New Orleans happenings

We returned a couple days ago from a week in Tennessee taking care of Sue's mom.  Sue is still spending 5-6 days a month at her mother's, giving the live-in caregiver a week of relief.  Sue's been doing this every month for about 4 years now.  All I can say is that TN is way too cold for us.

In New Orleans, everything is getting ready for the Superbowl this Sunday.  Our boat is docked close to Lakefront Airport on Lake Pontchartrain, which is where many personal and corporate jets are landing for the weekend.  Every 5 minutes or so today, all day today, a jet would land at the airport.  And DirectTV had their blimp flying around dodging the landing jets.  There must be so many planes at the airport that they are parking them out in the swamp!  Who says that there's no money associated with sports?

Also in New Orleans, Carnival season is in full swing, with Mardi Gras on Feb 12.  (For those who don't know the 4 seasons in New Orleans, they are shrimp season, crawfish season, Carnival season, and hurricane season).  Parades have started, and King Cakes abound.  The Superdome downtown is lit up in purple, green & gold lights for the run-up to the Superbowl.

In our world, Sue has a date for her surgery this coming Tuesday Feb 5.  She was told by the surgeon initially that the earliest date for surgery would be Feb 20, but Sue sweet talked her into finding an earlier date.   Sue was told that she may be released from the hospital the next day, and to expect a 4-6 week recovery period.  What might be interesting is our previous plan to go to a Mardi Gras parade on Feb 9.......I want to see how well Sue bends down to pick up all the beads that the floats will throw!

On a more serious note, we're not sure how easily she can get up the ladder to board the boat after she is released from the hospital.  The floating dock is very low & there are about 5 steps up the ladder to the deck.  If we have to, I plan to borrow a "bosun's chair" from a sailboat friend.  The sailboats use this sling chair to haul themselves to the top of the mast to do repairs.  If Sue can't climb the ladder aboard, then I can rig up the bosun's chair to the dinghy davit, and hoist Sue from the swim platform up to the sundeck. Gotta admit..........it's real interesting living on a boat!!