Applesauce at Midnight

Hello! I figured everyone would be very happy to have a new post from us! Hooray!


Here's a recent happening...

Today, I was shooting around and working on my ball handling in the gym. There was another guy shooting at the other end of the court, so I had a basket all to myself. After a while, another guy came in with a gym bag. I was kind of worried that he would want to shoot with me. There were side goals open, but no one likes shooting on those if they don't have to.


I was hoping he wouldn't wander around my goal and commit the cardinal sin of rebounding MY shot and, in doing so, assume he could shoot with my ball. Guys do that ALL THE TIME and I HATE IT! Then they say something ridiculous about you being a girl in the gym and call you Mrs. Jordan (as in Michael) and make a big deal out of you having basic basketball skills and you have to make small talk while you're trying to get your ball back.


When the guy came in, I had been using the side lanes of my half of the court to work on dribbling, so I nonchalantly made my way back to the basket for a few more shots just to make sure he knew this basket was taken. Kind of rude, I know, but c'mon, I've put up with more than my share of crappy guys who'd rather offer you tips on your technique than shut up and work on their own skills.


From the corner of my eye, I saw him open his bag and face the wall. I didn't see a basketball, so I began to fear for the safety of mine. I took another shot. When I looked back, the guy was juggling 3 ping pong balls.


Yeah.


A week ago, I darn near cried when I saw that this new rec center had a full size basketball court and again when I shot my first free throw after all these years. Basketball is something that I know. It's in my blood. It's in my bones. I played too long and sacrificed too much to not get emotional about the chance to play again... Basketball was always a place where life made sense no matter what was happening outside those gym doors.

This guy probably cried when he saw a full size court on which he could...juggle. Where the heck are we???

I can't think of a title.

It looks like things MAY be settling down a bit. I don't know. I don't really trust that. We got cable today. That's a ridiculous, yet reassuring sign of normalcy. Checking my email with Friends on TBS in the background is a very wonderful thing.

I found a really great clip on youtube that I thought was worth sharing. This is from The Tony Awards - Thoroughly Modern Millie. Sutton Foster is the lead in the purple dress. She is one of the best female performers on Broadway right now and has been for the last few years. I think she's great and all, but the real reason I love this clip is just the old fashioned decision to "break out into a straight up tap routine right in your face." Sure, Phantom has the amazing crashing chandelier, Spring Awakening has a disturbing simulated sex scene, and The Lion King has a full animal kingdom pageant...but, for my money, nothing beats a "shut up and tap" musical. I love it. Check it out.



And now that you've enjoyed that little piece of musical theatre candy, here's a clip representing where each of those girls came from.


Hey, as long as you finish strong...no one cares that you totally dropped your baton.

New York Update

Well, it's been several days since we posted anything to this blog. I hope you haven't fretted about us. We have been busy moving. Yes, our long saga with $%&* Realty is finally over. It really feels good to have that unfortunate period of our life behind us. We are in another great neighborhood. Or at least everyone says as much when they learn we have moved to Chelsea. We have tried to be positive about our experiences here, but as positive as we naturally are, it has been challenging. We are trying to convince each other how lucky we are to have an opportunity to move, to experience an entirely different neighborhood in just 8 weeks. How many people get a chance to "practice" moving to New York??

One day on her way to her "professional blogging" job (that just happened to be less than 5 blocks from our new apartment in Chelsea...how weird or perfect is that??), Christina passed the Chelsea Recreation Center. This is a center sponsored by the city's Parks and Rec department, and it offers individual memberships for $75 a year. This is a great deal by any city's standards, but in New York...jeesh! Christina walked this doubting Thomasina by last night and we are now official members. Christina went this morning and enjoyed some time on the treadmill, Stairmaster and time on the basketball court. I'm going to drag my carcass out of bed tomorrow morning.

Speaking of tomorrow...we get cable...again!! We only had it for about 5 days before we got vacated from the first apartment. I have missed TV so much! I'm embarrassed to admit it, but it's true. Television is like a loyal friend. I miss "Good Morning America", "Ugly Betty" and "Dancing with the Stars". I miss the network news and CNN. Of course I can see all of that on the Internet, but I'm old-fashioned...I want to watch it on the big screen. Or the not so big screen. Or in actuality, the really small screen. I might as well watch it on my laptop.

It's 41 degrees right now. It occurs to me that the weather is changing and very soon it will be cold. For a long, long time. Today at work, I stepped out onto the patio that looks out over the Manhattan bridge. My office is in an area of Brooklyn called DUMBO, "Down Under the Manhattan Brooklyn Overpass". It is a beautiful area, renovated old warehouses have been turned into office and loft spaces. So I'm standing on this patio looking out over the water and I take the first deep breath I've had in days. It felt good. And cold. Yes, the weather is changing. I know it's coming and I feel a little tremor of excitement that is really close to fear. I'm not quite sure I'm ready for this. I love a little nip in the air. I even enjoy wearing the occasional scarf. I do not, however, like snow. Oh, I have a child's enthusiasm for the first snow of the season. It's magical. Haven't seen this in a looooong time, so I have to admit I'm kind of curious how it will affect my rather tenuous hold on the city. Understandably, I'm feeling a little vulnerable. Don't tell anyone, but I'm a little nervous about the impending weather. Yeah. I'm scared.