Mary McTitties and other Mardi Gras staples

Thanks to the wonderful generosity of Mom (and Dad for not minding being alone), I was able to take the kids (sans Molly) to the parades last night. While Mom came over to watch my snot-nosed kid (no, really, she has a URI and her nose is like a nasty faucet) Ian, BB, and I were able to catch 4 parades! (BB also brought along her school project - "Flat Stanley". He's a cutout she colored and has to bring on adventures, write in her journal, and document with photos.) KenEllie and her mother were there and I think had a great time (more on that below). Our long lost friend, Dan the Mexican (DtM) was there - I haven't seen him in ages, and it was great to hang out, AND, his GF Dannie(or "y", I'm not sure) from BR came in - haven't seen her in forever either. The parades were great, although my favorite, Muses, was a bit behind the others and passed us at about 25 mph trying to catch up, so we really did not get quality time to catch throws as they whizzed by. HOWEVER, Ian did catch the most prized of Muse throws: a shoe. He caught a red ballet flat decorated in glitter and beads with a couple of plastic "jewels" glued to it. He almost ended up "Flat Ian", but in the end, the prize was his.

So, here are the high (or low) points from last night, scribbled on the back of a McDonald's receipt so that I wouldn't forget:

I guess I'll start with McDonalds. Now, we've been coming to the same location to catch the parades for years. There have always been port-o-lets in the parking lot at the McD's, which is one of the plusses of our choice of spot. This year, however, they decided that you have to buy a meal to use the pots. One meal, one person can go, and they keep your receipt. So, DtM and I went in to buy meals (two meals, two receipts), and while we were waiting for our food, I noticed there was a trash can with receipts in it!!! Of course, we grabbed a few and were set for the night!!!

Now, where we were standing was a pretty good spot. DtM was able to secure front-row and a bit of space behind us, so we were lookin' good. The people to our right were a big family with parents, teenagers, and kids on ladders (typical Mardi Gras spectators). The teenagers were soooo obnoxious!!! They kept pushing each other out into the street in front of floats and in between bands (a big no-no). Ellie got shoved a few times, but apparently she told them what's what. Even the dad was a bit obnoxious - holding a kid and shoving people out of the way to catch beads (on more than one occasion), which is pretty dangerous. There were some older people in that group (I think they were together, it's hard to tell sometimes) who kept popping up and blocking KenEllie, so that was frustrating for them. BUT, her mom did catch some nice throws, and although they had to leave early I think they had a nice time. (Note to KenEllie: our friend who showed up late was apparently good friends with the strange older couple!!! I'll tell you about it later)

To the left of us was Mary McTitties. First, the description: Not hot. Not ugly, but not even cute. A bit chubby but not fat. Mid-length curly blonde hair and glasses. And a shirt two sizes too small that didn't cover very much (think period movies and "heaving bosoms"). I'm guessing late 20's early 30's - it was dark so I couldn't really tell. At the beginning of the first parade, she started by begging the riders for stuff, but they weren't having any of it. One of the popular throws was a light-up crest necklace, and a few people had already caught one, including DtM and Ian. So she comes over to Ian and asks him to give him the next one he catches. So I say, "if he catches another one he'll offer it to his mother before he offers it to a stranger". So she kinda backs off a bit, but hints to DtM that she'd sure like one if he gets another. Well, a few more floats into the parade, she sees that Ian is catching some pretty good stuff and sharing with members of our party. She offers him one strand of glass beads and says in exchange she'd like to pick from whatever he catches in the future that she likes. I cut her off right there - no way. Ian looked annoyed at the time, but after he'd seen her in action for awhile he thanked me. What I didn't know, because I was keeping an eye on BB and looking forward or to the right, was that she was up on a 1/2 ladder, leaning forward and pushing her boobs out. Not flashing, but almost. Now, it got pretty chilly out there, and she did not put on a coat until the last (all female) parade. This woman checked out everything he and DtM caught. DtM made me laugh, every time he would catch something "good" he'd show if off and then give it to one of his students standing across the street. After Dannie showed up she was a bit less obvious, but that kind of parade-goer drives me nuts.

All in all, we had a great time. We got home around 12:45, so we are all tired today! Because Molly is sick, we skipped today's parades so that hopefully we'll be able to go tomorrow. Tomorrow is an all day affair, and hopefully Molly will be able to handle that. I'm just gonna play it by ear and see how it goes.