Here's the long version for the history books, and those of you who are trying to get out of doing something else by checking blogs.
Going back to Friday night of last week, my bishop asked if it was too late to ask me to give a talk on Sunday. Sure, no worries. Then it hits me that it really was. Oh well, too late now. I gave a talk on Self-Mastery and learned a lot.
Monday Jared didn't have to test until 2 pm so we slept in a little, then cleaned up the apartment and got it ready for our guests (Jared's parents, sister Jamie, and her baby William). Jared convinces me to go out for a quick lunch in my scrubs (which I generally don't leave the house in). He asks me if I will just drive him out to the test. Then convinces me it would be silly to drive home just to drive back (which is true, we were about 45 minutes from home) Only problem? I've got an antsy two year old who doesn't want to just sit still and wait for daddy to finish testing. I leave a message telling Jared that we are going to take the train home. (Which I was really going to do) While I'm walking to the train station I decide we'll hop on the light rail and go to Jared's mall instead. Yes, that is more public but it was better than the humidity! I try to message Jared after we get on the train that we will be back by the time he is done. Alas, I have no power left on my phone. Oh well, I'll be back in time. Long story short...I didn't. Jared thought I had gone home, so he left me in Weehawken. Back on the train we go to Hoboken, where I found a pay phone to let Jared know we weren't dead. Then onto the train to home. All in all I left the house in my scrubs and flip-flops with no diapers, or any other kiddo supplies at 12:30 and got home at 6:30. Sweet day.
Tuesday dawns bright and early with Paul awake at 3:30. Since Jared has to test later in the day, it's mommy's job to entertain and get back to sleep. He got back to sleep at 4:00ish after a complete bedtime routine (reading, scriptures, prayers, snuggles, singing, lights off) I was up again at 6:30 getting Jared's lunch ready to go and wishing him luck. Jared goes off to school to test and feels pretty good his performance that day. We run to Costco for supplies, and have a super fun time. We finish getting the apartment ready for our visitors.
The next day started early. I needed the car to pick up Jared's family from the airport, so we're all up early to make sure Jared is on time for his last day of school! Yes, we make it and he does great. I dropped Paul off at the babysitter's at 3 o clock(Thanks again Kluseys!). Come back to the house and put some finishing touches on the house. I head to the airport to find out the flight has been delayed almost an hour. Curse you busy NY area airports! I sit and wander, wander and sit, but mostly enjoy I can do whatever I want without worrying about Paul picking up something off the floor, or bashing someone with the stroller, or crazier things like get on the luggage carousel and somehow get out on the tarmac. It could happen...maybe. Jamie and William arrive at a different terminal about 15 minutes before Jan and Ralph's plane is scheduled to arrive. She waits while they taxi in, and while we get luggage. We pick up Jamie and Will, just in time for rush hour on the freeway, yahoo! We hop off the freeway a little soon, and take the back way home, which may have taken just as long, but at least we were moving. They drop off things, freshen up, then off to Charlie's Steakhouse for dinner. I drop them off, go get Jared from the train station, where da da da! he tells me he received a job offer for a place in Manhattan called Omega Boutique. It's on fancy-schmancy fifth avenue next to Trump Tower, Tiffany and Co, Henry Winston, etc. What I love is that's it's very near Central Park so we can meet him there when all he gets off work for a picnic dinner! Side note: We haven't actually accepted the job offer, so we may end up somewhere else, but most likely here. From the train station, we go pick up Paul two hours after I told them I would be back. Sorry Kluseys! Paul has a great time with Adrienne, a darling girl in our ward. Car load two back to Charlie's. We eat and present Jared with a watch from Paul and I for being so great, and for working so hard. Dinner is delicious and we are treated by Ralph and Jan....thank you! Girls and babies head home in the first car load. As the boys wander around Millburn waiting for the Miller taxi to return. Everybody's home. And scene.
Thursday we went into NYC and our first stop is Lincoln Center. As Ralph says, this is Jan's mecca. She was so thrilled to see Julliard and The Met. We go into the temple and visit with the missionaries there who are, surprise, from Salt Lake City! Jamie is able to feed baby Will (who at four months is such a trooper! and a porker ;-) ) and we explore the meetinghouse on the top level. Off we go to our favorite pub, The Emerald Inn for some lunch. Paul gets to play with Jasper the dog outside and gets treated to two Maraschino (sp?) cherries from Charlie the bartender. Across the street we discover Magnolia Bakery and our world will never be the same again. For those of you who come to visit that is a definite stop on our journey. We get almost back to the temple when we realize a backpack was left in the bakery (8 blocks back). The girls and babies find a pretty courtyard and relax. Paul naps in his stroller. We then discover Bed, Bath, and Beyond....three whole stories wall to wall. It really was BEYOND! Okay, everything recovered, on to Columbus Circle, quick stop at Tourneau (watch store), over to Carnegie Hall, then down to Times Square. Somehow or another, the Millers know someone who plays the piano at the Waldorf Astoria. We thought we'd try to see her. She was not there, but we left a note and quickly found a Subway restaurant to eat in as we were near perishing. Onto the train, and homeward bound. I think we walked about 10 miles today.
