Finally...a functional kegerator AND a pot rack!

Kenny and I received a little kegerator as a wedding gift from a big group of his co-workers more than a year ago, and he's finally got it modified the way he wants it. A full CO2 tank and a new keg of Abita Amber, and we're in business, just in time for the Superbowl!

Pouring the first kegerator beer!

Aside from getting the kegerator up and running, Ken also took on another project that he recently finished: making a pot rack for our kitchen. My parents have one in their house in Kenner, and we thought a small one similar to theirs would look good over our kitchen island. Plus, it frees up more cabinet space, which I love! Anyway, the rack came out great; Ken did a fantastic job on it.

Deciding how high to hang the rack before painting it black

The finished product!

Look for more updates once the weekend is over......I'll have lots to report, including Kenny's birthday dinner, an overnight visit from 6 of our good friends, and a small Superbowl gathering.

Grams' 80th Birthday Celebration

Saturday was my grandmother's 80th birthday, and my mom and one of her sisters planned a surprise luncheon for her at Chops Bistro in Metairie. They invited 9 other women close to Grams, and we all gathered together to celebrate the old woman's life thus far. The party started at 2pm, and we didn't leave the restaurant until after 5! A good time was had by all, and Grams was so touched that so many people were there to honor her. Here are just a few pictures from the afternoon.....

Our intimate table of 12

The birthday girl with special birthday cupcakes!

The gang's all here

Grams with her 3 daughters

Three generations

The Tap Room and the Hornets

The Hornets had yet another game last night, this time at home against the New Jersey Nets. Since our friend Brouss was in town, Kenny and I decided to meet him out at the new Tap Room in River Ranch for dinner, drinks, and basketball. Although the place looks nice and the location is great, I won't be in any hurry to return. A fairly good beer selection is offered, both on draft and in bottles, and they very recently started carrying a limited food menu. One thing is for sure: if I do go back, I'll make sure to eat before I get there. I know it's still considered a new operation, but it's obvious a lot of work is needed if this place is going to stick around. The food was less than stellar, and our poor waitress needed lots of help. I don't think she had been trained at all! She was completely unfamiliar with the beer menu but tried her best. The three of us ended up spelling out every beer we ordered so she could find it in her fancy handheld computer, but there were still multiple times she had to ask the bartender for help. Hopefully things will get easier for her the more she goes to work. At any rate, we still had a good time, and the Hornets came away with a great win against the Nets!

Family Weekend

Ken's birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks, but the only time we could celebrate with his family was this weekend. So, we invited them to come to our house for a small party. Everyone arrived around noon, and we had planned a great lunch of stuffed grilled chicken breasts (sage, monterey jack, and smoked ham), corn casserole, and grilled zucchini. Everything was delicious! Afterwards, we managed (just barely!) to make room for birthday cheesecake and ice cream. Our two-year-old nephew kept everyone busy and entertained most of the afternoon, but the adults did find some time before Ken's brother and sister-in-law left for a quick game of Apples to Apples. Always a good time. Ken's parents decided to stay the night instead of driving back late. Even though we were all still kind of full from lunch, Ken and his dad went out to pick up po-boys for dinner while his mom and I stayed home to keep an eye on the Hornets game. After their horrible loss on Friday night, we were glad they pulled off a win against the Pistons. Keep it up, boys!

Awaiting the family's arrival

My pretty table....I learned from the best!

No one is showing teeth because I think their mouths were full!

The birthday boy

Jaimi and Zac

This morning Ken made a wonderful Sunday breakfast for the four of us, including scrambled eggs with ham, green pepper, onion, and cheese, pancakes (with yummy cinammon maple syrup from my brother), and sausage. Quite tasty and very filling! We lingered around the table chatting for the better part of the morning. And while they were here, we were also able to help his parents set up their two Christmas presents from us: a very cool digital picture frame and a new subscription to Netflix. They seem pretty excited about both of them, which makes us happy!

Thanks, Mom and Dad S., for coming to visit us; we enjoyed having you here!

