Danielle and the kids left for Darren's parents' sometime Saturday morning. I took Amber over to Catherine and Adam's house. Then Darren and I left. Danielle had ordered a cake for Olivia's New Orleans birthday party, and had to pick it up for noon, and Darren had to work this week, so that is why we drove separately and Danielle left earlier. On the way, I was knitting, we listened to REM which was okay, but then we listened to The Art of Noise, which I really liked. Then I fell asleep. At some point I awoke, and we went to Lee's Hamburgers for lunch. Darren said Danielle would be jealous. She called and said that there was traffic or something, and that we should come a different way, so we took the 24-mile Causeway bridge across Lake Pontchartrain. We eventually made it.
Olivia wanted a Star Wars birthday, so Danielle got her a cake that had Luke and Darth Vader figures on top, that have buttons on their backs that when you press them make their lightsabers light up. The cake had blue icing, which stained everyone's mouths. Jacob had it the worst, it was all over. Olivia had some on her hand and ended up smearing it on her forehead. The only one who didn't get the blue mouth was Ms. Bonnie, because she didn't eat the icing when she saw everyone else.
Ms. Bonnie and Danielle went out and got a ladder. Its a ladder with a seat built on top, for the kids to sit in so that they can see the parade over the crowd, and you don't have to hold them on your shoulders. Saturday night we went to see the Endymion parade. We had to find parking and accidentally went the wrong way up a one way street. It was more like an alley. There was a parking lot that we pulled into, and we ended up parking there, but Danielle had to back out so she could pull in straight. We had Mr. Dave's pick-up truck. There was a lot of traffic so Ms. Bonnie said I should jump out and hold them up so that Danielle could back up. So I did. I just walked out into the middle with my back turned, so if they were yelling or having any kind of reaction I couldn't see, haha. We found a spot on a corner and set up the ladder. Ms. Bonnie said that what you have to do to get in front, is just walk down the street on the parade route, and when it comes they push you to the side, and you have to be in the front and everyone has to make room. She and I did walk down a ways, and then back past where Danielle, Darren and the kids were. We returned before the parade arrived. Then we did end up going down to the front. I caught some beads which I kept, and the rest were ones that I just picked up to give the kids. I ended up catching 4 strands. The beads come in bunches packed in plastic bags, and some people on the floats were just throwing the unopened bags. I picked up one of those and put it in my hoodie pocket. The ones that I had caught, I wore but I moved them to the inside of my sweatshirt. I think one guy thought I had none at all since I had hidden them, and he produced one of the bags full over the side. He gestured to me, so I put my arms out to catch it, but it hit me right in the face! Everyone in the parade was wearing masks, but he was gesturing to make sure I was alright. It didn't hurt, more surprising than anything, and it made for a good experience to remember and share, haha. Endymion is in Mid-City and its supposed to be family-oriented. But some trash standing near me and Ms. Bonnie paid no mind to that. She was flashing. Or really just had her shirt pulled down, and just showing, she wasn't flashing then covering back up, she was just exposed. Ms. Bonnie almost got into a fight. Some other trashy girl was trying to shove past her, and then cussed her out.
We had gotten to the parade around 3:30-4ish, and the sun was out. I was wearing a hoodie and my coat, and in the parking lot I was hot, so I took my coat off and put it in Danielle's trunk, I didn't want to have to hold it all night. Danielle, Ms. Bonnie and I had come in Mr. Dave's truck, and Darren and the kids had Danielle's car. Well it got very chilly after sunset and as the parade went on. Eventually we left the front to rejoin the others, but it was only Danielle. Darren took the kids back, and my coat!
Saturday night Danielle dropped me off downtown, I went to the French Quarter and down Bourbon Street. It was navigable, but more a lot crowded than I had seen it. The most congested areas were around the balconies/galleries, from which people were throwing beads. In those areas, not only were there people staring up and trying to catch beads, there were all these people picketing and preaching, clogging up the street even more. I was bemused by being handed a religious pamphlet on New Year's Eve, but it was more of a hassle this time, because it was at like every intersection. I didn't go into any of the bars on Bourbon that night. I went back to Decatur to this bar that the Marine had taken me to when I was in New Orleans with Danielle over the summer, before I was on the payroll and hung out with her because I wanted to. (Just kidding Danielle!) I hung out there for a while, and I saw the bartender from my Marine date. I didn't say anything at first, she wasn't working, she was just hanging out. Eventually I decided to say something, so I yelled "Molly!" She clearly didn't remember me, I would hardly expect her to, but I tried to remind her. "Remember, my cousin's name is Molly and you were happy I didn't say it was my dog's name," and she said "Yeah, everyone says 'that's dog's name,'" but she still didn't remember hahaha.
