I am back! And I am GLAD to be back! BOY, I AM GLAD I DON'T LIVE IN NYC!!! Those people have no idea how much they miss by living there. Yes, they have lots of entertainment to go and do, but coming home to a high rise everyday on a dirty subway with crazy people, and everything that goes with that...you couldn't pay me enough to live there!But I did enjoy my trip.
The first day was very stressful. Saturday on the way home from Cambries, my cold symptoms were pretty much gone. That was the last day of my antibiotics, and by the time I got home, I decided they had done the job, so I could go ahead and go to NYC. But Sunday on the plane symptoms began to return...but I was on the plane, and I had nowhere else to go than to Malesa's. But I did NOT want to take an bug of any kind into the Brintons home with their new baby, so I was very concerned. I had a kind of scarf I could wear over my face at the Brintons, but I knew that it wasn't a guarantee that I wouldn't give them anything. That night while we were visiting, I felt a cough coming, so I hurried into the kitchen to get away from them so they couldn't get any germs on them. Much to everyones surprise (especially mine) what came out didn't sound at all like a cold getting over...but a cough that is in the midst of a very active cold. I was so rattled to be there with their new baby. The rest of the night, anything I had to touch, I used an antiseptic wipe, to wipe down. But I had a really hard time sleeping that night because I was so nervous about giving the Brinton baby a bug. I WANTED to get out of there. Luckily, their was a visitors apt for family of the dental students to rent. So I got in that. It was a real relic! OLD. Lots of problems. About the only thing that worked in their was the lights, and the bed was terrible, but I was so thankful to have it as an option of getting out of the Brintons way! They were very sweet and gracious about it, and were so sorry I needed to leave, but I am sure that they were as relieved as I was to not be sharing space with their new baby.
My good friend, Linda Seamons, last year was going to NYC with her family. They bought tickets that cost $100.00 each to go see the musical, "Wicked" on Broadway. Her son, bought 5 extra tickets and sold them on EBAY for $500.00 (Thanksgiving weekend). Well, once a week on Wed. they have a raffle to buy tickets for $26.00 for wicked. People come and put their name in a raffle cage, and they pull 14 names out, each that can buy 2 tickets. So we did that. Out of the crowd that was there to see if their names were pulled, Anne was one of them! And so we got to see Wicked on the front row, very center of the stage. Online those tickets sell for $473.00, and we got them for $26.00!!! The play was FABULOUS! I would never buy those tickets for more than $100.00, because I just don't do that sort of thing, but seeing that play was definitly the highlight of the trip!
Or maybe it was the "Naked Cowboy" which I also saw! It was amazing. This guy has actually been named as one of the 20 top things to see in NYC, and he was strolling along by my bus, and we saw him! The really amazing thing about it was that it was REALLY cold that day. it was 19 degrees with a stiff wind, the kind that blows your umbrella inside out. I had on 2 pair of thermal underwear, my pants, and a wind-breaker pant over the top of that, and my boots. On the top, I also had on 5 layers, and I had 2 pair of gloves on, and had to buy a hat cause it was so blooming cold! Anne stopped at MACY'S dept store and bought 2 pair of PJ bottoms to go under her pants cause she was freezing, and she also bought another pair of mittens so she could get warmer, and there he was, the naked cowboy, in nothing but his boots, underwear, guitar and hat, stolling along as if he was at the beach on a beautiful summer day, stumming on his guitar and singing a song. He went to cross the road, and someone honked at him, so he stopped in front of them and played them a song. I was told that he makes a lot of money doing that, and because he was listed in some magazine as one of the top 20 attractions of NYC without his permission, he is sueing and he will likely get rich off that lawsuit! So, hey, if any of y'all are unsure of your career, you could consider doing that!
We saw most of what NYC is famous for: The Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Empire State building, Rockefeller Center, Time square, the hole where the World trade Center used to be, and St Pauls Cathedral, where the rescuers and then recovery teams would go to rest between their shifts (it has still got kind of a memorial set up there to those lost and those who tried to find them). We went to the Natural HIstory museum, Central park, the Metropolitan Museum of art (which has alot more than just pictures on the wall! A must see if you go to NYC!) and a whole lot of other stuff.
I wondered how it would be to travel with Anne. It was GREAT. When I do go somewhere like that with Kim, he doesn't want to go and see the stuff, so if I can get him to, he's done and wants to go back to his room on the ship after about 4-5 hours max. And then the next day, he doesn't want to go out at all. Ann and I hit the subways about 9 am and didn't come back till 7:30-8:30 pm every day we were there. So I got to see a whole lot more than I would have with my sweetheart! And we had so much fun yakking at each other that 2 times we missed our subway stops! It was a great time. I think I will be doing more of that in the future, but I doubt I will ever go back to NYC. Once was enough for me.
Malesa's baby is very cute! And such an easy baby. She really didn't need Anne's help, so that is why we were able to do such long days. I was TIRED at the end of each day! Anne and I have about the same tastes in what we want to do and how long we would like to do it, so that worked out really nicely too. Philip and Malesa were both SO VERY GRACIOUS! What a great couple! They actually THANKED me for coming (in spite of the scare I brought them), and Ann said that not a day went by that both of them didn't express their heartfelt appreciation for her coming to help them and "they couldn't possibly have done this without her". And of course, Ann just LOVED being there, as they made her feel so valued and welcome! 2 nights before I left, Phillip got about 3 hours sleep as he was studying for a big test he had to take on Friday, but at 4 am the next night, he got up to help get Ann and I's luggage to the foyer to meet the cab! He is such a sweetheart! I was very impressed, and I felt he went way beyond the call of duty for us! Malesa deserves such a great guy as Philip!
Well, that is probably way more information than you even wanted, so I will be done. I will have my sweetheart (who I missed very much this last month) put my pictures on the blog. I ran out of batteries in the Metro. museum of art, so I didn't get some great stuff there. And the museum didn't sell batteries, so that was a bummer. But I hope I got some good stuff.
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