Big Leather Couch

Where the heck has Vinny been? Have not seen hide nor hair of him in about 4 days...maybe you did not notice, but in case you did...
(pssst all photos go biggie by clickie)


Well kiddies...On Thursday night, Matt and I headed about 10 miles away to Hernando, MS to watch Eric Hughes Band playing a free show on the green in town...beautiful night sitting under the open skies.

I took Friday off to spend some time with Matt and work on getting prepared for our Grillin' and Chillin' get-together on Sunday.

Saturday was a day of food purchase and preparation...and cleaning the house.  Cooked 24 chicken thighs and 36 chicken wings and 18 hot Italian sausages with onions, red peppers and green peppers as the main courses.  So, off to Costco to get the chicken (already had the sausage).  Got home, mixed up some sweet paprika, ancho chili powder, salt and pepper and rubbed that into the chicken nice and good - pulled back the skin on the thighs and rubbed the meat too..

Cut all the peppers and onions for the sausage and peppers..and then made the sauce to baste the chicken.

That consisted of ketchup, tomato paste, juice from some oranges and a lemon, onions, garlic, ancho chilis, and some frozen red sweet cherries. Into the pot and let it cook down and then grabbed the submersible mixer and made it nice and smooth...let it rest overnight.

Made a big ole batch of macaroni salad and then relaxed for the evening as we watched a movie.

Sunday, bright and early, put the sausage and peppers together and put it in the oven to cook slowly. got the chicken on the grill, getting them all nice and brown and then layering on the basting sauce while the grill was on low and let it sink in. Then it all went into the oven with the sausage and peppers to just marinate and cook slowly.

Made some delicious dips for the chips and pretzels and a great sangria that was enjoyed by all who indulged.

As always, putting it all together and sharing the experience with Nancy was just the best.

Ended up being a great time for all except for the arrival of a mass of flies at one point. They were obnoxious to say the least, but some more protein on the plate never hurt a soul!

Matt was a huge help and had a grand time talking to friends and the musicians who all flocked to have a good meal.

Party broke up around 10:30, then clean up and much needed sleep.

Get shots early on and then I get into the party and the camera is forgotten...missed some late arrivals, Eric and Donna and Jack and "Sweet T" and Pete was there early, but left before the camera even came out!

On Monday, it was finish clean-up and relax after a busy three days.

Tuesday, back to work - ugh...

So, what was your weekend like?

Want some delicious chicken? There is left-overs!

Matt leaves tomorrow to go home and I hate it, because as he said on Monday "Dad, just hanging and watching a movie like old times is good enough for me."

Though...tonight we head to Beale for Bike Night and to let him see the fantastic Brandon Santini play live again. You see, when Matt was here 3 years ago we saw Brandon for the first time and Matt has been a fan ever since.

If you have a child living at home, give them a hug, because before you know it, they will not be living there and you will MISS THEM!

But you will never miss...these guys...

Sunday evening the storms moved in. Lightening and thunder and general fugliness. And it has not stopped since then.

Heavy rains, thunderboomers, tornado sirens...we have lived them all since Sunday here in the mid-south.

And to think that two short weeks ago while spending the weekend in New Orleans with friends the sun shined brightly, the temperatures ere in the low 80's and there was not even a speck of humidity.

And that caused us to have a stellar weekend...

Wanna see?

OK, here ya go...Remember clickie for biggie.

