D-Day plus 2 hours

It's over. Thank the Lord. It was much tougher than I expected. Now The Long Wait settles in. I won't get results until July. After a nice subway ride and walk home, I'm having a cocktail and waiting to find out what we are doing for dinner. Tomorrow I'm going to.....oh, I don't know. Do absolutely nothing? I think I'm going to get a massage. Then, nothing. I'm not even going to plan it. If it happens, it happens.

The worst part was the NY proctor lady with the TERRIBLE accent. OOOH, like nails on the chalk-board. Bad. Very bad.

D-Day minus 1

Well, it's here. The Test. The thorn in my side for 3 months is finally here. Tomorrow at 6:45am, a black car will arrive outside my apartment to whisk Joel and I to the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn by 7:30. For a grueling 8 hour day. We each have our bags of books packed and have been relaxing today. I took the day off to relax, get a pedicure, watch a few SATC re-runs (I think I'm obsessed), read my book, sit outside in the sun, and just thoroughly enjoy myself and my day off. We're ordering in (our favorite take-out, Saigon Grill) and going to bed early. So far, there are no nerves. I'm not promising anything tomorrow, so say a little prayer for me. Then I will be a free woman! Wish me luck! Fingers crossed!

Springtime in New York

It's almost here. Spring. It's a marvelous thing. Having lived my entire life until about a year ago South of the Mason Dixon Line, Spring has always been more of an Urban Myth than a season. In West Texas, the arrival of the 20+mph wind on a daily basis really marked the end of winter and the beginning of the the windy season (aka March-October). In Dallas, Spring arrives around February/March when the tulips bloom and you can start wearing open-toed shoes without looking silly. In Houston, Spring doesn't really exist. The rainy winter pretty much just goes straight to summer.

Now that I live in New York, Spring is an Event! It is something to be celebrated, almost worshipped. This was the first warm weekend of the season. I scrapped my attempts at studying (it's the last weekend, then I promise I will stop talking about it) and we went for a long walk after church today. Everyone was outside! Random people at church had red-sunburned faces. I, for one, can not WAIT to don my shorts, tank top, and flip flops and soak up the sun in the park with my big water bottle and current favorite read. Spring in New York is wonderful. Everyone in the City is in a better mood, the restaurants spill out onto the sidewalk, all the baby-strollers have the plastic-thing on the front taken off so you can actually see the child within, and the sun is higher in the sky so you aren't just squinting all the time. It is GREAT!

So, if you are considering coming to visit me (and I really hope that you are!), April and May are the best time. May is better, because the weather is all the way warm, although you need a lite jacket, and all the flowers are in full bloom. But come, you will not be disappointed!

Don't I Know You From Somewhere?

We were on the way home from dinner in Chelsea last night, riding on our regular local subway. Late night, it's better to stay on the train you are on then get off and wait on the Express. We like to watch the late-night crowds on the subway, as you are guaranteed to see something strange. Like the woman so short her legs didn't reach the ground when she sat down! But, I digress. At 50th Street, lots of people get on and the train is super crowded. I look up to continue my people-watching, and see someone I know! My old friend Natalie from Longhorn Singer days! She has long hair now and so I wasn't sure at first that it was her, but she recognized me, too, and we both said 'What are you doing here?' at the same time. Turns out she was in town visiting a cousin that lives here on 72nd Street (thus the reason she was on my subway line), and I clued her in on the fact that I'm married now and my husband and I live here. It was by far the most random thing that has happened to me in a while, if not ever. I mean, what are the odds of running into someone in a crowded New York City subway car (and there are at least 10 cars per train) that you haven't seen in 5+ years in a completely different part of the country? We didn't get to talk long since she was getting off in 2 stops. I didn't even get to give her a hug as we were crammed in and talking over a bunch of people. Oh well, it was still cool to see her and wish her well, etc.! What a strange coincidence! Joel, of course, didn't think it was that odd. Typical.

(Incidentally, I can't for the life of me remember her last name! Anyone know her too, and want to help me out here? Geez, I'm getting old. I can't remember last names of people I hung out with for several years in the height of my college career. Must be the alcohol consumption.)