Move #1

Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

Almost there.....

We're there!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I said move #1- you will see why! I was hoping to post what we did from our last weekend in NY before I went to Memphis. Unfortunately I don't even remember what we did! That weekend seems like it was a month ago! I can't believe it has only been 2 weeks. It feels like the longest 2 weeks of my life. The past 2 weeks have been a series of highs, lows, stress, happiness, and complete mayhem. I figured moving would be a lot like a wedding, no matter how much you plan and organize something will go wrong. And there were! So our latest adventure began on Monday the 27th when I flew back to Memphis to pack up our stuff. Blake was coming Friday with the rental truck so I had 5 days to get everything packed. That is plenty of time, right?!? Ummm... I have a lot of stuff! Those that know me well know I have over 20 totes of Christmas decor alone. So you can imagine how much stuff had to be packed and boxed up. Thankfully I had a lot of help from family. My mom was a huge help and came over every day. Not to mention making the long trip and dealing with frustration and melt downs along the way. And just when I started to get burned out and tackling the kitchen felt like climbing Mt. Everest, my sister came over and helped me get back on track. My dad, the ultimate organizer, helped keep moving day organized as best as one can when you have more stuff than truck. Since his surgery, Blake is not supposed to lift anything heavy. Oddly suspicious timing if you ask me ;) To help with the added muscle, our friend Jason was nice enough to come over on moving day to help out. I meant to get pictures of the house with all the boxes but even if I had remembered I probably wouldn't have found the camera! The house was a wreck and I don't do well in unorganized, chaotic situations. The fact that the house looked like a cardboard castle city was only adding to my stress. Blake and I have always moved ourselves but since his surgery we had to hire movers. We had to estimate how long the job would take. Blake thought 2 hours would be plenty. They showed up at 2:30 and got started. 7 hours later they were done! Boy were we wrong! To their credit they had every inch of that 26' truck packed. You literally couldn't slide a piece of paper in that thing! It was like putting together a massive 3-D puzzle and they would find boxes to fit any gap. It was a good thing because even with 7 hours and a 26' truck we still couldn't fit everything. Yes, that’s right. We are going to have to go back and move again! Making this Move #1 with Move #2 in the works.
So it is 9:30 on Saturday, the truck is packed and there are random boxes and furniture around that didn't make the first cut. We hadn't eaten in hours; we were all dirty and sweaty, and trying to find something to eat at 9:30. We have dinner smelly, dirty, and exhausted. We have to be up by 7 am to start the 15 hour drive. The next morning we met up with our families at IHOP to spend time with everybody before we left and to say goodbye. It was great to see everybody and enjoy their company. The goodbye was bittersweet. We were so excited to get to our new house but sad to say goodbye to everyone. The drive was long because the truck couldn't go faster than 65 mph and 50 mph up hills. Blake drove the truck while I took turns riding with him and driving the solara with mom. Dad armed us with walkie talkies which made the trip more fun. The drive was long but uneventful until we hit a large storm. Naturally I was driving the behemoth truck at the time. It was so bad everyone slowed down to 30 mph and you could barely see 2 feet in front of you. It was very intense! Thankfully it passed and the rest of the drive went smooth. We couldn't get into the neighborhood because it is gated and we have to register during business hours. Had we driven straight through we would have arrived at 3 am and the beds were in the truck anyway. We spent the night in Lake City, about 2 hours from Clermont. Monday we made it to the house just an hour before the movers. Other than the workers being 3 days behind schedule on the floors, the move in went great. The movers were excellent and had it all done in 3 hours. After the movers left and the workers were done for the day, we got ready to get something to eat. As we walked out the door we heard a loud honking sound. It was our truck! The horn shorted out and wouldn't turn off. After a loud couple of minutes I finally figured out the only way to turn off the horn was to press the brake. How the horn and brake are connected I don't know but I am just glad it worked. I'm sure the neighbors love us already. I sat with my foot on the brake for 30 minutes while Blake called the Budget emergency number. Eventually it died on its own. Thankfully, because my foot was falling asleep.
I thought unpacking would be the fun part. However, the floor installers were creating extra stress all by themselves plus trying to work around them. Also we would open a box and have a part of something but the rest would be in Memphis. For instance, I have the glass tops to my tables but not the bases. So the house is coming together as well as it can given that we are missing a few key pieces. Unfortunately Blake only got to enjoy the house for a few days. As I am typing this, we are in Miami for work. Blake flies back to NY on Sunday and I will fly back on the 18th after my family comes for a visit. I am excited to get back to NY and finish seeing the sites on my list and enjoying the culture but hate to leave the house so soon. We won’t be back until October so it will be like moving into a new house all over again. Especially after move #2!

