A great day off

Today was Jennifer's birthday, so we celebrated in a happy, low-key way. The first treat of the day was sleeping in late a la Mary (thank you again!), a birthday wake-up call from Markus in Dubai and then (a few hours later) lunch out with Mary, Ellie, my friend Becky and her son.



After lunch, we decided to maximize Ellie's naptime with a drive to New Orleans. Being in the city would have the built-in bonus of keeping Jennifer from the house and its related stress, and who wants stress on her birthday? It was a lovely day in the city. Although I couldn't reach anyone I knew while there (it was a spontaneous trip, after all), Ellie and I had a great time running around in Audubon Park, chasing squirrels and geese, meeting doggies and other children, and generally getting nice and dirty. We ate a simple dinner of ready-made stuff at Whole Foods before trekking back to Mississippi. It almost felt like we were home again...almost.



Ellie was an excellent birthday companion, and we had a very fun, relaxing day.