Weekend please hurry up!

I am not down with being at work today. While I have a few things to do, they are not things I want to do and they are not urgent. I have a pretty big deadline coming up so I have been notified by most of those who will submit that day, but now they have all disappeared. Only to reappear later all at once demanding me to work! So I am trying to enjoy the downtime.

However, it is FRIDAY and I just want to go home.

And today is food day so I also want to go home to get away from all the food. I used to like food day but now it kinda puts me in a bad mood. It is just not fun anymore.
1) I don't feel like cooking for such a large group
2) we have groups for main dish, breakfast, dessert, ect. and sometimes I do not feel like making something that fits in my group (and the one time I was a rebel in didn't follow orders I brought the exact same thing as someone else)
3) I don't need to eat ALL DAY and it is really, really, really hard not to do that when the food sits outside my cube.
4) It is always at the end of the month when I have no extra money.
But everyone else loves it so I guess I am the only fuddy duddy in the bunch.

Tonight a bunch of my highschool girlfriends are coming into town. We are going out to Ninfa's for dinner. It should be fun, it usually is. I always just have a wierd anticipation when I get together with them. I think it is a mix of guilt for never talking to alot of them anymore and then also just thinking will they still like me? Stupid, really, because then we get together and have a good time. And it is not like I purposely avoid them or that they do that to me either. But I still have an awkward feeling about it sometimes.

Sunday I am going to be a baptism sponsor for one of my friends little boys. I have never done that before. It should be interesting. I hope she does not ask me to hold him during the process! I don't know who the other sponsors are going to be.

Bear is going to San Antonio for a coaching clinic this weekend. I just wish it was not so far away. Gas it too expensive! But at least everything else is paid for... for once by the school.

Well this took up a few minutes of my time. Now I am going to see if I can sneak out early...

Vacation Recap

We had a very good time on tour trip to New Orleans with Dee and Jason. We tried several new places and went to the Garden District which we had not done before. We still have a few things on our list for next time, but we found a few more favorites to add to our list of MUST DOs. Here is a recap.

We left Dee and Jason's about 8:30 and made the necessary stop at Starbucks before we officially hit the road. Jason drove until we needed to stop for gas the first time, then Bear took over until Baton Rouge. Dee and I kept busy with crosswords, sudoku and Southern Living magazines.

In Baton Rouge, we stopped for lunch close to the LSU campus as The Chimes, which our friends from LSU suggested. The food was very good and they also had beer from 'Round the World. So Jason and Bear had fun sampling a few.

We had a pretty leisurely lunch and then Dee and I took over the front seat with me driving so the boys could nap after their beers. We got stuck in traffic (once we finally figured out how to get back on I-10 East!) as we usually do in Baton Rouge plus it started to rain. We finally go going and then hit traffic AGAIN once we got into New Orleans. Finally, we made it to the hotel, unloaded our bags and took the car to Harrah's to park it at the casino. Then we went to gamble for our 30 minutes so we could get the free parking.

Next we went to walk around the Quarter. We saw a sign for drink specials at the Cat's Meow and decided to go in. It was 3 for 1 beers. So you couldn't get 4, you had to get 3 or 6. So 6 it was. We sat in the outside courtyard while people inside karaoked. There was a wild bunch of older women in there, whoa!

Eventually, after going to Walgreen's for pepcid and energy drinks (I told Dee aren't we with some old men who need that stuff!), we went to dinner at Cafe Maspero. We had to wait in line a little bit but it was well worth it. It wasn't the grandest establishment, but it was good food, really cheap! We ordered the Seafood platter (10.75!) and also each of us had $1 Strawberry Daiquiri. You really can't beat that.

Bear started not to feel good during the meal, we were all guessing it the was possibly the energy drink... We walked down Bourbon scoping things out for the next day and headed back to the hotel.

Thursday morning we slept a little late. We all got going and ready by about 10:30, almost lunch, but we of course wanted to visit Cafe Du Monde. So we headed over there and had beignets and cafe a laut all around. It was so YUMMY! Even better than I remembered. Then we began exploring. We went down to the French Market, which now has a fancy covered pavilion type place with bathrooms and a business office. And we went by The Gazebo Cafe and picked up a few ice cream daiquiris. They are SO good, but very filling.

