have to put on makeup, and I don't get paid. All of this turns me into a crabby bitch, BUT that is not the reason I have not been posting. The reason involves the word school. I can't write about anything I do there because I am deathly afraid that someone will find this blog and sue me from here to kingdom come. The fact that I am now spending the majority of my days at a place accumulating experiences that are soooooooooooooo f**king bloggable, but can't BE blogged has also turned me into a cranky bitch. So what to blog about besides that? Here's all I got:

When I called Jen in Ohio to wish her a happy birthday on January 6 (Happy birthday, Jen!), I got to speak to Colin. He said that he misses me and that I should come to his house tomorrow, and asked was I with Uncle Bydee and was I at Ma-Mere's house, and oh yeah, come to his house tomorrow, okay? I also got to speak to Quinn who said he misses me and he loves me and oh wait, Transformers is on so bye-bye, Nanny Kate. Total cute deliciousness!
I saw Tropic Thunder, and I hated it. Thank God we only spent a dollar renting it from Red Box at Albertson's.
I haven't worked out in two weeks, and I feel like crap. Yet at the end of the day, I am too tired to make myself go work out because I feel like crap. I am thinking maybe some meth to get me back on track. (Kidding! Totally kidding! Probably.)
My only New Years resolution is to have more sex. Unsurprisingly, Alex is totally on board with this resolution. Need more TMI? It is going well.
And finally--no matter what, I promise to find s**t to blog about. Even if it is boring stuff like this. Poor you.

The end.

Bang, Bang, Bang! Bulleted Post Comin' at Ya!

2008-12-21T11:02:00.000-08:00

by CajunKate

A few weeks ago we went to John Thomas' fourth birthday party. Here is my favorite pic:
All I want for Christmas is to see my new niece Eliza...with her eyes open. I have seen her three times (just after she was born, her baptism, and JT's birthday party). Those three times have consisted of watching her sleep. I think the total awake time during my visits with her has equaled less than five minutes. Photo collage as evidence:
Jen, Tim and the boys have arrived from Columbus! Hurray! Tonight we are all supposed to go to the basketball game. I will have a post tomorrow.

Merry Christmas- MST3K Style!

2008-12-17T06:09:00.000-08:00

by CajunKate

So today I was reading the blog BaRou Is the New Bklyn, and she had the clip Patrick Swayze Christmas from MST3K which set me to reminiscing about how much I love that show! And now, in honor of the Christmas season, a clip from the MST3K episode Santa Claus Conquers the Martians!

Favorite line-
Martian: What is a Christmas?
Joel: It's a Christian holiday ruined by commercialism.

P.S. Check out this grossness of a Christmas weather forecast. Oh, boy! Wish you were here!

It's Raining A's!

2008-12-14T06:32:00.000-08:00

So happy!

Diary of a Mad Housewife

2008-12-13T06:02:00.000-08:00

by Cajun Kate

So this conversation took place out in the garage last night after Alex came home from work.

Me: Hey! Who wrote that on my car? Zandy! You d**k! Why'd you do that! *laughing*
Him: Huh? What? *looking at car, then laughing* That's funny!
Me: You wrote that, you a**!
Him: No, I didn't!
Me: Oh, stop it!
Him: I did NOT write that.
Me: Alexander, I would have freaking noticed that some time today if it had been there! I'm not that unobservant!
Him: I did NOT write that. I saw it there yesterday!
Me: Nu-unh! You're a liar. * beginning to doubt myself* How would I not have noticed that?!?
Him: I have no idea, but I didn't do it.
Me: Maybe someone at Wal-Mart did it. That's the only place I've been. Why wouldn't I have seen it, though?
Him: *shrug* (combined with continued completely innocent, angelic face)
Me: Oh my God! I hate when people do that. It makes me feel like such lazy a**hole. I'm getting the camera. This is blog worthy! *Run inside and get camera; come back and begin taking pictures*
Him: Ha! That's funny!
Me: (niggling doubts rapidly fleeing) OMG! You totally did that! *laughing*
Him: No, I didn't! (smirky smile unable to be contained at this point)
Me: Zandy, you f**er! Who else would write "warsh"?
Him: *riotous laughter*
Me: I hate you! *KISS!*

Gift Guide for the Haters

2008-12-12T09:45:00.000-08:00

by CajunKate

So at this time of year, during my wanderings on the Internets, I'm always coming across the gift guides and/or wish lists of various people. This got me thinking about all gifts that would make me want to lay a roundhouse kick to face of the giver if they ended up under my tree. Why would I do compose such a list? Well, because it's the hap-happiest time of the year, and someone needs to balance this situation with a little snarkiness wrapped in dry wit. Who better than myself, I ask you? Stop saying lots and lots of people! Geez, nobody asked for YOUR snarkiness!

