Nouvel an = gumbo

Today, I took one kid to the doc for a procedure , made gumbo, baked banana bread, made blossom cookies, and fed kids lunch and dinner I ate a bagel for dinner bc I just could not do one more thing

I think I just made the best gumbo I’ve ever made in my life. Official verdict tomorrow bc it’s always better a day later

Due to an atrocious first trimester and full time twin momming and work, I didn’t read a book for two Months (the longest for me). Finally getting back into it with Jack El Hai’s book about Dr Kelley and Goring.

My wife and I are raising two little yats; it’s 7:35 am, and my three year old son requested « Christmas marching band » music so he can play his kid instruments while pretending to be in a second line

A doctor today told me I needed to work on my « sleep hygiene » to prevent migraines. Dude, I’ve had a diagnosed migraine disorder for almost 20 years. I have twin three year olds who still wake up in the night. I sleep in a dark room and only read my kindle before bed. I do the hygiene

Made some ratatouille to distract from these dystopian times and served it over rice, as a Cajun would do. It was a hit with ¾ of the family so not terrible odds

I know I’m getting old because I genuinely love using a crockpot to make meals. Doesn’t heat up the already hot Louisiana house, can leave it on when going to work, one pot so less mess.

Everything is awful in the world and in the US, but my three year old is finally responding to me in French and is thriving in her French school. My Cajun grandparents would be thrilled

My wife and I started rewatching Portlandia from the beginning and it’s such a treat.

Making gumbo in my grandfather’s mini magnalite pot because it’s soup season (even tho it’s in the 80s! I know! )

Tylenol is the only pain relief pregnant people can currently take.

Just discovered American girl magazine was discontinued in 2019 and I am disappointed for my little girl

Are there any shape note singing groups in New Orleans? I dabbled when I lived in Baton Rouge, and would love to find a community locally here

Seriously wondering what Louisiana schools who get curriculum and supplies from France will do next year

Currently looking into applying to work in Canada as a teacher in several years, once my kids are kindergarten age. I’m already a bilingual French immersion teacher, so maybe there will be work for me and my wife (a nurse). Hard to even think of leaving due to family but …

My wife (a NP) is the worst patient but also American health insurance is so evil. She has had headaches every day for the past couple weeks. Could be perimenopause. Could just be the heat. Could be more serious. But she can’t get a MRI to check until January when her new health insurance kicks in

My son managed to weasel a little screwdriver into his bed and I just want to know what his little 3 year old brain was thinking

My daughter was stung by a wasp today and as she was crying she was saying , « that guy need to say sorry » she’s ok and the swelling has gone down, but she’s still salty the wasp never said sorry

My grandfather read thousands of westerns and mysteries once he retired. I have this memory of him sitting in his recliner in the corner, reading a Louis LaMore novel, the clock ticking behind him. I’m now mostly reading western mysteries as escapism. Time is a circle

À 550sq foot half of a shotgun double is for rent near me. It is 1350$ a month. That same apartment was going for under 1k just two years ago. That’s ⅔ of our mortgage (including insane insurance). For an actual shotgun double that’s triple the size.

why do we need tvs everywhere. I am in this office to get bloodwork done; I don’t need to hear commercials selling more bloodwork to me.

God bless my neighbor who is having the sweetest and most circular conversation about her dogs with my toddler through the fence

Daughter of an Episcopal priest arrested and detained following her routine visa hearing.

My school offers free childcare for all employees during pre service days and it has majorly improved our back to school routine. It’s for any staff kid, even those who don’t attend the school (although many do)

The idea of an AI powered school is so dystopian. We had one project this past year that relied on screens- stop motion films. My students used their own curiosity and reasoning and developed those skills. Ai…does not

One of the silliest credits alerts I get is the one that is emailed every time we pay the mortgage. Alert! Your balance has decreased!!

