The New Year in New York

Hello! I apologize for not updating in awhile.

It was wonderful to see many of you over the holidays! I'm glad you are all doing well. I hope your second week of 2013 is off to a great start. I want to tell you about my first week of the new year.

I got back to the city on December 30; just in time for the New Year's Celebration. Katie, the other MVSer, and I had been talking about what we wanted to do for New Year's. We're in New York for goodness sake! We knew we didn't want to see the ball drop...we had heard you had to get to Time's Square at crazy early, like 3 pm, and just stand there. Most people wear adult diapers, because there are so many people, you can't get through to a bathroom! We were not interested.

We stayed home at the house, and played games with Leah, Marcel and Godswill. Who knew that inside Will was a Jenga Tiger waiting to be born??

At about 11:30, Katie and I decided we wanted to see some fireworks. We hightailed it to Union Square, the nearest subway, and got on the first southbound train. We were hoping to make it onto the Staten Island ferry at midnight to see the fireworks from the water.

We just barely made it onto the ferry; it was leaving right when we got there. We ran unto the deck, and saw the Statue of Liberty, the Manhattan skyline, and the fireworks. It was beautiful. The best part? There were maybe only 100 people instead of thousands!! The ferry is big too, Katie and I each had a piece of railing on the deck, so we had the perfect view. What a wonderful way to bring in the New Year!

My first week back to work was pretty low-key. Before I left on vacation, I had ensured we had enough volunteers for our Saturday workshop, so I just had to pack for the workshops. It was smooth sailing!

On Saturday morning, our first workshop of 2013, I overslept BIGTIME! I was supposed to be in Brooklyn, about a 45 minute train ride away, at 8:15, and I didn't wake up until 8:45. Oops! Luckily, there were plenty of support staff around that day, and they were able to cover my job until I got there. The plus side of sleeping in is that I was well rested for the day!

The day before the workshop, we were at the school setting up for Saturday. I happened to meet a Marine who was in charge of the Marine Cadet program at the school. He said they were wanting to volunteer, so they came over on Saturday to help out. That was weird.

The students aged from 10-18. We usually only allow 16 year olds to volunteer with us. 10 is way too young!! They were definitely Marines. They did a 5.5 mile hike before coming to volunteer. They called me Ma'am, and asked permission before getting a drink of water. I had never commanded troops before!! They were very helpful though. They even stayed to help clean up, which was wonderful!

After the workshop, Katie and I saw Peter and the Starcatcher. Her mother had given her tickets for her and me to see the show. IT WAS WONDERFUL!!! I thought it would be a kid's show, but there was definitely adult humor thrown in. Check out this video for a taste of the show.

It is a prequel to Peter Pan, and it tells the story of how Peter came to be Peter Pan. It was really well done. Their stage was very small, and the props were sparse. They used each other as props, and was really interesting!

Sunday was pretty uneventful. Now I'm listening to music, making soup for lunches for the week, and drinking a warm cup of tea. Yay! If only the roof workers wouldn't leave the kitchen door open as they go in and out of the house. It is FREEZING outside!!!!