A Walk on the High Line

This morning it was raining, so Richard and I skipped our morning walk and did laundry. After breakfast, we rode the subway to Brooklyn so I could find the building where I will be in training all this week. It was easy to find and did not require changing trains at all, thank goodness. After riding there and back, it was around 10:50am. We went to Gotham West Market and had an early lunch. We went to Genuine Roadside and I was just in time to still be able to order breakfast, so I got their breakfast burrito, which was amazing! It had scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, chorizo chile, and salsa verde. Mmmmm... We went back to our apartment so Richard coud do some work, and I put together some outfits for the upcoming week. The weather cleared around 3pm, so we decided to walk the High Line. One of the teachers at my new school asked if I had been there, saying that its origin is near my apartment, so Richard and I looked for it yesterday, but didn't go very far on it because we had clothes in the community washing machine at the time. Today, we had already done our chores so we had plenty of time to give it a try. Just a few blocks down the river walk is one of the ends of the High Line.

This isn't my photo, btw, but I wanted you to have an idea of what it is. Here is the description from their website. "The High Line is a public park built on a historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan's West Side. It runs from Gansevoot Street in the Meatpacking District to West 34th Street, between 10th and 12th Avenues." I would not have thought that many visitors would find such a place, but I was wrong! The walkway was packed! There are areas where you can stop and sit in the grass or stand behind a glass wall and look down at the city traffic below. It's unique and definitely a place that I will take out-of-town guests. I was still dressed in jeans and a long sleeved shirt since it had been cool in the morning. Not long after getting onto the walkway, I was hot! We saw people with light green popsicles and got excited that we might be able to find a cold treat. There were several different vendors along the way, and we ended up getting ice cream sandwiches. Richard bought 4 -- the 2 for us and 2 to "pay it forward." After a while, I got tired of being stuck behind strollers and aimless wanderers, going at a much slower pace than I wanted to walk, so we looked for a stairway to street level. As soon as we hit the street, there was an art show inside a big, open gallery. Of course I had to wander in. This is just the type of place I imagined finding in NYC. Here are a couple of pictures I took there.

 Richard got the crazy idea that we should have an early dinner in Little Italy since we were already out so we continued to walk for quite a while. We passed many interesting people wearing bright colors and carrying rainbow flags. The further we walked, the thicker the pedestrian traffic got. I could see a huge crowd ahead, and heard a lot of cheering. Apparently we were now in the midst of the NYC Pride Parade. There was no way around it or through it. We hopped in a taxi, thinking we might have better luck.There were so many streets blocked off and so much traffic that it was impossible to go in the direction we wanted to go, so the cab driver suggested that we set out sights on restaurant row, instead. He recommended Lattanzi, so we looked at their online menu and reviews from the backseat of the cab and decided it would be a good place to go for dinner. We were dropped off at the front door of the restaurant. It was not quite 5pm, so we were the first diners there. I'm sure they are used to much better dressed patrons, but they let us in anyway. We laughed about our unexpected activity and ordered a glass of wine and classic Italian food. Dinner was great! We walked home from there. My Fitbit says I've walked 14,088 steps today. Another great end to another great day in the city!

Ravioli Con Funghi Porcini

  

The Job Hunt

I knew we were going to be moving to New York as early as April, so I updated my resume on teachers-teachers.com and monster.com. I applied to any teaching jobs in any of the NY boroughs. Additionally, I sent unsolicited emails to all the private schools I could find through internet searches. I got a little feedback while I was still in Charlotte, including several telephone "screening" interviews. I even conducted a Skype interview with one of the private schools. That school was so elite that their teachers graduated from schools like Vassar, Harvard, Yale, Duke, Dartmouth, etc. I never heard back from them, even though I sent several emails. My principal even called them after my interview so she could put in a good word for me, but no one had the courtesy to return her call.

