Tuesday, March 22, 2011

My spring has sprung!


The acquiring of the new house, packing for the move, and unpacking the new house has been ALL kinds of eventful; it’s becoming a comedy of errors as of late.  We are at the point where we are catching ourselves hysterically laughing for fault of having any idea of how to take things anymore.   Tarzan may be King of the Jungle but his back cried ‘UNCLE’ several weeks ago, my right foot has acquired a very interesting ailment (Plantar Fasciitis), and poor Cheetah is still having problems reeling his emotions in from time to time.  This family needs a break, and along comes spring.

Spring is one of my favorite times of year, I look forward to it annually and by the beginning of February I am in desperate need of it’s comforting breezes, warmth, and promise of ‘feet flirting’.  I have been preparing for spring’s happy arrival for several weeks now.  I’ve been busy dusting off my open toed shoes, shaving my legs (thank God for ‘no shave November’), pruning my yard, and loading up my iPod with all my sunny jams.  Tarzan, Cheetah and I are so excited to fully enjoy our new home and all it’s amenities that we are chomping at the bit to celebrate, ANYTHING.  We have people waiting in the wings to help celebrate any occasion we can come up with…the only problem you ask???

That would be the POOL.  Tarzan has been relentless in trying to schedule a pool guy to come out and get everything up and running with no luck; leaving messages these days is a joke.  So I decided I would try too, I have called 3 times now and I keep getting stood up!  What the heck people, I could probably get it clean and ready on my own if someone could just come show me how to use this pump!!  I am drooling as I pass the pool every day, I am getting desperate here.  As I begin to get busier at work I have days dreams of cool dips in the pool with Cheetah as we work off calories and start our annual OD of vitamin D…and here comes Mr. Disappointment with another day of no word from the ‘pool guys’.  So I am putting my foot down, if by this Friday I have heard nothing I may go into business for myself.  Go ahead and see if I’m bluffing.  I am warning you now ‘pool guys’; I am willing to work for money, I am great at customer service, I have an email address, and I return phone calls…I would be some very SERIOUS competition for you.  I have Google and I can read…those are the only tools I need in my arsenal these days.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Greatest Hits: Volume I


I have officially contracted Spring Fever and I have decided to let nature run it’s course and try to sit back and enjoy.  Since music is an essential character in the play of my life I have been enjoying the ‘Greatest Hits: Volume I’ soundtrack.  As I am soaking up the vitamin D and ‘communing with nature’ I have been jamming to some of the best songs in the world and I felt that I needed to make this ‘Spring Fever’ an epidemic…so let me breathe on you so you can enjoy the illness.


And like all good albums, this one has more than 10 songs:
1. Brass In Pocket – The Pretenders

2. Never Gonna Happen – Lily Allen

3. Centerfold – J.Geils Band

4. Tell Me Something Good – Rufus and Chaka Khan

5. F*ck You – Cee Lo (Forget You – Clean version)

6. Walking to New Orleans – Fats Domino

7. I’m Gonna Be (500 miles) – The Proclaimers

8. Suspicious Minds – Elvis Presley

9. Always on My Mind – Willy Nelson

10. Beast of Burden – Rolling Stones

11. Meet in the Middle – Diamond Rio

12. Who’s Your Daddy – Blastman (RARE and hard to find)

13. A Sunday Kind of Love – Etta James

14. Kiss Me, I’m Sh*tfaced – Dropkick Murphy’s

15. Simple Man – Lynyrd Skynyrd

16. Cigarettes and Coffee – Otis Redding




Song 1 and 13 are the songs that describe me, songs 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15 and 16 are songs I have heard since I was a VERY young child; songs 4, 5, 12, and 14 are great feel good songs, the lyrics of song 2 and 14 make me laugh out loud; song 12 is an essential track from my college years; songs 11 and 15 have become to mean more to me as I have aged.  If you see something here you haven’t heard of, check it out on iTunes (Blastman can be found on Amazon.com), you’ll be glad you did.  What songs would be in your 'Greatest Hits; Volume I'?

