Geaux Saints and Gumbo

On an NFL playoff weekend, Jennifer and I headed to Columbus to meet a dog that was up for adoption. The Humane Society of Scott County had a cute little dog on petfinder.com so after filling out their application, I was cleared to meet him at their adoption event at PetCo.

There were at least three different pet rescue groups in the store, and dogs everywhere. Quite a busy place to be on a Saturday afternoon. We soon met the correct group, and were introduced to "Julius." He is a cutie, and I decided to take him home.

Here is Jennifer holding him in the store.

And she took a picture of me with him too.

We didn't really think "Julius" fit, so I had been thinking of another name for him. This is the New Orleans Saints mascot, "Gumbo." While he is, of course, a "Saint" Bernard, and quite a bit bigger than my dog, I thought it would be a fitting name for a little gold dog owned by a Saints fan. I could have named him "Fleur de Lis" but that's a bit fussy.

He seems to be getting comfortable in his new home.

Of course, his first order of business was to watch his favorite team play football. So glad Shockey was back, and Reggie was ON FIRE! Geaux Saints! Who Dat!

He liked the sign in the stands at the Superdome that said "Finish Strong."

And they sure did.

Happy Birthday Drew! Let's celebrate!

Buca di Birthday!

We went to Louisville to have dinner to celebrate Darci's birthday on Friday. We are anxious to celebrate Haleigh's birth day, but she has not cooperated yet. We did learn it won't be long now!

We gathered for a night of Italian treats at Buca di Beppo.

Jennifer had the day off on Friday, so she came to Greensburg and went with us for the party.

Matt and Shelly and their girls Abbi and Makenna joined us, along with Abbi's friend Nicole.

Shelly, Makenna, and Darci were all smiles before dinner.

Abbi and Nicole had fun with the empty bottle.

Darci had some birthday gifts to open.

Andrew enjoyed the brand name of Darci's new nursing top.

After dinner, Darci chose the perfect place for dessert. The Comfy Cow is a new ice cream store about five minutes from their house. Very convenient!

Matthew hasn't been there yet, but he will love this sign outside the store. I agree!

Jennifer and Darci are telling Haleigh that she too can have ice cream if she'll just hurry up and be born!

The decorations in the store are so cute. I especially liked these light fixtures made of old ice cream scoops.

They were all a bit different, and very cute and clever.

The menu has an extensive selection of flavors and toppings, as well as a great list of specialty sundaes. The largest one feeds a crowd and costs something like 30 bucks. We'll have to try it sometime for sure! I almost ordered the "BFF" sundae in honor of Jamalyn. I was thrilled on Friday afternoon to receive an email from her from Haiti. We have been so worried about them since the earthquake, and I could barely believe it when I saw her name in my inbox. We are praying fervently for their continued safety, and their swift return home.

Matt and Shelly ordered a brownie sundae to share.

Mine, of course, was peppermint ice cream with hot fudge and pecans. It was delicious!

Matt shared a bite with Makenna.

Darci is ready to dig in to her cake batter ice cream with hot fudge sauce.

Andrew likes his ice cream in a cone.

Abbi thinks it's good to the last drop!

Abbi and Nicole had a good time together.

And, unlike Matthew, they ENJOYED having me take their picture!!

Before long, the ice cream was all gone!

We headed home with full tummies and plans to return next week to meet a brand new baby girl. Hurry up Haleigh!!

These are a few of my favorite things...

It was a great day to celebrate a birthday, and it was filled with many of my favorite things. Starting out with lunch at a favorite place with Grandma, Grandpa, Janet, Steve, and Carter...

with a big tenderloin...

and banana cream pie. What could be better?

A "retro" birthday cake with icing by...

my favorite grandson!

But we're not finished yet. Dinner at another favorite, El Reparo. With the ultimate chips and salsa...

a pitcher (or two) of margaritas...

and my favorite entree, burrito reparo with chicken. Yummmmm!!!

Some of my favorite people:

Jenny and Michael...

