Good Wednesday

I can't believe a week ago was Ash Wednesday. I can't believe that it is the end of February. Where oh where has the time gone? It is all good. Moving along. I have some potential good things happening in the near future that will change a few things for me. So some good thoughts for things I can not reveal at this time would be wonderful.

See the past couple of years I really don't think of New Year's as the start of the new year. It is when it is spring and everything is fresh and new and budding to life. That makes more sense to me, for things to start anew. I am hoping that there will be a lot of new things happening. :)

Relaxation

I spent the weekend doing NOTHING! Alright, alright I did do some things. Like clean the kitchen. Start sorting through bags and bags of beads, laundry, clean my room, you know the fun kind of stuff. I managed to take a walk yesterday to pic up some pics at the walgreens, it was a beautiful day so I wanted to enjoy part of it outside. I did my best to rest up and relax. I was hoping for a night of sleep without waking up several times, I think I finally achieved that last night. I stayed up to late however watching the Oscars.....which reallllllly seemed to drag at several points. Oh well. All in all it was a nice quiet weekend. I am ready for the week.

Recovery Time

Mardi Gras 2007 is officially over and has been over for several days. I am just now starting to feel "normal" I don't even know where to start. I guess starting way back about 2 weeks ago. Because that is what started it all in full swing.

Friday Feb 9th. I got off work and ran down to the quarter to catch a bit of the Krewe of Cork parade. That looks like a good krewe to be part of! Dancing through the quarter in costume drinking wine. The band consisted of a few people I knew, Leroy, Katja and Mark Braud. Some friends caught up with me as well in the quarter. When the walking parade was done we headed out to Matty's house which isn't that far off the parade route. It became a gathering place. Food and booze were collected then we headed on off to catch the evening parades. We then decided to go to the Maple Leaf for an AMAZING night of music and celebration.

Saturday Feb 10th Kristen and I decided to go downtown to watch the parades so we would be closer to the ferry to Old Point. We caught about 4 floats of the first parade then we had to leave, we wanted to make it across the river before the Orpheus Open House ended. We just barely made it. Appetizers and drinks were consumed at the Dry Dock Bar with our dear B.R. friends. We then all headed back to Matty's to hang out and wait for the evening parades. We ended up missing the parades, and that was just okay. We did make it out to Le Bon Temps to see Big Sam that night. Talk about crazy packed. Le Bon Temps isn't that big to begin with. I thought for awhile it was just me getting old and not liking the crowds, but it was REALLY packed.

Sunday Feb 11th We watched the parades out on St. Charles. This was a special day as my dear friends got engaged this day. There were a TON of people out there to witness the event, Megan had NO clue it was going to happen at all. A ring box was tossed off the float during King Arthur, it was a quick swap with the real ring box with the ring, next thing Megan knew (she was trying to get beads from their friends riding) Andy was on bended knee presenting the ring. Needless to say we didn't see much of the rest of that parade!!

Monday Feb 12th. Recovery day. I was going to do laundry this day and start cleaning as family was arriving soon. I made Kristen do her laundry first.

Tuesday Feb 13th. 3:00 AM tornado rips through the neighborhood. We lost the balcony roof, shattered windows (the one in my room is not repaired yet not that I am complaining) We spent all day cleaning up the mess. I was amazed and shocked at how fast the response was. The city had people out on our street by 7:30 AM done by about 4:00 PM. Nagin (our mayor) stopped by our house to see how we were. Kristen and I decided to stay at the house even without the power.

Wednesday Feb. 14th. By noon we had power, which was a good thing because my sister was coming into town!! Lisa came to my work, hung out for a bit then Kristen came to pick us up. We went back over to Matty and Sherrilynn's for more parade madness and a very yummy dinner. While they all went out to hear music, Lisa and I headed back to the house.

