Good Children

Best Mother's Day ever

I've only had three but yesterday rocked. I got to sleep in late and then was treated to breakfast of chocolate milk and pain au chocolat from La Boulangerie. THEN we actually had people over; two grown-ups and a small child.

We all sat in the backyard, ate sausage and chips and drank beers and cider. We even had a bottle of champagne to class things up a bit. It worked out wonderfully and the kids somehow dodged most of the debris.

In the midst of all of the FUN, the new tenants come over to sign their lease and they even wrote us another check. Yippee! Our old tenants move out in 6 days ... not that I'm counting down or anything.

There goes the neighborhood

Seriously. I'd heard he'd found Jesus in Texas but I figured he was dead.

Harry's back.

Slumlord

Our tenants move out in 10 days! That's less than two weeks!

We've already got replacements so soon I will have a whole new set of issues to bitch about.

I used to be all, "la la la maybe we'll find tenants that we can be best friends with and have weekly dinner parties and play lawn games ..." Now I just want someone that will pay rent on time and leave me the hell alone.

Is that too much to ask?

Letting the kids do the dirty work

Marguerite got a present last year that I couldn't stand. It was tacky, predictable and featured cherubs. Unfortunately it was something that I couldn't toss. I put it high on a shelf so that Adelaide couldn't get to it as it was breakable and hoped that it would just disappear.

I found Addy playing with it the other day and realized that The Husband had been getting it down for her. No matter how many times I put it back up, it would be down the next day.

This afternoon while I was playing on the internet tending to Daisy, I heard a crash followed by Addy's cries. I went to inspect the damage and found Daisy's present smashed to smithereens all over the stairs.

I then commended Adelaide for a job well done. I'm so going to hell.

Walgreens willies

I've lived in this city for nearly eight years now, long enough to know when things aren't "right" at times. Sometimes it's a really bad night in the Quarter when things seem off and and there is a static in the air that makes me feel like things could get out of hand any second. There are days on my block when it is just best to stay inside and not even open the door to see what all of the yelling is about at the other end of the street. Then there is the new Walgreens at Claiborne and South Carrollton.

The Walgreens beckons me with its shiny newness, ample parking and close location. The first few times that I forsook ye ol' Maple Street Walgreens for the new one, I went during the day and thought nothing of it. However, my last two visits were after dark and there was something terribly wrong in the air -- people were panhandling outside, I was getting blatant stares at my breasts while entering the store (they are a sight to behold but in a freakish, still breastfeeding sort of way), and once inside, I became paranoid that someone was looking over my shoulder as I typed in my PIN during checkout.

Only a few blocks from the other Walgreens, this store has an entirely different vibe. I had to remind myself that it butts up against Hollygrove and that maybe I should take more care when I go there at night but I struggled with this thought because it's so close to my house, why was I so uncomfortable?

Then I read today about a string of muggings around Palmer Park; how young men taunt construction workers, calling them "walking ATMs." I had two thoughts. The first of which had to do with vengance. The second was, "no wonder I'm uneasy over there. It is truly less safe than I am comfortable with."

By "less safe," I mean that my chance of getting mugged jumps to 70% rather than the 20% chance that I am "comfortable with."

No more shiny new Walgreens after dark. I'll stick with the Riverbend, thank you very much.

Bad Mommy

We strolled over the Audubon Park today with a friend and her two kids. We had a nice time but on the way back, Daisy went biserko. Addy was raised to sleep anywhere but Daisy only sleeps in her crib 99% of the time. In the end, I know that Daisy will be easier on the sleep front but we had a very difficult walk home.

My friend took pity on me by the time we reached her house and offered to drive us the rest of the way saving us at least a 15 minute scream fest. The catch was that we had no where near the right number of car seats so there was some brief illegal driving going on. However, the risks in doing that were fewer than the risks that were involved with me walking ten blocks with two screaming babies.

What happened here?

I'm not sure what exactly went on here but there have been plenty of occasions when I have wanted to knock "concerned" citizens over the head with a baseball bat after they've made inquiries about my infant.

Comments and questions that could incite such violence include:

"What are you feeding that kid?"
"What are YOU eating?"
"Was it a vaginal birth?"
"Is she wearing sunscreen?"
"Where are your socks?"
"Where is her hat?"
"WATCH OUT FOR HER NECK!"

And my all time favorite ...

"She doesn't look a thing like you."

Odds and ends

Daisy grew out of her infant car seat so we moved her into the deluxe model. She also has two teeth coming in on top giving her a total of four teeth altogether. She's growing entirely too fast.

Adelaide went to a birthday party over the weekend and caught another cold. I have hereby decreed that she and Daisy will not be attending any birthday parties from here on out. In fact, I am doing away with pre-school and maybe their immune systems will be stronger by age 10 ... or 20.

Can I just take a moment to remark on how beautiful the weather has been this spring? New Orleanians complain A LOT about the weather and yet we know every year what we are in store for. However, this spring the beautiful weather has gone on for weeks and months.

The trees and plants have gone from the fresh scent of new blooms to sultry. I don't know all of the smells but they are deep and almost lustful. I know the smell of jasmine and sweet olive but there are so many plants that I have yet to identify.

I broke down and bought some plants at Home Depot yesterday. I say, "broke down" because I am always lured into the gardening center only to spend a lot of money on plants that I can't keep alive. I also planted some herb seeds. I should know how those turn out in about 14 days ... just enough time for the flowers that I bought to die.

Workin' the fest

These saved my life today. My friend who I went to Jazz Fest with went to two Targets this morning and procured the last two pair of rain boots. They saved us from an entire day of wet feet. We did however suffer from over confidence which led my friend into a waist-deep puddle. Ooops.

I was working one of the beverage tents which got me free entry and $10 for lunch. It was a great deal of fun. While working I was parked near the Gentilly stage and the last show of the night was Elvis Costello and Allen Tousaint. It was a great performance.

The last time that I saw [Richard] Elvis Costello was [Detroit] New York in ['68] 1996; twelve years ago. When I realized this today I felt very ooooold. It seems like a lifetime ago and that I was a different person then and still remarkably the same.

Bye, bye Jimmy

Washington is reigning in their boy ... oops. Who will seek out corruption now? Maybe this was an underhanded way to get his ass out of New Orleans before summer kicked in.

Also, a Mexican diplomat with sticky fingers hands in his resignation after his NOLA visit.

We have a strange effect on some people.