The thrashers, came, they saw, they took us out and didn’t let us pay for anything and we had a great time. To Kelly, Sandy, Jeff, Matt, Rachel and Tammy thanks for coming. I hope you make it back down sometime, we loved having you.

We had a blast and showed them some of our favorite spots to eat, drink, and dance.

We hit up the world famous acme oyster house and slurped down some oysters.

Had fancy cocktails at melange just down the street. (its a bar themed in the style of an old speak easy, including the same music, and amazing dancers)

There were some late night story telling / show and tell sessions.

We hit up the spotted cat for one of the best musical experiences you can have in New Orleans, if you ask me. I’m also biased because its 2 blocks from my house.

I got to show off my fancy new red table I finished just in time for them to show up and use.

Thanks for coming guys. Come again.

Dawn’s mother was here for the last week or so, and we were glad to have her.

We basically just stayed within walking distance of the house, although we did hit up the bikes a bit.

This was a bike I specifically built for guests, it was super appropriate that Caroline got to break her in. I don’t think we have a name for her but for now its Dawn’s mom’s bike. Maybe we will call her mother in law sometime in the future (the bike and caroline).

Anyone who knows Caroline knows she is a pretty special lady. She is fun to hang out with inquisitive, infinitely curious, and loves to dance.

We spent a lot of time just walking around and trying out some of the local food.

We also hit out fair share of bars, clubs, and events, anyone that’s been here knows there is an endless supply of those in NOLA proper.

We met the locals, danced and had a generally merry good time.

Her last weekend here we drove out to Pensacola beach and spent a couple days in the sun. That way when she goes home people will know for sure, with that tan she was definitely on vacation.

To Caroline I say thank you for coming, for helping around the house, and for making the time we have here special. Dawn and I are still in love with this city and hopefully it never wears off. We hope you come back, to share the summer or winter months again.

Ill leave off with a quote from her facebook timeline.

“There’s a lot you’ll have to forgive living here, but there’s a lot you’ll never get anywhere else”
6 days here and I’m starting to get this. -Caroline

I don’t know where she got that quote but it rings true

I think Eli has found his place, too.

I, a 36 year old childless woman, in a happy common-law marriage and a Nurse Practitioner at a Catholic charity clinic, will be warming the poles (okay, and prepping the crowd) for the greasing of the poles at the Royal Sonesta this year!  I have to laugh. What a matron I am by New York standards!   I guess this is why New Orleans is setting us free.  I get to do all of these things that I really love, concurrently, without guilt or secrets.  The beautiful women in my dance krewe who dance in underwear in the street can discuss local social issues with me as easily as the patients and health care providers I work with can teach me all the ins and outs of Mardi Gras parade viewing and drive-through daiquiris.  There is some continuity in my life that has been missing.  And I do not give a turd if that type of continuity sounds shallow or empty to someone.

To be honest with myself, my work is prooooobably suffering.  I am humbled every day by my patients and their strengths and weaknesses and beauty as humans facing different types of struggles.  As much as I feel rushed, sweaty, and exasperated with a broken medical system, I am so fortunate to be able to do my heart’s work and to help connect people in need with a tiny speck of the great resources that exist in our country.    No doubt I will not be reaching the level of diagnostic prowess I would have reached had we settled in Altus, OK or Las Cruces, NM.  All of those hours I have spent on the porch, making costumes, and out wandering from band to band could have been spent studying medicine after work and on weekends…. well, thank you, Suzette, for letting me off the hook.

Maybe I should have started this post “Dear Diary…”

My thoughts exactly

“‘You can dance in the streets here when you’re 90, and nobody gives a damn,’ was what she gave as her reason for becoming a New Orleanian.”

NolaVile

In New Orleans social groups have parades, they pay the fees, the police, and the bands themselves and they register and march usually in remembrance of someone who has passed, and to promote non violence. Anyone can join up and march along, the parade proper aka the front of the parade is called the first line. To be in the first line you must usually be another group, help pay for it, and its a big deal to even get invited.

Behind the first line is usually the band, and then the second line, the second line is what really sets a New Orleans parade off from any other parade you see in America anyway. The second line is made up of people just like you who get themselves a couple drinks and join in the festivities. There is a lot of dancing, and smiling. It may well be the happiest place in the world for just a fleeting moment.

