Bourbon Street

My mom finally made it here for Christmas on Wednesday. We picked her up from the airport with Brady in tow and he ran right up to her as if he had seen her every day for the last 13 months of his life. We had an eventful few days, complete with our own "Mini-Katrina" as she called it, which left me up to mid-thigh in water trying to cross the street to get to my car, which was also under water. This after spending three and a half hours at the Health Dept (yuck!) signing us up for WIC and watching pretty much no one do their jobs, but I digress.

We are currently playing tourists in New Orleans and spent the day walking up and down Bourbon Street and around The French Quarter. Of course, the touristy part of New Orleans has reopened, but driving into town was severely depressing. I could see run down, dilapidated houses with the Emergency Services "X" still on the outside, identifying whether or not there were any bodies found in the home after the floods. It's amazing to me how people can bypass this tragedy on the way into town and then walk the streets as if nothing ever happened.

Mom and Patrick are currently out bar hopping and I'm playing the responsible mother who stays with her kid as he sleeps. I am curiously wondering what kind of trouble those two could stir up down there, especially after spending an hour in a bar with my Mom this afternoon and watching her get picked up by a random guy in a Santa hat who wanted to "show her the town"...uh, I think NOT. I begged Patrick not to end up in jail tonight and to keep a watchful eye on my Mother.

Speaking of my Mother, it was quite hysterical to watch Ms. Republican Conservative herself walk all up and down Bourbon Street exclaiming "This is SO cool," and then looking around to see everything from Frozen Daiquiri bars, to tourist shops, to Larry Flint's Huslter Club and Larry Flint's Barely Legal. I about had a heart attack when we passed the first "strip club" which had nude photos of women on the outside, but the real kicker was the place that actually posted pictures of LIVE sexual acts that had taken place in their club. I begged Patrick to put a blanket over Brady in the stroller while we passed such places, but I guess that's the reason New Orleans doesn't dote itself as a family vacation place.

We head home tomorrow and I have to finish my wrapping and get ready for a fantastic Christmas morning! I can't wait!

Life as it is...

I can't help but cheese from ear to ear when I look at this picture. I think it's impossible not to look at this face and think to myself "Life as it is, is totally perfect". I couldn't ask for anything more and I honestly cannont remember what my life was like before I got to look at that fantastically beautiful face every day.

Life as I know it has become completely colorful with this walking, talking little man in the house. Suddenly, after he mastered the art of walking, his vocabulary burst wide open. He can tell you he's "done", he can point and tell you when there's a "tuck" driving by, he loves to show you "flowflows" (flowers), he can't wait to eat "din-din", he can even say "puh-puh" (please) when you ask him to. Beyond that he can tell you what a dog, cow, birdie & duck say -- and he loves to walk around trying to find "DAD!". He can show you where "up" is and can turn lights "off" too. He is just a smart smart kid.

He is keeping me on my toes at every turn, too, constantly getting into something -- everything, that is. He wants to help cook dinner, loves brushing his teeth and will almost always be in the kitchen pulling out his tupperware. He also loves pushing the buttons on the TV, which he's being scolded for at every turn! Just last weekend, he picked up the telephone, put it backwards to his ear (number pad in his palm) and started talking jibberish to no one on the other end. I wondered if this was a good thing, considering his Mother loves to talk so much!

I consider myself to be the luckiest person alive to be his mom. I never want to be without him, I can't wait to walk in his room in the mornings and see him smile and say "HI!" to me. I am not one of those Moms who constantly needs "a break" from her kid because this kid is my LIFE. And life is better because he loves me.

I am just so blessed to have such a fantastic family to be with every day of my life. Life as it is, is perfect.

Lawn Chairs and Wine

Well, we have officially made it to the south. The deep south. Or is it the dirrty south? I'm not quite sure. Mobile, AL is now "home" for the next couple of years, and after the nightmare of a PCS we just went through, we had better be here for the entire time we're scheduled.

We are currently sitting in the new house sans any furniture or belongings. Well, that is unless you count the lawn chairs provided to us by our fantastic new neighbor so that we no longer have to sit on the floor. Our household goods (HHG) will arrive tomorrow after being kept hostage by the military for over a week since we ordered them delivered. I guess "hostage" is a little rough, but I don't know what else to call it when your belongings are in the same city as you are, being kept in a warehouse and you can't get them until SOMEONE else can bring them to you -- leaving you to sleep on a borrowed airmattress, and eat nothing but microwaveable dinners. Lesson #1 - Always do a door to door move so your stuff doesn't have to go into storage. AKA: Don't get orders and have to move less than 4 weeks later, preventing you from househunting before reporting.

The car will SUPPOSEDLY be delivered today, but I am not holding my breath. The company has jerked us around and lied to us for over 2 weeks, and because of those lies our $200 tiny Christmas budget was spent on a brand spankin new uniform so that Patrick could report to work today. (His uniforms are in the car that was to be delivered LAST week.) Lesson #2 - Always bring uniforms in vehicle you drive in. AKA: Don't ever use Dash Auto Movers Network to ship your car.

Mobile is actually a pretty decent place. The people are friendly, everything you need is here, and the weather is actually tolerable right now. We have had 2 thunderstorms since arriving and I knew that was my sign from God that this will be a good place for the next few years. Once our house is in order and I can get back into a routine, Brady and I will be joining playgroups and whatnot.

But for now, I enjoy the echoing of an empty house from my borrowed lawn chairs, and drink my wine from the glasses left behind by the previous tenants. I guess sometimes we have to find the silver lining in the little things, don't we?