Daniel Soccer Season 2009

Dean's Flag Football Season 2009

Something new...

and today on the news....

Out on the river...

There was this dog...and he LOVED fetching a tennis ball out of the water...

I'm pretty sure he'd do it all day if you'd keep throwing the ball...

Lots of pictures I've been meaning to post...but I haven't...

We have been doing a little landscaping at the house...and a recent trip to the nursery presented us with some MAMMOTH hibiscus flowers...

We didn't buy...but we may go back.

My Latest Video - Dean's Baseball Season

Check out this little girl...

Congrats to all the High School Seniors out there...

I'm sure all none of them that read my blog are very excited to read this new post.

Another LSU Tiger wins big in Orlando!

Another funny Youtube video

Fast forward to 2:15 to see what happens when a 'fan' jumps onstage...and scares Britney...She screams so loud you can't hear her...

The weather was equally as miserable this morning... but cleared up a bit after lunch...I headed to the Mall of America... which is just Ri-donk-ulous...I found this little octopus lamp at a Tchotchky store...lots of cool stuff...but...mostly overpriced...Walked the entire mall...all 3 floors...Then got back on the train and went to the Metrodome to catch a Twins vs. Rays game...I 'overpaid' for some scalped tickets on the street...but I was 4 rows off of the 3rd base dugout...

oh...and the Twins stink.

Another Rainy Dreary Minnesota Day

Seriously...

I know it rains alot in Louisiana....and we have all those hurricanes and stuff...

but, come on...Minnesota...

This is the best you can do...

It's the end of April, it's 45 degrees and rainy...again...supposed to be the same tomorrow...

Definitely not the type of weather to draw new residents in...

Last one's for the day...

This is in the lobby of the hotel / block where I'm staying...

Essentially, it's a 5 story raining fountain...

Pretty nifty...

Some sights while walking to the Convention Center...The interior shot is a 2 story Target in downtown...

and the SheetMusic is a wall mural...

Light Rail in Minnesota

I'm doing these in separate posts....because I like the way it looks better...than if I try to cram all the pictures into one long post....you'll have to deal...

After arriving at the airport...and navigating my way through the concourse with some pretty good signage...I found the light rail station...

It really is a baffling thing when you think about the benefit of a transit system like this...and how much the communitys fight it....the whole way...

For $1.75 I rode the rails from the airport to downtown Minneapolis...in about 20 minutes...

Traveling to Minnesota for the APA conference

That's the American Planning Association for all you 'non-planner' blog readers...

So, I get to the New Orleans airport early...because there is NO traffic...after waiting for almost 2 hours to board the vessel...We waited another hour and a half inside this cramped craft to take off...

I hate the whole process of traveling to another place...while I usually enjoy the spending of time in that location...

I forgot my brush and my headache medicine...so I had to perform my bald-spot-comb-over with my lady-like hands this morning...

We're officially a Baseball family...

It's funny... how un-interested we are in watching baseball on TV...but when it involves your children... it's a completely different experience...

We are still undefeated...but, We've had two great games recently...very stressful...

Dean has been playing at the pitcher position...which provides for lots of ACTION...as most of the kids don't really hit it that hard...

I'm done counting days....More pool nonsense...

So...We got our gutters installed on our home and garage...and we finally bought a new fridge...so We'll get our garage fridge out of the house and back to where it belongs...

Next up...the pool...
As you can see....it is still mostly empty...we got an estimate to repair...but, it isn't sounding very promising...as the 'experts' tell us that the pool is actually constructed out of cinderblocks...and there is no guarantee that what they repair will actually stay that way...

Ayways...we are inside on Saturday...and Daniel comes running in..."THERE'S A RAT IN THE POOL!!!"
We all mosey out there....cause....this wouldn't be the first rat we had found in the pool...(It would actually be the 3rd)
lo and behold...there's this little hairy thing walking around the step of the pool...I suited up in my work gloves and picked the little thing up...

