lunabee34

1. We're driving to town with Emma, and Josh and I are talking about The Princess Bride. Emma's never seen the movie, so she asks us what it's about. Josh and I look at each other and say, "True Love." Then Emma says, hand to God, "But none of that mushy kissing stuff, right?" She could not understand the gales of laughter coming from the front seat.

2. We heard "Gangnam Style" on the radio last night. You've come a long way, rural Georgia.

3. Book Club post on The Hobbit will be appearing in the next few days. Dust off your copies if you haven't already and get ready to share your thoughts on Bilbo, dragons, dwarves, and how like Dumbledore Gandalf seems in this book!

4. Conference in New Orleans was spectacular. The Hyatt Regency on Loyola is one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in. Seriously swank. I wish it hadn't been so busy (in addition to our comparatively minuscule conference, NO was also hosting the Organo Gold coffee convention--think scamtastic Mary Kay--and a water/sewage/etc convention that was set to last a whole week long), but the amenities and the atmosphere were awesome. The conference itself was fantastic (yay for coming home with actionable info! Whoooo!), and they fed us very, very well. We ate at SoBou on Chartres St. pretty close in to Canal, and it was fantastic. The restaurant just opened this summer, and the same people who run Commander's Palace opened it. We happened upon it by accident, and I'm so glad we did. The decor is out of this world beautiful. Be sure and look at the photo across the top of the site that changes out because the pictures I took can't do it justice. Once whole wall is rows and rows of apothecary glass and another is apothecary glass set sideways into a light fixture, and the restaurant itself is this awesome mixture of industrial and quirky. It reminded me a great deal of Snack Bar in Oxford, MS, both in terms of the endearing hipsters pouring drinks behind the bar and the quality of the food.

5. I have been thinking a great deal this past year about karma (in the Western-lite sense of the word). I do not believe that when we get sick or misfortune is visited on us that we are being punished by God or the universe for sinning. I was raised to believe that, and I find it a vile and damaging belief. Bad things happen to good people. Good things happen to bad people. Many events happen randomly and seem to have no clear antecedents. And yet, I also believe strongly that you get back what you put into the world; that if you are a negative person who fills the world with negativity, that negativity will be revisited on you in some way; that if you constantly tear others down or mistreat them or live a life of cruelty, you will find yourself without friends or help when you need it most; and that if you live a life of friendship and love, you'll always have hope and kindness even in the darkest times. A petty part of me finds a great deal of comfort in believing that those people who have wronged me or the people I care about will one day (sooner or later) get some sort of cosmic backlash for that behavior, but a better part of me finds comfort in believing that when I am kind to others, I am also being kind to myself. (I have no idea if that makes any sense. It sounds better at the pre-verbal level all swirling around in my brain. LOL)

New Orleans was a smashing success. We got there in the early afternoon and went immediately to the New Orleans Museum of Art.

( cut for tons of Ems being cute, us spending more money than we have, and descriptions of mouth-watering meals )

My latest post notwithstanding, the week at Mom and Dad's was pretty good. It's awesome to be home, though. :)

Upcoming: the birthday haul post plus the post of burning questions