September 2007 Archives

Patsy and I are going to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) in New Orleans on November 10 along with her sister, Bobette, her husband, and some friends. They were mentioned here by Nancy a couple of years ago and we've been hoping they'd come here. We have all of their CDs and are very excited about this. November 10 is the first day of a week-long vacation so we can stay out late just like grown-ups. TSO splits up their members and sends them out on two complete tours. On November 10, they will be appearing in New Orleans and in Worcester, MA at the same time. The lead guitarist in the sweet video below, Chris Caffery, will be in Worcester on the East Coast tour. We'll have someone else in New Orleans but there won't be any dropoff. They are all excellent. For best results, click on the play button at the bottom left rather than the one in the center and then click it again to pause it. Let it go for a minute or two (Watch the red line go all the way to the end) and then play it. What that will do is cause the video to load on your computer and you can listen to it and watch it without the normal blips of the internet. Enjoy.

Flick weighed 57 lbs. at her last vet visit, and seems to gain ~10 lbs. every month. We are in the process of training her right now, which has been fun. I am reading a book that is teaching me all about the dog's psychology - all very interesting. Kellie is getting slightly annoyed with her though, because she put a hole in our screen door this week. She is getting tall enough to where her head can reach the table and smell our food. She is usually very good about eating her food and not bothering us with ours, but every now and again she gets curious. The other day, she was inquiring about some food that was on the countertop and you could tell she was debating on whether or not she should go after it. We try to wear her out every night by taking her for a walk/run once it cools down. We have soccer fields right behind our neighborhood that has a track around it, which has been great. Anyway, she has been a lot of fun. Enjoy the pictures.

Flick Clayton - September 21, 2007

Flick Clayton - September 21, 2007

Flick Clayton - September 21, 2007

We had 8 girls, including Julia Mattia and Shelby Lynn, overnight this past Saturday to celebrate her 13th birthday. I swear this is the last year we will have a slumber party. (I am pretty sure I said that last year too.) For the most part, it was harmonious, though that took some effort on Julia's part. There were several controllers in the group. I stayed on the periphery and got involved only when asked to.

Aaron devised a treasure-hunt with such cute clues. They had a lot of fun with that and found the treasure chest with bags of candy and stickers for each of them. Pizza, of course, was for supper.

You could hear me passive-aggressively grumbling about picking up candy-wrappers, costumes, and plates and cups after girls. I told them at one point, "I know you don't do this at your own homes," as I held up a sucker stick with a wrapper around it that I picked up off the floor of my living room.

We gave Julia a parakeet - she named him Buddy - a digital camera, and a set of comforters for her bunk beds. Actually, the comforters were not part of the birthday package. She needed new ones; hers were mismatched, juvenile, worn-out, and didn't match her bedroom. With my recent promotion, I am playing catch-up around here with items on my wish list.

She got some nice gifts and took some good pictures with her own camera. They were all asleep by 1am, working hard at that for almost an hour. It took Michael's bellowing out of the room for them to finally settle. One of the girls was picked up at 8:45 am. I made beignets for breakfast. At 10am, we broke out the spinach artichoke dip again. They passed on my corn salsa. I thought it was good.

She asked me what I was doing with a look of disapproval when I was dancing by myself in the kitchen to her music. She was afraid her friends might see me. Sigh. I am now UnCool.

Oh well... I have friends too, and they like me the way I am.

Julia's 13th Birthday party - September 15, 2007

Julia's 13th Birthday party - September 15, 2007

Julia's 13th Birthday party - September 15, 2007

John and I spent last week in the Black Hills of South Dakota---took in all the monuments and several state/national parks. Had beautiful weather with temps in the 70s most every day, sunny and "picture perfect". Now it's back to work for me and John is going to try retirement again.

John & Nancy at Mount Rushmore

Crazy Horse Monument

Prong horn antelope - September 11, 2007

Devil’s Tower National Monument

Badlands National Park - September 13, 2007

Today is Luke's 1st birthday. Since we celebrated on Sunday there will be no fanfare today. He doesn't know any different. I keep singing "Happy Birthday" to him, which he seems amused by. We had a cookie monster cake for him on Sunday and he got to dive into it for a little while. The remnants of the cake are all over his face in the first picture. The second picture was taken today right after we did a photo session with a photographer. I had to do it on his birthday even though he still has somewhat of a black eye. He got a terrible black eye two weeks ago when he fell down our front steps. It was Joey's fault but I'm not pointing any fingers.

In other news, we're buying a new house. We go to act of sale on Sept. 27th. Last Friday we put a sign in front of our house. I'm going to miss this house, especially my nursery, but it's just too small for us now. We're having a lot of people slow down and look at the house and my agent has had a few calls on it. She showed it to an elderly lady and her sister and son yesterday and they loved it. They used to live in Lakeview and lost everything in Katrina. The elderly lady asked my agent how long she had to let us know and she told her son that she wanted the house. Hopefully we'll have an offer soon. I buried my statue of St. Joseph upside down in the yard and have been saying his prayer daily to ensure a quick sale. My house is so neat and tidy right now. Wish I could manage to live like this always. Of course, we did move out about 15 boxes of stuff and some furniture to make the house more ready to show. I hope I don't have to show it too often because it's killing me to be so neat!! Samuel and Luke only have a few toys out so Samuel has found other things to entertain himself, namely all of my serving utensils. I keep finding spatulas and ladles all over the house. The thought of packing and moving everything in this house is extremely daunting! But the thought of all the space we'll have in our new house is extremely exciting!

