*headdesk*

It's finally Friday - yay!!! Let me tell you a bit about my week:

As I mentioned in my previous post, I did not get to go to the big parades this weekend because Molly-Moo was sick. It's okay, it's not like there won't be Mardi Gras next year. Heck - St. Patrick's Day is next month and there are several parades to chose from then, too.

I also think I've explained that because J is a five-oh, in addition to working his regular day shift he also has to work Parade details, so, like every other cop in New Orleans, they don't get to see home much over the 8 or so days of hard-core parading. Well, our toilet seat lost a bolt - it was a metal bolt that rusted and fell out, and couldn't be replaced. I went to Wal-Mart and picked up a nice new seat (with plastic bolts this time - that old seat was only a few months old!). I pulled the old seat off the toilet....and the screw that was still in the toilet STAYED in the toilet. So now I've got a toilet with no seat and a screw I can't get out. I used a wrench, pliers, and a hammer. My teenager tried to get it out - no luck. So, poor J is working his ass of and comes home tired and hungry, and I've got to tell him he has to fix the toilet. I must say he was a really good sport about the whole thing, and it took him a while to get it off too.

Then, two days later at work, the copier ran out of toner. So, I carefully followed the directions and pulled the empty toner out and put the new toner in....except the toner wouldn't go all the way in...I tried twice, then pulled it out - and toner went everywhere! The top had come lose so now there's toner in the machine and on the floor and on me. *sigh*

And, 'cause these things always come in threes: Because it's Mardi Gras, the kids get the whole week of school off. Ian actually got the whole week off + Monday for a total of 10 days off (jealous!). Molly's pre-K interview was today at Bridget's school, and as I walked into the building, I see kids all over...you guessed it - Bridget had school yesterday and today and I didn't know! Now, that's just good parenting, I tells ya!

Mardi Blahs :(

Well, as excited as I was about Mardi Gras, it ended up being a wash out. Lil' Bit was sick through the week and as the temps were in the 40s during the times we would have been out on the parade route, I elected to be a responsible parent (yuck!) and stay home with her. I will say that on the plus side it was definitely a "snuggle" week.

Jerrod's job requires that he be out there for the Uptown parades (my favorites). This year my son went to work with him to fulfill his Christian Service Hours for school. I think I mentioned that Muses is my favorite parade....look what they brought home for me:


I don't know if Blogger is going to let me enlarge the pics, but there is all kinds of Muses plush, shoe necklaces, bracelets, and.....



The coveted Muses Shoe - not one, but two of them!!! In all my years of attending this parade I've never caught a shoe.

You guys are the best!!! Love you!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

True love lasts forever.

Not Quite the Parade We Expected...

Let me preface this by saying, if you've never been on the Algiers Ferry (the ferry that takes you from the West Bank of New Orleans and lets you off at the foot of Canal Street in Downtown New Orleans), it's pretty straightforward. The ferry runs on the hour and half-hour, which means it leaves the Westbank at XX:00 and leaves the Eastbank at XX:30. The longest you'd ever have to wait for the ferry is 30 minutes, and that's only if you just missed it...

So yesterday we decide we're going to avoid the standstill bridge traffic and head over by ferry and walk and watch the parade there. What greeted us as we approached was not one, but two lines, thousands of people waiting to get onto the ferry:

These are photos of the side we were on. At the other entrance to the ferry was another line equally as long.

See it's getting darker here and we're still not up the steps of the terminal yet...

Here we are 30 minutes into the wait...Lil' Bit is sick and shortly after this photo I walked her the 5 blocks to my parent's house and walked back and hubs had only moved forward about 10 feet...

We got into the line at 5:00, by 7:00 we gave up. We only made it to the doors into the waiting area to get onto the ferry, and once we were there a ferry pulled up but there were so many people we would have had to wait for at least one more. The surge of people trying to get onto the ferry was actually scaring me and at that point we decided to go home and watch it on TV.

Disappointed? Yes. But glad the city showed such an outpouring of love for our boys in Black and Gold!

