Christmas posts are all caught up.
The Cajun Night Before Christmas
{I’m doing good with this back-to-blogging bidness, ain’t I?}
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Meat Lovers: Cajun Style
We needed one final night of camaraderie with Molly and Larry before they packed up and went back home. I was having such anxiety about them leaving, I’m not ready for it all to end.
Since it was Monday Night Football featuring The Saints {WhoDat pulled out a heart-stopping win, btw} it was only appropriate to peruse the pages of John Besh’s My New Orleans cookbook. Y’all, if you want to eat some knock-your-socks-off good food, take a gander through his recipes. YumScrum!
It was decided that we were going to make a big pot of jambalaya.
It required the following:
- Five pounds of large gulf shrimp.
- Three pounds of chicken breasts
- Three pounds of andouille sauage.
- Two pounds of pork sausage.
- Two pounds of bacon.
…and lots of wine to wash it all down.
Christmas 2010
I seriously could tear up again when I reflect on this year’s Christmas season. What many blessings we have been given as a family. It means the absolute world to me that the entire Stanga Train agrees that this was probably the best Christmas of our adult lives. Maybe even the best Christmas for us, ever.
We can thank Larry for kick-starting our celebrations but even if he hadn’t, I’d be content with the fact that he was just here to experience the spirit of the season we all shared. He saw The Stanga Family Christmas how it really is.
This Christmas, nobody was arguing, nobody was being a baby about their Christmas presents, nobody was in a bad mood. It was just was Christmas is supposed to be. A celebration of all of our God-granted gifts, with the most important one being our togetherness.
I’d catch glimpses of my mom and her eyes were twinkling and her heart was glowing. She was in hog heaven, with all her family sitting around and laughing.
A short recap of the day’s festivities:
We woke up early and we just waiting for this little one to open her pretty little eyes!
Poor little thing had to wait for us all to get settled before she could see what Santa brought. She kept asking, is it Christmas time yet?
Yes baby, it’s Christmas time!
While we were waiting for Christmas breakfast to bake and while Claire was busy having a tea-party with her new baby, we played our 2nd annual game of … {well, it doesn’t really have a name} … Whoever Can Open This Freaking Present Gets What Is Inside. Yeah, that game!
Uncle Scotty was the big winner winner chicken dinner, for the second year in a row.
After eating, we popped a few corks, started pouring the bubbly and dove right into opening presents. For four hours. And with the assistance of a bottle of champagne, each! We were toast!
The characters definitely came out Christmas morning. Nothing is off limits in this crew. Plenty of laughter filled the room and you could probably hear the joy all the way down the street.
…except this sweet little guy snuggled up close and slept through the entire thing.
It goes without saying that it was just priceless to watch Claire’s face light up every time she got to open a new present. She was too funny, closing her eyes as she unwrapped.
In true Claire fashion, she’d say
One. Two. Three. Tooprise!
as she opened her eyes to see what she got!
We did our traditional Christmas dinner with the whole crew, drank plenty of wine and then moved our celebrations to the R-Bar. It was freezing, but Ron had his heaters kicked up high, the fire pit going and plenty of blankets for everyone. It was the perfect way to end the night!
The Cajun Night Before Christmas
When we were little, my dad started a tradition with us that was a little bit different than the norm. Most children are very familiar with the story The Night Before Christmas, but in our house, it had a little coonass twist.
We’d all sit around him and listen to him recite his version of the story. Now that Claire is old enough to understand the events of Christmas, I just knew that we had to dust off the old tale and start the tradition again.
'Twas the night before Christmas...
An' all t'ru de house
Dey don't a t'ing pass
Not even a mouse.
De chirren been nezzle
Good snug on de flo'
An' Mama Pass de pepper
T'ru de crack on de do'.
Den Mama in de fireplace
Done roas' up de ham
Stir up de gumbo
An' make bake de yam.
Den out on de by-you
Dey got such a clatter
Make soun' like old Boudreau
Done fall of hiss ladder.
I run like a rabbit
To go to de go'
Trip over de dorg
An' fall on de flo'!
As I look out de do'
In de light o' de moon
I t'ink "Manh, you crazy
Or got ol' too soon!"
Cuz dere on de by-you
W'en I stretch ma' neck stiff
Dere's eight alligator
A pullin' de skiff.
An' a little fat drover
Wit' a long pole-ing stick
I know r'at away
Got to be ole St. Nick.
Mo' fas'er an' fas'er
De 'gator dey came
He whistle an' holler
An' call dem by name:
"Ha, Gaston!