Without further ado, my gift guide for people who hate my f***king guts:

1. Beans. It is well-known fact that I abhor all manner of bean (except green beans). This leaves you with a wide variety with which to torment me- navy beans, red beans, black beans, lima beans... you get the idea. However, if you were a real hater, you would give me refried beans. If my bean hating were a mountain, refried beans would be the apex. And I would promptly hurl myself to my death rather than eat a smidge. Once a year, I eat ONE bean. This happens on New Years Day when I fish out one black-eyed pea from my brother Ted's "Famous Blackeyed Peas and Sausage." I swallow one pea whole and promptly guzzle whatever alcoholic beverage happens to be in my hand. I do this to allow the magical effect of eating blackeyed peas on New Years Day as good luck to take effect. I never get the good luck, which just enhances my loathing of the bean. It's really a tragic cycle with no end in sight.

2. Radio talk show host Deliliah's new book Love Matters. I'm not even giving a courtesy link to that s**t. I loathe her show with the fire of a thousand suns. If I had to listen to her show once in the rest of my life, it would be one time too many. Her kind of scmaltz has no place in my life...EVER!

3. A Barry Manilow CD. Barry Manilow music makes me want to throw myself into oncoming traffic while gouging out my eardrums with a screwdriver. Stick that in your Copacabana, Barry!

4. A Sarah Siverman Show DVD. Sarah Silverman is not funny. That's right. I said it. Except for that "I'm F***ing Matt Damon" video. That was pretty funny, but pretty much only because of Matt Damon...so, yeah, she's not funny. Lots of times I find myself feeling an uncontrollable desire to throw a brick through the TV when I see commecials for her show. I'd pretty much be willing to destroy my husband's massive piece of electronic equipment, source of all his viewing pleasure, to avoid even seeing her face or hearing her annoying voice if it didn't mean he'd cut me off (and by cut me off, I mean sexually, of course . Oops! TMI. My bad.)

5. Tickets to NASCAR. Because that big fence would prevent me from hurling myself on the track to make it all just stop. There are many things I hate about NASCAR, not the least of which would be the ungodly noise of the cars, the inanity of cars going round and round in a circle, and those huge, obnoxious f**king logos on the cars for Wonder Bread and Tide and s**t.

And there you have it. My gift guide for anyone who hates me. Not that such people exist. With such a warm and sunny disposition as mine, who could ever have even a spark of enmity toward little ole me? Stop saying lots of people!

Mah, What's Dat White Stuff?

2008-12-11T08:32:00.000-08:00

by CajunKate

So Charlie Roy sent me an email and pics from Baton Rouge, and they got WAY more snow than we did in Lafayette. NO FAIR! I was talking to him on the phone when I heard maniacal laughter in the background followed by Chuck yelling, "Oh no! They're hitting me with snowballs! Gotta go defend myself!" So fun! I wish I was there. Anyway, here is Chuck's email, and the pics he sent. He's supposed to send more later. I'll post them as I get them.

Hey Folks,

Can you believe 5 - 6 inches of snow in parts of Southwest, South Central and Southeast Louisiana and Western Mississippi? Some maybe less or more. It started at about 5:30 AM and ended about an hour ago. Starting to rain and sleet now. If it was still snowing, no telling what we would have. National Weather Service and local weather people kept saying no accumulation except on bridges. I have attached pictures and all I can say is, look at no accumulation! It has been at about 34 degrees. If it had gotten below freezing last night, no telling what we would have. It is wonderful for us anyway. Last time we got any significant snow was in 1988 about 1 - 2 inches. This is the most I have seen in my lifetime on Louisiana.

We started out at school, but they closed it at around 7:45. A SNOW DAY IN Louisiana! Go Figure!

Share these photos via email with other people you know if you wish.

Sincerely,
Charlie

Noah in da SNEAUX!

The Daigles' street in Baton Rouge

The Daigle house in Baton Rouge

Mmmmmmm, Crow Never Tasted So Yummy!

2008-12-11T06:28:00.000-08:00

by CajunKate

So, yeah, I proved myself a complete a**hole once again. But in a fun way! Behold!

How to make Southwestern Louisanians S**t a Brick

2008-12-10T06:55:00.000-08:00

by CajunKate

So this morning, I walked into the bedroom to deliver freshly ironed pants to Alex (Just call me Martha, b***hes!), and he was all, "Dude, Dave Baker said it's gonna snow!" And I knew, just knew, right then and there that people here would be freaking the f**k out at the mere mention of snow in a weather forecast. And, yes, there were at least two Facebook statuses of friends in Lafayette addressing the phenomenon.

