10 Things I learned in NYC

I had the amazing opportunity to spend a few days in NYC with my daughter last week.  It was a surreal experience and the Big Apple did not disappoint.  Here are a few things I learned...

1. Taxi drivers love their horns, their gas pedals and brakes.  Staying in their own lane, not so much.  

2. The streets are just as busy, fast moving, loud and sometimes stinky, as they look on TV. 

3. Everyone we met, that lives there was soooooo nice.  For some reason it surprised me. 

4.  Broadway is not overrated.  The shows we saw were better than we ever imagined.  

5. The subway was not as scary and as hard to figure out as I thought.  They were as stinky though. 

6. Kareem Abdul Jabbar is taller in person.  

7. People really do win contests.  There were 32 of the nicest kids there that proved that.  

8. Not everyone gets mugged in Central Park.  It is so beautiful and picturesque.  

9.  Hardly anyone dresses like the girls from Sex and the City.  

10. I love being with my daughter and hanging out.  This is something I already knew.  It was just reconfirmed!

Linda

It's Up to You New York, New York

While at college, pursuing a higher education, she was watching MTV.  I don't allow that channel in my house, but my daughter is 19 now and on her own and making her own crap reality show choices.  An ad come on saying "text this number now for a chance to win a trip to NYC."  Yea right.  Without her mom's pessimistic voice in her ear, she did it and then forgot about it.

One month later she received a phone call saying she won a trip for two to NYC and the chance to win up to $100,000 in a texting competition.   Yea right.  She called me excited but we were both skeptical.  This is something that only happens on Oprah but not to us.  Low and behold two weeks later she gets a fat envelope with details and a contract.  What the what? And because I have not cut the umbilical chord completely, she asked me to go with her on this trip.  Ummmmmm YES!

So crazy as it is, while we were spending money on tuition and bigger dreams for our first born, she wins a trip to NYC to be in a texting competition.  And as you read this we are on a plane to the city that never sleeps.  I have typed up four pages of instructions and schedules for the household while and I gone.  It only takes a small village to replace me for a few days.

To come out with the prize money would be nice but the sooner she is eliminated from the texting fray, the  more time we will have to pursue tourist and shopping goals.  We could actually sit and watch Broadway shows for 4 days and be in our own little heaven.

What strange circumstances and an amazing opportunity to be with my girl who has lived out of the house of the past year.  And to share NYC together is going to be a thrill.  I hope.  I am praying we don't get mugged or lost.  Or both.  Or become the subject of the next Law and Order: SVU.  I am calling this our "Text and the City Tour."

If she makes it to the final 8, you can watch it live at 1pm EST on  this Tuesday, Sept. 21 at  Livestream.com. We may be there or we may be at the top of the Empire State Building by then.

Wish us luck.

Linda

Redeeming Myself

Just in time to redeem myself from my last post, I am honored to be a guest writer for Jocelyn at We Talk of Christ, We Rejoice in Christ.  Yes I know, I was surprised too. She is an amazing young mom, who being much more mature than me, writes about families, service and faith.  This month she is celebrating Family: A Proclamation to the World, a document written for and about families in 1995.  Every day she is featuring a different guest writer and her/his perspective on this amazing proclamation.  I am thrilled to be a part of it.  Please go show some love.  


Linda

Bedometer

I once extolled  to you my love of my iPhone.  My phone and I have been in a serious relationship for almost 2 years.  We have had our ups and downs but have remained faithful to each other.  My husband, who gave me the phone quickly started calling it my lover because it never left my hands. Even in bed. Since then he has gotten his own iPhone so the jealousy has lessened.  Well I found a way to combine the love of my of phone, my bed and my husband all in one.  This handy little application called the Bedometerr, will count the number of calories that are burned during sex.  Finally!!

As you see, it does not discriminate against the single person with it's one player mode.  It's really the best of all worlds. We can use BOTH of our phones for a more accurate report of the calories burned in our "sexy gym."  You can even share your results on Facebook to compare your work outs with your friends.  All this for only $.99. What will they think of next?

Linda

Into the Wild

I am not accustomed to giving travelogues on my blog but I had such a fantastic labor day weekend that I had to share.  With one chick that has already flown the coup, every time I can get my whole family together is a joy.  The older they get the harder it will be to have these weekends.  Pulling my husband out of work mode is not always easy either.  But we did it. We stole away to the mountains.  To 72 degree weather and even cooler nights.

The kids could just hang around

The teenagers could drive themselves crazy

We could share our burning love for one another

Man/Boy celebrated his 17th birthday with a swan dive

And I now have PROOF that the hubby can make friends ANYWHERE!

The most interesting, strange, morbid, creepy aspect of the weekend was within the very walls of the cabin we rented.  The owner, who we do not know, apparently loves to hunt and has a very close relationship with his taxidermist. 

Mr. Fox watched over us while we ate.

There was Bambi...

...and his extended family.

 Mr. Armadillo kept guard at the window

The Turkey Triplets were indeed stuffed, but not for Thanksgiving. 

The best was saved for the master bedroom of course...

Meet Muskrat Suzy with hoofed arrow shoved through her throat.

(I guess it was in supposed to inspire "Muskrat Love")  

And we had our bedside reading light to comfort us.  

Despite the house of horrors, it was a perfect weekend because...

...I had all my ducks in a row.  (with one very unhappy duck on the end)

Linda