Carnival Break

Oops.  It looks like I fell off the blog wagon yesterday -- there was lots going on with daughters and grandkids and stuff. And, posting is only gonna get more sparse for a little bit.  We have a long-time friend coming over on Wednesday as house/dog-sitter, and we're going to the Mardi Gras! For a whole week!

Not hearing the drumlines and not seeing the floats and costumes has been a little harder than I expected -- after all, Carnival has been a major part of our lives for 14 years.  It's a hard habit to break. (Although the preserving-a-parking-place ritual is definitely not missed!  But where will we park when we go back to the old neighborhood on Bacchus Sunday?) We'll stay with a friend in Lakeview for the first half of the week, so we'll have to drive to see the parades! I don't know whether we know how to do that.

We'll be with our Military Officers' Wives Club for Muses, and Pepper rides Endymion for the last time on Saturday -- Carrie Underwood headlines the post-parade, black tie Extravaganza!  I really like Carrie Underwood. And ball gowns.  I'm gonna wear last year's Queen CAMAN dress, but begrudgingly, without the crown.  Those Endymion folk probably wouldn't understand if I showed up in my crown.

As I noted above, we'll be in the old neighborhood on Bacchus Sunday, and the nice folks who bought (and seriously transformed) Moogie's Mansion will give us another tour -- Pepper hasn't seen it yet.  I got to see the old girl when I went down in January to have the royal title ripped from my chokehold.  All I can say is, "Wow."  She is no longer a Victorian inside.

Mardi Gras morn will find us with the Krewe of Eggs, followed by an Open House in the Quarter in the home of the friends who are graciously hosting us for the second half of the week. Then, we'll pack up and head north on Ash Wednesday.

There will be lots of food and drink, probably not much sleep, and lots of revelry and renewed friendships. I can't wait to see beads in the trees and on the streetsigns, like in the pic above. So, think of us on Sunday -- we'll be right under that streetsign! Throw me somethin' Mistah!