Happy New Year!
A new year and a year of filing taxes in just one state, a glorious thing to look forward to. Let's catch up to speed here in 2014. Just a few events and we will be up to date, finally.
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| Handsome boy |
Happy Birthday, Max!!
(Doesn't he look thrilled for another year?)
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The Superbowl was a small family gathering where even the teeny tiny twins tried my grilled meats and veggies and seemed to approve. Keep in mind the time of year and the winter we had. I was that Yinzer grilling in six inches of snow around my ankles. I remind my family everyday how much I love them to have moved from the beaches of the west coast to be here with them. Mostly, they are unamused.
The Oscars.. well if you have ever watched an episode of Kathy Lee and Hoda, you can picture what a night my mom and I had. The Oscars: Party of Two. We had a lot to say, especially since I have forced her into watching more of the current movies that were up for awards.
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A few times each year, I make the trek to Harrisburg to visit my sister, brother in law and, now, nephew. It is also a good excuse to visit Wegman's - the greatest grocery store that ever lived. No, really. It may be one of my favorite places in the world to be. I can spend hours (and hundreds) inside those walls. This most recent trip, I found the most expensive item in the store:
I also got to spend some time with my man, Will. He is growing up so fast and this time he called me by name (Nat Nat) ::squeal::. We played peek-a-boo in the restaurant, dropped him off at school, had an Elmo fashion show, he showed me his growing muscles and we walked around the King of Prussia mall. Such a cute little booger and a great date!
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| Just sinning in the cheese aisle prior to finding all of the meats |
It has been so long since I've updated this blog that I am due for another visit. Looking forward to another great visit. See you soon, buddy!
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Hey - I am famous! Not really, but I was included in a group photo that made it to the work screen saver, hey-yo! There are at least 1-2 more to come, so stay tuned to my screen saver resume.
Maggie (the nurse holding the award in front/top) got a special recognition award for excellent nursing care as nominated by a family. She is a fairly newer nurse to us but is an excellent role model of how nursing should be. She maintains a positive attitude and professional demeanor and caring attitude. Congratulations Maggie! Thanks for shining a spotlight on the NICU family.
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| Faces of pure joy. |
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The NICU has changed a bit since I worked there the first time around. They formed a retention committee where each month there is a fun, non-work event to attend. Some events include baseball games, a casino night, movies in the park and happy hour events at Phipp's and the Warhol Museum, just a gathering outside of scrubs and inside the city. This month's event was Painting with a Twist. I did this one other time before while I was in DC and it was an enjoyable time, no talent needed but I did have a blip of painting in my past so I was excited to exercise those muscle again. This time we had a room to ourselves, just us nurses armed with wine and paint brushes, blowing off work steam and creating our own happy little masterpiece. It was a very entertaining night!
I had just finished up some night shifts, woke up, threw my face on and hurried to this event. It was a bit of a drive but I arrived just in time. The hosts were friendly and entertaining which added to the night. I put my 'stache on and got in my zone to create this moonlight through cherry blossoms painting. Springtime, something that seemed light years away at this point in the winter.
Ta-da!
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| Fifteen reasons to have a stroke |
The next event was the Pirates home opener, which was a little more of a headache as we battled traffic, parking and mud. I have never been cursed at the way I was that day, so early in the day! Isn't there a "Keep Calm it's the Home Opener" shirt out there? She needed one! Sheesh. Somehow, I have zero pictures from this event.
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Months ago, my dad approached me about a trip to New Orleans to visit family. My travel bug was so itchy and I was very interested! The nice thing about a nurse's schedule is that when planned in advance, you can take a vacation without ever taking time off from work. I simply front loaded and back loaded with approval from the boss man and voila, I was on a plane to see family in NOLA, a woman who was very close with my Nana.
Now, the relationship here is somewhat confusing. Mae is one of the last family members remaining from the time of my grandparents. She was married to my grandfather's stepbrother, so, no blood relation which is unfortunate because she was blessed with the best genes of the bunch. She is 88 years young, still drives (safely) and is a social butterfly with friends, even those who live hours away! Until recently, she took zero prescribed medications which supports my career conflicting arguments (whoops). She is a dog lover, on her third Heime model (all named the same), who helps to keep her young.
In order to get to Mae's place, we had to cross a giant lake, Lake Pontchartrain. The bridge was almost 30 miles! There are a few pullover spots but if you are going to have an emergency, this is not the place to do it because you are not getting anywhere faster than 30 minutes!
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| From the phone... |
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| ...and from the backseat |
Mae, and her late husband Jack, have lived in this house for their entire married life. Hell or high hurricane waters could not move them from this location. They have rebuilt several times and each time it is bigger and better than the last time. They refuse to leave their riverside house.
They had a hurricane marker in their garage. You can see over the years, all of the flooding that has wiped out so much of their ground level floor. The thing she missed most were her washed away cookbook collections. Sounds familiar...
