It was too late upon our arrival to do more than blow up the queen size bed which just fit into Maya's room filled with boxes. The cats wandered around their new domain, marking each corner and cubby. The kind size bed covers almost the entire floor of my bedroom, but it feels luxurious and wonderful to close the shutters and hear just a little of the city noises outside. People are wandering around all night a few feet away from me, but it was not the city revelers that kept me awake; the cats are prowling all night and investigating constantly, and I will have to adjust to them. There is nowhere to hide in the apartment.
We all slept in, and the girls made pancakes for breakfast. The apartment has a complete kitchen, which was one of the attractions, but everything is in miniature; the fridge, the dishwasher, the washer/dryer (another plus) and the stove are all three quarter size, but entirely functional. The children were thrilled to sit on bar stools at the breakfast counter. Eric and I started unpacking boxes while Maya practiced violin with her 'mute' to muffle the sound. We are not sure our neighbours above and below want to hear three hours of violin a day at all hours.
Our adventure began in full sunshine (but cold) midday. There was a plaque near the front of the house informing us that several houses on the block were part of the 'Underground Railroad' and are historical landmarks. We walked up our street to 8th avenue, and ran into a protest of postal workers and locals and lots of police. The movement was for maintaining Saturday postal delivery. We passed a very imposing neoclassical post office on the left and in no time were in front of Pennsylvania Station. How convenient for us! I had read that Madison Square Gardens/Penn station was considered one of the uglier buildings in the city and was going to be torn down and destroyed. We headed toward 7th avenue and ran into Macy's, where we stood in line for a view of their garden show, a pavilion on Broadway full of exotic and tropical flowers with an Indian theme. It was gorgeous and lush and Eric and I liked that it did not cost a penny. Eric has charged me with finding free activities in New York, so that is one of my projects.
We had a bite at 'Pret a Manger', which I remembered eating at in London with Tara years ago; we found the food tasty and better than most English food and entirely affordable. Our next stop was 'Sabon', a soap store where Maya, Belina, Marius and I all had our hands washed, scrubbed, exfoliated and hydrated with luscious smelling lotions and cremes. ToysRUs was next, we stopped for a while at TKTS to see if there was a musical we HAD to see, but went on to the MnM store for a 'mood analysis. Maya was orange and quirky, I was creme and creative and Marius was pink and calm. At Rockefeller center, we admired the chocolates at 'Maison de Chocolat' and the skaters at the ice rink. The Lego store had the same sculptures it had last year. At St Patrick's cathedral almost every corner was under construction, but we found a place to sit and contemplate. We stopped in at the Lindt store for samples, and watched a street show with four young black men 'doing something positive' by dancing and gyrating acrobatically for pennies.
The children were tired and it was getting cold, so we walked along the edge of Central Park and admired the horses and their decorations. Our destination was 'Grom's' on Broadway for the best gelato in town. We scrambled down Broadway and then Eighth to our almost too warm apartment, where the cats had escaped from their exile in the bathroom. There are heated pipes too hot to touch in the bedroom and the living room, which heat the space along with the radiators, all of which are turned off. I have opened the windows in the bedroom and the open living space to encourage fresh air, but am not sure open windows are wise.
I was entranced by our first day in our new home. I slept a little better the second night, but actually liked hearing the street noise outside my window. It was Monday and Eric took the Path train to NJIT, while Maya worked on schoolwork and Belina made English scones. I found a Dean and Deluca up Eighth Avenue and decided to look for clotted cream. It was lightly drizzling when I left the house, and the drizzle turned to snow.I dropped off Maya's schoolwork at the magnificent post office up the street and enjoyed some espresso before briskly walking amongst the crowds to my destination 20 streets away. I was disappointed that Dean and Deluca was a coffee shop and not a store and did not have clotted cream, so I headed back on the wet streets.
Eric had warned Maya and I - more than once - to watch carefully when crossing the street. I ran across the intersection at 34th or 35th street, and a car turned left behind me and touched me slightly. I slipped as if on a banana peel and found myself upended on my back, feet in the air like an overturned turtle. It all happened so quickly, that I did not see that the car sped away. I thought I could not moved, and accepted the aid of passersby, who pulled me to my feet and asked if I was ok. I could walk, so I gingerly walked on, stunned by the experience. I was relieved that I was not paralyzed or run over, that I was alive. It took some time to pull myself together before I walked in the house where the children were playing quietly. I called Eric to pick up a splint for my swollen wrist and looked up urgent care facilities. By the time Eric arrived, it did not appear that I had enough time to wait for medical care, since I had a flight to Edmonton that evening and my Amtrak train was at 4.
Eric went out with the children to frolic in the rain, and I pulled myself together, painfully and left the apartment. I met a visitor to a neighbour upstairs who was friendly and sweet. It was agonizing to walk the few blocks to Penn station, but I got to Newark intact and onto my delayed flight (snow was on and off) and off to Edmonton. Being in first class the first leg helped, but in Minneapolis, I asked for a cart and since I did not look as needy as the elderly man I was with, I was dropped off nowhere near my gate and had to hobble for a time before I hailed another cart. I arrived at my parent's house after 1 in the morning, and my mother greeted me with irritation after waiting longer than expected for my arrival.
After spending the day taking care of my mother and visiting my father at the hospital, talking to doctors and nurses and physical therapists, and learning that my father is doing better than expected and experiencing my mother as appreciative and needy and feeling useful and important, along with taking lots and lots of Ibuprofen, I am relieved that I did not delay my flight and that I am here to do what I do well; which is to take care of people.
