Endymi - NOT!

Endymion was postponed this year due to the weather.  We had a whole Saturday with nothing to do.  We made the best of it and decided to hang out at Wits End where my cousin was working.  Dave and Jojo picked me up on their way in from Baton Rouge and I got to eat a filet burger at Lakeview Harbor.  My favorite parade specialty!!!!  We met up with Jeanne and her sister and had many laughs as the rain hammered down on us.  Before we left the area of the restaurant I stopped at the Tastee Donuts to get one dozen turtles and buttermilk drops (McKenzie style).  The turtles were AWESOME!

We headed down to Wits and continued to have a great time even though there was no parade.  I had some feathers for my hair that made there rounds to people I have no idea who they are, but they didn't mind making friends with the feathers....

Here is Jojo, Dave & I at the table.  I kept giving Dave Wet Willies hence the finger up toward his ear. 

Why do I love to aggravate Dave so much?????  Here he is deep in thought... will Jojo make it up the stairs on her own???????

Then later my brother and sister in law showed up.  My brother squeezed my nose when he showed up - or so I heard - I don't really remember him doing it or having any pain when he did it.  But moments later people started to try to wipe stuff off my nose for me.  Here is a photo of me and Taty..

And this is about the point when I got pissed because I figured out how bad off my nose was..

Thanks bro!

We gonna go see the Mardi Gras 2011!!!

This will be the second year my parents are heading up to Gatlinburg, TN for the Mardi Gras holiday.  My son is out of school that week so they are nice enough to let him have some Smokey Mountain fun with them.  I will have to work since we have other vacations planned later this year. 

With this in mind, I tried to take my son to as many Mardi Gras festivities this past weekend as we could possibly handle.  And it went a little something like this....

Professor Longhair says it best...
"While you stroll in New Orleans
You ought to go see the Mardi Gras
If you go to New Orleans
You ought to go see the Mardi Gras
When you see the Mardi Gras
Somebody'll tell you what's Carnival for"

We started out with a close to home parade Friday night, Krewe of Eve.  This is a Covington parade that has become an annual tradition for us.  We eat dinner at the Times Grill and then head out front to watch the parade.  It is a ladies parade (only women riders) so I stick my son and dad up front and let them go at it.  They successfully caught a nice little bag of beads, but my son wasn't getting enough stuffed animal action.  Well I mean if the kid wants me to handle it, I handle it, and Mardi Gras some how became my specialty.  I tell him to stand directly in front of me and as the floats pass by I give off my exceptional Mardi Gras scream "Heeeeeyyyyyyy Laday!" and I am pointing down to the top of my sons head. Moments after this a stuffed animal comes flying at his head and I am suddenly the best mom ever.  I have a photo of the Queen of Eve, it is a bit out of focus, but I'd rather show you than not...

The next morning we stayed even closer to home and rode with our fellow cub scouts in the Abita Spring parade known as Push Mow.  The thought being that anything you can push, or mow, or drive can be decorated as a float and you pay a registration fee of $25 the day of to be in the parade.  Their theme this year was "It oughta be a law".  Our float theme was the cub scout motto... It oughta be a law... "to do your best."  Unfortunately I was crammed in the bed of my dad's truck handing beads to my son to throw and I didn't get any pictures.  The pro of push mow is that it seriously family oriented, only a one mile parade route, makes a child feel like a float riding hero, and you can literally throw away all your catches from the year before!!!  It's the best recycling plan I know of for Mardi Gras beads.  After Push Mow we enjoyed a lunch at the Abita Brew Pub....mmmmmmmm Strawberry Ale!  Here is a shot of TomTom and his artistic place mat.

Later that night I took him to see "The Music Man" one of my most favorite musicals of all time!  It was on a national tour and it stopped by The Columbia Theatre in Hammond.  I'm out of focus again...

It was a beautiful theatre and was my first time being on the inside. 

