Thursdays on the Bench

(Cathy)Phew! I got lucky. I went to bed last night and remembered that I had forgotten to set up this post! I work early in the morning so as I came home I rushed to turn on my computer to see how many nasty e-mails ( :) ) I received. Guess what..... not one. Like I said, I got lucky, lol!


(excuse me a moment as I send the ladies an e-mail now).... done.

So, how was everyone's week? We have settled with the insurance company. They were great! It's funny because, and I guess it's natural, I keep thinking I hear something outside. I need to relax and not let the break-in make me a prisoner in my own home. I know with the good weather coming it won't take long., and hey, it could have been a lot more serious, right?! (Carolin) We have had our cars rummaged through a number of times now (in the old house and this one) it is a little unsettling but eventually you get over it. The one thing we have learnt is not to keep anything of value in the cars.

Congrats again to the teenager for receiving her acceptance to her first choice University!!

Sunshine..... how was the trip to New York?

(Sunshine) We had a great time on our trip. It was very busy because we ran around all day and did so many things but at the same time I felt very relaxed the whole trip. We were at the border ready to cross into the US from Canada when I voiced to Mr. Sunshine that I thought that my passport was probably going to need to be renewed soon. Well he took a look at it and low and behold it had expired in January of this year. Well now what? I said that if they would not let me into the US then Mr Sunshine and the kids should proceed without me and I would meet them in Niagara Falls on the way back. Everyone voiced that they would not go on the trip without me. Well the customs officer never even noticed. So I got in, will they let me back out?

The first stop that we made was in New Jersey to Carlo's Bakery (The Cake Boss). Little Miss Sunshine watches this show every week so she was so excited and so was I. We took lots of pictures and bought some canoli, a crumb cake(sort of like a coffee cake) and a muffin. These were the things that Little Miss Sunshine wanted to taste. They were all delicious. We were there for about an hour and the store was very busy. We asked where the boss was and we were told that he was in Philadelphia. We were watching the stair case and we caught a glimpse of Mary, Cousin Anthony, the mom and Grace. We asked if Mary could come and meet Little Miss Sunshine and take a picture but we were told that Mary was busy and I could hear everyone else asking the same questions that I was. Everyone wanted to meet them. In the time period that I was there, hundreds of people visited the store. It was a fun experience. We were never rushed and we were made to feel welcome. We did meet Frankie and Stretch and Little Miss Sunshine took a picture with both of them. They were both really nice. Sounds really fun and I am sure it would mean more to me if I had a clue who any of these people were.

Then we headed over to New York. It was interesting as our hotel was sandwiched between flower shops in the middle of a street. You could drive right by it and not even know that it was a hotel. Every square foot of space in NYC is inhabited by something.

While in NYC, we visited the Statue of Liberty, skated at Rockefeller centre, saw The Phantom of the Opera, saw street performers and artists at Washington square, had a rickshaw tour of Central park, ate at Carnegie Deli and many other restaurants, Visited Julliard, visited Trump Tower, visited Little Italy and China town and did a lot of walking around and riding on the metro as well as visited Central Station. Oh yes and we played the big piano at FAO Schwartz.

There were a lot of interesting people and St Patrick's Cathedral was a very busy place as we were there on St Patrick's Day. There was a lot of celebrating going on. It was a see of green and everyone was well behaved.

Lets not forget Times Square, what a sight. Little Miss Sunshine and I had our picture up on one of the large bill boards for a period of time. It is a pretty cool place. There are thousands of people gathered in one area. NYC truly is the city that never sleeps.