Ha, Tiboy!
Ha, Pierre an' Alcee!
Gee, Ninette!
Gee, Suzette!
Celeste an' Renee!"
"To de top o' de porch
To de top o' de wall
Make crawl, alligator,
An' be sho' you don' fall."
Like Tante Flo's cat
T'ru de treetop he fly
W'en de big old houn' dorg
Come a run hisse'f by.
Like dat up de porch
Dem ole 'gator clim!
Wit' de skiff full o' toy
An' St. Nicklus behin'.
Den on top de porch roof
It soun' like de hail
W'en all dem big gator
Done sot down dey tail.
Den down de chimney
I yell wit' a bam
An' St. Nicklus fall
An' sit on de yam.
"Sacre!" he axclaim
"Ma pant got a hole
I done sot ma'se'f
on dem red hot coal."
He got on his foots
An' jump like a cat
Out to de flo'
Where he lan' wit' a SPLAT!
He was dress in musk-rat
from his head to his foot
An' his clothes is all dirty
Wit' ashes an' soot.
A sack full o' playt'ing
He t'row on his back
He looked like a burglar
An' dass fo' a fack.
His eyes hey dey shine
His dimple, how merry!
Maybe he been drink
de wine from blackberry.
His cheek was like rose
Hise nose like a cherry
On secon' t'ought maybe
He lap up de sherry.
Wit' snow-white chin whisker
An' quiverin' belly
He shook w'en he laugh
Like de stromberry jelly!
But a wink in his eye
An' a shook o' his head
Make my confi-dence dat
I don' got to be scared.
He don' do no talkin'
Gone straight to his work
Put playt'ing in sock
An' den turn wit' a jerk.
He put bot' his han'
Dere on top o' his head
Cas' an eye on de chimney
An' den he done said:
"Wit' all o' dat fire
An' dem burnin' hot flame
Me I ain' goin' back
By de way dat I came."
So he run out de do'
An' he clim' to de roof
He ain' no fool, him
For to make one more goof.
He jump in his skiff
An' crack his big whip
De' gator move down
An' don' make one slip.
An' I hear him shout loud
As a splashin' he go,
"Merry Christmas to all
'Til I saw you some mo'!"
Friday, December 24, 2010
Derailed! (A Love Story)
With all the chaos that is the holiday, we are often so on-the-go that we forget to maximize our quality time spent with family. It seems that everyone puts so much effort into getting back to our central location, Nonnie and Tini's (yes, I do now refer to my parents as Nonnie and Tini) and making Christmas perfect, that we don't really all sit down together until Christmas morning. Planning in advance, the Train decided we wanted to dedicate one pre-Christmas night to spend with each other, doing what we do best, getting stinkin' drunk! Tini is normally the leader of the pack, but he and Nonnie needed some alone time with their new best bud, Claire, so they let us roam the crazy streets of downtown Plano, sans parental supervision. Of course, Danette and Chris were also in tow!
In much anticipation of this night, I even posted on my Facebook:
"A Stanga Train outing. With this many cable cars, one is bound to derail. I just hope it's not the caboose!"
First stop: Kelly's Eastside!
Since the old brick roads of Plano are now on the up and up, you can go bar hopping within one little quaint block. The boutiques are donned in garland and the trees are strung with lights, it's the perfect holiday night out! After a few rounds at Kelly's, we decided to chug along down the street to the Filmore. We simultaneously ordered another round and tabbed out, so we weren't done there quite yet. Chris was conflicted with staying for our final round at the first stop or handling a very important business call, and much unlike the Stanga's, he chose work and promised to meet us at our next destination. With an extra beer on the table, we had a little bit more drinkin' to do before we left. Larry and Molly decided to take a photo op outside with the giant horse statue while we finished up.
Apparently, I was off in my own little world while Danette was trying to get my attention to leave but that was completely unsuccessful. Instead, she got my sister-in-law, Maegan's, attention which in turn got mine, for sure! I hear this high-pitched squeal and suddenly turn around to find Maegan staring at me with a shit-eating grin and trying to rush me out the door. At this point, I am completely confused and Maegan keeps telling me "We've got to go! We've got to go!"
What is going on here? We gather up the boys and walk towards the door. Danette is rushing me, Maegan is rushing me, what the heck, people? Danette says she may be asking for my camera in a few minutes and it finally all clicks.
WHY DO I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS ALREADY???
