Snow Day

Just like the bratty kid it is, NYC couldn't just be happy I loved it but tried to test my love by throwing a winter storm at us on this, the alleged first day of Spring!

Well nice try NYC.

I'll admit the walking into the blowing snow on Broadway and 5th Avenue got slightly tiresome and the slushy sidewalks   were a tad tricky but once those snowflakes stuck their sparkly blanket only made you more magical.

Plus we're Canadians dude...with good boots.

In the 15km we walked today plus another bus tour and couple subway rides we covered SoHo, NoHo, Little Italy where we ate a fantastic "pie" at Lombardis ... The oldest pizzeria in the USA, Wall St, Flat Iron, Freedom tower, Garment and theatre district, 5th Ave especially Sacks where THE prom dress was acquired!!! Back to Little Italy for a charming dinner and a cab ride home with a rookie snow driver! 

WHAT a day! 

Very tired and looking forward to crashing into bed (thankful for the white noise machine in my room!).

Ok NYC... Tomorrow lets play nice ok?

Night! 

NYC day 1

There are two kinds of people.

Those that have been to NYC, loved it and can't wait for you, NYC newbie, to go and do likewise.

Then there are those who have never been but want to go and want you, NYC newbie, to gather intel to bring home to share. 

Both can be ever so enthusiastic with and for you and both add some pressure to the situation of being the newbie. 

Especially this people-pleasing newbie.

But what no one can prepare you for is NYC.

I am relatively well travelled. 

I have been in big American cities. 

I thought I had as much of a handle on visiting here as time and energy allowed. 

I had many people give me many suggestions, tips and recommendations.

But now I know you can never really be prepared for NYC.

It's bigger than that.  It's bolder than that. It's more confident and self assured.  It's the cocky popular kid you want to dislike but who is altogether too nice to ignore.

And I have fallen hard. 

I am not sure how we shall ever be parted.

Me and NYC.

No hideous red-eye, lack of sleep,slow  luggage, maniac taxi driver, blaring horns outside, apartment on the edge of dodgy but perfectly New York could take the shine off this day.

This first day.

The brief nap for some, the coffee and waffle in the East Village where a lady,on hearing we were from Vancouver, came over to welcome us to NYC. For real.

The Subway attendant who scared us a bit but was totally pulling our leg.

And us managing the subway like a boss... No trouble! 

And then we popped up from underground in Bryant Park and the love affair began. 

The building, the taxis, the ever-present NYPD, the hustlers dressed as superheroes, the lights, the sirens, the manic honking, the giant stores... The theaters .... Oh friends.... Words fail.

We wandered, we marveled, we took it all in.

We hopped on a bus tour of Uptown that covered so much ground we would never have had the chance to see otherwise.

And eventually we dragged out exhausted selves home via the grocery and wine store to reflect and plan our next few days now knowing what we know.

And the selfie stick was deployed again.

It's going to snow tomorrow. 3-5 inches. All that will do is add to the charm. 

Nothing could take the shine off my love for this place today.

Day 1... Expectations exceeded.

Exhausted.... Heart full.

Night!

Peace in chaos

Work always reaches a level of  insanity right before I go away anywhere.

Its a law of nature.

or Something.

Of course I scheduled everyone for Spring Break dental appointments, one vehicle had to go to the mechanic today and the other very soon, I needed my new jeans hemmed.

And we leave for NYC in 48 hours.

Not packed.

Doing laundry now..... still haven't decided on what to use for carry on, whether or not to schlep my laptop.....

My AirBnB  guy is being a little slow to respond.

I don't have USD (in the vain hope the CDN dollar catches up a bit)

So I should be on all that.  Especially as I am working until hours before we leave

But...... I needed to walk-in some new-ish shoes and it looked to be a pretty sunset....and I needed a little more practice with my camera......and Spanner needed a walk.....

So.....this..... this happened.....

Ok ...the dryer stopped......time to face the suitcase!

Night.

Shenanigans

We are an average suburban Canadian family.

We live in an average suburban Canadian house.

We have the requisite 2.5 kids, one girl, one boy and a dog (2 teenagers and a toddler in our case)

But at a certain time each night things go a little awry........I think they get a little un-average.

9:45pm  Parents generally head upstairs to get ready for bed..... read, chat, catch up on FB etc.

Still average.

10:00pm we begin summoning the children to plug in their phones in our room 

Average-ish

10:05pm

The children are often curled up on the end of our bed sending last snap chats and messages and who-knows-what-else.   Some casual conversation, the odd joke, someone shares a funny You Tube video, we check in about the next day.

 

Average

10:15pm

Parents require devices plugged in and silenced and children to exit to their own rooms (we used to think they went to sleep at this point but we know better).  

Often at this point David stealthily slips out and stands in the doorway of his room.  

Lindsay evermore reluctantly surrendering her phone wishes us goodnight demanding our full attention.....Allan often gives her the Peace sign so she calls him Bono.  "Night Mama, night Bono"

Getting un-average 

She walks out and David "Boo's" her from his doorway.

