Sunday in the City

We started out the day going to the chapel that is located in this beautiful building. Unfortunately, we had an amazing race kind of experience when we got there--finding out that the building was under renovation and we were directed across The Park to another location. It was only difficult because there was an awareness walk going on that caused a lot of congestion on the west side, which, of course, was where we were going. Fortunately, we had built in some time and amazingly managed to arrive just before the meeting started
at this lovely stake center.We heard a memorable talk on missionary work that began with this quote:

from "Here is New York" (1948)

by E. B. White

There are roughly three New Yorks.

There is, first, the New York of the man or woman who was born there, who takes the city for granted and accepts its size, its turbulence as natural and inevitable.

Second, there is the New York of the commuter--the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night.

Third, there is New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of something. Of these trembling cities the greatest is the last--the city of final destination, the city that is a goal. It is this third city that accounts for New York’s high strung disposition, its poetical deportment, its dedication to the arts, and its incomparable achievements. Commuters give the city its tidal restlessness, natives give it solidity and continuity, but the settlers give it passion. And whether it is a farmer arriving from a small town in Mississippi to escape the indignity of being observed by her neighbors, or a boy arriving from the Corn Belt with a manuscript in his suitcase and a pain in his heart, it makes no difference: each embraces New York with the intense excitement of first love, each absorbs New York with the fresh yes of an adventurer, each generates heat and light to dwarf the Consolidated Edison Company.

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After church we went for a walk around the MET...with the audio tour, of course, so that we would have a better appreciation of the things that we were seeing.

Greek Statuary...American Architecture...

Roman Art...
and Old World Masters...
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Tricia and I had gone to this landmark restaurant in Central Park on a previous trip to the city. I enjoyed going back there with Doug this afternoon.

midtown

We woke up late this morning and then we were off for a fabulous breakfast at Pershing Square. Doug had eggs benedict and I had organic whole wheat blueberry pancakes, billed as the best pancakes in America. I think that it is true!

























Then we went to the New York Public Library. There were so many beautiful things to see. And the jewel of the library is a Gutenberg Bible that we had to try and photograph from another room looking in. A note on the case says that "when this 550-year-old Bible arrived in New York City in 1847, Custom House agents were instructed to remove their hats in its presence." It was a very touching experience just to see it.



More library pictures--

midtown continued at the garment district

My daughters got me hooked on Project Runway this year. We couldn't be so close and not take a visit.




Thank you Mood!

midtown continued at bryant park and broadway

It was a lovely day for walking. We enjoyed a nice stroll through Bryant Park and















then came back for lunch at The Grill on the lanai.

































The finale for the day was supercalifragilsisticexpealidocious.
In other words...we loved the show!

start spreading the news

Our plane was delayed two hours in Orlando. Then we did circles in the sky for another hour, making our arrival time at the hotel in NYC shortly before 2am. It is beautiful. And I am so excited to be here!

i do love my dishwasher

I imagine most people marry into some unexpected traditions. Mine was china. My father-in-law sold restaurant china for a living. He believed in his product. I remember him telling me that he didn't eat on paper plates ever.



That fact was later verified at family picnics when my mother-in-law brought along "everyday china".

Among our wedding presents, my in-laws saw to it that we received that vast majority of our fine china, service for 12, of course, by encouraging all their friends along those lines. For our first Christmas, they gave us an heirloom set of Christmas china denoting the twelve days of Christmas.

So right off the bat we had three sets of china, including our everyday set. We lived in a tiny apartment in a not very great area. We had no dishwasher, but me. And we were eating off china every meal. I thought about those days this week. When our dishwasher gave up and died on us.

I asked one of the numerous dishwasher people that I talked to what the life expectancy was for a dishwasher. About 12 years, but with all the power surges in central Florida, I could expect significantly less than that. Ours was 8.

I got the new one ordered within 24 hours of awareness that ours was history. Unfortunately, it took the whole week to get it here and installed. So...I did what any self-respecting daughter-in-law of a china salesman would do. I went to Walmart and bought paper plates, bowls, cups and cutlery. I did get my share of dirty dishes to wash, since the dishwasher was full when it went offline.

The dishwasher and the installer showed up together. In an uneventful hour he got the old one out and the new one in and the before picture looked identical to the after. I loaded my new dishwasher full to the brim with the handwashed items since I really wanted to be sure they were clean and sterilized AND I needed something to wash in the new machine!

