18 days in the life of Kristen.....

Well, I stayed in New Orleans longer than I expected, but I had a great time!!!  I left on 08 Feb and returned to Del Rio on 26 Feb!!!  18 days!!!  I know it sounds like a long time, but I figure we only live 10-12 hrs away from New Orleans right now…and who knows where we’ll be next?!  So I/we should take advantage of being able to travel to and from Louisiana while I/we can.  Before I left Del Rio, I cooked Coy a few meals for lunch and dinner.  Poor thing had to fend for his self for a few days because I was gone longer than I expected!  But he’s a big boy, so he was fine! 

I left early enough to catch the Saints parade in New Orleans, and boy was that an experience!!!  I’ve never seen so many people at a parade before.  I mean the traffic getting there was crazy!  I felt so bad because I went with my parents and we brought my Godchild, Bryce, but he couldn’t really see everything because there were so many people in front of us!  And it was FREEZING!!!  I had on my mom’s coat and my dad’s ski gloves!  We parked so far away and took a street car all the way up St. Charles….it was Bryce’s first time on a street car!!!  I’m glad we went….we may never see a superbowl parade in our hometown again!  But I have faith that we will…fingers crossed!!! 

My plan was to take it easy the first week in New Orleans…that Friday I saw the Oddo’s at Majestic and visited my friend Crystal who just had a baby, and my weekend plans were to go to Endymion, Bacchus, the Orpheuscapade on Lundi Gras, Mardi Gras on Fat Tuesday, visit family and friends the rest of the week, and pick up king cakes for class 11-01 that Friday and drive home.  Well, things didn’t really go as planned!  I found out that my favorite bakery, Haydel’s, closes the entire week of Mardi Gras….so they closed the Sat before Mardi Gras and re-opened the following Tues (an entire week from Fat Tuesday)!  So I changed my plans to leave that Tuesday rather than Friday.  I didn’t really do too much parading…my mom and I went to Endymion with her friend Becky and then her and I drove to Bacchus the following night, saw Drew Brees, then called it a night.  Mardi Gras seemed so crowded and cold this year!

My friend Kara invited me to go to the Orpheuscapade on Monday night, so I went to that and had a lot of fun!  Kara used to be a VooDoo Doll with me – she also invited Bridget and Wren (another Doll – now a Honeybee) who are also good friends of Coy and I.  At the ball we met up with our friends Rachel and Giselle (both were Dolls as well, but Rachel is also a Honeybee now & Giselle is a mommy).  It was so much fun seeing my girls again and getting all “dolled” up for the night!!!  Rachel made us all cute little headbands….we had a blast!  I’ve never been to a ball like the Orpheuscapade where the floats roll through the convention center!  It was so neat!  We were all standing on chairs waving to the floats…which was pretty scary….we watched SO MANY drunk people fall because their chairs folded up on them!  It was sad and hilarious all at the same time.  While watching everyone fall I kept asking myself and my friends why we were still standing on the chairs!  Oh well, we didn’t fall so I guess we made out okay!  After the parade came through, we listened to Sean Payton speak, and then Taylor Dayne and Smashmouth performed.  It was a looooong night!  The evening starts at 1900 and ends at 0300!!!  It was so much fun - I wish Coy was able to be there with me….hopefully next year!  Thanks Kara for inviting me!!! 

I didn’t partake in Mardi Gras day festivities, but I did watch it on TV!!!  On Wednesday I had dinner with my sister in law, Mia, at Casa Garcia (we ate lettuce wraps just for you Mrs. Dianne!) so that was nice!!!  That night I felt a tickly throat thing going on.  On Thursday I knew I was getting sick, but sick to me and those who know me is just me really not feeling good but not actually having proof of how bad I’m feeling.  Well on Friday, along with coughing, chills, and fever I had all the proof I needed to stay in my mom and dad’s bed all day!  I’m so happy I was at my parent’s house and not in Del Rio because Coy cannot afford to get sick.  It’s crazy how much your parents do for you when you have fever.  I NEVER have fever….so this was a whole new experience for me!  My mom went to the store for me, made soup for me, brought me medicine, drink, etc.!  My dad also did the same…he even went to Baskin-Robbins and got ice cream for me!  I’m so thankful to have a mom and dad that love me so much!!!  Trust me, I was milking it every second I could….it’s been a long time since I’ve had that kind of attention!  Pretty funny!  I even took a picture of the thermometer just so Coy would believe that I really had fever! Anyway, my dad ended up taking me to the after hours clinic on Saturday because I wasn’t feeling too good and I was told I had an upper respiratory infection!  Yuk!  So I had prescriptions to take that made me drowsy which is why I stayed in New Orleans until Friday rather than Tuesday.  I planned on visiting Coy’s granny and grandpa after Mardi Gras with Mia along with some of my family, but unfortunately I got sick and was unable to do so.  I guess next time I know to start visiting right when I get in town!  I had that entire first week, but had planned to save visiting for before I left to go home to Del Rio.  At the end of the week, I still was not feeling good at all, but I met my maw-maw for lunch, spent the day with my cousin Sabrina, and had dinner with my Aunt Charlet….good times with the people I love, I just wish I could’ve seen everyone. 

Oh, I almost forgot…I went with my parents to my dad’s friend’s house in Loranger, LA.  His friend, Nicky, is a taxidermist on the side.  He also raises white-tailed deer.  It was so neat to go to his house….he had one doe and 3 bucks.  He also shared many stories about deer he raised.  He has dead stuffed animals everywhere!  Deer, elk, squirrels, turkeys, fish, bobcats, minks, gators, coyotes, pheasants, etc….if it could be killed, eaten, and stuffed, it was on his wall!  I couldn’t believe it!  Anyway, I don’t eat deer, but he cooked a roast for us that was delicious….and I later found out it was a cute little polka dotted deer I ate.  Oh well, it was yummy.  Nicky is very talented and has eaten everything he’s killed through the years.  He’s entered many of his mountings in contests and has won so many awards.  It was very interesting to see all the work he’s done, how much time and effort he spends doing his hobby, and learning how to tell the age of deer and seeing one bucks antlers through time after they have fallen off.  Very educational trip!!! 

Before I left town, I had dinner with my friend Kim and Godchild Bryce, lunch with a couple of work friends, and my dad cooked steaks with a few yummy sides!  I eat so much when I go to NOLA…we just don’t have all those yummy choices in Del Rio!  I hope I didn’t get anyone I met out sick!  I’m not sure when I/we’ll be back in NOLA, but I’ll definitely see most of you next time when I’m in town and not sick!  On Friday, I picked up four king cakes from Haydel’s and journeyed back to my husband in Del Rio…me and little Dallas! 

 Until next time, thanks for reading!  I’ll try to post more often….I’m going back to subbing next week, so I may have a few funny stories to share next time!  Have a good day!!!

~Kristen