The last day .... in pictures ....

I am home now.

Yay for me.

This morning we packed everything up and loaded up the one car that was coming back to Houston.  

Last time Jim and I went to Mardi Gras we came home with at least 100 pounds of beads.

This year .... I came back with about 4 beads.  

Yep .... that's it.

My goal was to NOT bring home a bag of beads (well ..... that, and to just survive the weekend).

I accomplished my goal.

So yay for me .... again.

I, however, am the only person who was committed to not collecting and not bring home .... beads.

           This picture shows at least 7 bags of beads.  I think it's safe to say that each bag weighs about 50 pounds.  No. Kidding.

       The longer we stayed in the lobby, the more bags o' beads appeared: 
     

        And, more stuff kept appearing, too:

       This is D.  She was SO done with this trip by this morning.  I told her she looked like a Mardi Gras eskimo ..... at least to me:

      Here are V & R, before they headed off to the airport.  I miss them and am REALLY hoping he gets that job in Houston!!!

           Here's a bag that held only footballs.  Don't ask me why --- don't ask me what they're going to do with these footballs.  I-have-no-idea.     I just took pictures:

              As the morning wore on D got lower and lower:

Here we are loading up the car ..... which came to Mardi Gras with a WHOLE LOT LESS than it went home with!

                 I thought this was a very impressive loading-job:

                                 Girlfriends!

                       More girlfriends!!!

    After loading the car we walked (some drove) to Cafe du Monde.  Great walk, great weather, great time.

     And this, my peeps, is what Cafe du Monde is ALL about ---- beignets ....

           ..... and cafe au lait (or just plain coffee):

              Shots of the restaurant:

      ..... and of all the people waiting in line to order take out:

               ...... and of the people waiting in line just to come in:

                    ..... and me ......

We walked and took a cab back to the hotel .... finished the packing and headed off to the airport.

I would have loved to had the time to just slowly walk all of the city ..... to take in the sights and watch the people.

All in all, it was a very good weekend.  In spite of the waves.

In spite of missing Jim.

In spite of so much.

I laughed a lot .... and cried a lot.

Laughing is much better .... most of the time.

Thank you ..... so very much ..... for praying me through this weekend.

I'm glad I went.

In spite of the waves ...... and really, because of the waves.

I will leave you with this video ..... which just goes to show ...... that sometimes, even in dark places ..... we, and thus God, can shine very brightly.