Monday, May 31, 2010

NYC Day 3 (by G)

 G at the New York Stock Exchange -- near the TKTS office

On day 3 we got up at our usual late hour and headed out for the day.  We got a bagel at Cafe Bravo around the corner from our hotel and walked back down to Seaport to TKTS.  We were hoping that they would have tickets to Wicked or the Lion King, but we were out of luck.  We weren't sure what to do and the line was really long so we decided to go see the World Trade Center Memorial that they had set up by the site. 

Construction has started on rebuilding the new buildings and memorial, so the current memorial had been moved inside.  You can see the plans and the current progress of the building on the site at www.wtcprogress.org.  The memorial was very touching and brought back a lot of memories.  It was hard, yet interesting to read the accounts of people who experienced the horror of September 11, 2001.  That day exposed the very worst and yet the very best in humankind. 

When I was participating in the Model United Nations in college, we spent 10 days in NYC.  I got to go to the top of the WTC and see the amazing view from the top of the building.  Then later in 2000, M and I went to see some friends in New Jersey.  During that visit we went to the Statue of Liberty and we have a picture of us with the WTC in the background.  It's hard to believe that the horror and destruction happened 9 years ago.

 Construction on the new WTC Towers.  Very little work has been done, but all the neighboring buildings that were damaged have been repaired, and of course the destruction has been removed.

After the memorial, we went shopping at Century 21 -- the biggest discount store we've ever seen in our lives.  We decided from there to walk back down to TKTS at Seaport and made the decision to get tickets for Phantom of the Opera.  M and I saw the musical a couple years ago in Portland and we really enjoyed it.  We kept thinking that we should really see something else, but because we like it so much, we decided to go see it again.  After the tickets were purchased we walked back to the hotel to change. 

In the meantime, I called and got us reservations for Victor's Cafe, our favorite Cuban restaurant in NYC.  On that same trip in 2000, we went to Victor's with friends.  We remember the food being amazing and had been craving it ever since (as you can tell, a lot of our trip was centered around food).  We changed, hopped the subway and went to dinner.  Needless to say, the Vaca Frita was just as amazing as we remembered it.  We had Cuban churros for dessert with dulce de leche dipping sauce.

 Heaven on a plate.  Vaca Frita.

After dinner, we had some time before the show so we decided to get back on the subway and head to the fashion district.  We went into H&M and the flagship Old Navy.  After spending some time there we rode the subway back to Times Square and went to the theater for Phantom.  Phantom was amazing and the cast did an incredible job.  It was really fun to see it again. 

 After the show.

After the show, we decided to take the shuttle to Grand Central Station.  While we were waiting for the shuttle we saw a very large rat running around the platform.  It freaked M out.  We weren't fast enough on the camera to get a picture so we could show Buddy when we got home. (And as a result of no picture proof, Buddy has since asked for very detailed accounting of what the rat looked like.  The color of it's fur?  Did it have red eyes?  How long was it's tail?  And we have discussed the rat every day since we've been home.)

Moments after seeing a rat. 

We walked around Grand Central Station for a little while and then we decided to head back to the hotel.  By then we were hungry again, so we had to stop back at the cafe and pizza place by our hotel and grab a late night snack.  I had a really good chicken parmigiana flat bread sandwich and M got a slice of cheese pizza.  We took the food back to the hotel, ate, and rested our sore feet.  

P.S.  M here.  Although it doesn't seem like it from the pictures, I was indeed present at all of our outings.  G just chose not to take any pictures of me all day for some reason.  And the other thing I wanted to tell you was that if the whole NBC gig doesn't work out for me, I found my other calling in life.  After dinner at Victor's I used the bathroom and there was  lady in there who helped me to my stall and then handed me a paper towel after I'd washed my hands.  She had a tip collection jar.  I can't think of a more awesome job than standing around listening to people do their business and handing out paper towels.  I'm not joking around when I say that is a dream job.  Imagine the stories!  

Friday, May 28, 2010

NYC Day 2

Friday morning we woke up and took a walk over to the financial district. We wandered around, noticed CNN reporting from City Hall, checked out the NY Stock Exchange, watched all the power businessmen/women doing their thing, and wandered over to the TKTS ticket office to see what broadway shows they had that night.  We decided to check back on Saturday for a show because we had a few other ideas up our sleeve for that night.

