Can't Sleep

I'm very annoyed with myself right now. It's 2:12 a.m. and I just finished nursing Charlotte and I can't go back to sleep. The same thing happened last night. I was up from 2:00 to 5:00 tossing and turning and thinking - thinking about our imminent move to San Antonio and looking back on the last 7 years of my life in New York. I came to New York mainly because I wanted an adventure, and I got it. I came here knowing no one, now I have many friends who are dear to me. I've made so many wonderful memories and New York will always be special to me. So, I might as well write out some of the highlights since I can't sleep anyway.

1.) Meeting Eric, getting married at our church, and giving birth to our beautiful daughter. I can't seem to separate them all because one lead to the other, and I can't imagine my life without Eric and Charlotte.

2.) The Manhattan Church of Christ and all of the amazing people I've met and come to love.

3.) My first apartment in the East Village. At first I thought the neighborhood was kind of sketchy, but now I recognize it for what it was - cool, edgy, and trendy. I paid $1,000 in 1999 to share an apartment. That was 3/4 of my salary as a teacher.

4.) My choir at Rice High School in Harlem. It was an all boys high school, and while things got off to a rocky start, I loved those kids and we ended up having a great time together. The highlight was taking them to Hershey Park and performing in a competition and receiving top scores. They were so proud of themselves, and so was I.

5.) Returning to Rice to visit the kids after I left to do a theatre tour. It was their Christmas Mass, and word got to me that the kids wanted me to sing. Alton Fitzgerald White, who was playing Colehouse Walker in Ragtime on Broadway, was their guest performer. He is an amazing singer, but the students still wanted me to sing. Alton was very generous and allowed me to do an impromptu performance of "The Lord's Prayer", to which I received a standing ovation. Then, Alton and I led Christmas carols while everyone joined in.

6.) Driving in a U-Haul with Merle through Harlem when all of a sudden a rough looking group of teens stormed the vehicle to say hi to me. Turns out, they were my former students. Merle was a little frightened at first.

7.) My roommates - Dawne, Jared, and Beverly. We had so many great times together.

8.) Tex-Mex food prepared by Chinese people. Who knew they could do such a great job? Sometimes the restaurant was Tex-Mex and Chinese, so you could take your pick.

9.) Broadway shows. I'll miss knowing that I can see a show at a moments notice.

10.) Paul McCartney. I saw him twice with Eric at Madison Square Garden and he was amazing. I also saw him at a small Catholic Church where he read a poem for a classical concert. That was the closest I ever got to him. I (along with almost every other female in the building) walked out into the aisle and slowly started walking towards him. It was like being drawn to a magnet. I'm sure Paul was getting a little nervous because he made a quick exit after his reading.

I'm sure there will be a part two to this post, but I'm actually getting a bit sleepy. I hope sleeps comes because I know I could use it.

First Photo Session

Charlotte had her first photo sitting on Tuesday, and she did pretty well for a 2 month old. We had an 11:00 a.m. appointment, but we showed up at about 10:45 because Charlotte was in a good mood. By the time everything was set up in the room, Charlotte was in a bad mood. It turned out she wanted a nap, so we let her nap for a good 30 minutes. The photographer thought we should start with the sleeping shots (good idea), so I laid her on a blanket and she snapped a few pictures of our sleeping angel. Then Charlotte woke up and was hungry, so I nursed her for about 20 minutes (it's a good thing no one was in a hurry). Then, she was in a good mood and we got some cute shots of her smiling. Next was the tummy shots. Charlotte does not like spending too much time on her tummy, but she did pretty well for a while. I thought that was going to be it, but there was still one more pose to do. The photographer set up a basket with a white sheet in it and then placed flowers all around it. This was by far my most favorite look. We placed Charlotte in the basket and she looked so cute, but her disposition was starting to change to fussiness. While she wasn't the most cooperative during this final pose, we still got some great pictures. How could you go wrong with someone as cute as Charlotte?

So, here is a sampling of the photo shoot, from beginning to end.

Crime in the Bronx

When people think about the Bronx, they often think about crime, and an abundance of it. Riverdale, while it is a part of the Bronx, is not known for a high crime rate, and the area we lived in was very peaceful and even suburban. Our apartment building was clean and well maintained and the residents were nice and generous. That's why we were so surprised to find that we were the victims of a crime. Before you get all worried (Dad), it was a small crime, and a pretty silly, and even funny one at that.

Before I was pregnant with Charlotte, Eric and I would enjoy the occasional bike ride through our neighborhood. Our building had a bike room and we stored our bikes there. It seemed very safe. We hadn't checked on our bikes since last October when we found out we were expecting Charlotte, but we assumed everything would be fine. We were wrong. When the movers came, Eric went into the bike room to get our bikes. Yes, our bikes were still there, but someone stole Eric's nice bike seat and replaced it with a beat up one. Who would do that? Did he/she think we wouldn't notice? Maybe (and this is me seeing the best in people) they just planned on borrowing it for a while and were going to return it in the near future. But now that we've moved, they'll never get that chance and will have to live with the guilt for the rest of their lives.

So you see, it was a small crime, but still worth noting. Truth be told, it is the only experience I've had with theft in the entire 7 years I've lived in New York. That's pretty amazing. Plus, it's not really theft when you think about it - just a swap of bike seats.

Temporary Residence

The movers came yesterday and took 70 boxes of our stuff. We had estimated 30 - boy were we wrong. It's amazing how much stuff two people can have in a one bedroom apartment. So, the cost of moving doubled, but it's still well worth it, and cheaper than U-Haul. We're one step closer to moving to San Antonio.

For the next three weeks we will be living in corporate housing in White Plains. While it was a pain moving all of our necessary items to a new place, I can't complain about the accommodations. It's billed as "luxury apartments" and they really are nice. I couldn't have been happier setting up shop here for a while. The nesting instinct continues to thrive. Eric was amazed with how quickly I got things in order.

You may be wondering why we're here instead of on our way to Texas. It turns out that Enterprise couldn't do without Eric so soon. They basically begged him to stay and are paying for this apartment, which is far from cheap. Pretty generous of them and I'm sure it feels good to be wanted.

The biggest perk to this apartment is it's close proximity to MetroNorth, malls, a movie theatre, and Target! I'm looking forward to taking Charlotte out on a strolls through our new neighborhood. We were in need of new surroundings.

Speaking of Charlotte, here we are a few days ago. She's actually smiling for this picture! I love it!!

Love Songs With New Meanings

This week, Charlotte began smiling at me. It's the sweetest most heart-warming experience I've ever had. She loves me, she really loves me!

It's gotten me to think about love songs in a new way. All of those great romantic loves songs can also apply to a love between a mother and her child. Here are some of my favorite lyrics from love songs that now have a new meaning to me.

1.) "When I see you smile, I can face the world."

2.) "You are so beautiful to me."

3.) "You are the sunshine of my life."

4.) "How wonderful life is now you're in the world."

5.) "Cherish is the word I use to describe you."

6.) "You'll never know how much I really love you, you'll never know how much I really care."

7.) "Maybe I'm amazed at the way I love you all the time."

8.) "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray."

9.) "My endless love."

10.) "Love you forever and forever, love you with all my heart. Love you whenever we're together, love you when we're apart."

I'm sure the list could go on and on. If you have any song suggestions, pass them along. I love singing to Charlotte, and she seems to enjoy it too.