Wow...

It was one of the best - so many great costumes, so many old friends...

And the weather cooperated - partly sunny, warm, very breezy...and the rain held off until 9PM.

If you were still out in costume at that hour, you probably deserved to get wet.

This is the view from my front porch yesterday morning - as the Krewe of St. Ann gathered to start their traditional walk through the French Quarter. Please click it to see the details!

A trio of Fleur de Lis

Ice Queen and King

A little breezy!

The Sea Monkeys!

It was a marvelous day, and I am still sore for walking and walking and walking and posing and taking pictures and everything. But, oh...it was wonderful!

May Blog Exchange!

“What do you want for Mother’s Day?”

“Whatever. I don’t know.”

“No seriously, what do you want?”

I pause for a second in my toddler meal preparation and think. Last year I had a long list of things I wanted, but now I can’t come up with anything.

“Let me think about it, I’m sure I’ll come up with something.” I give M a quick kiss and turn back to my frozen vegetables.

Over the next few days my mind drifts to the question at hand and then drifts away again. I keep coming up empty. What do moms want for Mother’s Day? I poll one of my many online message boards and I laugh at the responses. Moms? For Mother’s Day? They want time, and lots of it. They want solitude. They want peace and quiet. Basically, these moms want a break from their routine. Well that’s all fine and dandy, but it doesn’t help me. I’m teaching Sunday School in the morning and going to a family brunch right after. I’ll be lucky if I get a half hour nap let alone a day on my own, so it’s back to the drawing board.

Suddenly it comes to me. I know what I want for Mother’s Day. I want to celebrate what I love most about being a mother. I want to spend some quality time alone with my husband and my daughter. We spend all of our days running around, going from one important appointment to another. The time we spend together is always punctuated by yet another task to accomplish or another errand to run. In three short months our little family will be forever changed and before that happens I want to stop and take a moment to really enjoy our little trio.

“M?” I ask calling him at work. “I know what I want for Mother’s Day.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” I hear the relief in his voice. He thinks I’m going to ask for something easy to pick up at a local store.

“I want to go to San Diego with you and C for a long weekend early in June. I want to play at the beach with C. I want to go to the zoo.”

“Oh.”

“I need to spend some quality time with just you and C before the baby comes. That’s what I want for Mother’s Day.”

“I see.”

I hear the cogs whirring in M’s head. It’s not that he doesn’t want to spend time alone with us; it’s that he’s petrified of the flight. I know I’m asking a lot, but it’s what I really want, and I’m pretty sure M will agree in the end. He knows that I work hard to keep our lives running smoothly. He knows I deserve this. But I’m sure he still wishes I had asked for a day at the spa.

May all of the Mothers in the world have the day of their dreams, and the gifts they most desire!

This was a guest post written by Rose at It’s My Life... in honor of this month’s blog exchange.

When I’m not busy working, cooking, or running after my toddler, C, I’m usually hiding in the bathroom thinking up my next blog post or trying to read a chapter or two of the book I’m currently reading. When I do come up with something witty to write about, you can read it here (though I have to apologize, the baby within seems to have swallowed most of the wit these days…) where your usual blogger extraordinaire is blogging today.

Go on over and read his post and don’t forget to check out all the other blog exchange posts this month!