Sunday, February 28, 2010

Wishing You all the Worst , Kid!

So, dearest followers, a post here means that our desktop pc is back up and running, thanks to the skills of Paul and some scavenged Frankenstein parts (Thank you, Aunt Connie!).

Below this pos,t you should find a make up post from last week.

Double the pleasure? Double the fun? (sorry, no sets of twin models)

The week was pretty slow.
We spent a couple of evenings finishing up our entertainment center, which came out awesome.
I'm going to wait to post about that next week though, because of the tone that this post takes later. Don't want to drag any good company down with that.


Wednesday, I went to the doctor who, after extensive interrogation, stuck to the theory that any problems I'm having are caused by my gall bladder, and that the way to fix it is to cut it out. He agreed though, that it may be wise to wait it out to see what my symptoms will be and if they are bearable.

Pain once or twice a month with a gall bladder may be preferable to the risks of permanent bathroom related side effects that come with its removal.

Regardless (not irregardless), I'll be seeing a GI doc for a full work up and getting a gauge on what, if any, problems I'll continue to have.


Friday was Caroline's 2nd birthday, and since her Mommy is laid up with the sickness right now, the birthday girl and her Daddy headed in to town and hung out here.

Saturday, we headed to the Cajundome for Riley's first stage show, Curious George Live.
We had really good seats because we bought early.
But, judging by the fact that no one was there, we probably could have held out and still been ok.

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Riley was initially freaked out by the loud music, but settled in once he saw George.

He spent the second act feeding my Mom popcorn, but he never caused trouble.

After the show, everyone came back here, where we were joined by Caroline's Granny Jill, for Caroline's birthday cake.

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Caroline has recently learned to blow her nose, which made for some interesting, very earnest attempt at candle extinguishment.

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but eventually the fire was cleared, non-nasally, and the cousins partook.

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This morning, we headed to the Zoo of Acadiana, where Mr. Cool was laid back and ready for the day.

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He wasn't impressed by the llamas' ability to open the chute door on their feed machine, but the adults were. (we're easy)

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We were prepared for the playground to be the highlight of the day, as usual.

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(Warning: Hatred and anger directed toward a minor follows)

Unfortunately, after a few minutes, some white trash POS kid named Jace (I'll remember your face) thought it would be fun to walk up to Riley (who was playing on his knees) and just start kicking him in the face. Riley started screaming, Joan told the kid to stop and his grandparents walked over and just stood there watching, never saying anything to us or the kid.

My blood is boiling again just thinking about it.

Of course, kids are going to do bad things, but without correction, they'll just keep doing it.

Those grandparents will be so proud when their sweet little Jace is in prison in 16 years getting treated like Derek Vinyard.

But aside from that particular hope for their future, I would also wish them the same fate that Jimmy Pop so eloquently expressed on the lead track from the Hooray for Boobies album (Look it up)

Why?

Well, I think Chapelle expressed that best in his "Popcopy" sketch (all these references should keep you busy and make up for the lack of content here)


Now that I've re-ruined my day, I'm going to wrap this up.

But I'll remember that kid's face, and in 16 years, when he's certifiably an adult, I'm gonna wheel my walker over to him and get all Jules-style Ezekiel 25:17 on that punk.
(I'm sure I'll be using a walker by 46. that's pretty old)


Regulars- you know I'm usually a pretty nice guy (on paper), so to say those things, I've gotta be really mad.
So, do me a favor.
Next time you see a kid named Jace, kick him in the face, just in case.
(ok maybe that suggestion was out of place)

Last Week (if now was a week ago)

As stated above, this is a make up post.

I promise you, if i had been able to do it on time, it would have been great, but with the passage of a week, my memories of good one liners have faded and now you're stuck with this.

so (assuming the tense of presently being in the past) it was Mardi Gras week, a week I used to really like when I was a kid.

I'm fortunate enough to have a great colleague who lives along the parade route, which means we don't have to fight for space, bathrooms, etc, or have much contact with the general public, thus making it worth the trip.


Tuesday started pretty cold, and Riley had his first experience wearing gloves, which he tolerated because of their officially licensed Saints emblems.

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Riley was tolerant of the parade, but his interest was waning until we met up with another colleague and his daughter, Bayley, who is 10 days older than Riley.
Last year she could walk well and he couldn't, so their interaction was limited.
This year though, they seemed to hit it off.