We are no biologists....but, Janet and I have come to believe that it was a baby mole...That's it on the tip of my thumb...

So...we fried it up and ate it...(Not really...)

I'm just gonna round it up to 365

Can you believe that today is my one year anniversary at my new job?
Me neither...
Time flies...
This weekend and till today we have been blessed, once again, with a visit from some of our Florida Family...The Ishams...
We have Eaten some really good food...consumed some really good Daquiris...and had some good laughs...
We look forward to whoever wants to come next...
Again...I'm been slacking here lately...but, It's been crazy busy at work...I'll update you guys when I get a chance...
If you get the chance....this morning at 7:50 central time...I'll be on the radio...
www.wjbo.com
Take it easy Ya'll!

Days 335 - 346+

another news blurb...
This time about Flood Maps and Flood Insurance in the Parish...click it or ticket...

Days 328 - 334

Days 323 - 327

This video is entirely too long....but the payoff is pretty funny...

Days 321 and 322

I FINISHED MY FENCE TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!

after only 4 months... it's finished...we let the dogs out to play in the yard...for the first time since last June....

I'll post some stats when I take some time to figure them out...

oh....and for a special occasion such as this...I present to you The Amazing Race Tryout video...

Day 320

Watching the Oscars on Sunday I saw a nominated Animated short film called Oktapodi...and I had to find it...
It's pretty funny....
In the same vein as the short films that proceed the Pixar movies...

Days 318 and 319

Seriously...I'm 35...and I've never caught more goodies at any parade than what we caught today...

We were invited by the family that we rented the townhome from to go to New Orleans with them...We got to watch Zulu and Rex from the 2nd story balcony of a house on St. Charles Street...The parades passed right in front of us all 5 hours we were there...and when I tell you they unload....It's down-right ri-donk-ulous...

We caught more bags of beads than individual beads...and I PROMISE...there were more beads in the gutter of the balcony than I had ever caught at any parade...

It was truly a Mardi Gras to remember...and a GREAT way to introduce the boys to this south Louisiana festival...

When we got home we dumped out all 60 pounds of the goodies....for this photo..

Days 314 - 317

Another article...

and....I mean....obviously...

This is my favorite part...

“He has decided there will be no subdivisions developed without sidewalks, and you look at the cost of cement,” she said. “With each and every requirement, the cost goes up, and pretty soon it will be so expensive that people can’t afford to live here. I’m not sure this area is ready for that much change.”

You know what...she changed my mind...we should keep doing things crappy....cause it's cheaper...

Another for Day 313

a quote from the article:
'We are currently waiting for confirmation from Guinness that my ear hair, which stands at 25cm is now the new standard for men with extreme ear hair.'

For the whole article click

Realizing now, that I don't meet the NEW standard for extreme ear hair...I guess I will start trimming again...

Days 312-313

Since I know that Janet and I aren't the only people on the planet that love those home makeover shows...I present to you a bathroom that is part of a friend's home improvements...
I can't stress to you...how much we are impressed by the changes...
I can hardly wait to see it in person...Nice work Dave and Roxane!

Days 305-311

Okay...so the first photo is from our Valentine's Day dinner at this FANCY restaurant at that historic House I mentioned a while back...

Janet got the better dinner (AGAIN)...She got a stuffed Lobster tail thingie on a creamy crawfish risotto....

The second photo is a picture of my splurged snack the other day...I spend a whole $1.25....

But, I think I'm worth it...

Mmmmm....hot fries.

Days 301 - 304

No major news to report from this past weekend... Worked on the fence... I can now officially declare that we are more than half done...
I have one single-wide gate left to build...and the Double-wide...
I have 8 more posts to put in the ground..
and by my calculations we will be about 250 fence boards short....after dismantling all of the panels that were knocked over during the Hurricane, and the extra yard that we are enclosing (about 200 square feet)...

