CHECKING IN

My uncle Stu - the best dentist on the planet with the tooth quilt I made for his office:
You can see in the picture he collects all kinds of dental paraphernalia - see the "DENTIST" framed pic to his right? And the Garfield behind him on the shelf?

Those of you who had trouble with pics last post it wasn't you. I finally figured out how to add multiple pics at once. For some reason the pic files are too large to process all at once and I have to go back to adding them one at a time. Nothing like blogger issues when you are in a blogging rut, huh?!

Elaine, doll, thanks for inquiring about me and my well being. I'm doing well, actually, socializing, going to fundraisers (one in the Marriott times square!), having 3 neighborhood families over for lunch this Saturday. All happy stress, right?! I just remembered that we took a pic before leaving for the Marriott...

Some of you like my New York stories, so how 'bout another one. Now that I mentioned the Marriott fundraiser... We were pretty late, but since it was late I figured we'd save the $60-100 for parking and make an attempt to park on the street. For those of you who know NYC, you've seen the signs that say, "Don't Even THINK of Parking Here." Well, we circled around a couple of times and found a block that seemed to have half a dozen spots! Is this right, or are we missing something? Both hubby and I get out, and read and re-read the three signs posted vertically. They went something like this: from 8am-6pm no parking any time, from 6pm-8am 2 hour parking with meter (which was down the block), sat/sun/holidays something else I forget, and there were a myriad of stipulations such as "except deliveries." It seemed too good to be true. Slightly up the block a police car idled, double parked. We approached, and the cop reluctantly lowered his window, as it was the coldest night of the year. "Excuse me, officer, I'm sorry to bother you but is that legal parking?" my husband humbly inquired. "What does the sign say?" was the gruff response. My husband explained that in the maze of sign language it seamed OK, but we just wanted to make sure. The cop's response was something like, duh, if it seems OK and you read fluent English why are you bothering me? No, he didn't say that, but it was implied with the, "Well I guess it's OK then." We walked down the block a bit, and hubby said with a smile, "Tough job to be a NY cop in Manhattan, huh?" Why the smile, you might ask. I can't explain it but I understood it. When you're a proud New Yorker you understand that there are territories - you respect that. This was the cop's territory, and as native NYers we're expected to be self-sufficient enough to park our car. In my neighborhood, for example, it's understood that street parking in front of my house is my domain, and unless there are no other spots available, courtesy dictates one should not park there. Of course, only neighborhood people understand that, so I don't expect someone from out of town to understand that. There is the shmuck across the street, however, who has "taken" my husband's spot out front when it's been dug out from snow, despite the fact that there's one right behind him, not so neatly dug out by us.

Am I making any sense? I surmise if you read my blog long enough you'll start to get a feel for NYC and it's "street sense." That is my goal here. A person can come to NYC a thousand times and see all the sights, but you won't see this - this pulse.

About my sewing machine - it's still moody, and I think it has something to do with a cheap-o thread I put in it. It rebelled both times. So guess what I done did? Yep, I bought a new one! Designer II on Ebay baby! It's risky I know, but thank God it all worked out, and I got a great deal. If I liked my Viking dealer I probably wouldn't have done it, but I don't, and it's an extra bonus that I bypassed him :)