Friday in NYC

Friday was our last day and our flight was scheduled to leave at 5:30 pm. We packed up most of our stuff before we left in the morning. We rode the subway uptown to Barney Greengrass for Lox and Bagels. We had bagels smeared with cream cheese, loaded with salmon, topped with a slice of white onion and tomato served with a dill pickle….for breakfast. Very quaint little restaurant with very crowded tables. On weekends, they accept cash only. Exceptionally nice wait staff.

Following breakfast, we ventured back to the Brooklyn Bridge. My camera battery had died on our trip the previous day so we went back to get pictures.




As we found throughout the week, most things take much more time than we expected. We were hustling to get back to the hotel to get checked out in time. We checked out, stored our bags and went a couple of blocks up to Ray’s Pizza for our final NYC meal. The pizza slices were huge, and tasted great.

We returned to the hotel, retrieved our luggage and caught a cab by about 2:00 pm. We were worried that we might encounter Labor Day traffic either in the city, or at the airport or both. We arrived at the airport by about 2:30 and placed our names on the standby list for the 3:30 flight from LGA to DFW. When the standby list first posted, we were number 14 and 15. We figured…no way are we going to make it on this flight. But luck was on our side and we made the earlier flight.

We arrived back home totally exhausted, but had an amazing week. It was a perfect celebration of David’s 49th birthday. I warned him not to expect this to be outdone for 50!

Thursday in NYC

Thursday morning we opted to travel south to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Wall Street, Ground Zero and into Brooklyn to walk across the bridge looking toward Manhattan. Our original plan was that we would see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and be in Brooklyn for lunch. NOT!.


The Statue of Liberty is definitely amazing. One thing we learned that we did not previously know is that Lady Liberty is positioned in a forward motion. Her left foot is stepping forward while the right foot is slightly raised as she is proceeding forward. We have always thought she was standing straight.
Ellis Island was very interesting. We could have easily spent several hours at Ellis Island and would plan to do so if/when we visit again. The tour actually walks you through the various rooms as if you were an immigrant who had just arrived at Ellis Island. Realizing that we were well past lunch time, we grabbed a chicken sandwich at the Ellis Island café.
Once we were back in Manhattan, we ventured to Ground Zero. It was not as overwhelming as I expected. At this point, it is primarily a large construction site. We did walk through the small museum which was very touching. We left Manhattan and took the subway into Brooklyn, and walked back across the Brooklyn Bridge. There are two paths…one for walkers, and one for bikes. Word to the wise….don’t walk on the bike path. They move very fast and are not very friendly if you get in their way.
Back in Manhattan, we encountered an artist using spray paint and putty knives to paint panoramic views of the city. When he was ready to dry the paint, he would light the surface with a disposable lighter to dry the paint. He used small caps, plates, etc to make arcs, moons, etc in the paintings. Simply fascinating. We probably should have bought one of his paintings.
We passed back through Grand Central and purchased a triple decker club sandwich from Junior’s, then went into the grocery/deli market and got smoked pasta salad and cole slaw which we took back to our room for dinner. We had anticipated hitting Times Square at night on Thursday evening but after almost 11 hours on our feet, the room and TV seemed like a better option!

Wednesday in NYC

Ok friends...I know I started this and then never got back to completing the blog of our trip...but here goes. Better late than never!

Wednesday morning we got a much later start and ventured to the TCKTS booth to see if we could grab some discount Broadway tickets. The line at the booth was about like the line for a Six Flags ride on a very busy day. Ultimately, we decided that we probably would just not see a Broadway play this trip. We ventured north to the highly recommended Gray’s Papaya hot dog stand. Supposedly the best hot dog and recession lunch deal in the city. We got two hot dogs with seasoned kraut and onions plus a beverage for $4.45. David had a coke, and I got the recommended Pina Colada. It was awesome. After we finished lunch, I went back and got another drink….which costs $2.45! But it was worth it.