I know you are surprised I forgot to take pictures in Memphis. You are not off the hook! I did get pictures of the road trip and new house. But since I am in Miami and the the thing I use to get the picts on the computer is at home you at least get a day of rest! I will upload the photo album Sunday so be ready!!

I'm baaaaaack.......

2 hours before showtime and already packed!Did I mention I joined the cast of 30 Rock?Trinity ChurchBrooklyn Bridge with Manhattan in the background

No, I didn't disappear! I have been so busy getting ready for the move my blog has been neglected. I hope you guys have enjoyed the break but it is over now so prepare to be bored! Really I have just dreaded trying to weed through the pictures!

The first weekend (since my hiatus) we were looking forward to watching the New York Philharmonic's Concert in the Park. Blake and I were very excited and needed this! We both had one of those days were everything goes wrong. The soothing music of the Philharmonic was just what we needed. Also, they shoot fireworks at the end and I was so excited to see fireworks from Central Park! The concert started at 8:00 and Blake was working late so I decided I would go early and get a spot and he could meet me there after he left work. I took the dogs to the park and noticed a line of people walking in carrying blankets and baskets. People were already staking their spots 3 hours early! I took the dogs back, got some stuff together and headed to the park. 2 hours before the concert and the place was already packed! Poor Blake had a hard time finding me in the middle of thousands of people and the concert had already started by the time he got there. Just as we started to unwind from our stressful day, it starts to rain! So much for the end of monsoon season. We debated on whether to stay and wait it out or leave, just as we decide to pack up and go a huge bolt of lightning strikes and everyone starts getting up and running out. Remember there were easily a thousand people there! It was like the running of the bulls but without the threat of a large animal trying to kill you. So much for the fireworks :(

On Saturday, we decided to walk to Wall Street. As we got off the subway, we found a beautiful church that is at the end of Wall Street. The church is Trinity Church and has an old cemetery full of graves from the late 1700's. Alexander Hamilton is buried there. Being an architecture buff, you know I got a lot of pictures.
We also went to Rockefeller Center and toured the NBC studios. We were able to go into Brian William's studio, the studio were they film Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (which used to be Conan O'Brien's and originally where Johnny Carson first started) It is amazingly small! We also saw the set for Saturday Night Live, which I was most excited about. It was also very small, but larger than most sets in New York. We also saw masks made for conehead skits, Triumph the Insult dog, and a couple others SNL characters. I would love to show you pictures but they don't allow photography because it is copyrighted. I thought about warning them that if they are so worried about somebody seeing their stuff they might not want to broadcast it on TV. Blake talked me out of it. You know I wasn't a happy camper! So if you want to see what we saw, go watch NBC.
On Sunday we walked the Brooklyn Bridge. We went at sunset and saw amazing views of the city. Being an architecture buff.....oh you know.
Luck for you, it is late and I am tired and have a lot to do before Sunday! I am letting you guys off easy and only posting a few picts. Don't get used to it!

Baseball, Birds, and Bears!

No Wrigley Field....