The endurance of these natives is impressive! I imagine it would be difficult to commit to something of value with such expense (possessions, vehicles or building materials) when you know come the next hurricane season it very well may be washed away, leaving you back at square one. I don't know if I could trade in snow for uncertainty and a swampy life like that.
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| Hurricane Ruler: Isaac 2nd highest waters, Katrine 5th highest waters |
Mae wasted no time giving us the tour of her side of the lake first. On the tour, she pointed out some of the impressive houses and accompanying boats. She also noted the moss hanging from most of the eerie looking oak trees. Then she starting talking cuisines and beverages and had my full attention. Bring on the crawfish and Creole cooking!
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The next day, we visited the OTHER side of the lake, downtown New Orleans. On our way, we passed by the Superdome. You never would have known. A little piece of history...
We parked next to the Mississippi River for our visit to Jackson Square, downtown New Orleans and the French Market. I am not sure which was dirtier, the homeless crew or the river water. Yuk!
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| Hi puppy! |
The parking lot dumped us into Jackson Square where Saint Louis Cathedral and Cafe Du Monde live. Great start to the day!
I am very interested in the history of a city, art and architecture, and also all things French, so I immediately was in love.
The long line almost deterred us from enjoying a cup of chicory coffee or cafe au lait and a beignet. I said, almost. Luckily the line moved much faster than we anticipated and were seated in no time, enjoying our treats.
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| Sins |
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| See, I ate them and didn't die |
After our treats, we headed into Jackson Square. Many artists and performers set up shop here during the day, begging for the attention of anyone who will look his or her way. Through the square and into the streets of NOLA, you could find artists displays, sword swallowers, magicians and horse drawn carriage tours. Anything for a buck.
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| If you ever wondered, the Mardi Gras beads grow from these trees. They look ripe and ready to pick! |
Once upon a time, the Saint Louis Cathedral building and the buildings on either side of it burned to the ground. The people at the time believed it was related to voodoo activity and so when they rebuilt the church, they included voodoo symbols on the steeples in hopes of appeasing the voodoo practitioners and keep the building from being set ablaze again. So far, it has worked!
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| Got sins? I don't think my paleo ones count |
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And we were in the streets of NOLA, finally! It was interesting to see the history and architecture that was built and rebuilt over and over again. It had a French feel but also was somewhat filthy, sorry NOLA.
I tried my darnedest to get my party to make a pit stop here to try a hurricane but no one would bite, in the several passes we made. Thankfully, they gave in later and my mom ordered one at dinner, a place that was not Pat O'Brien's. We got the history of the hurricane drink and I was able to taste it.
The history of the drink said that when actual hurricanes would come through, the bartenders were never sure how long it would be until the next rum delivery so they would mix the drink with the cheap rum, add the hurricane powder mix to mask the taste and then put a small pour of the good rum on the very top. And now it goes down in history. Have you ever tried one?
I was much more successful getting my party to go into the voodoo shop!
Everyone looked around and had their laughs and stepped out. Only, they realized I didn't step out yet. My dad came back for me and laughed at my purchase. I emerged with my own voodoo beads because, hey, I haven't tried this yet! It gave everyone a good giggle and that made the purchase worth it. But no really...
Marie, may your beads be with me!
Just a few other notable and obligatory pictures from that day. My favorites included permission for booze in the streets and haunted/not haunted real estate.
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| Check! |
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| Hiccup |
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| You are here |
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| Boo! |
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| Get it? |
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| nyuk nyuk nyuk |
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Getting back to the reason for our visit, family, we visited graves and also the house where my great grandmother lived for a brief period before she came back to Pittsburgh.
As we headed toward the house, we were all relieved to see that it had not been tagged with graffiti and was surprisingly in great shape. Whoever lived there now took care of it and rebuilt it nicely. It was the best looking house in that riff-raffy neighborhood.
My dad relayed a story via my grandmother about the neighbors across the street. It was a mother and her two sons. Turns out one of the sons was Lee Harvey Oswald. Neat!
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| Little Lee's home |
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| My great grandmother's neighbor |
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Morbid but strangely peaceful and beautiful, the cemeteries of New Orleans. We visited old family members graves and also popular cemeteries in the area. Because of our schedules or theirs, most visits were a drive by and a peek through a fence. Unfortunately we did not get to spend more time looking at these above ground "burials" and memorials.
In all of our travels, we did not run into any ghosts in New Orleans. We did, however, run into a ghost of wrestling past in the airport on our way home. Hey-yo!
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| Mourning the Ultimate Warrior? |
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Many thanks to Mae for her hospitality at Mae's B&B. We had a great time catching up on the old and visiting the new. It is reassuring to know that so many friends and family check in on her and Heime, but her independence is certainly not lacking! "I'm not ready yet" she says, and she keeps going. A great visit and anticipation of our return to the south, as she has invited the girls for Mardi Gras. Uh oh!
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I have nine days, NINE, to beat my best run of the year and add five miles onto my route, help me!
If you need me in the next week or so, I will be putting miles and wear on my shoes in the streets. Give a wave and wish me luck!
