3 posts tagged “friends”

Today, I checked off one of the many things on my "Stuff I Must Do Before I Leave the Greater NYC Area" -- I took Petunia to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Inspired by our recent reading of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg, we trekked to the Met to find the objets d'art referenced in the book.  To boot, a friend of mine from college, whom I'll call Mo, located me on Facebook recently, and we reconnected after having lost touch some fourteen years ago; since Mo's in Brooklyn, he came into the Met to meet up with us.  While spending time with an old friend was the highlight of my day, here are some others:

En route to the train, a mad dash since Petunia had tap dance class this morning:
Mama, to Dash: What are you going to do for your men's day with Daddy?
Dash: First, Daddy, we have to go to the bank.  We have to see if they have a lot more money there for Hot Wheels and maybe Matchbox cars.

Post-train, hopping in a cab:
Mama, to cab driver: We're going to the Met Museum.
Cabbie: Okay!  West Side!
Mama: NO!  East Side!
Cabbie: MoMA's on West Side!
Mama: We're not going to MoMA, we're going to the Met!
Cabbie: I don't think I understand you!
Mama: Yeah, me neither!  Let us out, please!

In the second cab, after stopping at the cab stand to make sure I knew the exact address of the Met, just in case every cabbie on line was also on week one of both English classes and driving in the City:
Mama: Would you please take us to the Met Museum?
Cabbie: Sure, no problem.
Mama: Can you tell me where it is?
Cabbie: Upper East Side, 5th between 82nd and 83rd.
Mama: You're awesome.  We were just in a cab and the guy thought that MoMA was the Met.
Cabbie: New guy, probably.  Are you running late?  [He caught me glancing at my watch; it's 12:53, and we're scheduled to meet Mo at 1.]
Mama: Not really.  We're meeting a friend at 1, but we can be a little late -- it's around 15 minutes away right?
Cabbie: Don't worry, I'll get you there right on time.

After death-defying cab ride:
Kissed the ground and vowed to take public transportation for the rest of my life.

At the museum:
Petunia: You know, being in this museum is like going around the world!  There's stuff here from China, Japan, Egypt, America... This is awesome!

And that comment eased the blow of our learning that the objets d'art referenced in From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler are not, in fact, in the Met Museum.  So, we did not find Michelangelo's "Angel" sculpture, a fountain outside the cafeteria, the bed they slept in... But Petunia successfully imagined Claudia and Jamie climbing the big staircase, and she went on to wonder if they could've hidden in the Ming Scholar's Retreat successfully.  She didn't seem the least bit disappointed but, rather, seemed to soak in the wonder of that whole, huge museum.  The highlight of my day was reviewing our outing together on the train ride home, from Petunia's enjoyment of meeting one of my college friends who used to draw the Rugrats through to our taking in a street gymnastics performance while sharing some warm roasted nuts.   We are both exhausted from all of the walking but have vowed to take in at least one more museum before we head West.

And as I drift off tonight, I'll try not to obsess over having come to realize that I'll miss this quick and easy access to NYC more than anything else in this area.  My kids love going into the City, and I know fear that San Francisco won't compare.   At least the City that never sleeps will still be singing its siren song whenever we return, hopefully often.

Last night, the Guv and I drove into NYC for a 9:30 dinner with some dear friends who recently relocated from NYC to Long Island.  While many of the Guv's friends are real men's men -- you know, raunchy, foul and drunk -- this golf buddy of the Guv's is a class act, and his wife is terrific, too.  Spending some time in their company made the four hours of sleep bearable.   And, might I add, the meal and the wine were out of this world.

Fortunately, au pair Maria was able to get Dash to sleep.  Surprisingly, it was Petunia who made trouble.  My cell phone didn't ring in the restaurant, but, when we left at midnight, I had a voice mail from home, left at ten p.m.  It was Petunia, whispering in Deep Throat fashion that she couldn't sleep.  I am not a worrier, but, of course, I became a wee bit stressed out over this message: where was Maria?  why was Petunia calling me about this?  was everything okay at home?  Also, I didn't know that Petunia knew how to call my cell phone.  I knew she had a general idea of how to use the phone to call 9-1-1, but I have never taught her how to call using 1-area code-number.  She had retrieved an "emergency" card from her school bag and figured it out.  So, I texted Maria right away to ask: "Is everything okay?  Petunia left me a strange message at 10.  Why did she call me?"  I received a quick reply indicating that everything was fine, both kids were asleep and that Maria had no idea that Petunia called me.

I don't want to make Petunia feel like she can't ring us when we're out, because, God forbid, there's a real emergency sometime and she really does need to call us.  But this morning when we woke up, I calmly asked her why she called me last night.  She said that Maria wasn't understanding that she couldn't fall asleep.  When I asked Petunia what I was supposed to do about that from New York City, she giggled.  I asked again.  "Petunia, you have been to New York City many, many times.  You know that it's almost two hours from here.  Tell me, how was I supposed to get you, at age seven, to sleep, from NEW YORK CITY?"  More giggles.  "Sorry, mama, I didn't think about that.  I think I fell asleep right after I left you that message, though."

Dash's godmother, who lives in Virginia, visited today.  She is my best friend from boarding school, and I miss her very much now that we live so far apart -- and a little extra after having a nice afternoon together.  She (a research scientist) and her husband (a rocket scientist, literally) don't have kids yet, so it gave me great joy to give them a little push in that direction by filling their trunk with my kids' crib bedding, a bouncer seat, a Boppy and various other items.

Speaking of getting rid of stuff, hats off to The Guv for spending most of my "sick day" cleaning up the house.  A lot of my piles are gone, or consolidated at least.  Sometimes, his kineticism works to my great advantage.

Now, off to bed.  Dash's cold is hitting me harder, and I can't stay awake.  I promise a more exciting post soon. 'night.