... and no Memphis Zoo

After a being cooped up in a hospital for a week, Blake and I were anxious to get out and enjoy the weekend. The weather was good, the gallbladder was gone, what more could we ask for?! Considering Blake was still on painkillers and a little sore, we wanted to take it easy. We figured going to a baseball game would be alright because he could sit most of the time. Since we had already been to a Yankees game, we decided to try a Mets game. I am probably going to anger many Yankees fans and a few Braves fans with this post but keep in mind this is my humble, unbiased opinion. Remember I am a Cubs fan so don't hold this against me, if anything feel sorry for me! For those of you that don't keep up with baseball, both the Yankees and Mets got new stadiums this year. The Yankees paid 1.3 billion and the Mets paid 600 million. You would think you could tell a big difference in the stadiums given how much more the Yankees spent. Surprisingly, Blake and I liked Citi Field (Mets stadium) much better. I'm not sure why we enjoyed that game so much more. Remember we didn't have a dog in either fight. If anything, we would like the Mets less because they are in the same league as the Cubs. Not to mention the Summer of '69, no not the Bryan Adams song, but yet another superstitious incident holding the Cubs down. Damn that goat and his feline friends! Citi Field had a more energetic, baseball game feel than the Yankees game. We also preferred the layout and design of Citi Field better. It had more personality and seemed to flow better with less obstructions. Not to mention the large amount of food choices! They had everything from seafood, Mexican, to sushi, and lots more! But don't get too mad Yankees fans, Citi Field is no Wrigley Field! Maybe I am not so unbiased there but even Yankees fans have to admit Wrigley is a true treasure with all of it's history. The dog and the stadium! Braves fans: when you see the pictures you will understand why you wont be too happy (sorry Dad).
For those of you that I didn't offend and are still reading (thanks!) we went to Central Park Zoo on Sunday. The weather was good and since we haven't had much luck with that we decided to take advantage of an outdoor attraction. Now as you guys have figured out, I like pictures. And for those of you that know me, I love animals. So when you add me + camera + animals= you get lots of picts! But before you run away in fear, don't worry, I weeded out duplicates and bad shots. Also, the Central Park Zoo has about as many animals as a neighborhood pet store. Again I maybe a little biased but after working in the Memphis Zoo, I was a little disappointed in the Central Park Zoo. The had very few animals and the exhibits were not layed out well for large crowds. Plus some exhibits were not layed out well for visitors to see animals that were out on exhibit. For instance, the snow leopard's exhibit slopes up so unless it is down towards the front you have very little chance of seeing it. Many other exhibits were so crowded with three rows deep of people that we didn't even bother to wait to see the animal. Besides Blake kept asking "Do you really need to see it? Didn't you get bit by one at the Memphis Zoo?" You get bit a couple of times and you never live it down... I realize this is New York and square footage is at a premium, even for the animals. However, the center of the zoo has a large courtyard with only the sea lion exhibit. I will say their Tropic Zone has a better bird aviary than Memphis. The poor birds always get neglected for the large and furry animals when it is time for expansions. The landscaping was also very nice. It is nice to see so much green in the middle of a huge city. They did have red pandas and some other cool animals that we missed; they also had monkeys called snow monkeys, you know Blake didn't let that go.
I hope you enjoyed the post. After angering the Yankee fans, I'm not sure now is the best time to mention the comment section of the blog. Blake informed me today that many of you guys have been posting comments. I was happy and sad. I check all the time for comments but have only gotten 2, I was afraid I had bored everyone to the point they had quit reading. So I was happy that apparently that wasn't the case but I am bummed that for some reason I am not getting the comments. I think I am going to have to fire my tech support guy. So for you guys that sent comments, I hate I missed them but thank you so much! Maybe if I am lucky we will find the old comments. Hopefully we will figure out why we are not getting them and get it fixed.

Todays news comes to us from sunny Florida!

What is better than a beautiful new house?

A beautiful new view!

