Believe Dat!

After an nerve-racking game during which my husband and I expressed doubts to the Saints ability to win, they actually won!  This is obviously an unprecedented event in Louisiana history and there was much excitement and jubilation in neighborhoods across the state.  There were even fireworks in my parent's and in-law's neighborhoods.  And it was impossible to make a call or send a text.

It's hard to explain why this means so much.  We just don't get nice things here.  (Well, except for LSU)  Everyone stills talks about Katrina and what the Saints have meant to that city.  And it's a lot for sure.  But down here Katrina is a hard thing to mention and the sadness and desolation of that time is still with everyone.  Even the people not from New Orleans had to deal with the fallout of that storm.  I can't begin to describe the heartbreak I went home with everyday after helping the people who made it out and had no home, no anything anymore.  And things never really picked up from there.  It's just one thing after another and the politicians of our state, well, there's not a lot to say, or maybe there is too much, I don't know.

So we are use to disappointment around here.  And the Saints haven't made it easy.  We've all hung in there with them and have gotten use to not being winners and then they started winning.  And it was amazing.  Our team just kept going and winning and suddenly everyone was talking Super Bowl but with caution because we've been disappointed before.   And then they won!  And it was freaking AMAZING.  The most nail biting game ever.  I will freely admit that before this season I hadn't watched much football and I became interested because they actually had an all-around good team this year.  But my dad has been a fan forever and I grew up with it.  It wasn't the prettiest win, but it was a win.  And the Saints are going to the SUPERBOWL!  So to everyone saying we don't deserve it, we didn't win it.  Well, we did and we are going and we deserve it more than you will ever know.

Ya'll I have to stop the madness

Once again I felt brave and crazy and we gathered ourselves up and went to New Orleans for a day trip. But this time we went with my cousin Kia and her husband David. So we all rode together in their car which is roomy but that car seat takes up a lot of space so Kia and I crammed in the back with Bubs. I should mention that Kia is tall and her husband likes to spread out when he drives apparently because his seat was pushed all the way back and she was folded up like a sardine. I told her to sit behind BT since he doesn't need as much leg room but she didn't so whatever. We went to the aquarium (of which I have no pics since we forgot our camera) and it was nice since it was cool inside. By the time we got there however I was already ready to kill someone.

Bless their hearts, but they have no idea how to schedule time when they have a toddler with them and boo on BT and me for not saying so. When we got to New Orleans Kia was hungry so we walked down to the Riverwalk to eat, which was our first mistake. It was hot in there and I forget that the food is not the best. Bubs is already freaking out since we didn't stop to see the dinosaur outside the aquarium and he is tired, hot, and unhappy. Then we walked back to the aquarium and waited in line to get tickets and Bubs is still trying to see the dinosaur and we don't let him. Then inside he is happy running around going Fish! Fish! and all is okay. But he is still stuck on the dinosaur and wants me to hold him the whole time. But I'm hot and aggravated and I think he needs to walk some or get in the stroller. And then...

he see the white alligator but BT wants him to go to the touching room first and thus begins a total meltdown. Alligator, I see alligator and BT is trying to get him to play, but there will be none of that. So finally I said let's just see the damn alligator and Kia & David are lagging behind since I don't think they wanted to be in our little group by then (not that I blame them, I didn't either). So we see the alligator, which is HUGE, and we are happy.

Then we went and walked down the Quarter and showed David some of New Orleans, of which he didn't seem impressed, and that was about it. We walked to Bourbon and BT (& David) got a hand grenade for BT's birthday and Bubs slept in his stroller and that was fine. The car ride home was long and tiring and Bubs got a little stir-crazy and we of the backseat fell asleep and I have little fingernails indentations in my skin from the little man and I learned never to wear a long dress to walk around New Orleans. Oh and I'm not going back until it cools off. I'm done with New Orleans for now and that's that. It's too damn hot.

Oh, man I need a drink

I feel like I've been neglecting this blog, especially after BEDA and posting everyday. We have been so busy lately, but for some reason I haven't blogged about it.

Last weekend was crazy. Long ago I told BT that if The Veronicas came to our area then I wanted to go. Well, then I found out they were coming to The House of Blues in New Orleans and I checked the calendar and my friend's wedding wasn't till the next day so I bought some tickets and got a hotel room and all was great though BT said the only way he'd go is if we went down Bourbon Street afterward since we didn't get to go for our anniversary.) Then the wedding invitation came and the wedding was at 2 in the afternoon which, frankly, is a ridiculous time for a wedding and it's too hot anyway. But, whatever, we can make this work. Then my mom decided she wanted to go visit my sister so she wouldn't be around to care for Bubs. So we called BT's little sister to come and she did and I was thankful.

So after work on Friday I go home (didn't get to see my baby since he was napping) and we left for New Orleans. I forgot the tickets at home so we had to stop at the public library and print out new tickets. Thank God for printable tickets and the public library!