There are MANY cemeteries in NOLA	I liked the way the sun made a halo on this mausoleum.	The homes in the Garden District are stunning
White Ghost Shivers - They are from Austin, but were playing the streets of NOLA this weekend. A mix of jazz, swing and ragtime with a little vaudeville thrown in for good measure.	Tanya & Dorise, these two young ladies are extremely talented. Tanya on violin seemed to me to be the inspiration of the character "Annie" (played by Lucia Micarelli) on the HBO show Treme.	This is a cajun-zydeco band we fell in love with. The T'Canaille Cajun Band. We saw them twice, they had extra washboards that hung on your shoulders so the audience got involved too!
the remains of a Muffaletta I devoured on Saturday	Blackened Redfish with Jambalaya - was soooo good!	This made me laugh. Jesus and Moses "Action Figures"!!!
Andy messing with a tree that had these bumps all over it.	Immigration Statue down along the Mississippi.	St. Louis Cathedral in all its splendor.
The infamous Cafe Du Monde. The beignets were incredible!	Cool old signage. Did not eat here though.	If you love unique architecture, NOLA is for you.
Every balcony had a personality. Some more so than others.	You can dance with strangers - even silver ones - all you want!	The ironwork is incredible complex indeed.
My best gal and best bud! Nancy loved them and they her!	Another balcony with personality!	Janice and Nancy just strolling along
Preservation Hall - Preserving the Jazz legacy for future generations.	Inside Preservation Hall. No flash, no video, no audio allowed. Fun...ALLOWED!

Yup, this is my 1,000 post. Never even thought I would get to this point. And in a few short weeks, we celebrate the 4th anniversary of The Couch.

It all began as a place to do some American Idol posts and to rant and rave over the crap that was happening in my life...what it ended up being is a cozy little spot for me to share my words, share my love of music, post some of my fiction and basically meet a bunch of cool folks.

Some of you are relatively new here, some have been here since day 1 and some have come and gone over the years for a variety of reasons. That last group is sad, since you never want to lose friends.

But hey, just like real life, on occasion someone you liked and respected becomes a turd-carrier and you move them out of your life. Sometimes they return...sometimes not.

To those of you reading me today, I thank you for sticking around through the good times and the bad...for sharing the sorrow of leaving my son Matt behind when I moved to Memphis.

For sticking around and listening to my rants over dating...for sharing the incredible courtship and my marriage to the most awesome Nancy...

I will continue to write here and share new music and I hope you also join me over on Music On The Couch and MANGIA Y'ALL.

I hope to have another 1,000 posts and more here over the next few years.

And, of course, I will be on The RADIO HAPPY HOUR this evening at 9:00pm eastern with Doc, Collette, The Burl and our guests; Comic Adam Ray and pop singer Karlee

We will be back Monday with some pictures from the trip to Jamaica.

I just wanted to use my words today to tell y'all what an incredible week and a half it was from a few days before the wedding through the honeymoon.

What made it so incredible? Well DUH!...I married the most wonderful woman in the world. As I have said from the beginning - Nancy gets me 1,000%. She understands what makes me tick - scary thought indeed...but something we all desire in our lives.

But honestly - it was that and so many other things.

The fraternity brothers who came in from around the country. Even the guys who could not make it sent their condolences and let us know in plenty of time. We knew the weekend we selected was both a good choice and a bad choice. Good because it gave anyone coming a three-day weekend. Bad because so many people have special events that weekend, people with older kids are getting them off to college and anyone with younger kids in the northern parts of the country have school beginning right afterward.

Our families who were all able to come in - except my niece Amelia, who was not able to get away from college. Having them here meant so much indeed. Unfortunately my cousin Joyce got sick at the last minute and when she called me on Friday she was so upset she was crying. I missed she and her sister Denise (who was not able to travel) so very much and hope to travel to NC to visit them at some time in the near future.

The friends who came. You guys are the best. Nancy's two best friends were so much help to her on Saturday and were like 200 people on Sunday helping us to get things ready for the party that day.

Meeting Mickey-T and Phfrankie Bondo was just so special. I have to tell y'all, since I found these guys in the bloggosphere, I always felt like if we met in person we would find a common bond. I now know how real that is. These two guys are real. No BS about either of them. When we finally met in person I truly felt like I was just seeing two old friends.