After a long week of bad news, I am happy to report some good news! Blake and I are now the proud owners of a house in beautiful, sunny Florida!! Yes, while living in a hospital for a week we were also closing on a house! While Blake was laying in the hospital bed I had to journey across NYC to find a FedEx Kinkos to print, sign and mail papers. Did I mention I also had to have them notarized? Something FedKinkos doesn't do. I asked the girl at the counter if they could notarize the papers for me and she responded "No, but they do." and pointed to an optometrist across the street. Ok! You can't get closer or stranger than that. I went across the street and got the papers notarized. I thought about asking him if he was also a dog walker in addition to an optometrist, and notary public. I could use someone to walk the dogs while Blake was in the hospital. After having the eye doctor notarize my papers and his assistant witness it, I went back across the street to mail them. Buying a house in Florida while you are in New York and your stuff is in Memphis has been quite an experience. I thought all the work would end once the papers were signed and it was official but now I have more work then I did before! I am making tons of calls and scheduling everything to get done while I am 1000 miles away. Planning the move has been like planning a three pronged attack. First we have to fly from New York to Memphis, then pack up all our stuff there, and then drive to Orlando. Three cities in three days! I imagine this won't be as much fun as the drive from Memphis to New York with the dogs. Instead of driving a mini van we will be driving a 24' foot truck and we won't have the dogs to entertain us. What will I take pictures of?
We are so excited about the house and can't wait to start enjoying it,however, we are also enjoying New York! We are so very fortunate to have the opportunity to enjoy New York during the best months to be here and go to warm, sunny Florida just as it starts getting too cold. Blake is looking forward to getting back to golf and I am looking forward to decorating a new house! There is a lot we want to do to the house and unfortunately for you that means I think we might have just extended this blogs life! Blame it on Blake, he suggested we show everyone the progress we are making on it through the blog.
Moving away from our family and friends will be tough and we are going to miss everybody but we always knew we wanted to leave Memphis. We are not real big fans of violent crime. So who is up for a trip to Disney World!

I bet you thought I wouldn't have pictures for this! HA! You are wrong!

A Weekend Full of Firsts! Unfortunately none of them good….

Sunrise was beautiful...

... as was sunset

As if sleeping in a noisy hospital isn't hard enough, construction started at 7 a.m sharp right outside of Blake's window

Our Adventures have taken us to a new place! Regrettably that place was Mt. Sinai Hospital. Blake experienced several firsts in the last 6 days. His first visit to the E.R., his first time being admitted to the hospital, and his first surgery. It was a very long, tiring experience but at least it is all over. Blake was discharged a few hours ago and has a little discomfort and soreness but otherwise just happy to be home! We arrived at the E.R. Wednesday night at 10 p.m. While we were in the E.R, we were betting what time it would be before we got to leave. Blake said 2 a.m, I said 5 a.m. I guess we should have bet on what day we would leave. We both assumed he would be given painkillers, scheduled for a surgery and sent home. That obviously is not what they had in mind. They admitted Blake and gave him more tests in 5 days than I had in 5 years of college. Yes, I said 5 and no I didn't study medicine, although after this week I wish I had. Blake didn't do a good job of scheduling his pain and would have to get sick the day before a 3 day weekend. Blake and I have been fortunate enough to not have to spend much time in hospitals and assumed they did surgeries 7 days a week. It is a hospital after all and they wouldn't make people sit there and suffer just because they were unlucky enough to get sick on a weekend or holiday, right? Not to mention the mounting medical bills incurred while sitting there for days waiting on banking hours to end so you can have surgery. We are going to have to stop assuming, you know what they say. The doctors never told us that because it was not an emergency the surgery wouldn't happen until Monday. Blake and I got impatient and frustrated wondering why they wouldn't just remove his gallbladder. They knew it was gallstones after all! We found out the hard way and now know to schedule pain only when it is not a government holiday or weekend. You learn something new every day. He is lucky I didn’t take it out myself with the plastic knife that came with his meal.
On the bright side Blake was on the 9th floor and had great views out of his room and the waiting areas on the east and west side of his floor. Sadly, he had to spend the 4th of July holiday in the hospital but I told him about the window in the west side waiting room and we were able to see the huge firework show over the Hudson River. It was actually very cool to see it from that angle because the skyscrapers were in the foreground and the fireworks would light the buildings up. Every morning the sunrise from his room was gorgeous and it was nice to enjoy if we had to suffer being awake at that time.
Blake and I want to thank everyone that called to check on us. Whether you spoke to me, Blake, my parents, or his parents; we appreciate everyone's concern. Thank you to Blakes mom and sister for sharing their medical expertise to help us understand what the heck was going on. And thank you to my parents for spreading the info to everyone else. And lastly thank you to anyone who had the misfortune to speak to me during the past 6 days and had to endure my venting. Just know because of you people did not have to watch a crazy woman holding a hospital hostage on CNN. However it would have been a nice break from the nonstop Michael Jackson coverage.