Now, the real deal is..well, it ain't gonna "snow." At least not the big, fluffy white flakes version, otherwise known as "real snow." If it "snows," it's gonna be the same s**t we always get- hard little iceballs more akin to hail than snow that lightly coat your roof. But it will be enough (if it happens, which I am betting it won't) to make people here lose their minds and close schools and roads and be out in their yards trying to make snowballs and snowmen and s**t. Yes, really. It's so sad.

And You Can Put That Psychopathology Text Where The Sun Don't Shine

2008-12-08T15:39:00.000-08:00

by CajunKate

So woohoo! And yay! And hurrah! Another semester down, b****es! I'm a little busy... WITH MY BIG A** GLASS OF WINE!

Thank you, baby Jesus for teh wine!

Blogging will recommence shortly. That is all.

The B***h Is Back!

2008-11-26T17:11:00.000-08:00

by CajunKate

So, WOW! That was an entire month of HELL(!), in case you were keeping track. I finally, FINALLY, got my power cord back from Best Buy today. Yes, I got my laptop back two weeks ago but could not USE it because they sent it back with the wrong power cord. And it took two f**king weeks for them to finally send the right one to Best Buy who, by the way, NEVER called me to tell me it was in and then, when I finally went in today, and just stood there, saying in all ways except words, that I was not f**king leaving until they gave me a power cord, the slacker pothead in Geek Squad, after three trips to the mysterious "back," finally emerged with my power cord. And do you know what I did? Did I scream and throw a fit and make a big "I want to see the manager RIGHT NOW!" scene. Only if screaming out, "OH MY GOD! Thank you! I love you!" and scuttling to the exit with my tiny cardboard box counts, which I'm pretty sure it does not.

Nevertheless, I am back to having my OWN computer. Sweet, Baby Jesus, how I love it! No more sharing with Zandy and World of Warcrack. And you know what that means! Mo' bloggin', mo' bloggin', mo' bloggin'! Sorry. Unobstructed internet access is making me lightheaded.

Tomorrow, Alex and I head to Gulf Shores for the annual Mottram Thanksgiving. I hope all of you have a super- dooper, awesome, tryptophan overdose holiday break, my peeps!

Eliza "Talks"

2008-11-23T20:26:00.000-08:00

By BDaigle

Eliza is getting big! She is now 13 lbs and 11 weeks old. We're excited she's doing so well, but sad she is growing up so fast! It seems like we just brought her home and now she's days away from rolling over.

I have better video to share of Eliza taking a bath and her baptism. Alas it was all shot with my "real" video camera and the process for publishing it to the blog is a little involved. It's coming, don't worry. In the meantime, here is a little "short" I took with Melissa's digital camera this evening.

Super Quick Share

2008-11-14T11:27:00.000-08:00

by CajunKate

So I just ADORE this pic I took of Emily at the Cajuns' last home game. She is so beautiful! (Inside and out, I might add.) I just had to share.

Time Out!

2008-11-06T16:47:00.000-08:00

by CajunKate

So it's not just the dead laptop situation that is interfering with my ability to blog. I also have three classes and a practicum this semester, thus I have a HUGE, GINORMOUS, SCARY exam in abnormal psychology on Tuesday. This means that every spare moment (not spent at tailgating and the Cajuns game, of course) must be devoted to studying....in theory. Basically what I'm saying is, you're going to have to wait until after Tuesday for a blog of any significance.

In other dead laptop news, I am in Internet Explorer HELL! Firefox, wherefore art thou, Firefox? No, seriously, I'm about to cut a b****h over this. "Exploder" SUCKS A**!

That is all.

Dear Tech Gods- You SUCK!

2008-11-04T16:02:00.000-08:00

by CajunKate

So who knew that being without my laptop would make me ~~anxious and crazy~~ more anxious and crazier? That not having access to my email addresses, my bookmarks, my Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, and my pictures would cause me to chew my fingernails and ruminate over the injustice of it all? That going back to the Stone Age of sharing a PC with Alex is not in any way "fun" or "pleasantly nostalgic"? WHAT?!?!?!? You knew and didn't tell me? You f**kers.

Did you also know that not having access to my own computer would significantly decrease my long, picture heavy, rambling updates? HA! Joke's on you because I WILL find a way! And that way may be called "canceling Alex's subscription to World of Warcrack." Desperate times call for desperate measures, people!

UL! Give Them Hell!

2008-11-02T17:53:00.000-08:00

by CajunKate

So it has been quite the busy weekend for the Mottrams. I gotta blog about Homecoming 2008 and ELiza Camille's baptism, but I am entirely too tired for that right now, so I leave you with a video posted on YouTube for the UL song by D.J. Sal that I posted the other day. This is my way of saying: Yeah! The Cajuns beat some FIU a** (49-20), and my boy Fenroy set TWO records! And Troy State lost, so the Cajuns are now the lone #1 team in the SunBelt! Not that I'm excited or anything.

