Sunday, March 10, 2019

snow and Mardi Gras


Woke up to this today (of course it has already melted in the sunshine...and then we had hail...and that has melted now that it's sunny again):



I feel sorry for meteorologists. Such a tough job. They predict one thing and then another happens. When we went to bed last night, the weather forecast was 15% chance of snow until 11 pm, then no snow. I looked out the window at bedtime. No snow. I looked out around 2-3 am. No snow, so I thought we weren't getting any. Then Glen informs me this morning that it was snowing. Ha ha. I'm glad I'm not a meteorologist.

Tuesday was Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday (what Mardi Gras translates to), Shrove Tuesday (the religious term for the day before Lent starts). I had signed up to feed the sister missionaries last month, not realizing at the time it would be Mardi Gras. Once I realized it, I decided to really get into it. I went all out this year in cooking. I usually just make red beans and rice and maybe a king cake (the recipe made 2...Kaellen got the plastic baby out of the first cake and Glen got the other... though I don't think they are planning on bringing the king cakes to our next Mardi Gras party...which would be next year, at this point. This year I also made gumbo and homemade French bread, too! The gumbo recipe was quite involved, but I thought it turned out super delicious.

Besides the Sister Missionaries, I invited another friend/neighbor, Gwen, to eat with us (she was behind the camera, so isn't in the photo). One of the sister missionaries hadn't even heard of Mardi Gras before, so we got to fill her in on the basics. I then realized I was missing some of the basic info myself...like how it all got started in the first place. Was it really just to party before Lent began?


Anyway, since this year also marks 40 years since I graduated from Grace King High School in Metairie, Louisiana, I'm feeling a bit nostalgic about Mardi Gras and Grace King High. I did some hunting on YouTube looking for something to post here. I found it. A short clip from a 2014 Mardi Gras parade that includes 2 floats and Grace King's marching band (though only the drum line is playing at the time). It's short enough and gives a bit of flavor to the season.

When Denise and I attended Grace King, an all-girls public school back then, we were the Grace King Colleens. I found out that, since they are now co-ed--and have been since a year or two after I graduated, they are called the Grace King Fighting Irish and the mascot is now Lucky the Leprechaun instead of a colleen (did you know that, Denise?). Anyway, here's the clip from YouTube:


Now...next on the radar is March Madness! Can't wait!

Sunday, March 3, 2019

3A State Champions, another Silver Beaver in the family, 2 pottery pieces

Yesterday was a great day.

Both our boys and girls basketball teams were in Vegas for the State 3A Championships...and both teams won! The girls won for the third year in a row. The boys (who are the 3A state academic champions for the 2nd year in a row) won the title for us. It's the first time since 1971 that our boys have won. And it's been 95 years since the Nevada state titles were won by the boys and girls teams from the same school. Fun. Fun. Fun.

The boys' game went into overtime. Tied with 5 seconds to go in overtime, Elko double-dribbled and we got the ball. Elijah Jackson shot a 3-pointer and won the game! It was very exciting!

Yesterday was also the day that Glen and I went to Reno to see his brother David receive the Silver Beaver Award in scouting. Glen received his in 2010; Alan received his in 2016. So now all 3 brothers have been awarded a Silver Beaver. "The Silver Beaver Award ... is a council-level distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America. Recipients of this award are registered Scouters who have made an impact on the lives of youth through service given to the council." Congratulations David!



the desserts at these awards dinners are fabulous!!!
Got 2 pieces back from my pottery class. I really like them.

a pot I threw and left "rough"

a take-out box with a lotus flower on it
And that wraps up another week. Another good week.