Agenda Items

Must do:
Go to the Manhattan Temple. This is a small temple so it is best to make an appointment. Lucky for us there was plenty of room so there was no problem. Were we on time? Of course not! Our family has a severe problem with punctuality. Lucky for us Barnes and Noble was across the street and you can kill hours in a book store. We only needed to kill one hour so off we went. We all found books that we liked, made our purchases, and settled Paige in with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book while we ventured back over to the temple. Don ate a hot dog with sauerkraut and got sick the night before so he wasn’t feeling very well. He managed to get through the session and all was well. We met back up with Paige and then headed off for our next agenda item which was shopping at Century 21. Don had had enough activity for one day so he headed back to the hotel. The rest of us rode the tracks to the Broadway and Nassau stop.
On our trip over we discovered a huge tear in my suitcase and while dressing to go out we discovered that Byron only owned sweatshirts and Paige would be much warmer if she had boots. We were on a quest for a suitcase, a coat, and boots! The date is December 23rd and the joint was packed! With the use of cell phones to find each other when we got separated we were able to find all of the items on our list plus a belt. A couple of long lines later we were out the door only to discover that the Nutcracker which we had tickets to would be starting in a half hour, so Byron went back to the hotel and we went to the Lincoln Center.
We have been to many different Nutcrackers and have found fault with all of them. New York had excellent ballet schools so certainly they must have the best Nutcracker in the US! The costuming was beautiful, the dancing superb, the children charming. But…where were the Russian dancers? They didn’t have Russian dancers! They didn’t even play the Russian music! Tchaikovsky was probably rolling over in his grave! Still, it was beautiful and we enjoyed it.

Baby It's Cold Outside

Monday, December 22, 2008 was forecasted to be cold and so it was a bitter 25 degrees cold! It’s hard to know what cold is until you experience it, but now when the lyrics it stings your nose and bites your toes is sung my mind understands it in a new, “I know what that feels like” way. Undaunted by the cold we made our way to the waters edge where the Body Exhibit was housed and spent a few hours in doors exploring the make up of the body. I think watching CSI has quashed my squeamishness because I was only fascinated, not creeped our. Okay, there was one that bothered me and that was the one which was cut horizontally and the spacing stretched the body out to be about 7 feet tall. It was disconcerting.

Next stop the Statue of Liberty. We didn’t feel the need to touch it, but Byron had never seen it even though he lived there for 2 years. A brisk walk for a photo op with the Brooklyn Bridge and we set off for Battery Park where we could view Lady Liberty across the water.

Did I mention it was cold? It was so cold we couldn’t make the trip in one leg so I diverted the family into a Hallmark store so I could make sure I still had fingers and toes since I couldn’t feel them. A search for a birthday card for Ellie and a wall heater thawed us out and we were on our way again.

Byron found Lady Liberty, the pictures were taken, and we were off again in search of a subway and China Town. We found a restaurant that was filled with locals, always a good sign, and settled in feeling a little conspicuous but happy to eat. I don’t remember the food, I think it was good, but the picture of Don at the end of our meal made the whole moment memorable. The things you learn on the internet!

We can’t seem to close out a day in New York without a play so we thought we’d try our luck on Billy Elliott. The tickets were sold out so you had to go stand in the cancellation line. We went early in the evening and landed the first place in line. The queue quickly filled to about 10 people and we felt lucky that we arrived when we did. The clock was counting down and still no word on ticket availability. We watched as hundreds of people filed past us snacking on the candy Don had picked up for us at the drug store. At last, five minutes to show time the call came. “Two tickets are available.” We had already decided that Paige and I would go if there were only 2 available so we scurried up and purchased two tickets on row G! We paused for a moment to see if Don and Byron would get tickets and voila! They had two more right next to ours! What are the odds? This time we stayed for the whole show!

