Neues Jahr, Same Me
New Year, Same Me
I started writing this on January 7. It is now February 7 (edit: February 26 now). I’ll keep the portion I wrote a month ago (edit: almost two months ago) and just add to it. Whoops.
January 7, 2023
My left eye has been twitching since Tulane won the Cotton Bowl five days ago. My body has reached an unprecedented level of exhaustion fueled by football, fun and FOMO. Quin and I decided that when Tulane lost the game we would say farewell to our friends and tuck in for an early night. We were SO happy to be there that a win did not feel necessary. A safety, a touchdown and a failed flee flicker later we found ourselves in a wave of martinis and wine.
I have never seen Quin so happy.
The night ended much later than we planned and while I won’t name names there was blood, drama and a visit from the police. We had a lot of fun.
I think most of New Orleans rode that Green Wave of happiness in to Twelfth Night, the start of Carnival Season. This is the time New Orleans shines completely covered in glitter.
It has been relatively easy for us to leave the potholed streets of New Orleans and head back to the smooth roads of Munich. It was hard leaving New Orleans this time. There were so many friends I didn’t see and babies I didn’t squeeze.
February 7, 2023
My eye is STILL twitching. I’m not joking.
My levels of exhaustion are STILL unprecedented, and it doesn’t look like things are slowing down. There were STILL friends I didn’t see and babies I didn’t squeeze on our most recent trip home. New Orleans is STILL shining with the layer of Mardi Gras glitter.
We’ll have to BYOG (Bring Your Own Glitter) this year because we have decided to stay in Europe for Mardi Gras. There were many deciding factors, but we were mostly driven by fear of the German public school system.
February 26, 2023
Well, this is starting to get embarrassing. The good news is I have delayed writing this so long my eye is no longer twitching. Mardi Gras came and went. Millie and I spent last weekend with friends on the Red Sea soaking up some much-needed sun and today we’re wrapping up our family ski trip. From what I can tell on Instagram it was a Mardi Gras for the books. The weather looked amazing and I felt the energy from Munich. We missed our rides, our friends and our family traditions.
We managed to participate in our fair share of partying without attending Mardi Gras. It’s time to slow down. I was excited to start fresh. Lent is like New Year’s Resolutions for New Orleanians. It’s impossible to practice “new year, new me” with Mardi Gras on the horizon. Ash Wednesday is the perfect time for turn over a new leaf.
But since I am trying to assimilate to a new culture I needed to know: Do Germans even abstain from anything during in lent? Or can I use this as a loophole?
A quick google search confirmed that 73% of Germans plan to give up alcohol for lent. Gulp.
I just can’t commit to this one. My birthday always falls within lent, so I am not willing to not have a celebratory martini. I’m not interested in setting myself up for failure.
Maybe I would have a more successful lent if I decided what I was going to abstain from before lent started. I am still pretty wishy-washy. Gluten? Social Media? TV? Frivolous Spending? Nothing seems to land although I am sure Quin would encourage a few from the list above.
So here I am sitting on a Sunday morning, 5 days after lent started trying to finish this post that has clearly lost whatever initial message I was trying to convey. It no longer seems relevant BUT what I have decided in this “new year, new me” Lenten season is that I am going to give up putting this blog off.
Done. More to come in the NEAR future.
