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Last night I put the finishing touches on the office/bedroom that I have created for Arno & Susi. It made me realize one of the many differences between my family of origin and me.

My last trip to New Orleans when I actually stayed with my mother we had a discussion about how she did nothing to prepare for my arrival. The upstairs bedroom was missing window dressings so that I was exposed to the neighbors when I changed clothes. When I went downstairs in the morning the kitchen table was covered with papers, pens, newspapers and such that there wasn’t a place to put down my plate. My mother lived with just a small spot before her where she could dine surrounded by all of this stuff. Since that visit I have always stayed either at my Uncle’ Bryan’s Hotel Provincial in the French Quarter or John & Jan’s B&B which I dubbed “my happy place.” Hopefully, Arno and Susi will find peace and contentment in my welcoming home and consider it their happy place. One time sleeping until they arrive.

Here is a before picture of how the spot used to look. Thanks Josh for helping move the furniture and lending me the Aerobed. It would have been harder without you. I’m glad you and I had the willingness to do the work. Looking forward to your help over the next two weeks.

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When Sandy knew the security guard at the gate and we got directed to park for free in the vendor/musician parking lot I knew I was home. It was like the ghost of my cousin Denise was watching over us as we made the trek to the Bayou Festival in Long Beach. The weather was hot, the food was good and the music was great. Felt like a mini-Jazz Fest in my new home town. Here are some photos of the great day.

Oh yeah, before I forget, I’ve discovered that there are some issues with the web site when you use IE (Microsoft Internet Explorer). My IT people are looking into solving the issue. For the moment the site works fine on Firefox and Safari, so we recommend using them if you are having any difficulties.

Now back to the photos -

Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band - two husband & wife teams, great traditional accoustic Cajun music. Fiddler is Michael Doucet from Beausoleil

New Orleans Traditional Jazz Band and Second line that the organizers called a “Mardi Gras Parade” - please call a second line a second line guys, who cares if the audience doesn’t know what it means. We must educate the people.

Terrance Simiem and the Zydeco Experience - loud, fast, rock&roll zydeco. Terrance had his Grammy with him and kept holding it up for the crowd to applaud & yell. Plus he would throw Mardi Gras beads to the audience with his toes.

Happy Dancers!

Best Little Cajun - this little girl had some great moves and rhythm. When I asked her were she learned to dance? She told me, “I just make it up!”

Happy Feet! - More than one friend questioned my foot attire for the day, once I took off my shoes & socks and my feet hit the clover I knew I was barefooten for the day.

Today was spent recuperating and preparing the backyard living room and dining room for the Germans. Thanks Josh, for all of your help. I couldn’t have done it without you. 7 days until Arno & Susi arrive…

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Today is a quiet Sunday at the homestead. Decided I would try to gather some fruit that grows wild along the fence in the outdoor living room. I was surprised at how much fruit I was able to get off the vine. I think I’ll try to make a cobbler for dinner tomorrow night. Val and I are in heated dispute about just what type of berries these happen to be. He calls them blackberries, I think they are bigger and redder than the ones in Louisiana. A friend came and gave them a different name, but heck if I can remember it. If you have any ideas I would love to hear your comments.

Please note the prickly thorns that run along the vine, plus they have stickers below the leaves. It is difficult to get the fruit without getting injured. I don’t think the birds even try. Here is a photo of my forearm having a slight anaphylactic response to a scrape.

Shout out to all the Father’s in the blog universe, Happy D-Day!

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Ahh, to be home again. Here is a photo of the beautiful rose that Roy gave me when I went to dinner at his and Chris G.’s house. It was a wonderful treat and welcome to my comfy bedroom, after 2 nights of sleeping on a 4 inch plastic mattress on the floor. It’s great to be back.

The weekend at Pathfinder’s Ranch was everything I wanted it to be. One of the best experiences was when I wandered off by myself into this large collection of boulders and sunned myself like a giant Iguana on the rocks. It helped to see the smaller desert lizards scurry when I approached. The smaller reptiles did not return once I had found my spot, but a male chipmunk/squirrel thing (I’m not sure what it was) came out to do a warning cry or mating call for about 15 minutes. Didn’t know these animals could make this type of noise.

For me the rock lying was being at peace in nature and I had the organic experience of bonding with my belly. There was something about being out there that I was able to find a sense of acceptance. For all the women who might be reading this blog, if I can learn to accept my belly, there is hope for you. Next body part will be my thighs. That will have to wait. For the moment I have the weirdest sunburn of my life and my legs are about three different shades of red. Thank goodness it doesn’t hurt. Here are some photos of my view from the rock.

Note on the world: Today is the Pennsylvania primary. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and anxious to get the results. Good luck Barack! Mark & Michelle have started Pie in the Sky II Road Trip, I’m looking forward to incremental updates from the road. Robin is back up and running after being hit by tornado. Janice survived an earthquake. Gosh, I’m glad to be connected. Look at all that happened while I was gone.