Yes, I even have an album for this. It will be up later today.

Picts, Picts, and Dear God! More Picts?

By now you have probably figured out a couple things about me. I procrastinate (my parents already knew this- bad high school flashbacks) and I like to take pictures (anyone who has vacationed with me already knew this- now your flashbacks)! I have finally got the last album added. For those of you that actually looked for it (first off- thanks!), it wasn't all procrastination! I had over 150 pictures and even though I like to look at them doesn't mean everyone else does. I learned that from the first album with 100 pictures of my dogs! I try to widdle them down to a decent number. If you have seen the album already you are probably thinking "that is a decent number?". If you haven't seen the album yet, well... you were just warned! If I had to keep widdling down the picts I would be here all week so I gave up and just posted what was left. Also, I figure if you are going to suffer through all my pictures I could at least make captions for them. If you enjoy looking at the pictures that is great and I appreciate it! If you actually have a life or if you are just not into suffering, I understand! If you haven't noticed yet, at the bottom of the screen there are controls to move the slide show along faster (thereby making the pain and suffering go a little faster) or slower (if you are a masochist) and you can pause it (when you are looking and the commercials just ended). You can also hit the arrows on each side of the row of picts at the bottom to just skim through all the picts, you may need a magnifying glass though!
Well, I wont make you read any more on this post because if a picture is worth a thousand words, you guys have a million more to go! Enjoy the picts and thanks again for taking the time to read/see all of our adventures! I have really enjoyed and appreciated all the positive comments and feedback. :)

A Fun Filled Weekend with Almost No Rain!

If it has to rain all the time at least we can enjoy the skies afterward!The view from the Empire Hotel Rooftop Party

I have started meeting people and making friends!

Look Maw, No hands! Taking pictures while on a roller coaster requires serious skill.

I think the reason I like New York so much is because there is always something to do! If you are bored in New York you have a serious problem. I started making a list of all the things I want to do or see while we are here. The list looks more like something from a ticker tape parade (ooh... that is something to add to the list! When is the next ticker tape parade?) than the original list of the obvious tourist sites. While looking on the internet for the days and times of the different attractions, I constantly come across other things to do or see. Did you know they have a numismatic museum here? I don't even know what a numismatic is but the museum sounds fun! When doing my tourist research I found out that the Cirque de Soleil show here was only going to be in town for one more day. Since it was on the list we made sure to get tickets. We got great seats right in the middle of the stage only a few rows from the front. Our seats were at the very end of the row and the seat next to Blake was empty. During the show when one of the main characters is running through the audience he sits in the empty seat next to Blake and tells him to hold him! It was funny and I wish I had been able to get a picture of it. Getting a picture of the Easter Bunny would be easier. Unfortunately cameras are completely prohibited, you can't even take pictures of the stage during intermission. The show was incredible and Blake and I were very impressed with the characters and their acts. It is completely amazing what these people can do!
Friday night there was yet another large storm but after it passed the skies were beautiful! It worked out well because we went to the Empire Hotel Rooftop Party. We had great views of the skyline complete with very interesting clouds (I read somewhere they were alto cumulus clouds) and a gorgeous sunset! We had a great time but unfortunately we had such a great time it took most of Saturday to quit fully enjoying it.
After spending Saturday recov...ummm... resting, we were ready to go enjoy the first non rainy day in a while! We decided to go to Six Flags to take advantage of the nice weather while we had it. Six Flags is in New Jersey and to get there we have to take the subway to the Port Authority Bus Terminal and then take an hour bus ride. Blake and I consider ourselves Theme Park connoisseurs as many times as we have been to Orlando. We ranked this Six Flags a couple of notches above Liberty Land and a few notches below Disney World. The park lacks the awesome settings and theming of Disney World as well as the great customer service. We were a little nervous by the fact that median age of the employees looked to be about 15. The park is definitely showing its age and is set in the middle of nowhere surrounded by forest. Apparently the forest animals come in at night and enjoy the rides because there was animal poop everywhere. If I could see a raccoon on Bizzaro roller coaster I wouldn't mind the poop so much. The rides however were very fun! They have a ton of roller coasters which are my favorite. The ride back took over two hours and we were completely exhausted but we had a great view of New York City from the bus. It was fun and got us excited about our move to Orlando.
Well it is almost 3 a.m. here. I procrastinated on this all day, which is so very out of character for me (hahaha!!). I still have a ton of picts to go through ( I try to weed out the bad ones for your sake! I know you are thinking "That's weeded out?!?). Considering I have to take the dogs out in 5 hours, I am calling it a night! But I will have the next Album up tomorrow. And I promise there are no picts of raccoon poop!

