WHOA! That’s some series weaponry! I’m sure UpChuck Schumer wouldn’t approve. ;o)
Got the kids off and into college. Joseph likes his dorm room, and his roommate is a sorta quiet guy who is WAY into sports, so he's Joseph's opposite. But he has several suitemates who are as into video and PC gaming as he is, so he'll find some friends. We also got him hooked up with folks at the Catholic Student Assoc. (CSA; always makes SirKit chuckle), and he likes them, so that is a good thing.
We introduced ourselves to the Pastor of the Parish, and told him of our kinfolks in town, and that Joseph is the nephew of a fellow priest in the Diocese, so Father Tommy now knows Joseph. ;o) He's one of the FBI (Foreign Born Irish) in the Diocese, and speaks with a thick Irish brogue, so it's funny when he throws "y'all" into his speech. Seems natural, just humorous when spoken with the brogue.
It was great visiting with family, though, and we'll see them again next month when we bring down a trailer-load of various and sundry building materials, and electrical and plumbing stuff to put in storage, to get it out of our garage while we're remodeling.
Clare and I went over to New Orleans, and my niece took us down to the French Quarter. I haven't been there in years, and Clare had never been, so we went to the Cafe du Monde for cafe au lait and beignets, then just walked around some. Went into St. Louis Cathedral; what a gorgeous place!
Then we found Marie Levaux's VooDoo shop. What a hoot! It's actually more Santeria than voodoo, because that blends the voodoo with Catholic iconography, so you have dried chicken feet sitting on the shelf next to statues of Saint Barbara, and crucifixes. Strange brew, to be sure. My niece found some little saint statues, and I got one for Clare. It is of Saint Clare, the patron saint of Quality TV Programming, and she's in the typical Medieval saint pose, but she's holding a TV Remote Control in her hand. ;o) Natalie also found one for Saint Vivian, the patron Saint of those with hangovers. She's holding a Bloody Mary. She got that one for her brother, because his dog, Vivian, had just died, and he was still a little sad about it. Also he drinks, so it was appropriate. ;o)
So it was a fun trip, but it's good to be home. We're now 'empty nesters'! Feels strange, after almost twenty-nine years, but it's nice and quiet, that's for sure! Now we have to start working in earnest on the house, so we can get the heck out of MA!