She screams and clobbers him if she can and says mean things about him.

He continues to yell over her "I love you Lindsay" and tries to hug her....

She screams more "Don't touch me"..... "Mom David touched me"

David is usually laughing so hard at this point.  "Mom, Mom......Lindsay won't hug me"

And somehow they both end up back in our room demanding justice and attention and permission for retribution......while sneaking looks at their phones.

I beg Allan to assert some authority and once he stops laughing he orders them out.

David leaves flicking off the hallway light. 

Lindsay flicks it back on and demands David stand in the hallway where she can see him.  

He does and then lunges to hug her as she passes.

She clobbers him......screaming ensues

NO MORE AVERAGE HERE.

I swear this scenario or some iteration of it plays out twice a week......maybe three times.  Sometimes I am dying of laughter.  Sometimes I am so tired I want to cry after 5 minutes of these sibling shenanigans......sometimes we give up and close the door and hope they survive each other.

This parenting teenagers thing.....not for the faint of heart.  But good for the odd laugh.

Break

There is no family more ready for Spring Break than ours.

Every.single.year.

We have some sort of internal tank for real life that gets the "tank empty" red light around March 1 and we make it to Spring Break on fumes.

Usually we head for sun although that plan has eluded us for the last two years.

This year we are headed in two directions......

The girls are headed to a grand Adventure in New York City..... 6 days and 5 nights of sightseeing, bucket-list checking off, eating, walking, art, shopping, eating, walking...... I am getting very excited now and by the time my butt hits that Cathay Pacific seat on Wednesday night I am counting on my tank being filled with excitement and adrenaline.  My Mom is coming with Lindsay and I on this "Grad Trip" - a lovely opportunity which I intend to make the very most of.  It's about experiences and memories for me.  I want to take it all in, with my best girls.  From our apartment in the East Village to MOMA to Times Square, the Brooklyn Bridge and Chelsea Market.....our days will be full and hopefully fulfilling.  Despite the wicked winter on the east coast it looks like we will catch a break with some cold but clear weather....and a little rain never scared a Pacific Northwester!

The boys have already taken up residence on the two couches in the family room (after a brief fishing foray this morning) and I am told their plan is to stay put until 2 hours before we return....when clean up will commence.  They have a LOT of movie watching planned.  They were also threatening to make one pot of food and eat out of it all week......Ewwww! I have stocked them with 3 nutritious meals and I am sure their take out favourites will appear the other nights!  They are already fist bumping and calling each other "Bro".  Anyone driving by feel free to check on them (at your own risk).

The girls have a couple days on our return to rest  a bit before the break ends.

So dawns our last Spring Break of two high school children.......And just as that starts to make me feel sad and nostalgic..... I remember....... that closer draws the Spring Break when Allan and I head off to Hawaii for a week.  Alone.

Of viruses and Victoria and other things

Many times I come to this blank space to write about a time or an event or a specific topic.....

This is not one of those times.....

The last few days have encompassed altogether too many emotions.

And too much coughing.

So as I type from under my quilt in bed listening to CBC radio I feel reflective and grateful I am seeing a Dr tomorrow,

So lets start there.....we finally have a Dr after being orphaned when our Dr of 20 years closed her practice.  Allan and I met the new Dr last Monday and we think it will be ok.  Our expectations have certainly been lowered by the number of phonecalls I made trying in vain to get into any practice.  But that aside I am cautiously optimistic. And relieved.

Work is overwhelming.  I am managing 3 huge building projects with attendant designers with little idea about how the buildings need to be used......I am finding it wearying to fight for spaces that can be beautiful and functional......one does not have to be sacrificed for the other.....but I am not holding the purse strings and although some listen....decisions are made by others.  And the regular work just seemed more and a lot and too much at times recently.  I am in the nebulous space of having been an accessible and hands on leader when we were a small organisation but now being necessarily distanced from many staff as the middle "management" needs to lead and manage their staff teams while my time is more focused on HR, finances, facilities, strategic planning, board communication, PR etc. 

This is proving challenging,  Mainly to my heart.  I'm a relational leader and to channel off some relationships to others to manage is hard.....and totally necessary for our organisation to grow and strengthen and for my productivity and sanity.

So when my sanity seemed to be a little on the line mid -week......I made the decision to take a break from work.  As counter-intuitive as that seemed from the list and pile on my desk I knew I needed to get some perspective and calm my head and heart down.

For two days I did some things around the house, baked, made dinner, worked out, ignored the signs of creeping illness, went shopping, spent time catching up with my Mom and Dad (just back from Africa) and planning our trip to NYC...... I also spent some time sorting through some big feelings and thoughts.  And answering several emails and calls for work.

Our beloved girl is battling through the end-game of 13 years of schooling.... ready to move on but needing to stay the course through some big academic requirements.  Ready for a new chapter but the ink on this one is still wet and there are still a few more lines to write.  Struggling to find perspective to finish strong and see the many approaching events as enjoyable and not just things to be endured.  