Happy in the Bronx

Day three of our New York excursion was one of the highlights of our trip. We wanted to go to church in one of Byron’s mission areas so we chose the Bronx. We were running too late for breakfast so we rushed straight to Grand Central and caught the green line. We hurried into the church and enjoyed what we could of the meeting in Spanish. It’s always fun to try to pick out the words I know, and Don translated what he could understand. Dominican Spanish is a little different from the Spanish he learned. A group of youth sang the Army of Helaman Sisters in Zion medley accompanied by one of the Elders on the piano. It was somewhat on key so Byron said it was deemed “successful”. We took a taxi to a downtown café where we ate lunch and then went back for the end of a second Sacrament meeting. There we met Luz and her daughter Adriannellys. We went to their apartment after church and spent the rest of the afternoon with them. I loved being there. The apartment was clean and cozy and I loved catching a glimpse into another world. Paige and Adriannellys soon became fast friends and the room was filled with their chatter. Then Adriannellys mentioned her math class and Don latched onto the conversation with a few questions of his own. Before you could open your mouth to warn her to stop he had her solving math problems on paper. Byron jumped in to save her in the end, but it was all in the nature fun and education and neither is bad. As the afternoon lingered on Luz left the room and soon returned with a plate of cheese and crackers. Byron and Paige told Luz how they tried to make fried plantains while we were in Belize, but that they weren’t as good as the ones Luz had made for Byron. As the cheese and crackers dwindled Luz left the room again and soon emerged with a plate of fried plantains! She invited Paige and I into her incredibly small kitchen and showed us both how to make them. The secret is the smasher and the hands of the cook. We loved our afternoon! A short taxi ride to the train station and one of those magical rides on the subway and we were back at our hotel. Happy for the memories we got to keep.

Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide

You would hope after our bad start that all would go well for our happy group. It did and it didn’t. Here’s the tale. I didn’t schedule anything for Saturday so that everyone would have a say in the activities. Don heard about a train exhibit in the Citibank building so we decided to make that our first stop. The exhibit cost a quarter of a million dollars to set up every year which has been deemed too expensive so this is the last year they are going to set it up. That made the visit even more special. As you moved around the display the year depicted, location in the US, and seasons changed. The detail was exquisite and the settings were charming. We eagerly got out our camera to capture a few of the vignettes only to find out that the battery was dead. We enjoyed the tour just the same and are thankful for the internet that allows us to enjoy someone else’s photography.
Next on the must do in New York was shopping. After all, we were in the shopping Mecca of the world. Keep in mind; this is the last Saturday before Christmas. Every store was filled to capacity. Byron arrived without a neck scarf so that was top of the list. We found a classy burnt red and olive green checked scarf at a street vendor, but it was probably better suited for spring than winter so despite the purchase the quest was still on. The second scarf was long enough for two scarves, so if Byron’s date ever needs a scarf he can share his and use it as an excuse to get close to her; or if he doesn’t like her there is enough length for him to keep his distance. Having conquered the scarf quest we moved on to the next activity, ice skating at Rockefeller Plaza. I have looked forward to skating with Paige, but at the price of $29 for entrance and rentals I decided to take my usual spot with the spectators and enjoy what I have missed, Paige skating. We weren’t the only ones with a dream to skate. We found the entrance to the rink, but it was blocked with queue ropes which meant the line was long and needed channeling. Calling the line long was an understatement, it was gargantuan, forever, 'I don’t think so', long! Not to mention that the long lines also meant a crowded rink. This could wait for another day, not to mention that on the way in we spotted Anthropologie across the street! Oh happy day. Like vampires on the scent of blood, Paige and I were across the street and through the doors. All Anthropologie stores are decorated in the same way, but this one was special, it had three floors! We were in heaven, the girls were anyway, and we were going to take our time and look at every corner. The boys quickly got bored and went in search of a camera shop so they could buy a battery charger while we played. I don’t know how long we shopped, but we found some great stuff and would have gone back again if we had a rich uncle to pay the bills.
The boys made their purchase and went on in search of food that they could take back to the hotel. ESPN would provide plenty of entertainment for them while they warmed up. Paige and I were assigned to get tickets at Time Square for that evening. Fueled with the excitement of our finds we calculated our direction and started off to Time Square. No one was sure what street the tickets were on so we walked a little further that we should have, but no problem, we were in New York and that made us happy. Excitement and happiness did not provide warmth, and it wasn’t too long before our hands and feet were beginning to respond to the cold. Paige went on a quest for Starbucks hot chocolate while I queued for the tickets. I made and inquiry about the play Spring Awakenings which Paige wanted to see and the guy said to not go if you were easily offended. I don’t like close-mindedness so I ignored his advice and didn’t ask any more questions. When Paige returned I told her what he said, and we decided to ask him to clarify his comment, but we couldn’t find him. By now we were frozen and I think maybe our brains were frozen because we could no longer think clearly and despite our conscience telling us to not buy the tickets, we bought them.
Day two provided a blunder almost as big as missing a flight during the holiday season. We were so frozen that we ran into the first store we could find and pretended like we were shopping. It was a small boot shop so it didn’t take long for us to overstay our welcome, however my Anthropologie bag was tore and could no longer hold our stuff. Luck for us the store clerk was nice and the store was a boot store so she was able to give us a sturdy, big bag. The boys had our lunch and we thought we could make it home, but we only got to Toys R Us before we had to go inside again. We could have renamed the store sardines in a can. We went to the second floor because the higher you went the warmer it was. The store was a mess and there were people everywhere. I would have cried if I would have had to stand in line for a register. When we were warmed up we found the escalator and headed down. No one could have prepared me for the end of that ride! The end of the escalator and the exit door were not that far apart and people don’t normally move as quickly as escalators so when you got to the bottom you were crushed together, like sardines, only there was a person pushing everyone forward toward the door so that the line wouldn’t stop. I could almost feel the back of the stair behind me as it came down to be sucked under the frame. Gratefully the line moved just in time and I myself started pushing the people in front of me forward so that I wouldn’t be the cause of an elevator accident for the people behind me. Out the door and home as quickly as our feet would take us was the goal. If the sidewalk wasn’t icy and the coast was clear we would run. We were cold and hungry and ready to rest up for the evening. Anxiously pensive could describe my mood as we dressed to go to the play. We told the boys about my conversation with the man, but Paige had researched the play before we left and some of her friends had seen the play so we felt confident that it would be okay. At this point the monologue is feeling torturous so I will tell you two things. Number one, the girls in the seats behind us were talking about the play in excitement so I turned around and asked them about it. One girl said she loved it so much that she tattooed the lyrics to on of the songs on her side, then she raised her shirt and showed us! Number two, we left at intermission. End of story, and end of day. Oh dear.