Not that I needed it, mind you! We walked through Central Park and encountered a 3 piece band, The Dirty Urchins. They were actually pretty good, and we bought one of their CDs. We figured we were going to drop some $$ in the guitar case anyway, and we just as well get the CD. We haven’t listened to it yet, but we expect it to be entertaining. (Actually, we have listened by now and it's pretty good....a very unique group!)

We ventured on through Central Park and found our way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. You could quite literally spend a full day or more, but after a few hours, we had seen a sufficient amount of artwork . As we left the Met, we realized we were about 30 blocks from our hotel and there were really no subway lines back to our hotel. A long walk back and we had just enough time to freshen up before we went to Frankie and Johnnie’s Steakhouse. It was restaurant week which means they offer a prix fixe menu. The steaks were very good, but I would not recommend this particular restaurant as the service was definitely substandard if you ordered from the restaurant week menu. There was a vast difference in the attentiveness of the wait staff at our table vs. the tables around us. Following dinner, we rode the subway back to Central Park and enjoyed a 45 minute carriage ride through the park. Jimbo was our guide horse.

Best Attic Find

A sweet friend of mine has offered to help us get rid of some excess clutter. We have already cleaned out the garage attic, but decided to tackle the house attic as well before the big sale/donate process. So, a couple of weekends ago, we cleared everything out of the attic. We virtually filled our 500 +/- SF gameroom with boxes from the attic...most of which had been there since we moved in back in 2002. Last Sunday, I decided to get serious about getting through all the boxes. My office is also in the gameroom and shall we say it was a bit claustrophobic. We knew we would find some great memories, some "why did we save this" and many other "treasures."
David and I are notorious for boxing clothes into Rubbermaid tubs and piling them in the attic thinking we will wear them again in the future...when we are smaller, when it is colder, etc. Yet, our closets always seem to be full to the max! So, I decided to really clean out the clothes boxes and just get rid of most of it.
Back when I worked full time in a professional office, I had a red wool knit suit that had a very long jacket and long pleated skirt. I wore this suit frequently in the winter. I found it in one of the attic clothes boxes. And thought to myself...."it was beginning to get some moth holes, and was a bit snug the last time I wore it (prior to 2002) and further, it probably just isn't in style anymore", so I put it in the "donate"pile.

In order to provide the background, when David and I married on 6/4/1983, my Mom gave us a small cartoon style ceramic elephant that was in a velour pouch which she had made and embroidered on the front, "My love for you is bigger than an elephant." For years we played the game in which we hid the elephant for each other never telling each other when we had found it and re-hidden it. Several years ago, probably about the time we moved, we realized that neither of us had seen "the elephant" for quite some time. Since we never told each other when we found the elephant, we had no idea who had hidden it last. We really thought that it had been lost at some point when something was thrown away or donated with the elephant inside a pocket, etc.

Once when I traveled overseas on a trip that I was really nervous about, David found a picture of an elephant on the internet, printed it and put it in my computer bag. It definitely conveyed the thought, but not the same as "the elephant."

Now back to the donate pile. Every since we realized the elephant has been "missing", we never donate anything without checking through all pockets, cubby holes, etc. And as I was folding my red suit, the pocket felt "full." I dug in and guess what......I FOUND THE ELEPHANT! We were both so excited and I had to immediately call my Mom and let her know.

Obviously David was the last one to hide it, so the elephant has once again been placed in a special place waiting for David to find it and be reminded of my love for him!

