First visit back home

We survived!  50 hours of travel, 6 flights, at least 2500 miles on I10 and countless calories consumed.

Our first trip home as expats was amazing.  We had a great time and enjoyed every last minutes (the evening of January 9th being the one exception).

We arrived in New Orleans after flying from Cairo to Paris, Paris to The Azores, The Azores to Atlanta then Atlanta to New Orleans.  Why the Azores?  It's not like it's a regular stop or anything.  Shortly after we left Charles De Gaulle (aka the worst and most confusing airport ever ever ever) in Paris the captain came on the air and asked if there were any Doctors on the plane.  Several scholarly people went to the front to attend to a medical issue with one of the passengers.  We forgot about the whole thing until the captain came on the air again, and in that serious twang that only airplane captains have, said "Ladies and Gentleman, uhhhh, we're going to have to make a stop off the coast of Portugal due to a medical emergency, uhhhh, so just sit back and we will get you in the air again as soon as possible."  Me flying solo wouldn't of cared.  Me with a 2 year old cared a lot.  Of course you want the best for the medical emergency, but images of a crazed blonde child running up and down the aisle flashed into my head.  Luckily Benjamin was the perfect child during our 2 hour delay in the Azors and then went right to sleep and stayed that way all the way to Atlanta.  

I Googled the Azors.  Good thing we didn't get off the plane to see this ugly place. Eeeew...beautiful flowers and scenery.

We had to seriously book it in Atlanta.  We had 30 minutes to get off the plane, go through customs, change a poop diaper, go through security, go through security again (cause Seth looks suspicious.  I blame the beard), get on the train, go from I to B on the train, go from B1 to B15 and board the plane to New Orleans.  And we did it!  All while cursing (quietly so the 2 year old didn't hear) and calling my mom telling her we will probably have to sleep in Atlanta and get on the next flight.  This scene and song was in my head the whole time.  

There is nothing like stepping into your parent's house after you haven't been there in a long time.  Especially at Christmas. The smells and memories and warmth hit you all at once, and for a little minute you're a kid again.  I immediately did what I always do- look in the refrigerator for goodies.  I wasn't hungry, but who can resist delicious mom-cooked food and goodies at 3am?  This ended up being a common thing with me during our entire visit, and by the end of the trip i was sporting anything with an elastic waist due to that.  I opened the fridge and there I saw....

and

and all was well in the world.

We relaxed the next day because Mimi, Pop and Nanny were coming and we had to go to NOLA airport again to pick up Kellie, Hayes and  Nolan.  Busy and awesome day!

We picked up Kellie and Co then went directly to visit Granny Mac.  I wrote about my Granny in another blog because my mom and I had just talked about how she wasn't doing very well.  She didn't have much time left.  It's because of that reason that Seth and I left a week earlier than originally planned.  I'm so happy to report that our visit with Granny was awesome.  We walked into her house to see a pot of seafood gumbo on the stove and all the party food I wrote about in that blog entry.  My awesome Aunt Patricia made sure that we had it because she wanted it to "be like old times" one more time.  Granny wasn't well, but she was still her usual sassy self.  She teased and laughed and asked us a lot of questions.  I got to say goodbye to her, which is something I'll always treasure.  My last memory of her alive is one of happiness and laughter.  Two days after our visit Granny fell into a coma.  She past away before Christmas Eve.

Normally we would of canceled our trip to Houston due to Granny's condition, but we couldn't miss Benjamin's Nephrology appointment at Texas Children's Hospital.  He got the all clear and everything looks good!  We will return next year, and however many once a year trips after that, but all is well in kidney land.  Visiting Houston was awesome.  We stayed with Benjamin's Parrin O and Allison (who is due in May!) and got to visit with most of our good friends.  I got to visit the new location of the Houston Food Bank and see the paver we bought for Benjamin.  It was great to see all my old buddies.  I also went to the Keegan building (my old office) for a potluck lunch.  I miss all of them a lot, so it was great to see everyone.

the not filled in part of the R had me worried, but i'm happy to report it's filled in now and easy to read

After Houston was all about Christmas Eve celebrations in Lafayette and Scott.  Going to Mass at St Peter and Paul was eventful.  Two year old's don't enjoy being pent up for two hours, so he took to playing with two older girls (older as in 4 and 5) who one whispered to me "He's cute but he's a copy cat."  Benjamin then came up to me and whispered "Shushubsheshubbb."  After Mass we headed to the Sonnier family get together where I ate tons of rice dressing.  I'm sure there was more options, but after my twelfth plate of rice dressing everything is a blur.

Christmas Day was in Baton Rouge at my parent's house.  We had a full house with my trio, my brother's family, my parents and my Uncle Tim, Aunt Patricia, Little Timmy and his wife Heidi (due in July!).  It was a great visit.  We ate and then spent the rest of the day and into the evening talking about Granny and telling stories about her life.  It was like our own private wake.  It was really special to have that time with them.

Granny's funeral was December 28th.  It was a beautiful day, the kind of day where she liked to sit outside and enjoy her backyard.  She lived an amazing life and past away at home with her three son's and two daughter in law's at her side. Hopefully we can all be so lucky to have a life filled with laughter, the perfect Bloody Mary, leopard print anything and wonderful family and friends.  My little Granny will be missed, but honestly Heaven just got better because there is one more sassy New Orleans lady to play Bridge and make legit seafood gumbo for everyone.

We were back in Lafayette for New Year's Eve.  Will (aka Pop) and Charleen (aka Mimi) treated us to dinner at Charlie G's. 

Another highlight of the trip was Seth and I's mini vacation within a vacation.  We stayed the night in New Orleans sans 2 year old.  We drove in time for lunch and ate at La Petite Grocery on Magazine.  Holy Cats is that place delicious!  It's amazing!  After our lunch and a walk around Magazine we checked into our hotel.  We stayed at Soniat House on Charters Street.  We then did a min pub crawl to different bars in New Orleans.  We stopped in Boondock Saints, Laffite's Blacksmith House and a Evangeline's (which was by far my favorite). 

We took a quick visit to Mississippi to visit our two furry children.  Brew and Hops are living the good life of bottled water, fancy pet food and daily walks outside.  Benjamin was happy to see them.  Hops was happy to see Benjamin.  Brew, as always, was indifferent.

Then January 9th....that ill fated day.  I can't put into words what happened, but I think this picture best represents our feelings 

There were times when I would get sad and feel like we miss out on so much.  That Benjamin misses out on seeing his Grandparent's, Aunts/Uncles and Cousins and they miss out on seeing him.  I then realized that we were home for Christmas, and it's not like you can live like that all year round.  You don't always have parties to go to or family dinners to attend.  People are not normally off weeks at a time just because.  After awhile we all have to return to our normally scheduled programs and get back to it.

For me getting back to it is getting back to spinning and pilates.  I ate my weight in ham, crawfish, crab, pumpkin pie, ice cream, rice dressing, fish covered in a cream based sauce, bread pudding, beer, red wine, spaghetti, cheeseburgers and fries.

See you all in December.  Happy 2012- I have a feeling it's going to be an amazing year!