Would You Rather...?
Leah 4th grade class used to play "Would you rather.." with really silly questions like would you rather have no arms or no legs? Would you rather have really bad breath or really smelly feet? This past weekend in NYC was a study in 'would you rather', and I think we all surprised each other with our true feelings. This upcoming move has given all of us an opportunity to talk about what really matters to us. Also an opportunity to talk about what we can tolerate for one year (no laundry) and what we cannot budge on (no dishwasher).
Would you rather have a long commute or a really small, expensive apartment?
Would you rather live in a dangerous neighborhood or live in a really small, expensive apartment? Would you rather be in the same school as your sister and live across the street, or have a bigger apartment?
Would you rather live by Central Park or in a neighborhood with some sense of community and safety?
Would you rather live on Steinway Street or Park Avenue?
Would you rather live by shootings or larceny? (you have to pick one) (I had to google larceny)
Would you rather have your American Girl stuff or your Build a Bears? (haven't received an answer on this one)
I'm only posting this to show that we had a massive thunderstorm the night before we left, which meant Hannah was in our bed trembling for a solid two hours. Jacob slept through most of it but secretly thought it was cute that she would come running in to snuggle with us at any hour of the day/night. The point here is that I got no sleep.
What Jacob isn't talking about but what this fuzzy picture shows is how much he loved New York. I think the energy of the city plus being able to picture our life there was very exciting to him. I really wanted to have the same enthusiasm, but I was so tired, so, so tired.
We stayed with some friends that knew Jacob in Grenada (I met them there, super nice people). They live on the corner of 5th Avenue and Central Park North in a smallish but comfortable apartment on the 29th floor. The view alone was fascinating. I spent 30 whole minutes watching firetrucks one night.
Before coming we mapped out the city, had a lead on an apartment in Brooklyn, and had a list of hospitals for Jacob to visit. We did everything on our to-do list and much, much more. Some of the extra activities included being extremely cold, having sore feet, finding a piece of pizza with caesar's salad on top of it (SO GOOD), realizing we hated Brooklyn, and me having a complete wailing meltdown in the middle of the Brooklyn ghetto when Jacob got us lost for the 5th time in a row. Ahem. It's funny now...kind of.
This is the apartment lead that we hated. It's a church member in Brooklyn but the place is right in the worst part of town. And I mean 10-year-old girls talking about abortions. We were so disappointed that it didn't work out. In fact, I woke up at 3 in the morning before we did our tour of Brooklyn and had a horrible, sinking feeling about the whole thing. I couldn't fall back asleep and that's probably where the ghetto meltdown came from. The meltdown itself was ghetto plus we were in the ghetto. I'll stop now.
We split up the next day. Jacob headed out to New Jersey because he didn't believe anyone's opinion that it was more boring in Jersey than it is in _________________ (fill in the blank with the worst place you can think of. If I volunteer my opinion I will offend someone.)
That would have been a great plan except that the subway stop he dropped me off at was closed, so I had to walk to a bus stop, but then the bus had to get rerouted because of a street fair so we all got kicked of the bus. I was more than annoyed, so I walked to Central Park and SAT DOWN. BY THE BATHROOM. True story--NYC really lacks public restrooms. I sat by the bathroom and kept drinking large quantities of fluid. But the view was nice and the weather was perfect. Much warmer than the day before.
I stayed at the park for a while and met up with a friend from high school and her family of 3 girls and a husband. I've known Tanya since middle school and always thought she was the nicest person, plus extremely smart. We had a great time walking to the temple and Juilliard, eating dinner at Whole Foods and talking about life in NYC. She and her family live in Greenwich Village while she does a post doc at NYU. I'm convinced I needed to talk to her to get some reassurance about squeezing a family into less than 1000 sq feet.
The building across from Columbus Circle has these huge statues of naked guy and girl. The private parts on the guy are a different color and it took me a really long time to realize that it's because so many people touched it. I texted this to Jacob in Jersey and we had a big laugh for several hours, making jokes and giggling about the golden penis like we were teenagers.
We accidentally happened into a neighborhood in Queens that was both very likable, very safe, and very close to everything. Queens sits on top of Brooklyn and is across the river from Manhattan. I went into a nail salon to get a quick back massage and started chatting with a very social lady who happens to be a realtor in the area. She said she had some units that would be opening up soon and could show us the next morning. Yes, please!!!
In short, she showed us a place across from a K-6 school that was one bedroom and a two bedroom place with different school boundaries where the girls wouldn't be together. I asked them (kids) if they would prefer to have a bedroom or be in the same school. They didn't even think about it--they both wanted the school over the bedroom. Ah, those tough choices. So we are in the process of applying for this place and I will keep everyone posted.
Would you rather have a long commute or a really small, expensive apartment?
