We've got to buy a hybrid car

just to relieve my guilt about driving this rental monstrosity to Nashville this weekend.

Cooking the book

Yesterday I made baklava. That little pan contains a pound of butter, a pound of walnuts, and too much sugar to count.  But it was yummy.  In other good news, ND's athletic director is headed to Duke.  Finally, we're rid of Kevin White!  May Duke enjoy his curse.  And may NBC renew our contract.

Delta Diners, Vicksburg Chapter, eats at Lillo's

The service was a bit slow, as you can tell from the before-and-after dinner group photos, and the Italian Nachos on the menu were really not nachos, but pizza without sauce (not a tortilla in site!), but the group had great fun nonetheless.  Sandy got a shout-out from the guest musician, and Ned and I got to take a spin on the dance floor.  Sandy logged our memorable moments in her new Delta Diner notebook.  Here's one group favorite:

Car #1 has returned to Vicksburg.  We sit on the street awaiting Car #2.

Sandy:  "I hope they get here soon.  They have my cooler."

Mary Beth:  "Maybe they'll hurry.  They have my husband."

Alex (clearly ready to trump us):  "Well they have my pregnant wife."

Laughter ensues.

Things are blooming on National Street!

Hydrangeas...
Sunflowers from Pam & Dave Summers
Oleander transplanted from Oxford
The Blacked Eyed Susan Vine around the bottletree

Helluva note to find this in today's mail...

Ned's Chicago souvenirs

Ned got a number of great Chicago souvenirs -- Intelligentsia coffee, olive oil from Greektown, and this -- a holy card from Athens Candle Company, a great holy candle-water-card gift shop.  The prayer on the front is lovely.  And the tips about being a good husband on the back are priceless.  Double click the photos to enlarge them and read the text.

Happy 3/4th Anniversary, Wife!

That's right, we've reached another monthly milestone. Time flies when you're married, apparently. Who knew?

She's been having fun up there in the Windy City all week...without me!

All I have are the memories of the time she let me go with her.

But it's all good because I get to see her again today. Mary Beth, your husband and kitchen and garden all miss you terribly.

Photo flashback

Here's a photo from the weekend Ned and I were in Columbus and ate dinner at my friend's restaurant.  The potato salad was wonderful.  I'm still thinking about it.  Maybe I'll make some on Monday.  After almost two weeks of eating out, I'm ready to spend some time in my kitchen.  And I'm ready to spend some time at home.  There's so much to catch up on -- I can't believe that I missed our first tomatoes!  I'm declaring Monday a stay-at-home-do-nothing-day--we may even unplug our phones.

Guess these special saint powers didn't work so well...

Patrick's graduation photos are online.

I've uploaded all the graduation photos from the weekend to Shutterfly.  Why Shutterfly?  Because I forgot my Flicker account password.  Enjoy!

Garden Pictures

Mary Beth's week in Chicago has caused her to miss the gardening equivalent of baby's first steps: tomato sightings!

Here we see a few of the aptly-named Early Girls.

Elsewhere, the gladioli are coming right along as well,

as are the sunflowers and famed shrimp plant.

You know the best thing about having green fists of fury (see below)?...that's right, the green thumbs! Heh.

Compare this shot taken this morning with the one from Mary Beth's publicity stunt a few weeks back:

Should be a fun summer.

Monday's here

and the family's all gone.  Pat and Dad drove home in the Sentra.  Note how well Dad packed the trunk.  He used to work for UPS, he kept reminding us.  After Pat packed up,  I took the South Shore into Chicago, where I'll be all week.  Enjoy the chicken sign -- it was my favorite find of the day.

Post-Graduation Fun

Lasseters enjoyed burgers and beer at CJ's one last time.  Mama was already on the road, beginning the 18 hour drive back to Valdosta.
After the burgers and beer (the beer, mainly), Ned found fun at Meijer, possibly the best store in the world (after Target).

Graduation Day

Happy tuition-free parents.
Tuition-free dad.
Dillon Hall's Class of 2008.

Saturday from the road

After a late Friday night, filled with beer and Bruce Springsteen covers, MB took a little time with Jesus on campus Saturday afternoon.

Posts from Friday travel

Here are two things we never expected to see on our Friday road trip.  The Belzoni U-Haul was spotted on the Indiana toll road, about 40 miles outside of South Bend.  The ice was in some town we'll never visit again, despite the health benefits.

