What an epic weekend! It started with a Sabine Parish Mardi Gras Krewe party Friday night. Rob and I were supposed to be there a little earlier to help decorate, but he got delayed at work, so we missed out on that. Since he lives with Queen Crystal and she has me on speed dial, neither of us felt guilty. Mom and Dad arrived shortly after I did, and they fit right into the party atmosphere. We had some great food and everyone was happy and excited for the ball Saturday night.
Saturday was pretty laid back during the day. We had prepared well enough that the workload was light to nonexistent. By about 2 p.m., the guys were standing around drinking beer and shooting the shit. The women, of course, were in full hair/makeup/dressed mode. We were all ready by 5:30 as instructed by Queen Crystal, except Rob and Randy. We had our pictures made, the guests started arriving, the band started playing, and eventually everyone had a blast. Until about 10 p.m.
I'm not saying the fun stopped then. It's just that as King Ted was announcing the new king, I was worried that it might be me. Then, I was pretty sure it couldn't be me. Until he actually said my name. It was really clever, actually. And, the guilt I had because I knew that Kayla was the new queen was assuaged. Now, she and I are in the same boat. We seem to have a good krewe of folks to work with, everybody had nice things to say about this year's party, and we'll definitely be able to work together. I should also point out that the only people more excited for Kayla and I than Crystal and Ted were my folks. Johnny, dressed as a Cajun Uncle Sam, and Gayle were very, very happy. After he announcement, everything until I finally went to bed was a big blur. There was dancing and talking and hugging and breakfast, but the order of it and the particulars are a wee bit hazy. If I find some pictures of my dad, or my shoes, or my coronation, I'll share them.
Let's see, what else happened? Sunday I tried to recover enough so that I could have a beer or two during the football game. After Mass, Kayla and Larry and I went to Gasaway's for burgers. We're all kinda looking forward to capitalizing on the excitement of this year's party, tweaking a few things, and getting to know the new Krewe members. That last part is really the most fun for me. After unloading my full truck, I rested for a while. I watched the Saints become Super Bowl Champions at Chuck and Linda's. It was great. My favorite reaction came from Debbie Fontenot, who was a member of the original Saints dance team forty-three years ago when she was a baby. She grew up in Chalmette, and has been a big Saints fan since Day One. She was so very happy. Her only regret was that her father died five weeks before he could see his Saints win. But I'd like to think he was up in heaven helping out a little.
The weekend actually continued into today, since I got to work to find an e-mail saying the court was closed today. The judge said go home, and I did. Everyone around here except diehard Cowboys fans is ecstatic, and I'm sure the mood gets better the closer you get to New Orleans.
I'll end this post with the highlight of the week. I got up at 7 a.m. to go clean up the ballroom and pack up all our gear. We decorated pretty lightly, so there wasn't much to do. Me and Diann were the only two up, and had it all packed/thrown away and ready to be loaded up by the time anyone else arrived to help. But she and I actually commented while we were working how easy the job was, and that we were perfectly happy not to have any more help. Anyway, I went to get my truck to start loading stuff up. I took a second to see my folks off, and by the time I got to the ballroom a few more folks were there to help out. While I was discussing the weather or some such with Randy and Rob, a lady comes out with a hadful of glittery stuff that I had thrown in a garbage bag. I told her that we had used the stuff a couple of times and were ready to throw it away. "No you're not," was her reply. "Yes we are," I retorted wittily. Whereupon she opens my truck and begins to stuff this glittery shiny stuff into a bag in my truck. "You can put it in my truck," I explained, "But when I get home I am going to take it out of that bag and put it in the trash." Unhappy with my response and/or my tone, she exclaimed, "ASSHOLE!" I smiled, explained again that we had gotten our money's worth out of the gliterry shiny stuff and she took it away with her.
When I related that story to Diann, who apparently had a similar discussion about the glittery shiny stuff, she christened me King Asshole. I think I like it.
EDIT: Diann wants to clarify that she called me King AH, since she thinks the full word doesn't fit me. I'm not sure everyone agrees with her.
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