Tuesday in NYC

On Tuesday morning, we awoke early to go to the Today show. It was recommended that we arrive by 6:00. It was about 6:10 am when we got to the Today show plaza, and there was no one there. We initially thought….”Wow, no one else is here.” When I inquired of the security guard if we were in the right place, he instructed us to go down the sidewalk and around the side of the building to line up. When we rounded the corner, we found a line of about 50 people who had arrived before us. At about 6:30, they began letting the crowd through the security checkpoint. I had bought a spring loaded curtain rod to run through the top of our sign to make it easier to hold. The security guard confiscated it and threw it away! But no biggie, we would do just fine without it. We were not real close to the area that the Today show anchors would be broadcasting from, but held out hope that we would make it on the show. During one of the breaks, the film crew came outside and initially set up a demonstration by the “balloon guy” across the plaza from us. But then it appeared as though he saw our sign, and moved the balloon guy to right in front of us. He gave David a top hat he had made from red balloons. David being as he is proudly wore the hat for the entire show! We did make it on TV and both sets of our parents recorded it for us.
After the show, we returned to the hotel and had breakfast. We then returned to 30 Rockefeller Plaza and went on the NBC Studio Tour. We saw the MSNBC news room, the desk that Brian Williams broadcasts from each evening, the Sunday Night Football stage, and the SNL stage. Near the end of our tour, the guides asked for 2 volunteers. No one else jumped on the opportunity, so David and I volunteered. On the last stop of the tour, David portrayed a news anchor reading from a teleprompter and I got to be the “weather girl.” Believe me it is harder than it looks to read from the teleprompter while trying to point to the correct places on the map (presented from a screen behind you) at the same time!
After we finished the NBC tour, we ventured to Grand Central station where we had lunch at Junior’s. We both had an awesome 10 oz. hamburger. It was simply not possible for me to eat all of mine, but it was delicious. It was served with slaw, dill pickle, steak fries and onion rings. We left from Grand Central Station to find the stadium complex for the US Open via subway. We just wanted to be sure we knew where we were going and how to get back to the hotel via subway late at night.
We returned to the hotel and had to move rooms. Our first room did not have internet access, and the air conditioner was very noisy. Once we were in our new room, we had very little time until we needed to head to the tennis tournament. We went to the same subway station we arrived in on our trip from the tennis complex to our hotel. Got on the train and rode a couple of stops until we figured out we were headed downtown instead of uptown to Queens. We got off the subway and began trying to figure out where we needed to go. Unfortunately, we were in the ‘hood and felt very uncomfortable. We walked very briskly for a few blocks until we located another subway station. At that point, we realized you have to be careful to follow the subway signs to enter the terminal headed the right direction. So, one forfeited subway fare, and a very uncomfortable walk, but all was well.
Our seats for the tennis tournament were awesome. I had purchased them through Tickets Now which is a Ticketmaster site which allows season/other ticketholders to sell tickets they will not use. We were on the LOGE level, Section 196 – center court of Arthur Ashe stadium. We were in a “box” of 6 seats. The 4 other people in our box were two couples who were there more for social hour than to watch tennis, as were the guys sitting behind us. Somewhat annoying, but tolerable. A family of 6 people was sitting across the aisle from David. It appeared to be Mom, Dad, 2 early 20s girls, one mid to late 20s guy, and a teenage boy. David began to realize that the teenage boy was repeating virtually everything the announcer said. Then we realized that with each swing of the racquet by the players, he was imitating the swing alternating left hand, right hand, left hand, right hand. As we began to watch and listen to this young man a little closer, we surmised that he was probably autistic…possibly a savant. He seemed very knowledgeable about tennis. The first match was Maria Sharapova (she won US Open in 2006) and Tsvetana Pironkova, an unseeded player. It was a good match, but Sharapova pulled it out.
We ventured to the concession stand between the women’s and men’s matches for hot dogs and a soda. Believe it or not, the stand was out of foot long hot dogs, and the pretzels were cold. This was well over an hour into the evening events, and they were totally unprepared! The men’s match was Andy Murray (won US Open last year) and Ernests Gulbis. Another good match and Andy Murray won. The young man across the aisle apparently really liked to say “Gulbis” because he repeated it very often. It was somewhat fascinating watching his enthusiasm for the game. After the match, we rode the subway, with thousands of our new closest friends, back to the hotel. We were exhausted.
Little known facts from the US Open. Backpacks are not allowed. Only single compartment bags with dimensions of 12” X 12” X 16” are smaller are permissible. All others must be checked in large trailer lockers outside the gates. The towels used by the women are red while the men have blue towels (over their seats). The men obviously sweat more than the women as the ball boys/girls also keep white towels available to the men at all times. For this particular tournament, Chase logos are placed on the edge of the net. Between the women’s and men’s matches, the Chase logos are removed and replaced with Lexus logos. As the sun sets on Arthur Ashe stadium, it gets chilly!

