EEEEEYYUUW!

Wanda and I were out almost all day, came home to a house that smelled horrible. Like rotting garbage but with a chemical edge to it. Looked for burning peripherals, etc, the garbage went out yesterday, and Wanda went outside to see if someone was burning stuff outside (a NO-NO here). I went to use the bathroom and discovered the culprit. A very old can of aerosol spray burn ointment, iodine-based, had exploded, blowing the cabinet door open, the shelf off, and red-brown goo over everything. The mess is indescribable, and the goo is not cleaning up easily. Ok off of porcelain or tile, but not the walls, rug, vinyl tub and surround, the wood cabinetry, the shower curtain, everything else in the cabinet, etc etc etc. And given the mental state of the cats when we came in, I would guess that it was pretty exciting when it went off, too! The poor kitties!

We got most of it triaged, but I think we're going to be finding and cleaning up goo for some time. Festive. :-/

I saw the Pres's speech today. I'd gone to an ethnic grocery to get rose water and orange flower water for this coming weekend, and the tv was on in there- he was just coming on. So I stood in the deli seating area and watched along with a half-dozen or so lunching seniors. The man was AWESOME. I couldn't be prouder of my President. What a gift that we got to vote for him!

Well, I'm off to plan menu for the camping trip this coming weekend. Looks like the weather is going to be nice! Cross yer fingers!

So here's the skinny on my trip (sorry for duplication for those of you who already heard- I'm doing cut-and-paste because I'm a lazy bum. :-)...

I'm nearly recovered. :-) Flew out Monday and home Friday night. Very busy- kinda tried to not do too much, but I hadn't counted on how long it takes just to get anywhere! We saw lots of subway stairs. And my knees haven't forgiven me yet. Goofed around Tuesday, went to Times Square and saw all the flashy-flashy. Dug through some stores in the fabric district (managed to not spend any money!), and went to see 'Mary Stuart'. It had only a passing acquaintance with the history, but it was a cool show. And they had rain! Onstage! I had no idea they could do that. Looked like the front row was getting a little damp, too. Was funny though- I recognized the woman who played Elizabeth I- she was Fanny in 'Sense and Sensibility'- I recognized her voice first. Annie said the house was the same place where Dan Radcliffe was in 'Equus' earlier this year- she went to see it and said he was _really_ good.

Weds we went to the Cloisters. Many stairs. Lots of keen stuff though. We were in the room with the ivories when they closed, so we saw almost all of it. The gardens were great- a lot of stuff was blooming. Rode the A train and saw some of the local wildlife ;-) I bought some new orange socks from The Sock Guy in St Mark's and we had lunch.

Thursday was the big day- we met up with Adamantius and went to the Met. Annie had to take off to work a half shift, so Phil and I wandered through and managed to not get into trouble (though he pointed out to me the David Friedman Memorial Electrical Outlet where Cariadoc decided to power up his laptop and nearly got them both arrested). It was overwhelmingly cool. Saw a lot of things that I have pictures of- but in real life! And quite a few of them are not the size I'd imagined! The armor exhibit was neat but almost all of it was late and post-period. Looked at lots of pictures, saw a piece of statuary I'd wanted to see and was frustrated to find out that it was not in the round- the back 1/4 was unfinished. I wanted to see the back of the headdress, but I was thwarted! Bah! We finally found the display of musical instruments upstairs- lots of neat stuff there, including a stack of early bassoons.

We had lunch out on the steps- official New York hotdogs from a vendor there. Spent another couple of hours in the museum, then I spent far too much money on books in the giftshop (the jewelry was out of my reach though, sadly). When they closed we went down and picked up Susan from work, and then took a cab to a German restaurant (no idea where we were) where we met up with Annie. The cab ride was... an experience. They mocked me for automatically putting on my seatbelt, but MY GOD! I aged five years in that cab! And Phil didn't even bat an eyelash. He was getting far too much amusement from this Oregon mouse, I think. And I have several new white hairs. =:-O

The food was great, though the place was noisy. We had a great time hassling Annie- Phil pointed out to her that she's nearly 25- a spinster! I leaned over and said "Thass whut yew git fer edjictin' wimmin!" Susan lost a mouthful of wine on that one. And the table next to us was full of good-looking well-dressed young men, which Annie noticed. When their desserts arrived, Phil leaned over and said "Oh! Are those the apple fritters?" Oh yeah, yeah, and did we want a taste? We said no but Annie said Yes! So a fork full was passed over, and then Phil said "Young lady! Didn't your mother teach you to not take apple fritters from strangers?" It was great. Annie was bright red but she had a mouthful of apple fritters and couldn't snark back at him!

Not a single New Yorker was rude to me. The one rude person was in New Jersey, at the airport (I was flying through Newark).

Annie's apartment in Brooklyn is huge. I was expecting a teeny little place. She has lovely wood floors and good-sized windows. Bugs in the kitchen though, which I expected. I went in in the night for a glass of water and they looked at me and said Feh! and went about their business. Annie's kitty Iso slept on me while I was there, though I wouldn't let her sleep on my face. I do have my limits.

I don't know if I could ever live there- very big and very noisy and getting anywhere is such a chore! But Annie is flourishing and that's what matters.

This Slug ain't made for walkin'...

But a lot of walkin' was done. We took the subway to Times Square and negotiated our way through the crowds to the ticket place, and stood in line for awhile. After tickets were procured we walked some more, finally found a plate to get a bite to eat- some panini (which was yummy). Then we walked some more. Wandered into the fabric district and looked through a couple of stores until time for our show.

Went to see 'Mary Stuart', which was interesting. The gal who played Elizabeth I was the woman who played Fanny in 'Sense and Sensibility' I recognized the voice right off- it took me awhile to figure out where I knew it from. I kept hearing her say "He has a barouche". The play was interesting- the script played fast and loose with history (nah, really? Yes, really). The guy who played Lord Burleigh was very good. And their Dudley was very interesting

Since we weren't up and about early enough today, the Met and/or Cloisters will have to be Weds, maybe Thurs. Hopefully I'll feel better in the morning.

I is in New York!

Here at Annie's- got in to Newark this afternoon, and after much walking and training and subwaying we arrived here at Annie's place! She fed me pasta and pesto and chocolate ice cream. And Iso had decided that I'm ok.

Tomorrow the plan is to go to the Met, and maybe the Cloisters Weds or Thurs.

And I may just crash early tonight- got up at 5:30 and didn't get much sleep on the plane.