And of that new chapter........ we are so proud of her acceptance to the University of Victoria for a BA in psychology.   Victoria is on Vancouver Island on a beautiful campus and only a ferry ride away (or 20 minutes by float plane). We celebrated this big moment with her.

Allan and I are coming to terms with this move, this new chapter for her and for us.  Sorting out finances, logistics..... trying to find out what we don't know but should.  Learning that the whole "giving them wings" thing is hard even if you believe the roots are strong.....this Mama's heart is being stretched.

I did teach all day Saturday (my other job!) but I took them on a field trip to the Bird Sanctuary on a most glorious spring day....... it was so lovely to be out in the fresh air (although the coughing was on the rise) and have some opportunity to practice more with my new camera.

And now as a new week starts..... the last week of school before Spring Break.....days ticking down to lift off for NYC and a few things on that TO DO list to get to still.....a heavy work week and now a wheezing chesty cough..... a dentist appointment at 7:30am  on Monday which will be interesting.......

I am here resting and thinking and processing.  I know sometimes its not helpful to be too much inside ones own head.....but at the pace at which my life moves sometimes the personal time out is needed.

Well....that's all folks.....thanks for listening.....

Night

Watch for the signs

In an attempt to put a hard week to bed Allan and I drove David to an all night youth event, stopping to watch the sunset at Queen Elizabeth Park where I did some more manual shooting with the new camera...and then we had a lovely dinner where we caught up with one another .. Shared our hearts on some stuff we are working through... It was lovely. We then picked up our girl after work and had a quiet night in.

On Saturday we had errands to run but with soccer deferred to Sunday we were able to do the shopping together, grabbed a coffee at Chocxo and drive home along the river in the most glorious sunshine.  Then we cooked a batch of weeknight meals, tunes pumping, kids coming and going, puppy watching for falling vegetables ...

It was lovely to have an ordinary day together. 

And then we headed downtown with friends to dinner and a concert. 

There may have been early signs we missed that the night may not unfold as we hoped but being an optimistic bunch we didn't take the restaurant we were going to eat at being closed, as in windows papered over, under renovation closed as any sort of set back. iPhones activated and a new dinner place found, table secured and cocktails ordered in no time. 

The fact some of us maybe underestimated that a 45 minute line up outside would be chilly.... Silly us we forgot it was February still and after a clear day the temp was dropping.  We used various strategies to keep warm. Drinking the offered free Red Bull was not one of them although in hindsight this was yet another missed sign. 

" We don't want to be up all night after a couple of those we quipped"

Our early line up and some very quick footed work by EV got us primo seats. Right by the bar, centre balcony! 

The attentive waitress who we grew to really like over the half our lifetime we ended up spending there soon had us supplied.

Eventually...the opening band came on. A moment that was as excruciating as it was comedic. These newbies who won some radio talent show (where people would not have had to see the deranged head flinging guitar players with their skinny arms in their tank tops flinging their ever more sweaty long hair around) started to play and honestly our only hope was that they only had 2 songs.

By now you know this mercy was clearly not going to be shown to us.

We continued to get to know our waitress... The lovely Tracey.

By the end of their set E and I were literally crying with laughter... I was starting to throw my own head around to get some relief.  

I was hoping this was the light and sound system blowing up but.... No... Of course not.

The very large and minimally talented troop finally did their last big head fling and left the stage... 10pm... My usual bedtime and finally, we very mistakenly thought, Sam Roberts Band is up.

And then we heard that no, no that was not happening, there was another band and Sam would be up around 11pm. 

"Tracey... TRACEY...... Over here!!!"

The next band whose entire extended family were seated in front of us including Gran and Gramps ( I saw them turn off their hearing aids and I cursed those old people) came on and I think most people thought it was Sam for a moment and then they realized the game! 

This young, unrecorded band, were tolerable, they had some musicality and kept their heads where they should be. But after 3-4 songs I was back to wanting to stab myself with the drumstick I had found on my chair....... Or beat someone with it.

Also wondering if there were any free Red a Bulls left? 

Finally at 11ish Sam and the Band came on but by now we were avoiding eye contact with Tracey for fear of the stairs we had to negotiate to exit the building. Also I am sure we were contact high from all the weed smoke in the non smoking venue and TBH I was quite tired.... But Sam and the boys were good ... We sort of danced while stifling the odd yawn and watching the clock to make sure we didn't miss the last train at 1:15am because by now we knew the odds were most definitely not in our favour.

After the first song of the encore we beat the crowd out and made the train home.

Our 6th concert together was memorable and the fact it ranks in the top 4 only tells you our concert selection skills are below average.

But if it produces a story we can bore our kids and friends with for years to come and grow old reminiscing about "that time we saw Sam Roberts in the middle of the night" then all is well.

Sunday was spent in a slight fog shopping for clothes and shoes for NYC for the girls and soccering for the boys and my bed is literally screaming my name.... 

Night!