At the seaport with the financial district in the background.

From there, we wandered over to the seaport.  It was really cool, but so similar to Seattle, we decided to take a walk over to Little Italy, passing through Chinatown first.  We felt like idiots since we had no idea which where we were going, so we kept trying to look at our map on the sly, but still a couple men on different occassions asked us if we needed help.  So embarrassing!  We walked a long, long way and before we'd arrived in Little Italy, I had blisters all over my feet and was desparate for some moleskin, which I happened to have back at the hotel.  We had come too far to turn around, so G told me to suck it up.  We searched high and low for a pharmacy, but I guess accupuncture is much more common than Walgreens in Chinatown.  Go figure.  We did, however, find a lady selling cherries on the sidewalk for $3.00 for 2 pounds.  We got some but only ate a few right then because I'm super paranoid about washing things and didn't want to spoil my entire vacation with diarrhea.  I figured there had to be a reason they were so cheap.  But boy were they good! (We washed them later at the hotel.)

Eventually we made it to Little Italy and found a place to eat.  I had raviolis and G had chicken parmegiana and he hasn't stopped talking about it since.  After lunch we stopped and got a canoli which we agreed was OK -- not as good as the lunch we just enjoyed.  We also got a kick out of the Italian "police equipment" store right there along the main drag.  From there, we started walking again and walked, and walked, and walked.  I still hadn't remedied my blister situation and was on the verge of another bad mood. 

 John Jovino's Police Equipment in Little Italy.  If I don't get some moleskin I'm going to need some of that police equipment.

We took the subway up to Rockefeller Center and walked around the shops there.  Low and behold:  a pharmacy!  It was perfect timing because we had an appointment in a few minutes for a tour of some of the NBC studios and I really wanted to be on my "A-Game" for that.  I got some fancy tape, wrapped up my feet, and in a few minutes was as good as new. 

Next stop:  NBC Tour.  It was done by two NBC pages, and right away after meeting them and hearing some of their stories, I started really regretting never pursuing my broadcasting career.  The tour was a lot of fun and we got to see a few smaller studios, but the highlight was definitly visitng the SNL set.  It is so much smaller than it appears on TV.  They use super wide-angle lenses, so you'd never realize how small it is.  And yeah-after the tour G and I were strategizing how he could take/pass the Bar in New York and how I could get at a job at NBC. 

After NBC, we walked around and poked our heads in Saks 5th Avenue.  We felt like idiots in there, although 95% of the shoppers were young 20-something women that I'm sure couldn't afford the shoes they were buying.  It was interesting to see, at the very least.  We visited St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was just gorgeous.  I had been in it briefly one other time, but we actually spent awhile in there that evening. 

 Time's Square

We walked back to Time's Square, went in a few stores, then eventually decided to take the subway down to Brooklyn to eat at a highly recommended pizza joint, Grimaldi's. 

We arrived at the pizza place to realize there was a super long line -- like all-the-way-down-the-road line.  Luckily, the guy in front of us in line was a "local" showing his visiting friend around the city.  So we eavesdropped on his conversation, learning that this place is known by most as the best pizza in NYC.  So we decided to suck it up, and wait in line, although by that point our feet were so sore from walking that we could hardly endure the 90-minute wait.  Finally we got seated after 11:00 PM.

Have I mentioned yet that we never adjusted to NYC time?  We ate lunch around 4 every day and ate dinner every night at 10 or later.  It sure made it nice transitioning back to PST when we came home!

So anyway, the pizza was fabulous!  We were seated right by the oven, so it was cool to see and TASTE how a coal-burning fire turns out pizza.  Very good, to say the least.

 A happy G after some fabulous pizza

We headed from Brooklyn back to our hotel, called our boys, then changed our shoes and headed back out to wander around the World Trade Center site.  We walked around the entire perimater of the fenced area, then walked through a few buildings that were still open, and walked around Battery Park City.  Even in the dark, we could tell it was really pretty down there, especially seeing the Statue of Liberty off in the distance. 

