Start Spreadin' The News...

It's been a while since I've posted and thought I'd better get my act together and update my blog. I think I'll start with my trip to New York...
It all started on the 14th... (disclaimer--all times are approximate)
Monday, April 14th
8:30 p.m.--kiss the kids and hubby, throw my suitcase in the truck and leave my house--suddenly realize that I don't have my cell phone. Turn around, run in the house and search frantically for the lost phone.
8:35 p.m.--call my cell phone from the house phone while the kids are running around trying to find it.
8:40 p.m.--still can't find it. Decide to go back out to the car, while calling the cell phone, to see if I can hear it out there...
8:41 p.m.--BINGO!! It was in my suitcase...must have fallen in when I was packing.
8:43 p.m.--re-kiss the kids and hubby and get on my way.
8:55 p.m.--arrive at Rachel's...throw her stuff in the truck and head to the airport.
9:20 p.m.--arrive at the airport--go through security and wait for flight.
10:20 p.m.--on the plane and on our way!!!
Tuesday, the 15th
6:something a.m.--arrive at JFK airport and make our way to the train to take us into NYC.
Nearly 7 a.m.--finally figured out which train to get on and head to Jamaica Station in the Bronx.

After 7 a.m.--arrive at Jamaica station and board the E train to take us downtown...it's rush hour and the train is PACKED!!
7:30 a.m.--arrive at the 42nd Street station and get off the train...
7:32 a.m.--emerged from the subway and try to figure out which way to go to get to our hotel.
7:35 a.m.--turn around and walk the other way to get to our hotel...
7:45 a.m.--arrive at our hotel!!! Hoping for an early check-in...suddenly the red-eye isn't seeming like such a smart idea....soooooooo tired!!
7:50 a.m.--Early Check-In----YEEESSSSSSSSS!
8:00 a.m.--laughing at our teeny, tiny little room...change clothes and head out to find some breakfast.

The rest of the day is such a blur...

We ate breakfast at McDonalds in Time Square...I know, I know...McDonald's is gross, but at that point we just wanted some food and it's the first thing we found. Here's a picture of me at Time Square:

The only thing I really wanted to see while I was in NYC (besides Josh) was Ground Zero, so after we ate breakfast and walked around Time Square, we got back on the Subway and headed to Ground Zero. I couldn't believe how emotional I was as I walked up to the sight. I was overwhelmed by the size of the area. It took me some time to be able to process the magnitude of it all. We walked the perimeter of the area and just took our time taking it all in.
Here's some pictures from the sight: By this point the lack of sleep was seriously kicking in so we decided to head back to our hotel and catch a nap. Unfortunately I was a little too keyed up to get any sleep, so I rested as much as I could. ;)
After a bit of rest we decided to go to the Empire State Building. I had seen it when I was in New York after high school graduation, but had never been to the top. It was amazing!! What a view!! Here's a really freaky picture of me at the top. The Statue of Liberty was in the background but I don't think you can see it very well in the picture. From there we headed back to our hotel to get ready to go to dinner and the concert. We got back on the subway (for the hundredth time) and headed to the venue. When we got there we had to get in line to receive our tickets. We finally got up to the will call area and was told that they weren't ready to hand out the tickets yet, and that we would need to come back a little later. We decided to go have dinner since we were assured that the "tickets are reserved seating" and since we were also told that we would have the "best seats in the house" we weren't worried about hurrying. (I'm adding something here--it's now Saturday night--because I forgot about it until last night...on our way to dinner we saw Donny Osmond going into a jewelry shop with his son. He's not as tall as I thought he was. That's all I really have to say about that.) We went to a cool little cafe called the Bouchon Bakery Restaurant which was right in the middle of the Time Warner Center. We had this incredible view of Columbus Circle and Central Park (to the left--with all the trees): After we finished dinner we went back upstairs to get our tickets and had to get in another long line. Here' a picture of us standing in line. We're about half way back...I'm in the white shirt (in front of the lady in the white coat):
When we got up to the table to get our tickets she couldn't find my name on the list...OF COURSE...so I stood there in a panic trying to think of every possible name it could be listed under. Well, after what felt like 20 minutes (but was most likely only about 30 seconds) she found my name and gave us our tickets. I took one look at them and nearly burst into tears...instead of having the "best seats in the house" we actually had the WORST seats in the house...BALCONY--and not the 1st balcony...it was the 3rd!! I told her that she just have been mistaken and that we were told we were to have the "best seats in the house" and she proceeded to tell me that there must have been a mix up, and that they weren't told that the Fan Club members were supposed to have the best seats. So, I sulked up to my seat on THE 3rd BALCONY and waited...still sulking...
Finally, I looked at Rachel and she was thinking exactly the same thing...we were going to go down to the main level and wait until they seated us closer. Super long story short...we ended up about 20 rows back and had an excellent view of Josh. Front row would have been better, but this wasn't nearly as bad as the balcony.
The show was amazing!! Josh sounded better than ever and was interacting with the audience between songs. After he finished his set (about 12 songs) we were told that if we wanted to wait about 15 minutes there would be a little "surprise". Of course we waited, and were lucky enough to hear Josh and Idina Menzel ("Wicked", "Rent", and "Enchanted"-- Married to Taye Diggs--wow!)sing a duet of Josh's song, "Awake". She had taped her PBS special the night before, with Josh as her special guest, but needed to re-record the song they did together...lucky for us!! She was funny, but has a dirty mouth...who knew?? When they finished we made our way out of the venue like walking zombies--the lack of sleep was seriously kicking in by this point--got back on the subway to our hotel and literally dove into bed. I can't believe how tired I was!!! I found out later that Josh signed autographs after the show, but by that point the only thing I could think about was SLEEP!!!
Wednesday, the 16th
7:30 a.m.--made our way to the Newark airport via taxi (EXPENSIVE!!!) and headed home.
It was an amazing whirl-wind of a trip and I loved every minute of it!!