Girl Scout Camping

Just realized I didn't share my Girl Scout camping experience with you. I must admit that working part time, mom full time, wife full time, and family taxi driver can get very overwhelming. Then I just threw going back to school in the mix and it makes for an even busier life. Joshua Rosenthal, the owner and one of the instructors said just tell people you are in medical school because that's how busy you will be. I agree Joshua.

Our camping trip was changed from Friday through Sunday to Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon at Camp Covington. I was bummed that we would only have one night, but I think this was the perfect amount of time for the girls. It still boggles my mind all the camping gear one needs for camping for just one night. It was a total of 10 Brownie Scouts and 4 adults.

We paired the girls up with a buddy so they were always to be together. It is a safety check essentially. The neat thing is that we paired them with a girl they didn't necessarily know or hang out with. This turned out to be a really great experiment. Great new friendships blossomed.

My daughter was paired with another girl that also likes to camp and do outdoorsy things like her. They had a really great time. This goes for most of the buddy pairings. There was one exception and there always seems to be that one.

One of the girls was just out right mean to her buddy. We had many talks about this, but I think it was a case of opposites that didn't attract. This was the first time one of the girls was so far away from her parents. In the end everyone had a good time. Most differences worked out.

The truly amazing thing that happen was helpfulness of the girls. This happened organically without any requests. They just started cleaning. This never happens at home. All the girls swept and cleaned their cabins without being asked. Two scouts started washing dishes and 2 more asked if they could help. Hello!!! What planet did this girls come from? My daughter was one of these helpful Girl Scouts. She must have stayed at the campground, because that same helpful, asking how she can participate child never made it back to my house.

I am fine with that, but was truly delighted how naturally things came together with the girls. Part of the rules was that the adults let the girls take the role and they sure did. I was a proud mom and Girl Scout camp leader.

My daughter and I had to rush off at 11:00 AM on Sunday to get back home for a championship state swim meet. She did miss swimming on Saturday, but got to participate Sunday. Their team, the South Louisiana Swim Team (SLST) won the championship meet! We won last year and we won this year. She is a bit disappointed that she couldn't swim on Saturday because that was her best swim stroke day. Life is all about decisions and a bit of give-and-take. Regardless, the team won and it was a victory.

I'll have to write more about the meet because my two younger daughters shined that weekend swimming.

Weekend to Remember

Life with three busy little girls can get overwhelming. So overwhelming that you just never have time for your spouse. The biggest form of communication is texting. Yes, this is what my husband and I resort to, texting each other.

We decided to change this and have a "weekend to remember." It was so nice to get away with just the two of us. A friend of ours actually paid for our admission to the weekend. Of course we payed for everything else, but it was certainly a super kind act by our friend.

Basically, it was a marriage retreat. During the weekend, they provided sessions for the couples to break away and discuss certain things. We talked about stuff we didn't realize we needed to talk about. The air certainly got cleared. It truly put our marriage on a level playing field.

It was a faith based weekend which we didn't really expect, but embraced it. We are catholic, so hearing about God outside our one hour a week was a bit different, but enlightening.

The main thing we brought home from this weekend was to communicate and with the right tools.

Well Done New Orleans!

As you know the Super Bowl was just in New Orleans. The city did an amazing job preparing for the event and put on an awesome show. My husband and I went to visit the festivities and were so impressed.

The Verizon Super Bowl Boulevard was a lot of fun. Of course we got to hear some really great local musicians, but we got to try lots of new food from vendors that aren't typically at the usual Woldenberg festivals. There was something special about the city for the Super Bowl; it looked spectacular.

The guests, locals, vendors, shop owners, bus drivers, and everyone else I came in contact with were extremely friendly. There was something in the air that was so uplifting and special. The energy from the city was magnetizing!

I am so happy to be from this great city of New Orleans. If you didn't make it for the Super Bowl, well, you need to make it out here soon.

10 Year Wedding Anniversary

November 30 we celebrated ten years of marriage. That is a decade! Part of me thinks the time has gone so quickly and part of me thinks it passed appropriately. 

We have three beautiful girls to show for the past 10 years. Reflecting back, we sure have experienced a lot of life together. We have had many firsts, wonderful travels, sadly several family losses, hurricane evacuations and renovations, many highs and a few lows, and all in all a great life. 

