Rainy morning in Port Chester

Nothing like waking up to the morning news to find out that some guy was arrested for chasing people around the 1 train Upper West Side Subway Station. With a saw blade. Ugh. What a strange city :) haha.
The mom left this morning at 4:30 for a state far away, not sure which one, so I had to wake up somewhat early to begin my job today. The funny thing is... even though I'm working more, it's actually less stressful because she's gone. I think that the skills that make her so great in her cut-throat world of finance down in big New York City are the skills that make me terrified and annoyed all at once when it comes to dealing with her as far as an employer. Yesterday I was annoyed for 1/2 the morning after she made it seem like I was being so unreasonable when I reminded her yet again what time I needed to be off work to catch my flight next weekend. Never mind that I had actually asked for that day OFF months ago, and I'm watching the kids in the morning to HELP THEM OUT. Had to do an emergency bible time mid-morning to make sure my bad attitude didn't sour my entire day. :) God is so good about turning things around, isn't he? Love it :)
Had a great 4th of July- my friend Patrick and I wandered around the city doing patriotic things- we tried to go to a "free" concert in Battery Park, but by some twist of fate you had to have a ticket and they were out. Yes. A ticket to a free concert. Who knew? So we took the Staten Island ferry (the cheap way to get some good glimpses of Statue of Liberty, etc.) which he had never done before, then walked up to South St. Seaport (in the rain) and had some lunch/ supper (some of the best diet coke I've had in months.) We wandered around the Seaport for awhile, the area is so cute down there. I tried to drink a HUGE iced latte right after dinner, and felt so sick, so I had to rest for awhile while Patrick made fun of me and took pictures haha. Then as HORDES of people arrived to watch the fireworks there, we decided it wasn't really our cup of tea and went wandering to find a new spot. By default, we ended up around 14th St/ Union Square and followed the crowds of people over to the East Side. It was soo cool, I swear the whole city evacuated and walked East, to watch the fireworks together. The FDR highway/ bridge thing (not sure exactly what we're talking about here, some sort of road) was closed for the night, so thousands and thousands of people streamed onto the road to watch the fireworks over the water, and Pat and I were right there with them. It was so cool. We decided to walk the 30 or so blocks back to Grand Central afterwards, which was a sweet decision because the streets were filled with people heading home. I felt like such a part of the city, like we knew the secret everyone else was in on, like we really belonged here. Pretty great. So that was the 4th of July, and it was good. I actually had the 3rd and the 4th off of work, so my 4 day weekend was splendid. A little lonely on Saturday, but Sunday was great- I headed into the city to have quality time with Jocelyn and our old friend that was in town which was soooooooooooo good, then Joce and I walked 20 or so blocks south to wander the street festivals in the Village and Soho. Don't I have the coolest life? :) haha. Of course, I tried to dress cute because of the meetup with the old friend, so my shoes were killing me by 5:00, so heading home was a relief :). Monday I checked out 7 or so books from the library (mostly cookbooks haha) and hung out at our pool, worked out, and went to the movie "The Devil Wears Prada." The movie was good, but even more fun to see things I recognized in the movie (in the opening credits it shows my favorite vegan bakery in the Lower East Side!) Also on Monday I heard a couple lottery commercials on the radio, and thinking that it could be a sign from God, I bought my first lottery ticket. BAD IDEA. Never purchasing such a ticket before, I thought that all lottery tickets were just a dollar, but the one they'd been advertising on TV? Ten dollars! And I'd been budgeting so well!! So, word to the wise... If you hear a bunch of lottery commercials, it's not a sign from God. It's just persistent adveritising :)
Then Tuesday, with Pat. Almost nice to get back to work, though, because a long weekend means you have to try and fil it up with fun social things, and with my "could count on one hand" friend list, that can get stressful! Also with the new budget I'm trying to implement, it can be even more difficult. So, happy to get back to work. It's been so rainy, so the kids and we just chill inside and try to keep the 2 year old from picking up his play bus and ramming it into the baby's head (trust me we had a bigggggggg talk about that yesterday-- good thing I caught him before he actually did the dirty deed.) Next week I come home, so I'm already excited and making lists in my head about that. I can't wait to see my family and hang out and have a lovely time. Ahhhhhhh! love it. :) Then, we I get back, my two lovely friends from Iowa State, Hailey and Hannah, are coming to visit for 4 days. Whooohooo! So many exciting things coming soon. Maybe I won't go to the city at all this weekend, just clean and save money. Trust me, the cleaning is far overdue. Why is that always true of me? Goodness. Anyway, I smell a dirty diaper, so I better get going, but I love you all, and hope all is well.
christina