Lots Goin' On

I was planning on posting a new blog on Friday but ended up taking a mini-vacation to my friend Sean’s aunt’s house in Moss Point, Mississippi for the weekend. I thought it would be a good time to get out of New Orleans for the long weekend (we had Friday off) and relax a little bit. The last few weeks have been pretty hectic so a weekend of relaxation outside of New Orleans was exactly what I needed.

When I last posted, I was on my way to Chicago to visit for Memorial Day weekend. I was definitely New Orleans’d out and needed the trip home. My Dad picked me up at the airport Friday afternoon and drove me back to their house. It had been six months since the last time I visited so it felt great to come home. When I arrived home, I saw my cousin, Zach, for the first time in over year. The past two years on his birthday in the first week April, I traveled to the University of Arizona to hang out with him. Last April was the last time I had seen him. Now that he’s staying with my parents, I got the chance to spend the weekend with him and will get more of a chance when I come back in August (more on that later). I had a great family dinner at Wildfire with my Mom, Dad, Zach, and Grandpa. It had also been a long time since I had seen my parents (back in January when they visited) so it was great to see them as well. There are definitely times being here in New Orleans where I do miss my family (I can openly admit that). So having the chance to make the trip home and spend some time with them was much needed. After dinner, we dropped Zach off at work at Social Twenty Five and met some of his co-workers. We all had a shot of tequila and chatted for awhile. After being at the bar and talking with Zach’s bosses and co-workers, I got the sense they really like him and will take good care of him. We left Zach at work and my parents dropped me off at my friend Julie’s house where I was able to spend a little time with her and Matt Brash. We watched the end of the Blackhawks-Red Wings game, which I have to say I had very little interest in. I know the rest of the city was going crazy over it but I just couldn’t get into it. After the game was over, I met Eric, Jordy, Evan, Brett, and Ben at Butch McGuires and then Shenanigans on Division Street. We had a lot of fun that night and some shenanigans definitely occurred (which I won’t get into, ha).

I woke up the next morning pretty early (I guess my body is just used to being up early) and was hungry. So I called Marc and Molly and met them for breakfast at Nookie’s, which has pretty good food. It was nice to catch up with them. When coming down to New Orleans, I knew there would be people that I lost a little bit of touch with and that there would also be people who I probably would end up getting even closer to. Marc and Molly are definitely two people that I have found myself becoming even better friends with since I’ve been down here. I also feel that way about a lot of my good friends. The people I’ve kept in close touch with over the past year, I really feel that our friendships have grown. I appreciate the support I’ve gotten from everyone since I’ve moved here. It has meant a lot to me. I spent the rest of Saturday just hanging out on the couch and napping and hanging out with my family.

Saturday night, Zach was working and reserved a table for my friends and me at Social Twenty Five. Before going there, I met some friends for dinner at Rock Bottom. I’ve always liked the food and beer at Rock Bottom. I didn’t want to drink too much at dinner because Zach had already warned me that he was going to be making sure I had plenty to drink when I got to Social Twenty Five. And he kept up his end of the bargain. When I got there, he kept sneaking me shots of tequila. The kid took care of me, I must say. We had a great table and a lot of people came to hang out, which I really appreciated. It was great that so many friends could get together and have a good time. I tried to spend time with everyone but know there are people I didn’t get to hang out as much as I would like. To those people I apologize and hope we can spend some time together when I come back in August (again, more on that later). After everyone left Social Twenty Five, I went over to hang out with my friend Ethan, who was next door at Hub 51. By the end of the night, I was pretty exhausted and decided to head home. I just wanted to thank everyone for coming out that night; I had a really great night.

During the day Sunday, I watched the Blackhawks game with Brian and Steve (a.k.a. Bean and Stevo), who I lived with for the two years prior to New Orleans, and a few of their friends. Brian broke the news to me that he was planning on proposing the next weekend, which he did and she said “yes.” So I just wanted to take this chance to give a shout out to the Bean and congratulate him on his engagement. We watched the game for a few hours, and after they lost 6-1, I went home. Later that night, I had dinner with my parents, Zach, and our family friends at Glenn’s Diner. I absolutely love the food there. It’s mainly a fish place but it also serves breakfast all day, as well as some other things. I had pretzel-crusted walleye which was delicious. We had a good time catching up and eating great food. After dinner, Zach and I went over to Marc and Molly’s new apartment and spent some time drinking there before going out for the night. We met some other friends out at a new bar called Theory and then headed over to Social Twenty Five for the rest of the night. I stayed out until 3 a.m. for the third night in a row. I don’t think I’ve had three nights like that since Mardi Gras. By Monday, my body was hurting me.

