Good news . . .

Monster clam

At Mass this morning Father Frank let us know that all of the campus buildings that needed sheetrock have just gotten their first mudding! Yay! And as I left church Barbara, the lady I helped during the summer bible classes, told me that the Early Learning Center should be ready to open October 17th. Phew, I can hardly wait to get back to some semblance of order in our lives. Now if only IHOP would get their act together we'd be in good shape. Isn't that crazy -  IHOP and it's ever so nice waitresses being a part of our new home routine? I do like it here. I get frustrated sometimes because I still haven't mastered how I want my days to unfold but if I just let them unfurl in their own bumpy way I'm fine.

Went into Baton Rouge this past week to Perkins & Rowe and had a good time at Barnes &Noble before having a Louisiana lunch at Voodoo Grill. P&D's Pop also brought me to LeBlanc's Grocery Store on Drusilla so I can get used to some of the ins and outs of Red Stick. On top of that I had an appointment in St. Francisville because my propensity for uti's is acting up again. But at least that trip led to lunch at The Francis, the only problem was - no bread pudding! Imagine that - truly it's difficult to imagine a lack of bread pudding in Louisiana. But the Chicken BLT was salubrious and we left sated and happy.

I also had a chance to go fishing with southern daughter in Breaux Bridge as she was looking for a new campsite. We had a very good day with perfect weather; alas the fish kept jumping out of the water, eating the bait and not getting caught. I did manage to hook a giant clam on a worm - if I think about it I imagine he was just sitting on the bottom of the lake as my worm went wandering into his open shell and he closed up on it. That would be a cool video. As it was I thought I was pulling in a big catfish; my pole was bending and I was reeling the line in as fast as I could, remembering P&D's Pop's admonition to work faster and furiouser. So when I landed the expected big fat fish on the ground and it was a big fat clam I cracked up. Southern daughter came to help unhook the monster with her pliers and after a bit of work he just plopped on to the ground and she rolled him back into the lake. It was good for a laugh.

Yesterday Grampa brought me to Slaughter so I could attend the first birthday party for our step grand-daughter's foster baby. She did a wonderful job getting the church hall where she worships decorated and best of all the cake was out of this world delicious. I wish I needed a cake for some occasion because I would ask her pastor's wife to make one for me also! But, no such luck. I don't need a cake. Dommage.

Later in the afternoon son, daughter-in-law and I went to Théâtre Baton Rouge to see the musical  Évangeline. It is a memorable play based on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem. It was written and directed by Louisiana natives; the music and scenes were well thought out; the script was interesting and lighthearted at times to breakup the solemnity of the love story. I do believe with some pretty big tweaking it could be performed in a theater on Broadway but I'm not sure if anyone would take on the reworking of the presentation. I've a mind to try to get in touch with Goodspeed Opera House and suggest they look into it. I think it deserves a run in New York to get it off and running. It wouldn't work with the present format but if some somebodies could rework the script and find a better way to tell the story than through Fr. Felician I think it would be grand, grand, grand. We ended the day coming home to pick up Grampa and having supper at The Longhorn. 't was a very good day.

Quote:  There is no gambling like politics.    ______Disraeli