Yesterday was INCREDIBLE!

I cannot even begin to describe what it is like to live in New Orleans right now.  As soon as the game ended last night, the whole city went into celebration mode.  We went down to the French Quarter to participate in the festivities on Bourbon Street!  Everyone was high-fiving left and right.  Race barriers went away for hours and everyone was enjoying a city-wide party.  Walking down Bourbon Street was close to impossible but the excitement was contagious.  Cheers of “Who dat? Who dat? Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?” broke out every 20 seconds, and people were exclaiming in disbelief, “WE JUST WON THE SUPERBOWL!!!!!”  It was absolutely insane.

Police blocked off Canal Street so that the celebration in the French Quarter could overflow onto surrounding streets.  Apparently there was no purposeful violence whatsoever last night: only a couple of accidental shootings from celebratory gun shots.  Aside from that everyone was happy and joyous.  It was absolutely incredible.

After Bourbon Street, we found ourselves at Cafe du Monde where the celebration continued.  We started several “Who Dat?!” cheers and watched people do some dangerous things on the tops of cars driving down Decatur Street.

This morning we bought 6 copies of today’s Times Picayune which says “AMEN!” because the Saints finally had the Superbowl win they’ve been waiting for for 43 years!

Unfortunately my own camera was acting up last night so the following photos are borrowed from friends.

The best thing about last night’s win is that Mardi Gras day is a week from tomorrow!  Tomorrow the City is putting together a Saints Parade that the whole city will come out for, then Mardi Gras weekend parades start on Wednesday.  As many have pointed out, this is going to be the most festive Mardi Gras ever!

And boy does this city deserve it!

Superbowl

Growing up I HATED football.  My parents watched the 49ers play EVERY Sunday during football season and I basically wasn’t allowed to talk to them during the football game.  I’d come to them with a paper for them to edit or a question about a homework problem and they’d ignore me or say “not right now, we’re watching football.”  I guess I felt like a jealous older sibling, so I resented the game of football and was never able to enjoy it despite their attempts to sit me down and explain the game to me.

When I started dating my now husband, he wanted very much to share his passion for football with me.  He grew up in New England so he’s a legitimate Patriots fan, so naturally to explain football to me, he had me watch Pats games with him so they’re the first team I really got into.  I watched every single game of theirs that season that they were undefeated and then they lost in the Superbowl and it was a huge letdown.  Ken loves telling the story about how right after the game I called my mom in tears and said “Oh well… next year in Jerusalem!”

People always ask me why I’m a Patriots fan and I have to go through this long explanation… well I hated football growing up, but my husband’s a Pats fan so when they win he’s happy and I’m happy, so I’m a Pats fan.

But this year… the Saints were undefeated for the beginning of the season… and this city is the best place to be for that kind of season because every game was a party.  There is no city in America that knows how to party better than New Orleans.  So every Sunday we geared up to watch the game… I’d put on my Saints jersey, Ken would put on his Saints hat, and we’d watch with all the locals and let me tell you, the festivity and the joy and spirit is contagious.  We both caught Saints fever and going into this Superbowl the whole city is gearing up for some great times in the next few weeks… we’ve got the big game on Sunday, followed by a Saints parade on Tuesday (win or lose!) and then Mardi Gras is right around the corner, with Drew Brees as the King of Bacchus!

So really all I’m saying is GEAUX SAINTS!!!!!

Loyola Law School’s Public Interest Law Group: 30th Anniversary Celebration TONIGHT

I don’t know if this will help at all… but I figured I’d put it out there.  We can use all the help we can get!

I am the President of the Public Interest Law Group at my law school here in New Orleans and this school year is our 30th Anniversary in existence at the school!  Tonight we are having a party to celebrate and it is open to the public.  It’s from 6-9 PM at the Howlin’ Wolf.  Tickets are $25 at the door and that gets you in to see a wonderful band, called Mia Borders.  They are playing at Jazz Fest this year, so they’re pretty amazing!  Cost of admission includes free dinner and free beer.