Next, Bear and Jason had scoped out the oldest bar in America, Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop Bar. They went in while Dee and I strolled the block and finished our daiquiris.

It was SOooo HOt! And somehow I had lost my pony tail holder at breakfast. We went in the bar to cool off for a while. Luckily, Dee found an extra pony tail holder for me!!! YAY!

We walked around a bit more and eventually stopped at Chartres House Cafe for Bloody Mary's. We also decided to share an appetizer. We had the BEST Crawfish Cake ever. And the drinks were great!

Next, we wanted to go to the Garden District so we went all the way down to walk along the River. We heard what we thought was someone playing a recorder, you know like the one's you get in 5th grade music class? But really loud! It turned out to be a River Boat playing with the steam whistles.

We took the St. Charles Street rail car into the Garden District and went on a walking tour we found online. Jason and Bear were our tour guides. The houses were beautiful, but we were getting so HOT and we had to go to the bathroom and we were getting hungry. While Dee and I were appreciative, we told the boys we had been there done that and they were happy they wouldn't have to bring us back again. We passed a home owned by John Goodman and one owned by Nicholas Cage. The landscaping was beautiful as well as all the homes. Some were under construction and some were for sale. You don't get to go inside any of them so next time we said that we want to pretend we are in the market so we can go inside!!!

We went back to the hotel to rest and shower. Once we were revived, we headed out to have some fun. We had dinner at the Crescent City Brewhouse. It was good food once again. Then we were off to various bars for the rest of the evening.

We discovered the Chart Room bar. They had $1.50 Miller High Life ON TAP. That was very "unique". Cheap beer. But also THAT beer. On Tap. Plus the oddest mix of music ever. Fun, but odd.

Then we went to the Old Absinthe House. The beer there was skunky to say the least. Either skunky, or definitely NOT what I ordered. We were in and out.

Next we went to the Hotel Monteleone and sat in the Carousel Bar. It was actually moving!! Not fast, but still moving. The bartender was staying in one spot and we were going round and round. Very cool!

Then we went to Pat O'Brien's. And as I had told Jason and Dee earlier, it suddenly became a good idea for Bear to drink a Hurricane even though he swore he would not have one ever again. It did take him a while to get it down. We sat in the Piano bar for a long time. It was so much fun!!

Then we all had one more beer on the balcony of the Jazz Emporium.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped Daisy Dukes for breakfast. DO NOT ASK. It was food and we needed it. They were open all night. And yes, the girls dressed accordingly. I remember feeling like I was eating at Mel's Diner in Giddings like we used to do when we had late nights in high school!

Needless to say were not moving too terribly fast on Friday. We all felt fine, but sleeping in felt great. We didn't get going until around 11 so we skipped Cafe Du Monde and went straight to lunch. We had gumbo at Court of Two sisters and then shopped on Royal Street. We found alot of cool art places, and while I love the style of all of the NOLA art, I can't afford it. Maybe one day. We had another snack later that afternoon at The Gazebo and listened to some live music. Then we went back to shopping again. While Bear and Jason finished up looking at some places, Dee and I headed to a bar to sit down for a while. Our legs hurt so bad! And again it was hot so we decided to go back to the hotel and shower and rest up again.

But on our way back, we were finally able to stop at Napoleon House Bar. We had tried several times and it was always closed and we couldn't figure out WHY! So we stopped in and had a drink.

I had their "special drink" made with a liquor they invited called Pimms. It was Pimms, lemonade and 7-up with a cucumber. It was Ok, nothing really special if you ask me, just kinda weird.

Once we all had some energy again, we went to Harrah's to get a free drink we had acquired earlier. Then we went to The House of Blues for their happy hour specials and live music. It was really neat! I had not been before and I will definitely go back. Next, we made a stop at Red Fish Grille so the boys could have oysters. Red Fish is one of our favorites but it is a little pricey. But they had really great, guess what, Red Fish! Then we tried to go to dinner at a place that Aunt D suggested but they were not open anymore and it was only 9! So we ended up at The Original Pierre Maspero's. It was really, really good. Or what I had was. It was Shrimp Remoulade that will never forget!!!

I didn't take any pictures of the third evening or Saturday ... not exactly sure why! I guess I was tired or something...