We also visited ground zero and spoke to someone who is presently working on the new Freedom Tower project. He was in NYC at the time of 9\11 and he told us his story. It was really fascinating and I learned a lot. 4500 people lost there lives that day. The Twin Towers were struck and in total seven buildings actually disintegrated. The new Freedom Tower project is scheduled to be completed 2037 and the Freedom Tower is self will be taller then the CN tower (sorry about that said George the worker). It will be 1776 feet tall because that is the year that the declaration of independence was signed. Our conversation with George is still so fresh in my mind that I can remember every detail It was fascinating being there and I could not fathom to understand how the city must have been during that very difficult time. But, there was hope and happiness in George's eyes and in his smile and he could talk all night about his beloved city. Meeting him was one of my favourite parts of the entire trip. (carolin) Wow that sounds great but I think I would find also very emotional. Though I do find it a little wild that it will take another 27 years to complete. What are they building that will take a generation to complete?

Miss Teen Sunshine was constantly asking me if I like her future home town. She fell in Love with New York on a father daughter trip a few years a go and now I can understand why someone with her interests is so captivated by this unique city.

They let me back into Canada and we arrived home safe and sound. You mustn't of had any backpacks with you!!! (read on)

In conclusion I LOVE NEW YORK It has been a number of years since we have been but I too love everything about New York.

The little one and I have just got home from a day at the Museum. I have been so often with the teenager that just the thought makes me sigh. But the little one really wanted to go, we invited KD and little Mac and Cheese to come along as they had never been. Thankfully my mom had given me free passes (surprised?) She had six passes and we used 5 and gave one away. Thank goodness we did as it would of cost us $89.00 to get in. $89.00!!!!!!!!! is anyone else as outraged as me. If you go to any museum in NYC they are FREE!!!!!, same with Washington. When we went to Ottawa though there was an admission price it was nothing like this. Also my biggest complaint with the museum is what we are seeing under glass with security everywhere is not even the real thing! They show us copies of the real thing, also they have things that I don't understand why it is in a museum. Someone out there please educate me how a piece of fabric that is 2 inches by 2 inches really is what is left from a 1500 year old kimono?

The girls seemed to have fun in the ancient Greece exhibit. They spent there time giggling, pointing and taking pictures of the male Greek statues. It was really hard not to just laugh along with them as Cheese would point to the male statues body parts and the little one would snap pictures.

Near the beginning of our day we had a mean security guard come up to me and tell me I had to hand in my backpack at the coat check (free of charge) as back packs were not allowed. I explained that it had the little one medication in it. But he didn't seem to care. Also he never told us where the coat check was. Now keep in mind we went through admission and security check points as they call them and no one said anything to us. So of course I figured once we found the coat check I would hand it in and see what they would do about the meds. Well this guy followed us around and harassed us constantly. Now I have my back up and I am not going to give him the satisfaction, we moved to another floor then at one point well looking at a picture of some ancient thing (the real thing not being there of course). We had 5 security guards start walking around us and they were talking in their mics attached to there coat sleeves. KD, me and the kids made a quick right and we where able to give them the slip.

Finally after lunch we find the coat check they gave me a reusable bag to put the meds and my wallet in. None of us were wearing coats just sweaters so I told the kids that they could put their sweaters in the now empty backpack. Which the checker then told me that backpacks were free to check in but if we put a coat in one then we have to pay $8.00 ($2.00 of each sweater). Lets just say by the time I was done, the backpack was checked with the sweaters inside and nothing but a number tag exchanged hands. We continued on our way with security watching us every where we went. Security would tell the girls they were too loud, they walked to quickly, they weren't allowed to touch etc, etc, etc. By this time I was pissed and would normally never let them run around or bother anyone but not today. Girls thought they had hit pay dirt as we let them touch, jump, dance till their little hearts were content.

Now I am normally a rule abiding person, but what got my backpack in a tissie was was that there where others with backpacks, diaper bags, massive purses and they said nothing to them. And what it the issue with a backpack, how much of a threat can there be at the museum. Specially one that doesn't even show the real thing, just replicas. Also since when are two ponytail wearing moms with three girls a huge threat!

We were talking about going to the Science Centre on Saturday (I have free passes of course) but not sure if my picture is now been sent to all tourist venues.

Security we have a code red: MIDDLE AGED PONYTAILED, BACKPACK CARRYING MOM HAS ENTERED THE PREMISES.

Perhaps I should of just stayed At The Park today.