My approach to interviewing was to be myself and let the words fly. Since I felt that the poor quality of my responses probably kept me from getting the private school job, I bought a book called Ace Your Teacher Interview:149 Fantastic Answers to Tough Interview Questions. I spent my evenings studying this book, thinking through the questions and carefully crafting intelligent answers. By the time I had my next phone interview, I had gotten through the first 85 questions in the book. I had my notebook of intelligent responses handy, with color-coded mini Post-It notes flagging the pages with the questions that I would most likely be asked. I was prepared!! Not! This guy asked some really off the wall questions, not one of which was I prepared for! I finished out the school year at MID while continuing to pack and take things to Goodwill each day. There wasn't much time for reading the book or answering the questions. Besides, I don't know how much it actually helped, other than getting me to deeply reflect on my teaching, my philosophy, and how I do lesson planning.

I hit the ground running after moving here. Besides looking for jobs in my usual places, I decided to look at the New York Times. I found that the newspaper uses Indeed.com, so I promptly updated my resume on that site, and applied to many jobs listed there. I don't know if my luck in finding a job had to do with the timing of my arrival or the change in job sites. Schools in New York were either ending the week I arrived, or the week after. Regardless, I received many calls and emails each day, often conducting two, 30-minute telephone interviews a day. I received an interesting email inquiry. The New American Academy had received my resume and wanted me to come in for a face-to-face interview. This same school had contacted me while I was still in Charlotte, asking me to come in the next day for an interview. I thanked them, but said that I was still under contract and was not in New York yet. They said they would try to find another time, but I didn't really expect to hear from them again. Wow! I thought I had lost out on an opportunity, but here was my chance! They requested an all day interview, asking me to arrive at 7:30am, ready to begin promptly at 7:45am. The day was to begin with individual and group exercises, a demo lesson, a panel interview, and time for observation in the classrooms. They also gave me homework! I was to begin thinking about how I would plan a 6-week engineering unit for 2nd grade as preparation for the group exercise. I was also to read the doctoral dissertation of the school's founder in order to understand the school's philosophy. Additionally, I was to plan a 45 minute kindergarten lesson, that I would teach to one of the kindergarten classes while being observed. I had only allowed myself to bring 1 small packing box of my teaching things during the move, since there's no storage in our apartment, so I had to use what was on hand. I had a copy of the book Stellaluna, so started to base my lesson on comparing and contrasting bats and birds. I sought help from my wonderful principal, Mrs. Keane. She gave great suggestions and even proofread the entire lesson.

