Ya'll come back now, Ya hear?

Here I am, in the Big Easy!! (Do NOT read that without the 'in.') Hubby had to go to New Orleans for a conference, so he invited me along. The kids are all at home, being watched after by a bazillion people (it takes a village!). THANK YOU everyone!! I seriously almost didn't make it--it was just one thing after another going wrong, all the way to the second I walked onto the plane. Really--you'd think I'd get a clue and give up, but I was pretty determined. (Remember--I'm VERY GOOD at being gone, and you don't want to waste that kind of talent.)

Probably the worst thing that happened was that the girl who'd agreed to stay nights with the kids wouldn't return my phone calls. Finally, less than 2 days before we were supposed to take off, she still hadn't responded, and Hubby pointed out that maybe we really didn't WANT our kids in the care of someone who is avoiding us. Even through my have-to-get-out-of-here mania I could see some wisdom in that. So I stopped pressing redial. And hubby took pity on me, got on the phone, and had us the ultimate Mary Poppins within an hour. Her name is Allison, she's the daughter of a dear friend of ours, and my girls are totally in love with her. THANK YOU ALLISON!! I was so grateful to her that I offered to give her one of our kids, to which she emphatically replied, "NO, realllllly, that won't be necessary." Responsible AND smart--what a girl.

I am totally in love with New Orleans, and not just because it's 80 degrees here and snowing at home. No, my love is much deeper than that. For one thing, the food is beyond yummy. Hubby and I went to a place last night to have seafood and chips, and I think I ate through the whole Mississippi. DELISH! You really must try it--Cafe Mesparo's--when you're in the neighborhood.

Now for my funny story (it only took me 3 paragraphs to get to it): We're at Cafe Mesparo's, waiting for our food at our little table, and our attention turns to the three squeeze bottles of condiments displayed prominently in the middle. (Did I mention that Cafe Mesparo's is not exactly a pretentious place?) We're wondering "What is in those?" So I lean over and sniff the opening of condiment #1. No smell. So Hubby squeezes it a little for me and a poof of mayo air reaches my nose. Mystery solved. On to #2. Again, the poof of air, which tells us it's yellow mustard. Great system. So I lean over condiment #3, breathe in, and SPLAT!, Hubby's little squeeze launches a huge explosive blob of dijon mustard all over my face and upper body. After the split second of total shock and urge to shove the bottle up his nose, I start laughing hysterically. As I'm wiping little gritty mustard seeds out of my eyes, of course.

Oddly, that may be my favorite moment of the New Orleans adventure. I suppose it could've happened anywhere, but it didn't. I'll never look at Grey Poupon the same way.