The boys are still left in the dark, just stumbling behind. As we're approaching the Filmore, Molly suggested we walk a bit further and take a stroll through Haggard Park. This park is a historical part of downtown and has such a quaint small-town feel to it, and is also the scene for all the prom pictures of many generations of Plano East students. It was all Molly's idea to head to the park, which is decorated beautifully for the holidays, including a gorgeous garland-strung gazebo.
Larry was questioning her sanity at this point, because it was freaking cold and why in the world would we want to go to a park when we could drink more? He finally agreed and we continued strolling through the streets. He didn't even need an excuse to get her to the park.
Hook.Line.Sinker!
We pass the Filmore, to which Mark's drunkass states "Hey guys! The bar is back here!" Maegan quickly grabs his hand and whispers for him to shut up and just keep walking. That'a girl!
Both of the brothers are looking at me confused, and I finally silently mouth what is about to happen. They immediately smile and start chuckling as we enter the park. Molly is giving the standard girl-brings-boy-to-hometown-tour of the park and says that everyone takes prom pictures here, especially in the gazebo. Weddings, even! Larry, a guy that is far too keen on a good picture op, wants to snap some shots. At the steps of the gazebo, he asks Molly to walk up with him and she notices there are roses everywhere.
"OMG! It looks like funeral roses. Someone died here."
{Larry was probably second-guessing his decision right then...} He stops her and laughs and urges her to walk up with him.
"OMG! Maybe someone got married here earlier."
{That law degree did not earn her any common sense.}
So they walk up for their picture and she is all basking in how sweet it was for someone to have a Christmas wedding in the gazebo. You know, on a Thursday...
Before she knew it, he was down on one knee asking her to marry him. At this point, Chris jumps out of the bushes with his video rolling. Nice work call, Chris.
Have you ever heard the squeals from a dying pig? I hadn't until last night. We're still not sure if Molly has even said yes, but she her "Are you serious?" and "Are you kidding?" inquiries were about as frequent as a two year old asking 'why?'
{I realize this video is outside my post width, but damnit, I'm still trying to fix all my kinks.}
It was the perfect proposal that completely surprised all of us. I'm still pissed I wasn't let in on the secret until five minutes before hand. One of my favorite parts was how Molly said it was so perfect and that she really loved that all of her siblings were there with her.
...Speaking of siblings. Can we please dedicate one short moment to my eloquent brothers. Now, I realize my language is not all that refined at times, however...
NOTHING says precious little family-centered Christmas proposal like the shouts from the two remedial brothers looking on. An "Oh fuck yeah!" and a screaming "Aye, aye, aye, aye, aye" like someone just busted open the pinata really bring it full-circle for the Stanga Train.
Oh, and we can't forget about Mark's kind gesture to his sister. After Scott went in for his brotherly-hug, Mark approached Molly and put his ear to her belly. No Mark, she's not pregnant. Larry wasn't trapped, he volunteered for his duty!
After we all said our congrats, {and I shed a few tears} we walked our way back up to the social scene where we ordered the finest bottle of champagne they had.
Wycliff.
In wine glasses.
Talk about a headache!
{I swear, Molly does know how to smile normally. She was just completely incapable of doing so last night.}
Hello, red eyes! Hey...I was just so happy!
We ended the night just in time to wake up and head back to Nonnie and Tini's house for a big brunch. It was originally planned as our traditional Christmas brunch so Christmas morning wouldn't be as hectic, however it turned into a celebratory engagement brunch. Pretty good timing, there, 'ole Lar!
And don't you think we didn't take the opportunity to take their first unofficial engagement picture.
So, I guess at the end of the night, I was right. My post on Facebook was a bit foreshadowing and I didn't even know it. One of us derailed. Shit, she damn near jumped off the track and is giving up her Stanga Train namesake.
I've cried a lot in the last 24 hours. I'm just so damn happy for them! ...and the ideas are whirling in this Maid of Honor's head.
EEEEKKK!!!
I'm a Maid of Honor!
And, I couldn't be any more honored than to stand up with my best friend and sister as she starts this journey with a wonderful man.
Congratulations, Molly & Larry.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Catching Up.
A quick rundown of the latest happenings along the StangaTrain Railway. Disclaimer: If we’re Facebook friends, some of this is old news. In all actuality, a lot of it isn’t all that recent, since this will only be my 14th post of 2010 and it’s already December… Oh, you might want to go potty before committing the next 15 years of your life to reading this post.
ME
In May, my company moved locations. Transitioning from Highland Park Village to downtown brought on more traffic issues and higher blood pressure, but at least I’m now working with real humans …as opposed to the plastic humans hanging around in HPV. And, who can complain about the view from 46.
