Have you ever seen such a beautiful Queen?



Yep, that's right, Mardi Gras is already in full swing here in Cajun Country and my living room is littered with the cheap, colorful beads and other crap "throws" to prove it.  When we move from here someday, parades will NEVER be the same for my kids.  EVER.

Last Saturday the festivities began with the Krewe de Chiens parade.  For those of you who do not know Cajun French, that means the dog parade.  I didn't want to miss this one because the kids love it but I only took the boys since it was right in the middle of K's nap and a bit chilly, even for us.

It was a lot of fun and it's always so cute to see the dogs all decked out and riding in style.

Here's a few more snaps to prove were were there... ;-)













We also went to the Krewe of Carnivale en Rio parade that evening in 40 degree temps (with a wind chill in the 30's) which is cold for us Southerners.  We watched a movie in the van for a bit, waiting for the floats to show up and I only took a couple of pics with my phone.  It was cold and late and K was shivering by the end of it all but we still had fun.  Awww, the Mardi Gras memories...

 

I can't begin to tell you all how crappy this Valentine's Day was.

And I mean that in more ways than one.

BUT.  Since I want y'all to come back and visit here, I'm going to refrain from well, going there.

The cookies I planned to bake for the kids never got baked and I spent the day in bed, recuperating and watching things like "An Affair to Remember" while the man who loves me took care of the kids and fielded work phone calls.

I did manage to stomach a pb&j sandwich and a few chocolates at the end of the day so I guess all is not lost.

By the way, did you know that there is a show on one of the many satellite channels called "My Dog Ate What?"

Really?!?! I mean ,what is THAT about?  Who produces this crap?  More importantly, WHO watches it?  (I'm sorry but if you do, you need to change the channel, like NOW because your brain cells are quickly DYING).

Anyway, my Valentine gave me a beautiful card today with words written by him that mean the world to me. And we plan to go to lunch tomorrow, just the two of us, to make up for today's pathetic-ness.

The B Man made me a card this morning before he left for school. It was so sweet and had hearts and said "get well, Mommy".  Frankly, I missed my kids today because I hardly saw them and at the end of the day I came into the kitchen and my Katie Kay says, "Hi Mommeee!" with a huge smile on her face.  Be still my heart.

So, maybe this day of love was not so "perfect" but there were still little moments that reminded me how truly loved I am and how much I love this beautiful family of mine.

I cried as I washed the dishes tonight.

I try to keep things in this space light and cheery and happy but some days, just are not that.

Like today.

He snapped, I snapped.

No one's mood could really be changed.

He's stressed, I'm stressed.

Life is full of stress.

Of course there is much to be happy about and there are still smiles but most of the day, I just wanted to cry, so at the end of it, I did.

The kiddo's projects for school become my projects.

One child isn't feeling so well.

Another fusses and gets fussed at.

It's not perfect.  Ever.

He feels it, I feel it. THEY feel it.

I want to feel different than today.  But some days it just all seems so insurmountable.

And then I feel like I shouldn't feel this way, like I'm being ridiculous because I'm so blessed, so loved.  But I'm only human.  So I still think, how could someone like me feel this way?  How do I have the right to feel this way?

Surely you have days like this too?  I cannot be the only one.  But sometimes those around us just seem so "perfect", like this type of day would never happen to them.

I don't want to be negative or sound like I'm "whining" because that is not who I am.  But today I did not feel very positive.  I just wanted to crawl under the covers and not come out.

Not an option.

Valentine's to assemble when my heart just isn't in the mood.

Cookies to be baked and yet I'm just not feelin' it.

A pit in my stomach that won't go away.

A mood, a way of feeling that I hope I can shake with a good night's sleep and new day dawning...

Even though I'm a bit frazzled, I'd still love for y'all to link up... xoxo

It's also Miss Elaine-ous Monday, so please link up!