Party in the NOLA!

Well, the city is still riding the wave of Superbowl victory! Everywhere you turn, friends and strangers holler "Who Dat!" and everyone is still sportin' their black and gold. Tonight is the big victory parade - 9 Krewes loaned signature floats to the team for their parade. It's going to be awesome! Jerrod is actually going to be able to attend this one, so we're definitely there!! I'm a bit worried as it looks like temps will be in the 30s, and of course Molly-Moo woke up with a cough this morning :(

The next several days look to be crazy: Saints parade tonight; Druids tomorrow night (haven't decided if we'll go); Thursday night is Babylon, Muses (my favorite parade!!), and Chaos; Friday night is Hermes, d'Etat (another favorite!), and Morpheus; Saturday afternoon is Iris and Tucks; Saturday night is Endymion (which I usually skip as the fans for this parade are obnoxious). Sunday will be an all-day affair - we get there early for a good spot, watch Okeanos, Mid-City, Thoth, and then wait for the big one: Bacchus. It's going to be crazy this year as Drew Brees is King Bacchus this year. Then Monday is Proteus and Orpheus (Harry Connick Jr.'s parade). Tuesday is Mardi Gras, and those parades start at 8:00. I usually stay home for Mardi Gras as I don't like getting up that early and the crowds are so thick it makes me nervous. So I use it as a day to take care of all the stuff I've ignored over the last week.

Sleep? We don't need no stinkin' sleep! Or, as SIL(H) likes to say "You'll get plenty of sleep when you're dead." Well said!

Who Dat Won Dat!!!!

Superbowl Champions!!!!!

Way to go New Orleans Saints!!!!

I could totally see this happening:

And you know that one chick parties HARD!

Lookin' Mighty Fine In That Dress, Man...

I blogged the other day about Jerrod and Co. going to march with Bobby Hebert in dresses because the Saints made it to the Superbowl. He had a blast! He came home that evening pretty toasted, he was so funny. He must have told me 12 times in 12 minutes "Baby, I'm starving. What's for dinner?" "Baby, I'm so hungry. When are we eating?" He's such a happy drunk!

Here's what you've all been waiting for - the photographic evidence:

Bobby Hebert (former Saints quarterback and local icon):

Jerrod, Dan, and Dave before the march at the Superdome:

Dan looks like a fortune teller in the Quarter:

(Note my adorable fleur-de-lis purse in the background!)

Love the tats and the flask, Dave:

Jerrod in the crowd:

Male bonding at the Dome:

Showing off his Saints underwear:

Trying to earn some extra cash:


Nice crowd:

So,there you have it - a good time was had by all!!!

I like it like that...

I have to tell you, I have had the best two days in a row that I've had in a long time. I think you all know by now I've been in a kind of funk, at work and at home, and I've been making a concerted effort to get over it.

Now, through no fault of my own, the last two days have been spectacular! Things at work are clicking, and things at home are looking up. I feel like I'm standing in a sunbeam. I actually caught myself smiling for no reason while sitting in traffic on the way home.

Oh, God, I hope I'm not manic!! Just kidding. Seriously, yesterday and today I'm lovin' life.

And hey, check out my other blog - I won a blog header makeover over by Parajunkee at Peace, Love & Pat, and Parajunkee finished it today! It looks great and she helped me with a new background and tweaked some other stuff and I love it! For my birthday I'm going to ask her to do some other stuff to just kind of "finish" it. It was a nice finish to a great couple of days!

Soft Cell

I'm in my buillding this morning, and I'm in a rush. There's an old guy ahead of me and he can't get his passkey to scan, then he toddles to the elevators and I can't get around him. I'm all annoyed and having a mental rant about how old folks should be forced to wear belts with flashers on them or something so you know to go around....

Then he gets a call on his cell phone. I don't know why but I think it's the cutest thing in the world when old people use cell phones. My blood pressure immediately dropped and I wanted to give him a pinch and tell him how cute he is!