Hubby and I arrived last Wednesday evening and we are leaving tomorrow morning. He’s here for some training for his job. He was able to have lunch with me each day (except for Sunday) during a break and dinner each night.

Here’s a list of things that we’ve lived through, seen, bought, visited, places we’ve eaten and other random things. Let me know in the comments if you want any links or names of any of the places or things that are mentioned.

I’m not a city mouse, I’m a country mouse. Visiting a city here and there for a few days or a week doesn’t bother me, but, I know that I’m happy out in the boonies. So, please keep that in mind as you read all of this entry!

Wednesday – We arrived in the airport. I had reserved a shuttle to take us to the hotel. No one rents a car in the area, at least not anyone we know. The shuttle was great, we had a very talkative driver that’s always lived in the area. He gave us a great mini-tour as we drove the 12 or so miles to our hotel on Canal Street which is in the French Quarter. We now have seen the rebuilding after Katrina in person. We’ve seen the City of the Dead through the windows. We know where the Superdome is, Tulane and Loyola. We tipped him $5 for our bags, most people just gave him a buck. It was worth it though, he was really nice as well.

After checking in we went out to explore a little bit and found House of Blues just down Decatur street. Our server, Josh, was totally a blast and very helpful for things we were asking about. I really enjoyed the food there and so did hubby. It’s an awesome place and I hope to get some photos of the inside before we leave.

Thursday – The next day I set off to explore the area. I had a few hours before meeting hubby for lunch. I took my camera and started off towards the Mississippi River. I found a few things that I was looking for, the streetcar station, Riverwalk, a steamboat and a ferry and the Aquarium. I walked into Riverwalk for a while…it’s an indoor mall. I did buy a few things, but, it’s very repetitive here with the same hats/t-shirts/masks/beads. I found a great silver shop (Silver Salon and they give military discounts!) and I bought a pretty bracelet, some Fleur de Lis earrings and later when I went back the other day a ring and a necklace charm.  The prices are extremely reasonable…I was a little shocked at how low they were. I found some really cute Voodoo Watchover dolls at Destination New Orleans. They also have salt water taffy in a box with a postcard attached. The food court is on the top level, near the end of the mall. It’s not set up like a traditional mall in that sense. The only thing I can figure out is because the riverboat cruises embark/disembark right there as well as the convention center. There’s also the food and drink museum, that charges a lot of money and a very expensive gift shop. It’s a nice long walk from the food court back to the hotel, especially when hubby was waiting for lunch! That afternoon I gambled a little at Harrah’s. We ate dinner at Popeye’s! It’s the first time that I have eaten there in a long, long time. The first Popeye’s is in the area, but it wasn’t this one. It was really good! It’s located on Canal Street between Chartres and Royal.

Friday – We ate lunch at Subway and it was a good meal. It’s on Royal St. within the first block off of Canal. We saw two people almost get hit by a streetcar! Seriously I knew that he wouldn’t hit them, but, they weren’t paying attention and just were walking without looking. He rang the bell a few times to move them off of the tracks. I’m sure it’s not the first time he’s done that. I walked around down Decatur and went to the French Market. I took photos at Jackson Square of everything including Joan of Arc! I also went to the Canal Street Shops. I went to Starbucks and bought an iced tea, visited JT Kids, which is really overpriced, looked and found one thing at Ann Taylor (not Loft, that’s in Riverwalk). I also saw a few places that were way out of my price range, Saks Fifth Avenue for one. Even on sale I cannot afford a dress n there. Friday night we walked down Bourbon Street. Wow, that’s something to see! I saw a lot of strip clubs, fake cops called “Party Patrol” that should be stopped, I also saw a lot of drunks and street people. We ate at Crescent City Brewhouse. It was okay. It’s a micro brewery, so hubby wanted to try it out and see how the beer was. It was okay. The food was okay. I’ve had much better and much worse. I ordered a steak, it was a little chewy and the green beans and Au gratin potatoes were undercooked. There’s a lot of different places to try, so, unless you are set on this place, skip it. Read more

Next weekend I will have about 20 people here exchanging cookies. I’ve done this exchange for three years now and I really like the whole thing. It’s always fun!

