Hip sprain. Crab legs. Fat Tuesday. Ash Wednesday.

So far this week, I have used my brain and done the right thing instead of what I want to do. I have not worked out and I HATE it but these strains and overuse injuries are killing me and I finally realize that I have to rest to heal. After Sunday's WALK (which I did so I would not hurt myself since the last long RUN did my knee in for weeks) strained my hip to the point that I almost couldn't walk yesterday. Jeesh! I guess since my knee is still a little tender, I overcompensated using my hip in some sort of crazy way.

Monday night - went to Mom and Roy's for dinner with J and Mom made one of my faves :)))))

K was not happy that he missed this one!

FAT TUESDAY - I wish we were in LA to celebrate but we are in TN and it was cold and rainy and the mood just wasn't the party mood it should be on Mardi Gras but it was still Fat Tuesday and I was determined to do it up, at least a little, before giving it up. This year I am giving up alcohol and sweets for Lent. Oh boy! This could turn bad :( No workout on this day, this was the worst my hip hurt since Sunday...So bad that I actually used my chair at work to SIT at my desk. Both my guys had plans for the night (J at hunter's safety and K had a client dinner) so I was able to get some alone face time with Melanie, which NEVER happens between the kids and the grown kids, so I didn't mind the guys being busy. I had a couple of hours free before meeting for MM so I decided to go ahead and make myself a little sugar drunk before giving it all up.

Lovin from the oven is RIGHT!

I intended to have 2 cupcakes and be done but got inside to find 3 of my faves and decided why decide between the 3, especially on a day of indulgence, and go for all 3.



Chocolate decadence, red velvet and classic

 They were all soooooo good and I felt a bit of a sugar overload when I was done but not for too long. Mel and I met for a few beers and some boiled crawfish and I made sure to indulge on the mudbugs.

The dead soldiers

It felt like I ate 33 pounds of the mudbugs but it was so good! I am trying to catch up with K on how many crawfish we have eaten in a lifetime ;) When I got home K and the babies were chillin' and being so good!

Lexie Lou in her boyfriend's lap



Margo lovin her momma

Wednesday - got up early but not for a workout. Had to get the house picked up for the maid to come clean.....ummmm yeah Mom, I finally understand that logic! Breaky was an egg, cheese and mustard deli thin. The weather was still rainy and dreary and it just felt like a pho kind of day to me so Amber, Jen and I headed to Pho Vietnam for lunch before picking up a bunch of stuff for the Pink Eagles girls group fundraiser.

#16, my fave!



Heather's 40th, Crawfish make it to Memphis, Lazy Sunday (except the 6 miles)

Thursday Night - J was gone to Hunter's Safety again. I made K and I some Parmesan Tilapia, roasted broccoli and a baked potato for dinner and we caught up on some recorded shows...Modern Family and Survivor.

Friday - Breaky burrito with lots of salsa first thing.
Pilates class at lunch and then came back to the office and had the other Lenny's sub that I bought yesterday to give to Happy the homeless guy but then couldn't find him. The afternoon went on and on and on and on but finally came to an end and it was time to get J dropped off to his dad and to get ready for Heather's birthday party. We met everyone for dinner and appys at River Oaks. There was a great turnout there and we were given the back room so we had enough room to get up and mingle and be loud and not disturb too many people.

Me and the birthday girl.

K and I taking a break from the yummy sliders and mac & cheese to pose with the Birthday Girl.
The party at River Oaks started winding down a little after 11 and was headed to Brookhaven but K and I went home. I hadn't slept well most of the week and had a really bad strained muscle in my neck and wanted to go to bed.

Saturday - We woke up Saturday morning to super low temps and lots of rain which was perfect because with my neck, I didn't feel like doing anything. We lounged in bed until around lunch. I cooked us some boudin with toast and jelly and we transferred to the couch. We watched some basketball and the latest Netflix movie we had.

It was pretty stupid but there were some very funny parts. Memphis played ball late that afternoon and I did my taxes while we watched the game....$2475 coming my way!!!!! Thank goodness, now I don't feel so bad about the $1000 I just sank into my skincare business. After last week in LA, we were having some serious crawfish cravings so we headed over to Cajun Catfish Company for dinner and they had just what we were looking for!

And we did some major damage too!

It was some pretty good stuff too for being so early in the season :) I was a happy camper when we left.

Sunday - I woke up Sunday morning with every intention of going to church but the cold, dreary weather and my neck kept me in bed. K ran to Old Venice Pizza and picked us up some lunch.

Venice Trio and Mardi Gras Pizza hit the spot. I lounged around on the couch a little more but then started getting a case of cabin fever and took Margo out for a walk. We hit the greenline and she did great! 6 miles for the little rug rat!

When I got back, I started prepping the drunk chicken I was going to cook for dinner and waited for Lexie Lucifer to be dropped off. Going to have a crazy visitor for the week while Eve is in Seattle. J made it home and the drunk chicken made it out of the oven for chicken wraps with sweet potato fries.

We caught up on the last episode of Survivor that we had recorded and went to bed with no issues from the crazy dog visiting :)

Monday - Slept in a little this morning. Tried something new with my smoothie. I've been reading a lot of health blogs lately that say to use spinach in your morning smoothie to add more vitamins and minerals to it without affecting the taste. It sounded pretty unappetizing to me but I finally broke down and tried it and guess what? It didn't affect the taste at all, even though it did affect the color! I forgot to snap a picture before consuming it all.

