~Regarding Broadway Shows~

Please don't hate me.
But I must get this part over with regarding "Broadway Shows".....

I have found that once some one has found out that you are going to New York they always will ask you... "What Broadway Shows did you see?"

And it's always PLURAL...not singular. Odd.

As if you must see "many" Broadway shows while you are there. I do agree it's great opportunity to take them in.......if you can afford it. If it had been my choice, I would go see something new every night but there isn't usually enough time, energy or money to do so.


Broadway shows are not cheap by any means.
Add to this the fact that point that you may see one and if you see one you don't like..then it's a loss because you could have picked another one that you might have really enjoyed.

Once you find the "right" show...then the price you paid will have been well worth it.

This trip we attended these two shows:


Honestly...the first one we saw which was at the "Radio City Music Hall" was FABULOUS! Although I did fall asleep for about 30 minutes during it my family tells me. Terrible. But I was absolutely EXHAUSTED!! We had already had a "full day" of sightseeing then hit this show for 4:00pm so I guess I just needed a nap. An expensive one at that!


Radio City Music Hall

The second show which of course was "The Phantom of the Opera"....only Mrs Priss and Mr. Joshua, and I attended, and we all HATED it.
I just did not like it at all and was very restless during it's "dark" plot. Then the kids confessed to me that they didn't like it either.
In fact...at intermission we thought about leaving because several people around us had left the show, but I told them I just could not in wise conscience leave something we had paid so much to see.
And they agreed... So we suffered onward.

At one point Mrs. Priss whispered to me...."Mama, how long has this been on Broadway?"
I replied..."25 years, I believe..."
She replied..."25 years tooooo long."

I was so disappointed and once returning home many people have expressed the same opinion to me.

I have always been one to state that "The Emperor hasn't any clothes on" and I was talking with a mutual friend of some friends of mine the other day and she had gone to NYC last year and said she saw Phantom as well and did not like it at all.

She and I agreed that "many just do not want to say they don't like it because every supposedly does like it.

Don't get me wrong...it's got great pyrotechnics in it and the music was so so, costuming was great...decent set design. Especially of the underground cavern where the Phantom takes Christine via a little boat. That was very good expression and stage effects.

Just not enough to win us over.

I've seen the movie and loved it. But the Broadway show did not work for me nor my kids.

The really FUNNY thing is that I have heard that "Phantom" music everywhere since coming back from the trip and it's hilarious really.
Like it's haunting me.

I was even at my good friend Marsha's one day and she had music playing and all of a sudden the unmistakable theme song from Phantom came on and I cracked up laughing and said "Marsha is that the Phantom of the Opera?" And she said "yes" and explained to me how much she loved Phantom of the Opera. So I proceeded to tell her my Phantom "nightmare" story. HA!!!

Several times since this I've heard that music in the oddest places.

Personally if I never hear the name "Christine" sang again...I'd be very happy...but apparently that Phantom is going to track me down now and torment me with his crazy music.

Thanks Andrew Lloyd Weber, this music is continuously stuck in my HEAD now.


If you want my advice on what to see while in New York City...

Go see "The Lion King" first...then all other shows last. Nothing will really compare once you see it.


We also loved this Mary Poppins last time we went to NYC.

I guess those two shows "ruined" us now when it comes to seeing other Broadway shows. But it's okay. They were worth it.
And as some point something will take the forefront over them.


As for Broadway Shows.....there are SO many to choose from.....and prices and seating varies from show to show.
So do your research BEFORE you go. Then try to get the best ticket prices you can while your there.
We did.

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Closure

I need to give some of you a bit of "closure."
I dropped you off a cliff when the Haiti tragedy took place.

And I apologize about that part.

But if you knew me well...and some of you do. You know that I'm just not one that can go on gleefully showing off my glorious photos of my "wonderful life" and trip to New York.
Not when hundreds of thousands of people were crushed and dying and many already dead.