Here's another shot from my Lafayette trip...It's the house that I grew up in...I can't tell you the number of bike ramps that were constructed on that sidewalk there...Too many to count...
I can also remember that when we would get heavy rains...water would completely cover the sidewalks on both sides of the road...and we could skim board all the way across the street...

Days 299 and 300

This is one of those 'What if' pictures...

Sure...What if I wasn't a horrible player...

What if I had played more than one season...

What if I had actually scored a single point during the season...

What if my parents had actually bought me actual basketball shoes instead of hand-me-down bum sneakers....

I coulda been the next Larry Bird...

Maybe not...

300 Days since I left Orlando...It really doesn't seem like it...but...The blog doesn't lie...

Day 298

So, Dean has this spot on hsi finger that he constantly picks at...and it's just a nasty little sore...Really quite funky...

Well, tonight we were getting them ready for bed and Janet asked him if she could look at it...

She told him that if he didn't quit picking at it...that it would fall off..."What do you mean?" he asked...

She said it again..."If you keep picking at it...it will fall off"

"What do you mean?" he asked again...

"If you keep picking at that scab on your finger...your finger will fall off..."

This was immediately followed by hysterical crying...as he couldn't believe that Mom would say that...because Mom doesn't joke like that....

We spent the next 10 minutes trying to calm him down...

and then janet and I spend the next 15 minutes laughing about it...

This is a glass sculpture from the lobby of one of the terminals in the Dallas Airport...

Day 297

I'm not sure too much needs to be said beyond what the picture says for itself...

Other than you really can't tell how silky smooth it was by the picture...

Days 295 & 296

Janet and I installed 8 more fence posts on Saturday...and cleaned our garage....We are now able to park one car in the garage...and with a little more labor...we should be able to get another one in there shortly...I have a pile of hardy board planks that were overstock when they built our house...and I just need to figure out a way to store them...

Today I made a difficult decision...One of my early 'bargain finds' was a pair of 15" Cerwin Vega home Stereo speakers...New they would have been about $300 bucks a pop...I paid $100 for the pair...Well, one got pretty beat up in the move...and it just wasnt worth keeping...So, I removed the speakers from the cabinets...and set em ablaze...

I got about 18 years out of those speakers...Money well spent...if you ask me...

Day 294

Most of my blog readers have never seen this video...It's from the past...
But, My buddies in college loved it so much...that when Janet and I got married...They sang That's Amore' for us during the reception...
Too good not to post...and remember...

Day 293

Some people I know do this thing where you can pick squares and then whatever the scores are during a particularly SUPER cool sporting event happen...different people...may or may not win pretzels...or something...

Well, I found this chart that lets you compare your square numbers, with the probability that those scores will happen to end a quarter...

Apparently my best odds...are during the 1st quarter with the Steelers having 14 and the Cardinals having 7...(Having happened 60 times during the regular season 2006-07)

Days 291-292

I've become addicted to Facebook....Well, for that matter, so has Janet...We've taken a liking to hunting out and finding friends from our past...So far...I'm leading the friends race...but...she steals all the ones that she knows anyways...so, it'll even out eventually...

The coolest thing is just finding someone you haven't seen or heard from in 20+ years...Lafayette, Baton Rouge, Panama City Beach, Stuart, Orlando and back to Baton Rouge...What a long strange trip it's been...

Oh...and for nostagia's sake...that's the old man-cave...the room under the stairs...about 40 square feet of awesomeness...

Day 290

Here's my $30 room service french toast...

Once again...not worth the money...

That bacon in the lower right corner...that's $1.75 per slice...

Seems a bit much....

Yesterday when I got home...we had leftover flank steak...and today was Grilled Brats...

2 meals that were infinitely better than all but one New Mexico meal...

Day 289

Food in New Mexico is HORRIBLE...

I believe in the 4 days I was there...I maybe had 1 decent meal...
and the locals are kidding themselves...When you take their suggestion for where a good place to eat...and you get the same suggestion from multiple folks...You start to figure...that they know what they are talking about...

