So, I’ve been putting off writing this post. I didn’t want a rehash of Final Thoughts on 2022, where we spent most of the post talking about all of the bad things that had happened to us this year. I didn’t want to talk about Robert’s dad dying of covid and pneumonia. I didn’t want to talk about Robert’s whirlwind trip to Sri Lanka to help a sick friend, where he spent more time on a plane than he did in Sri Lanka. I didn’t want to talk about how disappointing we found Jazz Fest this year. I definitely didn’t want to talk about the fact that someone broke a window out of our car and destroyed the steering column in a futile attempt to steal the car. I didn’t want to talk about the price of insurance (car, homeowners, flood, health). I didn’t want to talk about the epidemics of homelessness and crime all over the U.S. I didn’t want to talk about how we didn’t make it to Argentina or Ireland as we had planned. I didn’t want to talk about how we still miss our former lives of constant travel. And, then, I decided, screw it, I’m just going to talk about what we enjoyed this year.
So, here goes.
We loved, loved, loved our trip to Greece. Robert ate more fish than I thought was possible. Grilled fish, fried fish, tinned fish, and even pureed fish. If fish was on the menu, he was ordering fish. And, I learned Greek food in Greece is way better than Greek food in the U.S.
We loved our trip to the Utah parks (Utah only gets one love because, come on, it is a desert). The parks truly are stunning.
We loved our trip to Bentonville and want to go back when the weather is better so we can hike and bike.
We loved our trip to Puerto Vallarta. It is touristy and expensive and it can be cheesy and corny, but we always have a blast there.
We loved our trip to Washington, D.C. Nothing like playing tourist in a city where one of us used to live.
We loved spending time at Finn McCools watching Chelsea and City play football.
We loved taking walks around Audubon Park and City Park. I loved watching the birds, and Robert loved looking for the gator.
We loved the fact that several friends came to visit us this year. It gave us a chance to do touristy things that we wouldn’t ordinarily do.
We loved the fact that we joined a Mardi Gras krewe (the Krewe of Cork)! We’ve been attending lunches and meeting people and preparing costumes. And we are really looking forward to parading next week.
We loved fostering a few dogs. (But I’m not talking about the one that bit me . . . .)
We didn’t love it, but we joined a gym, and Robert managed to lose 20 pounds. (Sure wish I could say the same….)
I loved that Robert finally embraced dressing up. This was the year of the blazer, and Robert bought multiple blazers to wear out — one fairly nice one (albeit in shades of purple because we do live in New Orleans after all), one tacky Christmas one (with snowflakes all over it), and one just plain fun one (in teal velvet).
We loved all of the parades.
We loved going to concerts. We saw Ministry and the Pixies and Bully and Dresden Dolls and more. Hot tip — if a band called Jourdan Thibodeaux et les Rôdailleurs comes to your city, go see them.
We loved our first drag brunch at the Country Club. And our first burlesque show with Trixie Minx.
And, we loved visiting all the hotels to look at Christmas decorations.
Here is to loving 2024 even more than 2023! (But don’t expect any posts anytime soon, as we don’t currently have any travel plans.)
PigFish 