Wednesday, February 15, 2012

A miscellaneous post

The other day I had a great idea for a post.  I didn't record it, and now it's gone.  That happens from time to time - wonder why I don't just start a draft with my idea so when I have time to sit down and actually write, the idea is still there?

Not that I have time to write today. But my kids are sleeping late after a long day - we'll call it a field trip - to New York City.  We've lived 90 miles from the city for 4 1/2 years now, and yesterday we finally got there. The impetus:  a nephew of mine, who lives on the west coast, came east for business.  He spent a few days with us, then needed to get to NYC to get home.  We gave him a ride, and he took us around the city.  It wasn't the most educational trip - we got just an hour in at the American Museum of Natural History - but it was fun and we got some great falafel and pizza, as well as spectacular views of the city from "The Top of the Rock" (Rockefeller Center).  The forecast had been for clouds all day, but the sky was blue and the sun shining on us as we enjoyed the view.

That nephew is a musician and while here, he helped us buy a guitar.  I always felt that James (who did not respond well to piano lessons) would benefit from having a guitar around.   I looked around for a used one for a few years, but nothing ever came up,  and I didn't know if I'd feel like I could choose a good one anyway.  But with a guitarist around, it's easier, so we now have a guitar in the house.  We're going to try the self-teaching route - we bought a book and dvd, and I have requested a bunch of stuff from the library - to see if that will work out.   Keeping the pressure off is a key to this particular child, so... we'll see how it goes.  I think I'll try my hand (heh) at it too.

A few months ago I had posted about James's mysterious illness.  It disappeared, finally, as mysteriously as it appeared.  I might write more about that later.  Let me just say that our doctors were great, but they still just don't know everything about our bodies.  We are trying to make up for what is basically a lost semester. I might write more about that later too.  Maybe that was even the lost topic!  I may never know.

2 comments:

Sarah at SmallWorld said...

I'm so glad you posted this. We are planning a trip to NYC in a few weeks. I haven't been since I was 20, and life was much different then! Now we're going with kids. Seeing the view from Rock. ctr. was on our possibility list. You had to pay for that, right? But it was worth it?

Marbel said...

Sarah, the views are breath-taking and so is the price. We all paid adult fare (my youngest is 13) which is $25. That's each. I did not find any deals on their website, except for combination tickets for other attractions which weren't useful to us. I didn't think to check if my AAA membership got us any discount.

Still, it was spectacular and so worth it. I am so very glad we went up. Buying the map (extra $2, I think) helped us pick out landmarks. The views are unbelievable and it really gives an idea of the scope of the city. You may know how big it is, but seeing it laid out before you... wow.