Either that, or it's the big conspiracy...to keep the tourists in the crummy restaurants...

Day 288

At the conference yesterday during the mid-afternoon break...there was a Trail mix and smoothie bar...It was pretty cool...

This 'little' guy's name is Winston...

He's a 7 week old, 18 pound Great Dane puppy that my brother's family just adopted...

I can't wait till Dean and Daniel can saddle him up and ride him...

Day 287

I flew to Albuquerque, New Mexico today for a Smart Growth Conference...It's a pretty arrival into the city...but...once you are on the ground...there isn't really anything that distinguishes it from Anywheresville, USA...

I asked my Cab Driver what the 1 can't miss thing to do or see was in town...and he suggested a ski lift ride to the top of the mountain just to the east of Town...so we may try to go do that on Saturday...

Days 285-286

I've had all these grand plans about waxing nostalgic about growing up in Lafayette, and spending a couple of days there last week...But I haven't been able to get the photos from the trip to my home computer...yet...

So...Here's a picture I did get...

It's the house where my Grandmother used to live...I remember having to steer around that shrub next to the driveway on my big wheel...

They've closed in the carport which made me drive by the house the first time by...

It's quite wierd to spend some time in a place where you haven't been for 20 years...and your last memories of that place are when you were a child...

This is the house where, I believe, I developed my love of high-fidelity audio, Aquariums, and Minitures..(My Grandfather was a really neat guy that left us too soon)...

I can remember tying a rope around his hand built Wire Control airlplanes...and dragging them around the back yard...What I wouldn't give to have those planes today...

Days 281 - 284

So, Janet returned from her 'weekend getaway' trip with her good friend Tara....to Atlanta to see Celine... (See, I didn't type her last name right there...That's because I know Adam loves it when I refer to my favorite female pop singers by just their first names...cause, I mean come on...I say Celine...do I need to say Dion...People just know...sorta the exact opposite of when Adam says..."Nobody puts baby in the corner" I had no idea what he was talking about...)

This is how Boudreaux welcomes Mommy home...He sleeps in her open suitcase...

Day 280...

I realized that photographic evidence of how horrible our room at the Tropicana was would be helpful in defending my case...

This is how they repaired some kind of carpet defect...

Day 279

So...I'm at the State APA (American Planning Association) conference in Lafayette...Let's just say the hotel isn't as nice as the Venitian in Vegas...

The first photo is what I saw when the elevator opened to let me out on the wrong floor...

The second photo is what I saw when the elevator opened...

The Hotel is undergoing some major renovations...but...it just doesn't seem ready to host this many people...When it let me out on the 1st floor...there were no lights on...and I was ducking and dodging stuff hanging down from the ceiling...Very classy...

I do think that the room is nicer than the room Justin and I moved to in Vegas at the Tropicana...now THAT place is a dump....with NO remodeling going on there....

Day 278

Seriously...
A friend at the office accused me of having less hair now than in the photo...
He's not very nice.

Another article...

Days 273 - 277

I'm officially.... Utterly... Overwhelmed...
Overwhelmed... I say...
Who'd a thunk it...but...I received 17 responses to the RFQ that we issued to help us do some work here...and I'm supposed to choose my top 5...(The other 6 folks in the group will select their top 5 then we'll meet to discuss and select a top 3)
I have no idea where to start...on my first blush...11 of the 17 received a check mark...and 2 received a check plus...
I don't know what my system means other than...13 of the 17 firms that responded would be good for the job at hand...
Now I just need to figure out which 8 of those aren't the best...and I'm done...

no problem...

Again with Day 272

2 days in a row with 2 posts...I'm CRAZY!!!
I finally got around to taking photos of the gift Janet got me for Christmas....
It's quite the show stopper in our guest bedroom...I've finally collected something Janet isn't completely embarassed of...and she gave me a Curio Cabinet to display them in...Now my dollies have a special place....