Back to the Golden Dome

It's time for us to travel to Notre Dame again.  This'll make our second trip this year, and this one's bound to be more cheerful than the last (when the Irish lost to Boston College).  My baby brother is graduating.  It's hard to believe that the Lasseter ND tenure is over until the first wave of grandchildren.  It's harder still to believe that my parents will be tuition free for the first time in 26 years (is that right, if I started St. John School when I was five?  I hope so, lest the tuition be thought worthless.)  Maybe they should start the grandchildren tuition fund now.

Vicksburg Farmers' Market on a roll!

I'm reluctant to tell you how many conversations I've had debating the merits of "Farmers' Market" vs. "Farmers Market."  But we've decided to go with the apostrophe.  And the Web site is up:  www.vicksburgfarmersmarket.org.  Check it out!  There will be tomatoes before too long.

Jessie's New Place

Ned's got to be careful when he visits his grandmother at her new place.  They have warning signs all over the place.

Ned's garden makes front page news

Nope, the tomatoes clearly didn't grow on those short plants.  But we needed some photo props.  Thanks to our friend, Lauchlin, for great coverage on our farmers market.  Now, to find some farmers!  Read the Vicksburg Post front page story here.

Happy Mother's Day!

We enjoyed spending Mother's Day in Pontotoc with MA, Aunt Da, and Jessie (also Jimmy, but he's not a mom).  We enjoyed good food, good company, and beautiful weather.  We'll have to send virtual greetings to Valdosta this year.  

Happy Mother's Day, Mama!  I'm happy to be the first child that allowed you to celebrate the day.  You're welcome.  Love, MB

Hitching Lot Farmers Market

It's been an exciting morning.  I bought two hibiscus plants from a tomato farmer (thinking that they were hydrangeas the whole time...oops!).  We got strawberries and tea towels and a tire that serves as a planter.  Ned even saw a clown! Marlene was our gracious host...we got absolutely everything, we think, except a picture with her.  It'll give us a good excuse to visit again.  The photo on the bottom is me with an SFA friend, Anne Freeze.  Her work with the Columbus market has been an inspiration for our market work in Vicksburg.

Friday in Columbus

This afternoon, Ned and I headed to Columbus.  We're staying the night with a family friend, in the oldest brick house in Mississippi (and the oldest house in town).  We'll wake early in the morning and visit the local farmers' market.  We're hoping to have a good time, and pick up a few good ideas for our Vicksburg market.  Then it's off to Pontotoc, for a Mother's Day celebration with MA.

Breakfast of Champions

The new additions to the Wall of Cereal are in place.  Here's breakfast:  HoneyCombs, Fruit Loops, Cookie Crisp, and Lucky Charms.  No milk, of course.

Blood Pressure Up, Random pic

So....Ned is back in action. Mary Beth finally invited him back to the blog after his original password got, ahem, lost somehow. Yes, he now writes in the 3rd person, but only late at night when he's working on sea level rise stuff with his crappy work laptop. The above pic is the best he could manage for this evening.

The supply closet

When I toured Ned's office on the day of the demonstration, I was impressed by the whole floating causeway system.  But I was most impressed by the fabulous supply closets they keep in his office.  All those Post-It notes and boxes of staples and folders of every size and color--it appealed to the obsessive-compulsive side of me.  I resisted the urge to straighten everything on the shelves, though, don't worry.

Tuesday Excitement

Ned was in DC last night.  Today I was in Oxford.  We met up in Jackson this evening, and then all the adventure began.  

First, we enjoyed Mexican food with Mom/MA, and we were serenaded.  

Then, Mary Beth beat Ned on the drive home to find that our new printer had arrived.  Yes, it's large.  But, in my defense, it was on sale.  Now we can print up to 15,000 pages per month.  Luckily, our household recycles.

Lastly, Ned unloaded the luggage from his car to reveal two more surprises: additions for the wall of cereal, and more lanterns for our back porch.  I love souvenirs!

The Wall of Cereal

This is a gift from Ned.  Besides my engagement ring, it may be the best gift he's ever given me.  What you see is a miniature wall of cereal, modeled after the giant wall of cereal that I loved at Notre Dame's South Dining Hall.  At present, we only have three containers of cereal.  But, with time, we'll add more.  The first three cereals to land on the scene are Fruitloops, Cookie Crisp, and Lucky Charms.  With the next containers, we'll introduce Trix, Honeycombs, and Cocoa Puffs.  Yum.

Isn't this flower beautiful?

It is host to Monarch butterflies, or so says the garden center that sells it.  Mary Beth loved this vine, but--since it takes seven years to grow to the size we admired--we opted to buy some hydrangeas and gardenia bushes instead this past weekend.