Catching you up on me: New Orleans

A good time was had with the family; I'm sorry I didn't make it outside that bubble to hang out with friends.

Made it out of The Bead Shop for under $100 for the first time since discovering it. Mom was shocked. We also managed to get elliesaur some new clothes, which is actually a pretty major accomplishment. (Also, flannel shirts: why so hard to find?)

Celebration in the Oaks was nice, even if they do need to improve their event management. (The usual parking lot was closed, the new parking lot was a zoo, and the line was less organized and self-aware than any concert line I've stood in.) After stopping for dinner and spending forever looking for parking, we actually walked away the first night - we looked at the length of the line we were standing in and decided there was no way we would get inside City Park and get to do anything before they shut down for the night. We tried again the next night with pre-purchased tickets and showing up before they even opened, which worked perfectly. One train ride, one roller coaster ride, a walk through the botanical gardens, and then we got dinner.

The weather was great. I can't believe I used to complain about how cold I was during the winter. (Although I guess New Orleans was the coldest weather I'd ever known...)

Catching you up on me: Maryland

Irrational terror has proved to be irrational! In other words: no, his parents didn't hate me. They actually seemed to like me. :)

We spent most of our time lounging around the house, interrupted by a day trip to Washington, a couple of restaurant meals, and a visit from Cory's brother and future sister-in-law.

Overall, it wasn't all that restful a time, since I had to be 'on' for a pretty large portion of every day. Plus the headache I had for the first two days I was there, and the ongoing problem of being allergic to the dog (and also probably the carpets; this is why I love hardwood floors). But Cory and I are pretty good at the whole "companionably ignore each other" thing, where we do separate things in the same room, and [the rest of this is filtered].