Getting back to normal...

It's been a good week, here's why:

1. I started working again. Sure, it's only part time, but it feels good to be working again and have some sort of schedule, not to mention a paycheck.
2. I'm making home improvements. Redoing my bedroom now with hopes to do alot more in the coming months. This is making my house much more comfortable for me and I'm loving being here.
3. I just renewed my Saints season tickets. Go Saints.
4. The Superbowl is Sunday. We are gonna eat boiled crawfish. Boiled crawfish makes everything better.
5. Taxes. Not something that normally makes people happy, but I just did mine and I'm getting a nice refund. Money is always a good thing.
6. Girl Scout Cookies. I just ordered 5 boxes. I know that's terrible..especially b/c I've been doing so good on my "healthy eating/workout" kick. I think I'll eat my box of Samoas while I run on the treadmill. It'll balance everything out.
7. Vinyl. Got the record player working again and it is such a treat to have!
8. I'm going fishing today. What a gorgeous day to be out on the water!

Nothing New

Nothing much has been going on lately..so not much to write about. I finally got my flooring in yesterday so hopefully this week we can get it installed and I can move back in to my bedroom. I guess it's time to start shopping for new bedroom furniture!

Maria cooked dinner for us this weekend (me, Jacob, Rob and Chris..and Andre). She made curry with chicken and spring rolls. It was delicious. After we ate we headed to Artmosphere to see Lucas play. We had a good time but got back to my house really late which led to a very lazy day yesterday. That's what the weekends are for though!

A weekend of pictures

We went to New Orleans this weekend to celebrate Rob's birthday. Here are a few pictures...

We went to the Aquarium & Insectarium









We ate beignets at Cafe du Monde










We rode the streetcar to a Thai restaurant













We went to a record store











We stayed at the W hotel...very nice! We went to the hotel's bar, the Whiskey Blue.
We also hit up Harrahs...didn't win anything but only lost $10.

Sunday we had reservations for brunch at Brennan's. What a treat!
We had escargo (yes, I ate one!)










drank a few Mimosas....had delicious food and finally ended with Banana's Foster.

Shane's Birthday

Today would have been Shane's 31st birthday. It's hard to believe it's already been 51/2 months. Sometimes I feel like it's been alot longer than that. Time has definately been flying by.
Today has been ok so far. I definately have found that as time goes by things get easier. I'll always miss him but the physical pain of missing him is gone and what's left behind is much more bearable. I imagine I'll always feel that way and I think I'm learning to live with that. When everything first happened, lots of people tried to tell me that....that things don't necessarily get better, they just change and you learn to live with it. I wouldn't have believed it then but now I know it to be true. Sure, certain days and events will be worse than others, but I know that Shane would want me to be happy. I'm trying my best to do that for him.

Go Fish

Me, Jacob and Rob went fishing yesterday at Lake Maurepas. We didn't catch a single thing but we did get to eat some good fish at Middendorf's.


I had another little mishap at the house. My fish tank requires that I make purified water to put in the tank. the water runs from the bathroom sink, through a filter, into a canister. I always forget about it and have flooded that room many times. Apparently the other day it was bad. All of the carpet in my bedroom closet is wet. My house smells like an old gym. So I moved all the furniture out and have decided to remodel. I'm going to rip out all the carpet and put laminate flooring. Ugh. Not gonna be fun, but my house smells like ass.

Texas

I finally made it back from Austin. What a great trip! I had been there once before for a quick weekend but never for this long. There is so much to do there. What a great city. The 3 of us had a blast and I have no doubts now about our trip to NYC at the end of the summer.

Overall, this holiday season was so much better than I expected. I kept busy enough that I kept the depression/sadness to a minimum.

I could go on and on about our trip...so much funny stuff happened. It would take me days to write it all out. Let's just say, we ate excellent food, had excellent drinks, hiked more miles than I have in my lifetime, had run ins with the homeless and the cops (all went smoothly though), and just had a badass time.

I have some of the pictures posted here.

New Years Eve was fun too. What a game for the Tigers! I have to admit, I had lost hope, but here's to a great season next year. As for me, I know that this year will be better than last. I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year's.