By then we were totally spent and walked back to our hotel at about 2:00 AM.  Another very exciting day!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

New York: Concrete Jungles, Where Dreams Are Made Of

...Except if your dream is to see David Letterman's show. 

I'm still not over my collosal disappointment at having been denied tickets to David Letterman twice now.  Denied once in 2000 and once in 2010.  So, so, so very disappointed.

Luckily, that was the low point of our child-free trip to New York.  Thanks to our wonderful friends, Shauna and Nicki and Christy and my amazingly capable parents, we were able to have the time of our lives.  We did so much in our >5 days, I don't even know where to start.  So I'll just start at the beginning.  (I'm not sorry if this bores you.)
  • Wednesday evening drop the kids off with Nicki.
  • Take a red-eye flight to NYC.
  • Refuse sleep because we're so excited.  And because the plane had amazing free music and TV choices.  And because we were too busy eating candy.
  • Arrive in NYC at around 6:45 AM, about 30 minutes ahead of schedule.
  • Take a ridiculousy overpriced taxi from the airport to our hotel, right next door to the World Trade Center site.
  • Realize the hotel is totally sold out and won't have any rooms available for us until later that afternoon once all the guests wake up, check out, and the staff gets the rooms cleaned.
  • Kiss our plans of a shower and nap goodbye and change our clothes and brush our teeth in the lobby bathroom.  Leave our luggage with the front desk.
  • Set out for our day on the town well before 9:00 AM.
  • Buy our subway pass.  First stop:  Time's Square. 
  • Wander over to a bakery and share an amazing bagel outside.
  • Laugh at all our friends in Oregon and Utah who are dealing with rain/snow.  Because we'll be "dealing" with weather in the 70-80's all week.
  • Walk across the street to Rockefeller Center.  
 Rockefeller Center with NBC buildings in the background.
  • At 10:45 start counting down the minutes until 11:00 when we plan to each start calling for David Letterman tickets. 
  • At 11:00 on the dot, we each start calling repeatedly hoping we'll get through since we weren't chosen in the online lottery I'd submitted weeks before.
  • G re-dials over 100 times and finally gets through.  We are standby tickets #48 and #49.  If we weren't on vacation and feeling super footloose and fancy-free, I would have been in a super bad mood the rest of the day because honestly, how could we be so unlucky!
  • We wander around and consider going to the Museum of Television.  But when we realize we'd be sitting around watching TV we decide we'd probably fall asleep because major fatique was starting to set in at this point.
  • We go to the Musuem of Modern Art instead.  Wow!  I love it and only regret that we were too tired to stay longer.  We spend a few hours there, stopping every 30 minutes or so to sit down, re-group and get our mojo back.  My all-time favorite class and professor in college was Humanities 101 with Dr. Marshall.  He was an inspiring man and taught me to love art and music.  I took his class my very first semester at BYU (15 years ago!) and I can still remember several of his lectures, especially the time he dressed up in an Elizabethan costume during our study of Hamlet, the time he told us he reads 6 books at a time, spending 10 minutes on each before bed, and the time he told us one of his life's wishes was to own a Jackson Pollack original and hang it in his living room.  I never understood that because Pollack's splatter paintings seemed so odd.  But his sincere love of modern art has stuck with me all these years and now after seeing some of those art pieces in person, yep, I get it now.  The 2-dimensional glossy prints do NOT do Pollack or Matisse or Mondrian or Jasper Johns justice, that's for sure.  The detail and the thick paint and the color choices and the patterns were impressive.  I never had realized that Mondrian's art actually looks like wood.  You'd never know that from the print.  So cool!  Of course we also thoroughly enjoyed Van Gogh's Starry Night, and all the Picasso (Well I did.  G said he was burned out on Picasso by the end.)  We did not, however, enjoy the live nude models performing "art" up on the 6th floor.  Yikes!  Or the lady who's been sitting in the atrium for the past 2 months staring at MOMA patrons.  Apparently that's art too.  I wonder what Dr. Marshall would have thought about that. 
G studying Mondrian.  This is paint on a canvas, but it looks like it's carved and painted wood. 

