Monday :-(

Its Monday, that is bad enough. Look outside and rain clouds are forming. Get into the office and start up the computer only to be greated by this:

Not a good sign for this week...

He is risen, He is risen indeed

Joan and I went to sunrise service this morning. For such a special day seeing the sunrise while giving thanks is always inspiration and divine.

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see."

Smokin' Lizards

Joan was out cleaning up the backyard. She took the rain lid off of the chimenia and there where our little gecko friends hanging out underneath. Kind of ironic since the lid has a lizard scupltor on it. She started the fire to burn twigs and such and these guys didn't show any interest in leaving. Maybe they like the warmth. You can see one guy here even crawling into the chimney...

HOB

Finally I made it to the House of Blues. After many attempts that fell appart for one reason or another this one finally came through. I went to see the North Mississippi Allstars and they were excellent. Good place (smoke free!) and good music.

LSU Basketball



Its been a tough year. LSU finished in the final 4 two years ago and then in last place of the SEC west last year. This year didn't look much better as a rough start with injurys, academic problems, and finally a fired coach. But give Butch Pierre some credit, after all of tha LSU managed to finished 4th in the west ahead of Alabama and Auburn.



The SEC tournament starts Thursday!

Louisiana Blooms

I was in Louisiana on the first weekend of March. It was still brown here and snow storms to come. But in Louisiana it was warm and sunny. Spring had started and many things were blooming already:

I love the spring and I'm ready for it to kick in here.

SNOW


Yesterday we were suppose to get snow in the evening. But about 9:30 my guy at the Eagle Mountain test site calls in and tells me he is getting out of there because he has an inch of ice on the test house! I look out the window and nothing here yet. Went into my 11 meeting and get called by Joan asking if she should bail out of school. So I look out the window again and its snowing! Yikes! So she smartly gets home and I wait a little longer. Well, maybe I waited a little too long, the drive home was no fun at all. It took an hour and a half to go 35 miles... next time I'll be quicker on the gettting out.


The view cruising up I35W at 5mph


A lovely view of Texas Motor Speedway


A crazy week, this was the second snow storm after the one we had on Tuesday.

Louisiana Eats

I went to the annual family meeting this weekend. One thing that is great about Louisiana is the food. Here is Saturday's run down:

Breakfast

The day starts of with the traditional Louisiana breakfast of Beingets and Cafe au Lait.

Lunch

Delicious Crawfish Etouffe over rice.

Dinner

Fried Gulf shrimp with rice dressing and toast. Here you see whats left of it. The shrimp dinner from Tiger is very generous, this tray was packed full of shrimp at the start.

So many wonderful flavors all in one single day. I'm already craving this stuff again.

Congratulations Commodores!!





#14 Vandy beat #1 Tennessee last night! Only two days before that Tennesse (then #2) beat #1 undefeated Memphis! What a shoot out in the state of Tennessee. I love watching these college basketball games as we heat up to March Madness.


Way to go 'dores!

Birthday Beast

It has become tradition that for my birthday my Mom cooks a prime rib! This is the third year she has cooked this fine cut of meat for the family. And, of course, she has perfected it. It was amazing! Thanks Mom!

Feast your eyes on the delicious, mouth watering beast of yummy goodness:

Cuba

Yesterday's news of the Fidel stepping down is historical. My hope is that Cuba will begin to open back up to the U.S. The embargo has gone on way to long and its really time to put that to rest. Since Fidel was really the face of the 'revolution' I'm hoping the U.S. can now use that to reduce anti-Cuba policy.

Nothing more was eye opening to me about Cuba then the Buena Vista Social Club. This was a project of Ry Cooder's where he went to Cuba and found all the great Cuban musicians from just before the revolution. Part of the project included an amazing CD as well as DVD. Watching the DVD is fascinating just from seeing Havana. Time has stood still since the revolution. All the cars are old 50s American cars. Such a contrast in beauty as well with the Carribean beaches and old city.

Hopefully one day I will get to visit Cuba...