Monday in NYC

We departed Monday morning and arrived NYC shortly after lunch. We caught a taxi to the hotel and were able to check into our room upon arrival. We asked the representative at the “theatre tickets” counter for a lunch recommendation and headed to the Stage Deli a couple of blocks north of our hotel. We shared a Tiger Woods Reuben and an order of homemade onion rings. The sandwich was huge and all was very delicious. Our waitress, Barb, was very friendly and we had great service. She was an older lady, and had raccoon eyes, but she was absolutely delightful. We went back to the hotel and tried to determine what we should do first. We opted to take a walk through the city and go to the Empire State Building. We rode the elevator to the 86th floor observation deck and listened to the audio tour. The tour positioned us at 8 points around the top of the building and described the various sites and “areas” of Manhattan. It was a great way to start our trip as we gained a general understanding of where all the sites were, and the areas referred to as Upper Westside, Upper Eastside, Queens, Brooklyn, etc. We were able to see the East River and the Hudson River where Captain Sullenberger landed the US Airways plane in January. It was fascinating to see in real life. We ventured back to the hotel and opted for fast food for dinner.

NYC...The Surprise!

In November 2008, David’s grandmother, Virginia Mason Pointelin, left this earthly life. Several years prior to her death, she had asked David’s mother to set aside a certain amount of money for each of the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. At her memorial service, David received an envelope with this gift of cash. At that time, we decided that we would use Grandma ‘Ginia’s gift to fulfill our dream to see New York City.

I had been considering planning a trip to New York for David’s birthday. However, once I began investigating the cost, I talked with David and we decided it was just going to cost a bit more than we wanted to spend right now. Also, David had just changed jobs within Alcon and didn’t really feel it was right to ask for time off work soon after his transfer.

Shortly after that discussion, two of our dear friends, Kim and Anthony Brandon were killed very tragically in a car accident. They left behind 3 young daughters. Alicia and Shelby had just graduated from high school, and Vanessa had just recently gotten married. This was a tremendous wake up call for all of us, and I decided it was time to “Carpe Diem” and try to surprise David with a trip to New York for his birthday.

My brother, Shaylor, works in the Alcon group which David had just transferred to. I asked Shaylor if he could check with David’s boss to determine if it would be okay for him to have a couple of days off work. David’s new schedule is Friday through Monday, four days 10 hours each. I asked if he could possibly have a Monday and Friday, either or both, off work. Shaylor followed through with David’s boss noting that this would be a surprise and the days off were approved.

One thing that we have always desired to do is to travel the Grand Slam Tennis series. David’s birthday was on a Tuesday and the US Open first round games were in progress during our stay in NY City. I purchased airfare and tennis tickets and made a hotel reservation. Both of the boys knew, as well as mine and David’s parents but we tried our absolute best to keep it a secret from him.

Given that we would be in New York on David’s birthday, I made a canvas sign for him that read, “I’m celebrating my 49^th birthday TODAY”. The TODAY show logo was on the bottom of the sign.

We were flying out on Monday morning. Given that B&Z are in school in Stephenville, I suggested that we meet the boys and David’s parents for dinner after he got off work on Sunday afternoon to celebrate his birthday and then we would have dinner for the 2 of us on his actual birthday.

As soon as he left for work on Sunday morning, I began checking off the tasks to be completed for the day. Packing for both of us was the biggest challenge…but I just threw in everything I could until I reached the luggage weight limit. I made a hotel reservation for us to stay near the airport on Sunday night to make our Monday morning drive a bit easier. I checked us into the hotel (to get rid of our luggage from my car), took a cake to David’s parent’s house and then picked him up from work.

