Let the Bead Whoring begin.... Carnival 2008

It's here again ... Carnival ... Mardi Gras ... time for dozens of parades, collecting as many pounds of beads, plastic cups, and other varieties of useless throws as possible, and eating of King Cake.

Our first of the year, and favorite, is Krewe du Vieux. This is a somewhat raunchy, highly satirical parade which makes fun of the worst of our city including:

The crime rate

Corrupt Politicians

Outrageous Insurance costs and neverending claim issues

and

Senators who run on "Family Values" platforms and get caught soliciting prostitutes

Here's a link to some video footage from Nola.com if you care to see more of the parade...

http://videos.nola.com/nola/2008/01/krewe_du_vieux_2008.html

We also had a nice treat ... Ellen, Lowell, and Gavin were in town to leave for a cruise from the Port of New Orleans. So we got to introduce them to the festivities of Mardi gras and New Orleans... including Deanies, King Cake, Cafe Du Monde, and Mother's.

"Say Cheese!"-- Photography by Jefferson Parish

Last weekend, Jeff got a surprise in the mail.

A traffic ticket with a $110 fine for running a red light!

(I had a picture of the ticket posted here, but then realized it had all of our personal info on the ticket ... probably not a good thing to post.)

Within the last 5-6 months, Jefferson parish and Orleans Parish have installed Video cameras at intersections throughout the city. These intersections are clearly marked "Photo Enforced" and at nighttime you can see the camera flashing as cars blow through the red lights.

The ticket includes a nice photo of Jeff entering the intersection on red, along with a close up of the back of his car.

Insomnia

It's 4:35 am, and I've been up since 2:28. For the last hour, I've been listening to the rain and wind while browsing the internet. I feel very tired, but I couldn't fall back asleep. I'm not feeling very creative, but I thought I'd update this anyway.... so you'll have to settle for some pictures with short captions, and use your imaginations or memories to come up with the stories behind them...

.

"my first homemade ice cream cake"

"Gingerbread house from Kim"

-Thanks Kim! It was beautiful and delicious!

"Jeff and nephew Luke"

"Bill, Josie, and Fred at Serenity Now Grand Opening Holiday Party"

http://www.serenitynowhealingcenter.com/home.html

This is Bill and Jen's new business and location. Check them out if you are in minnesota!

"Amy, Nathan, Ingrid, and Kjell"

- Thanks for coming to visit!

"brrrr"

"Viking's game in Minnesota"

"Christmas on Fulton St."

"San francisco Plantation tour"

Turducken Anyone?

Mom and Dad came down at the end of November for mom's birthday and Thanksgiving.

We decided to change things up this Thanksgiving ... instead of our traditional turkey, we made a Cajun Turducken.

The most I can say for it is that it was okay... definitely not spectacular ... and I missed the traditional turkey and stuffing -- mmm--- especially mom's stuffing. The bird(s) were heavily seasoned, as expected with a Cajun turducken. But it seemed that there was an abnormally large amount of season salt present... which I hate.

So much for trying new things. I guess there is a reason that there are traditions , and they aren't meant to be messed with.

While mom and dad were here, we also did some "New Orleans" things!

We had breakfast at Russell's Marina Grill --- sweet potato pancakes--- yum!

We took a street car ride from the french quarter, uptown,

stopped at the Column's for drinks,

and then took the streetcar back again.

Fall Colors

Okay, so I'm a big slacker when it comes to updating this blog. Here it is .... an update to fill you in on the end of our 2007. I know it's a long time overdue, but try to enjoy it anyway.

In November, Jeff and I went to Greensboro, North Carolina for a theater opening for his company. While we were there, we took time out to do a little hiking to enjoy the fall colors.

Greensboro is a beautiful area. I can tell I've been living in New Orleans for a while now ... I was truly impressed with how clean the city was and how smooth the roads were. I had forgotten how pretty the leaves can be in the fall, or maybe I just never appreciated it when I was in Wisconsin and saw 4 seasons every year.

I can see myself living in this area someday.