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Today is the first day to return to the Farmer’s Market and Trader Joe’s after the crisis turned to epiphany defrosting of the crap-shit. It was like I wearing a new pair of glasses. Nothing seemed that interesting, maybe it was due to the heat. We are in the midst of a two day heat wave which has all Californians grumbling. I swear for a land that has a climate variation of 20 degrees all year long (at least that is what it feels like to me) these people do a lot of complaining and commenting on the weather. Heaven forbid if there is a gray cloud in the sky. For whatever reason - heat, sanity, or exhaustion from all that cooking I did last week - this was my food and flower purchases for today.

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Wednesday I did my semi-annual cleaning of the front windows. Owning a poodle means the front windows have a tendency to get covered with nose prints and drool as the poodle defends her territory from each passing dog. I didn’t think too much about cleaning the windows. They were way past due for a cleaning.

I only started to wonder, when later that same morning I found myself washing my reading glasses in the sink.

I’m not sure what I am looking for. I just realize that whatever it is, I want to see it clearly…

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Hello - Today is the day for “Laurie Girl on the Go” to be sitting still while the GE repair man sets about fixing my five thousand dollar crap-shit of a Monogram refrigerator. I’m not sure if I should start my blog with the words crap-shit, but so it goes. Those of you that know me know the turmoil I’ve had with the high end appliances that I put in my super state of the art kitchen. In the past four years each of the appliances have had major parts burning up or burning out; requiring lengthy repairs and complete overhaul. These stainless-steel covered nemesis have dogged my journey in creating a perfect cooking environment. I have come to refer to these costly monsters as “crap-shits.” Here is my latest story -

Sunday morning I woke up to find a puddle of water on the kitchen floor outside the freezer. Everything inside was melting. Quick action and I was able to save all of the stuff from the bottom baskets and put them in the outside freezer. An old Kenmore model that I inherited from K&V. This White Knight has not given us any trouble.

When I returned home from the Farmer’s Market I was ready to face the beached whale that was rotting in my kitchen. In my fury to get out of the house I neglected to notice the recent Costco purchases of pork chops and Teriyaki Meatballs. Next shelf I discovered my Louisiana food hoard of crawfish tails, andouille sausage, frozen turkey gumbo, merlitons with shrimp. The list kept growing. Top shelves frozen dinners and leftovers that needed to either be pitched or eaten. What was I going to do with all of this food?

I had already told myself I was willing to throw out the TV dinners and junk that I had been saving for emergency back-up meals when I didn’t want to cook. Disposing of some of my new foods discoveries was starting to hurt. I knew I wouldn’t be able to cook, eat or store all of the food that was left in the belly of the whale.

As I was taking food to the garage I was constantly thinking of meals I could make, who I could invite for dinner, who did I know that liked to cook, what foods worked on individual food plans. My nursing training helps me assess and plan during a crisis. By the end of the excavation everything had either been transported to the back Kenmore or placed in the garbage and I had a plan.

I phoned K&V and asked them over for chicken dinner Monday night. Josh got a lunch of crawfish grits and given Teriyaki meatballs to take to his poker game. Chris G. & Roy took some of the pork chops off my hands. The plan was working. Everyone was willing to commit to helping me eat my food. I started to relax and realize that things were going to be okay. Phew.

Then I started to question what was a single girl doing with so much food? I mean good god! I always joke that I’m a quasi family of four, but I was shopping like I was feeding a family of four on a daily basis. And I’m talking a hearty family of four . A single girl doesn’t need this much food. A family of four doesn’t need this much food. What was I doing with all this food?

I realized that I just loved buying food. I loved the look, texture and feel of each item I had purchased. Anticipating what I would make or how it would taste. Finding a new item I’d never tried, had to be bought. Might never be made, just knowing that I owned it was enough for me. I never wanted to run to the grocery to buy food on the spur of the moment. If my vegetable bin was empty I would start to panic. I know I am a compulsive overeater. Now I am seeing that I am a compulsive food over-buyer.

Yikes, that hurts. I’ve started rethinking not only how I consume food, but how I purchase it. I need to make honorable and wise food purchases. Stop the hoarding. Stop the impulse buying. No more chicken thighs twenty thighs at a time. Can you hear the angels singing? It sounds like freedom. It sounds like sanity.

Okay that being said, here’s the insanity. I’m still going to allow myself one decadent pleasure with food. A foodie must have her pleasure. I reserve the option to purchase sensuous shaped fruits or vegetables that I find at the Farmer’s market. Right now I have a well shaped sweet potato that reminds me of a Botero nude. Besides, who wouldn’t want this beauty laying around the house?

As for the Monogram refrigerator. After 2 hours of serious service repair. Terrance, the wonderful GE repair man, discovered that the main circuit board had gotten stuck in the defrost cycle so that is why everything was melting. When he changed the main board, than the compressor wouldn’t work. The whole repair job started back in January with a faulty ice maker. All I can say is, it’s a crap-shit!

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