David was all set to go to dinner once we met up with the boys and his parents. But I knew that we had to let the cat out of the bag. So, I suggested we open gifts first. He opened a couple of things and then I gave him the box with the card, the NYC guide books and maps, and the sign for the Today show.

He was totally shocked. He understood that we were going to NY, but figured it would be in a few days. Then I shared with him that he would not be going back to work before our trip and that we were flying out on Monday morning. We enjoyed dinner with the family at New York Joe’s, returned to Margie and Gary’s for cake and then made our way to the airport hotel. He did have an opportunity to review what I had packed for him, and the only thing I really missed was that I got the wrong pair of dress shoes. Still wearable, but not as comfortable as his preferred pair.

Stay tuned for a day by day summary of our trip.....

Birthday card from Dad and Mom

A few weeks back, I posted the verse from my card from David. This is the verse from the card my parents gave me, and yes, my Daddy very frequently is the one to pick out the cards.

A Daughter Is a Precious Gift

When a daughter is born, she fills your life with so much happiness-
It starts when you first hold her close with pride and tenderness.
And as she grows, your loving feelings grow and deepen, too-
You take such joy in what she says and all she learns to do.
Then through the years, the special times and sharing play a part
In all the happy memories you treasure in your heart.
Thoughts of you bring pleasant memories of you as a little girl
and feelings of pride in the woman you've become.
Your birthday is another reminder of what a wonderful daughter you are.....
how much you have always meant,
how much you always will.

Love Dad and Mom

Our cabinet drawer nightmare!

Warning - this is a long one....

My youngest brother is very handy with woodwork, furniture building and cabinetry. He has built us brand new cabinet doors for our kitchen, den and bathrooms and had planned to make the drawers as well. He did an excellent job. But as sometimes happens, life interfered and has made it very difficult for him to get into his wood shop.

So in mid-December, I contacted a local cabinet shop. The sales rep (a friend and co-worker of our neighbor) came out and measured and returned on 12/31/08 to give us the bid. We negotiated a few items, agreed to the final deal, and wrote a check for 50% of the total which the cabinet shop cashed the very same day.

In mid-January, the sales rep called me because the cabinet shop could find no record of us having made the "materials" deposit. I confirmed that I had written the check and where/when it had been deposited which I pulled from my online bank statement.

By the end of January, we still had no drawers (20 drawers, 5 fake drawer fronts and one 30X30 cabinet) and no promise of when they would be ready. I began calling the sales rep, aka Chris, and pushing to get the drawers finished. We cannot complete all of the painting in the kitchen, den, and bathrooms until we have the drawers. Finally I received a call that they had finished the drawers but there was a problem. They had not cut the drawer fronts wide enough to router the "finger pulls" that I had requested. They wanted me to either agree to only router the bottoms where if the cabinet showed, it would be on the bottom, or switch to putting hardware on them.

Now remember, we are talking 25 units for just the drawers. If we have to add hardware then we would probably also add hardware to the doors (count them 31...I think) and are you with me here....cha ching! I agreed to try the bottom cut finger pulls but argued that I had ordered drawers from a professional cabinet shop, they had measured, and the finger pulls were ordered from the very beginning. This was really NOT my problem. After a few hours, Chris called to report they would be making new fronts.

Finally last week Chris calls me to tell me they are ready. I picked them up on Thursday and knew instantly that something didn't look correct on 8 of the drawers which are all the same size. We had actually provided one of the actual drawers for this particular size which they had in the shop but they had obviously not measured it or compared to their finised product. But I agreed to bring them home and see if "they would do."

I bring them home, and David helps unload. We slide the first of the questionable 8 drawers in, and it is too narrow. Doesn't even touch the bottom cabinet support and floats in the drawer frame. So, first 8 are wrong.

Friday night we begin transferring the rail hardware from the existing drawers to the new ones. The first two for the kitchen are too wide and won't fit into the cabinet frame. Now we are 10 of the 25 that are not usable. A third one for the kitchen has a knot hole on the very front that has spider legs. They tried to fill and sand (all of these are paint grade) but it still has raised edges. Now we are to 11 of 25 that are not good.