Thursday Feb. 15th. I worked this day, taking off an hour early and met up with my sister on the bus who had been out exploring Magazine. Once home we got all bundled up in layers of clothes then headed back out to Matty and Sherrilynn's. There we took in the 3 parades, the favorite being of course Muses. That parade pretty much rules.

Friday Feb 16th. I went into work a bit late. I spent most of the day praying to the flight gods that the Mulveys would FINALLY make it to town (they were suppose to be here on the 14th) Lisa and I wandered through the quarter for a bit then met up with our dear B.R. friends and Kristen at the Ugly Dog. At this time I knew the Mulveys were on their flight but I was under strict instruction NOT to say anything to the B.R. krewe. That was some damn hard work. We wandered up to Lee Circle and caught the parades. Right as they were ending I told Hank that I had a few new friends for them to meet, cuz coming down the street were the Mulveys. The look on Hank's face was priceless!! We even convinced Gayle to meet us back down at the Dog, and she was suprised, though I think she figured it out before she walked in. We then ran off to the airport (back roads don't help during MG time, we kept getting trapped behind floats on the move) were we picked up my brother in law.

Saturday Feb 17th. We started off towards the quarter and saw the masses of people all lined up already for the parades. Kristen and I decided to find spots to hold down for the day. We sent my sister and bro-in-law off to the quarter with the Mulvey's while we held down a spot at Lee Circle with Matty and Sherrilynn. The best parade of the day was Tucks. Our next door neighbors were riding and they piled us with loot. In fact Kristen is still sporting the bruise on her forehead from a full on frontal attack. I had words with the cab driver who wouldn't bring my cousin downtown. It is a flat rate from the airport and the cabby would have been stuck in the traffic for awhile. Not my fault she was on the airport run. If we had given the driver a hotel to drop my cousin off in, she would have had no choice. As it was I had to give her directions to my house, which is right off a major intersection. My cousin had to sit on the porch until we got there to pick her up. Kristen knew a round a bout way to get back, and she managed to score the same parking space. Endymion sucked except for my Taylor Hicks beads that some lady caught and gave to me. She had heard me telling people around me that that was the mission, was getting beads from Taylor. (I am guessing she heard or someone told her) the throws sucked from Endymion (when they threw em) and the drunken college students that showed up (squeezing into the space we had been in for 8 hours) really put a damper on the parade. They were even throwing beer bottles at the riders. Jerk offs.

Sunday Feb. 18th. We all headed down to the quarter...again traffic was a nightmare. We let Lisa, Scott and Jessica off so they could explore out on Esplanade. As we crept along Decatur I realized I had to go to the bathroom. I jumped out of the car at Molly's used the facilities and grabbed a few drinks to go. Of course by then the traffic was moving. I didn't catch up with the car until the other side of Harrahs. Let's put it this way. I made it clear across the quarter in about 10 mins or less. With drinks. We then walked back to the quarter were we met up with everyone at Pat O's. We met up with the Mulveys out on Bourbon then we all walked past the Jolie/Pitt household. We eventually went out to the Treme to visit Leroy and Katja. We didn't catch any of the day parades this day. We headed out to the end of the parade route were we got some spots and watched Bacchus. A great parade for catches. After it was over the fam headed over to hang with some friends who booked a hotel room for a couple of nights. They didn't want to do the driving back and forth from the North Shore.

Monday Feb. 19th. We got parking early, took Jessica to Acme, Harrah's then down to Molly's. We had a hike to get back to the convention center in time for the Orpheus Press Conference. We just made it. Got to say hi to Harry. Lisa, Kristen and I decided that we were going to the beginning of the parade. Good thing we did, we got our pics with Sean Payton, Harry and Patricia Clarkson there. Sean was so much fun!! At one point he was even singing in my ear!! We raced back to the end of the parade route and caught the parade. We all then raced over to Holwin Wolf were I got the merch table set up and Bonerama opened for George Porter Jr and the Runnin Pardners. This was really the only super late night. Pretty soon the only one left from my krewe was Kristen. Everyone else had left to get some shut eye. The band stopped around 4 AM. Bed by 5 AM.

