Monday, March 31, 2008

Web site for God


Tonight I've spent a bit of time designing a Web site for St. Paul Catholic Church. No, I'm not a Web designer. My Mac does all the work. Here's a photo of the church. It was built in the 1950s, after a tornado destroyed the beautiful Gothic cathedral that had been downtown since the late 1800s. What were those new architects thinking?!?

Earlier this evening, I put together the initial page of links for the church site, but then thought better of it. I imagine that the priest might not want to launch his Web site with links that would make the bishop have a fit. Links like this one. Women as equals -- radical, no?

Braves lost...again. 0-2 to start the year. It can only get better, right? Cards still haven't played, thanks to a rain delay.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Big day in Vicksburg

Today was a great Sunday We worked all day, and took a few well deserved breaks. First, I finished painting the dining room.

Then Ned cleaned all the leaves out of the eaves of the roof. I wanted to climb on the roof and do it, but got to the top of the ladder and chickened out. it was so high off the ground!

We marveled at our blooming scallions.

In downtown, we saw beautiful Cherokee roses. That's the state flower of Georgia.

And we ended the day with catfish tacos, Corona, and limes.

We also watched both the Braves and the Lady Irish lose this evening, but we'd rather concentrate on the high points.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

So this is a bummer

When you paint a dark room a light color, you have to prime everything. For those of you who are unaware, that means painting TWICE. Ugh. I wish we were rich so I could hire somebody to do this. The dining room's a mess. Hopefully, our color choice -- asparagus -- will make it all worthwhile. Photos to follow tomorrow. Today's photos are a mess.

A gift for our house sitters


Thanks to Lauchlin and Olivia for collecting the newspapers and keeping the plants watered while we were gone all week. We've fixed you a little surprise! We'll deliver it soon... XO, MB & Ned
PS -- Same box as the one my dad sent us, but we included all new stuff.

New Orleans: Final Friday


I had the really good fortune to eat lunch at Willie Mae's Scotch House on Friday. The place was packed. The waiting area was stacked two deep. There were days when I had my doubts if that place would ever come together, but with the good guidance of John Currence and the dedicated SFA crew, miracles happened. And the white beans were delicious.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

New Orleans: Day Four

Today was a good day. There was a productive morning of work. Lunch at Parasol's. Afternoon including a bit of shopping on Magazine where, nearby, I found Jesus: patron of migraines. The evening involved an auction preview party with my friend Scott (you'll see that he took the photo of me and Ned, where I'm wearing a 5 carat diamond ring). After the auction, we had dinner at Iris with my friends George and Vasser. Tomorrow, we'll head out -- unless I can convince Ned to stay a day longer and enjoy New Orleans for 24 more hours. After all, there is an auction on Saturday...with a 5 carat ring patiently waiting for a new owner.



Wednesday, March 26, 2008

New Orleans: Day Three


Ned worked. All day. Again. I worked all day, too, but took some much-needed break time to have lunch with my friend, Vasser, and to go on a run in the afternoon. Dinner tonight was Liuzza's by the Track. Read about it from the SFA oral history series here. Dessert was--you guessed it--Brocato's ice cream. I'm newly addicted. We also bought some candy from the Roman Candy Man. Vanilla taffy. Yum.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Big Easy: Day Two

The germophobe (and mildly claustrophobic) side of me won out this morning -- helped by the fact that it took the valet 20 minutes to get our car after we went downstairs. When Ned left for work, I went to work changing our hotel reservations. We're now at a nondescript Hampton on St. Charles, but the rooms are large, the parking is free and plentiful, and I can walk out the front door to the bar on the porch of the Columns Hotel -- not exactly Circle Bar vibe, but not a bad substitute.

The day started at the Farmer's Market, where I saw my vision for Vicksburg come alive. Plus, there were beautiful flowers from mustard plants.

I worked all afternoon, enjoyed a run down St. Charles, and then Ned and I headed for dinner. Ye Olde College Inn was our dining destination for the evening. We ate there on our way home the night we got engaged, and so decided to revisit the place tonight. Ned finished 3/4 of his monster sandwich, but he would have eaten all of it had I not begged him to stop. He finally gave in. And now he's thankful, as he sits across the room, working on his laptop, and eating Tums like candy.


