Tag Archives: happiness

Torn Between Two Cities ……

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…… well, not really two cities. There’s no way I can ever be torn between NY and Houston.
Like, ever.

But at the moment I’m feeling torn between two homes.
Which I guess is a good way to feel?

I am absolutely in love with my new home in Houston.
Deliriously and happily.
So I just might be missing it a little.
Who’d’ve thunk?

I closed on it May 1st and then I never spent another night in the other house again. Which meant a lot of tossing and turning on a not-very-comfy-futon, but I didn’t care.

The other house is now empty, except for a few pieces of furniture that Daughter #2 will pick up when that house sells.
Please God, let it sell soon.

I flew to NY on Sunday. I had planned to fly up here on the 15th, because Daughter #2 is coming up here for a few days to visit and celebrate my birthday. But then I received an email, reminding me of the Drama Desk Awards on June 1st (the DD Awards are for all things Broadway and off and off off). You see, I had purchased a ticket to these awards, but in the craziness of moving, I had forgotten that small fact.

Now, in the scheme of most things, that small fact wasn’t that big of a deal. It’s not a huge show and the ticket wasn’t expensive. But when I remembered that I had a ticket to it, I also remembered that I had a ticket to the mother-of-them-all-Broadway-award-shows …… the Tonys.
Yes, THE Tonys!!!
How could I have forgotten that?!
Evidently pretty dang easily.

So I had to change my airline ticket, because while I had no problem passing the Drama Desk Awards ticket to Daughter #3 (which she graciously took and enjoyed) there was no way on God’s green earth that I was going to miss THE TONYS!!!!

So, I left Houston on Sunday morning, planning on getting in around 4:00, thus, getting to the apartment around 5:00 which would leave me plenty of time to get ready and get to the show before 6:30, because the doors close at 7:00 (even though the televised show doesn’t start till 8:00).
Are you still with me?

Son #3 took me to the airport, but only after what became an hysterical hunt (hysterical on my part) for my notebook/calendar/keeper of important things. I take this notebook with me everywhere I travel. And I usually take it anywhere important to keep appointments and documents in it until I can file them away. Yes, I use my phone to input appointments, but having been through a computer crash a couple of times, I will never fully trust technology with all things important.
Evidently I will never trust my brain with those, either.

After about 10 minutes of searching the house, with my bags already in the Son’s car, I was in full-freak mode.
That’s because the notebook held my Tony Awards ticket.
See?
Understandable now, isn’t it?

By that time both sons had joined the hunt, even though I know that they were thinking, if not discussing with each other, that the time to put me in a “home” was not far off.

Thankfully, I found the notebook underneath some mail, and then we were off to the airport.
Where, so it seemed, half of Houston had decided to spend the day.
And they had all joined me in trying to fly on United. AND, they were all also “preferred” flyers.
I have to tell you that, being a preferred flyer, is not what it used to be. In fact, when you get in line at security in Houston, United has a “quicker” line for its’ preferred customers. And most days, that line is far longer than the “regular joe” flyers line.

So we all waited, and waited, and waited some more to get a turn at one of those “self serve” screens (which really aren’t all that “self serve” when you have to wait on an employee to come ticket your bags and give you the receipts). There were far more flyers than there were employees.
But, I finally made it through and breezed through security. The plane started boarding within a couple of minutes of my arrival so I sailed through that part, too.
I should’ve known.

Once we all got on board, an announcement was made. For some reason that no one knew, our flight was going to be delayed by about, oh … about 20 minutes. It might be bad weather in NY, but no one really knew. All they knew is that it was coming from there and we were delayed.
Again, I should’ve known.

Because a twenty minute delay is never really a twenty minute delay. And instead of saying, “we’re going to be delayed for about an hour”, they just keep repeating “20 minutes” every twenty minutes, which is mostly aggravating.

So instead of arriving in NY at 4, I arrived after 5. But, I still figured that I could get to the apartment by 5:30 or so, and have enough time to change, put on makeup and walk to the theatre.
Which I would’ve been able to do, had it not been the day of the Puerto Rican parade.

I’m pretty sure there’s a parade every day in NY somewhere. And the majority of them are probably on the small-ish side and over with in less than an hour. And most people can smile and wave and think, “Oh, how nice …… a parade!”, and then go on with their business.
Not so with the Puerto Rican parade.

I have no idea why, but this parade is known to be one of THE most wild events of the year. And not “wild in a good way”, but “wild in a “don’t go outside at all while the parade is passing way”.
Yes, seriously.

