I'm Leaving Today...

Yes, that’s right. My trip has come to an end. It was awesome while it lasted. I was gone from home just long enough to get a really nice break without missing my family too much, but I’m ready to go home now. Although it will be nice taking a shower that doesn’t alternately scald layers of skin off my body and give me frostbite, I will miss this great city.

Before leaving today, my agent and I did one last “touristy” thing. We took a little walk to the Empire State Building. I can now say that I’ve gone to the top of the Empire State Building. I do not feel the need to do it again. Ever. While waiting for four and a half hours in line (or ON line as New Yorkers say) we listened to folks threaten guests that once they reached the top, there would be no signs telling about the buildings or the view and there would be no people to answer questions or explain what they were seeing. Sooo, in other words, "buy our special map and audio tour for the bargain price of $12.99."

Once on top, there was barely enough space to move. It was five hundred degrees up there as they had the heat blasting out the vents because the sun shining through the windows didn’t make it quite hot enough. The reason there was no room is because the entire observation area was filled with souvenirs for sale. Unfortunately, because of ice, the outside area was closed this morning and visibility was only five miles so we didn’t get a very good view (not that we could see out the window with the throngs of people and sweat dripping down our faces into our eyes.)

It was definitely not like An Affair to Remember!

We went back to the hotel, packed up and awaited our rides to the airports. Yesterday, I figured out that the scary tunnel I went through on the way to the hotel, actually goes UNDER WATER! I rode through WATER! That’s crazy! Really cool, but crazy! I got back to the airport quickly, had a bite to eat, and sat down to write as I had over a two hour wait!

I can’t wait to see how my family fared while I was gone. I only got two calls from my kids while I was in New York. One was from my daughter to say, “Daddy’s being crabby and yelling at us.” Ugh. The other one was to say goodnight. Awww. My son only IMed me fifty times to ask me to get him a snow globe of the Empire State Building. After he "reminded" me to look for a snow globe for the the zillionith time, I informed him, "If you ask me one more time, the only souvenir you'll get is a piece of chewed gum I picked off the subway." Hey, if it's good enough for Buddy the elf...

I called my husband yesterday and he started talking about how he had installed some lights and a new mailbox. He must have talked for ten minutes about this before he asked me about New York. I kept thinking to myself, “Is this how I sound? Do I really go on and on like that about the mundane things I do all day?” The answer hit me as a resounding YES! I guess it’s inevitable. When you’re stuck home all day, dealing with kids, isolated from other adults, you sort of go crazy and given the chance, you talk your head off about any subject to any adult who will listen.

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OK, I'm home now. It was an amazing trip! I'm still giddy about it. There wasn't enough time to do and see everything New York has to offer, but I'm so thankful I was able to experience as much as I did. New York is a very unique, fun city and it was especially wonderful at Christmas time.

My flight home was a bit delayed, but all in all, not bad. I sat next to a gentlemen who said things like, "I wonder if you threw a baseball up in the air on the plane, would it just stay in one spot, or would it fly toward the back of the plane?" I thought to myself, "I'm sitting next to my husband coming up with crazy, hypothetical questions like that!"

Joe and kids did fine while I was gone. I think. So they say anyway. Joe patched some holes in the walls and put up some new lights while I was in New York. The kids may not have worn matching clothes all week, but that's no big deal. I think they got along ok. You know what that means, don't you? It means I can leave again sometime without worrying! ;)

Who says they have large rats in New York City?

Inside the Empire State Building

These Vagabond Shoes...

...are killing my feet. Really. I didn't pack the best "walking in the city shoes" and my feet huuuurt tonight. But it's SO worth it because this city is really awesome! To those of you who wrote and said, "Ask any New Yorker for directions and they'll be happy to give them to you," thank you! You were absolutely right! They were happy to give us directions and like you said, they argued over the best way to get there! LOL!