In the last 6 months, I’ve also invested a lot of time in home improvements. After two brand new A/C units, one erroneous installation, a massive leak and and then closet rebuild, I decided I’d continue my spending, starting with redoing the master bathroom. Prior to the revamp, it was a nice peaceful beach theme, with beautiful sandy textured wallpaper that featured nice touches of glitter and seashell tiles in the shower. Can we say fugly? But I am so in love with how it all looks now.
I’ve also had the rest of the house painted, redone the guest rooms, new living room furniture, new carpet installed, yada yada yada. It’s a nice feeling to have completed most of what I have been wanting to do around that place for quite some time! And, the best part, just in time for Christmas decor, which y’all know has been up since before Thanksgiving.
Over the summer, I posted about the newest addition to the family, little Tipitina. Well, things have changed and she has a new mommy. She was having such a hard time potty training, made the most unbelievable screaming noises and had plenty of other flaws, which is okay if I had time to train her. Due to her little tinkle and chewing habits, I had to crate her during the day. With the move downtown, my commute has far exceeded torturous and poor little gal was confined for the majority of the day, and while I was sleeping for that matter. It took months of intense debate and I finally took the plunge and found her a new home with a nice older lady who rescues small dogs. I certainly feel this was the best move for her, and definitely for me. Jacques-Imo has adapted well, as long as he still gets to sit as close to me as possible (which often means right on top of me.)
The family grouped up with the Martini Tour a few times this year for San Fermin: Nueva Orleans and Thanksgiving on Lake Ponchartrain again. Make this the 2nd year I haven’t posted about SF:NO and I’ve been meaning to. It’s Running of the Bulls, NOLA style. That translates to Running of the Bull Dykes.
Me.
275 roller derby lesbians with bats and horns.
Outcome.
We went back to Lake Ponchartrain for Thanksgiving. Everything was the same, and almost as perfect as last year, except we were missing a coupl’a crews which stunk. On the upside, however, we had a Saints victory over the Cowboys. Happy Saintsgiving!
In my previous post, I said that December is usually a slow month for me at work. Turns out, for the economy being this bad, the company has had an excellent year overall and even December has kept me busy. Finally starting to mentally check out. Clocking in a few hours this week and I’m calling it quits until after the holiday!
What, you don’t have a cocktail at your office?
On to 2011 …
MOM & DAD
Not much new with them. They’ve started to really get the itch to move back to Southern Louisiana, which I can’t even talk about right now. Who knows when (or if) it will actually happen, but it’s definitely on their radar and I’ll lose it when/if they do. Molly is begging me to move as well, but the market in Nola for just isn’t thriving like it is in Dallas {thriving being a very relative term.} Mom still tends to her crazy flock of pets and Dad continues to make fun of her. They’re precious, I tell you!
MOLLY
In May, she earned her Juris Doctor degree from Loyola New Orleans and we are all so very proud of her.
We celebrated her achievement and her birthday at August, an amazing John Besh restaurant.
We also had a champagne lunch at Galatoire’s and then on to the Sazerac Bar. What a debauchery of a weekend! If my eyes were open in more of the pictures, I would post some, but I guess that’s what cocktails do to me. Awesome!
Couldn’t have been any more perfect, except that stupid hat she had to wear. Really, it wasn’t flattering. On anyone! Regardless, we are so proud of her.
As if becoming an attorney wasn’t ambitious enough, she decided to go on and continue her education (yes, again!) and is currently living in hell Gainsville, Florida as she completes her Masters of Law degree in Taxation. If that doesn’t make you want to slit your wrists. The University of Florida Gator part, not the taxation… She is only a temporary Gator and not a real fan, which is good otherwise half the Martini Tour would die from a stroke. I mean, what a stab in the heart to LSU. Gah! Oh well, the program is ranked third in the country (she got into the 2nd ranked school, but chose otherwise since she’s already lived in DC,) so we can’t blame her for her decision. As dorky as she will be, I’m kind of excited for her to help me find some loopholes on next year’s tax return. She left Larry and the dogs behind in New Orleans and will return after the spring semester.