I planned on posting pictures from our wedding with both of us, but I don't have any. So, it is just me posing. I want to give credit to the photographer, but can't think of the name. If I do, I will certainly put their name up.

Our Fifth Wedding Anniversary

November 30, 2007 we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. Actually, we celebrated the whole weekend. This year we decided to celebrate in style without children. It was realized that we have never been away from the kids as a couple more than a few of hours during the day due to work.

FG has been out of town away from the kids several times, but never away from the kids with me. I actually went out of town for a wedding with my mom 3 weeks ago without the girls. FG stayed home with them in order for me to have my first weekend alone. It was nice, but I was ready to get back home to them.

Here's how our anniversary weekend started. Friday night, we went to the ballet. We saw the production of the dance company Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Quite frankly, I hated it. The first act was horrible. I fell asleep during the first act and intermission. The second act was certainly a lot better. It held my interest better, but not FG's. He fell asleep this time. When Act Three came around, we decided to leave. I spent 15 years of my life dancing. Be it that I am no expert in dance, but some of the moves just didn't seem normal and certainly not graceful. I guess I am more of a traditionalists when it comes to dance. Surprisingly, FG is the one that wanted to go to the ballet. I wanted to go to the symphony to see the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. But, as you know, marriage is about compromise.

Saturday morning we did spend some time with the girls. In fact, we had breakfast with Santa at Zea's Restaurant at the Esplanade Mall. It was fun, but a bit unorganized. They kind of forgot about us and we had to track down Santa and Mrs. C in order to take pictures.

Two o'clock was the time. The time for us to say have a good weekend kids with your grandparents. We were off to downtown New Orleans to the W Hotel New Orleans on Poydras Street. You would think we were taking some long trip away from the girls far far away, but it was just a ten minute drive from home. It was just what I needed!

First of all, I just hung out in the hotel room. I did nothing for about 15 minutes. Then I decided to do something I rarely get to do...take a bath without being interrupted. It was very nice. They had Bliss skincare products which were very nice and my skin appreciated them.

Next, we got ready for our dinner reservations at 6:00 PM. They were for Cafe Adelaide across the street at the Lowes Hotel. Our location was fantastic. The restaurant was across the street. Harrah's Casino was next door. Well, back to dinner. Being that the restaurant is part of the Brennan's family empire, service was excellent. The food was good, but I was very limited since I don't eat beef or pork. Of course, they had their namesake turtle soup and duck. FG got both of them. I got squash soup which was good, but too sweet for me. Next I had the shrimp remoulade. I think this was my favorite part of my meal. My entree was tuna. It was just fine, but not the excellence I was expecting. We decided to skip dessert since we were going to a party. I guess I have become a food snob over the years. That's what happens when you live in a city where food is such an important part of the culture. It is the culture.

Our next stop was next door at Miracle on Fulton Street. It is part of the Harrah's Casino Hotel. It was quite lovely. There was a band that played, Santa was there, and the icing on the cake was snow! Well, it is the closest thing we will get to snow here in southeast Louisiana. The street was very enchanting. I wish I had the girls with me because they would have had so much fun. But, it was an excellent experience with just FG and me.

Our final stop for the night was a party at the Elms Mansion on St. Charles Avenue. Lucky for us, it was a very mild evening and we were able to enjoy the grounds of the mansion. I held out on dessert at the restaurant because I figured we would have some at the party. We left 30 minutes before the party ended and still no dessert. I was so disappointed. Otherwise, we had a very nice time at the party. It was just lovely.

Now, back to the hotel. Did I happen to mention the incredible service we had at the W? There was a gentleman that goes by the name "Doc". He is the epitome of customer service. He is the man! If you need anything, I mean anything, he is the go-to man. Part of the unexpected service we got was a message from the staff wishing us a Happy Anniversary, a half dozen chocolate covered strawberries delivered to our room after about an hour of our arrival. In the morning, a chocolate mousse dessert was delivered to our room with Happy Anniversary on the chocolate. They really paid attention to the details. I certainly felt special. One detail we both noticed was in the elevators. They had rugs that said "Good Morning", "Good Afternoon", and "Good Evening" which were changed according to time of day.

Well, that was our weekend without children. we certainly did enjoy it. I don't know why it took us that long to do it. I am ready for a child free weekend or night again!