Blues Fest 2010

Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival celebrated it's 25th anniversary this year and we were there for the celebration! Known as King Biscuit Blues Festival since it's inception, the name had to be changed several years ago. But thanks to a very profitable, successful festival, it's going back to the King Biscuit name!

Dad has been stage managing the main stage for years and years, John has been working the stage crew for 7, and I make my way down there whenever I feel like it. (one of my main deciding factors is if Corrie is going!)



Corrie, Anson Funderburgh and me

                                                  

John and Chad

Kerrice and Corrie

 We had a blast! Music was fantastic, weather was great, and we just enjoyed seeing everyone. Kerrice joined us this year and she made friends with everyone she met!

We saw B.B.King, Dr. John, Taj Mahal, Marcia Ball, Reba Russell, Anson Funderburgh, James Harman, Wolfman Washington and the list goes on.

One of our favorites was Preston Shannan, the first act on Saturday. We were staying out of the sun,

chilling behind the stage, still recovering from Friday...when they started to play. A really solid set...Preston was great on the guitar and backed by a talented band. When they did their version of "Purple Rain", we all just looked at each other...it was really well done. Just a great, great start to our final day at the Blues Fest.

With Preston Shannan

Dad and B.B. King

Exhausted, we drove home on Sunday, talking about all of the fantastic music we heard and realizing how lucky we were.

Martin

We went to Kansas City last weekend to hang out with John's brother Tim and his wife Jennifer. We had tickets to see Martin Sexton in concert at Crosstown Station. I've been listening to Martin Sexton since my days at KSYM 90.1 in San Antonio. My station manager and friend, John O'Rourke, handed me a cd and told me it would be good for my folk show. It was and I fell in love with the sound. I've heard for years that he is fantastic live. And I think he tours often. But in all this time, I've never seen him perform. It's been a mix of timing and timidity. I think when you've got a short list of people you just have to see live...you don't want to be disappointed.
In no way was I disappointed. This was easily one of the best concerts I have ever been to.

We started off the night with a few drinks on Tim & Jennifer's patio. Then moved downtown for some beer & apps. When we headed to Crosstown Station, we found out the concert was sold out. And apparently, Martin got off his bus and gave the fans looking for tickets an impromptu concert. None of us had been to Crosstown Station and it's a great bar for live music. We got pretty close to the stage and settled in for some music. He has an amazing voice and blew us away from the start. When he went into "Helter Skelter", I lost it. We all just had the best time. I can't wait to see him again.

Aunt Carrie

That's me! While John was busy "working" at the Arkansas Heritage & Blues Festival, I made my way to Houston to see my friend Corrie and her children. Corrie's husband Chad was working the Festival with John, so Corrie and I had a little girls' weekend.

Corrie and Chad have been blessed with two darling children and I have loved getting to know them and watch them grow up. Unfortunately, we only get to see them once a year or so, but we do our best to make sure they remember their Aunt Carrie and Uncle John. And I love being called Aunt Carrie! Love it. Every time Carson said it, my heart melted just a little more. And I feel like we are carrying on a tradition. Corrie's father grew up with my father and are still the best of friends. I grew up calling Corrie's parents Aunt and Uncle. I think I was ten years old before I realized that we are not actually related.

Corrie and I shopped a little, drank a little, ate very well and had a wonderful time hanging out with Carson and Carly!

Reunited

We spent Labor Day weekend in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It was the perfect place to meet up with our Shirron relatives. My father's brother, his two children and their families. I hadn't seen my cousin Clint in about 8 years and had never met his wife or children. And Melissa and her family were at our wedding 7 years ago, but we hadn't seen them since.

John and I drove down there with my folks. Greg wasn't able to take off from work. Our cottages were lovely and all within walking distance of each other. We supped at the cottage Melissa had rented for her family, it was the largest of the three. We grilled out each night...hot dogs, pork steaks, fajitas. And happy hour was in full force.

We walked downtown, there was some fishing and the paddleboat was put to good use. But most importantly, we spent time with one another. Stories were told, pictures were taken. We all really enjoyed spending time with the children...they were all very sweet and funny. We are looking forward to seeing everyone again. It just can't be this long in between visits. And Greg has to be there too!

Fourth

I love long weekends! John barbecued some chicken Friday night and I tried to create a healthy version of potato salad. It turned out pretty well. The chicken was delish. We headed over to Julie & Jeremy's to hang out in their driveway with a dozen other folks. We did a few fireworks, but mainly we just drank some beer and caught up. John found a new cigar buddy in Jeremy.

Saturday was relaxing. We saw a matinee of The Proposal. It was entertaining, cute but not great. Certainly not laugh out loud funny as my coworker led me to believe. We were some of the youngest people in the theater, I think the median age was 60.

That night, we went to our friends' house for a small bbq. Robin and Scott had the backyard all set up for us and Scott was the grillmaster. We hung out, ate, played a little ladder golf and had a time out for the doofus who set off a firework in his freaking hand. I've never seen anything like it, what an idiot. He did end up going to the hospital, but luckily it turned out to be a very minor injury.

I made frozen margarita pie for dessert and everyone seemed to like it. It's the third time I've made it and it's usually a hit. I'll post the recipe sometime. We had a nice little fireworks show in the front yard. Scott and I had fun setting them off.

