Summer is upon us....

My how time flies....I did figure out how to post from my phone, and then I got busy with life again.  If it's not kickball games, it's kickball related activities with kickball people.

To recap:
Spending Mother's Day with my mom
Bar Olympics
Flip Cup Tournament (in Atlanta, departing NOLA at 1AM Friday night/Saturday morning
My thirsty thirty-first birthday
Keg Parties (one for our Wednesday charity winners and one for the aforementioned Bar Olympics we won)
Scavenger Hunting in the French Quarter
Telling the ex-booty call off
Charity Potluck fundraiser
Popping my Tubing cherry
Memorial Day Bar Crawl
First sailing trip of the year
The first two seasons of Nip/Tuck
Cooking again, FINALLY!!!!
My first NOLA Wedding (one I planned, not attended)
Telling my father about the next one on Father's Day
and.....my personal favorite....

QUITTING SMOKING!!!!!!

That's right folks....I've been smoke free for 8 days - 7 of which I've had to work.  I'm so proud of myself for doing this, and super happy that I have four amazing friends who all wanted to quit at the same time.  And even more happy we have 5 friends supporting us as "sponsors" by sending us motivational texts, e-mails and creating care packages for us.  I've been tempted almost every day, but I'm staying strong and I'm going to win.  Oh yeah, there's a financial incentive to quit as well.  We all know what motivates me, so this situation is literally perfect.  All the trash talking about how I'll be the first to "lose" makes me want to win.  Also, I've not spent like $40 on cigarettes already, so there's that.

A moment of calm

And I want more. It's been a crazy week of work and play and it's done. Well, almost....

Half of my parents arrived on Tuesday. Wow. It's hard to believe it's been two months since I've seen them. I met them at their hotel and many hugs were had, their travel plans were discussed and dinner locales were tossed about. We ended up at Port of Call, one of the better burger joints in the city. I have a wildly different palate than my mom and step-dad, so a burger place seemed like it would be pleasing to all. And it was. Wow. Seriously good burgers there.

After dinner we walked around the Quarter for a bit and then up Frenchman street and back to the car. We drove up Esplanade and then over to Uptown, showing them the St. Charles streetcar line and where I'm thinking about moving to (when my lease is up, of course). I dropped them off after our drive and went home.

Wednesday I picked them up and we made our way to Cafe du Monde. I've had a fair share of beignets here, and I've been by The Cafe, but never bothered to stop in. Too touristy, too crowded, too much to look at elsewhere in the quarter. It was magnificent. Really truly amazing pastries. The coffee was meh, but most coffee is.

We drove around the places we went Tuesday night, to see them in daylight. I gave them the grand tour of my abode and then I went into work. Oh, how I wish I wouldn't have. I won't discuss it here, but suffice to say that one of the biggest challenges I've had since I moved hasn't been the adjustment to a new city or the lack of friends or even the job itself. If you've spoken with me in any capacity in the last 5 months (has it really been that long?!?!), you know. Basically, I like throwing stones at hornet's nests. But you knew that about me.

After work, we grabbed a bottle of wine and hit up a local pizza joint to watch the Twins game. All was going well until the end of the game of course. Thursday brought a day of pampering....from manicures to ice cream to prosciutto and pedicures, to more wine and pool time, it should have been a lovely day that was completely marred by things going on at the office. I felt absolutely awful about my mood and have sworn to myself that it won't happen again. My parents came from 1300 miles away, and they deserve me at my best, not the crabbiness that infested me yesterday.

And so here we are today, with only two full days left. I was supposed to join them on a river cruise this afternoon, and life had other plans. So, tonight we'll do dinner and tomorrow brings a swamp tour. And me in a better mood. It makes me sad that 60 hours from now I'll be on a plane to LA and they'll still be here. Yes, I'm sacrificing time with my family because of my job. It'll never happen again, because at the end of the day, family will always be there, jobs will come and go.