New Things Come to Those Who Wait

New Thing #9: Bread Pudding a la Mother's

Today I had the privilege of dining with my friend Tom for his birthday lunch at Mother's. Mother's is a restaurant that is where the locals eat, has been named one of America's best restaurants, and is just a New Orleans must. This "new thing each day" thing could be quite enjoyable in a city with so many fabulous restaurants. I had a po-boy of course and then the best of all--bread pudding. I am NOT a fan of bread pudding, but this bread pudding was like heaven in my mouth. If you come to New Orleans I will take you to go eat it, it is that good.

Here are some facts about Mothers: 

 

In a single year, Mother's serves up: No less than 175,000 pounds of ham and roast beef, More than 40,000 pounds of turkey, a staggering 30,000 pounds of homemade sausage, quarter of a million biscuits (and even more eggs!) A whopping 90,000 pounds of jambalaya, some 25,000 soft shell crabs and even more shrimp, nearly 250,000 pounds of cabbage, and incredible 150,000 loaves of French bread, as many pies as there are ships passing through the point of New Orleans (3,500), a spicy 1,500 gallons of Creole mustard and an honest ton of hot pepper sauce. 

New Thing #10: Match Day

If you haven't experienced one yet I suggest you should. 150 plus students with family, friends, and faculty to celebrate the culmination of medical school--where you are placed for your residency. An exciting and nerve wracking atmosphere that makes you feel part of something special. Our dear friend will be leaving us for Boston, but we are very excited! There were friends, free champagne, food, and cake. All in all a fun party.

New Thing #11: Sleepless without Socks 

I will not elaborate but for those of you who know me I can't remember a night ever that I haven't slept with socks. I tried it without them and if I hadn't been so tired I probably would have been miserable.

nothing to with socks. just excited the sea lions are back at the zoo!

New Thing #12: 6.2 Miles to Start the Morning Right

I am most proud of this new thing. Today I ran a 10K, the Crescent City Classic here in New Orleans, without training! I am crazy, yes I know. I totally intended to walk considering I haven't run farther than 4 miles in 2008 but I made it all the way. Thanks to the best running pal, Caitlin, perfect weather, and my stubborn personality I made it all the way! 

                                             post race party

               also a new thing, meeting a celebrity: Jared from Subway

New Thing #13: Movie on the Small Screen

Tonight I watched a video on my Ipod. Lost of course, my newest TV obsession, and it was quite enjoyable. I have had my Ipod since Christmas but never used this feature. I will definitely be downloading videos again and I can see this feature being very valuable on long car trips.

New Thing #14: King of California

Being lazy finding something new I decided to watch a movie that I knew absolutely nothing about. King of California was boring and weird. After it was over I felt dumb or dumber for having watched it. That is what I get for not thinking of something more creative. 

New Thing #15: The Tipping Point

Today, and yes today, I read The Tipping Point. I had to read it all in one day because I lead a book group discussion on it for work. Leadership development, yada, yada, yada. It was an enjoyable read and thought provoking. I would recommend it as a beach or Spring Break read. Its the whole theory of how epidemics spread and what makes things stick. All in all pretty interesting. 

Today I also decided to boycott Blockbuster. More to come about that in New Thing #16.

New Thing #16: Hate Mail. 

Yes, I wrote my first letter of disgust and hatred to a commercial establishment. If I still have the letter I will post it online for you all to read. The movie rental company that is dead to me and will not longer be named accused me of stealing a movie, embarrassed and chastised me in front of other customers, and then required that I pay for a movie that I never had in my possession, let alone watched. I will now solely rely on Netflix, a company who actually values customer service. 

New Thing #17: Web 2.0

Today at work I hosted a seminar about new media and public health. It was very interesting and I learned that there are 120 million bloggers out there in America. Well, welcome blogger #120,000,001. I am posting this link on my facebook page tonight. Yes, I Lauren Futrell am joining the culture of bloggers. I have been blogging for a few weeks now, but I felt today was appropriate to launch my voice out there on the web for others to read.

Actually, another motive is so anyone who reads this will give me suggestions of new things to do each day. I mean come on people, I have 348 new things to think of! I have realized that this experiment of mine is about both radical and simple, mundane and ridiculous new things. It is also about just being more aware of things that I am doing and giving me that extra incentive to try something new. 