Updates

So I am finally feeling better after almost a week of coughing and dealing with a sore throat. Not fun. A lot has happened since I last posted, though. The Florida Gators are National Champions (at least we kept it within the SEC...), our Christmas lights finally came down this past Saturday (thanks Ken!), the hubbie and I went to see Valkyrie, the Hornets desperately need to win this Wednesday night after their heartbreaking loss at home yesterday (to the previously 13-22 NY Knicks!?!), I finished Duma Key and am on to my next selection, and, perhaps most importantly, a new season of 24 has begun. Whew.

Valkyrie was a good movie, although I expected a bit more action out of it. It was a little slow-paced at first, but the "based on a true" story seemed accurate, and Tom Cruise, among many other fine actors included in the film, gave a great performance. I may have to venture to the theater again sometime soon, this time by myself, to see Bride Wars. A complete change of pace from Hitler's Germany, but I love Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway, and I think it will be a cute couple of hours.

Duma Key was quite a good read. It took me a little while to get into it, but once I did I finished it rather quickly. Stephen King seems to have a way of pulling you into his stories and not letting you go. I loved many of the characters he created for this book (Jerome Wireman, especially), and while the story took a strange turn towards the end, I still enjoyed all 769 of its pages. I am now just beginning Steve Berry's The Venetian Betrayal, another one from my dad. I have enjoyed Berry's previous work and have no doubt this one will elicit the same reaction.

Last, but not least, Jack is BACK. I so enjoyed getting into the series 24, so I am thrilled all-new episodes have begun to air. This season started off superbly, and I am sure it will continue to surprise us as it progresses. I have to agree with my friend Michelle, though: they've completely spoiled the viewers by having a two-night, four-hour season premiere! We're now expected to wait a whole WEEK for the continuing saga of Jack, Tony, and Chloe instead of a DAY? And we can only see ONE hour at a time instead of TWO? What is UP with that? :)

Sick

It is not fun being sick. I don't have anything too terrible, but I definitely don't feel 100%. So to try and speed up my recovery, I thought a nice homemade soup for dinner last night would be good for me. I made Rachael Ray's Greek wedding soup, and it was quite tasty. Super fast and easy, too. Check it out if you want: http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/30-minute-meals/greek-wedding-soup/article.html?trkid=weeklybites121608.

Right now I have a brisket in the oven, slow-cooking away. Kenny and I are going to have a quiet night at home watching the BCS National Championship Game. It's a little hard for me to say, but.....GO FLORIDA! As long as they're not playing LSU, I'll support any SEC team. It makes our conference look good! And I'm glad the Tigers could contribute a win to the SEC's bowl season; the unranked LSU team looked mighty impressive against number 14 Georgia Tech. Bring on next season!

Farm Trip

Our annual trip to Kenny's family farm was this past weekend. We had a pretty good turnout, but some people left early on account of the rain that came through on Saturday. It POURED for about two hours, complete with sideways rain thanks to strong gusting wind. The ones who stayed toughed it out under the tarps as best we could, and it eventually slacked off enough to be bearable. Aside from the rain, it was a good weekend. The food, as always, was fabulous; there's just something about cooking over a campfire. It just makes everything taste better! Fishing was done, games were played, guns and fireworks were shot.

One of the best things about camping: sitting around the fire!

Trisha, Jeff, and Erin

Our setup

Some of the cows on the property, including the newest calf: Magic!

Just one of the games of "Washers" played throughout the weekend

Kenny hard at work preparing breakfast!

And the boys made more modifications to the trebuchet.....it's getting close to finally being completely finished. They launched two bowling balls this time, one 10 pounds and one 16. Both throws were very impressive and traveled over 350 feet! It's a pretty dorky project but very cool to watch in action. My husband and his friends are some smart.

Waiting patiently for the first trebuchet launch

Admiring their work after two successful throws

Happy New Year 2009!

Even though we were a little late arriving, Kenny and I had a great time at Ashley and Greg's house for New Year's. We cheered the Tigers to a major victory against Georgia Tech, ate too much, drank a bit, and watched some of our friends blow up a couple of pumpkins with fireworks. It was pretty typical! Happy New Year to everyone; I hope 2009 brings many good things to all of you.

Me and Kenny

Madison, Brig, and Brian

Most of our New Year's group

Ashley, me, Karen, and Brig

Kenny, Brian, and LOTS of fireworks