So there I was, stuck in parade traffic with a driver who made double sure that the doors were locked. I never saw the parade, but I guess the traffic was still being effected.

So I arrived at the apartment sometime near 6:00.
Which means that I had to race to unpack my dress and makeup and then get into both so that I could get out of the door by 6:15.
I think I made it out by 6:20.
I wore little flat ballet-like shoes (which matched my dress) and carried my heels (which also matched my dress) in my purse. Which did NOT match my dress but was at least big enough to hold my heels.
I looked weird.
A woman speed walking through the streets of NY, holding up the hem of her formal dress so that everyone could see the dorky shoes she was wearing and wondering where the heck she was going.
Not really.
People in NY don’t look at anyone and wonder where they’re going.

I finally got within a couple of blocks and started fitting in with the men in tuxes and more women in formals. I stopped to change my shoes before I approached the doors to Radio City.
It was so cool because the other side of the street was barricaded at the curb and there was a throng of people (is that an actual word?) watching all of us and taking pictures as we were going in.
There’s going to be an awful lot of disappointed people with me in their pics.

I had a fabulous seat, the center of the 2nd mezz, on the isle. Clear shot of Hugh Jackman. Wow!
Now, this was not the closest I’d ever been to Hugh. I saw him twice on Broadway and was much closer, but just being in the same room with him is enough for me.
So cute.

The show was terrific, he did a wonderful job hosting, and everyone had a lot of fun.
I loved keeping my FB friends apprised of all things as they happened. It made me feel like I had 100 friends there, sitting with me.
I had seen almost every show that was nominated and was happy with the way it turned out.
And happy that I videoed every musical number as it was performed. I think this is probably the one time during the year when the ushers don’t swoop in and nab your phone for taking pictures. There were phones everywhere … all night.

Sunday was a very busy, sometimes stressful, day. But it was wonderful.
Except for the fact that I woke up that day thinking it was Father’s Day. And I didn’t have time to call any of the men in my life to tell them Happy Father’s Day, until I was walking/running to the Tonys. That’s when I called my Dad, who thankfully didn’t answer, and told him Happy Father’s Day on his voice mail.
Then I felt horrible when I arrived at the apartment close to midnight and remembered that I hadn’t called the other two dads. (Don’t ask.)
I just figured I’d call them the next day.
Imagine my surprise when they were still doing Father’s Day things on the Today Show. It then dawned upon me that I just might have been a wee bit off. I opened my calendar and saw that, indeed, I was a week off.
And felt like a moron.
And yes, my dad called me later. I didn’t say “hello”, I just picked up and said, “I know it wasn’t Father’s Day yesterday. I’m a moron.”

Or maybe someone with WAY too much going on.

I’ll try to do a picture post later.
Happy Thursday.
🙂

I Think I Died and Went to Hell ……

1 Reply

…… at least three times this morning during barre class.
I knew I was in trouble when I started breathing hard during the warm up.
Seriously.

The only thing that got me through it was the decision to get home and cancel my spot for tomorrow’s class.
Three days in a row was a pipe dream.

Or so I thought. I ended up not canceling that class, and now it’s too late (unless I don’t mind being charged an extra $20 in addition to the cost of the class). I knew that would happen. I knew that I’d feel certain about canceling it, but that if I waited a few hours, I’d talk myself into going.
And I did.
It’s kind of like punishing myself for not doing any exercise (other than packing and heaving heavy boxes) for the last month.
So I’ll die a few more deaths tomorrow.

And then hopefully catch you up to all things NY.
🙂

American Ninja ……

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…… has me captivated. Truly.  Inexplicably.
I’m not sure why.
But I’m contemplating putting a Ninja workout course in my back yard jungle. The Sons and I could practice together and become the first mother/sons trio ever to enter.
What?
Stop laughing. One guy was 56 years old!
Of course, he didn’t get very far, but hell, he got further than most of you could go!

Actually, I told Son #3 that I could probably do the first obstacle (the one where you jump from one pad to the other), and then I’d be done. Although, I think I could totally do that swing thing and jump to the rope obstacle, but there’s no way in Hades that I could even get one of those rings moved (or the posts moved, depending upon which state’s competition you’re watching. Which brings up a question … and an accusation: Why do the contestants not have to do the EXACT same course?? You can’t tell me that hanging on to that circle thing with your feet wedged into place, is just as hard as hanging on to that log-thing with no place for your feet to wedge into! I maintain that these competitions are unfair. And I’m sure that NBC really cares about my opinion.
But at least I’ve put it out there.)
Anyway … all that to say … I have NO upper body strength. Well, that’s not totally true. The barre classes have helped me gain some strength up there, although I may have lost it all now, since I haven’t been in a class for over 3 weeks. Sigh …… that’s a hell of a lot of work to waste.
There are no barre classes down here. Not less than a 45 minute drive anyway. I’m thinking about starting a franchise here in my community. Just so I can go.
How pathetic is that?