Saturday we didn't sleep to late. We had to go to the Casino and gamble our 30 minutes to get our car out of the garage for free. It turned out, that we only had to gamble 30 minutes on the day we needed to get it out of the garage and not 30 minutes per day as we originally thought. Then we loaded up and had one last meal at Mother's. Then we had to be on our way back home.

It was a very fun, much needed and much appreciated vacation. And while we did several new things, the great thing is there is always more to do when we go back!

Last Friday...

I was in New Orleans. And today I am at work. I really wish I could reverse back to last Friday. I believe I was getting out of bed and getting ready to go eat lunch about this time. We went to Court of Two Sisters for our first meal of the day. Or if you are Bear, you call it Tale of Two Sisters. And then we cruised the shops on Royal Street. AND Bear was actually into it and said I could go into any shop I wanted. Which of course, he regretted later. It was fun! No purchases just browsing, but still fun. I will have to post the whole 4 day trek when I download the pictures. I suppose I will get to that this weekend.

Until then, I am stuck here at work. Amazingly, I can still get to blogger as management picked this week to lock down all outside websites. Ah, the joy of working with people who can't act like adults on a regular basis. And therefore ruin it for everyone. This is me sticking my tongue out at you, as most of you are all older than me, and therefore should know to act PROFESSIONAL.

I am ready. Well, almost ready.

So 2 days of vacation are gone :-(

I have done alot in the past 2 days though. And I am tired. I am sore. I can barely move. But darn it, I got everything done that I wanted to do.

• I weeded the flower bed. (I wanted to mulch it too, but I am saving that for a day my husband can lift the bags for me. Wimpy, wimpy, wimpy.)
• I vacuumed out the truck. I did a half ass job but Bear made a MESS of that thing. HE can clean it up.
• I vacuumed out the car, windexed the windows and washed the outside. AND even vacuumed out the trunk too. Downside was 20 minutes after I finished, it rained.
• I organized the file cabinet and shredded old documents. I signed up for paperless billing for utilities and phone stuff. I don't need those piles of paper now do I? I had been holding on to things from 2003!!!
• I also cleaned up the guest bedroom.
• I ironed things that had been sitting there for ever.
• I got all the clothes washed.
• I cleaned the entire kitchen. Not even any dishes left on the counter to "dry".
• I mopped the whole house.
• I called the extension office to ask about our dead tree. They are coming next Tuesday.
• I mowed the football field and got really sunburn. It looks very special since I was wearing a tank top.
• I ran errands: mailed stuff, went to the bank, had change counted at bank, went to Ssteinmart to return things and went to Walmart.

Still a few things I wish I had done:

• Mulching the flower bed.
• Get a hair cut and highlight.
• Get oil changed and tires rotated and balanced on the car. It can wait until we get back from NOLA (or that is what we think anyway, we have roadside assistance if something happens)
• Organize pictures and buy negative protectors. I actually was about to order some stuff online, but then I decided not too. For another day...

Next, I need to pack and get ready for our trip. I have kept myself busy so I haven't really been thinking about it enough to get excited. But I am excited... I am sure I won't be able to sleep tonight... I really feel like a nap RIGHT NOW but since I usually have sleep issues anyway when I stay somewhere else, I guess I better skip it. I still have to wash my hair, shave and paint my toes. Then I have to pack everything. That will probably take me the next 2 hours until Bear gets home. And I will probably still make us late somehow.

YAY for VACATION!!!

The latest events... and why I am a total loser!

This past weekend was Aunt D's wedding. It was quite lovely and I got all teary eyed as she came down the aisle and stuff. I hate it when brides cry! I mean you can't help but remember that very scary yet wonderfully joyous moment that it was for yourself. It just makes you cry...


After the ceremony the reception was at the church hall. They had it all decorated up with round tables and white chairs, table cloths and even nice folded napkins! Not the type of stuff I am used to seeing at most DB weddings. So it was quite nice (NOT that there aren't nice weddings in DB, there are, but you get what I mean!).


I was in charge of cutting the cake. S and A helped me get through that. I was nervous for some reason, but once I started cutting, I was fine. Or could it be the 2 glasses of wine I had before I started cutting? Hmm. So we cut most of the cake and laid it out for people to come and get themselves. Then we got in line to eat. I really did not eat enough... because then it looked like more cake needed to be cut and then we were asked to pass out the cake since the girls they had planned to do that for them didn't want to. So I got up and finished cutting and I must say I passed off the asking people if they want some to my MIL. Hey, she was good at it!