I spent 2 days preparing for the interview. I bought a printer, poster board, and markers from Staples. I rehearsed my lesson, alone in my empty apartment, in order to see how long it was going to take. I crafted some intelligent questions to ask at the end of the interview, and carefully read the dissertation and the school's website. I was ready, although nervous! At 9:30 the night before the interview, I received an email saying that "the other candidate" had an emergency situation and had to cancel, so it would just be me. This would greatly change the "group planning" part of the interview, so they moved back the start time to 9:30am. I still hadn't taken the subway by myself at this point, so Richard suggested taking a cab. According to Google Maps, it would take 20 minutes to get there by cab. I hailed my first taxi outside of my apartment 40 minutes before I needed to be there because my motto is "better too early than too late." By 9:28, I was getting anxious and called the school to let them know that I was in transit but had no way of knowing how close I was to the school. I ended up being almost 10 minutes late, but there was so much going on that I don't think it was a big deal. The 5th graders were graduating on this day, and there were a lot of parents in front of the school buying helium balloons in school colors. I wandered inside, wearing Richard's padded briefcase, which was filled with all the materials for my demo lesson. I'm sure I stood out, because a woman (who I later learned is the principal) asked if I was here for the interview and led me to another woman who introduced herself and led me down the hall. The school shares the building with another school, so the two school leaders coordinate times for use of common areas such as the cafeteria, gym, and playground. The building seems nice. The classrooms are HUGE, with big windows, their own bathrooms and water fountains, and even an upstairs area. I learned that there are about 60 students per classroom (all the same grade level) and 5 teachers. They all share the same room, with different areas carved out for whole group instruction, small group instruction, and independent work. This was Tuesday, and the students would be getting out of school on Friday, so I expected it to be loud, but instead it was very calm and quiet. I mentioned this to the teacher who was my tour guide and she told me that the staff had spent a LOT of time getting students to the point of remaining quiet in the building. I guess they'd have to be, because in the open classroom there would be other teachers working on lessons AND because they share the building with another school. The kindergartners were at recess when I arrived so I was able to set up my lesson materials and relax for about 15 minutes. I would be observed by 2 kindergarten teachers, who had clipboards and observation checklists handy. The students came in from recess tired and thirsty. I loved that there is a water fountain in the room! The downside, that I also noticed, is lack of air conditioning! To be realistic, I know it's not hot for very much of the school year. In fact, just last week it was in the upper 70's and lower 80's, so one week of heat at the end of the year is bearable. I introduced myself to the students, then started my lesson by asking the students if they knew what animal was on the book cover. Most of them knew, and some had a lot of background knowledge about bats. One little girl stood up facing her classmates, cleared her throat, and told the others about echolocation! I think the lesson went well. I finished in 35 minutes, so I used the extension activity that I had planned, and sent students to their tables to color a bat mini book while I went around assembling it for them. After I had assembled books for half of the students, one of the teachers asked if we could debrief in another room while another teacher finished assembling the books. She asked how I thought the lesson went and what I would have done differently. I said that I would have chosen a shorter book, but explained that I had added some movement activities to make up for the students having to listen for so long. She told me she thought I had done a great job, and said that she would share her findings with the other teacher. I was then taken to what seemed like a lounge/meeting room that was full of boxes. I was handed a student writing sample and running record and was asked to comment about it and to make suggestions for helping the student move forward. This was a little tricky. I felt like I could comment about issues the student was having, but suggesting next steps for teaching was difficult with such a small sample. Next was lunch with the staff. They ordered a pizza for me and the other teachers brought their lunch in order to meet me and ask me questions. Also during this time, I had the opportunity to share my ideas for the 6-week engineering lesson. They seemed to love my ideas. Everyone was very nice and I think I will fit in well. The principal told me that they would make a decision in the next 2 days, because training would begin the following Monday. I let Mrs. Keane know that if they liked me, she would probably receive a call, asking about my qualifications and experience. She agreed to let me know if she heard from them. The next day, I received an email from the principal at The New American Academy, asking me to call right away. She made me an offer! I will be teaching kindergarten beginning in the Fall! My 5 weeks of training includes 1 week at Harvard University! This is going to be such a fabulous experience for professional growth.

Father's Day Weekend

I didn't blog over the weekend so I could have some fun. On Saturday, Richard and I went to Bed Bath and Beyond on the Broadway and 65th Street to buy more things to make our apartment comfortable. The main item on the list was a waffle mattress topper. It's pretty awful when you can feel the springs in the sleeper sofa poking your ribs while you're trying to sleep! We also went to Staples to buy a printer. I had an upcoming, all-day interview that required me to print multiple copies of lesson plans and I just knew it was going to be a headache to find a place to have things printed. We had planned to get a new printer upon our arrival anyway, since we gave our old one to Alli. I wanted some Mexican food for dinner, so we went to a place I had found online called Chevys. It was really good Tex Mex, which is much more flavorful than standard Mexican food. It was very much like what I grew up eating in Texas--El Fenix! When my mom and I came to New York together many years ago, she flew in from New Mexico and I flew from Montana, I read in the Delta Airlines magazine that the son of the owner of the original El Fenix restaurant in Fort Worth, TX had opened an El Fenix in Manhattan. One of the first nights that mom and I were here, we went there, just to get that familiar taste. As soon as I moved here last week, I searched online and can't find it. It must not have survived. After dinner, we went across the street to Madame Tussauds. I haven't been to a wax museum in years, but the one I remembered had the figures behind ropes so that visitors couldn't get close to them. This was entirely different. You walk into a room of very still "people" at a dinner party that look very familiar. I wouldn't say that all of them looked exactly like the celebrities they represented, but they were pretty close. It was fun posing with the wax figures.

Lighten up, Johnny!

I'm cracking myself up!