Luke William - 12 months - September 9, 2007

Luke William - 12 months - September 9, 2007

The photo below is the one Mom mentioned a few days ago. Correction (Monday, September 10, 2007): This is a different photo taken about a year later.

Rob - September 1958

And some others:

First Grade Report Card - 1964

First Grade Report Card - 1964

From yesterday's Times-Picayune in the Lagniappe section by Brett Anderson:

In June 2001, Daniel Boulud, one of America's most celebrated chefs, opened DB Bistro Moderne in midtown Manhattan. Its signature dish, a $27 hamburger, was meant to announce the restaurant's departure from the gilded modern French cuisine that made the chef famous.

The price tag of the "DB Burger" was rationalized with enrichments of braised short ribs, foie gras and truffles. It was, in the last innocent months leading up to 9/11, the talk of New York City, and its influence on fine dining still reverberates throughout the country. Boulud made the hamburger a worthy -- not to mention expensive -- object of a serious chef's ambition.

I was reminded of this last spring, when John Besh, a year removed from winning his James Beard Award, opened Luke in the Central Business District. Everyone I spoke with who'd tried the place mentioned the gargantuan Emmenthaler cheeseburger draped in Allan Benton's smoked country bacon.

Luke's burger is a juicy, decadent specimen, served -- like the DB Burger -- with a generous side of frites exploding from the top of a cup.

That burger compelled me to sample, over the past couple of months, every highfalutin hamburger I came across.

They seem to be everywhere, from the covers of recent issues of Gourmet and Bon Appétit to the menus of risk-taking restaurants such as Cuvée, which features (as an appetizer) a truffle cheeseburger "po-boy" made with Kobe beef, served with a short Barq's root beer float.

I actually found more Kobe beef in hamburgers around town than actual steaks. A waiter presented the condiments on a sleek platter alongside the Kobe beef cheeseburger at Emeril's, while the Kobe burgers are tucked inside mini brioche rolls at Zoe in the W Hotel. The Palace Cafe uses ground prime sirloin and homemade bacon for the cheeseburger on its lunch menu.

These burgers all had their virtues, although as I neared the end of my investigation, it occurred to me that I preferred none of them to the hamburgers at Port of Call.

The Esplanade Avenue restaurant and barroom serves what is arguably the city's most beloved hamburger. The Port's burgers are, like the restaurant, nothing fancy: No truffles, enlarged goose liver or pampered Japanese cow meat here, just a brawny, char-scarred bit of evidence as to why a classic hamburger is nearly perfect.

The restaurant opened in 1963 as a steakhouse. The burgers grew out of a need to do something with the scraps left over from the hand-cut steaks, says general manager Mike Mollere, who's worked at the Port of Call for 31 years. The burgers today are the product of repetition -- the daily grinding of the beef, the hand-forming of half-pound patties that are grilled to order -- not invention.

On this day . . .

1948 Took care of Timmy & Jenny. $1.00. Washed hair.

1949 Dance at CYC.* Slept at Betty’s.

1950 Went to fair up north.**

1952 Date with Dick Stiles. Midquarter exams.

1957 Had Robbie’s picture taken at Holmes.

1958 Labor Day. Spent day at folks. Gorgeous day.

1959 Bought two new bras.

1960 Janine had 3rd DPT shot and lst polio. Weighs 17-1/4
lbs. Bought Sue saddle shoes and patent leather Sunday
shoes.

1985 Served Chicken Sauterne for Elizabeth’s 21st.

1987 Elizabeth’s 23rd. Gave Pictionary and wallet.

1988 Elizabeth’s 24th. Gave perfume and Christmas place mats. Kathleen’s funeral.

1989 Elizabeth’s 25th. Gave pajamas and night shirt. Lasagne dinner. Haircut. John Bye’s wedding.

1990 Elizabeth’s 26th. Gave crystal bowls.

* Catholic Youth Center
** North Minneapolis

Julia rode this ride among others yesterday. She called me to tell me while she was waiting in line, and then after she rode it. She said it was scary, but she was hoping to ride it again. It boasts of being the tallest roller coaster in the world. She told that she and Shelby changed their minds when it came time to get on the ride and both girls started crying. I just downloaded the POV on high speed and watched it with Michael. Even watching it - my head was moving like I was on it, Michael pointed out.

Last night, David called me to tell me that they waited 45 minutes to get on and when it came time, and the girls started their histrionics, he told them to "get their asses on the ride." I knew Julia didn't appreciate that. She doesn't like cussing. I said nothing to David when he told me that because I was right there with him. They went to Cedar Point to ride that ride as a highlight of their trip, waited 45 minutes in line, and weren't going to miss it because of a last minute panic attack.

It is so cool that David invited her to go to that park. They have accommodations at the park's resort hotel and can go into the amusement park an hour before it opens to the public. David told me they are having the best weather anyone could ask for, and an awesome view of Lake Erie from their balcony. I am very happy for Julia to have the opportunity to share in David's sales winnings. This is the second expenses-paid vacation that David has won with his million dollars' sales at Aucoin Hart. Patrick flew into and they picked him up at the airport yesterday before heading back to Cedar Point. I know the cousins' are having a blast with Uncle Dave. I hope somebody has a camera and takes pictures.

Friday, when she was leaving, Michael asked for and got a hug from Julia. She turned her back to me and flipped me a wave and said, "bye, Mom." I wasn't put out by that. She has called me almost a dozen times since being gone. She is my reporter. She called to tell me this morning about Uncle David's use of the curse word. I told her before she got it out. I also told her to be appreciative, easy-going, and enjoy herself. I know she will. I want to see a picture of her on that ride.

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth

Have a day...