This Pollack painting is SO impressive in real life.  This is the one Dr. Marshall wanted to own.  Now I can see why!
  • Next we walk over to David Letterman's studios, have a quick bite at Ray's Pizza, say a prayer that 49 people wouldn't show up for the taping, then get in the standby line.  Unfortunatley, it is the last taping before a 2-week break and the weather is spectacular.  So we are out of luck.  Pretty much everyone with real tickets shows up.
  • Disappointed, we walk down to Time's Square and get in line for discounted Broadway tickets.  And this is where our realization comes that we'd be spending A LOT of time in line on this vacation.  After 90 minutes, we finally walk away with tickets to the American Idiot show, featuring Greenday's music.  
  • Meanwhile we see two fellows again that we had seen 8 hours earlier making out right in front of us at Rockefeller.  This time they were making out in Time's Square.  I had to take a picture just because really, what are the chances of seeing them twice?
Waaaay too much PDA.  Lucky for you, not right at the moment I snapped the picture.
  • We had a short amount of time to spare, so we take the subway down to our hotel, get checked in, change our clothes, and head back up to Time's Square for our show.
After our Broadway show
  • We enjoy the show!  It gets out relatively early (around 9:45) and since we are delirious with no sleep, we decide the night is still young.
  • We stop at world-famous Junior's for appetizers and their strawberry shortcake cheesecake.  Wow...  I mean what a brilliant invention to combine two of my favorite things. It is so fun to sit outside and eat and enjoy the lights and sounds of NYC.  Perhaps the best part is the waiter bringing us some extremely crunchy dill pickles and beets and coleslaw to try.  I loved pickles before NYC and now that I'm home I can't get my salivary glands to stop thinking about those pickles.
  • Once we are done, we head back to the hotel.  Lights out sometime after midnight.  I've never fallen asleep so quickly in all my life.  Talk about a rewarding all-nighter!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Just Returned From New York

And we have a serious hankering for cheesecake or a slice of pizza or a crisp pickle, if you know what I mean.  

Not to mention, how come we missed the boys like crazy while we were gone yet now that we're back it seems their hyperactivity is at an all-time high?

Stories and pictures to come...

Monday, May 17, 2010

Something Went Terribly Awry Between 3rd and 5th Grade

My mom has been cleaning out my grandma's house and brought over an envelope of school pictures that my grandma had kept of all of us kids.  Luckily for all of us, she brought the envelopes when my sister was in town and my brother was over at my house.  So we all got to look at each other's pictures and laugh at each other's hair/fashion/buck teeth misfortunes.  I've seen all these pictures before, but there was somthing about seeing them all in sequential order like this that makes me glad my children don't share my genes. 

Needless to say, I went from a very cute baby/toddler/young child to an extremely homely tween.  See for yourself.  

3rd Grade.  Adorable!

4th Grade.  Extremely Homely.  But, I had broken my arm a few weeks before, so my left arm was in a cast, making me unable to do my hair.  Yes, I did have a ponytail back there.  It's hiding, but it's there.
Wow!  A face/hairdo only a mother could love.  Unfortunately, I didn't have a cast that year, so I'm not sure what my sorry excuse was for that monstrosity of a hairdo.  Luckily, I got braces the following year and I never got a perm again. 

If we had known each other back then, would you have been willing to be my friend?

Friday, May 14, 2010

I've Arrived

I love this picture.  Buddy and his friends wanted to "rock climb" on our hike in Sunriver a few weeks ago.  Little Sambo always wants to do what his big brother does, so he has learned to either keep up get left behind.  And he can most definitely keep up.  (Click to Enlarge)

It's 3:06 in the afternoon and I'm sitting on the couch. The sun is shining and it's in the upper 70's. What a lovely day! But the best part of my day is the silence in this house. G just drove away with both boys headed to the annual Fathers and Sons campout. 

I get 24 hours of solid peace and quiet.

I've said over and over that I really love having boys.  But today I've decided I LOVE having boys.   Nothing better than having boys during the Fathers and Sons campout, if you know what I mean.

I've noticed that I've hit a few milestons in the last week or so mostly involving my mothering boys.

We were driving to t-ball the other night and out of the blue Buddy asked me, "Why do I have these little balls?"  I was driving, so I couldn't turn around to see what balls he was pointing at.  "What balls?" I asked, assuming he was talking about baseballs, since we were headed to practice, after all.  "These balls by my privates," he said.