There was a barbershop quartet in the lobby entertaining the crowd when we walked in and TomTom was all about watching them.  Every time the quartet came on stage and performed a musical number he was very attentive to the show.  And when the music man AKA Professor Harold Hill was on stage, TomTom would perk up and sit on the edge of his seat.  I think he really liked it!  And I LOVED it.  Every note, every number, it was perfection.  And the actress who played Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn had us all - every time she was on stage.

We made it back home by 11 PM and he was passed out in the back seat as I waited in the longest line ever for a Nachos Bell Grande (no meat & no tomato, with fire sauce).  I was ready to give up and fall into my bed for the next three days, but the show must go on!  There will be no more Mardi Gras for TomTom this year.  When I grew up my parents took us to every parade possible, and then we spent most of our Mardi Gras days down town.  We saw every Bacchus and Orpheus, every day parade, and most night parades in town and in Metairie.  We spent all day on St Charles Ave for Mardi Gras eating Popeyes chicken and Ross' king cakes.  It is in my blood!  It is one of my favorite times of the year.  Most locals seem to hate Mardi Gras, but for some reason I just can't get enough!

Sunday morning, Thomas and I hopped back into the car and off to the grocery to get parade snacks, drink and beer for mom.  Then we headed across the big big bridge for some New Orleans style Mardi Gras.

"Get your ticket in your hand
If you wanna go through New Orleans
Get your ticket in your hand
If you wanna go through New Orleans
You know when you get to New Orleans
Somebody'll show you the Zulu King

You will see the Zulu King
Down on St. Claude and Dumaine
You know, you'll see the Zulu King
Down on St. Claude and Dumaine
An if you stay right there
I'm sure you'll see the Zulu Queen"

My cousin Toye's stepson Jackson was marching with the Brother Martin parade in Krewe of Carrolton.  Toye, JP, Meghan, TomTom & I hopped in the car for the ride from Metairie to town.  You really have to love the car rides during Mardi Gras.  You have so much time to get to know your loved ones as you search for the impossible parking spot.  I think I brought up TomTom's latest behavioral issues while Meghan tickled and poked him to death.  Toye was on the search for the parade and any open parking spot within a ten mile radius.  JP decided to go with the $10 parking cardboard sign a fellow down town neighbor was holding up because we didn't want to miss Jackson.  We pulled into her yard, parked the car and we headed for the parade route.  It was a warm day and the crowd wasn't very thick at all.  TomTom got an up front spot to view the parade.

Toye, JP & Meghan strike a pose.....

We saw Jackson coming and screamed his name trying to be as obnoxious as possible and he finally waved at us.  He was holding the banner this parade.

Toye & Meghan also knew someone on one of the floats and I took a gross of beads to the head.  I took it like a Mardi Gras pro, straightened my hat, and went back for more.  This is TomTom getting into the bead catching action.

After we caught the parade we headed back to the car and went to catch Jackson later in the parade route.  We got caught up in some traffic and the parade was high tailing it down Canal Street.  Toye, Meghan, TomTom & I jumped out the car and ran to see if we could catch him while JP drove around town in hopes of a parking spot.  TomTom & I kept up with the runners as long as we could and they hit a barricade.  Yes, and NOPD barricade on Canal St.  I told Toye to just ask the cop how to cross over and she responded with "I'm not that brave."  Toye!  Where is your Mardi Gras finesse!  Over to the cop I hurdled, the nice cops that will grab any bead off the street you want if you give them a harmless little flirt, and asked him where to cross.  He said check with the cop on the corner.  Down to the corner cop I scurried, he notified me the barricades ended down St Charles.  I got Toye and Meghan to the end of the barricade, across the street and let them take off down Canal after Jackson while TomTom and I stopped to watch the parade again. 
On Canal the crowd was pretty slim too and the breeze was fantastic.  He was directly behind the barricade and back to catching like a maniac.  A bit later I got the text to meet back up at the car and we headed back to St Charles and the barricade cross over.  We were waiting for the longest band ever to pass by so we could cross the street.  Toye was worried we would be late to pick up Jackson from Brother Martin and was calling me on my cell phone.  I had my cell in my right hand up to my ear with the bag of beads in it too.  TomTom's hand in my left hand with my mardi gras cup full of Strawberry Ale.  I could hear the urgency in Toye's voice and MAN does this band ever end???? So we dodged across the flag girls praying they didn't start swinging at us.  And that was it!  I knew my Mardi Gras was complete and that I did my best.  It was a personal moment of accomplishment when I dragged TomTom across that street, while talking on the cell phone and sloshing my beer all over the right half of his body.  At this point I had done well to fully saturate my son with Mardi Gras spirit.  He was upset that I spilled on his Star Wars tee shirt, but I wanted to give him a memory that would last even up to the highest Smokey Mountain of the Mardi Gras Season 2011!