It rained pretty much all day, but there wasn't any snow in the city. I hear outlying areas got quite a bit though. The weather cleared up this evening however, and it was absolutely beautiful here! I think I nearly made Janet, my poor agent, freeze her warm Californian blood as I forced her to stop again and again so I could take pictures of buildings. I took a lot of pictures of buildings! The thing is - I don't know what any of them are because I didn't have a tour guide. Sooo, to my very proud New York readers, I'm asking you to write and identify any of these pictures for me. Thank you!

I had a totally amazing day! I feel like all I did today was eat! So, I guess all the walking was a good thing. :) I had breakfast with my agent and the vice president. In my ultra smooth, suave fashion, I hit myself in the noggin and left a lovely red mark across my forehead during breakfast. I had to make an impression somehow, right?

Then I went to the Guideposts office and had a meeting with with the editor-in-chief of Guideposts magazine, Edward and a lovely woman, Celeste, who had seen me on ABC News before the book deal even came about.

Hmmm, let's see. I think this is when I went to a great fondue restaurant for lunch. Mmmmm, two of my favorite food groups - cheese and chocolate!


from left: my editor Beth, vice president Jonathan, CEO Dick, agent Janet, and me

After lunch, I spoke with Beth, my editor. This girl is wonderful, witty, sharp, and boy, will she have her work cut out for her when I give her my manuscript next month!

Next I had a conference call with Jennifer in TN who will be working on marketing my book. When we hung up she was "going to fetch her daughter". Hee hee - I love those southern accents! Oh speaking of accents! When I ordered my pizza last night, the guy looked at me like I was strange when I asked for a can of "pop". I forgot it's called soda here. Then he asked me, "Do you want a fork and knife?" I was shocked and taken completely aback because it sounded like he said something entirely different with his New York accent! Say it aloud to yourself a couple times.

Finally, we wrapped things up with Jonathan, who's taking a chance on me. "New author, almost missed her plane, smacked herself in the head, diaper changing, ordinary" me. He really seems to believe in my book. I'm thrilled to no end about these wonderful opportunities and I'm so happy and excited to be working with a great team of people at Guideposts! (and I'm not just saying that because I know they read my blog!)

Oh yeah - did I mention that we did a lot of talking about this guy for some reason? ROFL ;)
After we went back to our rooms to rest and freshen up a bit, Janet and I headed over to Grand Central Station for drinks. I mean the real Grand Central Station and not my house, which I oftentimes call Grand Central Station. What an awesome building!

I told my kids, "I went to Grand Central Station."
They said, "Where???"
"Remember where the giraffe got his head stuck in the clock and the old lady beat Alex the lion with her purse?"
light dawns "Oh yeeeaaaahhh! Cool! Did you take pictures?"
(For those of you who don't know - this is from the animated movie Madagascar. For those of you who did know what I was talking about - you, like me, watch too much kid TV!)

They brought us cookies there. I love that place! COOKIES!

We then walked over to Rockefeller Center and went ice skating. Ok, so we didn't really skate, but we watched skaters and had dinner at a restaurant right across the street. They brought us cookies. Yes, more COOKIES! I love New York!

After that we walked back to our hotel while I took dozens of pictures like the goofy tourist I am!


Enjoy the pictures and pretend like you are here!


The magnificent ceiling at Grand Central Station


Grand Central



I guess you can't really see it, but a Christmas scene was projected onto the walls and ceiling


Clock in Grand Central Station


My favorite - the Chrysler Building



A giant thing of pennies. Anyone know what these are for?


A breathtakingly beautiful church. Someone said it was St. Patrick's?


Rockefeller Center


Rockefeller Center


Rockefeller


Rockefeller





Rockefeller


Rockefeller


A store window - I forgot where


Store window at The American Girl store


Garbage. It amazed me how much garbage I saw sitting on the streets. I guess there's nowhere else to put it and with a gazillion people in the city, it really adds up.


Ummm a library, I think


A cool looking building





Another neat building





The Empire State Building with lots of fog. Cool, huh?

Start Spreading the News...