Sunday was Father's Day. What Richard really wanted to do was to ride this insane speed boat called The Beast. We can see it from our apartment, coming and going on a frequent basis. It makes very fast trips to Liberty Island and back all day long. The passengers never leave the boat. We just went to a spot on the Hudson that was close to Liberty Island, took photos with Lady Liberty in the background, then sped back. The driver did something really radical at one point on the way back--he turned the boat very sharply and rapidly in one direction, and then the other direction. The second time we turned, everyone got soaked! I don't know how much the women on board appreciated it, but it was fun.

One World Trade Center

Honking Horns

I pulled out my Fitbit, the one I haven't worn since February, according to the app. I charged it and will be wearing to to log how many steps I take each day. I was surprised that I only made it to 7,775 steps yesterday, considering that I walked to the grocery store twice (one can only carry so much) and that we walked to dinner. With all the fabulous food options here, I'm gonna have to "step it up a notch." I love walking and it was always my number one source of exercise in Montana and North Carolina, but in those places I didn't have to deal with all the honking. I swear someone honks about every second here! I have a very sensitive startle response-- always have. I even flinch when Richard touches me and I'm not expecting it, so I don't think it's due to being scared of the city. I actually love my neighborhood. The only thing I truly need to be afraid of is being hit by a car or bus. There's an intersection a block away where several people have been killed recently. It's not always the drivers' fault -- sometimes it's the pedestrians not following the crosswalk signs. Richard warned me about this intersection. There's a separate light for cars to turn left, and pedestrians think, oh well, the crosswalk sign is about to change, so I'll just start walking now. DON'T! I waited until I had the white walk sign and still narrowly escaped being hit by a speeding bus that was running his red turn arrow. In the evenings there's a police officer directing traffic. No one pays attention to him, but he's there muttering what I assume are obscenities as he stands in the middle of the insanely busy intersection, people breaking every traffic law possible and him being unable to do a thing about it.

Richard and I walked back to the area where we had eaten the night before because there was a sign on the side of the building advertising Gotham West Market. The sign said it had 9 different restaurants under one roof. We actually had to backtrack towards home to get to Gotham West Market -- it was closer to home than we realized. What a cool place! We had a hard time deciding what to eat, but settled on a place called Indie Fresh. They had lots of healthy options. I got turkey meatballs and Richard got milk and cereal (because he said he was saving calories for dessert). That's the way we do things. You can't forget about the good stuff! I was watching Ellen DeGeneres the other day and she was interviewing Channing Tatum. He made a comment that really resonated with me. He was talking about all the dieting and exercise that went into getting in shape for Magic Mike 2. He said that dieting takes the color out of life. I agree, and I like color a lot so you won't see me eliminating unhealthy foods altogether--splitting dessert with my honey works for me. After our healthy food, we went to Ample Hills Creamery for the unhealthy stuff. When the guy behind the counter heard that we had never been there, he gave us each a sample. Mine was Salted Crack Caramel. Holy cow it was good! They give you 2 scoops in a cup, so Richard and I split Salted Crack Caramel and Praline (it had a fancier name, but I can't remember it). This morning we went for donuts. Richard had searched on his GPS for a donut shop, not the typical Dunkin, but something special. The search indicated one near his bus stop on his morning commute, so he paid closer attention and discovered that it is in the car wash that he stands next to as he waits for the bus. The place is called Under West Donuts. They don't open until 6:30, but we arrived at 6:15. The man and woman working inside the tiny shop invited us in and chatted us up as they were getting last minute things done so they could open. The donuts are amazing and the people are so sweet! The guy moved here a few months ago from Key West. The woman didn't say where she was from so I assume she's a local. She warmly welcomed us to Hell's Kitchen and wrote down the names of 6 of her favorite restaurants in the neighborhood, giving details about the owners and their menus. She also told us that Jerry Seinfeld (on his bicycle) and Meryl Streep had been in there for donuts. How cool is that?! Once again, another friendly New Yorker and more places to explore!

My First Celebrity Sighting Here

Richard and I shared some fabulous blueberry pancakes for breakfast at a nearby diner before he went off to work. The restaurant was virtually empty, just one other customer besides us. The owner or manager was speaking another language, possibly Russian, to a cab driver who hung around for quite a while. I felt like were were unwittingly in a mafia hang out, but halfway through our meal they switched to English (as if they sensed my concern) and I heard the cab driver telling the owner or manager about a TV game show. He seemed to tell the same story over and over again, as if he was fascinated about the possibility of a person winning a car on the game show. It was odd.

