Thanksgiving Vacation

Thanksgiving break officially started for La Luz and Christian at 3:30 on Friday. I am totally envious, as usual. I actually have quite a bit of work to muddle through between now and when my break officially starts on Wednesday at 3:00 and I am not looking forward to any of it, particularly because I know the two of them will be filling the next three days with fun and adventure while I am stuck up in my office. So it goes though.

We had a great weekend. We attended La Luz's ballet open house on Saturday and I got a total kick out of seeing how much she has learned in just two months. When she started she had trouble hopping with both feet (much less on one foot at a time) but I am relieved to see that she has now mastered both moves. It was incredibly tough for Christian to watch. As a coach be cannot watch objectively and enjoy. He has to rank the kids and then become preoccupied with the fact that La Luz is probably number 9 or 10 in terms of skill. He can't take it when she doesn't participate and, instead, stands there, eyes glazed over, chewing on her skirt. After watching her on Saturday he is ready for her to give up ballet and try out another hobby. I think that is crazy; she is three and has had maybe 8 ballet classes. It is going to be tough for him for the next 15 years if he doesn't develop enough patience to allows him to just watch and enjoy.



Continuing the ballet theme, on Saturday night La Luz and I joined mom-mom at Loyola to hear the Loyola symphony play some of the Nutcracker Suite and watch the ballerinas. La Luz was absolutely mesmerized. I think she could easily sit through the Nutcracker. I am not, however, certain that I could sit through it.

On Sunday we headed to Oak Street for the Po-Boy Festival. After hearing so much about it last year we decided it was worth checking out. It was a beautiful day to be out walking around but the crowd was huge.


It was tough maneuvering up and down the street, particularly with La Luz in tow. We ultimately ended up at Squeal, a new bbq restaurant on Oak (at Cambronne) which opened a few weeks ago and is owned and operated by friends of ours. The food was delicious. La Luz particularly enjoyed the ribs:


I definitely recommend checking it out. It is open late, especially on Tuesdays to accommodate the Rebirth crowd from the Maple Leaf.

Another recent opening in NOLA is the Borders on St. Charles. It is lovely. I am not suggesting anyone frequent it instead of Octavia, Maple St. and the other GREAT independent booksellers we have in the city BUT if it is 9 p.m. and you are in need of a new book or just want to browse around, this is a great place for you. I definitely recommend checking it out.

So, we are off to Thibodaux later this week to celebrate Thanksgiving with the family, pick satsumas, take long walks in the sugar cane fields and swing in the hammock. I can't wait!

I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving!