Cold Spaghetti

When Will was a tiny baby, I found myself calling him “Pudd”. Growing up in the South (as I did) you learn that everyone is either “Pudd” or “Shoug” (as in, think “pudding” and “sugar”, cut off the ends of the words, and you’ve got the correct pronouncation). Never in a million years would I have thought that one of those words would have left my lips in reference to my own child. But, it did. I called him “the pudd” “little puddin'” and just “pudd”. After a few months I picked up other nicknames (little man, crazy-go-nuts, wild man, monkey) and “pudd” fell to the way-side.
It’s moments like these that make me think I never should have dropped “pudd”.

We brought our weekend visitors to popular local joint Jacque-Imo’s Saturday night. With a party of 6, we were able to snag reservations and were seated in an attached porch to the main building (a somewhat private and spacious area compared to the tightly packed main dining sections).

The exciting part: the waitress told us that the reservation following us was the band Def Leppard. Just think how excited they must have been to find out that they were eating at the same place WE had been!

We hosted dinner for everyone Friday night — and yes, I cooked — to great acclaim! (My parents and Uncle Gus and Aunt Fran.) We had a great time.

After dinner (and the arrival of a fabulous babysitter) we left for the Jazz Club at Rays Over the River and enjoyed the music of Kermit Ruffin and the BBQ swingers. (Lesson: In the Big Easy, where things move on their own time, when a set is suppose to start at 9, they really mean 9:30 or possibly 10.) Great music, great company, great night! We are ALL bushed the next day (so much for being party animals!) and took plenty of copious naps.

Have I mentioned that Will (and I) have thrush?

We don’t call him “crazy man” for nothing.

From this article on CNN:
“Bush said earlier this month he recognizes that human activity contributes to a warmer Earth. But he continues to reject the Kyoto treaty on global warming that all other G-8 industrialized nations signed, because developing nations weren’t included in it.”

My comment:

Continuing on my trend of putting off solid working hours, I took on some projects yesterday. I planted some white mexican heather and white and red begonias in the front. Because of the construction still going on next door and drainage projects to be done on the other side, I only addressed the middle bed. For the final New Orleans touch, I put together three hanging baskets with boston ferns. It took us a bit of planning to figure out how to properly hang them (so as not to destroy the 100+ year old gingerbreading) but now that they are up we are quite happy with them. We are considering lowering them so that they are more visible (right now, the crepe myrtle branches hide them from the street.) Lowering them would also make it easier for me to water (Paul can reach with the watering wand better than me… I get pretty wet.) The trick is going to be keeping everything watered through the next three (hot) months.

Another view of our improvements. Also, you can see our beloved shutters inside!

I reduced my mother to hysterics this evening by telling her about the adventures of my precocious 19-month old son. Was she laughing because he has a new found fondness for drinking out of the cat’s water bowl? Or for filling up a cup from his play kitchen from the water cooler and then dumping it out (sometimes, on a cat)? Or from his penchant of opening up cupboards known to be forbidden to look for cookies and fishes? Or one of the hundreds of cute and funny things he does or says everyday? No, she lost it over something *I* did.

Will had his first “time out” yesterday. I took him to his room and explained: “Will, we are here in time out because you did not listen to Mommy.”

My mother heard this and broke into laughter. I let her laugh and continued with the story.

“Please, Will, do not make your Mother crazy. Listen to Mommy.”

At this, she went into complete hysterics. “I’ve waited so long… SO LONG… to hear you say those words!” she said.

So I guess this is it: nothing makes parents happier than watching their children be driven crazy by their grandchildren. Maybe that’s why grandparents so adore grandkids. They see them as vehicles of revenge.

The news:
– Sarah Jessica Parker has a house in Garden District and her favorite restaurant is Clancy’s (also in our neighborhood), which she frequents several times a week when in town. Jessica Simpson also notes this one as a favorite.
– Kate Winslet owns a house on Calhoun and recently bought a new pair of size 11’s at Shoefty (yes, that’s spelled correctly: S-h-o-e-f-t-y), which is right around the corner from our house.
– Nicholas Cage and John Goodman live in the Garden District (John Goodman bought Trent Renzor’s house) and frequently dine at Commander’s Palace together.

AND, thanks to Laura, I’m in the scoop about this gossip regarding Frankie Muniz (who we saw out on the town in May).

Wow! We really ARE in the middle of everything! Go NOLA!