Cascade Falls, Orcas Island, WA: I'd have never have seen if I hadn't traveled One of the promises  that I made myself at the...

New Orleans?

Saturday, January 27, 2018 , ,


Washington 2016
Cascade Falls, Orcas Island, WA: I'd have never have seen if I hadn't traveled
One of the promises that I made myself at the beginning of the year is that I would blog more consistently in 2018. It's the 27th of January now and here is my first post of the year, so obviously that's going great. 

{My blog just turned TEN years old too!}

But I am keeping my house nice and clean {these last couple days, ha} and yesterday, as my girls were at homeschool school, I spent most of the day working my tail off cleaning the house. I wanted to earn the right to veg on the couch and binge watch all the shows I needed to catch up on {Grey's Anatomy, American Housewife, Superstore, to name a few}. My house was spotless by the time the kids went to bed, except their rooms {obvs}, and so I flipped on Grey's...although still folding a load of Paxton's laundry. It never ends. 

I had fantasized all day about my kids' bed time and how I'd spend those blessed few hours between their nodding off and mine. 

So when Eisley got up to use the bathroom after about 40 minutes, and then came out to me, you'd think I'd have been irritated. Except she had tears in her eyes so I asked her what was wrong.

"I've just been talking to Jesus about how I don't want to grow up." 

Oh bless! First, that she was talking to Jesus. 

Now about the growing up anxiety, while I'd love to blame that on Peter Pan, that's actually my fault. I've said things in the past about my kids needing to stop growing up so fast. I mean, you know what I mean if you're a parent yourself. It's so very bittersweet. But my girl Eisley has her mother's anxiety. And I've apparently given her a complex about growing up. She frets. I very much get that. 

I know all too well how anxiety especially loves to mess with you at bed time. I have planned everyone's funerals in the late night hours, through tears. 

{I keep meaning to blog about my life with anxiety, but it'd be doozy best done in parts. But I want to say this: the last couple of years have been much more comfortable as I've pressed into God and turned to praying myself to sleep rather than worrying myself to sleep. Fewer heart palpitations and zero anxiety attacks for a couple years now too. My best advice if you suffer from an anxiety disorder? Prayer and magnesium.}

But here's the good part about Eisley: she came and talked to me about it. And we cried together and hugged several times and she went to bed feeling better. 

Because when I was a kid, from 7 on, I also struggled with anxiety and crying myself to sleep. Except I was too ashamed, and worried it'd be labeled "crocodile tears" or brushed off to dare and talk to anyone about it. So I'm so glad--and consider it a good sign--that my Eisley girl seeks me out to talk about it. Because talking about it is important and helpful, and I only started learning that from the age of 32 and on. 

Speaking of my anxiety, I have a question for you... 

Say my husband is going on a business trip to New Orleans for a convention later in spring. 

Say the room at the Hyatt, rental car, and his airfare will be paid for. And say he has enough points with the airline to get me a ticket at no cost. 

I should go with him...right? The hotel is in the historic French Quarter. 

 I should go...right? 

Because I get anxiety about leaving my kids. Specifically, what if something happened to both of us and our kids were left orphans. We have family, but no legal will regarding your plans for orphaned children will ever be ideal. 

At the risk of sounding morbid, I sort of find it ideal to travel with my entire clan. Because if we go down in a plane together, hey, at least everyone is taken care of and no one is left behind. Jesus-bound. 

I'm a homebody at heart. My sister and father are both wanderlusts, but I'm a homebody. I'm cool seeing pictures of your vacation, but even the Ritz Paris couldn't hold a candle to my very own IKEA bed and my claw-foot soaking tub. No thanks. 

My bed and bathtub are my most favorite places in the universe. Confession: sometimes I actually consider the benefits about being agoraphobic. 

But remember how in 2016 I let Sander talk me into a Seattle/Orcas Island trip? 

I had the best time. It was amazing

So once again I'm considering pushing myself to travel without the kids. I am not scared of death, I am scared of my kids being left behind without a mother and father. {Something I regularly cried myself to sleep worrying about myself as a kid.}

Also, New Orleans doesn't have a reputation for being a particularly safe city. 

Today I even read a few different articles that have said that if someone approaches you on Bourbon Street and says, "Bet you $10 I know where you got your shoes." {And thanks to the guy at King Sooper's who bags my groceries and likes to tell jokes, I've long known the proper answer is "On my feet."} Apparently you'll get stared-down until you actually hand over a tenner for their "cleverness".

I'm not even kidding, multiple articles on travelling to New Orleans warned about this. You're either supposed to tell them, "I'm a local." Or keep walking and keep your face straight. 

So now you know, I'm not much of a traveler or wanderlust, and New Orleans hasn't been on my bucket list of travel spots {unlike Hawaii, Sweden/Finland, and Israel}. 

But I should go...right? I'll have fun...right? My kids will probably survive without me and I without them.............right? 

He was right about Orcas Island. 

Have you been to New Orleans? And what is worth seeing? I'm already thinking staying in the French Quarter will be the most safe. I definitely want to see that graveyard. {You know me! #taphophile #findagravevolunteer} 

Beignets. 

{Speaking of, great place for legit beignets and Creole brunch in Denver is Lucile's, definitely try it.}

Also, keep in mind, we're not the voodoo or Mardis Gras types. My husband and I are pretty vanilla, I suppose. 

So considering that, is it worth going? And what is important to see in and around the French Quarter? 

I still partly think we should save the airline points and work toward a family trip to either Seattle/Orcas Island again or California/Disneyland, where many of our family members are. 

But...free...so tempting. Tell me what you think! I want to hear about your New Orleans adventures.

Cheers,
Homebody Heather

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3 comments

  1. I live in Wisconsin,farm fields,lakes,pine forests. So very different from New Orleans,or NOLA. I have been there 5 times in the past 3 years. No one has ever approached me or tried to scam me. The French Quarter is so amazing. The houses, the shops,the music and the food. I love it all. You will love the cemeteries,so different. Take a carriage ride they explain so much. Take the trolley down to the garden district,the gardens and homes so beautifull.The French flee market is unlike any flee market I have ever been to.Love love love NOLA. You should go it's a place unlike others. Go enjoy time away with your husband you will not regret it. You might see a littel crazy but it's a fun crazy. I have never seen anything violent or anyone that made me feel unsafe. But in all honesty what town are you save in anymore?

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    1. Thank you for this!!! You got me even more excited. This is exactly the sort of stuff I need to hear.

      Also, you're so right. Just last night there was a shooting/homicide just five minutes away. Despite how this post might make me sound all cowardly, I am truly a city girl at heart and crime is a part of life in the big city!

      I'm glad you mention the flea market too, that is a huge attraction for me!

      Heather

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  2. I too suffer from anxiety and had the same thing happen at night when I was a little girl. Bless her sweet heart! I do hope that you will blog about your anxiety so that it may help others and myself! My doctor mentioned Magnesium also. Is that something you take daily or just when you're feeling anxiety coming on?
    Jessica

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