Here Carmen shows off the rainbow an artist painted on her face for Mardi Gras.

This year, Mardi Gras was also the day of the ELA TAKS test, so I wanted to celebrate that being finished for the year! We went to Pappadeaux, my favorite for the past 10 years. There was already a wait when we got there at about 5:15, but the weather was beautiful, so we sat outside on the patio and ordered appetizers.


An employee asked if she could take a polaroid to commemorate the occasion, which was great because I didn't bring a camera, but it's hard to imagine a picture much worse than this!