The famous Krewe du Vieux parade is tonight in the French Quarter so luckily since our event is within walking distance, you can come to both our event AND the parade!

We hope to see you there!

Any money that we make beyond the cost of the event will be donated to Partners In Health, an organization headed by Dr. Paul Farmer that is working on relief efforts in Haiti.  So it’s for a worthy cause!

PILG Flier

Penny

It’s been a little over a week and Penny has definitely started to settle in.  I imagine there will be a few more adjustments as she gets older and gets more used to us and the house, but I’d say things are going really well.  She doesn’t seem all that into cuddling or sitting on our laps but I imagine that may change with time and especially as she gets older and less interested in playing all the time.

We no longer have to use treats to get her to come out of hiding–she does so all on her own now, to play or even to get pet.  She lets both of us brush her and occasionally she’ll sit on one of our laps or at least next to us all nuzzled up.  She seems to have gotten used to our schedule too, as we haven’t heard her playing or knocking anything over at night for a few days.  She also seems to understand that in the evenings when it’s dark out we hang out in our study getting work done.  She usually finds a cozy place to lie down and rest or she walks around making mischief!

Every night for about an hour or two, she goes into this frenzy that I like to call “Crazy Cat Hour” when she runs around like crazy, back and forth across the house, she hides behind things and pounces on imaginary bugs and mice.  It’s really quite amusing!  Hopefully she’ll only be crazy for the first 2 years and then she’ll calm down a little as she settles into cat-hood as opposed to kitten-hood.

WHO DAT?!?!?!

THE SAINTS ARE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks folks, that’s all for now!

WHO DAT?!?!?! and Neshama Carlebach!

So we just got back from the Quarter (again!)… I don’t understand how we’ve gone to the Quarter like 3 times in the past 2 weeks and before that we probably hadn’t been since last spring.  Weird.  Anyways… this city is going INSANE for the game tomorrow and for the Saints in general.  We went to the Piano Bar at Pat O’s and “Who Dat?!” cheers broke out every few minutes.

Also, they played the song “Oh when the Saints… go marching in…” twice while we were there.  Even if we don’t go that often (cause it’s too touristy and the wait’s always too long), the Piano Bar is really pretty amazing.  For those of you who have not been there, it’s basically dualing pianos (I guess…).  There are two, each playing a piano and they go back and forth playing songs that people sing along to.  You can make requests by writing them down on a napkin or even on a dollar bill that you send up as a tip, and people sing and get up and dance, and it’s just a wonderful time!

On another note (but musically related), last night Ken & I went to services at Beth Israel.  There were separate mens and womens services because Neshama Carlebach (daughter of the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach) was in town and was leading services for the women.  She has one of the most beautiful singing voices I think I have ever heard.  On top of that, though, her voice when she speaks is beautiful as well, and she’s one of those people who always seems to have something deep and profound to say, so she really makes you think.  It was just wonderful.  Carlebach services are also just one of my most favorite things about Judaism… the melodies are beautiful, and everyone gets up to dance and sing and clap their hands.  For me, that’s what Judaism is all about… celebrating our religion, culture and beliefs.  I remember first being introduced to Carlebach services when I was in Israel on Birthright.   Oh it was wonderful!

I’m curious…

So according to the little “stats” thing where you can see how many people are reading your blog, I’ve been consistently getting over 100 views per day on my blog.  Now I know this can’t be all friends of mine who are looking at it so I’m curious to know who the rest of you are?

Please comment and let me know who you are… I’ve noticed that my entry on pigs seems to be the most popular–it’s gotten 493 views in the past week alone!  So who are you?  Tell me a little about yourself and what kinds of things you’d be interested reading about?

Thanks!