I reluctantly (because my legs are so white) put on shorts to go for a walk along the path beside the Hudson River. I walked to Chelsea Piers, which is 1.2 miles from our apartment. It is a 28-acre sports and entertainment complex, with a golf club, fitness center, and even an ice rink! I'm so glad I brought my ice skates and Alli, a former figure skater, will be super happy! Shortly after getting onto the path, I had to cross the area where people were getting off of a boat that must come from another borough. They didn't look like tourists, but like people were on their way to work. The mass of people came out through glass doors and rushed onto waiting buses. I did my best to weave my way through the crowd and was relieved when I got past that area. There are trees, grass, and flowering bushes along the path. I saw a few homeless people sleeping on benches, but they weren't antagonistic or trying to get any attention at all. Parallel to the walking path, there's a bike path. There were many more bicyclists than walkers, including men and women in business clothes. People talk about how dirty the city is, and I agree that the subway tunnels are filthy, but I find the streets pretty clean. I only saw one discarded coffee cup on the path and when I'm walking around my neighborhood in the early morning hours, there are always shop keepers hosing down the area in front of their shops.

When Richard got off work, he came home to change clothes, then we went in search of a new place to have dinner. We walked for a few blocks, and when we walked past one particular restaurant with al fresco dining, we first smelled a pleasant aroma, like steak on a grill, and then saw appealing food on people's plates, so we stopped there. The place is called 44 & X and it serves classic American cuisine. There was great people watching from our table. There were two nicely dressed women at the table next to us. I picked up only a few key words from their conversation (year-round schedule and conference) and decided they must be teachers, so I made a point to see what they were wearing. I'm stressing out about not wanting to look like a tourist, but to instead look like a real New Yorker. Alli made me give away 3/4 of my wardrobe before moving here because it was all too "Mom-ish." One of the women was wearing a nice summer dress with sandals and the other was wearing white slacks, a 3/4 length blouse and heels. I've noticed that most of the women I see on the streets are wearing flats, even with dresses and business attire. I have not seen many heels. They either don't wear them, or they change into them once they arrive at the office. As we were finishing our meal, I glanced up and noticed a familiar face walking toward the front door of the restaurant, which was over Richard's shoulder. It was Will Ferrell!! He was wearing a bright red tee shirt under a sports coat. He and his wife entered the restaurant, then were seated at a table right behind Richard. We were outside, and Will and his wife were inside, so there was glass between us. They must have known the waiter because he hugged both Will and his wife and he stayed and talked with them for 15 minutes. No other diners bothered Will. I was dying to have my picture taken with him, but I didn't think it was appropriate. He's the first celebrity I've seen since being in New York, but not my first celebrity sighting. When we lived in Big Timber, Montana, I saw two celebrities: Meg Ryan and Michael Keaton. The Paradise Valley is a popular place for celebrities to have homes. Ted Turner owns and house and lots of land up there, as well as Dennis Quaid (Meg was married to him at the time), Whoopie Goldberg, Brooke Shields and many others. When I worked at Cinnabar Creek, a gift shop with a coffee bar in Big Timber, I made a latte for Michael Keaton. It was a plain latte with one Splenda, which is what I've been drinking ever since. It was difficult to play it cool but I think it would be scary to have some crazed fan in your face, so I didn't/won't go there. I tried not to watch what Will was doing, so I did quick glances and tried to keep my cell phone out of sight. When I saw Meg Ryan, I was sitting in the passenger seat of Richard's Suburban in front of what used to be Cole Drug in Big Timber, waiting for a family member to get something from the store. Meg walked out of the drug store and stood right in front of the Suburban, talking on her cell phone. I was on my cell phone, too, telling someone about seeing her. She kept looking at me, with a look that said,"don't you dare tell anyone you see me" so I tried not to look up too often. That incident is what made me reluctant to bother Will Ferrell. Seeing him was the highlight of my night--picture or no picture!

Goal: don't get lost!