Mardi Gras and More

Thursday - The storms came as promised. The boy was a nervous wreck especially when I had to load him and the dogs into the bathtub. The wind and storms were pretty crazy for a bit and the TV went out so I put J in charge of watching the weather guy on the computer and taking care of the pups while I watched the show from the porch and K was trying to sleep off a migraine headache. I felt so sorry for him! What a time to get one of those headaches....but we survived everything and the pups were very happy to have K back.

Friday - We left bright and early for Lafayette and made it to the hotel around 2:30. We stayed at The Courtyard by Marriott Lafayette, LA. It was an older hotel but had been updated a little and was very clean so we were satisfied with it and J loved it because there was an indoor pool! Mom and Roy and Sis, John and Tay made it in about an hour later. We relaxed at the pool before meeting K's family at DI's Cajun restaurant, one of mine and K's favorite places to go when we head "back home". (I've gotten so use to hearing K call LA "back home" that I call it that now especially since I never left home and have never had a "back home".)

This was the first time my family and K's met and it couldn't have gone better. DI's was the perfect place to have the "event"! It was totally relaxed and so much fun. My family loved it as much as I do and everyone got along so well. We started off with a few drinks and listening to the band playing that night, Al Roger/Terry Cormier and Louisiana Pride.....Roy was immediately in his element and was loving the band, especially when the spoons were busted out. After dinner, everyone hit the dance floor for a little fun.

Kyle and Kristina were the first to go but it didn't take long for everyone else to get out there.

After the band was finished for the night, they were kind enough to take a picture with us.

On a scale of 1 -10, I would rank the night at about a 17!!!!! I am really so blessed to have such a wonderful blood family and such a wonderful boyfriend's family. I could not ask for better people to have in my life :)

Saturday - I hit the hotel gym and then K, J and I grabbed a po boy before meeting the rest of the family for a full day of Mardi Gras parades. We staked out a spot early at the corner of Vermillion Street and Jefferson Street and had it for the rest of the day and night. It was the perfect spot to see the Krewe Des Chiens and the Krewe of Carnivale en Rio parades.

Krewe de chiens was the dog parade and so stinking cute. I swear one of the best parades ever!

King Gumbo

Court Jester

The Rio Krewe was a party krewe and pretty exciting...they even have Elvis as a part of the krewe.

This was J and Roy's first Mardi Gras and to tell  the truth, I don't know who had more fun!!!

In between parades, we made sure to have a few people save our spot on the corner and would take turns wandering.
One of the "holding down the fort" shifts.

J and I found an awesome fountain for him to cool off in.

J, K and I found a seat on the patio at Agave for a snack.

Taylor found some beads that may have been the biggest I have ever seen.

We also found some time for some family pics:

Everyone had the BEST TIME EVER!!! Mom and Roy said it was the most fun they have had in a long time and my family adored K's family and K's family adored mine so it was such a great weekend for me too :))))
After the parade's, J, K and I hung out at the pool and hot tub and soaked our sore pigs before going to bed.

Sunday - we hit the road early and made it home in time for me to unpack and get a few chores done!

Monday - Traumas of Law Enforcement training class at Bartlett. Dinner with the boy at mom and Roy's. Spaghetti and Italian spinach. No workout.

Tuesday - Worked out to my Dancing with the Stars DVD in the AM.
Training class.
Lunch with my man at Fresh Slices, grilled portabella panini and creamed spinach.

J had hunter safety class with his dad. I seared some tuna and picked up some Fresh Market pasta salad and regular salad for me and K's dinner.

Wednesday - Workout P90X yoga in the AM
Training class.
Leftover salad and pasta salad and a little hummus on pita chips for lunch

J and I had some errands to run after work and I didn't feel like cooking so it was a TOPS BBQ night while we watched some Tigers Basketball.

Thursday - THANK GOODNESS IT IS THURSDAY!!! Training classes make for the longest weeks...Worked out at the gym before lunch: 30 minutes bike, 15 minutes treadmill (4mph, 2.5 incline) 7 minutes stretching.
Lunch was a Lenny's sub

And a little bit of work to do before it's time to call it!

Lasagna Rally and Au Fond

After work last night, I ran by Muddy's for cupcakes and Lucchesi's for garlic bread and then headed over to Madonna's for dinner with the girls. Heather is staying with her right now and she loves Aimee's lasagna so we decided to bring some to her so she would eat a little. April W. and April H. came over too. Madonna busted out some wine while we got everything ready. I got a little crazy with the decanter.

And Aimee and I found something really funny about our LSU cups.

Dinner was very, very good. I ate way too much but at least I didn't clean my plate because Aimee put way too much pasta on there.

I think Heather enjoyed the girls night because she did a whole lot more laughing than she did crying.

I was able to get home at a decent hour even though I didn't want to leave these bitches. I was in bed by 11:00 but I didn't get up early for a workout. I slapped together a peanut butter and banana sammy and made it to work in a storm. Memphis is suppose to be hit pretty hard this afternoon and tonight with bad weather. They have been calling for severe thunderstorms, tornadoes and heavy hail. Apparently the Weather Channel thinks it is going to be so bad that they have sent in Jim Cantore. He is broadcasting from downtown right now.

I just got back from lunch with Marcy. We went to Au Fond and I had the B.E.L.T.

Bacon, egg, lettuce, tomato dressed with remoulade. It was delish! Back at work to wrap up a few things before heading to the Key Indicator meeting and then out of the office for a week!