Comfort & Joy

For what seems like days it has been incredibly foggy and grey each morning. When you look out of the window it makes you feel like it is winter, as it should be in mid-December. It has, however, been a bit on the hot side. It went up to about 75 degrees today and I actually had to turn the ac on in my car at one point in the middle of the day. I am not asking for 40 degree weather, just a litte something to make it feel like Christmas around here. A picture of the tree in our backyard looks like it was taken in a place where there are proper changes of seasons and, perhaps, in December it actually feels cold outside. Here's what late fall in New Orleans looks like at about 7:00 a.m. on a Saturday:



On Friday night we went to a Christmas party at a friend's house and La Luz had a great time playing with her friends Emma & Luke. There were some incredible Christmas decorations at the house too. La Luz couldn't get enough of the gigantic, larger-than-life snow globe and the light-up reindeer. On the way home we passed by Al Copeland's house and we were all in awe. I hadn't seen the lights at his house since I was a little kid and, understandably, the display has improved with time and advances in technology. If you are at all fascinated by Christmas lights it is well worth the trip. He also allows walking tours and even serves cotton candy for the kids (and, I suppose, any adults who would like to partake as well).

Saturday morning La Luz and I bummed around the house until Christian decided to wake up. We all went to P.J.'s to satisfy La Luz's most recent addiction, bluberry muffins. After breakfast we went to the Bywater Arts Market for our first attempt at Christmas shopping. Here's La Luz ambling about the uneven Bywater streets:



On Saturday night I made meatballs and spaghettit for Papa George, GG, mom-mom, and pop. La Luz was very excited to have a crowd of her favorite people join her for dinner. We had a wonderful time and it made me wish that I had a regular monthly dinner night when they would come over so that La Luz could spend more time with them. I think the dinner was pretty good in spite of the fact that I am nothing of a chef. The best part of the night was, of course, the company.



On Sunday La Luz and I were both up bright and early. We went to mass and looked for the baby Jesus, as usual. Christian went to the Saints game which ended up being a let down. When Christian got back from game we headed over to City Park to meet up with baby Conor and Betsy and check out Celebration in the Oaks. La Luz loved the lights and is, I think, starting to sort of understand the whole Christmas lights idea. There was a Santa there but once I got within about 10 feet of him she started flipping out so there is still no picture with Santa. Here are some pictures of her at Celebration in the Oaks.