Yesterday it was overcast and rainy. I didn't go out much, except to get food. Right now we have only paper bowls, plastic cutlery, and no food. There is a Brita water pitcher in the refrigerator,but that's it! Alli won't be surprised to read this. She would say that was the norm for the past year. I used to love to cook, but lately I've found other things to occupy my time. Recently, it's been searching for and applying for jobs. Anyway, for breakfast, I walked to the end of the block to get a danish and coffee at the natural market. It's amazing. They have literally anything you could possibly want to eat, and it's not at all expensive.

I ate at the market, but then walked until I finished my coffee. I stayed on the same street just to be sure I wouldn't get lost. Richard has sarcastically nicknamed me Magellan because, even with a Smartphone and a GPS, I can manage to get lost! I went out again for lunch, but wanted to go to a different place this time. There's a Subway "restaurant" (just wanted you to know that 1. I wasn't referring to the mode of transportation and 2. I don't consider it a real restaurant) across from the market, so that's where I went. I brought my food back to the apartment and ate on the couch. It will be nice when we get some sort of table in here. As I said before, Richard rented some basic furniture to get by with just until I got here. Now that I'm here, we have to decide if we go with the custom Murphy bed option, or get a better sleeper sofa and other living room pieces. The Murphy bed is cool because a bed and dining table fold out from it and it has built-in closets on both sides of the bed and a big storage unit above, for hiding the pillows and blankets when the bed is folded away. The downside is that we also want the couch on that side of the room so we keep this view. Here is the view from the couch while sitting...

Here's the same view, but I'm standing up this time...

It's pretty awesome! As you can see, the weather is much nicer today. I'm still not planning to venture too far from home again today, but I do want to go to the walkway along the Hudson to get some exercise.

Moving Weekend

It was my goal to get as much of the work or purging and packing done before Richard's arrival in Charlotte, so that he wouldn't have to work quite as hard. We would be moving via commercial airline rather than driving, so no furniture would be going with us. I posted pictures on Facebook, which Richard thought was tacky but was effective because my sweetheart of a principal decided to buy my recliner and a fellow teacher agreed to buy both beds. This left only 3 major pieces of furniture to deal with: a dining table and 4 chairs, a very large couch, and a fireplace/TV stand. I found a company that was willing to pick up and consign our used furniture, but they wouldn't take the couch. I ended up giving it away to a friend who was willing to pick it up. By the time I picked Richard up at the airport late Friday night, all the furniture was gone. We had to sleep on the floor, which is quite unpleasant when you're over 50, but we suffered through it. On Saturday, we went to the leasing office of Alli's new apartment to get her key so we could begin moving her things into her new place. She would have a roommate that she hadn't even met, and who hadn't responded to Alli's email letting her know when she would be moving in. As we suspected, the leasing manager hadn't let the office employee know about Alli's move, so she hadn't done her "walk through" and didn't even have a key to the apartment. We went to lunch to allow time for them to figure everything out, including letting the roommate know that we were coming. Thankfully, after a nice lunch at Panera, they had informed Alli's new roommate, gotten a copy of the key, and gave us the green light to begin moving her into her new place.

Naturally, it was a hot day -- 96 degrees. There are lots of steep steps up to Alli's apartment, and we made many trips up and down them, loading all her "stuff" into her bedroom. Thankfully, the place is furnished. We bought Alli a pretty new comforter for her new space and made yet another trip to Goodwill with her old one. Since I couldn't take anything heavy with me, I gave all my pots and pans, my big mixer, blender, toaster, plates, glasses, and silverware to Alli. She and her roommate share the kitchen, and since her roommate had no idea that Alli would be moving in that weekend, there was no room for any of that stuff. We stored it on the built-in shelves in her bedroom, hoping that after she got to know her roommate, she could carve out some space for Alli's stuff. Alli took our 14 year old cat, Sara, with her. I was worried about Sara adjusting to her new digs, but she did great, excitedly sniffing everything right away.