So …… where was I?
I digress so easily these days.
Oh yeah, American Ninja. In my back yard.
Yeah.
Let’s think about it: I’ve packed up my 5,000 square feet house (with some help from friends, but mostly me). I moved most of those boxes to the new house …… by myself (the movers moved most of the furniture and the really heavy boxes).
I unpacked most of those boxes and put things away …… by myself.
I re-unpacked everything when the painters finished. And hooked up our sound system. Then dug out our old CD player (that holds 200 CDs) and wired it in, too. And it all works. (I’m more amazed than anyone!)
I’ve trimmed the trees in the back yard.
I packed up all of the stuff that we didn’t sell in the moving sale and moved it all into one room of the house and into the garage. By myself.
I helped a guy load it onto a truck today, thus leaving the house almost totally empty.
And the garage.
And the attic.

I think I need a nap.

So yeah, I might be able to train for this Ninja show.
But now that I’ve typed all of that out, I don’t think I want to.
Wow, that was a quick turn around.
So much for American Ninja.
At least that saves me a lot of time and effort in putting one of those dang courses in the back yard.
I think I’ll fix a margarita instead and watch the wild life from the back porch.

So yes, the house is pretty much empty.
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The last time I saw it this empty was the day that Jim and I were deciding to put an offer on it.
Back in November of 1997.
But who’s counting?
Besides me.

So does all of this mean that I can qualify for American Ninja?
Hell, no.
It just means that I’m tough in other ways.
And I admire those who do qualify.
And I really admire that tiny little woman who made it over the “Warped Wall” …… the first woman to ever do so.
You go, tiny woman!!

For those of you (and I’m certain that it’s most of you) who have no earthly idea what I’ve been talking about …… NBC …… Monday nights. Watch it just once.
And you’ll be hooked.
Or go read a good book.
Whatever.

Tonight Son #3 kept his crown of the king of grilling …… at least in my book. He made ham steaks with a jalapeño sweet and sour marinade that was very, very good.
And, he suffered through the burning that he got on his hands and face from cutting up, and grilling, the jalapeños.
No kidding, I thought for a moment that I was going to have to take him to the ER. He ran upstairs and jumped into the shower while I Googled “what to do for jalapeño burns” — mustard, rubbing alcohol, yogurt, or fresh lime juice …… I wasn’t sure if this was going to help him, or get him ready to be put on the grill.)
Thankfully, the shower seemed to help.
The mustard didn’t do all that much.

But the ham steaks were wonderful.

In other news (I really should just try to write every day, rather than every few days because SO much goes on around here that it creates wickedly long posts. Sorry.)
World War III is going on in my back yard.
Granted, it’s only between two parties, but that’s all it takes to start a war, right?
It seems that we have a raccoon who thinks he can waddle around my property, taking whatever he wants.
Which is a bit better than our first thought: Son #3 put up humming bird feeders, filled with the red sugar solution they love. When I woke up the next morning, I noticed that one of the feeders was gone. So I went outside and noticed that it had been tossed down the hill. After it had been drained.
After it had been carefully un-hooked from the stand Son #3 had hung it on.
Our thoughts? Some big, fat bully of a hummingbird was terrorizing the other little birds and stole all of our bird juice.
And then we put more thought into it …… and decided that it was some big, fat pig of a raccoon, who had carefully unhooked it, guzzled it all down, burped, and tossed it down the hill, like a Chicago Bears fan going through a 6 pack. (I lived in Chicago and I have a tiny love of the Bears so I can write that. Ha!)

Well, I waited a few days and then put a bit of the red stuff into the feeder and re-hung it.
Then, that same evening, Son #2 was in the kitchen and there was a shattering noise outside. I, being the deaf and aging old woman that I am, thought the sound came from the TV (just shut up, ok?!). He looked around and said, “What the hell was that?!” I said, “What?”. He said, “There’s something out there.”, while pointing outside.
And in that instant, I knew. I may, or may have not, uttered a swear word as I vaulted over the furniture and ran outside.
And there, broken into a hundred shattered pieces (or maybe 20), was the very beautiful, glass bird bath that Son #3 had brought home.
Why that fat SOB wanted to take a bath is beyond me, but he has crossed me too many times.
So now there’s a trap outside where the bird bath used to be. With a can of cat food in it as a lure.
A lure that fat slob didn’t go for last night.
We may have to try something else.
Son #3 swears that a Reeses cup will do the deed.
All of you Houston-area Peeps ought to love that! It seems that even our raccoons here in KW are snobs! They won’t go for anything less than chocolate!
WTH?????
I guess I’ll go pick up some Reeses tomorrow.
I’ll keep you posted.