Warning: Reading this Blog may Cause Hunger Pains and Drooling!

I love to get P'inch'd.....

.....and S'mac'd!!!!!

Made in New York City?!?!

You know, with all the walking and stairs in my life now you would think I would be in great shape. Of course that might be the case if I wasn't enjoying all of the great restaurants here. There are so many places to eat here and so far everything has been delicious! Every block has at least 5 restaurants and they all have those cute outdoor areas on the sidewalk (I guess no one eats at home because cooking in a broom closet isn't real fun). Between the sidewalk cafes and the very, very different atmosphere I sometimes forget I am not in Europe. Of course some might argue that the south is its own foreign country and should require a passport for entry. I wanted to eat at the outdoor restaurants since we got here and have several times (when it manages to go an hour without rain). Now that we have done that I am ready to step it up a notch and try doing what the locals do, eat at a sidewalk cafe with your dog! Of course the locals don't have dogs with the odd (but cute) personality traits of our dogs. Of course Wrig being a rather sizable dog would be the most difficult. Most cafes have little stanchions that they put around their outdoor area and the customers tie their dogs to it. Now their dogs could be mistaken for rats, granted the rats here are large but still a bit smaller than Wrig. Their dogs lay on the ground and just wait patiently while their owners eat. The problem with Wrigley is he drools when he watches us eat. I can only imagine the looks that this would cause, not to mention, the loss of everyone's appetite. And instead of sitting patiently for us while tied to the stanchion, Wrig would try to run up to every person or dog that walks past. Considering he is 70lbs he would drag the stanchion down the block while Blake and I hide under our table. I can't blame it all on Wrigley, even though Milo is much smaller, he wouldn't work out either. God forbid someone sneezed while we were there! For those of you that don't know about Milo's little oddities, he really doesn't like it when people sneeze. If it even sounds like you are about to sneeze, Milo will run around in circles while barking. I can only imagine Milo running around a poor sneezing victim, tying up their ankles with his leash while barking hysterically. On second thought maybe I should just borrow someone elses dog.
A couple of the more notable places we have eaten are P'inch & S'mac and Brother Jimmy's Barbeque. The first time we ate P'inch was comical because when the delivery guy pulled the box out of his bag it just kept coming and coming (see above pict of P'inch pizza to see what I mean). We didn't realize the pizza was measured with a yard stick! We ate the 4 cheese macaroni from there also and it was the best macaroni I have ever had! Of course leave it to Blake to find a rib joint in New York!? Having been spoiled by Memphis (the best) bbq, we were reluctant to try bbq made in (gasp) New York City (I couldn't get that stupid commercial out of my head all night). The restaurant was well decorated to look like a southern bbq joint even if I did feel like my background was being made fun of (Wednesday is White Trash Night). The ribs were pretty good to not come out of Memphis. Blake thought it was the best food we have had since we have been here but I think he was just so happy to have ribs for the first time in over a month.
We also ate at ESPN Zone mainly because Blake can't pass one without going in. It is in Times Square so it is over priced and the menu is not as good as the one in Disney but it had great views!
Looking at all the food I have been eating, I'm thinking I should head to the gym! You guys have a great day. I'm going to eat, I mean, make my way to the gym! Ciao(pun intended)!

Did we make a wrong turn at Albuquerque? Is this Seattle or New York?

The subway stop for the Bronx Zoo. Sadly this is the closest we got to the Bronx Zoo Watching a movie about jets and aircraft carriers next to jets and on an aircraft carrier!