A New York Minute

I suppose it you have a blog page you should post on it so I will start off the New Year with a post about the end of 2008. Paige and I have always wanted to go to New York for Christmas. Ice skating in Rockefeller Plaza, the Nutcracker at the Lincoln Center, snow lining the rooftops, trees, and walls, crisp cool air; it all sounds so quixotic. It WAS perfectly dreamy and more. I can’t imagine what the reality of living in New York is like, but I love visiting. It is so magical to me to go underground in one spot and emerge in another with so little effort, and there is so much to see that I never mind walking.
We started off the trip by missing our flight out of San Diego. I’m not sure how it happened because I looked at the clock at 4:50 am as I was putting on mascara and thought how perfectly on time we were. However we drove out of the garage at 5:36! Our flight left at 6:30 am, or so I thought. It really left at 6:18 am, our flight out of New York left at 6:30! The polite and sympathetic black man at the outside baggage check said, “Even if you were George W. Bush you wouldn’t make this flight.” We were all silent as we schlepped our bags inside to wait for our turn at the counter to find out if we would still be going to New York. At first she thought we could pay $75 each and take the flight connecting through San Francisco, but no, if we took that one we would have to pay $1090 per person. The look on our faces told her that was not an option so she presented us with our only option for getting to New York that day which was standby. No extra charge. With hope, a prayer, and silence we migrated our way through security to the United Airways desk to sign up for standby. Angels were with us and mercy was on our side. We not only got on, all three of us were sitting together.
Next stop Colorado where we were supposed to be meeting up with Byron. We had been texting back and forth so he was aware of our plight. When our plane landed in Colorado I turned on my phone to find a text from Byron. I responded and he responded back. I was so confused because he was supposed to be on a plane half way to New York. I still hadn’t quite connected the dots as we got off the plane and gasped in amazement when we saw him standing at our gate! His connecting flight was delayed because of bad weather in New York. We had caught up to our original flight! We went to the desk and put our names on the standby list for our original flight and waited for clearance from New York. At last it came but our names were not called for standby. We went to the desk to enquire thinking that we would be waiting for the next flight, but to our surprise the previous agent had ticketed us and left the tickets sitting on the counter. Paige and I were nearly skipping to the plane while thanking Don for not saying a single word about whose fault it was that we missed the flight, and for not yelling at us.
NEW YORK. I managed to get us rooms at the W Hotel near Grand Central Station. The rate was full price one night half price the next. Our previous experience in New York was very small rooms so we had braced ourselves for extra small quarters. Not so! The room was lovely and spacious and if you opened the window and looked left you could see the Chrysler building. Dinner that night was pizza at Grand Central Station and then we called it a day. A very long day, but we were there and all was well.