We have a calendar in the bathroom that features Black Labradors. I also use this calendar to mark down things like “James hunting”, “Shrimpdig”, and “De-worm the dogs!” I used all the heartworm medicine stickers to keep me on track for giving the dogs their meds, and at the end of this month, I have a note that I need to go to the vet for more Advantix & de-wormers. (They’re on a regular de-worming schedule because they’re a) hunting dogs and b) cat poop connoisseurs.) So I lift up April’s page to see when the next treatment is due so I can gauge how much time I have to get to the vet, and I see a new entry in mid-May:

“Jeremy P’s birthday, send a gift”

One of our shrimpdig attendees, gettin’ a little delayed humor in. I forgot how damned funny that guy is, his humor’s pretty dry, he’s a relatively quiet guy, but James always likes to point out he showed up at a Halloween party dressed as Angus Young, and that was the night he probably stole JWo’s heart. Thankfully, Jeremy’s married so I’m not too worried. I made a mental note this morning, when I was done laughing, to spend more time with them.

To my dear friend who recently celebrated two years of sobriety: I can never say it enough, I’m so damned proud of you & proud to call you my friend. I sometimes feel like we’ve put 10 years of connection and friendship into the last 2, like we made up for lost time, and it’s awesome. Even though we don’t talk every day, even though we don’t live in the same city, I treasure our friendship, because you, my dear, are one of my Forever Friends. I appreciate your strength, your vulnerability, your determination, and of course, your humor. You’re an amazing, terrific person, and it’s so wonderful to see the real you, living each day.

Here’s to all the laughter & learning ahead of us in this life.

The 2nd Annual NuWo Shrimpdig has morphed out of JWo’s involvement with his waterfowl group here in Missouri. Let it never be said I don’t give props where props is due. One of his fellow members hosted a crawdad/shrimp boil a couple years ago, and not only did JWo come home raving about it, he showed me PICTURES. So, green with envy, I insisted we have one, too. And the bonus part about this fellow member in his group? The dude works at a seafood distributor here in town, so we get a hell of a deal. And the distributor has some of the best restaurants in town as clients, including a favored sushi place, so we knooooow we’re gettin’ good stuff. And yummy good it is. Last year, we had a whopping ten people partake, this year, we tripled our numbers. We ask for $10/person to shave some of our costs – that gets you non-alcoholic beverages, red potatoes & corn (this Iowa gal shucked ALL 35 ears) and it’s all-you-can-snarf 22-count/lb shrimp & seasoned crawdads. If you wanna bring a side dish, or dessert, the crowd thanks and loves you. No biggie if you don’t. The upside/downside this year was how damned chilly it got – we love cooler weather, but it was downright COLD when the sun went down, and poor Kristin was trying to knit & I was thinking her needles might just freeze right onto her hands if she didn’t stop.

I shortened the name from “Shrimp Shindig” to “Shrimpdig” because it’s just as descriptive & more succinct. And while I always think I’m gonna eat two pounds of shrimp, it never fails – I get full. Damn MommaLinda’s sweet cornbread. I share her recipe with you, and if you want to just slap the ingredients right on your hips, you can skip the whole metabolic process. I also give you – one happy, shrimp-eatin’ JWo. And some other party pix.

Momma Linda’s Decadent Cornbread Recipe

1 can creamed corn
1 can kernel corn, drained
8 oz. Sour cream
½ cup milk
1 c. Monterey jack cheese
2 boxes Jiffy cornbread mix
1 stick melted butter
3 eggs

Mix all ingredients together – pour into a greased pan & bake 50 minutes at 350 degrees!

I’m a shrimp eater! 

Abbey, Jeremy, Ashley & Russell. Everybody looks COLD. 

Randy, Julie & Lily. Lily is non-plussed about crawfish. Go away, daddy & get me some zweiback. 

Beth, Mark, Jimmi, Judy, Kristin & Justin. Different stages of consumption. People are still semi-warm here due to the ball of fire in the sky. 

Roger, before I took 14 more pictures of him. So he’s still smiling. 

Kristin, shortly before her hands froze off. 

Judy. She’s Canadian so it felt like Summer to her. 

Sara, Paul, and a fire. 

Roger hits his limit with me. I’m trying out “Sport” mode on my camera. 

Suzy enjoyed all the pets and begged shamelessly. She might have gotten into the beer from the looks of this picture. 

Polly shows off her GIANT bone (each dog got one!) 

So I almost got run into this morning by an Escalade; there is this part of my commute that everyone treats like a giant curve at NASCAR, or a horse race, you can almost hear the voice-over, “And they’re comin’ around, they’re comin’ around now right now, here they come and WE HAVE HONDA by a nose in the lead, NO there’s an Escalade coming in from the other side and WHOA that was a near miss that Escalade looked like it was going to keep on going across all those lanes, Jim, what a near miss for that Honda, good thing she used that horn when she did.”

We had our 2nd annual Shrimpdig this weekend – it was fun, but DAYUM it was chilly. Cold, in fact! The nicest thing was a present from my friend Judy, who gave me a TIARA she made herself, and a white sash stenciled with the words “Snow Queen” on it. I was so touched, and so a huge thank-you to you, my friend – I love being a queen, even though I was too self-conscious to wear the trappings of my royalty at the party (and didn’t want to have to tell the story 14 separate times). It was really a good time, with some yummy, yummy food.

So yesterday, we went to THAI 2000! and had more yummy food until we passed out like drunkards in the street. Seriously. It was like they knew we were coming, and had all our favorites and then some out on the brunch buffet. Pad Thai. Coconut milk soup. Seafood red curry. Spring rolls. Pad Gra Pow. YUM YUM YUM! We went straight home & took naps. My nap lasted over 3 hours! It was totally awesome. Now it’s another Monday, and the 4th one in a row where I’ve a) gotten to work on time, and b) had a positive attitude. If I could only rustle up something to eat, I’d be in hoooooog heaven. Mmmm. bacon.

Last fall, we planted over 100 tulip bulbs. Then, this Spring, as I anxiously awaited the visual result of that work, I gnashed my teeth & cursed the *(^%^ squirrels that had helped themselves to a few of the bulbs as “snacks”.

Fifty of the bulbs were part of a collection from White Flower Farm, and while I can’t find the exact name, they were a “glowing embers” type of collection – deep purple tulips, representing the coals, and then dramatic flaming orange-yellow parrot tulips for the fire. These are also some of the first pictures taken with the new gadget, a Kodak Z740 – when viewed full-size, the jump in pixels and an optical zoom really makes a difference.

The other fifty bulbs were a “Pink Ladies” collection, also from WFF, and those contained a TON of double tulips, which I’ve never really seen before. They ended up looking like peonies on tulip stems. I’m going to try to get some pictures of those this weekend, though they are pretty close to having run their course. The remaining bulbs we put in were to fill in the extra holes JWo dug – and they were supposed to be a mix of lavender-pink tulips, at least that’s what the Wal-Mart label said.

THANK YOU, NO, they are mostly bright yellow. So those might have to get lifted & moved, or I’m just going to need to add a whole bunch more in bright happy colors to the bed this fall. We did get two lavenders, and one crazy orange tulip with purple-ish tinges down the center. But I wanted all pink. PINK, dammit! My colors are BLUSH and BASHFUL.

Deep purple tulips & flame parrot tulips 

Flame parrot tulips 

Side shot of Flame parrot tulilp