My Dead Computer

2008-10-31T05:55:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So the Mayor called the other day to say that his new computer (only three months old) refuses to start. Then yesterday he called to ask for a favor, and I ended up hearing about how BestBuy has him in computer limbo hell. I couldn't help feeling a little holier than thou and thinking Better him than me! Five hours later my laptop was dead, and no Zandy magic could fix it, meaning it has to go to Best Buy today. The moral of this story: Don't tell me karma's not a bitch!

Ragin Cajun Rap!

2008-10-29T18:27:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So this week is Homecoming for UL, and this song was posted today on RaginPagin, and apparently Lafayette radio stations have been playing it all week, as well. It's by D.J. Sal, a local hip-hop artist from Loreauville. You'll have to go to my Tumblr page to hear it or to Ragin' Pagin. I love it!

Birthday Roundup!

2008-10-25T07:19:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So I usually make a point of trying to acknowledge the birthdays of IPIMLs (Important People in My Life) on the blog, but boy howdy, have I been slacking. One of my IPIMLs (Sam) had a party which I attended, and I didn't even blog about it. For shame! For all my IPIMLs who have celebrated a birthday this fall, I will now make up for my severe laziness by giving you a requisite dose of blog birthday love.

First off, Melissa! My newest Superwoman sister-in-law. For her birthday this year, she got a brand new beautiful baby girl. There's really no way a blog post can top that, so I'll just say that I love ya like a fat kid loves cake, Sista!

Second up, Bydee! Also, known by his given name Byron, but we all call him Bydee now. We can thank Queen Emily for the Bydee moniker as that is how she pronounced his name when she was learning to talk. Happy birthday, Bydee!

Next up, Colin! Happy birthday, love muffin nephew! May you always eat food off of the floor and run around with a cookie in each hand!

And Quinn, Colin's Irish twin! Happy birthday my little Ragin' Cajun lover! May you always be germ-free and think Colin is gross and a mess!

Happy birthday, Sam! I love you to the moon despite your love of the LSU Tigers and the fact that you got sick of talking to me at your birthday party and told me, "This conversation is OVER, okay? OVER!" Even though it made me want to put duct tape over your piehole, you're a pistol, and I love it!

And happy birthday to Sam's daddy, Teddy! Er, Ted as he prefers to be called, but I can't help sometimes reverting to his childhood name. Sorry, TED! Ted and I are very close in age. As so, we sometimes have the most fun, and we sometimes end up in epic fights. Like that one time I threw a remote control at his head when we were living together while in college. Ted, my birthday gift to you is apologizing for trying to behead you with an electronic device fifteen years ago. Aren't I such a giver?

Next up, "Molly Sue Bee Honey," Ted's wife and one of my Superwoman sisters-in-law! She awes me every day. Love ya, Molls!

The happiest of birthdays to our first teenager in the grandchild tribe, Queen Emily! She turned thirteen this year, which thrilled her and probably sent her parents into a spiral of "Oh my God! How did I get old enough to have a teenager?" madness. Congrats, Em, by simply celebrating your birthday you just completed the time-honored teenage tradition of slowly driving your parents insane . No matter what happens, I will never question your taste in music, clothes, makeup, or boys. This is because I have the luxury of not being your parent, so I really have no stake and can just sit back and laugh and laugh as you slowly drive them 'round the bend. Go get 'em, Emmy!

A very hearty happy birthday to my favorite bro-in-law Tim, whose birthday I totally forgot. The fact that you are my only bro-in-law has no bearing on your status as my favorite. No, really. It totally doesn't. That whole completely forgetting your birthday thing was a fluke. Never happen again. Maybe. Probably. Well, let's just hope for the best, shall we?

And finally. happy birthday to my bestest friend in the whole wide world, Seth. Seth and I have been friends for (and I can't believe I am actually about to type this) 22 years! Holy s**tballs, that's a long time! Seth is my brother from another mother. The wind beneath my wings. The ketchup to my fries. Even though he is far away in San Francisco, a day never goes by when I don't think of him. To Seth, I apologize for the lack of phone calls lately, and I promise to try and do better. Also, thanks for the (inside joke coming) "Momma? Come get me, Momma!" moments in my life. I hope you had a brand new one on your birthday!

So happy birthday to all my fall birthday IPIMLs! I love each and every one of you oh so much and feel blessed to have you in my life!

Cajun Football 2008: Can You Say Comeback Win?

2008-10-19T11:31:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So I know, I know. I've totally been M.I.A. on the blog recently. Busy bee over here what with that school thing and all. But I crawled out from under my rock to attend the UL tailgating and festivities yesterday.

The weather yesterday was beyond perfect for football. I remember that clear into the end of October last year I was either sweating bullets or drenched in rain at the Cajun football games, so a day with clear blue skies and temps in the mid-70's was a true miracle. And, man, were people pumped up to see the Cajuns play! I went to the tailgating site around 10:30 AM to drop off some stuff, and there were already a TON of people out partying and cooking (and MY GOD did it smell good!) Keep in mind kickoff was not until 6:00 PM!

