On Christmas Eve day, I was working on the last couple of Christmas presents - melting plastic beads into bowls in the oven. On the last stage of the process, one of the bowls was too close to the upper heating element, and it caught fire. I turned the oven off and tried opening/closing the door to blow out the flames - to no avail. I realized that I probably had only one choice to extinguish the flames, so I pulled the fire extinguisher out from under the sink. After extinguishing the fire, I ran around propping open the front door, opening all the windows, turning on the fan, covering Cecil's bowl, and closing the bathroom and bedroom doors. The fire alarm didn't go off at all! (Ironic - a real fire doesn't set off the alarm, but a little steam from a hot shower does...)
I spent the next 4-5 hours cleaning up after my exciting afternoon. The fire extinguisher had sprayed a fine sand-like substance which, with the help of the vent and fans, spread throughout the apartment and left a nice layer of dust on every surface. Davis walked in as I was finishing up washing the last of the dishes (he surprised me by coming home early...).
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I have realized that I am still very much like a child when it comes to Christmas morning. I can't wait to open all the shiny presents under the tree. Davis and I ate sausage cheese balls as we opened our gifts. We cooked lunch together - ham, french bread spread, and twice-baked potatoes. And we laughed as we realized that we had nibbled too much while preparing the food, so we weren't hungry for the actual meal. Christmas afternoon was spent lazing on the couch watching Sons of Guns and (me) packing for my trip to Baton Rouge.
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Monday morning, bright and early, I left for Baton Rouge, and Davis went to work (where he's been for 12+ hours a day for 6 days...). Baton Rouge was a blast - seeing (almost) all of my cousins, hanging out with aunts on daiquiri night, and eating even more delicious food! After lunch on Tuesday, and before our family gift-exchange, we had the first (annual?) Gingerbread House Throwdown. The Gilstraps (with a May and several defects from the LoSerU side) dominated the Bama House. The Broussards (Irvins and Charpentiers) managed to pull together an LSU House.
Bama House:
Licorice, houndstooth roof adorned with a twizzler "A"
Trent Richardson (with dreads) (front left of house)
Field goal and kicker on crutches (front right corner of the board)
Big Al (cheering at the rear)
LSU House:
Honey Badger (looks like he's behind bars...)
Eye of the Tiger (compliments of my artistic Aunt Nanci!)
Tailgaters cooking red beans and rice (to the right of the house)
Lily's "dead dog" (to the left of the house)
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Davis and I were incredibly blessed this Christmas, and I am reminded of just how much I have to be thankful for. Thanks to the wonderful-beyond-words friends and family!
Do not sully our good name by dragging it through that crimson mud.
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