We finished Alli's move around 8pm, then went back to our almost empty apartment to get rid of all the other odds and ends that remained, and cleaned all but the room we would be sleeping in (on the floor again). We finished around 11pm and tried to get some sleep. We woke up around 6am on Sunday, dropped off yet another load of stuff at Goodwill, and met the family, our son Wes, his fabulous girlfriend Meredith, and Alli for breakfast at the Original Pancake House in Uptown. This is the day we would be leaving, but it was also Alli's 21st birthday!  A mixture of excitement and sadness was in the air.

We had to wait until our apartment's leasing office opened at noon to drop off our keys and garage door opener. After that, we went to lunch with Wes, and he followed us to the airport. Because we were flying first class, we were allowed 3 checked bags at 75 pounds each, We only had 5, but they were extremely heavy. We drove the rental to the concierge outside the departures area at CLT, gave him a huge tip because of the weight of our bags, and drove back around the airport to return the rental. I didn't mention this earlier, but the first rent car I had was a Hyundai Elantra. After driving it for a week, a rock hit the windshield. It didn't show up at first, but over the course of the following 3 days, a crack spread across the driver's field of vision. I went back to the rental company to report the damage. They apologized, but said all they had to replace it with was a Town and Country minivan. What a Godsend that van was during the move! The seats all folded flat, into the floor of the van, making it more of a cargo van. We returned the van, went through security, and waited at our gate for departure, which was scheduled for 4pm, with a boarding time of 3:20pm. As we sat and waited, they kept moving the departure time up, first to 4:30pm, then to 5:20pm, then to...I quit watching because it kept being delayed and each time they would delay it, they would change our departure gate, so we were all over the place!  We found out that all the delays had been due to a mechanical failure, that was now fixed. Our plane was on its way from NYC. After those passengers unloaded, we finally boarded around 7:40pm. Yay! Off to my dream city at last! We taxied to the holding area, then the pilot announced that there was a delay because of weather in NYC. ATC instructed him to sit for 35 minutes to see if the weather let up. It didn't, so we were taken back to the gate and unloaded! Nnnnoooooooo.....The airline never made a formal announcement about the flight being cancelled, and the line was full of every single passenger who had gotten off our flight, so instead of waiting in line, we got dinner. By the time we got back to the gate, the line was shorter. The airline gave us a complimentary stay at Ramada. We were instructed to retrieve our bags (oh crap!), go to loading zone C, and look for a Ramada van that would take us to the hotel for the night. We got all 5 of the freaking heavy bags and went to zone C. After about 10 minutes, we did in fact see a Ramada van drive by. It was empty and it kept going! Thanks, man! When another one came 20 minutes later, we knew we had better be quick since there would not be much room in the van for all of our bags. I put on my NY attitude, rushed forward, and got the first of our 5 bags on board. I figured that if I already had one bag on, and I was on, they would have to put the other bags on too. My plan worked. I believe all of us who needed to go to Ramada were able to get on, thankfully. We got a little sleep, work up at 4am, and got back on the van at 4:30am for the ride back to the airport. We were with our groupies (the other displaced passengers from last night's cancelled flight).

We finally arrived in NY's LaGuardia airport at 9am on Monday (yesterday). Richard got the okay from his boss to work from home since we had such a rough start. We took a cab from the airport to our new apartment. Richard has lived here for a few weeks, but he left it rather "bachelor-y" (ie. un-decorated), which is nice because now I can personalize it. It was funny to see the very large stack of moving boxes next to the front door, knowing that I was the one who had packed and mailed all of them. After unpacking boxes, the place still looks neat and tidy, and surprisingly uncluttered. Richard has rental furniture here for now: a sleeper sofa, a TV and TV stand, a side table, and 2 lamps. He had taken only one of our towels from Charlotte, so we would need to go shopping for a bath mat and towels immediately. Because it was raining, we took a cab to Macy's. Oh -- my-- God! When we moved to Charlotte, I was so impressed with the Nordstrom at Southpark Mall, but this Macy's is like that ON ACID! (not that I know what that's like) The store is 9 floors high, and each floor is an entire city block long! There are several Starbucks and restaurants in the STORE!! This is awesome! We ate dinner at a salad place in Macy's, then bought a subway pass for me and we got on the subway to go home. It was very crowded and we both had to stand. When we got off at our stop, it was so crowded with people going every which way that I was afraid I would lose Richard and become lost. I was freaking out a little. I tried to hold onto the back of his shirt, but it was difficult. The subway only goes partway to our apartment. The last 4 blocks must be traveled on foot or by the M42 bus, which simply makes trips up and down 42nd street, dropping off and picking up passengers. This, I can handle. It would be difficult to get lost when taking a bus that stays on the same street the whole time! Richard and I had to stand, but a woman tapped me, said she was getting off at the next stop, and insisted that I take her seat when she got up. She smiled at me as she left, reiterating what Richard had told me shortly after moving here. that everyone he has met here has been extremely kind. What a nice way to end my first day in NYC!

