Where to begin....

I am procrastinating, I don't know where to begin with the unpacking, so I am taking the approach of ignoring it;)  The move was fine, the actual movers were very nice and helpful.  However, trying to squeeze in your belongings from a 3000 square foot house into a 1200 square foot apartment has proved to be very difficult.  I can't imagine what we would have done if we didn't get rid of all the stuff that we did before we let Atlanta!  I knew we were off to a rough start when the movers said "what stuff is going into storage, and what stuff is being brought up the apartment?"  Ummm all of it is coming up!  After they finished and we were signing the paperwork, the head guy said "I didn't think there was any way we were going to fit all this in here!"  Eventually we will get organized and it will all get unpacked, but in the meantime, it's easier to close my eyes. 

So far we really like our new place.  The building is nice and it's sooo quiet, it was like heaven going to sleep on Friday night without sirens and horns outside.  We have some nice restaurants and a pharmacy all within a two minute walk.  If you walk out the side of our building, the Statue of Liberty is right there in your face, and on the other side of the building is a great view of NYC and the Freedom Tower.  It is also nice to have our car and drive again...although at the same time, I didn't miss it and it is nice to not have to get in the car every time you go somewhere.

Friday was a sad day, and unfortunately the sadness is still hanging over everyone's head.  We had no internet or tv yet, and David and I were really hoping the installer would come on Friday, he didn't, and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  When David read on his phone that there was shooting in Connecticut, I didn't give it much thought.  Then, as details emerged, I was suddenly so thankful that we didn't have the news on or the internet to read about it.  My heart hurts for all the families and everyone affected.  We still aren't watching much of the coverage on it, #1 because emotionally we just can't handle it, and #2, I think the news media needs to give the town time to grieve.

While I was  teaching, we had drills where you turned the lights off and locked your classroom door, and all the students huddled together in the corner, hopefully out of sight. But, even as we had those drills, never in a million years do you ever think it won't be "just a drill".   I also think this will be a turning point in our country and bring about the change that is needed with guns. Hopefully President Obama will push to make the necessary changes.

Christmas in NYC

The first weekend of December my parents came to visit us in New York.  We had a great time, and New York is BEAUTIFUL during the Christmas season...but it is sooo sooo crowded (much more than usual) that it is physically difficult to walk down some of the streets. 

On my way to meet my parents at Penn Station, I saw Vince Vaughn filming a movie!

Friday night we went to Radio City Music Hall's Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes.  It was a fun show, definitely not like a Broadway show, more laid back.  You were allowed to take pictures without the flash, and it was definitely a family event.  We had a great time, and it amazes me how the Rockettes are always able to kick at the exact same moment!

After the show, we walked around Rockefeller Center (it was freezing) and then went to dinner at Molyvos, one of our favorite Greek restaurants.  David and I actually discovered it one summer before we even knew or had any desire to move to NYC. 

On Saturday we braved Macy's...honestly it's so crowded I don't know how people actually get any shopping done there, it's impossible with all the people.  We checked out the store windows, walked to Grand Central Station and then did some shopping on Fifth Avenue. 

The weather warmed up on Sunday, which was good since we had tickets to the September 11th memorial.  David and I have been, but we took my parents since hadn't seen it before.  Even after all these years, you still get such a heavy feeling being there. 

Monday David went to work, and my parents and I went out to brave the crowds some more.  We went to the Cathedral, Bryant Park, Tiffany's, FAO Schwartz, and Central Park. 

 

 

My parents left on the train Tuesday morning.  We had a great time, and I think we managed to squeeze a lot in the short time they were here! 

Friday is moving day....I wish I could just close my eyes and everything would be there and unpacked.  Since we have some stuff at our temporary housing, David will be here Friday morning to deal with those movers, while I drive over to New Jersey to work with the movers that are bringing our stuff from storage.  I can't wait to have my bed back....and my coffee maker!  My plan for Saturday is to put up our Christmas tree....even though we won't be here for Christmas, I can't imagine not having a tree up! 

Happy 12/12/12 day!!!

Very Thankful

We went to my parent's house in Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving, and had such a nice time!  Besides the fact that we slept so well since it's just a tad quieter in central PA than it is in NYC;), it was so relaxing and enjoyable to have time with my parents.  We arrived Monday night on the train (which by the way, David made potato salad for the train ride which stunk up the entire train car).  On Tuesday we went to lunch at a place in Harrisburg called Dodge City.  David has been wanting to eat there since it was on Food Network's Restaurant Impossible.  All of us were very impressed, the outside made us a little skeptical, but inside the decorating from the show as very modern, and the food was great!  After lunch we braved the grocery store to shop for Thanksgiving dinner...it was crowded, but I am sure nothing like it would have been if we had waited until Wednesday.

On Wednesday night my mom, David and I went to Hershey Park's Christmas Light Show.  My dad wasn't feeling well so he stayed home, but we still had a great time.  The entire park was decorated for Christmas, and we rode a few rides, there were no lines! We had such a nice time.

 

 

Thursday we ate.....and ate.....and ate.  David and I did most of the cooking and everything turned out really well, even though the turkey was a little too dry.  We only ran into one issue while cooking...as I was peeling the potatoes in the sink, I was running the garbage disposal, and it ended up clogging.  Luckily, my dad being the patient person that he is, was able to fix it as we continued to cook.  He was very happy about it;)

 We had Thanksgiving around 1:00, and then rolled ourselves to the couch to watch the Redskins beat the Cowboys! 

Around 7:30pm, in true Thanksgiving tradition, my dad and I went to Wal-Mart for some black Friday shopping.  I couldn't convince David to come along this year, and my mom never seems up for it.  My goal this year was to get a laptop for $180.  I love the ipad, but there are things I can't do on there, I can't upload pictures to the blog, I can't use word for my resume etc..  The computers went on sale at 10pm, so my dad and I were able to get a ticket and line up just before 8:00.  I think they had around 70 computers, and they ran out of tickets about 15 minutes after we got there.  Wal-Mart was of course INSANE!  We were lucky though, in that the aisle we were stuck in for 2 hours was where the step stools were, so we took two off the shelf and had a seat!  I also went to the magazine section and grabbed some reading material for both of us.

After our victory of getting the laptop and waiting in line forever, we drove around to see the other lines (insane!  the line for Best Buy went around the building!)

Friday we hung out at home and helped my parents put up their Christmas tree.  Before leaving Saturday evening, we toured a historical house and went to a Christmas train show.

Life always has its fair share of stressful and difficult times, but we are so thankful.