Doug came home and opened it up after the cycle had completed. The dishwasher nearly emptied itself right onto the kitchen floor. Apparently the installer had forgotten to bolt the dishwasher to the cabinet and with the weight of the dishes, now all on the open door...you get the picture. Luckily, he saved the day and the china! His father would be proud!

religious texts

Person on the phone: "Scriptures? As in what kind of book?"

Me: "Scriptures, as in Bible."

Person on the phone: "Oh."

I have missed mine desperately, the last TWO MONTHS, while they have been at the binders getting rebound. They look as strong as ever. I did order another set the day I turned them in, but the Bible part has never to this day shown up.

I am trying to think of a good analogy for what it has been like without them. It has been like wearing someone else's glasses even though their prescription is the same as yours. They just don't feel the same. I am glad to have them back where they belong...in my lap for a little bonding time everyday.

Welcome Home!

garage continues

Well, we did work on the garage after our other activities on Saturday. We only managed two trips to the dump, however. It should tell something about the state of our garage that we actually managed to bring something home from the dump that we did not take there.

Ummm yes. It's true.

So here it is. An adorable old galvanized steel bucket. Perfect for a garden container. Doug said he would drill some holes in the bottom for me so that it will drain.

Isn't it cute?

a happy mother's day

I am blessed to be a mother.
My husband and children made me feel special today through their gifts and cards.

Tricia got me an I-Tunes gift card.
Melanie and Cherylyn sent me a gift box full of very yummy goodies from Great Harvest.
Brianna gave me a picture frame.
And Doug bought me a new camera for Mother's Day/my birthday. He took this picture with it.I am especially blessed because they make me feel special almost everyday by sharing their lives with me.

saturday service

It is 94 degrees.

The humidity is over 70%.

Here are my YW.
(Two girls and yours truly not pictured. Sorry Nellie!)

They are weeding the Temple grounds.

How happy I am that they know...
"that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."
Mosiah 2:17

And that is why they are all smiling.
Love those girls!

speaking of blue jays!

Look who decided to take a nap in my garden this afternoon.

I was very worried for his safety, since numerous of his predators live in the woods here. I put a bottomless birdcage over him and called my friend, Cindy Monell. She is a wildlife enthusiast. She told me that the fledglings get too big and fall out of the nest.The moms and dads know where they all are and spend their days
taking food to them in their various locations. I had no idea!

But here is is happening!!!

He is a cute little thing. I hope he survives...

He is sleeping again as I write...
under the old garden swing this time.

my rusty pump

There has been a sound coming from the side of my house for a few years now. Doug and I have both tracked it. But when we get to where we think it is coming from, it suddenly stops. Only to resume, you guessed it, as soon as we leave. I finally decided that it was a loose section of the drain pipe that gets moved by wind gusts. Until...the other day. When I became suspicious that something else was going on.Ah ha!
And just to confirm my suspicions...I looked it up on wikipedia.
"Blue Jays also have quiet, almost subliminal calls which they use among themselves in proximity. One of the most distinctive calls of this type is often referred to as the 'rusty pump' owing to its squeaky resemblance to the sound of an old hand-operated water pump."You might as well come and get something to eat. We have just refilled your feeder.
Have a good evening and take some extra to your mate. I am sure she is anxiously waiting the arrival of the baby birdies any day now!

Larry's

Today after school, I took Brianna to our standard meeting place in the Ocala National Forest where her grandmother was coming to collect her for a couple of days. The air conditioning only works on high in my car at the moment and we were tired of high, so we unrolled the windows. Brianna had brought along a Shania Twain CD and she was laughing that we were quite the country girls on the back roads!

As I was driving through Altoona, (population 88, area .5 square miles per 2000 census) I noticed Larry's.

Mental note: Stop a Larry's on the way home.

There were some cool looking blanket flowers there. Apparently, they grow really well in our area, but nobody sells the ones with the great big blooms. They are a winner for Larry because I am not the only person stopping by to see if I can purchase some of those flowers. Unfortunately, they were planted! Larry did tell me that he was collecting seeds for next year.

So, now I am at Larry's, and I am not going to get blanket flowers. Larry's little nursery is in the front yard of his trailer home. I think I should buy something...fortunately, this is not a problem, because he has some great stuff.

I finally decided on two Rose of Sharon plants and a hanging basket. I had left my purse in the car. I asked Larry, "Do you take Visa?" No, he doesn't. He takes cash and checks. I don't carry checks and I seldom have cash, but I think I might have some. So I tell him that I need to check and see if I have enough money.

"Oh, don't worry. You can take the plants and drop the money by whenever it is convenient."