So then I had a few more glasses of wine and here is where things start heading in the wrong direction. Hence why I am a loser. Because the reception was at the church hall, we had to be out by 10 so the party was moving to Aunt D's barn (don't judge people, this is how we do it in the big DB and it is FUN). So we go to the barn and start playing flippy cup. Oh wait, FIRST, I get another glass of wine. And finish it while playing flippy cup with BEER. Do you see the direction we are headed here? That is right... drinking game = BB is so stupid and is a loser. She is not in college anymore, but somehow she thinks she is. Because after playing that game, I don't remember what happened. Certain people have filled in the details and so I have remembered a few things. But basically, the next hour before we leave and go to bed and all that... NADA. Nope I just wake up the next morning feeling like you know what. LOSER!

So now that it is finally Friday the guilt of that has finally worn off. Isn't that how it always happens? You swear off drinking for a few days after and then it doesn't sound so bad again. When will I learn? I am almost 30 and haven't learned yet...

Loving Life

Today is a good day.

(much better than the last day I posted, obviously!)

I am not sure why exactly today is so good. But it is. Maybe because I laughed alot this morning and that always feels great. Laughter is definitely the best medicine, always.

June has gone by without one post from me. So here is the low down on June so far... I am feeling listy today.

The first weekend in June was jam packed with fun.

• Friday night we went out for a bachelorette party. I didn't drink because I didn't feel good. We ate at Abuelo's and I sent everyone off to have a good time at Northgate without me.
• Saturday I slept in and cleaned house. Then we left for a wedding in G-town. It was a very nice, sweet wedding on the courthouse steps. The reception was basically a grand pasture party complete with BBQ, beer and a live band. I was still not feeling good and got a killer headache from the heat or something and so went home early. Again, no drinking because I felt bad. And I didn't get to dance to the great band. Probably saved me a hangover though!
• We stayed at the MILs and then tried to get up to go to church on Sunday. But, turns out our alarm clock was wrong by one hour in the wrong direction. So we woke up too late. Instead we went to eat at MY FAVORITE chinese place on the planet - Hunan's in G-town. OMG I love that place. I have never had anything anywhere else like it. Then I convinced Bear to take me out to my Grandparents in Fedor. I needed to visit but also had alterior motives: fresh veggies from the garden. When we go there I thought my grandpa was taking a nap and I didn't want to scare him or wake him up, so we got a few things from the garden ourselves and left. (Turned out he was at a family reunion which I did not know was going on that day down the road.) So then I said why don't we visit my Mema. We go there and she was not home either! I took some more vegetables and left her a note.
• Then we were off to DB again for a graduation party. The end. (and maybe it was not such a good weekend after all, nothing seemed to work out and there was no drinking! pooh)

On to last weekend....

• We were off Thursday and Friday and went to the FRIO. I love the Frio! Except this year it was so very, very, very low. And we didn't stay where we normally stay, instead we "camped" at Bec's RV which is not on the river with A & M (hee!) and S & R from DB. We stayed in A & M's pop up camper. It was fun except for the water being so low. We couldn't really tube on the parts of the river we normally do. And my back got a really bad sunburn on the last day.
• Basically, we would get up and make breakfast. Then fart around until 11, then tube, then come back and take a 2 to 3 hour nap. Then we would wonder if we should go on another tube, but instead we would just cook dinner and eat AGAIN. I gained 5 lbs. No kidding. From 4 days. So 1.25 pounds per day. As if I needed THAT! ah vacations...
• 
  

What's up this weekend: Aunt D's wedding in DB, stay tuned.

I think part of my good mood today is also that work has finally slowed down and given me a much needed (and in my book dare I say deserved) break. I got done with some really big proposals and it feels nice to breath and you know maybe check the news while at work! Or just in general get a moment to breath! So YAY for that.

OH WAIT!

I forgot to say... I won an award at work at our very nice Spring Luncheon. WOOHOO!! Supastar!!

Breaker! breaker! you still there?

