Duck Gumbo

I had such a good day yesterday with David & the kids. It started off as usual. David & I woke up around 6 (we "slept-in" since I didn't have to go to work), had our coffee together and then "stole" Hunter from the kids so they could sleep in for a while. We played with Hunter, I fixed breakfast, and then David & I needed to run up to Missouri for cigarettes. On our way, Transplace called & told David they wanted him to start Monday at 3:30. He'll be working 3:30 til midnight for the first couple of weeks for training. And, the dress code for this shift is business casual. So at some point today or tomorrow, we've got to go shopping! I am SO proud of him. I told him before his interview, if he'd just be confident, and be HIMSELF, and let them see him like I see him, he'd have the job. I was right. And I'm glad. I know how much he hated not working. After our trip to Missouri we came home. And somehow, while hanging out with the kids, and talking about cooking - and needing to cook the ducks in our freezer, Desiree got the idea that we should have a Duck Gumbo Cook off! Her & Eddy against me & David. So we all piled up & went to Wal Mart with our list of ingredients. I've about decided to stop shopping at Wal Mart by the way. I HATE the way they've remodeled the stores. I hate the smaller selection. I hate the crowds that are always there. But, I suffered through, we somehow managed to spend over $300 (isn't that what Wal Marts good for?), and we came home. We were supposed to all go to dinner with Mr. Dick & Sharon at Chili's, but at the very last minute, Sharon called & cancelled. Since we were hungry, ready to go, and planning the Gumbo cook off for today, we decided to go on & go out to dinner. We started at Beef O Brady's but it was so full & they said it'd be a while before they could seat us. So we ended up at MY favorite place, Celtic Grill. We had a nice dinner, just the five of us (Hunter man didn't eat much!) and then came home. I went to bed early while David & Eddy played X Box & Des started packing up their things. They'll be leaving early tomorrow morning & heading back to Kansas :( At some point, Eddy brought Hunter in & laid him down with me, and me & my grand baby just snuggled for a while. It was SO sweet, and a memory I'll never forget. This morning, it was up early again. David & I snuck in the kitchen around 7 & started our Gumbo. Then about 10 the kids got up & started theirs while I watched Hunter for them. Jeff & the kids came up to spend a few hours with us while Diane was at a conference. Then Wendall, (Desiree's dad) showed up to see the kids. If you take away all the crazy, (3 dogs, 2 kids, a baby, Jeff & Eddy playing football on the XBox & hollering, us all trying to cook gumbo, David & Wendall visiting, etc), it was another great day. Now the kids have gone to go visit my dad one last time before they go home, our company is gone, David is watching a movie, and I'm procrastinating about folding all the clean laundry that's piled up in our spare bedroom! But - I just wanted to get all this down while it's still fresh in my mind. The gumbo? It was AMAZING! We put duck, sausage, shrimp, okra, rice, potatoes - all kinds of stuff in ours. The kids was really good too, just different than ours, and not nearly as spicy. Jeff was supposed to be our judge, but when it came down to it, no one really won. I'm just glad it all tasted so good, and that we had such a good time. Good times, that's what life is all about anyway, isn't it? me