After dropping off the stuff, I went to work out. This was pretty much exercise in futility as I pretty much knew whatever calories I burned off would be consumed in triplicate later at tailgating. Which is exactly what happened. Damn you, Krewe de Chew, and your awesome grub!

Alex has a really bad cold right now, and he needed to stay home and rest so I was riding solo through the festivities. Ain't no shame in a woman dragging an ice chest laden with cold beer half-a-mile to the KdC site. That's my motto! Here are some shots of what greeted me at the tailgating:

Yeah, that's a s**tload of people!

Tons more peeps at the KdC tents

I have no idea what the heck inspired Brenda to bring a rubber chicken to the game, but I put nothing past any KdC member ever. Rubber chickens now seem most tame after some of the things I've seen.

Randy...He...Maybe...I really have no words.

Grand Chew doin' what he does best- CHILLIN', yo!

See that fancy game program Kenny is reading? Yeah, well the Krewe de Chew had a full page feature (p.85) and I had a recipe featured (p.86) as did C. Roy. I have no doubts my fame will spread hence forth. Reality TV here I come!

Molly brought the boys to the game. Ted was busy at a volleyball tournament, so babysitter Claire was brought along to help kid wrangle. (Have I mentioned I love Claire? She's the sweetest and bestest. I wish I did have kids just so Claire could babysit them. That's how awesome she is!) The boys had a great time playing football and watching the band do their thang outside the stadium. Max, especially, loves all that stuff.

This is Dad and Max with the new prez of UL, Dr. Joe Savoie. Obviously, our rep has spread far and wide.

The boys playing some football

Mary Grace and John Thomas gettin' their grub on!

Ragin Cajun pride- Daigle style, baby!

Gabe and Max check out the band before the game

Johnny T, less than impressed with the band

Inside the game, I walked down to the field so I could get some pics of the pre-game festivities and the team entrance.

Pride of Acadian pre-game show

Team captains

Cajuns take the field!

After the Ragin Cajun rabid fan version stalkerazzi, I lugged my fat a** up to the second level to sit with Molly, Claire, and the tribe. John Thomas spent most of the time using my camera or asking me when he could use my camera again. For example he took this lovely pic of me:

My look of disbelief has to do with a tale of hair terror being told to me by Molly involving stylist error and her attempts at correcting that error ON HER OWN with L'Oreal products. Now, if it were me, my hair wold be green or I'd be bald. But Molly, being Superwoman and all, looked beautiful and I told her how nice her hair looked.Life is not fair, people!

In between taking pics, JT ate peanuts...

...as did Gabe

...and Mary Grace.

Sam spent the majority of time looking for his nemesis:

CAYENNE, THE PEPPER! Sam hates this thing! There's nothing more amusing when bored at a Cajuns game where Sam is in attendance than to start the "I think I saw Cayenne the Pepper on his way over here!" Cruel, but oh so funny.

As for the game itself, what a freakin' nail biter! With the starting QB (Mike "Dez" Desormeaux) out, we struggled on offense, and when the backup QB (Brad McGuire) threw a pick 6 with about 7 minutes left to put the Cajuns down by 9, I have to admit that I was not feeling optimistic. But danged if this Cajun team really is in it to win it this year! They did not give up! They marched right down the field, scored a TD, held on defense, scored another TD, and held off the last second Hail Mary pass by Arkie State.

Final score!

Cajuns and students celebrate!

Whew! It was awesome to finally be the team that was on the good end of a comeback. AND, the Cajuns are now undefeated in conference- AWESOME! Have a winning record- AWESOME! And Tyrell Fenroy is only 30 yards short of becoming only the 7th NCAA player ever to have 4 straight 1,000 yard seasons- AWESOME!

Now the Cajuns have an open week to rest up and get Dez healthy in time for Homecoming on November 8. Geaux Cajuns!

Cajun Football 2008: Let's Get This Party Started!

2008-09-21T16:48:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So I waited until today to put up my Cajun home opener post because I thought it was a perfectly fitting way to celebrate the Prudhomme City Chronicle's one year anniversary...blogaversary... whatever. The very first post ever was about Ragin Cajun football. What better way to celebrate than with a Ragin Cajun football post? Well, I'll tell you. With a Ragin Cajun football post that actually involves them winning a game! Here we go:

The Cajuns finally had their first home game Saturday night which means the Krewe de Chew was kicking off the tailgating season, of course. The Cajuns were 0-2 heading into the game against the Kent State Golden Flashes, but we were all pretty optimistic since the Cajuns had given #22 Illinois a run for their money the weekend previous. Also, I knew there would be lots and lots of alcohol and food. That always eases my pain.