And that's how Buddy learned a little bit more about the birds and the bees.  I told him that "those balls" will help him make a baby when he's a dad.  I gave up skirting around the issue a few months ago and I now I just tell him the truth.  He's been asking tons of questions like that lately, and every time it royally throws me for a loop.

Here's my question now:  How come I'm always the one to have to teach him this stuff?  A few years ago G agreed to be the one to teach our boys, since they are boys and all.  Yet, every time Buddy has a question, G is at work, so he asks me.  I guess I better get real used to this.

* * *

That same drive took us to a very rainy t-ball practice.  I mean torrential rains, flooding the parking lot, sort of rain.  I haven't used an umbrella since I cared about my hair in junior high, so it's saying something about the rain when I ransacked my trunk for an umbrella.  I was miserable for the first little while, but then I realized how happy the little t-ball players were splashing around in the rain and the mud.  Isn't it every boys' dream to play in the rain?  The boys were happy and I thought, I've really arrived at motherhood sitting here watching my son play ball in the rain. 

* * *

Last week Buddy had his Kindergarten music concert.  He didn't go to preschool, so this was his first school performance.  We were all really excited for him, and he was happy to have us there.  Trouble was, I had to take Sambo out after the first song.  And for reasons you wouldn't expect.  He had wicked gas!  I mean, it was so horrific, the poor 4-year old in front of us was plugging his nose.  Sam gets gas quite a bit, but this was just unreal and was extremely embarrassing.  So after offending the families around us, I decided the right thing to do was to take Sambo far, far away from everyone else. 

I'd definitely say I've arrived at motherhood with boys when the quality of my evening involves how bad their farts are.

* * *

I should also mention that I've also recently arrived at middle age.  I started listening to books on CD.  I know, lots of people do it, but it just seems so lame to be riding along in the car listening to a book, rather than jamming to the top 40.  Or heaven forbid, actually talking to your passengers.  But, I'm now addicted and plan to borror some kid-friendly books on CD from the library, so they can listen in now too.  What's next?  I'm going to start eating dinner at 4:30?

Oh wait!  I've started doing that too.  I feed my family dinner pretty late, and I've always liked that.  However, the other day the boys went to a birthday party, so G and I decided to have a quick child-free dinner.  I realized that the service at a restaurant is way better at that hour and now I'm totally converted to eating with the geriatric crowd.  In fact, a few days later I had to leave for a function at 5:00, which meant either eating at 4:30, or waiting until 9:30 when I got home.  In my past life I would have never taken the early road, but I tried it again, and loved it.

* * *

Oh, and one more exciting piece of news:  I learned to grill.  G taught me and I've succeeded twice this week.  I love cooking, but the grill has always intimidated me, so we could only eat grilled food whenever G is around to cook, which is pretty much only on the weekends.  Well that's all changed now!  Yay me!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Enjoying Being a Mother


Yesterday was Birthmother's Day.  Since 1990 it's celebrated the Saturday before Mother's Day, although I just learned about the holiday last year.  I love the holiday and think it's very fitting because of course, before my children had a mother, they had a birthmother.  And in order to become a mother, I needed a birthmother to grant me that blessing and privelege.  So it makes perfect sense that before we celebrate Mother's Day we celebrate Birthmother's Day.

So to honor birthmothers yesterday, our boys mailed their birthmoms adorable cards. Buddy wrote his birthmom a note for the first time, giving extra care to think hard before writing it.  He drew pictures of different flowers and hearts on one side of the paper and on the other side wrote a note saying, "I like you.  I am thankful for you.  Happy Birthmother's Day."  (I should have made a copy of it before mailing it because it was precious to say the least.)

We also celebrated with a get-together with other adoptive couples at our house.  We put together 24 gift baskets of pampering items to give to birthmothers attending the agency's support group.  My entire dining room is full of gifts -- it's an amazing sight to see!