On Monday, I met Zach, Marc, Molly, Evan, and Brian for lunch at Dublin’s, another one of my favorite restaurants. I almost always get the fried chicken tenders which are amazing. After lunch, Zach and I went and hung out for a bit with Marc and Molly and then went to spend some time at my cousin Brian’s (Zach’s brother) house. Brian and his wife, Rachel, had a boy, who I hadn’t seen yet. So we went over and spent a couple of hours hanging out with Brian, Rachel, and their son, Dylan. He’s a really cute little guy and as at the age where he’s developing his personality and becoming a real person. It was nice to catch up with Brian because I hadn’t seen him in a long time. After Brian’s house, I had a few friends over to watch the Lakers game and order dinner. I had lunch with Marc on Tuesday, hung out with Zach during the afternoon, and headed back to New Orleans that night. I had a great time at home. There wasn’t enough time to see everybody as much as I would have liked but I did my best to spend as much time with friends and family as I could.

I returned home to New Orleans late Tuesday night because my flight was delayed. The total trip took about five hours and in that time I finished the book I had just started, The Brooklyn Follies. I really enjoyed the book and recommend it to whoever is looking for something to read. I was exhausted the next day since I got back so late and stayed up a bit to finish the book. The week at work was pretty normal as I continued my time as Construction Manager assistant. Last weekend, I didn’t do too much because I was preparing to move on Sunday. My lease ended on May 31st, so I had to find another place to live. Over the past few weeks, I responded to numerous Craigslist postings for sublets for June and July. I found a decent place to live about five minutes away from my old house. It was brutally hot on Sunday and the move was pretty exhausting. My friend Jon helped me move some of the heavier stuff over to my new house, which I really appreciated. By the end of the night, I was settled into my new place, which I really like. For whatever reason, the cable hasn’t worked in my room. But I really don’t mind and actually kind of like not having it. This past week at work I was back working on a house, as well as my service project which is coming up in July (I’ll explain more about that in a future posting). The four-day week was pretty uneventful.

After work on Thursday, a bunch of us went to the New Orleans Zephyrs game (the Florida Marlins minor league team). It was a beautiful night and it was nice to be outside and watch a little live baseball. At the game my friend Sean mentioned going to his aunt’s house in Mississippi for the long weekend. He mentioned that his aunt and uncle lived right on the Gulf of Mexico and were going to be out of town for the weekend. I didn’t really have much else going on so I jumped at the chance to go. Early Friday morning, Sean, Sean, Jon, and I left to go to Mississippi for a weekend of R&R. I’m at the house now and it is in a really beautiful area. They have a pool in their backyard which we’ve been hanging out at all weekend. We stopped at the grocery store when we first got here on Friday and have been cooking all of our own food. It has been great to get out of New Orleans and relax a little bit. My trip home was great, but wasn’t really too relaxing. So this weekend has been great. We’ve all been sleeping a lot which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed since I needed to catch up on some.

We’re going to be heading back at some point today and have another full week at work starting tomorrow. I only have 7 weeks of work left which is kind of crazy to think about. This experience has been so incredible but it is definitely winding down. I’ve been giving a lot of thought about my plans after AmeriCorps and what I want to do. As of now, I’m going to be coming home in early August and staying at Marc and Molly’s apartment for a couple of months. In October, I’m planning on going to London and getting some type of job there and living there and travelling for a few months. The details about this part of the plan are still very much a work in progress, but it’s what I’m looking to do. And unless I find some amazing opportunities in Europe, I would come back to Chicago after a few months of living there and find a job in Chicago. That’s the plan for now. Things always change but I’m hoping that the part about going to London doesn’t. I will keep you updated as I start to figure things out. I’m definitely trying to enjoy my last couple of months in New Orleans but am looking forward to coming home for a couple months and really catching up with everyone. Wel, I’m really tired from writing all of this so I’ll talk to y’all later.