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But we need to teach him that it's not nice to bounce ball off of people's heads.
(unless it is us doing it to him, then it's good family fun)

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Gavin has joined the crew here this week and Riley is trying to help him fit in.
Riley wants to play, but doesn't quite understand that an 8 week old really has no use for a tool set.

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Thursday night, Eli and I headed over to the armpit for a Sevendust show at the Varsity.
As usual, these guys are one of the best live shows around, and as long as they keep touring I will keep buying tickets (despite not really listening to their last three or four albums)

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On Saturday, we headed back to the armpit for a trip to the zoo with Caroline's crew.

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The BR zoo has a pretty nice playground, but it is usually crowded.
We got there right at opening time though, and headed straight to the toys, where we had the place to ourselves for at least a half hour.

Caroline had fun showing us how to half grasp concepts, such as the proper placement of sunglasses, without consideration for size.

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Riley was less than thrilled with the prairie dog tunnels

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and his favorite part of the petting zoo was washing his hands afterward. That boy ain't right.

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Paul played with our long lens (formerly his) and got to satisfy his inner spy.

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Riley, despite being in the darkened reptile/fish house, insisted that his future was so brilliant that sunglasses were necessary.
(that just doesn't have a ring to it)

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To close out the trip, as he gripped the last thread of his awake-ity, we took a spin on the train.

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Back in Lafayette, the kids showed of Paul's really cool, (non-saints) Fleur d'ecrevisse shirt design.

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On random notes, one of the best food deals in town is the Royal Panda buffet to go. Cheaper than dining in, and you can get up to 10 pieces of sushi. Add one roll and you've got a great meal for two for $15.

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and between second hand Rock Band and Celebrity Rehab, Riley has taken an interest in being the Man in the Box.

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That's about all of the fun times for this week. If you only come here for cheery, stop here and we'll see ya next week.


If you're still around, what I left our was part of our Saturday that wasn't fun.

Sadly, some family members lost a daughter this week, a good way into the pregnancy.
Saturday afternoon was the small funeral service, as she was far enough along that arrangements were necessary.
Even though I've seen it a couple of times before, a shoe box size coffin is always heartbreaking.


On a similarly emotional note, Sevendust has a memorial song, written for one of their friends killed in a car accident, entitled Angel's Son. The song took on even more meaning for them when the lead singer's brother was murdered a few years ago.

The song got them their most mainstream success, and they always play it.
I've seen it 3 or 4 times and Lajon always cried, but I never connected with the song.

Given the events of the last couple of months, at this week's show, I heard the song as if for the first time, and it really connected.



(Sorry if you tube is blocked for you. I didn't know where else to post it with that size file.)

if you are interested in the song, check out the two alternate videos on YouTube. I found the hospital one a few days after we lost my dad, and it was damn hard to watch.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

bad timing

'twas a busy week.

mardi gras, sevendust concert, medical news, baton rouge zoo, and a very sad funeral.

then, after i dumped all of this week's photos, our desktop pc crapped out.

that means you get nothing.
sorry. hopefully it'll be back up next week.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

The Gall?

Did ya hear?

The Saints won the Super Bowl.

No, really.

I have proof.

Ya know how they always said the Saints would win when Hell froze over?

Well, it snowed here this week.

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So what does that tell ya?


Ok.

Lafayette is far from hell, so maybe that logic doesn't work.
And snow is old news here.
I mean we've had it two years in a row. Geez, where's the originality?

But in a way this week was my own personal hell, so the logic could fit. (since 2010 was going so great so far)

The symptoms that landed me in the ER last weekend kept me up most of Monday and Wednesday nights and made me generally hurt all week.

Pain is one thing, but the worst part was I couldn't eat anything.
For me, that is the ultimate punishment.
It's like taking away DJ Pauli D's hairspray or Hugh Hefner's little blue pills.
I love and depend on eating.
Why is the world so cruel?

But I went to the doc on Thursday and he said all signs pointed gall bladder, for lack of any better option.
An ultrasound was clear so I'm going in on Monday for some nuclear testing. Laying on the table for an hour, not moving, with no source of entertainment. Yee ha.
I better be able to eat on Tuesday.

On the bright side though, I've been fine since Friday morning. Oh well. That is the preferable outcome to surgery anyway. We'll see what the test says.

and if you want a little laugh at my expense: On the way to get the ultrasound, I got stuck in a cold parking garage elevator for about 20 minutes. Yeah. I was incredibly happy.


Since I was feeling ok, and the temp warmed up a few degrees past freezing, we headed out to the Children's parade on Saturday.
(I'll just assume you foreigners north of I-10 know it's Mardi Gras season down here)

As you can see, the turnout was tremendous.