Speaking of Larry, he is coming home with Molly for his first Christmas in Dallas. He has been to a few Thanksgivings in the swamp but never to experience the Stanga madness during the holidays. Mom is so excited to have him join us this year, she has gone all out. We never have ribbon and bows on our Christmas presents, just plain ‘ole wrapping paper. Not this year! Our gifts are all decked out and when I inquire as to why, she says “It’s for Larry.” My mom also has a beautiful snow village collection that she has stopped displaying in recent years, but this year it’s back up and glowing. Now that Claire can appreciate it and Larry is coming, her Christmas spirit is back and brighter than ever. It’s precious, really. I sure hope Larry likes the dysfunctional routine we still have to go through, even at the ages of 34, 31 and 26! Yes, Lar – you will have to line up oldest to youngest for the annual Christmas morning portrait. {Make sure you wear cute jammies!}
SCOTT
Not a whole lot to say about Scott, except what I do have to say is big news. He has decided to go back into the military. He and Mark were both in the Air Force for 6 years and they really enjoyed the pride, the discipline and the benefits of serving our country. With so much going on and our troops being pulled out, the opportunity for veterans to re-enlist has been few and far between. There aren’t any openings for Air Force, so he has decided to go back in as Army. Due to a major backlog, he doesn’t leave until May 2011 and will go to South Carolina for 10 weeks and then Maryland for another 26 weeks.
Luckily, he gets to keep his same ranking as when he left the Air Force, but he does get to take another stab at boot camp. At least he knows what to expect this time around and has been working his booty off getting into tip-top shape for his training. It’s funny, he has to do physical training every other week at the recruiting office and all the young 18 year old recruits ask him all kinds of questions on what to expect. I think he really enjoys counseling the young, oblivious soldiers-to-be.
Also, the biggest relief is that he won’t be in infantry or anything of the sort. He has taken a communications opportunity that will allow him to gain a whole new skill-set which can be used well into the future as technology continues to evolve. Besides him missing more holidays in the upcoming years and the distance between us, we are very excited for him to start pursuing this new career.
MARK, MAEGAN & CLAIRE
Where, oh, where to begin. There is just so much to say about Miss Claire, I can’t even think of it all. In May, Mark & Maegan broke our hearts by uprooting their family and moving to Charlotte, North Carolina. It was a tough adjustment for everyone involved, but mostly for Nonnie and Claire. Before they left, I set them up on a Skype account and bought my mom a webcam for Mother’s Day. They spend hours upon hours chatting with each other. We are so fortunate that they were able to come home for 3 weeks in November and are coming back again this week! After the holidays, they are moving to Naples, Florida for another 6 months of Maegan’s training program and then will be moving to open up shop in San Antonio. It will be so nice to only have them 5 hours away, but still not quite the same as being 15 minutes away. We sure do miss that little girl {and her mommy and daddy too!}
I can’t even think of all the things Claire has done in the last 6 months or so, but she will talk.your.ear.off! I’ll just run down a random list of things that come to mind.
*When asked what she wanted Santa Clause to bring her for Christmas, she responded. “A beer.” She’s two and a half. That’s our girl!
*If you ask her to do something, she now uses her best pirate voice and says “Aye Aye Captain {insert name.}”
*I yike ice cream. Tini, do you yike ice cream? I yike ice cream. Nonnie, do you yike ice cream? I yike ice cream. Yaney, do you like ice cream? I yike ice cream.* {IT.NEVER.STOPS.}
*Mark told Claire that they were going to go on an airplane to visit Nonnie’s house and Santa was going to come. She disappeared. He later found her in her room piling all her clothes into bags. She was ready to go right that second. Poor baby has had to wait 3 weeks!
*”Close your eyes. One. Two. Three. Tooprise!”
*One night during her three week visit, she wanted her crackers instead of her dinner. Her daddy said she couldn’t have any until she ate her meal. Well, smarty pants noticed I was standing right there, so she tells her daddy to leave the room for a second. I then am summoned over to her and she whispers: “Yaney. Give me the crackers!” Too dang funny!
*She LOVES to sing Marry had a yitto yam, yitto yam, yitto yam. Marry had a yitto yam, it's fleece was white as snoooooooowwww. Marry had a coowonday, coowonday, coowonday…” {Mary went to school one day…} Cutest damned thing you ever did hear!
*Nonnie was showing her a picture of herself, and asked who was in the picture. She responded, very impatiently, IT’S ME! CWAIRE! OKAY!?” And went about her business.
*She is very proud of her potty achievements and likes Tini to see the big mess she’s made in her big girl potty.
I literally could go on and on and on about how freaking cute that child is, but it’s just too much. She is such a nut. No clue where she gets it…
I will leave you with pictures:
My goodness, I could just eat her up!
________________________________________________
Sorry for a very boring, catch-up post, but since I haven’t done that great of a job all year, BAM! Here it all is….
There should be some good dysfunctional stories to come out of the holidays, so stay tuned… {but don’t hold your breath!}
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