And my respect for her just plateau’d. She could not go any higher if she tried. Simply because she is sporting Deuce’s jersey. Truly a class act Erin. Bravo!

The Saints are great, but Erin is by far the greatest.

Congratulations again, Dave, and best of wishes to you both for a fantastic life together full of much happiness!

And here’s a little story of Louisiana Love: As you may or may not remember, I live in Louisville, KY.

Yesterday, my wife was driving me to pick up my car from the tire shop (getting the tires rotated in anticipation of our trip to St. Louis for the 4th weekend), and it was a beautiful day with temp in the low 70’s and slight overcast with a breeze (but sadly, not a Brees) in the air. Very unusually cool for July in Louisville (it’s usually HOT and humid like La.). Our windows were down, and we were enjoying the ride through a nice residential area of older homes in Louisville, along a tree-lined street.

Well, we passed a house that had a car with an LSU alumni sticker on it, and I saw two guys drinking beer on the porch, and I just couldn’t resist, and I leaned out the window, raised my fist and hollered, “Geaux Tigers!!! Wooohoo!!!” They guys both smiled and waved and yelled back, “Yeah Man!!!” Nice.

And on my way back home, I was driving my car, and happened to go the same route, not really thinking about much. As I approached the same home from the other direction, the big Saints helmet magnet on my driver’s side door must have been in full view to the guys, because before I even realized I was passing the house, the guys screamed “Geaux Saints!!!!” to me and waved again. Of course, I hollered back, “Who Dat!!!!!!!!!!” and “Yeah, you right!!” If we hadn’t been hurrying to get out of town last night, I may even have pulled over and joined them for a beer.

Anyway, not a very unusual story, but a nice unexpected Louisiana Love moment far from home…

Have a great 4th of July, everyone!!! TGIF, err, TGI – A Three-Day Weekend!!

What flavor was it?

Was there a little tiny Steve Gleason inside blocking Atlanta’s punt? And a little tiny Tony Kornheiser in a little tiny booth that we could crush?

Seriously, an AMAZING cake, and an amazing wife. WHO DAT?!

That is a pretty cool tradition. We have nothing like that up here. Bre did something similar for me in that our wedding social (if you aren’t from Manitoba you likely dont get the concept of a wedding social) was a Saints Themed social. We sported jerseys, black and gold ribbons and balloons. The whole wedding party was decked out in jerseys.

Definition of a wedding social:
A local tradition that came originally from Manitoba’s large Polish/Ukrainian immigrant community, a social is when the friends and family of a to-be-married couple (or a sports team, or a Ukrainian dance troupe, or a singles group or whatever like-minded group of people) rent a hall (often in a community centre, a curling club, or a church basement) and throw a party. They rent a social hall for 300-600 people (most Catholic Church basements/bingo halls or community clubs will accommodate), where they hire a D.J., get a one-night-only liquor license from the provincial government, and throw a "social" (or, to be more accurate, a thrown-together one-night-only bar) as a fund-raiser. Around midnight, typically a bread-and-cold-cuts buffet is put out (food must be served as one of the conditions of the liquor license). However, the Ukrainian or Filipino socials have tables loaded up with amazing food representative of the culture. There are draws for prizes that can vary widely (typically there are about 10-15 prize packages and these range from flat screen TV’s as a grand prize to a prize package that may contain shirts, hats, mp3 players, etc. Basically anything and everything they can either get donated or can round up for a reduced cost. All proceeds from the social (door sales, booze tickets, prize draw tickets) cover the cost of the event and anything left over goes towards paying for the wedding. Because weddings can quickly get out of hand in size (4-500) socials are a good way of friends and family that may not be attending the wedding to come out and support the couple.

The really popular socials (usually Filipino, Italian, Ukrainian, Portuguese, German and French-Canadian weddings) can sell out quickly. Winnipeg has a large Filipino population (mostly more recent immigrants) and fully 1/4 of the city has a Ukrainian background (mostly from the big immigration boom of the 1910’s). Winnipeg is also home to the largest French-Canadian community in Western Canada. And we’re also the largest Icelandic community outside of Iceland. A real mix of people.

People sell social tickets ahead of time to their coworkers, friends and relatives, and whoever else wants to go out dancing and drinking on a Friday or Saturday night. You can often get a really bizarre/interesting mix of people you know (uncles and cousins and aunts) and complete strangers who heard about the social second- or even third-hand and buy tickets at the door, if there are any left.

That is one great looking cake. And best part about it is that she put herself in what she knows you really love. That’s a small sign that she is the right one. Now, your small task for the next 60 years is to not forgat that and return the favor. Sounds easy the first week, 10, 20 years from now, not so easy. Keep that picture handy and remember that what’s important to you is important to her and vise versa, plan everything tegether and y’all will stay together. Congratulations and have a great 4th weekend.

P.S. And get back to work before M-E ruins this thing. Just Kiddin’ M-E.

but Owen Hart fell on it. Jk. Awesome job by Sucre. I’ll have to check them out, next time I find myself in need of a wedding confection slightly more elaborate than a lemon Hubig’s pie.

That is an awesome cake. I’m so happy for you, Dave!!!

Thanks so much for making CSC what it is. And thanks to your new wife for putting up with you working on CSC!