Spring Break Approaches

Daughter #2 asked if we can boil crawfish on spring break. Heck ya!! Nothing like the smell of the crawfish pot. And nothing like Louisiana food! Just makes me think of going to jazzfest. Sure its got fantastic music but its the food that makes it. We eat constantly an the list of goodies is long:



Etoufee

Softshell Crab Po-Boy

Softshell Crawfish Po-Boy

Bar-b-que'd Oyster Po-Boy

Boiled Crawfish

Crawfish Pie

Crawfish Cheese Bread

Crawfish Monica

Cochon de lait

Cracklin'

Crawfish Sack

Fried Crawfish

Spicy Crawfish Sushi Rolls

Crawfish Beignets

Gumbo

Jumbolaya

Remoulade Shrimp Salad


....



oh man, I could go on and on, just like Bubba in Forest Gump.



So darned tasty, mmmm

Spring Try Outs

Yesterday the boy had his spring try out for 9/10 baseball. This is the first time he has ever had to try out. That was a bit scary. Plus he has barely picked up a baseball since the end of the fall season months ago. He did great though!

The try out had a little bit of everything. First he had to bat, 5 pitches. He fouled one and got an in-field fair hit on one. Then he had to run bases from home to third. Next was short stop, take 5 grounders and throw to first. He got all the grounders and had decent throws to first. Finally was left field for 3 pop flies then throw to first. He got 2 of them and had the 3rd but it leaked out.

Overall he did great and I was very proud of him! Can't wait for baseball to start!

Walking in the Desert with My Ears Plugged

Seems these days I'm carrying all my worries on my own shoulders. Nothing big really, just life. Kept trying to blog about it even but everything I wrote was whining. This morning as I woke up I realized what I was doing and really had to stop. Just stop and release my yoke to Him.

After that I arrived at work and realized today I have a corporate audit. Following that I have to tell an employee he is layed off. Talk about throwing the storms at me! Oh yeah, I'm also right in the middle of doing my taxes :-(

Its so easy to get buried in this stuff and just start to carry it alone. Why, I don't know.

Its fitting that I'm reading Jeremiah 12, no coicidence I'm sure :-)

HAPPY MARDI GRAS!!

Down in New Orleans
Where the blues was born
It takes a cool cat
To blow a horn
On LaSalle and Rampart Street
The combo's there with a mambo beat

The Mardi Gras, mambo, mambo, mambo
Party Gras, pambo, mambo, mambo
Mardi Gras, mambo-ooh
Down in New Orleans

Join the Chief with the Zulu gang
And truck on down
Where the mambo's swing

The Mardi Gras, mambo, mambo, mambo
Party Gras, mambo, mambo, mambo
Pardi Gras, mambo-ooh
Down in New Orleans

Tasty Bacon

If only such a machine really existed!

Escargot



Last night we went out to eat and the menu included escargot. Growing up this is something I ate from the time I was to young to remember. So it was never a big deal to me to eat snails and they are very tasty. But my kids have never really been exposed to it, they just figure its another one of those weird things Dad eats. Last night I coaxed kid #3 to try it. She said she couldn't do it. I told her she was 18 and needed to be more adventurous. After all she is getting ready to leave home in a few months to go off to college. Carpe Diem!

She tried it, and she liked it! And she had another. Go her...

The Big Hole

Few things can prepare you for actually gazing upon the Grand Canyon. No picture does it justice. The immense size and grandier overwhelm your brain. You just look out and go 'wow'...

Joan and one of the kids went to northern Arizona last weekend. It was a college visit to NAU. They made the time to drive up to the canyon as well. Whether she goes to that college or not the trip to see the canyon alone is well worth it.

Little Children

The innocence and simplicity of little kids is always so refreshing. After a disagreement there are no mind games, no complications, no expectations. Just I'm sorry, I love you. and lets laugh again.

The Dream

You know, my friends, there comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression. There comes a time, my friends, when people get tired of being plunged across the abyss of humiliation, where they experience the bleakness of nagging despair. There comes a time when people get tired of being pushed out of the glittering sunlight of life's July, and left standing amid the piercing chill of an alpine November.