The Land of Louisiana

Saturday morning I flew from LAX to New Orleans, where my mom and aunt picked me up just in time to drive straight to my sister's anniversary surprise party in Baton Rouge. The shin-dig was a complete success with scores of attendees from near an far. Martha and Jim were definitely surprised; Martha ended up mad that our siblings had been in town for a whole day without her knowing. Ha! She hates not knowing anything and can't bear that there was conversation she wasn't a part of. Oh well; it was worth it. My nephew, Ned, drove me back to New Orleans yesterday. We had enough time to drive through some of the Lakeview neighborhoods that had flooded so badly, and I took a few photos, but managed to leave my camera in the floor of Ned's car, so those will have to wait for posting. Mom and Merilyn are headed up north for a Louisiana/Mississippi tour; lots of historic places mom's been wanting to see for years. I think she's also scoping retirement locations.

Christye and Kevin's wedding

I flew to Dallas this weekend for Christye's wedding. That's the groom on the right there, Kevin, and her parents (dad on the left and mom on the platform). Mom is not really three feet tall (she's sitting on a stool). The ceremony was a little different from the traditional wedding; it was a ceremony of blessings. Christye and Kevin took turns explaining to their parents why they had chosen the other as a life partner and asking for their blessing. In this photo, dad is giving his blessing for the union.

The candle-lighting was one traditional element.

Customs for the NAMM Show

RKS Guitars, where Ken works, is building a bunch of beautiful custom pieces for the NAMM show this week. Ken borrowed this one to play at church, but didn't get a full run out of it because his shoulder started hurting terribly Friday night. The ER docs says it's probably tendonitis from repetitive stress (filing necks at work). So he's in a sling til an orthopedist says otherwise (took if off briefly for the photo). Anyway, he's now in love with this guitar. Too bad it'll retail for about 8 grand.

Pretty, huh? Nice rug, too. Hehehe...

Have mercy...

I cannot believe it, but THIS is as addictive as the real thing!

New furniture!

We bought a beautiful set of Italian leather sofas from one of my clients and couldn't be happier with the change in the room. Having nice stuff makes such a difference in our attitude about "home." Thanks, Mom! Now we're going to get the end table that matches the entertainment center from Ikea, a couple of storage ottomans for our feet, and that's it for the living room. Next, dining set and bedroom ... in time. :o)

Another angle...

After-Christmas Cookies

Ken's nephew, Brendon, and I decided to bake after-Christmas cookies one day while we were in Sacramento. Here are our creations. Not too pretty, but very tasty!