Alex and I ended up having to park on the other side of the universe and humping it with two folding chairs and the rolling cooler all the way to the Krewe site. As we neared the tent, we ran into BDaigle's best friend, Elliot, who is the proud papa of the most deliciously cute nine-month-old identical twins. I dare you to look at those two cutie patooties and not want to inhale them!

Elliot with his boys

Jack on the left and Noah on the right

Obviously, Jack was supposed to be MY baby. I mean, look how excited that baby is at the sight of cold beer! I think the stork took a wrong turn.

I also ran around taking other pictures.

Zandy gettin' his grub on

The Grand Chew just chillin'

Kent State athletic directors and Dad

Love it! Want it!

James, sporting a blond wig and resultant mullet

Ben doin' the Roosta Dance with hat, Delcambre Reeboks, and bag of chicken feed. He really took it to a new level this year. Don't know what the Roosta Dance is? Watch the video below:

I guess I was so distracted by drinking, eating, and taking photos that I failed to notice the skies growing darker and darker. I should have known it was bound to rain. The fact that the Cajuns were playing a home football game should have been a major tip off. Once the skies opened up, we were stuck under the tents for a good forty-five minutes, trapped by pouring rain, lightning, and thunder. But we all found ways to cope. I, for example, drank a lot of beer. Others had their own ways of dealing with the inclement weather.

Some went about their business- weather be damned!

Some, like Jim, used it as a chance to check out the fancy new game programs

Some just embraced the downpour and frolicked

Some had the foresight to realize it would rain and brought along the slip and slide!

Toward the end of the rain storm, Mr. Randy asked for a volunteer to stay out at the tents with all the stuff so we wouldn't have to pack it all up before going into the game. I knew I didn't feel like sitting in the game if it was going to be raining, so I convinced Alex that it was our good deed of the week to sit at the tent and play rent-a-cop. The rain had slackened off so before going "on duty" , I dragged Alex around the tailgating area to see who and what had survived.

Perfect mix of patriotism and Cajuns pride

We ran across the ~~Animal House~~ Kappa Alpha tent where the members had decided to set up...

this handy dandy tailgating pool!

The weather just before game time was still icky.

But it wasn't stopping the Cajun faithful from lining up to get in.

Shortly after everyone else had left for the game, a big guy and four pretty young girls (all of them decked out in Cajuns gear) rolled up to the Krewe's site in a golf cart. I had no idea who the guys was and, in an embarrassing mix of my R.S.S.D. (Retard in Socila Situations Disease), overzealous security guard mentality, and complete lack of observational powers, when he walked up to me, I was all up in his grill. Our conversation went like this:

Him: Hi! I was told my girls could come by and get something to eat.

Me: Who told you that?

Him: Uh...(snapping fingers)..Mister..uh...I can't remember his name. An older gentleman.

Me: (glaring suspiciously)

Him: I promise I'm telling the truth. Well, I'm Scot Weiland the women's soccer coach, and...

Me: (suddenly engaging my few remaining brain cells) OH MY GOD! I am sooooooooooooo sorry! Of course, of course, you are! And of course, of course, the girls can eat anything...everything! I am sooooooooooooo sorry!

Him: Oh, that's okay! Girls, why don't you all fix a plate?

Needless to say, I was falling all over myself offering the poor girls food and drinks. Did I mention these girls hustled their rear ends walking the tailgating area in the sun and then rain selling game programs? Coach Weiland left to gather more girls while I trailed behind him apologizing a few more times for being an *sshole. before the first round of girls left, I took their pic.

A few more rounds of girls came through, and Coach Weiland passed by to thank us again. Of course, Alex took the chance to point out things like, "Why did you think he was driving a golf cart? Didn't you notice they were all in Cajuns stuff? You know your Dad invites all the coaches and athletes by the tent to eat!" Yes, yes, Mr. SmartyPants, and where were you and your stunningly calm logic when I needed you?!?

The only problem with sitting out at the tent was that we had no radio, so I kept sneaking over to a nearby truck and eavesdropping. By the end of the first quarter, Alex and I were aware that the Cajuns were down 10-3. Matt and Patrice showed at the end of the first quarter to grab more liquor, and then a bit later Byron came by to do the same. They all ended up staying outside with us, drinking and whooping it up while periodically walking over to catch the score from the truck people's radio. At halftime the Cajuns were up, and early in the third quarter the truck people left, so Alex and I traversed the universe to get our car and pull it up to the Krewe site so we could listen to the game. In the car, on the way back to the site, Jason Chery ran 47 yards to score a touchdown, and I screamed so loudly Alex said I may have ruptured his eardrum. Whoopsie!

