Let me loose in the French Quarter.

So I do believe that we're going to New Orleans in March for John's thesis exhibition. He's graduating at the end of this semester, and this show will allow us to see what he's been working on for the last three years. I'm very excited about that, and I'm just as excited about a weekend out of town, a weekend during which I will drink a lot and sleep even more, a weekend when I will wake up with Jason in bed next to me. It all sounds very nice.

I'm betting March will be a good time for our visit; it won't be too hot, and it won't be too cold. We can walk around the city and have a good time. I'm especially looking forward to the food. THE FOOD, MAN.

I have to say that just thinking about being away from Reed for three whole days makes me uneasy. I know he'll be fine with my mom- in fact, I'm a little more worried about her than him. But I know that my heart is going to ache being away from him for that long. It will be the first time that I've been more than 24 hours without seeing him, holding him, and kissing him. I am almost tempted to take him along with us. I said almost. I'M CRAZY BUT I'M NOT THAT CRAZY. I will not take him on a five hour drive into a city that makes me want to drink eight beers, take my clothes off, and sing the French national anthem. He's not ready for that yet. I'm going to save that for when he has a girlfriend present. I know a lot about parenting.

Reed, by the way, is talking up a storm these days. He says cheese, juice, doodoo, mama, dada (the guy, not the movement), da-da (bye-bye), and na-na (which stands for a lot of stuff including but not exclusive to thank you, you're welcome, bottle, dinner, breakfast bar, and I don't even know what else). It is really funny to witness this development in him, because he looks so surprised and excited when he says something and we understand it. HE KNOWS what it feels like to be a foreign exchange student, as he knows what it's like to live with a bunch of people who smile and are nice to you but with whom you can't communicate past nodding and smiling. It must be frustrating.