Sunday Danielle and I went to the mall. We went to Restoration Hardware (one of my fave store's, I'll be furnishing my place from there,) Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids, J. Crew, and Coach. Oh and of course Macy*s, because there isn't one nearby us here. While we were in Macy*s, they came over the P.A. and said that the mall would be closing at four not six, because of the parade. So we left, and Danielle took me to get a drive-thru daiquiri. I got a large which was huge. There was a parade right down the street from Darren's parents house Sunday night, Napoleon. We didn't take the ladder, the kids just ran around which especially Jacob loved. And Darren and I took turns holding one or the other of the kids on our shoulders when floats came. Danielle and I were having Olivia dance. She has this dance where she like kicks, so Danielle and I were doing it too, and Darren said that we are terrible. We weren't making fun of her though, we were dancing with her, not at her, haha. I opted not to go down to the Quarter that night.
Monday was Lundi Gras. We went to Oschner, the hospital she used to work for in the Internal Auditing dept. to meet up with her friend Gen for lunch. We went up first to see her old coworkers. The kids were bouncing off the walls and yelling and jumping off furniture in the office. We had lunch with Gen in the cafeteria and then went on a sort of tour through the hospital to Gen's office in Security. Then we went back and it was the kids nap time and Danielle and I went downtown. We went to the French Market, and before that in some shops and boutiques along the way by Cafe Du Monde. We went into one store, because in the window they had these mermen ornaments that we thought I might need. They had a doctor and a football player and one with a collar and bow tie and shirt cuffs (no shirt haha.) Inside they had a fireman and a cop one. I didn't end up getting one, I decided maybe at a later date, and I can coordinate it with my beau's profession haha. But in that store they were selling the Mardi Gras poster for this year, and the artist was there signing them. I got one of those. (And proceeded to whine the entire rest of the day about having to carry it.) We went to Cafe Maspero for lunch. Well Danielle got lunch, red beans and rice, I got an order of fries and a daiquiri. And then another. Haha. We were finished just in time to go back across the street to the Riverwalk, where Zulu was about to arrive. Each parade has a king, and Zulu and Rex are two of the biggies. (Parades and Kings.) They come in on Coast Guard boats and meet by the river and have a ceremony, which I'll get to. We saw the boat coming and went to where it was docking, we were right up at the front, just by luck. So we watched Zulu and the court disembark, (and the cute Coast Guardsmen.) I handed Danielle my poster and had to make a mad dash to find a potty, after my two big daiquiris haha. I was pretty mad that I had to miss it, but I decided better that than wet pants. I went to the Riverwalk Mall, which was far far away! When I finally made it inside, the bathroom was far far away too. Ugh. Danielle and I played phone tag, my phone had been silenced so I missed 2 of her calls and then we couldn't catch each other but finally did, and then we found each other in person again. It turned out I hadn't missed anything, or at least not what I thought I had. They just got off the boat which I saw, and Ludacris was there. So I didn't get to see him, but the ceremony hadn't happened yet, Rex comes an hour or two later. So I was happy about that. Danielle had to go to the bathroom then, so we went back to the mall. We were walking back to the area where Rex would be coming, and doing Olivia's dance. There was this horn noise, and so I held up my poster tube and pretended to blow a horn. Here, there were cars behind us. It wasn't a street, but it was a motorcade, so they were back there, and it was a car horn honking at us, while meanwhile, not only are we not moving out of the way, we are taking our good old time and doing Olivia's kicking dance. Hahaha. We ended up coming right upon the spot were the boat with Rex was going to dock. And once again, we were right in the front! Perfect view. The ship docked and I heard people talking about Laura Bush being there. I was like, yeah right, and was just looking at the Coast Guard boys. But then, sure enough, I could see the Former First Lady on the boat! So I pointed her out to Danielle and we were very excited. The Coast Guard lined up and their was Secret Service there and then the barricade in front of us, so once she got past the gang plank we couldn't see her that well. We didn't get to meet her or anything, but it was still exciting. They didn't announce she was there, she talked to some reporters and that's where we left her to go see Rex and Zulu meet. She wasn't part of the ceremony. They meet up, and the mayor is there, and Tuesday is proclaimed a holiday, and all the laws are suspended, and the mayor gave Rex the key to the city because he's in charge through Tuesday. Then there were fireworks and we headed to the car.
