I have been a wife and mother for over twenty years. Now I am becoming my husband's lover, too.
We owe it all to my fellow bloggers who gave me the courage to come out to my husband as a spanko.
I do feel like this is a New Beginning for us.

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Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Great trip!

We made it home from NYC safe and sound. I love seeing my boy, who isn’t a boy any longer. Let me get my complaints out of the way first. I feel like someone took a baseball bat to my legs, knees and feet. I better hurry back to NY because I feel when I’m a little older I won’t be able to make it. The subways are a great feature of NY and if you are with someone who knows them, very efficient. But the steps getting to and from them are daunting. A few have elevators and there are some escalators, but mostly there are steps. My knees aren't crazy about steps. Starting on our third set down in one location I told LJ I thought I saw a sign reading, “Bowels of Hell.” He just laughed and said it seemed accurate.



Except for a few aches and pains the trip was great. With all NYC has to offer, I was only going to see people, LJ and Collin top the list, of course. This time there was a bonus. My niece lives there too and we managed to connect for a quick lunch, we got in at noon and she was flying out at six. She’s moving to Texas and she and her boyfriend were heading there to find an apartment. This younger generation does move around.

We did see Beautiful and I loved every minute of it. It just made my heart happy to hear the music I grew up with. LJ knew one of the cast and we got to talk with him afterwards. I definitely recommend the play to anyone heading that way.

We got to eat with three of LJ childhood friends who also live in the city and I loved seeing them all grown up and with some impressive jobs. One friend had her son with her – a delightful child! He’s four and played quietly with his toys as we ate and visited. His mother never offered him her cell phone and he never asked for it – he entertained himself with toys! I was impressed.

On the last night there we had dinner with LJ and Collin and their dear friend, the girl who officiated at their wedding. We had a wonderful time but I was truly dreading getting back to the hotel. The walk from the subway to the restaurant was just under a mile and I wasn’t sure which train we should take when we got there, though I have no doubt Nick knew, then a half mile trek back to the hotel from that subway stop and I was tired!

We had talked about how much walking we’d done – I average 3,000 steps a day at home and on our second day there it was just under 20,000 steps. We saw LJ’s friend texting as we all came out of the restaurant to say good-by. I was trying to get my bearing for heading to the subway when she told us, “Don’t worry I just ordered you a car. It’ll be here in four minutes.” I was so thankful. As we thanked her I asked if it was better to pay with cash or a credit card. She answered, “It’s already paid for, including tip. All you have to do is thank the driver and get out at your hotel.” We may hear people gripe and make fun of millennials, but the ones I know are fantastic!

I learned, or at least remembered, some things on this trip. I don’t like NYC. I don’t like the traffic, the confusion, the noise and mostly the crowds! But I was also struck by LJ’s complete joy in his adopted city. He loves every bit of it, he thrives there and I’m so grateful he had the desire and the courage to make his dreams come true. I love seeing my children happy.

Just thought I’d add one shot of my two favorite men in the world, Nick and LJ.







22 comments:

  1. Hi PK, so glad you had such a great trip and that you enjoyed the play and got to see your niece. How wonderful of LJ's friend to organise the car for you. Thank you for sharing the pic of your two favourite men :)

    Hugs
    Roz

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    1. It was all so much fun - except for the stairs.

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  2. What a wonderful trip PK. Wow so much walking, you'll need to rest for a week to recover. LJs friend is sweet organising and paying for the car. Glad you enjoyed the play. Thanks for sharing the photo and all your experiences with us.

    Hugs Lindy xx

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    1. LJ's friends are the best. Seven of his close friends all moved to NYC within a year of each other. That turned out well for all of them.

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  3. Sounds like a wonderful trip. Such a huge city is always so much more fun with someone who knows their way around.

    As for subway steps, London is daunting if you have a bad hip! It is not just one underground level. Some go down several stories. There are more escalators now, thank the lord.

    Welcome Home,
    Ella

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    1. That's what we saw in NY, some escalators. But not enough.

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  4. What a great experience. Knowing that your son is happy is a great feeling. I hope to someday visit New York. Glad you had a great visit.

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    1. His happiness means everything to me. But if he were to move I wouldn't visit the city again.

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  5. So glad you had such a wonderful time. Seeing your kids happy is one of the great joys of life.

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  6. PK, So happy you had a wonderful visit with the boys and what a lovely girl LJ's friend is in organising a car and paying for it. SG is right, seeing your children happy is everything.

    I hope someday to visit NY.

    Love,
    Ronnie
    xx

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    1. She is so sweet, just a lovely girl. LJ knew he wanted to live there since he was five. I hope you do get to visit there sometime.

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  7. Anonymous12:28 PM

    I'm glad you had a great time in NYC visiting LJ and Collin and so many others (btw, did you tell us what LJ is doing for a living? It's okay, if you don't want to share, but I remember what Mollie does, so maybe I missed it).
    That 4-year-old not asking for or getting the cell sure is impressive.
    As for the steps - I joined WW and with that got a fitbit. WW recommends 3000 steps as the minimum. And frankly when I'm at school I sometimes manage that after 2 hours (granted our system with classrooms, meaning a class owns a room and the teachers have to run, is at least good for something). The aim WW sets is for 8000-10.000 steps. I don't always manage 10000. Though recently during my vacation to Oslo I did 25.000! Anyway knowing you want to loose weight and thinking that my aim of 10000 plus the feature that my fitbit reminds me every hour to go 250 steps, (even when I already had 24000 and no I did not get up from the bed at that point) really helped me to loose 8kg until now, I thought I'd mention it. I even think the 250 steps each hour is neat. For me it's no problem during the day, but as soon as I hit the couch it is and it motivates you to get up again.
    Greetings from Germany!

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    1. LJ is a director at one of the leading parks in NYC. He started at the very bottom and now there are only 9 people above him on a staff of sixty or more. He loves it.

      I know I need to get more steps during the day. My fitbit reminds me too, but I seem to ignore it when I'm writing. I usually got about 5,000 a day when I was working. I need to start doing better.

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  8. Glad you had a great visit with your boys, PK. Their friends sound delightful too. Walking is the best way to see New York; Harry and I have worn away a lot of shoe leather seeing the sights.
    Rosie xx

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    1. We did get to see tons of the city and it was beautiful - but I still like the south out in the country the best.

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  9. Aww, sounds like such an amazing trip, PK! I'm so happy you had such a lovely time with your guys. Put your feet up and rest now that you're home.
    --Baker

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    1. I'll do it. When it comes to resting, I'm a master!

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  10. So happy you had a wonderful visit with your boys, PK. Someone once told me that the subways in NYC were only for the young because of all the steps. Had the same issue when I was living in St Louis and many times the escalators were out of service. Oh and if you could get an elevator...OMG the smell! What a lovely friend to hire the car for you. It's funny, my youngest son and DIL were in NYC from Tuesday the 18th through the Sunday the 23rd. She wanted to visit some of the museums so of course, being my children, the first one they visited was the Museum of Sex but she only posted the "PG" pictures on Facebook. LOL Will have to wait til they come down to see the rest.

    Hugs and blessings...Cat

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    1. Yep, I noticed a few smells in the elevators in the NY subways. We visited the Museum of Sex the last time we were there. More funny than anything else, but I enjoyed it.

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  11. I have seen Beautiful twice...loved it so much. First time was in NYC...I closed my eyes and heard the original. Not a big fan of NYC either, but it does have a lot to offer...hugs abby

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    1. I'm with you. With the first song my heart just swelled as I flew back to my high school days.

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  12. sounds like a great trip...I do recall my knees hurting terribly on those steps on our summer trip a few years ago...

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