The Background Story

Moving to NYC is no small feat. After Richard accepted his position there, he picked me up from Field Day activities at my school in Charlotte and we proceeded to drive to NY to find a place to live. It has always been a dream of mine to live in the city, so we could not live anywhere but IN the action! We took my little red Hyundai Genesis because it got such good gas mileage, surprisingly. We had made online reservations with a hotel in the city, and had set up an appointment with a leasing agent for 10am the next day to look at 8 or 9 properties that we had pre-selected by looking at their web sites. It was about 11pm when we excitedly said, "Less than an hour to go!" We were traveling in the middle lane on the interstate, behind two other cars. The car in front of us swerved to the left violently, but there was no time for us to see what the driver was trying to avoid, until, CRUNCH, EERRRR....Whatever we had run into was now stuck under the front end of my car and was being pushed forward, scraping the pavement. We took the nearest exit and followed signs to a gas station about 2 miles away, in Lebanon, NJ. Thankfully, this was a full service station, so there were people there at this late hour. We pulled under the lighted area near the gas pumps to assess the damage. There was oil leaking out very rapidly, as well as antifreeze. The front skirt of my car was obviously mangled as well. Richard immediately took photos of the damage and got on the phone with our insurance company. We found out that our coverage did not include a rental car if this sort of thing happened. We still needed to get to the city and to our hotel, so we asked the insurance agent how we should go about that. She said to find some sort of public transportation and that the insurance company would reimburse us for the cost of continuing our trip. HA! There were no busses or taxis running at this hour in our remote location! After searching the internet from my phone, I found a limousine service with a Lebanon address. Richard thanked me for my brilliant solution, then called the number listed. He apparently woke the man up, who said he was off duty. After explaining our situation, the man agreed to pick us up and take us to the city. Phew! We left our phone number with the gas station manager, who agreed to keep an eye on the car until a local mechanic could be contacted in the morning to tow my car to his repair shop. It was 12:45am now, and our ride to NYC would take another 50 minutes. Needless to say, we were exhausted when we hit the bed. We got up early, Richard called the repair shop and gave them directions to the gas station where the car was left, and we caught a cab to our meeting spot, to meet Bevin, our leasing agent.  We probably only looked at 5 of the places on our list, and knew the 3rd one was going to be it. We chose a studio apartment to save money and because it would just be the two of us living there. We love the view of the Hudson, since it allows for a wider view of sky rather than seeing only a bunch of buildings. Our apartment complex also has tennis courts, which was a major selling point for Richard. We signed the lease by 2pm, got a cab back to the hotel where we had left our bags with the concierge, and got another cab to the airport to fly home to Charlotte. So, in one weekend we had secured a new place to live, Our daughter, Alli, picked us up from the airport late Sunday night and took us to a car rental company the next day to get something to drive until my car was repaired in NJ. That Thursday, Richard moved into the NYC apartment to begin work on Monday. I would stay in Charlotte a few more weeks to finish out the school year.

While Richard was away, my job was to get everything ready for the move, because "the move" also included helping Alli move out of our apartment and into campus housing so she could continue attending UNCC after we were gone. Because our apartment in NYC was so small, I allowed myself only 8 small packing boxes of items to take from Charlotte to NYC. Each day after school, I loaded the rental car with items to drop off at Goodwill and a box to ship from the local post office. This became my routine, so much so that the woman at the post office greeted me by asking, "Another box for New York?" "Yep."