Tuesday Feb. 20th. Up at 8:30 AM and out the door by 9:30 AM. We had the best cab driver who got us down to the Bywater for the start of the St. Anne parade. We made it through the whole thing, Lisa and Scott decided to go and nap while my cousin and I kept going. By the time Kristen caught up with us, we were pretty wiped. I think we got home at 10 that night. It was one of the best Mardi Gras days ever!!

Wed. Feb 21st...everyone headed home. :(

Thursday Feb. 22nd back to work.

I suffered the worst tension headache for about 2 days...it is just now starting to fade. Have stayed home both last night and tonight. Amazing. I am just wiped, however I would not change a moment of it for anything!!

Best Mardi Gras Ever!!


Pics with Sean Payton (Saints Head Coach) Patrica Clarkson and Harry Connick Jr.

Back from Oz

Sometime around 3 AM Tuesday morning, I was jerked from my peaceful slumber to the loudest noise. I really think it was just the shutter slamming into the window next to my bed and the glass shattering. It could have been partially the tornado. I laid there for a minute trying to figure out what was going on. I glanced out the window and saw the shattered glass, flashing lightning. I am so very lucky that I have storm windows in my room. It saved me from having the glass blown all over me. It did pop out part way, and there was glass all over my floor. I got up to see what was going on and it wasn't for a good 5 minutes did we realize what had happened. Kristen and I wandered to the front of the house, closing some of the windows that had blown open. We went to go see how the furniture on the balcony had weathered. At first I thought it had all blown away. Somethings had. The rest was pushed up to the other end of the balcony. I looked up and noticed that the gutter was gone. The gutter had partially pulled away from the roof during Katrina. I even made the comment that our landlord was going to have to fix that now. It was then that I realized that the roof to the balcony was GONE. The big pillars that hold it up? GONE. I can't explain the feeling that swept through me. It was fear and confusion and dread. We eventually ventured outside. All the neighbors were slowly emerging from their homes. There were oak tree limbs from the trees in the park all over the road, just two houses up, in the middle of the street lay one of the said trees. Our neighbors new car was smashed. He actually saw the tornado coming up the street. He as going out to move his car when he saw/heard the transformers popping all the way down the block, one after another. He said he saw these amazing colors, blues, purples, greens and yellows. He ran back inside just in time. Parts of our roof are in the neighbors roof. A house shifted. We were right down the street where the roof blew off one house and landed on the FEMA trailer. Everyone walked around in a daze, rather like zombies. A neighbor and I pulled tree limbs out from the middle of Claiborne since some cars were barrelling down the street just barely slowing down when they saw the branches. It started to rain again so we made our way inside. Once it got light enough everyone ventured out again to access the damage in the light. We all started cleaning up. Within minutes the city had the people out there cleaning out the street. By 4 PM Tuesday, the street was completly clear. Mayor Ray Nagin stopped by the house to see how we were doing. He spent a majority of the afternoon in our 10 block radius going to houses talking to people and accessing the damage. The response by everyone, the emergency workers and relief workers was amazing. Our power was restored yesterday at about noon. We will have to throw out all the contents in the fridge. Considering how bad it could have been, we all consider ourselves so very lucky. Mother Nature isn't happy right now.

Toto I don't Think We are in Kansas Anymore


Tornado. Down my street. 3 AM. over in about 12 seconds. clean up all day. who is tired??

More later.

Help me Unhate V-D


Get your own valentinr

Send me some lurve if you feel so inclined!! :)

Weekend Wrap Up

I am trying to remember everything that happened this weekend. I did so many fun things, it was wonderful. Of course now I feel like I got run over by a slow moving tractor. This weekend the weather was almost perfect, friends, drinks and food were flowing.