We made it out to the lake on Sunday with our friend Brenda. We took the boat out---hadn't done that in a while. Turned out to be a beautiful day. Took a few pics with John's Blackberry...

Summer

It's days like today
picking raspberries at dusk
we work quietly
murmurs and giggles and where's the basket

we are family

Too early for cicadas, you say
and we stop to listen
it's summer
it's summer
they buzz
reminding us of other days
of other summers

how quickly they passed

Today is almost gone
do you know how much I loved it?
that these hours together
have been near perfection?

we are family

Tee-Par-Tee

This weekend John played in his first tournament at the club. He invited his older brother Tim to play as his guest. I adore Tim and his wife Jennifer and was very nervous to have them as our houseguests for the weekend. We did a lot of work, a lot of buying of new sheets & towels, framing artwork, cleaning baseboards, etc. And we really needn't have done all that, as we were all much too tipsy to have noticed. (I kid, they were very sweet and appreciated all we'd done) But tipsy we were. Loopy, silly, straight up drunk.

The weather was perfect for golfing and the guys had a blast. We stayed up late Thursday night, drinking wine & listening to music. On Friday night, my folks, Uncle Robert, Greg & his girlfriend Kerri joined us for party food and cocktails. We ended the party on the front porch around 3am...too much fun. I wasn't sure if John would feel up to another round of golf! Jennifer and I slept in and spent the rest of the day reading magazines and napping.

The tournament ended with dinner & dancing on Saturday night. I haven't dressed up in a little while so I had fun with white slacks, a sparkly top, gold heels and fake hair. I love fake hair and I'm taking that thing with me to Vegas in the fall!

We said goodbye to our guests this morning and have spent the day recuperating. I am sooo not ready to go to work tomorrow.

There are some pictures somewhere...if they surface, I'll add them later.

Eats

What a busy weekend! I was happy to go to work on Monday, just to get a break.
I finished painting the large guest room Friday night. Bunny Gray from Benjamin Moore. I tried the Aura paint and was mostly happy with it. The color is more blue than I wanted, but it works. I need to hang the sheers and put on the new bedding to get the full effect.

After a much needed pedicure on Saturday, I hit the grocery store, home, the frame shop and a mattress store. Then headed to Mom's where we dug out the headboard, footboard and rails stored in her garage. We are adding a twin bed to the guest room and Mom is letting us use her childhood bed!
John and I cleaned house and prepped stuff for dinner. Our friends Heidi, Todd and Brenda came over. John grilled and we all talked to Javi via Skype. Heidi and Todd brought dessert and it was delicious!

Here's the recipe, Heidi's notes included...

***Heidi’s Cream Cheese Angel Food Dessert***

2 small pkgs Dream Whip
2 - 8 oz. pkgs cream cheese (we used the 1/3 less fat version), softened
1 C. powdered sugar
2 C. half & half, cream or milk (we used 2% milk; my mom uses cream)
1 9 x 5 angel food cake (we used most of one of the round ones from
Dillon's), cut or torn into bite-sized pieces
Topping - any kind of berry (we used blueberries and strawberries) or
canned blueberry or cherry pie filling
1/2 chopped pecans or other nuts

Mix dream whip, cream cheese, 2 cups cream/milk/half & half and
powdered sugar (we let ours mix until it was about pudding
consistency); fold in cake pieces. Spoon over nuts in a 9x13" pan.
Sprinkle with berries or put fruit pie filling on top. Refrigerate.
To serve, scoop out. Serves 12-15.

Sunday was spent gardening and doing just enough laundry to get by. Exhaustion hit just as I was needing to get stuff ready to take to Mom & Dad's. Aunt Margaret & Uncle Jack are in town! So everyone got together for steaks. I brought Aunt Carrie's Loaded Mashed Potatoes, which were well received. Prepare mashed potatoes as usual (usual for me is butter and evaporated milk, salt & pepper). Add bacon bits, lots of sour cream, grated cheese, more salt & pepper---spoon into 9x13 dish and top with more grated cheese. Bake for about 30 min. at 350 or so. I mince green onion and serve on the side for those who wish to top their dish.

No cooking tonight! Going out for Mexican and just one or two margaritas. I hope to have the energy to do some more work upstairs while I watch Real Housewives of New Jersey. Don't you judge me.

My little brother

I love my brother. My one and only brother. After all these years, we are in the same town and are very good friends. Greg lived in New Orleans for quite a while and left the day after the levees broke in 2005. After a couple of starts in new places, I hope he is here to stay in Kansas.
Greg shares my love of movies and certain sitcoms like Andy Griffith and Seinfeld. He'll deny it, but his memory is better than mine and once we get started with quotes and reenactments...we'll laugh so much our mother has to tell us to stop being silly...and we'll laugh even more. I love that he's inherited our father's gift of storytelling and that we share some of the same wonderful memories of our childhood. He is witty and charming, knows more about sports than anyone I know and is an excellent golfer.

We went out to dinner Friday night with Greg and his girlfriend, our mother and our friend Javier. Dad is in Houston with his brother visiting old friends.
After dinner, we came back to our house for drinks and a game of Trivial Pursuit. It was a close game and so much fun!