Remember, ANY "miss elaine-ous" post will do, something from your archives or something brand new! :) 

Do you have a post that meant a lot to you but wasn't read by as many folks as you'd hoped? Or one that has great pictures and you want more people to see them? Or do you just have one that you really want to share!?

I'll also choose a random post from those who link up to feature on The Miss Elaine-ous Life Facebook page (please "Like" if you have not already) so even more folks will see a new post every week! Grab the button and link up!  And please visit some of the other linkers as well...



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If you do not post the button, please still link back to my blog, even if you just put a little blurb at the end of you post such as "It's Monday and I'm being "Miss Elaine-ous" over at The Miss Elaine-ous Life!" - Thanks!! Oh and extra bonus points to anyone who puts a tweet out there, that would be awesome too!  Thanks for linking up!

New cars and I don't get along that well.
(you know where this is going, right?)

Back when we got our CR-V in 2005, it only took me a few weeks to "bump" into something.

It wasn't that big of a deal and we got it fixed but I felt horrible about the whole thing.

Enter new mom-van the week after Christmas. All shiny, and perfect.  Oh the stress of a brand spankin' new, untouched vehicle.  It weighs on me.

PLUS! It came with all these awesome sensors that MAKE SURE you never hit a doggone thing! (unless you're me)

A fancy back up camera (or two) with a view of the cement and/or entire backside view. Beeping sounds that go off as you (meaning me) get close to hitting ANYthing!
(including the plastic kids slide that resides on the side of the driveway).

Anyway, as you can probably guess out of all that set up, last Saturday as I was pulling out of the driveway to go to the gym for my run, I hit something.

But not just anything. Our CR-V.

Go ahead, laugh it up.

And instead of me intricately describing HOW I ran into our OTHER car, please reference my illustration below instead, k?



See, Tim's car (which used to be my car, if you're keeping up) is not USUALLY there when I'm going most places, like school pick up, etc.  SO, I usually just pull out that way and well, hit nothing and then pull out of the driveway going forward, which I like to do.

BUT, since his car was there and I ignored aforementioned beeping sensors, thinking they were just alerting me to the slide I was about to maybe bump into and I am SO NOT USED to having a back-up camera (OBVIOUSLY...) that I don't look at yet, I hit it.  Smack.

First on both of our cars then on my face to my palm.  Double Smack.  Notice me saying a few choice "bleeps" up there in the picture too...

Then I cried and went inside and woke up my husband at 6:45 on Saturday morning (I suck) to tell him I'd messed up both of our vehicles. Sh*t. k Thankfully the CR-V "damage" was extremely minimal, the dent in my bumper was no longer than 7 inches wide and it was just a tad moved out of place.

He was very understanding, as usual, and we just agreed we'd fix it when we had time.

FFWD to me at school pick up the other day and one of my friends parks behind me and sees the oopsy.  Another friend is in her truck with her and tells me about a local place that fixed her SUV for a great price.

So, after my run yesterday I called them.

And they said to come on by.

And then my day, week, month maybe even year was made because a very nice gentleman simply unscrewed the bumper, got out his fancy, high-powered car bumper blow-dryer thingy, and lickidy-split popped the dent out and put my bumper back in place.  JUST. LIKE. THAT!

I coulda kissed him.  Seriously.  Like full-on, on the mouth.

But I refrained, because well, you know...

Anyway, it's fixed.  And when I asked them what I owed them they handed me several business cards and said, "Just 5 referrals, M'am".

And then my head exploded from good cheer.  Seriously.

And if I'd had any cash (dear Lord, what happens to all my cash?) I would have insisted they take some but we settled with a nice handshake and me taking a stack of cards, which I will dutifully pass out, mind you.

So, if you're in the Lafayette area and you need some awesome guys to fix your "oopsy" go see the guys at Cajun Customs.

They're my new BBFs, for life.

p.s. lesson learned. Dad.

p.p.s. Y'all know I'm only blogging about this because it has a happy and cheap ending and I sorta redeemed myself, right? ;-P