There is No Way I Couldn't Blog About This

So, this evening, Grant and I were running several errands around the town. All of a sudden he comes up with "I need some good Cajun food in my body right now". A co-worker of his who is also from New Orleans had told him about this place he just HAD to try called "Good Ole Boys" so I googled it on my phone to get the phone number.

When I googled it I said to Grant "it just says catering on the website, I don't know if it is an actual restaurant" but he thought he'd call them anyway.

"Good Ole Boys"

"Yes, hi, where are y'all located?"

"I-10 and Pin Oak"

"Okay, and is this just catering or is it a restaurant as well?"

"Uh, you can eat here. Where are you?"

"I'm on I-10. How late are you open?"

"Well how soon can you get here?"

"Umm.... 15 minutes or so?"

"Alright, come on"

So Grant hangs up the phone and said "I don't know what just happened."

So we drive out and turn on this dark road, and there it is, an old mechanics shop that has "Good Ole Boys" painted in red letters on the side. It was a sight to see, believe me. Immediately Grant starts going "yes, yes, yes!!"

So we walk in and are immediately greeted by about 6 or 7 "Hey"'s from around the bar area. And sure enough, there is about 4 tables and chairs set up around the room. A man named Toby greeted us and said "Have a seat, how many pounds do y'all want?"

Grant immediately replies "3".

Within 20 seconds (I AM NOT KIDDING) three pounds of crawfish were sitting in front of Grant. I ordered a cheeseburger because I don't eat anything that can be referred to as "mud bugs". They also had jambalaya, etoufee, gumbo, poboys, catfish and andouille sausage. So we eat and Toby keeps coming over and talking to us, trying to get us to participate in his Superbowl pool he had going. Then he would ask, "do y'all mind if I smoke in here?"

While we were eating, I took a big big sip of my Diet Coke (in a can) and then I burped out loud, but just loud enough for Grant to hear. He turned to me and said "Did you just burp?!". I honestly replied "I feel like it's okay here".

Then, Grant asks Toby where he's from. He says "Lafayette" and then proceeds to sit down with us at the table and give us the family history. I learned about his grandmother and her recipes, and also that his grandmother and grandfather had an arranged marriage and his dad was one of 5 boys. It was a lovely conversation. He and Grant discussed where they get their crawfish from and when they are gonna be in season. Then Toby says, "y'all wanna see something cool?"

"Sure" we reply.

"Alright, follow me". So we get up from our table and follow Toby as he yells "Hey, Mike, do you have a flashlight?"

Mike (the cook) yells back "FRONT SEAT OF MY TRUCK!"

Okay so let me just tell you that in this moment I was like "WHERE IN THE WORLD CAN HE BE TAKING US IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR MEAL THAT REQUIRES AN EVER-LOVING FLASHLIGHT?!"

So Grant, Toby and I walk outside and go to Mike's truck. Toby couldn't find the flashlight right away so the 3 of us looked together. Then he found it and told us to follow him 'round back.

So we go 'round back and enter this trailer contraption that has several grills on it. He opens a grill, shines a flashlight on it and lets us see it: A giant pig roasting. Yes, a pig. A whole pig.

Ya know those moments when you realize that you're in the backwoods at a cajun restaurant that used to be a mechanic's shop and it is pitch black and you're standing on a trailer wearing pearl earrings and carrying your Coach bag and you're talking to man who is pointing a flashlight at an entire roasting pig that "my friend Chuck shot" and your husband is totally into this and all you can think of to say is "that smells good"? This was one of those moments for me.

Grant said to them that he'll be back real soon. We also picked up a catering menu on our way out the door.

I'll admit it. One of the most exciting dates we've had in months.

Simple Pleasures

Friday afternoon

Walks with Grant and Moxie

Singing at the top of my lungs

The sound of rain on the windows

Slow dancing in the kitchen

Moxie laying on my feet

Our Tuesday Bible study group

Holding a sleeping baby

Talking on the phone to my niece, Grace

Long hugs from Grant

Our big brown blanket

"By Our Love" by Christy Nockels

Playing piano

Cooking dinner

Harmony

Coffee and breakfast at work with the girls

Freshly pedicured toes

My Bible study in the mornings

Grant's sweatshirts

Moxie's greeting when I get home

Lunch after church

The first sip of Diet Coke every day

A clean closet

New bedding

The internet

New earrings

An empty laundry basket

The steam feature on our dryer

Macaroni and Cheese

Cookie dough

Birthday cards

Flowers

Massage

A new haircut

Moisturizer

the Eucalyptus Mint candle from Bath & Body Works

Target gift cards

Blogging

Laughing really, really hard

Completing a project

Texts from Grant that say "I'm on my way home"

Playing School

When I was a little girl, my very most favorite activity was to play school. I never really enjoyed playing house.... it didn't interest me for some reason. But oh, did I love my little classroom.

I had a rug on the floor where my "students" would "sit". I had a bookshelf full of story books to read to my students. I had a desk, I had seating charts. The seating charts were filled with names of kids I went to school with, and when I ran out of names, I used the names of the local news anchors. Bill Balleza and Linda Lorelle were very good students.

I had a "log" where I wrote down the names of the kids who misbehaved that day.

I had a chalkboard hanging on my wall. I had a shoe box covered in wrapping paper filled with various colors of chalk and a fancy eraser. At some point, my mom hung a marker board on my wall with markers so that Lindsee could teach her classroom too.

One thing I remember very clearly is that when I was in elementary school, there was a season where our school building was undergoing alot of construction, so for much of the year, our classes were held in trailers. Because of this, our teachers all carried around Walkie-Talkies to communicate with each other throughout the day. Because of this, I begged my mom to buy me some Walkie-Talkies of my very own so that Lindsee and I could communicate with each other while we were teaching our class. My mom totally pulled through with some pink and purple walkie-talkies. Remember that Linds?

I just remember that I could play this for hours and hours and hours, even all by myself. It was my very most favorite way to imagine. I remember teaching lessons about the proper way to write a letter. In geography, I taught about the hemispheres and the equator. I did this fairly consistently through 4th grade.

When we moved into our new house in the 5th grade, I remember the movers bringing all my things into my new room, and they carried in the chalkboard and markerboard. I remember looking at them, and my little "I'm a big 5th grader now" self decided that I was going to put away my school supplies. This was going to be my "big girl" room and the markerboard and chalkboard were put it the closet. And that whole chapter just ended.

I think it was really wonderful of my mom to totally be on board with my whole imaginarium I had going on in my room. Between the rug and the markers and all the chalk and nailing markerboards and chalkboards in the wall and my whole "I need more folders for my seating charts!!", my mom never made me feel like I was being silly. She knew this was serious business and she allowed me to play as a child should be allowed to play. Thanks for that, Mom!

Did you have a favorite activity as a child? What did you like to play?

Worst