After that it was smooth sailing for the Cajuns, and the game was theirs! Final score was Cajuns 44 and Golden Fizzles 27! The rest of the Krewe returned to the site to find our little band of Cajun merry-makers drunk and happy, and then we all got the party started again.

It was a great start the tailgating season and a fantastic home opener for the Cajuns. Next week the Cajuns take on Kansas State Wildcats up in Manhattan, Kansas. Which begs the question- Where was O.J. hiding right before the famous white Bronco chase? On the Kansas State University campus. That's the last place you would find a football player. Har-de-har-har and geaux Cajuns beat the Wildcats!

How You Do, Eliza Camille?

2008-09-16T16:39:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

(Note: The title of this post is a little nod to Eliza Camille's Cajun heritage. In Cajun country, "Hey! How you do?" is the equivalent of "Hi! How are you?")

So on Sunday the 'rents and I made our way down to NOLA to take a gander at the Zah-Zah. Finally! and Hallelujah! The trip down was fairly uneventful. This was mostly due to the fact that the Mayor and First Lady had treated me to the breakfast buffet at Shoney's, so I was lolling around in the back seat in food coma.

The Texas bound lanes of I-10 were jam packed with Hurricane Ike traffic: returning evacuees, military convoys, electrical company trucks, tree removal company trucks, flat bed trailers filled with industrial generators, Red Cross vehicles, and Salvation Army vans. You could almost hear the collective sigh of NOLAites and a chorus of "Better you than me!" aimed at Houstonians. The east bound lane was clear sailing with a bit of heavy traffic in Baton Rouge. I should have recognized the lack of traffic jams in BR for the bad omen that it was. More on that later.

We arrived at Eliza's new home at about 2:00 PM. Of course, we came bearing gifts. Onesies? Pacifiers? Diapers? Hell no! We're Cajuns! We brought boudin and cracklins from Best Stop in Scott, and I brought one of my signature cakes and one of Melissa's favorites, a chocolate pistachio cake. (All requested by Melissa, I might add. This is what happens when a NOLA girl meets a Cajun boy, people.)

From across the street, I spied a sign on the door. I couldn't see what it said exactly. But it had large red print, and I could make out the word "NO." Upon closer inspection the entire message red "NO flash photography! (Violators will be forced to change newborn diapers!)" Har-de-har-har, BDaigle! You'd think the boy would be so exhausted he wouldn't have time to make signs to harrass his favorite sister. Little brothers, hmmph! They grow up, but they still find time and ways to get back at you for treating them as your living baby doll. Can I help it that he came along when I was eight and at the height of my baby doll obsession?

And now, the photo essay!

Eliza Camille was sleepin' and swingin'' when we arrived.

I defy you to resist the urge to devour her whole!

I probably lasted about 6.7 seconds before I was all, "Alright! How do I get my babay out of this swing contraption so I can hold her?" I distinctly remember heading toward the door with my delicious new babay while calling out, "Okay! See you guys later!" but, alas, Melissa insisted that I couldn't take Eliza home with me. What is she? Like her mother or something? Oh...darn.

Eventually, I begrudgingly relinquished Eliza to her Ma-Mere. These people and their outrageous demands, I tell ya.

Oh no, Miss Eliza. Those Ma-Mere boobs you seem to be gazing upon so longingly are long, long closed for business, hon.

Somehow Pa-Pere managed to elbow me aside to get in some face time. The nerve!

Oh-duh-lay! Look at my most precious yummy baby on my lap! (I want to kiss the computer screen right now!)

Miss Eliza awake and in her papa's arms

I think she's looking for me. Absolutely, she's looking for her most favoritest aunt EVER! (Yeah, that's right! I said it! Take that, Aunt Michelle and Aunt Kim!)

Yummy babay! Ripe for eating up with kisses!

Not a happy camper! At this point, I remembered...

"Oh, yeah! I don't have kids because they eventually do THIS!"

All good things must come to an end, and so at about 4:30 PM, we headed out. I convinced Dad to let me drive, so he could get in an after-baby nap. On the way home, Tim and Jen began texting me and letting me know that the remnants of Ike were wreaking havoc on the greater Columbus area- terrible wind, downed trees, electricity out. Of course, I texted back a snarky, "HA! Enjoy your Ike, suckers!" (It's all done out of love, people.)

The drive home was going just swimmingly...then we ran into downpours from a cold front. Then we got to Baton Rouge. Then we came to a DEAD stop. ("Ah, yes! Now THIS is the Baton Rouge I know and hate!" I think was my exact thought.) The only good thing about the situation was that we were in the one area of Baton Rouge that I am actually familiar with, and so I was able to navigate us to the alternate route of Highway 190. Our little delay and re-routing added TWO hours to the return trip.