I promise I will add more pictures this weekend as I know as wordy as I am that this blog needs photos!

New Things #4-8

New Thing #4: Nerd's Jelly Beans. A new candy consisting of a hard and crunch nerds shell with a jelly bean center. All in all an easy new thing for a Friday and well liked by the Futrell household. What will they think of next?

New Thing #5: St. Patrick's Day New Orleans Style. Due to Holy Week, New Orleans decided to hold St. Patrick's festivities on Saturday. This consists of a parade of course, but not just any parade. I have experienced literally over a dozen Mardi Gras and I wasn't prepared for this. Men, old and young, drunk and sober, carrying around fake flowers that you must give them a kiss to receive. Also along with beads, riders throw vegetables. Yes, vegetables. Cabbages, carrots, potatoes, you name it. I was the proud recipient of a cabbage that I brought home to feed to our tortoise.

New Thing #6: Today I ventured with the fab four to Pensacola for my 1.5 day Spring Break. It was a delightful experience filled with 2.5 pounds of seafood, 4 hours in the sun, 0 minutes in the 40 degree water, and fun with friends. 

New Thing #7: I was waiting for a new thing to come, and I knew it would since we were in Pensacola, but I didn't know it would be so much fun. I think I am most excited about this new thing. My friend Caitlin introduced me to the world of a National Park Passport. You have a passport and at each national park/monument you visit you get a stamp. It is divided by regions and provides you with a listing of all locations in the American National Park Service. I am excited to begin filling up my passport! I already have 4 stamps from our adventure. We hiked along the Gulf Islands National Seashore. A 2/3 mile walk that turned into 2.3 or 23 if we didn't turn around. 

Fact for the day: Yellowstone was the worlds first national park that was created more than 125 years ago.

New Thing #8: In a rush at 10:00 to think of something new I decided that I would learn how to say "I love you" in 25 different languages. Here are the results:

German: "Ich liebe dich"; Creole: "Mi aime jou"; Hebrew: "Ani ohev et otha; Hungarian: "Szeretlek"; Italian: "Ti amo"; Japanese: "Aishiteru"; Chinese: "Wo ai ni"; Korean: "Sarag Heyo"; Norwegian: "Jeg Elsker Deg"; Portuguese: "Eu te amo"; Russian: "Ya tebya liubliu"; Tamil: "Naan unnai kathalikiraen"; Hindi: "Hum Tumhe Pyar Karte hae"; Greek: "S'agapo"; Farsi: "Doset daram"; Arabic "Ana behibak"; Dutch: "Ik hou van jou"; French:    "Je t'aime"; Georgian: "Mikvarhar"; Hawaiian: "Aloha wau ia oi"; Kannada: "Naa ninna preetisuve"; Lebanese: "Bahibak"; Romanian: "Te ubesk"; Swahili: "Ninapenda wewe"; Thai: "Phom rak khun"; Albanian: "Te dua".

It is true you can never say "I love you" or "Te amo" enough. I also learned that in several languages there are different ways of saying it to either a male or female. Now I have the song "Love in every language" stuck in my head :)

It will be a great 2008!

There is no rhyme or reason to this new mantra of 2008. Those who know me remember "Injury Free in 2003," well I thought about "Go on a date in 2008" but that just sounded sad. So I decided on trying one new thing each day. These things can be big or small, but just something new. I am excited to see what this year brings.

Welcome to my quarter life.

New Thing #1: Eelicious 

Today I tried eel, not just any eel, the special eel roll from Mikimoto. A small step for man, a giant step for sushi kind.

 eating cake batter not eel

New Thing #2: Now Boarding Oceanic Flight 815

I succumbed to the powers that be and finally watched the first episode of LOST. Guess what, I'm hooked. I was reluctant because I don't like things that are hopeless. Like Gilligan's Island, they are never getting off. Actually they did in that made for TV movie but that is besides the point. I now have something to spend my Spring Break doing.

New Thing #3: Slidell Rocks! 

I ventured across the lake and went rock climbing! I loved it. Some would say I am a natural, however I would disagree. I did enjoy it though and plan to go back.

3 days down, 362 to go :)