Would you rather live in a dangerous neighborhood or live in a really small, expensive apartment? Would you rather be in the same school as your sister and live across the street, or have a bigger apartment?
Would you rather live by Central Park or in a neighborhood with some sense of community and safety?
Would you rather live on Steinway Street or Park Avenue?
Would you rather live by shootings or larceny? (you have to pick one) (I had to google larceny)
Would you rather have your American Girl stuff or your Build a Bears? (haven't received an answer on this one)
I'm only posting this to show that we had a massive thunderstorm the night before we left, which meant Hannah was in our bed trembling for a solid two hours. Jacob slept through most of it but secretly thought it was cute that she would come running in to snuggle with us at any hour of the day/night. The point here is that I got no sleep.
 |
| It continued to rain for 24 hours and almost killed my cuban peppers. |
What Jacob isn't talking about but what this fuzzy picture shows is how much he loved New York. I think the energy of the city plus being able to picture our life there was very exciting to him. I really wanted to have the same enthusiasm, but I was so tired, so, so tired.
 |
| We tried so hard to navigate the subway/bus system. It's not complicated and only a little scary. |
Before coming we mapped out the city, had a lead on an apartment in Brooklyn, and had a list of hospitals for Jacob to visit. We did everything on our to-do list and much, much more. Some of the extra activities included being extremely cold, having sore feet, finding a piece of pizza with caesar's salad on top of it (SO GOOD), realizing we hated Brooklyn, and me having a complete wailing meltdown in the middle of the Brooklyn ghetto when Jacob got us lost for the 5th time in a row. Ahem. It's funny now...kind of.
 |
| Seriously excellent pizza happens everywhere. |
This is the apartment lead that we hated. It's a church member in Brooklyn but the place is right in the worst part of town. And I mean 10-year-old girls talking about abortions. We were so disappointed that it didn't work out. In fact, I woke up at 3 in the morning before we did our tour of Brooklyn and had a horrible, sinking feeling about the whole thing. I couldn't fall back asleep and that's probably where the ghetto meltdown came from. The meltdown itself was ghetto plus we were in the ghetto. I'll stop now.
We didn't mean to end up in Time's Square, but we took a wrong train and ended up there anyway. New since the last time I went is characters (like at Disney World) who walk around and get tips by being in everyone's picture. I had to take this pic of Olaf since everyone was so disappointed that we didn't see him in Orlando. Plus now I have evidence of my super bad hair day and the emergency freezing cold sweater I had to buy.
 |
| I kind of feel about Times Square the way I feel about South Beach. A lot of hype and noise that I could probably do without. |
That would have been a great plan except that the subway stop he dropped me off at was closed, so I had to walk to a bus stop, but then the bus had to get rerouted because of a street fair so we all got kicked of the bus. I was more than annoyed, so I walked to Central Park and SAT DOWN. BY THE BATHROOM. True story--NYC really lacks public restrooms. I sat by the bathroom and kept drinking large quantities of fluid. But the view was nice and the weather was perfect. Much warmer than the day before.
 |
| How it looked while lying on my back. |
I stayed at the park for a while and met up with a friend from high school and her family of 3 girls and a husband. I've known Tanya since middle school and always thought she was the nicest person, plus extremely smart. We had a great time walking to the temple and Juilliard, eating dinner at Whole Foods and talking about life in NYC. She and her family live in Greenwich Village while she does a post doc at NYU. I'm convinced I needed to talk to her to get some reassurance about squeezing a family into less than 1000 sq feet.
The building across from Columbus Circle has these huge statues of naked guy and girl. The private parts on the guy are a different color and it took me a really long time to realize that it's because so many people touched it. I texted this to Jacob in Jersey and we had a big laugh for several hours, making jokes and giggling about the golden penis like we were teenagers.
Her family is so cute. If they can do it, we can do it.
 |
| Taeya apologizes for posting a picture of me on Facebook that looks like I'm pregnant. |
We accidentally happened into a neighborhood in Queens that was both very likable, very safe, and very close to everything. Queens sits on top of Brooklyn and is across the river from Manhattan. I went into a nail salon to get a quick back massage and started chatting with a very social lady who happens to be a realtor in the area. She said she had some units that would be opening up soon and could show us the next morning. Yes, please!!!
 |
| She has the friendliest bird I've ever seen. Cuddles. Cuddles liked Jacob. Jacob tried to like Cuddles in return. |
In short, she showed us a place across from a K-6 school that was one bedroom and a two bedroom place with different school boundaries where the girls wouldn't be together. I asked them (kids) if they would prefer to have a bedroom or be in the same school. They didn't even think about it--they both wanted the school over the bedroom. Ah, those tough choices. So we are in the process of applying for this place and I will keep everyone posted.
 |
| Meanwhile, my peppers on the balcony are flourishing and making us all really happy. Actually, Leah doesn't care. |
Comments