Luckily, all of the bathroom and my vanity drawers fit...that's a total of 8. I grab the fake drawer fronts to check the size and realize one of the fronts for the kitchen has a crack in the wood grain that is at least 1/4" thick. Now we are at 12 of 25 that are not useable.

Saturday morning, Chris was supposed to be here to check out the situation and help us correct the problems. He called and said he would be a couple of hours due to an emergency at his house. Two hours later I called him. He was back home after purchasing a new washer and once it was installed, he would be headed to my house. (Could a new washer purchase have waited until after he came here?) An hour and a half later, he calls to report he can't get here until Monday. I agree to change my plans for Monday.

In the meantime, I transfer all of the stuff from the old drawers into the new ones. When I finish one drawer from the master bath (only because it is off of the master bedroom and not due to it's tiny size), and shut the drawer, the drawer front literally falls off and hits me on the top of the foot. I'm extremely frustrated at this point and that's the nice version!

I go about my business and return to my bedroom vanity a bit later to realize that another front has fallen off. So, are you with me....that's now 14 of 25 that are messed up! Almost 60% and we only wonder how long until more of the fronts take a hike!.

A home builder friend dropped by and I invited him in for his thoughts. Not good. So my plan at this point is that Chris has until noon Monday to be at my home and propose a reasonable solution. Otherwise, all of the new drawers, fake fronts and one cabinet will be making a return trip to the cabinet shop where I will request that they keep their product and issue an immediate refund. If they don't agree to that, I plan to give them until Friday noon to fix them "right!" Otherwise, this could get really ugly really soon.

Know any good cabinet shops?

I'm a Believer..,.....

I virtually never write a blog about products that I love although there are many. Have you ever tried purple "Fabuloso" as an all purpose cleaner. Diluted in warm water and used with a microfiber cloth cleans almost anything.

But this week, we may have found a life changing product.

Throughout our marriage of over 25 years, David has snored. He had severe allergies that went largely untreated as a child and he sleeps with his mouth open. Snores like a freight train although he states that he stayed awake all night one night and never did snore....ugh! I was told him that if a barking dog (a serious pet peeve of his) had kept him awake in the night as often as his snoring had awakened me, the dog would have met a fatal demise.

Over the years he has had at least 3 medical procedures in attempts to reduce his snoring. A couple of these, the doctor was able to get paid through insurance. After a while when he began snoring again, he underwent a sleep study to be sure he did not have sleep apnea. The report...."You could be the poster child for perfect sleep." Then I had a sleep study to rule out that I had sleep issues that were causing me to be super sensitive to nighttime noises.

Last year, bless his heart, he had injections in the roof of his mouth that initially made his mouth swell like crazy for a few days. The intent was that the uvula (flap in the back of the throat) would develop scar tissue and become less flexible and unable to vibrate. Now that we have determined he is the perfect sleeper, no insurance to help on this procedure, but how much is your wife's sleep worth? After a couple of weeks of misery, I noticed a decent improvement for a few months. However, over time, the snoring resumed. It was becoming problematic over the summer and by year end, I rarely made it past 3 hours in our bed before I found myself on the sofa. Frequently on weekends, he would take the sofa.

We had seen the TV advertisement for Pure Sleep. Two easy payments of $29.95 plus shipping with a 30 day money back guarantee. Our initial thought....can a mouthpiece fitted at home after boiling in a pot of water solve all snoring problems?" Probably not. So we continued to think about it but not to push the "buy now" button. But we reached the point a couple of weeks ago to say..."Why not try it?" So I pushed the button.

The package arrived last Tuesday. He followed the instructions to fit the mouthpiece and so far we have seen 100% improvement. Every night since he started using it, I have heard the alarm go off while still sleeping beside my DH.

The jury is still out on long term correction, but for now I'M A BELIEVER!