Friday afternoon at lunch I ran down to Louisiana Music Factory and finally picked up Harry Connick Jrs new CD. I only got "Oh, My Nola" I will get the other one soon. Nothing perks up an afternoon like new music. After work I headed BACK to the quarter to meet up with some friends that were playing for the Krewe of Cork parade. The costumes were fun and the music was amazing. Walking through the quarter with everyone in high spirits just made the evening. I was even sweating slightly, the weather was amazing! After it was over we headed back to another friends house were we all regrouped and got organized for the parades that rolled. It was then off to the Leaf for a interesting night of music and people. Hell Frenchy even pulled out a trumpet and played.

Saturday it was a partial parade, that day was the cold day. We definetly didn't layer enough. But the sun was shining and that was all the mattered. We hit the Orpheus open house. Hung out with my dear wonderful friends that are riding and got to mess with the chip licker a bit. We eventually headed out to Le Bon Temps to hear a bit of Big Sam.

Sunday it was the big day. I had been looking forward to Sunday since I had been told about it. My friends Megan and Andy got engaged!! It was a big eloborate plan on Andy's part and Megan didn't figure it out at ALL! A ring box was tossed off a float a few of their friends were riding on, there was a ring box transfer and then Andy was on one knee on St. Charles proposing. It was the most excellent day.

I have a few days to recharge and clean before friends and family start to arrive. Here come the parades!!

All That We Have Learned


A few weeks ago my roomie and I took a mini road trip to Memphis. Somehow in the drive down we started talking about state capitols. We then tried to to name all the state capitols. We couldn't do it. Is that sad? I remember back in maybe in the 5th grade when we were tested on the state capitols and you had to know every single one. Now I am lucky if I can remember 10 state capitols. Why is it as we get older do we seem to lose some of that information we learned when we were little. Or is it just me? I am always amazed when a celebrity puts out a biography and they remember what they were doing on a certain day when they were 3. How can anyone remember that? Do they just have amazing steel trap memories? Sometimes it is a stretch to remember what I had for dinner last night let alone when I was three. So go ahead, try to name all the state capitols without using google. How did you do??

50 Book Challenge

#4 Cheet ~ Anna Davis. Quick silly read.

#5 (#2 in Classics) Winter's Tales ~ Isak Dinesen I got this book for a Christmas gift, it is by the same author that wrote "Out of Africa" It is a collection of very vidid stories. I found myself sucked into more than one story. Again most of them were very dark, but worth the read.

RIP

The following is a short article from the Missoulian. Lynn is/was my aunt's partner for many years.

Arlee woman killed in crash north of Missoula
MISSOULA - A 53-year-old Arlee woman died at the scene Thursday after her car swerved into the path of a semi tractor-trailer on U.S. 93 north of here.Missoula County Sheriff's Lt. Mike Pfau identified the victim as Lynn Shelby, 53. She reportedly died from blunt force trauma.The Montana Highway Patrol said that the southbound lane was closed for about one hour after the crash, which happened at about noon.
Shelby reportedly had stopped to pick up fast food just before the accident.It was Montana's 15th highway death this year, one fewer than on the same date a year ago.

It's OVER!!!!!

I promise not to bitch about the water or any issues in this post (someone remind me to tell ya'll bout the rats one day, or the bats that did fly bys on the car this morning)

I started this day off great. With a piece of King Cake. There really is no other way to say "Good Morning" than a piece of King Cake and coffee. In fact it was so good that I may go grab another piece. How I also knew it will be a good day? First song on the ipod shuffle this morning was Craig Klein's "Marie Laveau". Tomorrow Bonerama plays at d.b.a. The next night we will be there again for Tin Men. After of course taking in Krewe de Vieux. I love that parade. It is soooo much fun. Chris Rose is the big Kahuna for this parade. I :heart: Chris Rose. Also it is only like 2 weeks till my sister gets into town....my crazy friends as well. Other than the 14th? This month should be a-okay!