OK, that’s it.
For now.
But as you all know by now, there will be plenty to write about tomorrow or the next day.
Never a dull moment.
You’re welcome.
Happy Tuesday.
🙂

An Addendum ……

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…… to last night’s post.

I forgot to write about THE most important lesson I learned yesterday.
Seriously.
And it’s another cab lesson.

Most of the cabs here have monitors in the back that show entertainment blurbs about stuff going on in NY. It’s entertaining, unless you’re in the cab long enough to see it loop around several times.

But yesterday I saw a blurb that I hadn’t seen before. Last month the city passed a new law: the speed limit in NYC is now 30 mph. They wanted to make it 25, but the mayor gave in at 30. From 40, I think.
If you’ve never been here you need to know that no one ever follows the speed limit. Not at 40 and certainly not at 30.

So, this is the blurb/commercial that I saw:

“If you hit someone at 40 mph they have a 70% chance of dying.
If you hit someone at 30 mph they have an 80% chance of living.”

And that was it.
Really, seriously, and truly …… that was the entire message.
So it sounds like hitting someone is inevitable. It’s going to happen, so just make sure you hit them at 30 mph …… unless it’s someone you don’t like, and then rev it up to 40.
Good to know.
(OK, the next to the last sentence is just my thought. It wasn’t implied in the commercial. For those of you who are more literal than most.)

In other news …… I had the best time tonight! Yes, at the supper club (which was Studio 54, for any of you who know that name) that I was leery of going to because I’d be by myself, seated at a table with other people.
I will never be leery of that again.
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When I arrived I was taken to a table and a seat where I sat next to a woman, who came with her mom, who sat across from her. They were chatting with a woman who sat on the other side of the daughter. On my other side there was an empty chair, and then a woman who sat across from her husband, and both were staring at their cell phones.
Those two were next to the stage. Front and center. It was a great table in that sense.
I was perusing the menu, not talking to anyone, when 3 men came up to the couple at the end and started saying hi and hugging them. It was clear that one of the men was friends with this couple and had not seen them in a while. One of the men sat next to me and the two others sat across from me.
The man directly across from me started talking to the mom and daughter, introducing himself. He said that they were from Houston. So I piped up and said that I, too, was from Houston. He was surprised and asked where in Houston and I told him.
Then he told us that he and his partner (the guy sitting next to me) had seen these two women (who were the people doing the show) 18 years ago in Houston. They loved them so much that when he saw they were performing in NY, he got airline tickets immediately to come see them.
I was impressed.
And glad that I had received one of my great emails about the show, and decided to see it.

He then somehow mentioned that he and his partner were on the board of a small theatre in Houston.
I, being the theatre person that I am, asked which one. To which he replied, “Stages”.
The theatre that Daughter #1 did her internship at six years ago.
Yes, really.
He was surprised and asked her name. I told him and he recognized the name, though he wasn’t sure if he had ever met her.
He then texted the director of the theatre to tell him that he was having dinner with Daughter #1’s mom. The director replied, “You’re kidding!!!?”.
Small world.

Then I remembered that one of Daughter #2 and #3’s friends has performed quite a few times at that theatre. So I asked him if he knew her.
He stared at me incredulously for a moment and then said, “Yes, we know her well!” I said that I had known her since she was 14, or younger. He then texted this young lady to tell her that he was having dinner with me. And she replied, “Whaaaaaaaat??!!!”
And now the four of us (and hopefully Daughter #3) are going to dinner Sunday night.
Very small world.

The women who sang tonight were really wonderful. They’re sisters and the show is called “Sibling Revelry”. One has been the lead in 6 Broadway shows (one of them “Cats”). The other has won several music awards. They both sang (and one wrote) the theme song of “The Nanny”, which we all sang together. 🙂

It was a very fun night.
It was great to meet these men, who have been together for 33 years. THIRTY THREE years.
Amazing. Not many couples, no matter what gender they are, can claim that.
The one next to me is a doctor in Houston, and he and I sang along with quite a few songs (when it was appropriate). He claimed that I was his new best friend and that we should travel together.

After the show a woman came up to me and asked if I had known the words to every single song. I admitted that I did not. There were two or three that I’d never heard before. She said that was surprising and that she had enjoyed watching us sing along.
Evidently she couldn’t really hear us all that well.
Thankfully.