Nowadays Mother's Day is a fabulous day for me.  I love relaxing and getting notes and gifts from the kids.  I love not lifting a finger and hugging and kissing the boys as often as I want.  If they pull away, I just remind them it's my special day and I get to love on them as often as I want.  Buddy especially is super sensitive and tries so hard to please me on this special day.  G spoke in church today and I loved hearing his tribute to his mother, his wonderfully amazing wife, and our boys' birthmoms.  I love thinking about my journey to motherhood and I love the security of knowing I'm finally a bonafide mother doing all the things "real" mothers do.

Talking about Eve, Patricia Holland said:

It would appear that her motherhood preceded her maternity,
just as surely as the perfection of the Garden preceded the struggles of mortality. I believe mother is one of those very carefully chosen words, one of those rich words--with meaning after meaning after meaning. We must not, at all costs, let that word divide us.
I believe with all my heart that it is first and foremost a statement about our nature, not a head count of our children.

I absolutely love this quote and know it to be true.  I have learned and now wholeheartedly believe that a "real" mom doesn't have to carry or raise children.  I believe a real mother is any woman who:
  • honors her womanhood
  • seeks out opportunities to nurture others, especially children
  • and is selfless

Gosh, believing that, however, is sure is a lot easier now that I'm a mother -- in every sense of the word.


Two years ago after a particularly stressful Mother's Day I made a commitment to simply enjoy the day.  That year we had all sorts of family in town for Sambo's sealing and blessing.  His adoption had been finalized in record time (in just over 4 months) and we were leaving for a family vacation to Hawaii in a few days.  I should have been on top of the world.  However, I was a frazzled mess.  That Mother's Day, we were going to bless Sambo at church, then have a family party and dinner at our house.  Sambo had RSV, the house was a disaster, and I had just arrived home from being in Utah for 10 days.  I was getting called and sustained as primary president that day and Sambo's birthmom was coming to church with us to celebrate the blessing and Mother's Day with us.  Things were a bit rocky with her and so there was a lot of pressure for all of us to make that moment special for her.  I was worried how her grief would flare up watching me hold her perfect little baby all dressed in white.  I worried how she'd react when the young men passed out the token gift to all the "mothers" in attendance at church that day.  Plus it was "Mother's Day" and I hadn't yet resolved my issues with the holiday.  It was all too much pressure and I felt stressed to the absolute max and could not for the life of me enjoy or embrace my role as mother.  Finally I was a mother, yet I couldn't enjoy it. 

After that day I promised myself I would never let guilt or jealousy or comparing or judging or being too busy get in the way of my special day.  And so that's why Mother's Day is now the very best day of the year for me. 

I hope all women --  no matter how many children you have -- enjoy this day to celebrate womanhood and our potential as nurturers.  Happy Mother's Day!

What is your definition of Mother?

Friday, May 7, 2010

College Stories

This has nothing to do with anything, but this funny memory popped into my head and I thought I should record it for posterity.  You know, so my descendants know how I really was. 

When we were first married we lived in married housing at BYU.  We were both really busy with school and doing laundry was such a frustrating chore.  I love doing laundry, but we were busy with work and school so finding the time to traipse down to the laundry building with all our loads was tiresome.  Plus one time I saw a creepy crossdresser in the building and then a few days later saw "WANTED" signs with his description -- and a description of him exposing himself -- all over campus.  So then I vowed I'd never do laundry at night alone.  Plus the laundry room was always packed at night, as you can imagine.  So we quickly realized that the Sabbath was our best bet for getting our laundry done. 

We knew we'd be judged for doing laundry on Sunday, although neither of us had a problem with it.  So we always waited until dusk or dark to do it.  One night we were heading down the stairs and I dropped our Sam's Club size box of laundry soap.  I was furious and said some choice words.  As we made our way the rest of the way down the stairs, we realized our neighbors were sitting outside on lawn chairs with their kids enjoying a "quiet" evening on the lawn.  It just so happened that they were the ideal family with perfectly behaved children, he was the Elder's Quorum president, and they always seemed to speak with kind words to everyone.

I should have been mortified that they discovered our "secret" or heard my bad words and/or yelling at my husband, but I was too busy being angry that our entire box of soap had gotten wasted.  Not to mention, they were our neighbors on the other side of paper thin walls, so they already knew I said bad words and yelled at my husband.

But the memory of us sneaking down the stairs only to make a huge racket still remains one of the highlights of our time in student housing.