Yep, I am still here. But May has been flying by and not much has really been going on that has caused me to have a good reason for blogging. I guess that is good - nothing has happened that I needed to seriously vent about - but also bad - is my life really that boring that I have nothing to tell anyway. Well yes to both!

Let's see... since my last post, we had a college graduation and party for Bear's cousin, Mother's Day and my Dad's Bday all in one weekend. I actually have 2 stories on that weekend.

Interesting and funny story #1... We stayed in DB at my MILs after the graduation party for A and when I got up to go to the bathroom about 1:30 AM, I discovered we were locked into the bedroom. How does that happen you say? Well... here is how. She has those type of door knobs that you pull down to open the door. A few other times we stayed I noticed it was getting increasingly harder to get it open and would probably eventually break. Well when we went to bed that night I noticed it was definitely broken, no more handle at all, but if you pushed the mechanism still left in the knob hole, the open/close part still worked. I decided not to close it all the way, just in case, but MIL has 2 baby kittens in the house roaming around and they kept coming in the room. So I DOUBLE checked the mechanism AGAIN and it worked so I decided to go ahead and close the door. Well... fastforward to 1:30 and it would NOT open AT ALL. And I have to PEE! So I have to wake up Bear, we all know that did not go well. He is mad and proceeds to break even more of the mechanism to where I seriously doubt we are ever getting out. Well I grew up in a trailer house and I have to PEE and so I start eyeing the window. He is telling me I can't jump out the window and yada yada and I just put on my shoes and say watch me! I have done it a million times crawling in and out of the trailer house windows when I locked myself out. So jump, go around to the unlocked back door, let myself in and I finally PEE and then get the tool box. We keep trying and finally I get the door open. Yes, me, the GIRL! But at any rate... we were not stuck in there forever and also we did not have to tear down the down the door. And we slept peacefully until about 11:30 AM ;-)

Interesting Story #2... So on Saturday I go to my Mema's to hang out and do somethings my mom wanted me to do a their "Mother's Day gifts". Well I show up and mom is all "Where is your husband". She NEVER said he needed to come and I don't force him to because it is just easier and more fun for me if he doesn't mope around being bored. PLUS, it was all girls so I had a momentary freak out that why would he come hang out with a bunch of GIRLS (well and one 2 yr old boy). But the reason she wanted him to be there is because she wanted to make ribs for my dad's bday (which was on Sunday). But not just charcoal grilled ribs, the real deal BBQ with wood fire and sop and all that. You know the MANLY kind of BBQ. So my sister and I get the bright idea to try this ourselves. No we are not men, but we figured if they could do it while consuming a few cases of beer, we could do it sober. We made (uhm, my sister made) a fire and were pretty proud of ourselves. I made a sop for the meat. We got coals and put them in the BBQ and put the meat on. Well nothing was really happening and then my Dad shows up. Then Bear shows up. Of course, we had done it ALL WRONG but whatev. Basically, we just didn't build a big enough fire so we did not get enough coals. But we didn't do TOO bad considering we had never done it before and probably way better than mom trying it herself (sorry, ma, love ya!). So they built a big manly fire and we had some ribs about 8:30 at night. HEHEE!

Last weekend we went to a crawfish boil. That was so FUN and I wish I had some more crawfish right this very minute. So yummy.

And this weekend we have done nothing. It is lovely, really it is... but I am starting to get kinda bored and I have Sunday and Monday to get through. Tomorrow I will have to do some cleaning. Things are just kinda messy. And I need to straighten it all up because my parents are coming on Monday to make some grub after moving my sister. They are about to take her to Montana for an internship so it will be good to hang out with them before they leave this Friday. It is going to be weird for her to be gone for 3 months! But that is our only Memorial Day plan. Bear has to work. I do NOT feel bad for him considering he will not be at his "real job" for the next 2.5 months. Although he will be working since he has the meanest wife on earth.

So still here... just not alot to say right now. 10-4, I'm out.

Krista, I just googled "Breaker! Breaker!" and it is a 1977 film starring Chuck Norris. HEEHEEE!!!

YAY for vacations

So I added a ticker for NOLA... hey I don't get to count down to anything else right now so I get to have a ticker for VACATION. YAY for vacations!

Quote

I finally found a quote I really like.

"To get something you never had, you
have to do something you never did."