Friday it rains and pours and pours and rains. It seriously doesn't stop all day. Jared and Ralph went to school to clean out their desks of all their tools and magazines and manuals. They end up going to lunch with Jared's classmates one last time at Legend's Diner, a place they frequented enough, I think they have their own table. The girls and babies played at home and rested. When the boys got home Jan, Jamie, and I went off to do some shopping. A thrift store in my little town was having a 25 cent sale where a bunch of clothing and toys were 25 cents. (Really, thanks for pointing that out...) Jamie and I found a few cute things and a were most pleased about finding cheapo Halloween costumes for Paul (James the Tank Engine)
and Will (a big puffy pumpkin). Off to Kohl's for the lowest prices of the season sale. Ka-ching! Jamie finds some great post pregnancy clothes at good deals and I, sadly find nothing I can't live without. Back to the house just in time to get ready for Jared's graduation dinner. With a flurry of hairspray, make-up and the like, Jared drives the Miller's to the restaurant and Paul and I take the train, bonus for Paul...he does love a good train ride! We arrive right on time to a beautiful decorated private dining room. Immediately feel under dressed as the two other women are in cocktail dresses and I am only in dress pants. (Seriously, it's a graduation ceremony, dress up once in a while girlie! - If you keep talking to yourself people are going to think you're crazy.) Speeches given by The Head Honcho of Swatch group, who has flown in from Switzerland, the head of Swatch Group USA, and the head of Swatch Group Secaucus. Paul is excited to clap and shout yeah! all the time, whether it's appropriate or not. (Babysitter? Think about it.) The graduates receive their diploma's and WOSTEP certification. No I don't remember what it means. Two special awards are given. One is to Mr. Martinez for having the highest average on test scores throughout the two years. The other is given for being the most spirited, willing to help, and for having the highest test scores on the final exam.........WAY TO GO MR. MILLER! (Yes, they call each other Mr. _____. It's a Swiss Watchmaking thing. ) He is shocked, I am not. He worked so hard and studied so long, I am so proud of him. He received a 250 dollar visa card and a bottle of Champagne. (Which he passes onto his teacher with a chuckle.) Dinner is divine, as we sit with two very sociable and funny gentlemen from the corporate offices. I had Lemon Chicken, Jared has the steak. We wait long enough for the cookies to arrive, then grab our Peace Lily that each graduate received and Jared takes Jan, Paul, and I to the train station for a ride home. He drives Jamie, Will, and Ralph to the train station to come pick us up. We SQUEEEZE in and drive home, only to discover a checkpoint charlie. Thinking they won't appreciate two extra people in a car, and a two year old in no car seat, we successfully navigate around the police checkpoint to our apartment. (It's opening weekend at Seton Hall University so we think they are just making sure the freshmen don't go overboard their first taste of freedom.) SCIENCE! It's time for bed. (Thanks Dallin!)
Poor Jamie and William are up at 5:00 am to head to Salt Lake so she can pack up their car to drive home to San Diego on Sunday so the kids can start school on Monday. What a great sister she is to come and be here for Jared! Jan and I drop her off amid pouring rain at the airport. Back home and back to bed for me. We hang around at home for a little while the rain keeps pouring down. We decide to brave the rain anyway, drive to Jared's mall to hop on the Path train. While at the mall, I stop and buy an umbrella, which of course is the signal for the rain to stop. We start our visiting at the World Trade Center Site. There isn't much to see, besides cranes and tarped fences. We take a short walk to Century 21, the department store. It's a crazy madhouse, pyscho shopping fest, so we only stay a few minutes. We walk up to Trinity church and saunter down Wall Street taking in the sites, seeing where George Washington was sworn in as first president. (I think) Off to a little side street for some delicious NY Pizza and Lentil Soup with no actual Lentil's in it. Paul sleeps for approx. 15 minutes and decides that is his nap for the day. We say farewell to downtown and head to midtown for a long walk to the USS Intrepid. Grandpa shows us different planes and what unique features they have. Paul gets to fly in a plane simulator.
After the USS Intrepid everyone is tired so we walk a short distance up to the NY Waterways and take a ferry over to Weehawken, then the light rail to Jersey City where the car is. Much better than walking all the way back to Penn Station. We may have been able to take a bus, but Paul does love boats, and it was nice to be out on the water. Paul falls asleep on the light rail and is out for the rest of the night. He doesn't wake up at the Taqueria (yummy mexican food), or in the car on the way home, or even when I change him and put him in bed. What a long week for bubba. I feel it too. So off to bed. There you have it.
I hope I find my camera cord soon, so I have real pictures instead of these from my phone!
Paul's first night in his big boy bed.
First two wheeler (with training wheels)
First Salt Dough Experience
After the USS Intrepid everyone is tired so we walk a short distance up to the NY Waterways and take a ferry over to Weehawken, then the light rail to Jersey City where the car is. Much better than walking all the way back to Penn Station. We may have been able to take a bus, but Paul does love boats, and it was nice to be out on the water. Paul falls asleep on the light rail and is out for the rest of the night. He doesn't wake up at the Taqueria (yummy mexican food), or in the car on the way home, or even when I change him and put him in bed. What a long week for bubba. I feel it too. So off to bed. There you have it.
Conservatory Gardens, by the Secret Garden fountain
Seriously, he is balancing on the back of the chair. If he could say, "Hey, watch this" like his dad does before he does something ridiculous he would. Here are some of the things he does say:
This is what a reaction to Amoxicillan looks like in a Paulwog. He had an ear infection on Martin Luther King Jr. Day so we went and got some antibiotics. He took those until Sunday morning when we started to notice some spots on his legs. Since I wasn't sure what it was, I gave him some Benedryl and we stayed home from church. After his nap, he woke up with about double the spots. I called his doctor and he said it was probably a reaction to his antibiotic. He said he would call in a prescription for a medicine to help clear it up. I asked if we should come in the next morning anyway. and he said that would be fine. So Monday morning dawned and we took this picture of Pauly to document his first real scare-mom-out-of-her-mind illness. Dr. Hafen walked in and said wow. Apparently he thought I was exaggerating the night before. He gave Paul some prescription strength anti-histamine and I gave him the prescription that had been called in the night before. By that afternoon, he looked a lot better. By Tuesday he had cleared up completely. It was great to be able to stay home with him on Monday, and I really appreciate what a trooper he is. He was his usual crazy self through the whole thing.
