Week 4 in Shreveport - What is a Cubit?

I took the family to Strawn's for breakfast on Sunday. It is THE place to be on Sunday mornings. The staff is so efficient and friendly, the food is well-prepared, and well-portioned. I had a ham steak breakfast. DJ had a Mickey Mouse pancake that he insisted on eating with no syrup. Logan had one egg and sausage, which he gobbled up. Or at least the parts that he did not end up wearing. Brent and I also had their famous fresh strawberry pie for dessert.

I thought I picked up a virus on my computer. I took it into the computer repair shop close to LSU to fix it. They said that I didn't have a virus, but I would have if I had called the phone number that the virus was trying to convince me was to Microsoft. I packed up all my brochures, maps, and extra post cards and mailed them to Mary Murphy, who agreed to hang onto them for me for a month. Thanks Mary! Also mailed the Medjool dates to the Thunes and Ellsworths. I felt the need to simplify my freight in the car. Also got my hair cut at Avalon Hair Salon. I think Elizabeth did a great job.

But the big news this week was the rain, the floods, the tree down in the yard, all schools including pre-school and LSU called off for the week, and spending 4 dark, rainy days inside with the boys and Autumn - and Brent until he had to go to work in the evenings. We had 5.5 inches of rain just on Tuesday alone, and a total of 15 inches of rain between Tuesday and Sunday - which is how long it rained. Although the sun did come out for long periods on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Three people died in Shreveport in the resulting floods. We did not experience flooding in the part of Shreveport where Brent's family lives. Autumn and I tried to get some take-out food, but all the restaurants we called were closed. Had to get take-out from Buffalo Wild Wings. Somehow the restaurant that Brent works at was the only one that was open during the brunt of the storm. And it was packed! The good news is that I finally got that green Chimayo chile soup made. Turned out pretty good, but was spicier than I remember.

When the storm sort of weakened on Thursday, Autumn and I were able to get some take-out crawfish delicacies from Shane's. Because it was hard to get out of the apartment, I finally made reservations for Charleston, Pigeon Forge, and Nashville. I got tired of staying inside and took the boys to Bossier Boardwalk Mall to do some shopping on Saturday while Brent and Autumn attended a funeral. The boys and I had fun at the Mall. We started at Bass Pro Shop where I needed some quick-drying pants and a day pack. We spent some time with the giant aquarium, played with the fish locators, played in the hollow tree, bought Grandma some pants, a day pack, and a compass for my car. Then we took the trolley, which scared DJ a little. We took Logan's overly big shoes back to Nike (they apparently do not make wide infant shoes, only wide youth shoes). We walked over to Chocolate Crocodile where DJ picked out pink marshmallow frosted oreo cookies for him and his brother. We started walking back to the car, but got distracted by a kid ride area. DJ rode on two cartoon-themed vehicles, but Logan wanted none of it.

Saturday night Brent, Autumn and I went downtown for dinner and some live music. First we went to Blind Tiger for a Cajun dinner. (According to their menu, a blind tiger is the same thing that we call a blind pig in Minnesota.) I had some pecan-encrusted Cajun catfish - delish - and they had a Cajun combo plate. I bought a T-shirt - I have been wanting a T-shirt from Shreveport, but it isn't much of a tourist town. Then we headed to the Noble Savage for drinks, cigars, and live music. It was a good band (although they did get started late). We shared funny stories and had a good time.