Phew - An AMAZING weekend

Good news everyone! I have good news!

This weekend was, beyond a doubt, amazing. And you all should know.

Friday night: not so awesome. J and I were wiped out in a MAJOR way from our weeks, and decided that changes needed to be made. In the short-term, however, we needed to eat. A short trip to the local Moosehead bar turned our spirits around completely: Hopslam was available and good food was to be had. +1

Saturday: after sleeping in as long as we possibly could, we set off in pursuit of our day. Errands, naps, and general merriment with our pups during the afternoon lead into a hilarious dinner at Boudreaux's that included Category 2, 4, and 5 hurricanes and a veggie burger that was as big as my face. I have the picture to prove it. I do need to confess something to you: I'm not sure how we weren't kicked out of there.... There was too much laughter and happiness going on there. We moved the party across the street for Mike Garrigan & Mark Kano playing at the Muse. If you were at our wedding: they were the entertainment. We love them, they love us, good times. Our evening wrapped up with some Chappelle Show. +8

Et par-dessus le marché, Sunday was perfect. Coffee and giggles in the AM, cleaning and doggie time in the afternoon, Super Bowl in the evening. There was, for the first time ever, just enough food. Usually there's too much or not enough - but last night was perfect. The game was fun and a great showing of two teams that deserved to be there. +5

So - I'm happy to report some happiness in our neck of the woods. Expect more to come with the impending Spring and planting season!

What is this?

Two posts within 5 days?!?!?! What the deuce?

I can't handle all the excitement that's been happening recently - so I decided to write about it.

First: my grandma is taking a slow and graceful bow out of this world right now. I don't know if it'll be tomorrow, or next week, or 7 months from now... but they've official begun to "make her comfortable." While it is a relief (she's been sick for 9+ months now), it is still sad.
Then, J started having issues with his back recently. They're work related, so we'll see what happens with that.

Here's some good news:
Before all the sad happened, I was able to get some major work on my office done. I know, I know - you don't believe me. But Daddy came over and helped me hang shelves - so the "office" portion of the room is done! Seriously! Everything's on the shelves and organized! I'm pleased. We also hung the shelves for the "craft" portion of the room. I'll tackle that when I dern well please.

More good news: The Jets and Vikings did not advance to the SuperBowl, but the Saints did. Why am I happy about the Saints? To start, they represent the NFC South and are not the Falcons (I have a horrible dislike for ATL). Second, they haven't been to the Big Dance before. They've been around since 1967... so this is severely overdue. Third, Drew Brees is the Bacchus Parade King this year. I think it is quite fitting that he also bring the team to the SB. And Last, but not Least: Cajun Food. Why would this be included? I tend to cook meals based on the teams playing. For example, if the Panthers are playing the Buffalo Bills: I make Wings. Once the Colts won the AFC title, I was begging for the Saints to win. There really isn't a food highly associated with Indi, and I didn't want to make Brats for the Vikings. Thus, thank goodness the Saints won because now I know what to cook.

And the final piece of good news!
I have received my Peaceful Valley seed catalog and I'm gearing up for the planting season. I just wish I had more land... We'll see how this year goes!

See, I'm trying to be happy and optimistic! :D

To everything...

My kitchen smells like Roasted Garlic.
and I LOVE the smell of Roasted Garlic.

My bosses came to dinner last night. J invited them to celebrate their engagement. Good times! I now have a HUGE lasagna for leftovers. One thing I love about dinner parties: all the leftovers. I'll separate it out tonight into containers. That should last us a little while for lunches :)

There really isn't anything new and different going on here. J's working an insane number of hours, but he's happy. I'm getting stuff done around the house, so I'm happy... I finished painting the walls in my office! I still have the floor boards to to finish, and then install shelves and move everything back in. This weekend was supposed to be THE weekend to finish, but a head cold knocked me out for all of Saturday. Literally, I did Nothing on Saturday. I slept and ate, and that was it. Of course, I needed it - but I don't really Like those days. I like being productive and feeling like I've done something. J and I did finish rearranging the basement this weekend. We bought a few posters from the local beer store (AMAZING PLACE), and we didn't have a good spot to hang them. So, we tweaked the bar area of the basement and voila! Poster space! Don't worry though - we did class them up a bit with frames, so the basement doesn't look like a frat house... hahaha!

And my brother is in town for a few days! He's relocating to Cali, so he had a few days of leave and opted to come hang out with his family! Of course, his girlfriend is graduating from school this week - so it helps that she's within driving distance of here... Still - its nice to get to see him for a little while.

Oh!?!?! And can we chat for a minute about the Panthers? I mean - What in the WORLD is going on? I'll admit - I am now willing to have a losing season if it gets us Cower. I'm very frustrated that we traded our 1st round draft pick to San Fran in 2010. Especially since they need a QB almost as much as we do. But I'm glad our OL and DL are strengthening up. I do believe 70% of the issue is coaching. And letting our OL Coach go to Denver!??!?! REALLY!?!?!
Sorry, I'm done. I get very frustrated.

The leaves are changing in Charlotte now... I love rainy summers because the fall leaves have such rich colors after. There is tree outside in our court that has blood red leaves right now - and it sits within the line of sight of a tree with canary yellow leaves. I literally smile every morning when I'm getting into my car because of those trees. I definitely see God in the changing of the seasons.
And in food.
Especially in Roasted Garlic.