Heading into the first week of August, 2009, I was feeling a little wary, but it turned out to be a fantastic week for a change!
A weekend about town...
Last weekend, I had a fantastic Yoga class. I really need to work on upping my attendance at Yoga, but so far I've only found one class at my gym that I really like. I thought it was pretty awesome when the instructor told me I have a "very good practice."
I headed to the airport to pick up a rental car for a trip out to Columbia, MD to visit with Laura and her family, celebrating the christening of her new nephew. When you pick up a rental car at the airport on a Saturday afternoon, sometimes pickins are slim. This is how I ended up with a two-door Chevy Cobalt in YELLOW. It was embarrassing to drive around in, but handy to find in a parking lot. I had a great visit and ran some errands before returning the car.
On Sunday, I went with Marilyn to see Barack Stars at the Woolly Mammoth Theater in DC. It was a Second City production created especially for this theater and it was hilarious! I had read about it in the paper and Philip had seen it and loved it, so off we went. Here we are with "President" Obama:
Uh, oh...this might not be the Best Week Ever...So Monday, I was in quite a funk. Couldn't tell you why, I don't even remember now. In the afternoon, I went off to have a tennis lesson and that improved my mood. And I became determined to get my own place. There's something in me that needs to be settled, to have my own home base with all of my stuff. I can't say that I'm terribly proud to be so needy of my stuff, but at this point in life, it is what it is.
On Tuesday, I began searching a little more, making some calls, and not finding very much in the way of what I wanted for my budget. Wednesday afternoon, I was about ready to give in to another too-small apartment when I found an ad on Craigslist for an apartment in Kathryn's building. Since the ad was a few days old, I figured it had already been rented, but I heard from the landlord pretty quickly and she was happy to show me the apartment Wednesday night. I knew it would be perfect the moment she said, "sometimes things just happen for a reason."
And it was August 5, so I think Pop was looking out for something good to come to me that day. Other good things happened, too--Mom learned she is being honored by the Diocese for all of her volunteer service and Katie found a new job.
The apartment is perfect--I love the location, I get to be Kathryn's neighbor! Even though we don't get to see much of each other because of our schedules, it's very comforting to have a sister by choice nearby. I'm signing the lease on Monday, so I'll hold off on sharing too many details until next week to be sure everything works out. I think it will.
I found a home...now it's time to go home!
On Thursday, it was time for my first visit back to NYC. I went up Thursday afternoon on the Delta Shuttle and boy, did it feel good to be back in NYC. Of course it helped that the weather was phenomenally gorgeous, a great change of scene from the swampy humidity of DC. I treated myself to my very first stay in a Manhattan hotel so I could be close to my Alliance colleagues in town for the Healthy Schools Forum. I dropped my bags in my room at the Sheraton, picked up a Jamba Juice and hopped on the Subway. While waiting for the train, I ran into my friend Kristen Ng, which was a great surprise! We said very quick hellos before I boarded the Express to head down to SoHo. I was prepared with my best "I belong here" as I approached the door, thinking I was going to have to talk my way inside. But instead, I was so warmly greeted by Alliance friends, with lots of hugs and smiles. I was able to watch President Clinton present awards to my schools in the ceremony, and it was wonderful to see everyone and catch up briefly. A group of us also went to dinner and then out to a bar, where there was a mechanical bull. I was not able to ride the bull due to wearing nice slacks...and to protect the innocent, I'll refrain from posting the photos/video here. But it was FUN.
In the morning, after breakfast at Starbucks and good-byes to Alliance friends, I took advantage of the gorgeous day and walked to Penn Station. Of course I had to go through Times Square, which helped alleviate some of my "I miss New York" sentiments as I headed home to Long Island.
My sisters crack me up...
Keely and I went to the bridal salon to be measured for and order the bridesmaid' dress for Katie's wedding. After we finished that, Keely insisted upon finding this one wedding gown that she fell in love with while Katie was shopping for hers. Keely has been happily married for almost 13 years, but she had to try the dress on. I kid you not. My sister tried on a wedding gown and declared "If I were getting married right now, this is the dress I would want. In fact, if we win the lottery, we'll have another wedding and I'll wear this dress!"
Friday night, I had a date with my Mom and Katie. We went to see The Proposal, which I loved. It was hilarious!
And in other news...
I didn't apply for any jobs this week, but I did have a good chat with Paul about the Playworks job I applied for recently and connected with my friend Beth's sister, Katie. Katie works for Chicago Public Schools and shared some great information and connections with me that might be helpful in the months ahead.
The online dating is coming along slowly. So far, there have been quite a few odd/shady dudes sending messages, but there seem to be a couple that have potential. Nothing really to report yet, though.
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