Ms. Bonnie got po-boys for dinner, and everyone had eaten when we got back. Darren was saying how he had eaten too much, and at that point I had only eaten half of my sandwich. I ate the other half anyway, and I was feeling stuffed too, bleh. There was another parade that night down the street on Veteran's Boulevard, Zeus. We got yet more beads and some stuffed animals. I forget whether the stuffed animals we got where at Napoleon or Zeus, but I got a little beanie elephant, it landed on the ground, which I kept, and I caught a pound puppy which I gave to Olivia. Or one of them, its not a favorite, but it made it home, I saw it on the floor earlier. Jacob got a big snake, and Olivia got a dolphin/whale thing. At one point I had Jacob on my shoulders and someone threw a teddy bear, I caught that. They probably threw it for him, but I kept it, and he doesn't notice or care. Olivia had some little Snoopy, which when we were leaving yesterday Danielle bid me hide, "it's not coming home with us." Haha. She doesn't miss it, if she even remembers it at all. I was debating whether or not to just stay that night rather than return with Danielle, but I had a good time at the parade, so I'm glad I did.
Darren took me back later that evening.
He dropped me off and I headed down to Bourbon Street. He thought I should or would want to check out the Oz. I didn't end up going though. There were no lines when I first got down there, but I just didn't want to. I feel less weird about being out by myself down in New Orleans than going to the club back home by myself, but I just didn't want to go in to the gay clubs for whatever reason. I went down to the Cat's Meow instead, where they have karaoke. I went back out into the street for a while, and just stood under a gallery people watching for a while. There was a small group of people in front of me under there for a little bit, I was back against the building and they were more towards the curb. When they were leaving this girl bumped into me. When they had just been standing there I had noticed her dress. She apologized and I said it was okay and that I liked her dress, and she said thanks and that I was pretty. Haha, aw. I decided to head back to the Cat's Meow, and just as I stepped off the curb, I think someone had just spit off the gallery and it got in my hair. They didn't spit on me, they had just spit and I walked under it I'm fairly sure. Still, ew.
At the bar another girl started talking to me. Her name was Ashley and we did a Jell-o shot. I hate Jell-o, but. Later, Danielle said I was supposed to be buying shots for boys, not girls. But no boys talked to me. So she said well did you talk to any boys? And I said no, but they weren't talking to me. Besides, they are supposed to be buying me drinks, not me them. Duh.
I made my way back out to Jackson Square. I mentioned how I just walked around the perimeter again and again. Then down Decatur, and off some cross street I hailed a cab. I told him to the intersection to drop me at out in Metairie. When I got there, he let me out in the middle of the block between two streets, so I was walking to the corner to read the street sign. I was going the wrong direction, but the Milner's neighbor was out there, and she called after me and directed me to the house. Haha. I didn't hear or don't remember this part, but she called me Shortcake, because she couldn't remember my name. So Danielle took to calling me that all yesterday, but she preferred Sugarcake. Danielle and I were sharing a room with two inflatable beds. They weren't mattresses they were actual beds, bed level off the ground, not laying on the floor. So Danielle said that she heard me attempt to get in and fall off several times. I think it was once I sat too close to the edge and slipped off. Maybe more, I don't know, but I wasn't that out of it.
Tuesday. Mardi Gras! Danielle woke me up because she was going to clean up the room we had been sleeping in. I didn't really wake up, they just had me move to Jacob's bed in the office. Then I woke up for real, and Danielle and the kids were already down at the parade. Gen and her kids were there too. I headed out, and Ms. Bonnie asked if I wasn't going to dress up in my costume. I said no, and she asked if I was chickening out? I guessed so, and started down the block. I turned around because I decided I had to wear it, I made it for this occasion. It was really to wear down into the Quarter, but there was no way I was going back. I had said to Darren on the way there the night before, that I should just have worn it that night and stayed out all night and into Tuesday. He said oh God that I'd come back pregnant.
I just threw it on. Didn't shave my face. Tisk Tisk. But I was glad I decided to wear it after all. I took pictures with Mr. Dave, and was back on my way again, take two. This couple was walking down the street as well, and the woman asked me if I'm really a friend of Dorothy or if I was just dressed like that. I had heard "Friend of Dorothy" before, but didn't know what it means. On a cruise, there was a Friends of Dorothy LGBT thing at one of the bars, and Mom, Logan, Kyle and I didn't know if it was Dorothy Gale as in the Wizard of Oz, or if Dorothy was someone. So I told her I didn't know what that meant, and she said oh, then you're not. But she explained it is the Wizard of Oz and it means you're gay, and so we got that "straightened" out. So then she said, "You know you're in Metairie right, and they're gonna beat the (effing) (ess) out of you."
to be continued...
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