Having my dear friends Turnbaby and Brad come down...well this is a relationship that will last forever. I was so sad that the other friends who blog were unable to make it. I know one young lady in Arizona who tried everything she could, but it was not to be. My favorite Canadian, Anndi also did her best but was unable to make the travel arrangements work.

There were quite a few friends who blog who we sent invitations to and unfortunately we were not able to connect with many. We are already discussing a get-together in Atlanta next summer and hope to meet Songbird and Starr and some others there.

There were some people who disappointed us. people who said they were coming and then at the last moment 'something came up' and they were not able to attend. We certainly understand that real life sometimes gets in the way - but a few of these folks never even called us to let us know...a couple we only found out because we asked directly 'we'll see you on Saturday, right?' and a couple we still have not even heard from.

That is not the way I was raised and maybe this is not the place to vent on it, but you know if this is not the place then I guess there is no place.

These no-shows actually cost us over $500.00 based upon catering and linens et al.

I just do not get it....sorry.

Anywhoodle...on Sunday we had a bar-b-que at our home with about 30 people attending. It was a blast and gave us more time with some people we do not see often enough. It was hot as hell that day and standing at the grill, I was drenched by the time I finished.

Then Sunday night after everyone had left Nancy and I sat and took a breath. It began to storm pretty heavy and all of a sudden we were in the dark!

The electricity came back on and Nancy reset her alarm clock. I also set the alarm on my cell phone and we laid our heads down to sleep with early wake-up to catch our 8:00am flight.

The next thing I heard was "OH S**T!!!" It was Nancy and it was 6:30 am...and hour later than both of us had set our alarms!

Out of bed...clothes thrown on...into the car and a normal 35 minute drive to the airport was accomplished in less than 22 minutes.

What happened? We BOTH set our alarms, but when Nancy set the time on the clock she set to 10:00am not 10:00pm and I set my cell phone but never turned the alarm on...

Obviously we made the flight, but it was not the way we wanted to begin our honeymoon....

Was having network problems today, so ripped this post off without stopping...not sure it makes much sense - but that is nothing new here!

Have a great weekend...see you Monday with toes in da sand photos mon...

Before we continue with the pictures (hey you guys keep asking for more!) I needed to pimp out two most excellent friends...

First off, you know that Dancing With The Stars has begun again...right? You knew that...right? Well,even if you did not - what you need to know is that the only place to find out what happened last night is over with TRAVIS of "Trav's Thoughts".

The man knows his dance and he can tell you all about the why and why-nots of the competitors...

Next, well, y'all know I love a good love story right? I mean I am in the middle of my own personal love story and sharing it with y'all.

What I need you to do is, when you are done checking out today's pictures here, go over and visit KATHERINE of "Wading Through My Stream Of Consciousness".

Yesterday Katherine wrote one of the most wonderful posts I have EVER read here in the bloggosphere (or anywhere else for that matter). A story about love...a story about adventure...a story about a young girl and her discoveries.

Bring a tissue or two with you and enjoy this most amazing story.

Now...on to the pictures.

We showed you the formal group shots...today we are going to splatter this place with the casual shots taken throughout the evening...They all get a lot bigger!

Those Cousins...

Dancing with my new MIL Dot-Dot

Matt & his Gee-Ma

Mom and son

Brad & Turn cutting the rug

Peter even danced with Aunt Pat!

Because when we get together to party
we DANCE!

Matt & I went toe to toe on the
dance floor and I kicked his butt!

No really, I did!

And then Ernie had his dance with mom

Did I mention we dance?

Food is NOT safe around Matt

Nancy taught dad the Hotty Toddy
(Ole Miss Fight Song)

Mom and Dad 58 years married


Don't mess with the girl...
I am telling you!

You see...we dance!

Travis - There was CAKE!
Chocolate & Strawberry layers
with cream cheese filling!

And only one of us ended up with cake on them!

Dad chatting up Mickey-T & PHfrankie

OK...you have a breather...Jamaica beginning Monday! See y'all tomorrow...