Our trip back to Louisiana was a lot of fun! I was craving sunshine, green grass, and blue skies for so long...and finally got it. We spent my first day back having a picnic at the Lakefront in Metairie. Vitamin D does a body good.




Then that night, I met Joey's family at the Houma's house....which was just beautiful!



On Sunday, I met Jessica at the aquarium. Her boyfriend Jacob's sister works there, and got to watch her feed the sea otters. I decided that will be my next pet. They are so cute!



Then the rest of the afternoon we went to the Rodrigue gallery at the NOMA. We couldn't believe how many painting Rodrigue has done. Pretty amazing.



































And my favorite rugrat, Isabella!


Then spent some more time outside...I think I see a pattern forming.






We almost saw sunrise this morning. We went out and had a good time at an Irish bar in our neighborhood. We met up with friends, and wound up making some new ones as well. Australian ones I tell ya'. A group of Aussies are here in NY for a wedding and wound up being really cool. I think we are going to meet up with them next weekend. The pictures are from the iphone...so they are a little blurry.



Joey and Paul...an Aussie.










This is Keith, Nunca the rottweiler's dad.












Paul and Keith









Me and Freddy! He plans on coming to my softball games with Joey dressed in cutoff jean shorts and a mullet wig. Can't wait for that one.....I'll tell everyone he is my cousin that came to visit. They'll believe me since being from Lousiana makes me "redneck". :)




















Bam! Doing a double punch to Keith and Freddy.





Now time to post pictures of cute dogs!

Buster and Layla. They are Joey's brother's dogs.....and very adorable!



I think this is such a great picture Red and Ali. Red looks very distinguished, like he should have a cigar and reading glasses.


The saturday before Easter I used my family as guineau pigs. I cooked for them. Don't worry though, it was a success. :)



Bye Bye for now :)

My newest obsession!

Meet Nunca.

Yes, she is a rottweiler, but she is incredibly sweet! And beyond well trained. She sits on command, waits for her treat until you say "go", and lifts her paw to shake your hand. Her owner is a coworker of mine who happens to live right down the street! He said I can walk her whenever I want. He feels like I am doing him a favor, and I feel like he is doing me a favor. I am such a dog freak and have been looking for a dog to walk...

Her owner, Keith, also rides a bike in the park and invited Joey and I to join a group that rides maybe 2 or 3 times a week. Also, in May there is a race with 30,000 participants that ride through all 5 boroughs of NY. How fun!

Joey is officially done with midterms- hooray!

Plus, we hop on the plane Friday to go from the big apple to da' big easy.

What is going on...

New Yorkers are actually, well, pretty nice.

Don't believe me?

First case:
This lady, who's company already has Aflac, told me to meet her at her office. She wasn't too thrilled with her current agent and really wanted to help me out since I am "new". She gave me 3 pages of businesses that she has personal contact with. One of them is a guy who actually distributes health insurance to companies himself. So if I got in with him, then I'd be set. I wound up staying there for over an hour. She gave me a hug and her e-mail address and cell number. She told me to keep her posted, and she would e-mail me soon about a networking event at her work.

Case 2:
I had 2 appointments today in Midtown with a break in between. So I headed to Starbuck's to waste some time. This lady walks over and asks if the seat across from me is free. It is. She sits. About 10 minutes pass, and she asks me what I do. I tell her I am just starting out with Aflac. She raises and eyebrow and says "really???" Apparently her husband owns an insurance company in the city. Then she says her friend works for this really amazing networking place. She got really excited and started writing their cell phones numbers down for me and then asked for mine. She is going to get in touch with her friend and then have her contact me. Then she is going to talk to her husband and see what he can do to help. So sweet! She didn't think anything of it. That's her philosophy on life. She said someone always could use your help, and there is always a way for you to help them. She said her broker used to be a talent agent in L.A., and when he found out her daughter is a 15 year old aspiring actress he called a few places and stuck her in a NYU play. She also has close friends who own a Gumbo company in New Orleans and lives in Old Metairie.