As we bore down on Lafayette, Dad asked if we'd like to stop and eat at Prejean's. This sounded like a fine idea to me, not only because Prejean's is consistently delicious, but because they had what I really, really needed- MERLOT! Yep, my butt had barely grazed the seat before I was yelling out to the waitress, "Hey there, glass of Merlot, please! And keep 'em comin'!" Have I mentioned that driving through Baton Rouge, and more specifically the LSU campus, in a downpour to escape an epic traffic jam made me a wee bit grumpy? A teensy bit pissy? Well, Merlot cures aaaaallllll of that!

Which brings us to the moral of this post- I have so much wisdom to bestow upon Eliza Camille, not the least of which is the POWER of Merlot! Although I might be better off starting with something else...I mean, I'm just thinking aloud here, but babies don't drink, right? Maybe I better let Melissa and Burt take care of that whole "raising a baby" thing after all.

Ike Blows

2008-09-13T08:49:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So I thought I'd post some video of the wind here in Lafayette from Hurricane Ike. I shot this in my backyard. You can compare it to the video I took during Hurricane Gustav. If you are wondering what that lattice thing is in the middle of the yard, it's the trellis for Alex's garden, which is in pretty bad shape due to all the bad weather we've had.

Ike Update

2008-09-13T07:23:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So last night was pretty worrisome until about 10:30 PM. Thankfully, although we've been under a tornado watch, there have been no warnings for our area today. The wind is still kickin' it pretty good right now, but nothing like Gustav. We haven't had much rain at all. Even last night, the storms were traveling so quickly that they didn't have time to dump much rain on us.

Mom and Dad went up to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, because they were afraid they'd lose power, and Gwen don't do September heat with no A.C. But they spoke to their neighbor this morning, and they never lost power in Prudhomme City, so they're planning to head back today.

The weather is supposed to be okay tomorrow; therefore, the plan, barring any changes in the weather forecast, is for us (me, Mom, and Dad) to head over to NOLA tomorrow so I can FINALLY get my Baby Zah-Zah nom-nom fest on! Yay! (Oh, just a warning. TONS of pics if the plan comes to fruition.)

Oh, Ike! How Do I Loathe Thee? Let Me Count the Ways!

2008-09-12T16:30:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So this whole being on the east side of Hurricane Ike thing is sucking *ss! For the past two hours, the cable box has been automatically switching us to The Weather Channel becuase of tornado warnings. Thank God we don't have those freakin' sirens like they do in the MidWest, or I'd be completely flipped out right now and spending the night hiding in the bathtub under a mattress.

But let's take it one step further and top off the tornado warnings with the fact that Alex's boss called and told him to come into work because the power was out at their building. Oh, hey, yeah! That sounds awesome! Let's send my husband out into the area that was directly addressed by the local meteorologist as being "extremely dangerous" not ten minutes ago. That's greeeeeaaaaat! If not for copious amount of beer, I could very well be a full blown mess right now.

D**n you, Ike!

2008-09-12T09:32:00.000-07:00

by CajunKate

So Hurricane Ike is making landfall in Texas, but we get to enjoy tropical storm conditions today. This prompted me to cancel my plans to go down to NOLA to see Zah-Zah (that's my nickname for Eliza). And when I say it was a difficult decision, that's an understatement. Honestly, the only reason I chose not to go is because I didn't want to end up as "that guy." You know, the one who gets blown off of the Atchafalaya Spillway into the swamp and ends up a Darwin Award winner. It just seems to be my lot in life that I have the greatest potential for things to become FUBAR instantaneously. But, man oh man, I wanted to nom-nom on my new baby Zah-Zah . Boo-hoo and woe is me!

I will try to go on Sunday, if the weather cooperates. For a storm that hasn't hit yet and isn't even hitting Louisiana, you sure are f**king up my life, Ike. I hate you!

Eliza's First Day Video

2008-09-10T16:25:00.000-07:00

by BDaigle

Here is the video of Eliza's first day that I promised in yesterday's post. I had to split the video up into 2 parts because I couldn't edit it down into less than 10 minutes. This is not a documentary by any stretch of the imagination and it doesn't cover the whole day. It just covers from me announcing her birth to her first bath in the nursery. Yet, it still adds up to almost 20 minutes. She spent the rest of the day doing what newborn babies (and Fos' & Daigles) love to do....SLEEP! Now I could watch 24 hr coverage of that, but it gets old after awhile when the kid's not yours. All the video you will see was graciously shot by Aunt Michelle with my camcorder. A very big thank you to Aunt Michelle for being our videographer.

Now a very important announcement.

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

The videos you are about to see contain live audio from a very excited family with its first grandchild. Their reactions, comments, and accents may induce hysterical laughter, quizzical looks, and total befuddlement. Those viewers who may be especially succeptible to vocalizing their reactions may want to watch with the door closed.

Eliza's First Day Pt. I

Eliza's First Day Pt. II