I wish I could say the reason why I haven't posted in a week is because I have been so busy doing fun stuff. Sadly it is the complete opposite. It has rained here all week long. The rain is getting tiring but at least it is not accompanied with gray, depressing skies like I am used to in Memphis. However, it still has kept me pent up in our apartment. As much as I want to play tourist, the idea of umbrella to umbrella combat is not very enticing.
Last Saturday Blake and I took the dogs to Central Park and it was such a beautiful day we decided to go to the Bronx Zoo. We got on the subway ready for a fun day at the zoo and I noticed people getting on the subway were wet and had umbrellas. Sure enough when the subway went above ground we saw the beautiful day from 10 minutes ago had turned into a cold rainy day! I know all of you guys in the heatwave they call the south are jealous! We were both wearing shorts and had no umbrella. The subway ride was adventurous enough (you go through Harlem) so we decided to go back home and try it again when it wasn't raining. Of course we didn't realize at that time we were in monsoon season in New York.
While we were at the park we learned something new about Wrigley, apparently Wrig has a serious fear of bagpipes! A guy in the park was about to start playing his bagpipes (in a full on kilt) so we stopped to listen. About 5 seconds after he started Wrig turned around and ran about 200 yards with his tail in between his legs plowing through people with Blake running behind him! The whole time he kept looking back to make sure the evil bagpipes were not chasing him! People all around were laughing hysterically at a 70lb dog running from bagpipes. When he finally stopped we had to pet him for 5 minutes before he would dislodge his tail from in between his legs! You don't know how bad I wish I had a video of that!!!
For those of you who think a guy playing bagpipes in a kilt sounds odd, let me tell you that really is not here. Matter of fact he was probably one of the more conservative "entertainers" you will find here. I'm not sure who all I should include in the "street entertainers" category because there are the occasional people who really just want to warn you of the dangers surrounding you! For instance, there was the guy in the subway yelling "Obama can't save you! Obama can't save you!" He never did inform us of what Obama can't save us from but at least I know not to call Obama when it happens! Another nice person warned us on the subway that meat is murder and we were all going to die. That was not all that informative since I already knew we were all going to die. If she could have pinpointed a date now that would have been informative! And of course there are the entertainers with all different kinds of instruments. I have to say playing while on a moving subway is impressive. So both types of entertainers are enjoyable in their own fun way.
We were able to squeeze in one day of fun without any rain! On Friday night Blake and I went to the USS Intrepid, which is a U.S. Naval Aircraft Carrier, to watch Top Gun. The Intrepid was decommissioned in 1982 and parked in the Hudson River and now serves as a museum. During the summer months they host a movie on the top of the carrier! It was real neat to watch a movie like Top Gun while sitting on a carrier. If you pretend the planes flying into Newark are jets you really feel like you are a part of the action!! Thankfully Tom Cruise wasn't there jumping on couches! I'm glad the rain held off for the night because it was beautiful to watch the sunset from there. It was just as beautiful when it got dark and all the buildings were lit up.
Hopefully the weather will clear up allowing me to explore the city more and in turn give me something to write about it. If not I am just going to have to put on scuba gear and go check out the sites. Sadly, I would probably fit right in with the “street entertainers”!

Life in Gotham City

(Holy Crap Batman! This city has a lot of nicknames!)

I'm thinking of doing a poll- What is more numerous in NYC: rats, people, or taxis?

Wrigley likes to laugh at the street performers in the park

Who doesn't eat their sushi from a bowl of fog?

A new day = A new challenge! It seems that with each day I learn something new or learn how to adapt to new experiences or challenges. My latest lesson was how to navigate the sea of umbrellas. The Big Apple was a bit soggy for a couple of days so we bought a couple of umbrellas. Us suburbians don’t walk in the rain to much as we spend most of the time in our cars. But here, even if you take the subway, you are going to have to walk at least one block. Walking down the street with an umbrella is not as easy as one would think. Here there are hundreds of people also walking with umbrellas on small cramped sidewalks. It is not as easy to bob and weave around people when they have a large canopy over their head and your large canopy is getting entangled with it! Also being of short stature, like I am, your umbrella risks gouging out the eyes of everyone you pass. I learned when passing people you have to hold your umbrella up really high so it will be above everyone else’s. Well, that is how it is supposed to work when you are not vertically challenged!

