Football and Projects

Kenny and I found ourselves facing another weekend with no big plans, so we stayed home. Even though we didn't actually travel anywhere, we got lots done. Some undesirable chores around the house like cleaning and laundry, but mostly fun stuff like watching football, finishing up a few projects, and starting a new one. We watched lots of football this weekend, and luckily the Tigers and the Saints both came away with wins. LSU barely scraped by MSU and the Black and Gold trounced Buffalo.

Kenny took advantage of the free weekend to finish framing our LSU baseball posters, and I was able to complete my mosaic table. The posters look great hanging on the wall in our office, and the mosaic turned out pretty good, too, even though it still needs to dry for a few more days.

 

But the biggest undertaking of the weekend was done by Ken. He currently has beer fermenting in the tub in our guest bathroom. The best man in our wedding, Adam, gave us a homebrew kit as our wedding present, which was perfect for Ken as he’s always wanted to brew his own beer. After reading up on the process a bit, Kenny decided on which brew he wanted to attempt first, ordered ingredients, and finally went to work on it this weekend. The process is quite lengthy and took up all of Sunday. But once six weeks have gone by, we’ll have a homemade American brown ale to try! Maybe we can market it to the Bulldog if he gets good enough at it…..

This is what it looked like today when Ken got home from work. The foam is proof that beer is in fact being made! Stay tuned for more updates as these next six weeks go by…..

Vehicle Clean-out

One of Kenny's many hobbies is fixing up cars. Granted, he doesn't go for expensive muscley-type cars, and he doesn't really have the time to devote to this hobby that he'd like, so it's not like he's dumping a lot of money into car projects. However, we do currently own 5 vehicles, 6 counting his company car, and 7 counting his "parts truck" that resides at the farm. The other 6 are, in fact, either under cover in our garage or sitting in our driveway.  I don't begrudge him this hobby of his, but I do have to close my eyes and go to my happy place every time he mentions another great "find" that he's heard about. I point out that he's not yet done everything he'd like to do to the two Jeeps that he owns, but his response is inevitably, "But it's such a great deal!" This may be true, but we'd still be out another two grand or so!

Sigh. I of course knew all of this when I married him (almost) two years ago, and it is a big part of what makes him who he is. But I can't say I'm not excited about what will transpire this afternoon. He listed his 1993 Celica (originally bought as his everyday car before he was granted a company car.....he has not driven it in over 4 years) on craigslist.com earlier this week, and the first and only call he received about it is coming to pay for and pick it up today. Woo-hoo!!! One down, one more to go. Anyone out there interested in a Honda Magna motocycle?

Preparing paperwork for the Celica sale!

Next on the "For Sale" list....with the two Jeeps in the background

Happy Fall!

Tomorrow is the first day of fall, which means I can legitimately decorate my house with pumpkins come this weekend when (I think) I'll have time. In the meantime, I am thoroughly enjoying the beginning of fall tv premiere week. Tonight was House, Dancing with the Stars, and Castle. House will definitely be interesting this season, with the show's namesake possibly discovering a bit more of his softer side. Then again, it's still Gregory House, so we'll see.

I have to admit that I was really pumped about tonight's DWTS premiere. I can't believe I only started watching the show last season; I missed so much in the first seven! I think I enjoy it so much because I'm actually slightly jealous......that I'll never be able to dance the way the professionals naturally do, and that I'm unfortunately not famous enough (or, rather, at all) to be one of the stars. It's just an entertaining couple of hours for me every week. The cast is a very eccentric mix this year, but I am actually most excited to see Iron Chef America host Mark Dacascos. Kenny and I love that show, and it will be good to see a different, non-cheesy-and-over-the-top side of the Chairman. I'll also be curious to see how Michael Irvin, Natalie Coughlin, Melissa Joan Hart, Kathy Ireland, and Donny Osmond do. And even though I've never heard of him, snowboarder Louie Vito also seems like he'll be fun to watch. As for former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, we'll see how long he lasts. One thing's for sure, he certainly looked like he was having fun out there tonight!

Castle comes on right after DWTS, which is a lot of the reason I watched it last year. I got hooked on it fast. The characters (as well as their relationships with each other) are interesting, the storylines are creative, and there's actually quite a bit of comedy written into this drama series. I'm glad it made the cut, and I hope season two keeps things fresh!

Old favorites like Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, and Brothers and Sisters are back within the next two weeks, and a handful of new shows that have peaked my interest (Trauma, Mercy, The Good Wife, Eastwick, and Flash Forward) are starting soon as well. Glee, which we got a sneak preview of after the finale of American Idol in the spring, is also one I think I'll give a chance.

I watch entirely too much television.

Happy Fall!

LSU vs ULL in Death Valley

Kenny and I were lucky enough to score season tickets to LSU football this year, but we had to miss the opening game last weekend on account of our beach trip. So, yesterday was our first attended game of the 2009 season. The rain thankfully held off all day, and while it was still very hot (that’s September in Louisiana for you!), the clouds hung around for the most part, providing blissful shade for the Tiger tailgating faithful. Our next home game isn’t for 3 weeks, so fingers are crossed that some semblance of fall will grace us with its presence on October 10!

