I'd like some cheese with this whine.

I think all of the Thanksgiving food chemicals have finally left everyone's brain because things have really picked up around here. My 3-line office phone, which will not stop ringing, is this close to being ripped out of the wall & tossed out the window. Look out below!

Outside of work, I have these crazy extensive things-to-do lists, too, and I am just not feeling some of it.

Here's a doozy: I don't want to have a wedding party anymore. Short answer reason: my aunt. She has already asked me to 1. change the date, 2. change my budget (more more more!), 3. change the location. That bullsh is so wild to me, I just don't want to do it anymore. Really. It wasn't that important to me in the first place, but we wanted to do something nice for our families. I mean, that last sentence says it all. We aren't doing it for us. My aunt just helped me realize this faster. I can't tell you how awful I feel when my mind wanders to the subject of this wedding party. Am I supposed to feel this dreadful and alone? Having talked a little bit about it with ATM & even KMHD, the plan is to sit down with mum over a nice bowl of pho and ask her to help keep my aunt at bay. If she can't do it, then we have a major problem. ATM & I will have to come up with another plan that is more conducive to our stylings. It is so tempting to just ask Judge Kilgore to sign the papers and be done with it. Well, I still might order a wedding cake.

Not everything that I'm planning is completely dreadful. On the contrary, this weekend, we are hosting the return of TOFU HAPPENING. We used to do this "back in the day" @ Rice St. It was super good times, a time I look back on fondly. Basically, it was a pot luck with vegan/vegetarian food, really good music & some politics on the side. Anyway, that is this Sunday and I am so excited! We haven't hosted anything at our home since last Super Bowl. I've decked the halls (Note: need to get some mistletoe) and am working on decorations. A little neatening up and some crazy good dishes and voila! More good times!

Let's see, what other things am I working on...oh, yeah! The walking/training is going well. I'm really digging it. I'm going to add a different work-out to my routine, though. I'd like to regularly start swimming laps @ War Memorial Fitness Center. I am currently in the process of getting a new chlorine-resistant, streamlined swimsuit, a cap, some goggles, and books/dvds on the Total Immersion method. It's like the yoga/tai chi of swimming. Last night, Leigh & I did what...10 laps. In regards to myself, it was fine, but could be so much more efficient. If I learn the TI method, it will be more advantageous to my health and comfort as well. I'm really excited about this and since I've managed to make time for walking, I feel I can do the same for swimming, but just not as often. With bitter cold weather steadily approaching, it'd be nice to have an alternative on days that is just to unbearable to be outside.

Another project I'm attempting is to make a space for myself in our home. I really don't have any personal space in the house, it's all communal. It's becoming clear that the guest room will be occupied by ATM for some time, so I'm looking in our bedroom or the dining room to set up a little somethin somethin for M-E. It's taking longer than I care for because I'm looking for a desk. I'm hoping for some nice little antique/vintage number, but we haven't found anything that isn't ridiculously priced or just plain ugly to look at. I'm picky, too.

Ah, hell. Everything will be o.k. Here's an old funny photo of SOLO:

I give thanks.

I'm pretty sure that Thanksgiving in New Orleans is my preferred choice. I had all of my needs taken care of: delicious food, a darling, crumbling city as backdrop, wonderful company & Four Loko.

We rolled into town late last Wednesday. After unloading our things in our hotel room, we wandered into the Quarter to get a night cap. It took a good minute for us to get our bearings. It took less time than that for some rando gross guy to try to pick up KMHD. Seriously.

View from our room:




It would be very easy for me to say that I could never cook up a Thanksgiving feast ever again. Our menu:




ATM & I put our vegetarianism on hold for one day, so we could have Thanksgiving food. Here is my starter, the shrimp and tasso corn dogs. I did not want to share & save for one bite, I didn't!


I had the standard turkey/dressing kind of meal because I really wanted to try oyster stuffing. A+, y'all! I would *love* a do-over on this meal!


ATM reasoned that if he was going to put off being vegetarian, that'd he go for the primo stuff. In his case, a piece offa prime rib. I got to try a bite. Mmmmmmm.


KMHD got the Creole cream cheese gnudis. In short, it tasted 'weird'.


We walked over Cafe Du Monde, a NOLA institution & favorite childhood memory of mine. I distinctly remember sticky everything & accidentally inhaling powdered sugar. Some things, thankfully, do not change. Being fueled by sugar & caffeine after a big meal is fun for exactly one hour or thereabouts. After that, it's zombie street walk time!












Good sun:


KMHD thinks that this is the shop owner's kitty, but I believe that it is the shop owner. I love a well-placed feline:























We stayed on Royal Street/Rue Royale:




I really wanted this little French store to be open, but non!


This guy again. Still working!


Pretty fancy!:


That evening, our friend Davey invited the three of us to someone we didn't know's house. We assumed that it was his place, but wandered into this semi-intimate Thanksgiving pot luck; I am SO GLAD that I brought a homemade buttermilk pie. I think it would've been more awkward if we showed empty-handed. At least, too, we had our own libations. Anyway, we got to meet up with Jen & Paul there. I love them. Really, I do. They are sweet, kind, and, like most of my friends, practically kin. After hanging out at the unknown's house for a spell, we went to J & P's home for coffee/refreshments & they walked us down to the bayou, which is around the corner from their cute house. It will forever be a great memory for me. My only regret is that we didn't get to hang out with them again/longer.


Davey & Four Loko:


The next morning, I got coffee in this courtyard.


Courtyard!


It's a shame that today's architecture is nothing as romantic & precious.


These fine folks did not know that this puss was sitting there until I asked if I could take this photo:


We drove around the Ninth Ward a touch and then the Lafayette Cemetary, but KMHD was feeling under the weather, so we left town pretty quickly. Nothing like being ill AND not at home.







A really good trip & I am already considering the same for next year, but this time WITH FRIENDS. Please, oh, please!

While we were in NOLA, we got to watch the Saints play, but I had my mind on the upcoming Arkansas v. LSU match back home. This is why we won:




You may want to sit down for the cuteness overload you are about to experience.

Negi:


It's THE FACE!


Truth is, we have a lot of fun when we go out of town, but I am always so happy to come home. I am so thankful for my friends. Good lot of folks.

To-do:

What's up, mushroom-seitan stroganoff?

Good Things