Welcome to the City

So I think it was (is) the flu that I've been suffering from. This incredible headache is really the most disturbing, along with the congestion. Oh well. It's got to be done soon...right?

Several NYers have regarded me with compassion, nodding their heads and admitting they got sick a lot in their first year in the city, too. Seems that when you cram this many people together in one space, the germs go crazy. Hopefully, I am building an incredible immune system and next year will be easy.

Everyone told me I'd be tired of winter by March, too. I haven't minded the cold at all, even enjoyed it, and it's very mild now anyway. But it's very gray, and we've had a lot of gray. I am looking forward to spring's sunshine and new buds. (meaning flowering plants, but hey, new friends would be great, too!)

Infirm Again

I am sick. So sick. Sinus pressure and pain, ears congested, cough with yuk, occasional fever and aches. I think I caught this virus while visiting my sister after the reunion. Unfortunately, it has proven to be stronger than my defenses, and although I came in to work today, I'm going home now. Just too weak. This marks day 5. I saw a doctor on Saturday who had little sympathy and told me just to wait it out. And I had to cancel two dates because of this.

4x4 Meme

I recently found this meme on a colleague's blog and decided to participate. The point of this meme is to give you a bit more insight into who I am and what makes me tick on a personal level. The meme has four questions that each require four answers:




4 Jobs I've Had:

• Worked the drive-thru window at McDonald's
• Corralled kids at a daycare (my class was the 3-year-olds)
• Sold tickets and popcorn at a movie theater (and had to clean up the theaters after the movies)
• Prior to the TSA, I worked at airport security (I only lasted 3 weeks as I was not fond of the early morning shift)

4 Places I've Been:

• Belize - although it was just a stop on a Carribean cruise, it was a beautiful place with welcoming people
• Hawaii - I've been fortunate to have been to Hawaii 5 times, mostly Honolulu, once to Maui. Simply gorgeous
• England - Not only have I been to London, but I've gotten to travel through the smaller towns where my relatives live. Love the gorgeous countryside of Shropshire
• Amsterdam - I visited the city for a weekend with my cousin Lindsey last year

4 Bands or Artists I'm Listening To:

• Norah Jones
• Dixie Chicks
• Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova (Once soundtrack)
• Alicia Keys
  

4 of my Favorite Foods:

• Mexican
• Indian
• Sushi
• Italian

I hearby tag Steph, Jenn, Daddy and Paula with this meme!

Parade Pics

St. Patrick's Day is a big celebrated holiday in NYC. While I didn't drink any green beer, a coworker and I did slip away at lunch time to take in the sights of the parade. We saw many men in skirts (kilts), several individuals dressed uniquely in shades of green, horses and marching bands.

Down Home Visit

Just back from an extended visit back to Texas. I heard on Wednesday of last week that my dear great-aunt Sudie was back in the hospital. She had back-to-back bouts of the flu and bronchitis, and it was just about more than her 93-year-old body could take. I flew down and sat with her, holding her hand. She was delighted to see me and kept repeating, "All the way from New York City!"

On Saturday, we had a family reunion in Waco. It was great to see everyone, and with my new hometown, I was one of the few who had travelled the farthest.

I delivered my New York City books to my nieces and nephews. I bought four stuffed animals (koala bears for the girls and polar bears for the boys) and took them around the city, taking their picture at many of the iconic sites. I wrote the story from the animal's point of view, and the stories were well received by not only the kids but by the adults, too!

Yesterday, as I was saying goodbye to my niece Anna, she started sobbing and held her arms tightly around my neck. At first she said she didn't want me to leave, and then she said "take me with you!" Neither of which was possible. It just broke my heart, because I hate to leave her, too.

Nametags, a Timer and Singletons

Oh! Do I have a story for you today!

Last night I went to a Speed Dating event. You've probably heard or seen something on TV about this type of activity and know the basic premise: every 7 minutes or so, they ring a bell and the guys rotate to the next table where sits another single gal looking for a connection.

It did feel a bit like giving a quick sales pitch of myself, over and over again. I answered a lot of the same questions each time. But I was guaranteed to have 8 "dates" during the event. Unfortunately, I didn't feel a real connection with any of them, but I said "yes" to two with whom I at least had interesting conversation.

With a couple of guys, the seven minutes just seemed to drag by. I can talk to pretty much anyone, but there are some people who don't have a lot of social skills and conversation is stilted at best. But the absolute worst were the three I'll call Angry, Arrogant and Slimy.

Right before Angry sat down, the girl he'd just finished talking to gave me a warning look. Not bothering to introduce himself, he launched into a rant about the advertised age range for the event. He asked me what age range I'd signed up for and said that everyone he'd talked to so far (I was the third girl) had a different answer. [So you're wasting your seven minutes with each girl ranting about this? Great impression.] I calmly explained to him that for this event, I noticed on the website that there were different age ranges for girls (28-36) and guys (31-39). That pacified him somewhat, but he was still incensed about one guy who seemed older than 39 (referring to Slimy, and I agree, he probably is older than 39). But what does it matter to him? Isn't he there to meet girls? At least that seven minutes was up quickly.