As the show was getting ready to end, one of the sisters came out into the audience to talk to a few people. She came to our table and asked a couple of questions to the party on the other end (3 guys and 2 women). One of the men asked if he could say something. She looked surprised but gave him the mic. He thanked the two of them for bringinf music to people and making them feel better. Then he stood up, took out a small box, and proposed to his partner, who was sitting next to him. And who was hugely surprised.
The entire room erupted into applause and congrats, and the waiters brought out a cake with sparklers. The men’s mothers were there, but had been at a table on the other side of the room, so that the man being proposed to wouldn’t see them. They were very happy and excited and there were hugs all around.
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The proposal:
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The sparkler cake:
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And while this might not be a popular thought …… I was very proud to be living in a city where a room full of people could celebrate and encourage love. No condemnation, no judging, just simple support of love.

It was quite a night.
I’m so happy that I went, and didn’t let being alone stop me.
I smiled as I walked home.
I love this city.
Ridiculously and totally love it.
It’s not a perfect place, but no place is.
But I still love it. Faults and all.

And I’m really going to miss it during the month of May.
But hopefully I’ll love being in Texas …… and in the house that will be my home.

Snow and Tears ……

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…… are what the last couple of days have contained.

The snow started Sunday night, and has continued on and off over the following days.
It’s been an eventful couple of days.

Yesterday, after a very hard workout, I took my mom to a late lunch in Chinatown. Son #3 and I had gone to this restaurant back in March. We just happened to come across it and so went in. And experienced one of the best Chinese meals ever.
So I made a note of this restaurant, on my calendar … back in March.

And yesterday it was just as I remembered.
The dish I remember best, and have yearned for since March, was this:

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And yes, it was just as fabulous as I had remembered.  Hot and Sour Soup.  The best I’ve ever had.  Anywhere.  Hands down.

On our way back from the restaurant we were hit up by the “Pssssst, want a bag? Michael Kors? Tory Burch? Gucci? Louis Vuitton?
And of course, we said …… maybe. Which left us waiting in the dark for about 25 minutes while the illegal bags were obtained and brought back to us.
And we, of course, made a deal, and left with two of them.
I’m hanging my head in shame as I’m typing this.

After returning from our very late lunch, and illegal shopping excursion, I had to leave to go to my last stand up class. It went well.
Now I just need to memorize every single word.

We rehearse our sets on Wednesday, and then we perform them on Sunday.
So help me, God.
And hopefully, He’ll help me.

Today I had a meeting in Harlem at the Head Start school where I’ll be volunteering. It looked like this this morning:
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And of course I drug my mom out in the snow to Harlem.
Besides, she wanted to go somewhere for the oh-so-awful-sounding-meal-of-chicken-and-waffles.
Or at least I thought it was awful-sounding.
She loved it.
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We went to Amy Ruth’s, which is a pretty well-known place.
I passed up the chicken for some bacon, which was very good. As was the waffle, which I only managed to eat half of.

After that feast (?) we headed back to run a couple of errands and to get ready for tonight’s show.
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This is the set. It’s a duplicate of the house where he grew up.

We saw Billy Crystal’s one-man show, “700 Sundays”. It was wonderful. And then very emotional. Especially for me.
But you can read about that here.
But maybe not until midnight, Pacific Time.

All in all, my mom had a great visit. I think I ran her ragged. But I also think she had a great time.
She’s leaving tomorrow morning, and then I’m heading out to see “Betrayal”, which hasn’t received good reviews, but who cares?? It’s Daniel Craig and his wife, the beautiful Rachel Weisz. So it should be entertaining enough.
After that I have my last rehearsal for my stand up routine. Double gulp.
I hope that all of my NY and NJ friends can come to see the show, especially since I won’t have any family there (other than D#3, who’s also performing and who is MUCH more hilarious than I am!).

I’ll miss my mom, but hopefully she’ll be back again soon.

On the move front:
I’ve given the US Post Office my change of address …… to here.
I’ve given my bank my change of address …… to here.
I’ve given my notice at the country club back home.
I’ve let my tennis team captain know that I won’t be back to play on the team (but would love to play any time I visit).
And I’ve made a mental note of all of the things that have to be packed up to be placed in storage, moved up here and sold/given away.

So yes, I’ve decided to live here …. in NY …… full time.
And I’m so excited!!!

On that note, I bid you adieu …… and hope that you all get a good night’s sleep.

Happy Tuesday/Wednesday, Peeps.
🙂