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Mardi Gras is better than the holiday season


2011 was another successful Mardi Gras season for the Smith family.  We all got what we wanted and expected, all though the weather certainly could have cooperated a bit more.  Cheetah had his eyes set on catching as many stuffed animals as possible, Tarzan was in search for the perfect ‘Mardi Gras ‘ frozen beverage, and I wanted to jump and scream as much as possible.  A lot of people feel that NOLA is where it all started but it was the smaller more rural towns where Mardi Gras flourished and where we all still know how to party just as rowdy as Bourbon Street without all the tourists.  This is not the place to find the whole back story of Mardi Gras (but you can find it here), this is just my account of a holiday that I have always viewed as the best part of every calendar year.

I have always loved Mardi Gras but it wasn’t until this year that I was able to actually discover what the ‘draw’ really was for me:  as a child it’s easy to understand, you get to be as loud as possible and people will throw you all kinds of awesome junk while wearing the coolest get-ups, as a late teen and young adult visions of binge drinking and irresponsibility dance in your head, and as adult I have found that aminimitiy is a rare gift.  Here is a ’religiously based’ holiday where you are supposed to give into your urges; you partake in deliciously rich foods, drink perfectly concocted beverages, try each and every kind of king cake in town (my favorite is Keller’s), and act a fool in public…all while wearing a mask.  No wonder DROVES of people make the annual journey to the ‘party capital’? 
You arrive at the parade route HOURS beforehand to ensure that you get a great spot, as close as you can get to the floats.  You make signs, wear bright colors, find the perfect mask for the year, pack an extra bag for all your loot, and make sure you remember your ‘to-go cup’.  You stand beside other parade goers waiting for the 1st sounds of sirens to signal the start of the parade and once it begins the energy of the crowd and the members of the Crew’s just takes over.  You are jumping up and down, screaming, laughing, and juking it (dancing) along with each band that passes.  When you finally see the fire truck you start wagering the decision to rush to the end of the route to catch the parade one more time.  The experience is like no other. 

The time of year beckons the natives to give in and let it out; blow off some steam and no one has to know it’s YOU.  What a great way to kick off the reflective season of lent; tired, hung-over, and stuffed like a link of boudin.  I want to personally invite you to make the pilgrimage to Cajun Country next year, you will NOT be disappointed.  My advice would be to steer clear of NOLA and head out to some of the tamer, less touristy parts of Louisiana; be prepared for any type of weather, bring your own chair, and don’t forget your mask.


Saturday, March 5, 2011

Put your hands in the air...

The move has made everything so hectic, this is the first time that we’ve moved with the boy underfoot.  It was surprisingly easy, thanks to family and friends things pretty much went off without a hitch.  We had help entertaining Cheetah, heavy lifting, unpacking, and cleaning.  For now we are presently on an unending quest for things that are taped up in boxes and we are wearing a path in the cement from the garage to the house.

Due to the stress of the move Cheetah has developed a fun new habit that has to be stopped.  The school has had to institute a ‘hand check’ rule, it seems Cheetah can’t seem to keep his hands off of the family jewels.  It’s all the time; standing in the store, riding in the car, watching tele, and eating any meal. 

It’s like he has the cure for cancer in there but just can’t seem to shake it loose.  We have tried the whole ‘do it in private’ talk, and the ‘put your hands in the air for a minute’ punishment.  Nothing seems to be working, I wonder if there is a book at the library that could point us all in the right direction.

The only saving grace during all the hooplah has been Mardi Gras.  We are able to take breaks from unpacking and penis talk to; yell our heads off for some cool loot, enjoy good food, get in some time with friends,  enjoy rides, and let’s not forget the cotton candy.

Cheetah’s school has closed for Lundi and Mardi Gras which means a 4 day weekend for me and plenty of time to catch up on laundry and harvesting empty boxes



A little of topic but very exciting…


Over a year ago I read an article the stated that a family could save over $400 a year by owning a bread machine so of course I had to add one to my ‘wish list’. This past weekend the Smith family received an AWESOME house warming gift from my fabulous Aunt.
 

We received a top of the line Cuisnieart Convection Bread machine, and as I sit here I am making my first loaf of bread.  I had no idea it would be the easy, who knew you could just throw all the ingredients in, press start, and boom…BREAD!