I did have enough cash. And Larry has new patron!

to you

Dear Ones,

In the olden days and I have to confess, even now, I went/go to the mailbox with a small level of anticipation that there would/will be something really interesting there. If it is not Christmas or my birthday and I haven't ordered anything in particular the chances are slim to none. I am reminded of a not so nice note that Melanie once wrote to all her friends in California who promised to write, but then didn't when we moved to the UK. I couldn't let her send it. I think it was titled "Death Letter." But I did keep it and one of these days I will run into it again and then I will blog it and know where it is forever more. (One of the benefits of blogging.)

After we moved home from England came the advent of email. That was in the good old days when the only emails you got were from the few friends that actually had your email address. Nowadays, my email is used more like voice mail. Hey, I have a quick question when you have a minute. Plus all the trash that somehow manages to get past the super duper filtering systems. The best part of emails these days is the comments that are forwarded there from my blog. (Another benefit.)

But let's talk about blogging. It's like getting a little note from a friend. They tell me what they have been up to. I can post a comment and let them know I enjoyed hearing from them. When I post a blog, the dear readers stop in and often say hello through their comments as well. It is just a feel good time of day. (Numerous benefits implied here.) Sometimes, I want to keep feeling good and check more than once! I appreciate my google reader for doing the tough work for me and then letting me know who has left a message.

I read several blogs of people I don't even know. They don't know I read their blogs because I don't leave comments either. They are my real life soap operas. What will CJane say about the ordeal of childbirth? How does Lawdy come to terms with never being done? Will Meems ever give enough clues about where exactly in central Florida that she lives so that I can drive over and admire her beautiful garden in person? It makes me feel great about the whole brotherhood of man thing or I should say sisterhood of woman thing because I read blogs written by women. And, I hope that someday in one of those random, stranger than fiction ways, I will run into those women and thank them for their insights/entertainment.

And so fellow bloggers and dear readers, today I just want to say thanks to you all. Because of you, every day feels a little bit special.

garage "before"

Oh no!

Where are the after pictures?

There are NO AFTER PICTURES.

Yet.

We did take 3 loads to the dump. I can hardly move. I am sore from head to toe. You know how on those "organize your home" shows, it all happens in less than an hour. No such luck. We worked from 9am to 7pm.

I am hopeful that one day, I will post some after pictures.

parents who care

When I went into school Thursday, I was dismayed to find that the behavior of my students was not up to par. Later, I told my husband that you know it is a bad day when your very best student also takes home a note about a rough day.

This morning when I arrived at school, he and his mom were waiting for me at my classroom door. He had an apology in hand. She wanted to know more specifics and if more discipline measures should be meted out over the weekend.

As a teacher, I am grateful for parents who support those of us who teach and care for their children. As a member of society, I am grateful for parents who insist on standards that make our world a better place.

Nobody is perfect all the time. Not even my hard-working, polite student who almost always calls me "ma'am" instead of Mrs. Carter. I hope he has a great weekend. He does deserve that!

forgiveness

I have been pondering about an experience that I had in Washtington, DC. It was the Sunday when Cherylyn and Tanner and I took the kids on a walk. As we were going along the trail, we saw a man coming toward us walking a minature doggy. It was a very cute doggy and Clark, being obsessed with any doggy, cute or otherwise, was in the full throws of happy anticipation of the moment when this man and his doggy would be near enough for some kind of exchange. But then, just as the man and doggy were approaching near enough, he swooped up his doggy into his arms and held him as humanly far away from us as possible as we passed. We were quite surprised! So much so that we ended up not even having the normal friendly greeting that generally passes between strangers when out on a Sunday stroll.

A little while later, and quite out of blue, Cherylyn said that maybe his doggy was not friendly and he was trying to protect us. Though she could have chosen to believe he was Scrooge reincarnate with a dog, she chose to believe that he was perhaps protecting her son.

I have thought how easy it is to take offense from strangers. Those offenses are often forgotten quickly. Offenses from people that we actually know and love are sometimes harder to deal with. For myself, I am caught off guard and even dismayed at the potential that others have to wound me. I personally have been dealing with two inflictions. Was the intent sinister, or were the offending ones clueless that they had gashed me with their sword when they weren't even looking? And likewise, how many times have I inadvertently bumped into another. I am grateful that at the very least I do "not have a mind to injure one another, but to live peaceably, and to render to every man according to that which is his due."

It is one thing to forgive and to forget. And it is another to actually impute a positive spin on disconcerting experiences. I have been learning lessons from my children since they were born. I still am. The stitches and bandages are in place!