Here are some pics from our day…..the Tigers improved to 3-0 with their win against the Ragin’ Cajuns. Mississippi State is up next in Starkville this coming weekend. Early kick-off at 11:21am. Geaux Tigers!

  Ken and I ran into Jeff and co. before we headed into the game

The view from our new seats in the north endzone

   Let’s get this party started…..pre-game

There’s nothing like a Saturday night in Tiger Stadium!

  Mike even came up into the stands during the second quarter….the picture on the right is of him standing directly in front of me!

Orange Beach Trip

Our third annual beach trip was a bit different than the first two years. We had 5 couples instead of the usual four, so we had to move the party from Perdido to Orange Beach; 4 kids made the trip this time; and we unfortunately didn't see the sun this year until the morning we left. With the exception of the sunless weather, we had a good time all being together. The condo we stayed in was huge, with plenty of space for the 14 of us to spread out for a few days. And we were even able to see the LSU game on Saturday night....the Tigers held on to win against Vandy!

Here are some pics from the trip. Enjoy!

 

Short Week and Beach Vacation

Cutting down the work week by one day is fantastic, but in Kenny's and my case we're taking it to the next level: Monday AND Friday off. Our annual friend beach trip is in September this year instead of May, and we decided to go the weekend after Labor Day to get the good rates (keeping our fingers crossed that no hurricane comes our way). We're leaving tomorrow afternoon to drive to Orange Beach, Alabama, where we'll hope for little or no rain until we leave on Sunday. So despite our short week at work, I've been scrambling a bit today to get ready. Finishing up laundry, stopping by the grocery for snacks, getting beach chairs out and into the car, packing clothes and supplies for the weekend. After a half day of the daily grind tomorrow morning, we'll be off!

Labor Day Arts and Crafts

In the course of a conversation Kenny and I had on Saturday, we ended up deciding to take on a small project involving a piece of our outdoor furniture. I've had this metal stand since college, and the top of it is currently made out of wood which has warped significantly from being outside for over 7 years. Kenny suggested replacing the top with something like tile instead, and that's how this arts and crafts day all started. We went to Michaels yesterday to see what supplies we could find, and after another quick stop at Lowes, we had everything we needed to start redesigning our little outdoor table. We also found some decent yet cheap black frames at Michaels (along with purple and gold poster board for DIY matting) for our 6 LSU Baseball National Champions posters we've been needing to frame and hang. Kenny worked on framing while I tackled the mosaic. We bought two packs of mixed color glass pieces, and after much internal debate and hesitation, I had finalized my design. I spent the afternoon gluing the individual pieces of glass to a piece of Hardi board we got at Lowes, and it is currently drying overnight. The next step will be to grout between all of the spaces and then seal it to further protect the new tabletop from the elements. 

Kenny starting to frame
   

2 down, 4 to go.......looking good!
   

Hard at work mosaicking
   

The almost-finished product

  
I have to say I was a little scared to start because I didn't want to mess it up, but the mosaic actually turned out pretty good. Now I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed that grouting goes well.....stay tuned!
    

LSU: 1-0

It wasn't at all pretty, but the Tigers managed to pull off a win against the Washington Huskies last night, and Kenny and I managed to stay awake until 1AM when the game was officially over. One thing is for certain: Les Miles and the rest of the coaching staff have their work cut out for them to ensure the team is ready for our more challenging games of the season. Florida would have run all over us if they had been our opponent last night. I'll be curious to see how we handle Vandy next, although I'm not sure we'll get to watch the game. Our annual beach trip, which normally happens in May, is taking place this coming weekend, so we'll actually miss the home opener in Death Valley on Saturday night. Play hard, boys, and get us a more impressive win!

Football is back!

It's sad but true: I tend to get mildly depressed when the Super Bowl has been played and is in the books every year. That means there will be no more football for about 7 more months. No college games, no pro games, no tailgating, no cheering your favorite team on. The wait always seems like it's going to be interminable, but here we are, already at the beginning of a new season! While the pre-season pro games have been a nice precursor, the college season is what Ken and I have been waiting for, and our Tigers officially begin their 2009 run tonight. It's the LSU Tigers at the Washington Huskies, with kick-off set for around 9:30PM, CST. We are going to grill up steaks, bake potatoes, and roast veggies for our pre-game dinner. We'll need the sustenance to stay awake until the clock runs out. Let's get a victory, boys......GEAUX TIGERS!!!

Forgetful

I apparently was so excited about meeting Sophie the kitty last night that I forgot to mention what we did over the weekend. We had another low-key couple of days, which was perfect. Friday night we tried a new sushi restaurant that just opened in Broussard (Samurai), and I don't need to go back. It wasn't horrible, but there is much better sushi to be had in this city. Saturday we worked around the house and then went to one of Ken's co-workers' houses for an impromptu crab boil during the Saints game blowout. Kevin did a great job with the crustaceans; they were mighty tasty. And Sunday we went to see another movie, Julie and Julia this time. We both liked it, although Ken whispered to me towards the end of the movie, "She's really kind of starting to annoy me." Meryl Streep did do a great job of portraying Mrs. Child, complete with the over-the-top accent.

And, amazingly, we don't have any plans for the upcoming Labor Day holiday, aside from watching the LSU football season opener into the wee hours of the morning on Saturday night. What are we going to do with ourselves?