I wanted an Xray of my wrist, but the ER people told me it would be too expensive. I visited my parents' family doctor, who sent me for an Xray at the hospital. When asked for $675 up front, I chose to go to a nearby Radiography enterprise and paid $45 for an Xray to be read by tomorrow. I will figure out what to do when I get the results, and meanwhile enjoy the effects of NSAIDS. I will certainly watch very carefully when crossing the streets in my New York City home.
We all slept in, and the girls made pancakes for breakfast. The apartment has a complete kitchen, which was one of the attractions, but everything is in miniature; the fridge, the dishwasher, the washer/dryer (another plus) and the stove are all three quarter size, but entirely functional. The children were thrilled to sit on bar stools at the breakfast counter. Eric and I started unpacking boxes while Maya practiced violin with her 'mute' to muffle the sound. We are not sure our neighbours above and below want to hear three hours of violin a day at all hours.
Our adventure began in full sunshine (but cold) midday. There was a plaque near the front of the house informing us that several houses on the block were part of the 'Underground Railroad' and are historical landmarks. We walked up our street to 8th avenue, and ran into a protest of postal workers and locals and lots of police. The movement was for maintaining Saturday postal delivery. We passed a very imposing neoclassical post office on the left and in no time were in front of Pennsylvania Station. How convenient for us! I had read that Madison Square Gardens/Penn station was considered one of the uglier buildings in the city and was going to be torn down and destroyed. We headed toward 7th avenue and ran into Macy's, where we stood in line for a view of their garden show, a pavilion on Broadway full of exotic and tropical flowers with an Indian theme. It was gorgeous and lush and Eric and I liked that it did not cost a penny. Eric has charged me with finding free activities in New York, so that is one of my projects.
We had a bite at 'Pret a Manger', which I remembered eating at in London with Tara years ago; we found the food tasty and better than most English food and entirely affordable. Our next stop was 'Sabon', a soap store where Maya, Belina, Marius and I all had our hands washed, scrubbed, exfoliated and hydrated with luscious smelling lotions and cremes. ToysRUs was next, we stopped for a while at TKTS to see if there was a musical we HAD to see, but went on to the MnM store for a 'mood analysis. Maya was orange and quirky, I was creme and creative and Marius was pink and calm. At Rockefeller center, we admired the chocolates at 'Maison de Chocolat' and the skaters at the ice rink. The Lego store had the same sculptures it had last year. At St Patrick's cathedral almost every corner was under construction, but we found a place to sit and contemplate. We stopped in at the Lindt store for samples, and watched a street show with four young black men 'doing something positive' by dancing and gyrating acrobatically for pennies.
The children were tired and it was getting cold, so we walked along the edge of Central Park and admired the horses and their decorations. Our destination was 'Grom's' on Broadway for the best gelato in town. We scrambled down Broadway and then Eighth to our almost too warm apartment, where the cats had escaped from their exile in the bathroom. There are heated pipes too hot to touch in the bedroom and the living room, which heat the space along with the radiators, all of which are turned off. I have opened the windows in the bedroom and the open living space to encourage fresh air, but am not sure open windows are wise.
I was entranced by our first day in our new home. I slept a little better the second night, but actually liked hearing the street noise outside my window. It was Monday and Eric took the Path train to NJIT, while Maya worked on schoolwork and Belina made English scones. I found a Dean and Deluca up Eighth Avenue and decided to look for clotted cream. It was lightly drizzling when I left the house, and the drizzle turned to snow.I dropped off Maya's schoolwork at the magnificent post office up the street and enjoyed some espresso before briskly walking amongst the crowds to my destination 20 streets away. I was disappointed that Dean and Deluca was a coffee shop and not a store and did not have clotted cream, so I headed back on the wet streets.
Eric had warned Maya and I - more than once - to watch carefully when crossing the street. I ran across the intersection at 34th or 35th street, and a car turned left behind me and touched me slightly. I slipped as if on a banana peel and found myself upended on my back, feet in the air like an overturned turtle. It all happened so quickly, that I did not see that the car sped away. I thought I could not moved, and accepted the aid of passersby, who pulled me to my feet and asked if I was ok. I could walk, so I gingerly walked on, stunned by the experience. I was relieved that I was not paralyzed or run over, that I was alive. It took some time to pull myself together before I walked in the house where the children were playing quietly. I called Eric to pick up a splint for my swollen wrist and looked up urgent care facilities. By the time Eric arrived, it did not appear that I had enough time to wait for medical care, since I had a flight to Edmonton that evening and my Amtrak train was at 4.
Eric went out with the children to frolic in the rain, and I pulled myself together, painfully and left the apartment. I met a visitor to a neighbour upstairs who was friendly and sweet. It was agonizing to walk the few blocks to Penn station, but I got to Newark intact and onto my delayed flight (snow was on and off) and off to Edmonton. Being in first class the first leg helped, but in Minneapolis, I asked for a cart and since I did not look as needy as the elderly man I was with, I was dropped off nowhere near my gate and had to hobble for a time before I hailed another cart. I arrived at my parent's house after 1 in the morning, and my mother greeted me with irritation after waiting longer than expected for my arrival.
After spending the day taking care of my mother and visiting my father at the hospital, talking to doctors and nurses and physical therapists, and learning that my father is doing better than expected and experiencing my mother as appreciative and needy and feeling useful and important, along with taking lots and lots of Ibuprofen, I am relieved that I did not delay my flight and that I am here to do what I do well; which is to take care of people.
I wanted an Xray of my wrist, but the ER people told me it would be too expensive. I visited my parents' family doctor, who sent me for an Xray at the hospital. When asked for $675 up front, I chose to go to a nearby Radiography enterprise and paid $45 for an Xray to be read by tomorrow. I will figure out what to do when I get the results, and meanwhile enjoy the effects of NSAIDS. I will certainly watch very carefully when crossing the streets in my New York City home.
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