IHOP... UHOP

Did I mention that Sweet Lil Franny loves IHOP?

I have an issue with these establishments that I categorize as "Sticky Table Joints".
They just don't really appeal to me unless it is after 2 AM and I am sloshed and not ready to head home.
It is my firm belief that the people in the STJ's are aliens!  Like in Men in Black!
You never see them anywhere else in life, and as you look around.... it's just plain creepy.

Franny wasn't feeling too well from a virus that was effecting her ability to store food inside her body for any lengthy amount of time.  Under these circumstances she had grown very hungry and had a craving for pancakes.  I humored her and her illness and decided to suck it up and join her at the STJ.

I parked the car while she went in and got a table because, as usual, the STJ was packed full of aliens.
When I walked in I scanned the aliens and saw no sight of her.  For a moment I thought I was going to be on Unsolved Mysteries exposing the STJ and the aliens!  However, she came to my rescue by screaming my name across the restaurant and waving at me like a wild woman.  I was sure that no one could identify me in a lineup... until that point. 

I have to share with you how cute she was as she ordered her hot chocolate and sipped it down in complete and utter satisfaction.  She followed the hot chocolate with a sweet tea, a bowl of grits, and pancakes.  After receiving her grits she decided on a side of shredded cheddar cheese for extra binding... if you know what I mean.  After the miracle cure was mixed together her grits appeared very similar to the same substance used to hold bricks together in a foundation.

At this point I heard heckling from the kitchen between the servers because someone took server #1's turkey melt and no one was owning up to it!  Server #2  (our server)  was offering honesty in the fact that her turkey melt had eggs on it and that was the one she pulled off the counter.  OK, I ordered a Ham, Egg & Cheese melt but swapped turkey for ham.  I was trying to enjoy my sandwich but all I wanted to do was stand up, with sandwich in hand and egg on face, to prove the innocence of our server.  My better judgement took over because there is no telling what the surrounding aliens might do if the commotion continued... and they already knew my name! 

We soon paid our check and departed the restaurant as fast as possible.  Unfortunately, IHOP made a second performance for Franny about an hour and a half later at the office.  But her attempt for intestinal normality was well noted and I will always love her no matter what situations we have to endure together.

PS~ most of this love for her stems from another outing during Mardi Gras when we went to another STJ.. AKA Denny's.  After we ordered, I proceeded to the ladies room to use the bathroom not noticing the urinals as I walked back into the stalls.  Moments later another patron entered the restroom with me and I noticed his general atmosphere was not that of the cute little ladies that normally attend a public bathroom with me.  I quietly spent my time in the bathroom stall and was sure to turn around and everything so that my feet were facing the toilet, not the general female position of feet facing away from the toilet.  I didn't want to just walk out while he was using the urinal and give him stage fright.  Finally he left, and I returned a few minutes later to the table where Franny sat enjoying the scene and giggling when I explained what a dumb a&& I was for going into the wrong bathroom.  Good Times!