My favorite part of the evening was ice cream from Brocato's. Yum. I would have taken a photo of it, but I ate it too quickly!

Monday, March 24, 2008

We've made it to New Orleans!


We've been looking forward to New Orleans for several days now. I booked us rooms at a hotel that I've always liked...from my view at the Circle Bar. Something about the pretty lights after two too many beers has always made me smile. The rooms are small, but the location is conveniently next to all the cool museums (Ogden and DDay are on my schedule during work week lunch hours). General Lee himself stares into our bedroom window. It will be our home for the next four nights (but probably not again, as the rooms really are VERY small). Dinner this evening was at Cochon. The food was so good, it's impossible to explain. We'll look forward to boring you with news of our menus all week. Anybody care to place bets on how many po boys Ned can power down in five days? Our must have list includes sandwiches from Domilise's, Guy's, Parkway Tavern, Parasol's, Liuzza's, and Ye Olde College Inn...just to get started.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Easter at the Lasseters

Egg dying concentration

Lining up at the end of the hall, before the race for the baskets -- this time with Super Sarah and Real Sarah

Ned's fabulous Easter basket

Hula hoop champs, Sarah and Grace

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Friday, March 21, 2008

March Madness


The boys have parked themselves in front of basketball. If they're not watching it, they're napping through it...

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Front Porch Fodder


One of our favorite things to do in Vicksburg is hang out on the porch with our friends Lauchlin and Olivia, who live down the street. Here's a photo of us there on Sunday night (I think). We'll miss them as we travel the next two weeks. Mary Beth has already started her two week swing through the South. Did we mention that we're so sick of traveling?!?

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

The lawnmower has arrived

and the backyard looks so much better! Kudos to Ned for the yard improvement. And thanks to the family who contributed to this part of the Christmas fund.

St. Paddy's Day, cont'd

Here we are with our friend, Liz. Parade fun.

And here's Ned with his new beads. I'm working to make them disappear. If only I could find them...

And here's my husband, a redneck. I didn't realize he was one. Revenge of the beads.

St. Paddy's Day

The blog's been silent. We apologize. We've been crazy busy. I'm catching up with a few posts tonight.

Here we are just after the race. Don't we look fast?


Here's Mary Beth with our wedding photographer, Josh Hailey.


And here's Ned, advising our friend Nate (the professional chef) on his grilling techniques.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

The St. Paddy's 5K

We both came in under 30 minutes. Ned was passed by lots of women, and MB was passed by a man pushing a stroller. Despite the humiliation, we both mustered the energy to drink lots of beer this afternoon. Photos promised tomorrow.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

China night is slipping...


Last night was china night. You'll see the china, right there on the table, in front of Ned. Note that his beverage of choice is a Bud Light, in the can. We debated pouring it into a glass, but decided that'd just be one more thing to wash. I didn't slum with a can... I had Lasseter tea in a 32 oz. plastic guzzle cup featuring Dale Earnhardt and a giant #3.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

The grill has arrived.


In the days leading up to the grill's arrival to National Street, there was much strategizing about how best to keep it out of the hands of thieves -- chain it to the fence? lock it to a helical anchor in the ground? lock the back gate? But now, after lugging the thing from Yazoo City, navigating it up the stairs, and pushing it through the backyard, we have a new philosophy: if you're strong enough to move this thing anywhere, you can have it.

Mary Beth thinks it weighs 400 pounds. Ned's guessing 150. Actual weight is probably more like a ton.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Garden, anyone?



Ned and I planted more seeds tonight. We're using our sun room to give slow-growing plants an early start. It'll mean vegetables earlier, plus it means that I'll have the satisfaction of green plants in the garden on the first day. The first thing we realized is that we ordered way too many seeds. Gardening, anyone? Just email us and we'll happily send you some seeds. Otherwise, they'll just go to waste. An inventory of what we have to choose from is listed below. Click the links to see the flowers and growing instructions. Go ahead. Click the links. It took me forever to add them.