One of the things Blake was real excited to do in NYC was to go to a restaurant called Ninja. It is like a more sophisticated Disney restaurant. The restaurant is themed like a Japanese village, the waiters dress like ninjas, and meals have presentations to go with the theme. Some of the dishes were chocolate mousse with a bread bonsai tree, a chocolate cake shaped like a ninja star that appears from flames, and sushi over a bowl of fog. There is also an act at the end. Our waiter was very funny and the food was great. However, it is very pricey and one of those things you only do once for the experience. For 5 people our bill was $500. To quote our waiter "Ninja please!"

Being an Architecture and Design buff you will see a lot of pictures of random buildings in my “photo albums”. Anyone who has ever suffered through our photos from a trip knows I take a LOT of pictures. Most of the time it is of beautiful but random buildings (so just be warned when looking through our photo albums). This isn't so easy when following Blake down a street. When Blake "walks" it is the equivalent of a sprint for me and when he power walks I have to run to just stay on the same block. So many times I have stopped to take a picture of a building only to find he is 2 blocks down! To make matters worse he can look on google maps on his phone and know when the next train is coming. He is always saying "Come on, the next train arrives in 2 minutes! We can make it!" Problem is I cant run 10 blocks in 2 minutes! It is even worse when we are at home and about to leave. I am brushing my teeth, half dressed and I hear "The train will be there in 40 seconds! Come on, we can make it!" He has become one of those rushed New Yorkers while I have stayed true to may Southern slowness! That blackberry may end up becoming part of the tracks!

We haven't done much sightseeing as the weather hasn't been cooperating. Hopefully soon I can post about some of the cool New York things we have done. Thank you so much to everyone that has told me they are enjoying the blog! I didn't realize it wasn't set up to take comments but that has since been fixed by my technical support department (Blake) so feel free to comment now and thanks again for checking it out!

Life in the City that Never Sleeps

(could it be because of the noise?)

The "curtain" from Wicked

The house that Babe built

The house that Steinbrenner built

New Yorkers have all kinds of crazy fashions!

So within 48 hours of our moving in Wrigley had already gotten two complaints. Did I mention he has a slight bit of separation anxiety? We knew he whined when we left but thought he stopped as soon as we were gone. Apparently not. Our landlord gave us a call after the second complaint to tell us neighbors said it sounded like someone was being murdered in the apartment! We decided to get a bark control collar that will shock him whenever he barks. We felt so bad putting it on him but we were close to living in Central park instead of near Central Park! I told Blake I finally understood when my parents would say “This hurts me more than it hurts you” I always thought to myself “Are you kidding! I’m the one getting spanked!” Now, having to look at those puppy dog eyes and knowing you are about to get the shock of your life (literally), I understood.
Just as incessant as Wrigley’s whining is the honking of New Yorkers. I don’t think I will ever understand it. They will literally honk at a car in front of them that is trying to turn left but can’t because of oncoming traffic. Do they think it is a magical button to make people and other cars disappear? Many times I have thought about informing them that the car can’t go anywhere so honking is pointless but I am pretty sure their response will just be to honk at me. I think it is a form of language here.
Rats, raccoons, and bums! Oh my! The dogs are enjoying the park and the abundance of wildlife, mainly rodents, but wildlife nonetheless. They have already tried to chase a rat across the park, I think they thought it was a cat, and Wrigley almost got his face removed by a raccoon he tried to follow in the bushes.
Blake and I are starting to take in a few of the sights around town. We went to a Yankees game which was fun but didn’t hold the same excitement as a game at Wrigley Field. Maybe it had something to do with Blake not drinking 20 beers, hmm… We also saw the play Wicked at the Gershwin Theatre. I can’t begin to tell you how great it was! If it comes to a stage near you definitely go see it! I think I have bored everyone enough for one day! Thanks again for checking out our blog!