Last Time Till June

Another wonderful, though chilly, weekend in Mobile!
I flew into the Mobile airport around 9 on Thursday evening, and headed off to the Picard’s. It was, unfortunately, a very late night, ending around 5 in the morning after I finally finished a six page mid-term paper. Procrastination at its finest.
Luckily, Friday was a late morning. Reunited with my fabulous chaperone, Kathy Latta, we headed out to our first stop, a 10:00 visit with Crowe, Shields & Bailey, a local Mobile sponsor of the Junior Miss Program. Afterward, we enjoyed a wonderful lunch with David Turner, an AJM board member and his daughter, Maddie, as well as two of her friends. Just before lunch, we dropped into Mr. Turner’s wife’s 7th grade science class at UMS Wright. After a delicious lunch at True’s with Mr. Turner and the 3 girls, we headed to meet up with some of the Senior Bowl players at USA Women and Children’s Hospital.
The hospital visit is one I won’t soon forget. I got to go around to several of the rooms on the pediatric intensive care unit, meeting all sorts of awesome kids. But the visit to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is something I don’t think I’ll ever forget. I visited some of the premature babies, some of whom weren’t even as long as my forearm. It was really incredible, and I feel so privileged that I got to see something that breath-catching.
That evening, after a divine hair styling at Roots Salon, I attended the Induction Ceremony for the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame. I got to have a long conversation with the one and only TERRELL OWENS! He was one of the night’s inductees into the Hall of Fame. I also sat with the second inductee, Larry Johnson. After the ceremony, I went out to dinner with several of the Senior Bowl organizers and Larry Johnson himself. It was a night to remember, with pictures to boot!
The next morning, after another wonderful hair appointment with Roots (Linda and I are getting to know each other quite well), it was off to the Senior Bowl 2010! We got to the game around 2, and checked in on the 50-yard line. With 5 minutes to kick-off, I walked onto the field for the official coin toss. I stood only a few feet away from the legendary Tim Tebow.
The game was a little bit brutal for the South. The North team was relentless, and the final score was North 31, South 13. I have to say, even though there were 2 University of Kentucky players on the South team, I was rooting for the North. Good game. Very good game.
After the game, I stuck around for a few minutes for pictures with some of the players, including one of the UK players.
From there, the real adventure began. Mardi Gras season has begun in Mobile, and I was determined to go to at least one Mardi Gras parade before my time in Mobile comes to an end. Kathy and her husband Forrest dropped me off downtown after the game with my host family. We literally sprinted all through downtown Mobile and the throngs of the Mardi Gras crowd, finally convincing a police officer to let us cross the parade route and watch from a platform in front of a swanky downtown club. The parade was AWESOME! Mardi Gras in Mobile is crazy and fun and cold! We got tons stuffed animals and moonpies and beads and cups and even a cotton rose. The night ended incredibly well with hot tea and cheese fries to warm us up.
I’m now sitting in the Memphis airport, waiting for a connecting flight back up to the Windy City. It’s so strange to think that I won’t be back to Mobile until June. But who knows. There’s always spring break…