DECORATIVE
nipple fruit
bells of Ireland
star of the veld
black eyed susans
irish eyes sunflowers

PEPPERS
garden sunshine peppers
rooster spur peppers (decorative)
purple beauty peppers

RANDOM VEGGIES
listada de gandia eggplant
florida highbush eggplant
black beauty zucchini squash
gourd mixture
golden zucchini squash

Monday, March 10, 2008

They sprouted!



I'm always doubtful that seeds will actually make plants, which will eventually give us tomatoes. But our tomato seeds have sprouted, finally! We'll have Sun Golds and Brandywines and Striped Green Zebras in our garden this summer, all heirloom varieties that we picked up during the East Nashville Tomato Festival this past August. Stay tuned for more plant updates. (They grow slowly, though, so we'll wait for some major changes before we post another photo).

Sunday, March 9, 2008

I've been replaced


We were in Jackson this weekend, where Ned enjoyed a day spent wandering through his mom's house, asking for furniture, and discovering childhood toys. We came home with Jocco and Pooh, who have been with him "since the beginning." Tonight, as I climb into bed, I see that I've been replaced.

TMBG at H&M'S



It takes a certain genius to be a college hipster favorite, and then market your wares to the children of those original fans. Yet that's what They Might Be Giants did -- they're numbers 1 and 2 on the Amazon music chart for kids. We enjoyed listening to "One Dozen Monkeys" at Hal & Mal's in Jackson tonight, with beers in hand, though I think the crowd would have loved "Ten Mississippi."

Friday, March 7, 2008

This is why I love him...


Everyone knows that I have a serious candy addiction. I tried to give up sweets earlier this year, and had been doing well, until we found a bag of gourmet jelly beans hiding in the back of our cabinets. Now I'm again fully dependent on sugar rushes. The great thing about gourmet jelly beans is the flavor variety: margarita, marshmallow, cotton candy. The bad thing about gourmet jelly beans is also the flavor variety: coconut, coffee, buttered popcorn, licorice...ugh. After hearing me fish through the candy jar all week, grumbling as I grabbed handfuls of gross jelly beans, Ned did a sweet thing for me tonight: he divided the jelly beans into two bowls: flavors I like (blue bowl), and flavors I hate (brown pitcher). Judging from the difference in the bowl sizes, you can tell I've picked through and eaten a lot of good jelly beans this week.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Hungry, anyone?


We saw this sign during our North Carolina travels. It totally disgusted me, until Ned explained they were advertising bait -- not dinner.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

World Wednesday


Tonight we went to eat dinner with some friends at The World. For those of you not in the know, The World is a bar/burger joint/steakhouse just across the state line. Yes, there is a window where you can order your hurricanes to go. But it's not a drive-thru window -- it's a drive in, three-point turn past the building, and return the way you came in window. The graffiti on the walls is pure genius, but I did not have my camera (I'm so bummed--I usually ALWAYS have it). The trains that roared by--three of them during our stay--shook the entire building (of course, the tracks are only about ten feet from the side of the place). The burgers were good, though not as big as the burger at the Beechwood (pictured here). More on the Beechwood later. We can't offer all of our small town anecdotes in the same post.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Home again, home again


Glad to be back in Vicksburg. More tomato seeds have sprouted. I sit in my bed, glued to MSNBC election results, and catching up on work e-mails. Ned's in the living room, reading about sea level rise. And now, by popular demand, is another photo of loot from the rainy day box.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Wedding flowers, still growing



My brother, Daniel, has daisies from our wedding reception blooming in his backyard. Maybe there's hope for the plants we tried to save...

Maybe he can start a vegetable garden, too -- using seeds from here.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

And my dad has dinosaurs...


which he's saving for grandchildren.

My brother has a goatee



It makes him look tough in the classroom, which is important -- because one of his seventh graders is on an FBI gang watch list.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Run thru History...and Drive thru South Georgia


The morning began with the run thru history, though I walked. I instantly regretted walking, but at least -- unlike my husband -- I didn't just show up at the finish line to drink the free beer. I'll redeem myself with a 10K at Double Decker in Oxford. And Ned gets a pass because he's been working feverishly on the diss. After the run, I drove 10 hours to get home to Valdosta. I'll spend just shy of 48 hours in town, and then back to Oxford. Ugh...I hate driving.