measi's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to the grind I decided not to come home on Sunday night. After the show at 9 a.m. and lunch in Manhattan, I was swept into going shopping and people-watching with my mom, my aunt, and my cousin. We had fun going through the stores and didn't get home until nearly 7 p.m. I was wiped. So instead, I drove up yesterday, leaving Easton, PA well-rested and refreshed at around 11 a.m. and arriving home at around 5:30. Not too bad of time, actually. Particularly when you think that I decided to try "a New Way Home". (these always go bad, don't they?). The traffic on I-84 through Hartford, Conn. was bad, so I decided to turn off on I-384 to Providence. Which lead... NOWHERE. It suddenly veered off into two little county roads that went back through the little villages of Connecticut on a windy, hilly little road. Thankfully the roads were dry and it was a good weather day. Otherwise I'd have been screwed. But I did enjoy myself-- it was a pretty drive through the country, and I knew I had all day to get home. As long as I was heading due east, I knew I'd hit Rhode Island eventually-- and R.I. isn't a state that's really large enough to get lost in... too easily, anyway. But anyway... New York. I've been to Manhattan two other times around the holidays. The most recent was on Thanksgiving weekend about three years ago when I took the train down to NYC and then a bus out to Easton. The only train I could get back was the 1 a.m. red-eye from NYC to Boston (arriving in Boston around 6 a.m.). So I took the bus into Manhattan on Saturday and met up with LGM and Grace (pre-problems with her). We had dinner and a couple drinks in Times Square, and then they headed back to Staten Island while I hung out in Penn Station until it was time to catch my train. The other time I was in Manhattan during the holidays had been during my freshman year of college. It was my first time ever seeing New York City. It was shortly after Thanksgiving, and I went with a dorm floormate and his mother to go see the Christmas Show at Radio City. We went skating on the rink at Rockefeller Center (it was pouring rain at the time!) and got our pictures taken with Santa in Saks Fifth Avenue. This year when I went in with my mom and my other relatives for the "Luczyszyn Girls' Day Out," I felt much the same as I had back in 1993. We caught the 9 a.m. matinee show of the Christmas Show. It was a lot of fun, but it seemed like the show as a whole, and the Nativity Scene at the end in particular, was pared down a bit. Perhaps with everything going on in New York, funding to the different art centers are preventing a lot of the extra expenses for shows. The audience at our show wasn't anywhere near a full house-- probably about 2/3 full or so. But again, it was a 9 a.m. show. We had fun. Marya was fascinated by everything, especially when they were ice-skating on a section of the stage. I'm just fascinated how each section of the stage, including the orchestra pit, moves independently. And as an ex-dancer, I was extremely impressed with the Rockettes. That kick-line gives me the understanding of what dance teachers were trying to accomplish with my class when I was in high school (but of course, we came nowhere near that level). After the show, my grandmother, aunt Vicky, and Marya headed back to Easton. Vicky's youngest, Clarissa, is only 9 months and still being breastfed, so they needed to get back. Mom and I spent the rest of the afternoon with my aunt Gail and cousin Kathryn in the city. We had lunch right by the skating rink at Rockefeller (friggin 18 dollar hamburger!!) and then went over to Saks Fifth Avenue and later to Bloomingdales. The amount of people wearing mink and shearling lambswool coats was amazing. These things run in the thousands of dollars, and it seemed like everyone was wearing them. We even saw a mother and daughter (the little one had to be no more than eight) both in matching minks. I just wanted to people watch all afternoon. As my mom said, you go shopping in New York to make yourself feel poor. Because compared to some of these people, you are. New York is just its own little universe. The concept of expensive is alien to everywhere else in the country, except perhaps Rodeo Drive out in L.A. We drove back to Easton in the late afternoon and had dinner along the way. All of us were exhausted. When we got back, I called Erich and let him know I'd be home Monday instead, and then called work. And then we just vegged and watched TV on mom's bed all evening. Mother-daughter bonding over soapey movies on TV. Easy stuff. It was a good weekend. I'm still mulling over the conversations I've had with both of my grandmothers in the last week, but I'll probably cover those in an entry sometime in the next few days. I just need to sort some things through in my mind, and really didn't think about them in the car yesterday as I thought I would. I'm glad to be home, though. I was starting to miss Erich a lot, miss my kitties a lot. It was time to head back to regular life. Although I'm not sure if I miss the insanity here at work that much... ~ Mel. 9:32 a.m. - 3 December 2002 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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