The guy I'm calling Arrogant sat down and introduced himself like a normal person. I thought he had nice eyes. But in exchanging our professions and finding a slight overlap of areas, he proceeded to tell me what I should know to do my job. I guess he thought he was impressing me, but he was rude and conceited. He didn't really take the time to listen to what I do, just started telling me what he knows and how I should look into it. I was recruited up here for my job because of my expertise, you arrogant a**hole! Then he asked if I like baseball. Um, not really. I find it a really slow, boring sport (of course I said it in a less negative way). He got a stony look on his face and pretended to get up to leave the table right then (not that I would have minded). Then he tells me how he's just exhausted, having just returned from a work-related trip in Scandinavia, obviously bragging about his world-traveler status. He said he really didn't want to come tonight because he was so tired and just couldn't wait to get home and sleep. (I'm not stopping ya....)

But the absolute worst of the evening was Slimy. I had noticed him slink into the room at the beginning, and his smarmy smiles and overly slicked-back thinning hair didn't appeal to me. But add to the visual the following rapid fire questions:
"Are you divorced?" [and barely was Yes out of my mouth before he asked...]
"What happened? Did he cheat on you? Did you cheat on him? Was it money? You know the top two reasons why people get divorced are infidelity and money." [No, that wasn't the case.]
"Do you want to have kids?" [Yes, I hope to someday.]
"Oh, you will." [Well, I hope so. If not, I'll adopt or something.]
"CAN you have kids?" [Well, I hope so, but you never know until you try, right?]
"Have you been practicing? You should practice a lot." [uncomfortable smile and silence from me]
"Hey, I want you to know something about me. I'm a World Class Cuddler. And Spooner. I love to cuddle. I just thought you should know that. I'm the best at cuddling and spooning." [Ok. Good to know.]

Unfortunately for me, the host got distracted during this particular time period, and after giving us the 1 minute warning, he talked to the bartender and let us go for another 3 minutes. Oh. My. God. I couldn't wait to get rid of that guy.

What I've Been Up To

Did anyone else suffer from the Daylight Savings Time change? I certainly did. 'Course, it didn't help that I was out late Saturday night, into Sunday morning.

Saturday was a very gray, wet day, and I spent most of my day in my apartment, working on a baby quilt for a child that was born last year (got to finish!). It was surreal sitting in my living room and looking out to see only clouds where there are usually tall buildings.

I finally got cleaned up and went to dinner in Brooklyn with my boss and his family. We had a lovely time, and after I left there, I didn't quite feel like going home. I found a pub near my apartment that I hadn't tried yet and stopped in for a beer. I soon found myself engaged in a conversation about the upcoming Presidential election with a couple of firefighters. NY firemen are in general an attractive group, but these two were both married. Anyway, we ended up playing pool, which I am pretty terrible at. Fortunately for me, they had been drinking for several hours, and I actually won a couple games. It was nice to just hang out and talk to people.

Sunday morning came MUCH too early, but at least it was no longer raining. After church and a phenomenal choir practice (we are sounding GOOD), I walked around the city for about 4 hours, finishing up my photography for the books I'm making for my nieces and nephews. Here's one pic I took...can you tell what neighborhood I was in?

Pics of NYC

Reminiscing

I finally went to the doctor yesterday. He gave me antibiotics and a steriod inhaler, and I am feeling better today than I have in a week! And, it's a beautiful sunny day.

I don't know if it's been the effect of the gloomy weather, feeling crummy and unable to get a deep breath or just sick of being lonely, but I've been rather homesick lately.

Things I miss about Texas:

• Mi Cocina, especially their salsa!
• Being close to family, close enough to drive down for a last-minute weekend getaway
• Having a multitude of friends to call on
• Having a "best friend"
  
• My motorcycle
• Bluebonnets
• Blue Bell ice cream
• Shiner Bock beer
• Wide, open spaces
• Knowing my way around
  

Things I don't miss about Texas:

• Driving, especially in traffic
• The persistent heat
• Having my vote not count because of the messed up electoral college system
• The arrogant belief of so many that Texas is the best/only place to be, even though they've never set foot outside it's boundaries
• Huge belt buckles. Really, what's the point?
  

The Five Love Languages

Have you read this book (by Gary Chapman)? It's very interesting. Years ago, I read it and shared it with my parents. It basically says that humans have five basic ways of expressing love:
1) Words of affirmation
2) Quality time
3) Gifts
4) Acts of service
5) Physical touch

Each of us has one primary way we express our love and unconsciously want to receive love in that same way. Difficulties can emerge between two people who love each other, but are expressing that love in very different ways. Say, for example, a woman just wants to spend quality time with her partner, but he expresses his love by giving gifts. She may initially enjoy the gifts (who wouldn't?) but get frustrated that he's not spending more time with her.

My primary love language is physical touch. Now, before your mind goes in the gutter, this can be as simple as hugs and holding hands. Learning this about myself resonated with me, especially considering my volunteer work with the Neonatal ICU, holding preemies. I still remember one statement from the book that said, "If your partner's love language is touch, there is nothing more important to her than holding her when she cries."

My secondary love language is gifts. Unexpected gifts are the best. I remember one time when I was ill as a child, my dad came home with a small red-and-blue-checked soccer ball. I'm not and never have been what you might call athletic, but the fact that he thought of me and brought me something showed how much he cared.

What's your love language? See which of these statements most sounds like you in this simple quiz.

Rest and Lots of Liquids

Nothing much to report on. My weekend consisted of sleep, tissues, lots of water and tea, and movies. I didn't even leave the apartment yesterday.

I'm feeling marginally better, but I was so bored with the idea of spending another day at home, I decided to pull myself together and come to work. (Bronchitis isn't contagious.)

Good movies: Coach Carter, The Interpreter
Just ok: Raisin in the Sun, Love Song for Bobby Long