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but we ran into some old high school pals whose kids were actually old enough to enjoy the parade and get into the spirit.

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Riley , like his parents, was a pretty passive watcher.

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He tolerated the police, mostly because they were on horses. (insert snide libertarian comment)

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but he was quite impressed by the dog riding the fire truck.

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For 20 minutes after it passed, he told us he "saw Pluto on a fire truck."
This confirms that his head is going to explode when we go to Disney World this year.


Sunday, the weather was actually nice, so we picked up Nonnie and headed to the zoo in BR.

We were joined by Liz, Caroline, and Liz's mom, Ms. Jill, along with BR residents Heather, Trey, Lillian and Ian (but you won't be able to see him until next month.)

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Lillian is quite the social butterfly and played very well with the younger kids.

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Even the animals at the zoo were in the Valentine spirit.
(or this elephant made a bad drunken decision back on spring break in college)

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Riley continued his pattern of easy amusement.
The otters weren't active but he was thrilled with the stick in their pond.

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and the playground had a "spin-it" (gears) that kept him occupied for about 20 minutes.

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The rain and temps held out and the cousins were able to pose for a couple of shots with their non-mutual grandmothers.

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Hope everyone has a safe Mardi Gras, or as you call in in the rest of the country, a safe workday.

At this time tomorrow, my pee will be radioactive. How cool is that?

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Super Bowel Sunday

Things were pretty good around here for most of the week.

Riley is singing along to lots of songs and can recognize songs within the first few notes in most cases. If he didn't get his mom's musical ability, I hope he at least got both of our good tastes.

On Monday, Riley used the big boy toilet on his own request. He has now used it every day this week. He still mostly uses his diaper, but if you put him on the pot, he'll make something come out.
He's still pretty early to be potty trained, especially for a boy, so we have no expectation of full success any time soon. But it is a positive first step.

He's also gotten into putting toys where they aren't supposed to be.
Many of his small toys ended up in his ball popper this week.

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and he thinks he's funny.

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As the week wore on, Saints fever took hold of everyone in town.
On Thursday, my office has Saints Day, culminating in some people parading around the office.

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Friday evening, we ate at Pop's Black Pot with Joan's parents, Caroline and Liz.
If you haven't tried it before, they are off of Saloom road, kinda diagonal from Fresh Pickins, next to Oishi Sushi. They are open for lunch during the week and for dinner wed-fri.
Sandwiches, burgers, plate lunches and some fried seafood. Family owned and friendly.

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Riley and Caroline ran around and played with one of the owners' daughters.

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Joan and I split the Pop's crazy burger, which is really good. I tacked on a cup of gumbo, which was good, and, at 2.95, was a great value.

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Saturday we had lunch from ________ (fill in the blank) and dinner at O'charley's.

All downhill from there.
At about 8, I started having abdominal pain like nothing I've ever felt before.
After becoming well acquainted with the cold floor in front of the toilet, it wasn't getting any better. So after reading up on the warning signs of bum gall bladders and appendices and a coupe of hours of internal debate, around 2 am, I headed to the LGMC ER.

After an hour and a half, I got called back and had an IV inserted (1st in my life).
An hour and a half later, I finally saw a doctor.
Fortunately the signs all pointed toward no major (read: surgical) problems.
Good news of course , but sometimes you wish there was an explanation for why you are in the most pain of your life. Doc said it could be anything: virus, food poisoning, bigger problems that had not yet fully manifested, or just random bad luck.

Oh well. I left 5 hours after getting there, and having not slept for 25 hours, with a script for an anti-spasm med. No real pain today, but lots of nausea. Couldn't even stay at my Mom's house to watch the game 'cause the smell of the gumbo was making me almost lose it.
And I haven't been able to eat any of the chocolate covered "Fleureos" from Cakes by Paperwings (look her up on Facebook) but everyone said they were really good.

But I'm not the real story.
How 'bout them Saints?
What a ridiculous game.
Right now I wish I owned a company that made black and gold icing for cakes. I'd be a millionaire, just off of the Saints' king cakes that are being bought up in this area.

We've only really followed the Saints since about 2002.
We started watching in law school and have been to at least one game every year since 2005.
I never, thought you would ever hear them referred to as Super Bowl Champions.

Lots of changes have happened for us this year.
Finally liking a winning team is one I can live with.

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and since this is a blog about family and cute kids, yes, we were both holding back the tears with the shots of Breesus and his son on the field after the game.

brees son
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