We check into the hotel and they have us in a room on the Bourbon Street side, but I didn't think it would be too bad (ha!). Then we walked to the HoB. We knew it was an all ages show but I didn't really think that we'd been the oldest people in line except for the parents taking their teenage child to a concert. *sigh* And since it was all ages no alcohol was served and BT was not happy since it was one of the reason he agreed to go. Oops! The first band was Carney (video not from our show but in Baton Rouge) and we did not like them. I liked one of their songs, but I couldn't tell which one. Also they didn't play the single they were releasing soon or any of the songs on their album, which was stupid. The second band was called The Pretty Reckless and I didn't know it was Taylor Momsen's band (from Gossip Girl) till she walked out and all the little girls started screaming and I was like hey she lookes like Little Jenny and then I wiki'd her and she was and that was cool. She was wearing a slip dress that had lace on her lower abdomen and you could see her black thong underneath and BT was staring at her. So I leaned over and said she's only 16 and he jumped and was like really. LOL So they were really good and their drummer was much better than Carney's. I would buy one of their CDs. She's a pretty good singer and there were only a couple of mishaps.

Then the Veronicas came out and they were awesome and their drummer is freaking awesome and we had a good time. None of those kids really danced or anything which I found strange. Like they were all too afraid of looking stupid or something. Anyway, I love The Veronicas and BT likes them too now and I'm glad we went.

Then we went and ate at Acme Oyster House and it was too loud in there so we texted each other across the table. Then we went down Bourbon and got a Hand Grenande then BT knocked mine out of my hand by accident and I was sad, but we got some dairquis and they were awful. So we were tired and went back to the hotel. BT went and got us some food but I fell asleep and he woke me up and I ate a 2 burgers (Krystal!) and fell back asleep. It was a good time.

I'll tell you about the wedding some other time.

Zoorific

Elephants
Originally uploaded by curlyakb We went to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans the other day. The little boy, B, loves animals like a whole lot so we thought it would be fun. He'd only been the the little zoo by our house which is nothing compared to the New Orleans Zoo. So the Monday after Easter, we drove over there. I hadn't been to the Audubon Zoo in a very long time and it is so nice. It is a very pretty zoo with lots of room for the animals. B's favorite animal are elephants. He carries a stuffed elephant around with him that is his lovely and can say elephant pretty well for a 2 year old.

Here's some pics from our trip:

This was early in the morning so everyone was just waking up and the tiger was laying around.

The Gorilla had just eaten was moving over to finish off his last sweet potato.

The little giraffe is only 3 and kept hitting the bigger one in the side until the big one got tired and whacked him back.

Big ol' alligators!

Relaxin Orangutan


Leopard

White alligator. They have two, but this was the bigger one.


We even got to ride the Carousel, although we skipped the train. B got to ride a zebra.

This is just some of the highlights. We had a lot of fun and it was a very nice day most of the day. Next time is the Aquarium of the Americas!

HSM3 & New Orleans

Among all the other things I did, I saw High School Musical 3 this weekend. First of all, though, I went to New Orleans with my husband to celebrate our anniversary. Except that Thursday I started sneezing and couldn't stop and woke up on Friday like crazy sick. I brought Bubs to daycare even though driving wasn't the best idea I but he needed to get there and then went home and rested. We had a nice time but it wasn't what either one of us had in mind. We had dinner at the Palace Cafe and it was excellent but I could only taste like half of the food b/c my nose was so stuffed up. Then I offered to go to Bourbon and walk around but thank God BT took pity on me and said to just go to sleep which I was practically doing anyway. The next day we had breakfast at Cafe du Monde and I got to hear people mispronounce the easiest words that we have here in Louisiana, like Baton Rouge or Monde. For some reason, the hilariousity of how people pronounce our words is never lost on me. BTW, Cafe du Monde must use, like, a box of powdered sugar on each order of beignets.

So Sunday, feeling much better, I went to see High School Musical 3. I enjoyed it but I would have enjoyed in more in the comfort of my home more. The songs didn't fit into the movie as easily as they did in the first one and, to some degree, the second. It was a cute story and everything worked like it was suppose to, of course. One of the girls that was with me asked if Ryan and Kelsey were dating now and I said no, they were just going to prom together b/c frankly Ryan is the gayest thing on that show, except for Troy's dancing, and I know that it's Disney but he (Ryan) is seriously gay and that's okay but let's not pretend otherwise. Also why was Troy giving a speech at graduation. There is no local reason for that. At least he wasn't wearing man capris b/c that and the dancing *head shake*


Also the little British chick can't sing and if they think they are building a franchise around her and the annoying surfer-hiphop-basketball guy than they have another thing coming. Because, at least Troy and Gabriella are likeable unlike these two idiots.

Also the fact that Martha, the bigger smart chick, is valedictorian and the head cheerleader and the best dancer is totally the best. See that's a lesson that we can take home without being beaten over the head with it. I think Martha personifies the whole point of these movies and she doesn't even sing about it. Okay, there was that one time, but still.