Penny

So our kitty’s name is Penelope or Penny.  So far things have been progressing really well and we’re both happy and excited to see how her personality changes each day.  As you know, yesterday she was hiding under the washer and drier and that kind of freaked me out… I didn’t like the idea of her being behind there when I have to do a load of laundry or something.  So we moved her litter box, food and water into the living room.  Then she started hiding under the futon.  She came out a few times if we coaxed her out with a treat and she’d play with us, walk around to explore everything, and she’d even lie down and nuzzle up to us a little.  After maybe 10-15 minutes, she’d go back under the futon.

Today, each time she comes out from under the futon she seems to come out a little longer, to explore and to play.  She also let both of us brush her and touch her paws (which I’ve heard is a sign that she trusts us and sees us as her “parent” since we provide her with her food and grooming).

I’m starting to feel much more at ease about everything which is good since yesterday I was feeling really nervous and on edge all day about everything kitty-related.  I think as we get into our normal routine for the semester and as the kitty starts to adjust more, it will be really nice to have her here.

Here are a couple pictures I took yesterday (on my phone so they’re a little blurry) while she came out to play with me.

Since I’m one of those people who likes to be super organized about everything I do, I was trying to come up with a “schedule” of sorts for each day with the kitty… here’s what I’m thinking:

6:30-7:30: wake up, have breakfast, play with the kitty, feed her and give her water

7:30-8: get myself ready for the morning

8-10:30ish: do whatever I’m doing in the morning (whether it’s class, going to the gym, getting work done, etc.)

10:30-12: lunch, feed the kitty, get ready to go out

12-5: do whatever I’m doing in the afternoon (class usually)

5-5:30: play with kitty, snuggle with her on the couch

5:30-9:30/10: dinner for us people, get work done

10ish: play with kitty, snuggle with her, feed her & give her fresh water, clean out her litter box

10:30/11: go to sleep and hope that she doesn’t start meowing at 4 or 5 AM!

Get up and start it all over again!

Kitty has a new hiding spot!

So we took the kitty out of the bathroom where the washer and drier are since I really didn’t feel comfortable with her back behind the washer.  I don’t really know what’s back there and I didn’t want her to get stuck.  We moved the litter box & the food and water to the living room and the kitchen respectively and now she’s hiding in a bookcase.  I feel much better knowing I can see her and knowing that she won’t get stuck.  Also out here while there are things she can hide behind (the couch, a bookshelf, etc., there is nothing dangerous, as far as I can tell.  I did a walk-through to look at all the small places she could get into and the surfaces she could climb up onto… it looks safe.  Of course the one spot I didn’t look is probably where she’ll jump first, but for now I’m happy with her hiding in the book case.

New Kitty!

Yesterday we got a new kitty- she’s about 4 months old, gray and white.  Our friend Sabrina (who’s a vet tech) helped us pick her out but ever since we brought her home (in the late afternoon yesterday), she’s been in hiding.  Yesterday afternoon she was hiding under our laundry cart.  We reached under there to pet her and she came out for about 5 minutes at one point to roam around and explore but then she went right back under there.  I put a few little pieces of food in front of her and she ate those but she never came out to eat from the food and water bowls we put out for her.

When we went to bed we left her in the bathroom which is where we put the litter box & the food and water bowls.  After maybe an hour we heard a loud noise but we figured she just knocked something over so we went back to bed.  This morning we discovered that she must have jumped up onto the bathroom counter and knocked over a cup (nothing broke or spilled) and scared herself.  We found her behind the washer & drier.  We coaxed her out with some food and she explored a little bit but then she went right back there behind the appliances again.

We saw this morning that she used her litter box so at least she knows it’s there, but it didn’t look like she ate anything or drank anything.  I gave her fresh food and water this morning and I cleared off the counter so there’s nothing for her to knock over.  I hope she can figure out how to come out from behind there and I hope she stops being so scared!

Any advice from cat lovers out there?  Is this normal?

Oh and of course… here are the two pictures we got of her… one’s from the SPCA before we took her home, and the other is of her sitting on the warm towel we put out for her, next to the toilet.  Hopefully if she stops being so scared we’ll get some better pictures but for now that’s all we’ve got.