He's in a New York State of Mind

After spending three days at my house, my son Adam and his girlfriend Melanie left today. Adam is moving back to NY, this time to live in Bayside, Queens. He wants to be near his girlfriend, and I don't blame him. She's lovely, and I really like her. He packed up all of this things and they are on the road, stopping overnight in Ocala so his father, stepmother, sister and brother-in-law can meet her,and then on to the Big Apple. I am so happy for Adam. He has found someone he wants to spend his life with, and I fully approve. I wish them lots of luck, as I know it will take hard work and perseverance to not only make the relationship continue to work, but to make it in NYC (but after all, it is his hometown).

Take Me Away from the Ball Game

Originally we were going to fly home on Tuesday, but, being the Yankee fans that we are, we paid to change our tickets so we could stay up north another day and go watch the Yankees play ball. I had ordered the tickets weeks ago, not wanting to chance not getting a ticket. Well...I should have waited! Wednesday was a very rainy day, so bad, in fact, that before we checked out of the hotel, I called the airlines and paid AGAIN to change the flight - to leave earlier, as we knew the game would be called off. Sure enough, we drove to the stadium and found out that the game was cancelled. However, Gerry and I did some shopping at the shops across from the stadium. He bought a beautiful Yankee jacket, an authentic jersey with # 7 (Mickey Mantles number) on it...something Gerry has always wanted...

t-shirts for each of us, one for Avi (of course) and a car and bear for Avi (sorry, Alison...I tried to tell Papa Gerry that Avi has enough stuffed animals, but he said, "But he doesn't have a YANKEE bear," so....he does now! Then it was off to a diner and the flight home.

Shady Business

Mom, Jon, Becca, Phil, Gerry and I went into Manhattan today. I had wanted to go to China Town. When we got there the parking situation was dim. Jon dropped us off and drove around till he found a parking lot (and it wasn't cheap). We walked around Chinatown looking for a place to eat. Not knowing the area, nothing looked appealing. So we ventured to Mulberry Street in Little Italy. A guy standing outside of a restaurant, looking sort-of-kinda like Al Pacino, talked us into eating at the restaurant he was hawking. The food was good (although I have had better right here in Delray Beach) but we had fun. We ladies wanted to make a purchase, though...we wanted to buy 'designer' pocketbooks. We walked down the street a bit when my brother stopped at a shop and asked the owner. We were told to wait, he'd call "his guy." Within 3 minutes a man came up to us. He nodded, I nodded, he motioned for us to follow him, so we three ladies did so. I had to keep from laughing out loud. The "guy" walked ahead of us, constantly looking over his shoulder. We walked down the block, around the corner and across the street. When we got to our destination there were three people like us standing outside a doorway. The "guy" nodded at another woman. She looked around, bent down and opened a door lock. We were ushered in, walked between two buildings, into an open area, up three flights of stairs and into a tiny apartment kitchen, then shown to two rooms, where pocketbooks were hung on display pegs. They had designer names on them (of course, we all knew they are knock-offs). I really don't like wearing anyone's name on my clothing/accessories, but if I saw something for a good deal, I planned to get it. I did find two bags, Mom and Becca each found one. Good thing we had cash - I forgot: charge cards were not used in these "deals." Next, the fun part - the bargaining! I went back and forth for a bit with the "guy," who of course claimed that if he sold it to me for my price he wouldn't make any money....yea, right! Bottom line...I got each bag for a third of what he was asking! Then we back tracked out of there and back to Jon and Phil and we head ed back to CT.

Weekend up North

This weekend we were in CT for my niece Gianna's Sweet 16. It was such a great weekend. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Hotel where Alison, Michael and Avi were also staying (right down the hall). Poor Avi had so little sleep that Alison was trying to capture every moment she could for him. They didn't have a crib available so the baby slept on quilts on the floor (didn't bother him a bit). Saturday we went to lunch with them, and my son Adam came too. He and Alison had been estranged for about 7 years, but Adam has been reentering our lives since last July. He even secured the hotel rooms for us, and saw Alison Friday night to give her the key. At lunch, Adam met Avi for the first time. He was so taken with Avi that he would not give him up for me to hold. I loved every minute of the lunch, being with my two kids (Becca was at my brother's house helping out).
That night the party was amazing. It was the first time my three kids had been together in 7 years, plus I saw a nephew who I had not seen in years, and met my other nephew's little boy, Nicholas, who is 2 and a cutie. My niece looked like a princess in her gown. She did most of the organizing for this event, as my brother is a single parent and does not know much about sweet 16's. But he is a great father and wrote checks for a fabulous party. My niece composed a 12 minute DVD using pictures and videos of her growing up. It was shown on a big projection screen. We were delighted to relive moments in her/our past, and when the video of my dad and Gianna came on, there was not a dry eye among the family. The kids who attended - and there were about 60 of them - were so good and so much fun. My poor Avi, though, was so overwhelmed with the noise, people and his own exhaustion that he was not his usual cheerful self. The next day we all went to my brother Jon's for a buffet breakfast and last visit before everyone went in different directions.

Alison, Michael and Avi were flying out that evening. Mom went with Jon and Gianna to see the Broadway show Mary Poppins. Gerry, Becca and I drove to the Bronx where Adam was having some old friends meet in a bar to celebrate his 28th birthday, which was that day, April 1. When I got there, two women, mother's of his friends who I had not seen in several years, were there. They came because they knew I was coming. It was so nice to see them, as well and the "kids" who I had watch grow up with Adam. It was a good weekend all around.