My wife and I are painting our kitchen cabinets and we’ve managed to sand… 20%. This old house said it’s a 2-3 weekend project, but with « helpful » toddlers, it’s going to be more like 4-6

The very sweet woman in financial services at lcmc was so matter of fact when she said the original price of my son’s ear tubes would be 44k. With insurance, it is « only » 2100. We don’t have due to other medical stuff this summer so…have to wait a few more months

My kids are very chatty and thankfully our neighbors don’t mind talking to them about the colors of the houses, the plants, the stormy sky, etc etc. I’ve said it before but we are so lucky to have really cool neighbors-a mix of young and old, mostly people from here.

Trying to navigate the clunky BCBSLA website just to find my summary of benefits and coverage only to….not find it. Health insurance in the US is criminal

Tw: hurricanes, Katrina specifically. driving back from Baton Rouge, my wife and I were listening to some « Katrina songs. » this one, by Jackson Browne , just really hits the nail on the head. I cannot believe it’s been 20 years youtu.be/SO_5c3BRFXE?...

As someone whose phone is about 95% on silent, I am always shocked when people have allll the sound on their phones on. Why!

Another day, another morning doing more tests at the fertility clinic. Every time is a reminder that every single one is pretty scammy and everything should be covered by insurance in this *prolife* state

This sounds terrible but when I’m home in the summer with my kids and they’re particularly draining, I put on an audiobook or music on some headphones. It dulls the arguments and whining and helps me make it through the day

I work at a private school (second year, after 8 years in public school). There isn’t a supply list other than: backpack, lunch box, water bottle, nap mat. The school orders everything else in bulk. I’ve never done without and it is helpful. But then again, it comes out of tuition.

Instagram parenting advice is hilarious bc they’ll say stuff like, « European kids would NEVER watch tv or not eat dinner!!! » when I know multiple French and Belgian parents whose kids absolutely also watch paw patrol and eat dinner through the afternoon in the form of veggies and cheese and bread

We’re going to attempt to take the almost three year old twins to the early service tomorrow; fingers crossed they do better there than we do at the 10am service (with music that lasts a little long for wiggly bodies)

I’ve made over half of the quizzes for 6th grade math and finished the skills checklist

SWBNO has dug up my street for the …3rd? 4th? Time since January and all I can hope is that the water issues eventually cease and it’s mostly fixed by the first actual hurricane of the season

It’s amazing my daughter is only 25% Cajun because she is more stubborn than my 100% Cajun grandmother. Such a tête dure

Wish BCBSLA would actually cover something helpful (like acupuncture) instead of sending me dozens of emails about some diabetes and weight prevention service they’ve contracted out

I just left the Everglades Immigrant Interment Camp. No, I’m not using their ridiculous name. It was a very tough to witness humans in those cages. Every Floridian should be ashamed that our taxpayer money is being used for this.

As a mom to almost three year olds, there is a lot of kids tv I very much dislike but the despicable me series is great. Enjoyable by my kids, their grandparents, and me.

I also really need hospitals to do some sensitivity training on queer issues and people doing fertility treatment. Please don’t ask me how I’m doing after we’ve had two failures!

I have a lot of gripes with fertility clinics as a queer woman but one of the top has got to be how people call me girly girl. I’m 32 years old. I have two kids. I’m married and I am No one’s « girly girl. »

Petition for all state welcome centers/rest areas to have little playgrounds.

my mom was telling me how she drove an hour and a half to and from her doctor (she lives in Houston) and the appointment was in Houston. I think my soul left my body thinking about it. I would lose my mind if I ever have to live in Houston. Everything is close here in New Orleans

All of you gloating about the Texas floods because they happened in Trump country want to believe that it can’t happen to you. But it can, and likely will, and when it does, other people will fall all over themselves to figure out reasons why *you* had it coming and they don’t

Absolutely doubling down on raising bilingual (FR/EN) kids so they have options for their future , and especially education. I’m a teacher and my wife is an NP. we’ll never have money for them to do American college at this point with all of the bbb changes