Amazingly, I made it to New York! I called and scheduled a cab to pick me up at 8:00am, allowing plenty of time to get to the airport for my 10:50 flight. I made it through security and got to my gate by 9:00am. Great. No problems. I figured I had time to kill so I got some coffee and a bagel and sat down with my computer. I hung out in the food court area for a while, then decided to head back to my gate to wait for the plane. I sat down and did some reading. I don't know what possessed me to get up and look at the board, but I'm glad I did. My flight had been delayed, now with an 11:40 departure time, and boarding had been moved to another gate. So, I gathered up my things and headed to the new gate where I doubled checked, with the airline people, that I was in the right place. Assured that I was where I was supposed to be, I took my laptop back out and did some writing while I waited for them to begin boarding.

Time ticked by and they never called anyone to board. The thing is, the waiting area at the gate was nearly empty though. I had heard them call people to board for the flight to Minneapolis. But why wasn't anyone else waiting for the New York flight? It was 11:30 and no one was around and they hadn't called anyone to board. "Oh no," I thought. "My flight has been moved to yet another gate!"

I asked a guy at the desk where the flight for LaGuardia was boarding.

"Right here."

"Here???"

"Yes, but the flight is full."

"Full?" I stammered. "What do you mean 'it's full'?"

This guy was totally pulling my leg. This can't be my plane. My plane can't be full. The door can't be closed to my plane because I never heard them call anyone to board. If it was my plane, I'd be on it and I wasn't on it, so this guy was obviously joking around with me.

The gentleman was looking at me like I was quite possibly the dumbest person on earth.

Uh oh. He's not joking around with me.

"Seriously? This is the plane to New York?! I never heard you call anyone to board! All I heard was boarding for Minneapolis! Here's my ticket!" I thrust my ticket in his face and started freaking out in earnest. The only thing going through my mind at this point was "Oh crap!"

He told me to run because the plane was about to back away. He unlocked the door, so I could run down the gangway as the flight attendants started closing the airplane door. The flight attendant looked at me and informed me there was no room for my suitcase and I'd have to go back to the gate and check it. Ugh. I ran back up the gangway, waited for the guy to unlock the door again, handed him my suitcase, prayed it would actually make it on the flight, then ran back down to the plane. This time the flight attendant informed me that my seat had been given away, so she assigned me another seat (the ONLY empty seat) between two other passengers. I didn't want to hold up the flight, so I didn't bother trying to stow my coat and instead held it the whole trip.

I sat down, heart racing, sweating with my winter coat on my lap, squished between two people, and thought, "It's official. I've just replaced my 'dork' status with that of 'world's biggest idiot'." the next thought was, "Oh well. At least I have something to blog about. I can't let my readers down by having a normal, uneventful trip, right?" ;)

New York is BIG. I mean, like really, really big. I mean like bigger than my butt(and that is REALLY big!) The ride from the airport to my hotel scared the snot out of me. Oh my gosh, New Yorkers drive like MANIACS! I'm not sure which was scarier - the weaving in and out of traffic with mere centimeters to spare on either side, or this long, narrow tunnel with a cement wall on one side and orange things sticking out of the ground on the other, and barely enough room for one car to fit in between!

I have to admit to Melissa and Denise, my east coast friends from Connecticut and Lawn Guy Land respectively, that New York pizza is pretty darn good. I wouldn't say it was better than Chicago pizza, but it was yummy nonetheless. :D I'm prepared to call it a tie.

I just have one question. What is with all the horn honking?!! That's all I hear from my hotel room. Do people really think the traffic will move more speedily if they honk? I don't get it. I've never heard so much honking before! It's really loud. I guess it's all in what you're used to. People who live here probably don't even notice it.

So far, so good though. This city is very cool looking and I can't wait to explore a little more!


The Empire State Building


Lord & Taylor all lit up for Christmas


This was just delivered to my room! It includes champagne and chocolate! Have I mentioned how much I'm loving this?!!!