I changed the blog layout as it’s now Spring. It doesn’t feel like it yet, though. It’s not even 50° F at 9:30 a.m. I hope that the weather is nice for my youngest daughter’s birthday on Wednesday. She will be 21. I cannot believe it. She’s not a drinker and says that she will be ordering a drink, but won’t drink it. I don’t know if I believe her or not! I did tell her to call if she does drink more than one drink, as she’s never drank at all and is slender, she will be pretty buzzed!

Today we’re going to the movies with the littlest member of our family. We’re taking her to see “How to Train Your Dragon”. Even hubby is going, which is a BIG deal. He and I go see movies together, we don’t really see little kiddo movies in the theater any longer. I’m glad he’s going, he loves her to pieces, which is why I think he is going.

The fireplace in the family room is nearly completed. We just have to tile the surround and the upper molding space. I hope to do that this Spring sometime. We took the mirror down a few weekends ago and have been painting it since then. Hubby just finished the trim painting yesterday and it looks great.

I’ve been booking appointments for senior photos and starting next week I pretty much work every Saturday for the next 3 months! Which is great.

I cannot believe all the snow that we’re still getting! We measured and in some places it’s over 40″! We do have a nice huge pile in our cul-de-sac that has grown from the plows and the drifts. It was snowing pretty heavily on Tuesday night. Good thing I went to the grocery store on Monday and then Target on Tuesday. Hubby’s been off of work all week. We are betting tomorrow as well.

I’ve been keeping as busy as possible. I reworked my business site. I love it! It’s more or less still bloggy looking, but, I added and removed some things. I’m going to see if I can get a Flickr Feed on the site splash page. I’ve also been doing some things behind the scenes. Right now I have a potential client meeting tomorrow evening and then on Saturday two potential client meetings. I hope they will all be clients. The one tomorrow night is a gal that will be graduating this year and wants to get her photos done. One of the girls that I photographed already, gave her my card. The two on Saturday are both Juniors! I photograph Juniors differently. I usually do a Spring session, then a Fall and Spring when they are Seniors. Kids change so much over the summer. Besides, they can hand out their referral cards in the Spring and Summer.

On Monday we hunted at the local furniture warehouse and found a couch! It’s a sectional. It was supposed to have been delivered tomorrow, but, the snow made it impossible. Hopefully it will be here on Wednesday. I’m so tired of things being pushed back with this furniture! We decided to wait to get tables, we want to see how everything fits into the room. We’re moving the piano to the other wall and then a bookcase will go between the windows.

I’m going to try to get some work done, then, heading out with hubby later on for some groceries and maybe some dinner as well. I have to make him a Valentine’s Day card also. Have a great weekend with your honey!

Yup, it’s out there, tons and tons of snow. Hubby shoveled for almost three hours this morning to get a path from the driveway to the garage. The plows have been through our neighborhood, a backhoe as well. Just when we get it all handled, we’ll have more snow. They are predicting more on Tuesday night. Goodie.

It’s pushed back a lot of things, not having access to the store, clients, school, work. I think that he has to try to get to work tomorrow, good thing he’s got a big vehicle. I had to push my clients back to next Saturday, so I have one on Friday night and two on Saturday. Let’s just hope that all the snow will be over and gone soon. Bring on Spring!!

We painted the living room last month and ordered furniture. So excited!! Then. Then the call came that the couch wouldn’t be available until March 1st. What? I don’t think so. We got a refund for all of it. So, now, we’re at square one again. I’m hopefully shopping at a few places this week locally. I found some stuff online that we like, maybe in the area I can actually try them out. I don’t want some stiff furniture in our living room. We plan on being in there daily.

Hubby and I both started our Roth IRA’s this month! This is very cool to us as we’ve never had the income to have extra. Ever. Now we can build for the future and not have to worry.