Dawn joined a crew called the Pusyfooters and they were invited to the Lady & Men Rollers Parade yesterday. I was lucky enough to be able to tag along and shoot photos of the parade and the second line. We marched through neighborhoods you probably wouldn’t want to be in alone. It was a truly amazing experience having a feeling like we belong there for once. Usually I feel a little bit like a tourist, and that I’m just kinda tagging along. Yesterday though I really felt like we belonged here. If you haven’t seen my other photo sets, or read about my thoughts on New Orleans, check out my blog. I did a write up on my thoughts about my first second line parade there.

Check out the rest of the photos.

“A second line parade by nature is more fun than the law allows in most US states.”

(Via GAMBIT.)

Hello everyone for those of you following this blog I guess its time for an update. If you aren’t aware we moved to New Orleans about 6 months ago. It’s been an amazing ride so far, lots of ups and down’s mostly about our finances. It’t been a hard move for both of us, I’m leaving a job and dawn has the stress of having to support me for a bit while I get some clients, and some work here. With that said its been a great time for dawn and myself. I think we are both in a good place, and heck 70° in november? Ill take it.

Out thanks giving wasn’t going to be anything special. I decided well its our first year here Ill cook everything. I wanted Dawn to be able to come home and have a weekend off. As I started to put a menu together it kept getting bigger and bigger. A lot of food for just the two of us.

• Turkey
• Apple Pie
• Pumpkin Pie
• Garlic mashed potatoes
• Gravy
• Sweet Potato Casserole
• Green Beans, with salt pork
• Iceberg Salad, with pear, Blue cheese and toasted Pecans

I know that I’m forgetting something but that was what I remember from a full day of cooking. Dawn and started cooking in the morning and didn’t stop until 7pm It was a great day and a fun way to enjoy our new house, and feed the cats scraps as we cooked and drank Wine and Champagne all day.

We called family throughout the day, and just talked about the move here and the changes in our lives, its been an amazing experience.

Dawn and I want to thank everyone who has helped us get here. Hopefully next year someone will come visit, or we can visit our family. WE are loving it here so far and if you didn’t know I Danced at a funeral. New orleans recently was voted the most Romantic City in the world and the Number one Destination city in america. So come visit, come see the music, and come for the fun. We will be here on the porch waiting.

New Mexico was #1 post-NYC destination until Hawaii came on the radar.  It appeals to me in it’s Mexican-ness and in it’s high-elevation warm weather, which means cool nights and low humidity.  It seems to have soul and history deeper and broader than its history as part of the U.S.  I’d love to live in Truth-or-Consequences, just because I want to be able to say I live in Truth-or-Consequences, because it sounds like such a hard-as-nails old-West town. And there are a few towns in northern New Mexico that seem beautiful and interesting, as well.  However, Eli may never ever be able to find work in a place like that.  Las Cruces sounds like a really nice town as far as a small city with good quality of life and some possibility of employment for Eli, but the surrounding area (in southern NM) may be less mountainous and lovely than those gorgeous places I see in photos.

So, Santa Fe, at elevation 7,260 feet, may be the best New Mexico option as far as allowing computer-related employment for Eli, while still being close to the escape of the mountains.  It’s population is 73,720, with a solid art- and restaurant-filled downtown, where we would be able to walk and bike around, if we could find a decent place to live that we could afford.  While not as expensive as Brooklyn, rent is steep at  around $1200-$1800 for a 2 bdrm house/condo.  I think I would love the weather: 7 months/year have an average “high” temp of over 60F and lots and lots of sun.  A downside could be  a daily driving commute to a nearby town for me.

I wonder about Albequerque.  It’s definitely less expensive, but I read that it has more traffic issues, crime issues, no vital downtown.  I’d love to know what the real story is, so if anyone has lived there or been there, let me know what your impressions were.

There are often jobs at NHSC-approved clinics in Alamogordo, Cuba, Espanola, and so on.  In my online research, I haven’t been able to find enough information about these places to really form an impression about them.  Espanola sounds pleasant enough as a small town. Cuba sounds like there’s nothing there for entertainment or good food, but not bad in any way for a self-sufficient person. We are hoping to take a trip to New Mexico in late August to try to get a feeling for some of these places.