Yesterday we went to a 10:00pm show at the Comedy Cellar.  We took the subway to a few blocks from the club.  The comedians were very good and the last one was hysterical, with Allison's help.  She decided that she was done before the last 2 comedians and wanted to go home.  There is no way I was going to walk out of the comedy show and become the subject of the comedians jokes.  So I explained that we had to wait until the show was over.  She was not happy with that answer and crossed her arms and started pouting.  I thought, good at least she is quiet. 

Then the last comedian, Sherrod Small, came out and keyed right in on her sour face.  He asked her if she was mad or pissed.  She stated that she wasn't.  After a few more questions he decided it was because she was from Arizona.  Then made further fun that she was there with her cousin.  They further told us that the Latinos in New York are free and asked us to leave them alone.  She took the ribbing well and I was laughing to hard I was crying.  That alone was worth the whole trip.

More later.

This morning my nephew Brad joined us for our trek through Manhattan.  We started out the day by finding a Best Buy because Allison left her camera charger at home.  I would have had more to say about it, but I have done the same thing myself. 

 Here is a dish of spaghetti from the Brooklyn Diner in Times Square.  That is the largest meatball I have ever seen.  The food was delicious.

This is part of Times Square.  The street is for pedestrians only and has tables and chairs to sit and just hang out.

Tonight we are venturing out to a comedy club.  It had a 2 item cover so I need to leave enough money to take a cab back to the hotel.  More pictures tomorrow.

Yesterday we found some more pizza.  Here is Allison enjoying a slice of cheese pizza.  We visited a lot of stores like H&M and Forever 21.  They were very crowded and all of the dressing rooms had waiting lines at least 10 deep.  Good thing we have these shops at home.

This is the fountain in Bryant Park.  It is about a half a block from our hotel.  It is really nice to see a real park in the middle of this neighborhood.

Today we decided to go on a Cupcake Crawl.  This is where you visit several bakeries and sample their cupcakes.  We are very near Times Square and the Crawl is in Greenwich Village, about 2 miles away.  Allison did not want to take a bus, so we walked. While the cupcake were good, after about 1 1/2  cupcakes we were done.  Although is was very nice to see actual bakeries.

I was able to convince Allison to take the subway back to get closer to our hotel.  The Metro is very easy to navigate and super fast.  By time we got back to the hotel I had learned a few very important lessons;

1. Spandex is wonderful under jeans even without a bicycle.
2. I love my desert and don't like humidity
3. I think Allison is trying to kill me.

If you don't hear from me for 5 days, send help.  lol

We have arrived in Manhattan and are settling in to the hotel room.  We have 2 soft beds, a tv and a view of multiple air conditioning units framed by several brick walls.  It's such a nice change from stucco.  We have ventured out for pizza and gelatto.  Allison had the Cookies and Screme and I had Lemon Vodka.  It is the closest I am going to get to the real stuff today.

It is dark here and still sunny in Arizona.  My body still thinks it's time to play and in the morning will insist that I remain asleep.  Not a problem though, I have brought my walking alarm clock and she will instantly adjust to the new time zone.  I think an Apple Martini counts as a fruit, so that and a little yogurt and I should be good.

The Southwest Airplane Trip

Let's just start with, we made our flight.  Last night I printed the boarding passes and other documents, but was using 2 printers.  Needless to say, the boarding passes were left on one of the printers.  No problem, we can print new ones at the airport.  However, since this is Memorial Day Weekend, everybody including us have decided to travel.  The line at the airport to check in and get our boarding passes was very long.  Being the good travelers that we are, we arrived at the airport with no time to spare.  On a scale for anxiety of 1 - 10, Allison is at a full blown 11.  I gave up on instrusting her through deep breathing and just started doing to myself.  I find that this exercise works well while visualizing the rum and Coke I am going to order on the plane.

Once I am checked in, I begin to check in Allison and her bag.  Just then we hit the magical time of 45 minutes before boarding.  The machine we are checking in at pops up with this full screen warning sign that the airlines can no longer guarantee that her bag will arrive with the airplane.  It is now that I fully remember why I used to drive her across the country on summer vacation to visit family and wondering why I just didn't drive to New York.  Now my magical parenting skills are suppose to kick in because she wants to know what is going to happen.  When Allison wants to know what is going to happen she is including all possible outcomes for this and 3 parallel universes.

We finish checking in and proceed to security.  I am now 2 steps ahead of her trying to give her some time to settle in to the honest assessment of the situation.  If her bag doesn't make the plane, we will figure it out in Newark.  She tells me that she is now at an "8" on her anxiety scale.  As we arrive at the gate and I realize that the plane is full and we are boarding right before they lock the doors, I join her on the anxiety scale.  There is no way there will be 2 seats together and I am now preparing for when she figures this out. 

I love the way she thinks.  Just as I think I know where we are headed she ends up somewhere else.  Here I am now stressing that we are not going to be sitting together and all she wants is a window seat.  I find her a nice window seat next to an older couple and myself an aisle seat 2 rows behind.  Finally we have a win-win.  She has her window seat and her Ipod, so I am set for 3 hours and 34 minutes.