Back in NoLa

Just returned to my new home state from a ten-day jaunt through the Mid-Atlantic region. Highlights of the trip include watching West Virginia beat Georgetown (even though Pitt later KILLED Georgetown), checking out some hip places in Baltimore, seeing my best friend and her daughter (even though in was in IKEA). Actually let's stop here. My friend M wanted to go to IKEA for their sale.

Since I was in Baltimore and IKEA is in Baltimore, she decided to combine the two visits. So we walked around IKEA for two hours while her husband slept in the car and her daughter (not yet four) kept telling us to "hurry" because we had made the mistake of letting her see the children's play area upon arrival and she needed to get back to it STAT.

Since little A was so good in the store she got to pick a toy and she picked the most expensive gigantic stuffed dog and named it Lilly ($19.95). M says that every new doll is named Lilly. When I was little I named all of my dolls and imaginary friends Alexandria and Elizabeth and Olivia--anything I thought was "Victorian." By the by, I always found playing with imaginary friends extremely boring. Did anyone actually enjoy this?

Oh, we took the train to Baltimore from D.C., which was really fast and convenient. They don't inspect your luggage on those things, so terrorists probably like them.

After that we went to Gettysburg, which was cool. And cold. But we got the CD to play in your car and drove around the monuments and battlefields. Yes, Buddy! was with us and it was fun letting him run around but making sure he didn't desecrate any piece of history. At some point he pooed on his leash. I discovered that later in the hotel room and was like, "That's why I kept smelling it . . ."

The Pastoral and Historical combine for an appealing site in Gettysburg.

Cannonball!

One of the biggest monuments--looks out over Cemetery Hill and uh, something else important

The above monument commemorates the lives lost from the state of Virginia, which was technically NOT my home state as of 10 or so days before. The Battle of Gettysburg took place July 1-3, 1863. Governor Arthur I. Boreman gave the first Inaugural address to the residents of West Virginia on June 20, 1863. Thank you Internet article: W.Va. Birth Date

After this we had a brief stop in MoTown to see our Captain America J. who everyone is praying for and who should be back in top form soon enough. And then . . . Follansbee!!!

This was actually one of my favorite parts of the trip because we didn't have anything to do or anywhere to be. But it snowed the whole time and we were restricted to twice daily walks around the neighborhood to keep from going all "Shining" on each other. Buddy! loves the snow, even though it makes him shiver:

BudDog likes to make yellow slushies

It was then on to Pittsburgh where we stayed at Tomo's because he's an awesome friend and we went out to BRGR, a new hip joint in East Liberty. And the whole town was jumping for joy because the Steelers won and the Patriots lost and yay! more football games to watch!!!

Somewhere in there West Virginia won another basketball game. I like to see if Huggins is wearing his wedding ring during the games. Because sometimes he does and sometimes he doesn't. I mean, that's supposed to be optional, right? Or maybe some days it just doesn't fit on his finger.

We saw lots of friends and ate good food and it was fun. But, I am so happy to be back in 50+ weather and in my own bed. Buddy! is in his crate and not hiding under someone's bed waiting for me to walk by so he can bite the crap out of my ankle. Or pee on someone's floor. (Sorry friends who let us stay!)