On the subway today, I had someone stand and let me have their seat twice. Now, that is just strange! You usually have to be pregnant or missing a limb to get that treatment...not kidding! My DSC at work doesn't understand what is going on. He asked if I am putting out a 'damsel in distress' vibe to people. I don't get it myself. But I'm not complaining. I believe what goes around comes around.

On the way back home today, these guys asked me a question about what subway train to take. We started talking...they were from Cincinnati and were here for the day. Then I found out one of them came down to help rebuild in New Orleans for 4 months after Katrina. Such a small world...

My appointments have been going pretty well. I just started presenting to employers solo this past week. I hope I get this Ballet Studio I visited today. They have a fairly large employee base and everyone is so graceful and sweet! I was watching a class before my appt., and was amazed how poised these women were. Not for me!

My mom says Oprah has been pushing that you can make a difference no matter who you are or how much money you have. So perhaps everyone is getting the memo...

Two people voted on our poll... I'll just leave that topic alone...

Moving on.

Today was productive. I had my first presentation at work...which went surprisingly well. I have some groups to meet with next week also. So the ball is finally starting to roll. Which conveniently leads me to an invitation to play for the Aflac softball team. Hilarious right? They have uniforms and play 12 games starting in April. IF I join, it must be understood that I will only be there for comic relief. I hate softball. The pressure to catch the ball in the outfield. Turning away from and sheilding your face in the outfield. Therefore not catching the ball in the outfield. Having everyone glare at you and scream mean things at you in the outfield... :)

Joey ran an experiment at NYU for a class today. Testing to see how people react when an authoritative figure is not around by leaving a bowl of candy out and....well I'll leave that for him to post. He always says he has nothing to write about. Did anyone read my last post. Oh yeah, that would be a "no"...

Joey also ironed a bunch of pants. He cleaned. I cleaned. We cleaned. Wowzers.... :)

Okay, now we are going to make grilled cheese and watch 24. Which is by the way the best tv show ever.

adios.

Nothing

Melissa:

What are you thinking about?

Joey:

Nothing

Melissa:

It's impossible to think about nothing, because you are always thinking about something. Even if you are thinking about nothing, it is still something.

Joey:

That's not true. I can think about nothing. You just don't think.

Melissa:

You can't not think. Even sitting here staring off into space, the wheels in your brain are still turning. Unless you are Paris Hilton, there are always thoughts running through your head- whether they're subconscious or not.

Joey:

So you are pretty much saying that there is no "nothing" because there is always something, right?

Melissa:

Right, because if there is always "something" then there will never be "nothing".

Joey:

The fact that there is always "something" means that there is always "nothing".

Melissa:

So what is "nothing"?

Joey:

Imagine a person standing in a room with nothing else in it, it's just a vacuum. What else is in the room? Nothing!

Melissa:

Not true! There is a vacuum. That is something! So, why does the term "nothing" exist if "nothing" doesn't exist?

Joey:

Look outside the window. Do you see an elephant sitting outside the window? No, right? So are you saying that there is no elephant? Yes, right? SO that elephant doesn't exist. It doesn't even exist in our minds. It;s not there.

Melissa:

So you are saying the definition of nothing would be something that doesn't exist is the essence of nothingness.

Joey:

The fact that things can be nothing implies that nothingness exists.

Melissa:

But if you say nothing exists that means "nothing" is something, which means that if "nothing" is something then there is no such thing as "nothing".

Joey:

Think about it this way, I am sending an e-mail through something that technically isn't there.


Fill out the poll and tell us that you think.

PS- this was an actual conversation about "nothing" over lunch yesterday at Market table. We thought it'd make an interesting post. Enjoy :)

Someone special was born today...

Happy Birthday My Alli!!!!!

Happy Mardi Gras!

We were spoiled with king cakes, beads, and jambalaya to make it feel like we were back in nawlin's! (Thanks to the momma's and aunt shirley)

PS- I caught the tail end of the Giants parade in the financial district today...pure mayhem. Businesses threw paper and confetti out of their windows- it looked like it was snowing! Everything was white. A guy I work with got pictures with his cell phone, and if I get a hold of them I'll post em'.


Happy Mardi Gras!