Meet You in New Orleans

So far this has been a unique semester. I have been running all over creation, even more than usual. What has been especially unique is the ways in which Matt and I have gone about spending time together. At the beginning of the month we met in Portland, OR for a Energy Policy Research Conference where I was presenting a paper. I flew in from Lubbock and he came in from OKC. There's something very lovely and romantic about not seeing your spouse for too long and having them  knock on your hotel door when you're away for work.

We had a lovely time in Portland and it is a city that I would very much like to visit again. Especially if I can remove the added stress of completing and presenting  a paper (although it's very cost effective it do it that way)

Moving along a few weeks, I hadn't seen Matt in 10 days. I can do about 4 without too much frustration. Usually those 4 days are filled with very long days of me catching up since I neglected my school work entirely over the previous weekend. After 4, I really miss my husband. Aren't married people supposed to live together? Aren't they supposed to eat dinner together and talk about their days?? Aren't they supposed to sit in the chair and a half together and hang out with their dog and watch the Breaking Bad finale together??? Hey, we all define happiness in different ways. 

So Matt had a conference for work coming up in New Orleans. A few months ago he asked me if I wanted to go. DO I?????? Hang out with you and get to go somewhere cool? Did you even have to ask?

Once again, I flew from Lubbock and he flew from OKC.
Once again I got there earlier than he did. I had a glass of wine and some crab and corn soup while I waited for his plane to come in (When in Rome, right? Or Nawlin's. Or Nola. Or pretty soon just "Nuh"). Another knock on the hotel room door. My love was there. 

Okay, that's enough mushy. 

We started off at the ACME Oyster House. I don't know about you but I like Oysters. They were a little pricey... but YUM! Maybe I'll learn to make them myself... 

We crashed early. I was completely worn out from a trying week. 

The next day we visited Cafe Du Monde which is something you just do when you go to Nola. You eat beignets and drink cafe au lait.  I don't make the rules, I just follow them. 

Then we went back to the hotel and changed shoes. Sperrys are not good when the humidity is 115% and you have long distances to walk.

We went to Pat O'Briens for lunch. We had Hurricanes, Red Beans and Rice, Jumbalaya and Gumbo. We're such tourists.

Notice the different shirt? I totally under packed and the sweater wasn't going to work. What was I thinking?? So we shopped. 

Matt has a motto about traveling: He'll go anywhere that he can drink the streets. 

And then we took a nice tour around the French Quarter on a wagon behind a mule named Choctaw. It was one of our weird impulse decisions that we're known for. And like always, it turned out to be really fun. 

Poor Choctaw.

There's all kinds of street performers in New Orleans. Some people do really neat things and some people do strange things and it makes you wonder why they ask for money. Well this guy was a magician. He was pretty good for a guy on the street. He asked, "Do any men have a nice thick wedding ring for my next trick? I promise you'll get it back". I looked at might like "YOU DO!" and so reluctantly, Matt hands it over. And then the wave of terror came over me. WHY AM I AN IDIOT?!?

I started calculating what I would do if he took off. I ran a 5k the other day. I could totally take him! Forget that Sangria I just had! My entire body language changed. I was nearly part of the show. I wanted him in arms reach. WHY WOULD I ENCOURAGE MY HUSBAND TO GIVE HIS RING TO A STREET PERFORMER??? ESPECIALLY ONE THAT SPECIALIZES IN ILLUSION!?!?

Stupid. Stupid. Girl. 

Fortunately after about 45 seconds of performing some trick he gave it back. It appears to be the same ring. 

There should be an app for stopping you from doing truly stupid things. "Siri, should I encourage my husband to hand over his wedding ring to ANY strangers?" Boop Boop "I don't know why you even have to ask such things. Shall I do a web search?"

As a result of our wagon ride we discovered the oldest bar in the Western Hemisphere. It used to be a place for torture, Blacksmith was a cover up. "Uh, yes sir, I'll have a Hurricane." 

Overall, we had a really nice day. It was a typical Matt and Shanna adventure, and those are my favorite. 

On Saturday we both had to work. He went to his training and I found various spots to read a book for a review that was due on Monday. 

By the grace of the Good Lord, I actually finished it. And then my teacher cut me off when I was presenting it to class. Rude. 

We had a calm evening Saturday. We did stumble upon this pair of women who were fabulous musicians who happened to be playing "House of the Rising Sun" when we approached. Twas awesome. 

Our trips have been really nice this semester. Although Portland is much cooler than New Orleans and infinitely cleaner (in nearly every way imaginable).  Tomorrow I head home for the first time in 3 weeks and I have to tell you that I couldn't be any more excited. We're going to The Lumineers concert (because Matt thinks he's a hipster) and then Friday is Heather's bachelorette party. Of course it's a busy weekend, but I'm really looking forward to being home. My bed. My house. My dog. My love. My life. 

Until next time!

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