Josh and Erica...

Steve and Janet...

Michael and Mom...

and me and my dad...

all wrapped up into a great birthday. Sorry Jim wasn't here to enjoy the festivities. I am blessed and thankful to be able to celebrate another year with the people I love.

Pray for Haiti

Please keep our Haitian friends and our friends in Haiti in your prayers. Jamalyn and a group of folks from Milroy and St. Luke's arrived in Port au Prince on Monday, and were heading to Fondwa on Tuesday. We are waiting to hear from them, as cell phones are down, and internet isn't always available in their area. News reports show devastation in Port au Prince, and I pray that they were safe in Fondwa when the earthquake hit. Blocked roads and cancelled flights may make it difficult for them to get home this weekend.

To give you a sense of the geography of Haiti, you can see Port au Prince there in the "crook" of the backward "C" shape of Haiti. Fondwa is to the west and south of PAP. We drive west to Leogane, which you can see on the map, then head up the mountains to the south toward Jacmel (in the yellow on the southern coast). I know the map is small, but you can see that Fondwa is relatively close to Port au Prince.

This is a picture I took of the presidential palace in November. They call it the Haitian "white house." It is a beautiful and impressive building in downtown Port au Prince.

This is a picture of the palace today, destroyed by the earthquake. This is a strong and substantial building. It is hard to imagine the damage to the buildings and homes "stacked" on the hillsides and not nearly as well built.

Please pray for Jamalyn and her group, our friends in Fondwa, and the people of Haiti as they face yet another devastating event in their country. May God be with them.

9 at 9

It's a big week in the NFL, with the wild card games done, and the playoffs continuing. The upcoming games are set, and after a crazy exciting game last night, the New Orleans Saints learned they will be playing the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday afternoon. Oh, and the Colts play somebody too...

So, to get fired up for the game, I thought I would post the video of Drew Brees' appearance on Leno. Just in case anyone missed it. :) I guess Leno usually calls the segment "10 at 10" but changed it for Drew to "9 at 9." (Drew wears #9, the show airs at 9 p.m. in NOLA, and it was December 9). According to this morning's news, the segment may be changed to "back at 11:30" since Jay doesn't seem to be doing too well in the 10:00 time slot.

Drew has fun with the questions, talking about favorite foods, tv, and pre-game rituals. The BEST part is when Jay asks him to sing the his college fight song. He makes the Boilermaker family proud when he launches into the familiar chorus.



Thanks Drew! Hail Purdue! Who Dat!

Just Chillin'

Rush County had a snow day today, so I got to have Matthew stay with me. I have always taken snow days literally... which means we stayed home, watched a little TV, played with some toys, and just chilled. Of course, chilly is an accurate description, since it was 9 degrees according to the Tahoe when I picked him up this morning. Brrrrr!

This is the view of the grill from our back door. No grilling tonight!

After a busy day playing and relaxing at home, Matthew and I headed for Seymour to meet Andrew and Darci. Matthew asked how long it would take to get there, and when I said it would be about an hour, enough time to take a little rest, he promptly went to sleep. He can go from talking to sleeping in about 2 seconds.

Speaking of chilly, we met for dinner at one of our favorites, Chili's.

Matthew started playing hard to get when I took out the camera...

but his daddy helped me get at least one picture of him! Don't worry, no children were injured in the shooting of this photo. :)

Matthew and Andrew enjoyed their favorites: chips and salsa, fries with ranch, and buffalo chicken with ranch.

Matthew wasn't sure he had any room on his dessert side, but he did manage a couple bites of another favorite of Andrew's, Paradise Pie. A perfect way to finish off our meal.

Andrew, Darci and Matthew headed to Louisville, and I headed back to the 'burg (keeping it on cruise control of course). Now we are just waiting for a phone call announcing a move by baby Haleigh. Darci has apparently given her an eviction notice, and is ready for her to be movin' on out. I can't really blame the little one for wanting to stay where she is... it's cold out here!