New York City...and a huge project

I know some of you may think that a lack of post about New York means that I was wandering the city with a cardboard sign saying, "Lost my friends. Please take me back to Pennsylvania." I WAS a bit worried while I was there that I would lose my friends...because I had NO IDEA where I was or how to get places. But I did make it back home safe and sound Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, I couldn't post because everyone else at my house was doing back-breaking labor.



Let's start from the beginning. I got all gussied up and went to one of my friend's houses...she was driving us all into the city. She lived in Manhattan for many years, so she is very comfortable driving there. If there was no traffic, the drive should take around 90 minutes. It took us 3 hours because it was Friday afternoon. Once there, we had a hard time finding parking near our hotel because of that water/steam line break...it was right around the corner from us. We dropped our bags off and hoofed it to the restaurant. It was so nice to have complete conversations with these girls. I learned so much about them...and never once was a story interrupted. Amazing! After dinner we hoofed it to the theatre (there was much hoofing around...thank heavens I decided to go with the less attractive/more comfy shoes). Wicked was very enjoyable. I read the book and found the middle part boring...this play kind of skipped all the boring parts. It was surprisingly funny. But it is probably my least favorite musical that I've ever seen. I am a sucker for male voices...and this is a primarily female musical. Still very good. Afterwards, we went to a bar overlooking Times Square and had drinks and chocolate cake. Went back to the hotel and slept.



At this point, I wasn't all that enamored with NYC. Not that I was expecting to be. I am NOT a city person, crowds make me grouchy (hence the 6 years of grump in SoCal). Friday night was full of honking cabs, pushy people, and nothing but concrete. I had a great time with my friends, but I was having a hard time mustering up enthusiasm for the Big Apple. Saturday we woke up early and went to Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and Central Park. Lots of walking. And I really enjoyed it. Not many people were out and there is such history and beauty in the city. St. Pat's actually moved me to tears. Really cool. It made me want to go back. I have to give credit to the 5 ladies showing me around. They were so excited to have a NYC newbie with them and were full on tour guides the whole time. They were ALL perfect traveling companions, and I could spend a week with them without getting irritated. That's pretty amazing considering there were 6 of us. Oh, wait. Maybe I was the annoying one. ;)

I came home EXHAUSTED, since dumb me went to bed at 2 am and woke up at 6 am. Hmmmm, not smart. But Jeff and his dad and his mom had been working on our new swing set, so I couldn't really complain. This thing is monstrous and complicated and just a general pain in the you-know-what. Jeff and Paul were hardly grumbling...at least not when I was around. The kids behaved well, although Andrew really liked to play with the screws and washers...which is not a good thing when you go to look for them and they've been thrown in the yard somewhere.

So I'm sneaking in this post while the in-laws are out shopping for a part that Sam's Club excluded from the set. Ugh. Poor things.

So that was our weekend. I'm ready to go exploring more of NYC...but not without my tour guides. And I will someday post pictures of our fantastic wooden wonderland...but I'll wait until it's finished so you can see it in all it's glory.