Not when immediate focus needed to be drawn to "the people" and to their little country county which was such a huge point of the human suffering at that time.
I knew it was a moment in time that needed to be "SEIZED" and all attention in the world needed to go to them so that much needed funds and humanitarian aid could be raised.

So my life needed to take a "back seat" at that moment so that their issues could "Shine."

Little has changed in that department now even weeks later. Haiti is still torn and ravaged and will take years and years to recover. And I will continue to address that here. Along with other issues......

Now I will continue on with the New York photos. Not that they matter that much in light of many things on this big earth.

But I promised I would come back to them and I ALWAYS try to keep my promises and vows.

So bear with me..........:~) sigh.


This is one of the fabulous "store front" window displays just off 5th Avein NYC. Excuse my cameras flash.
It's glaring the photo pretty much.
But can you see what the tiny sign says?

Let me help you out......
First of all let me tell you that all of the window displays are wonderful settings full of many details and meaning.
You just have to study them and "grab onto what they are trying to tell you" in their displays.

This window grabbed my eye of course...because it was such a cute little
"Tea Setting." Can you see the "sugar cubes" in the sugar bowl??

I didn't see the sign myself until later once I was home and reviewing my photos...

It says........."Can you imagine?"

I love that.
Because "I can".......I'm a dreamer and I always "imagine."

Let me give you a brief word study from Webster's dictionary:

Imag·ine
Pronunciation: \i-ˈma-jən\
Function: verb
Transitive verb
1 : to form a mental image of (something not present)
2 archaic : plan, scheme
3 : suppose, guess "I imagine it will rain"
4 : to form a notion of without sufficient basis : fancy intransitive verb 1 : to use the imagination
2 : believe 3


In my mind I am always "imagining"...good things, not so much bad things.

Right now, in my heart....I am "imagining" that things will not stay the same in Haiti and that the people there can begin to "imagine and BELIEVE" that things will get better.

Which leads me to think of another word. One that I love and can't live without.

"Hope"

"I'm here to serve you"

The wall and the fireplace in my living room...they are TWO different colors.
The walls are "Benjamin Moore"...a "historical color"..."Providence Olive" is the name of the color.

My sister is having a paint "meltdown" in Iowa. She is very spontaneous...like me but worse.
She sent me a text to call her today while I was STILL in bed...(thank you very much...some of us sleep until 10:00am)to go take photos of my front room wall paint colors and send them to her.
Apparently after our phone conversation last night she sent her husband to get the paint I told her we had and he thinks it's wrong. Ugh.

I hate when that happens. So hopefully Jenny...these photos will help you to see if it is correct. I am not a GOOD photographer so do what you can with this.

Don't forget to kiltz and to use TWO coats of paint. That is my husband's recipe to painting. Both of these walls are the same color but the light is falling on them differently. Hope this helps you Jennifer. Or should I say rather..."I hope this helps Paul."

Chantelle, my good friend in Birmingham will be pleased with me today too here on "The Secret Gardener," because she sent me a message via Facebook so the entire world could see it....asking me to "PLEASE change your blog, I'm tired of looking at that Gall Bladder photo, it's making me sick.

I just want my friends and family all over the world to know that I MAY live in Louisiana...miles and miles away from where you are.
But regardless..."I'm here to serve you."
You silly gooses!


Come back soon....I have to tell ya'll about a new book and study I am in due to the fact I WON it on Sheri's blog site "The Leaking Window."
It's an amazing little book and I am loving it!! I want to share more on this next time.

UPDATES:
It's over 62 degrees here, the sun is SHINING full blast..one of my neighbors is mowing...it's just a lovely day outside.
I had "Doves" cooing on my back patio this morning. I saw a dandelion the other day...two of them in fact. My Maple tree is budding big time.
I think SPRING in the South is on it's way!!!

Are You A Meat Eater Or A Vegetarian?

Are you a meat eater or a vegetarian or both? If you are a meat eater, what is your favorite meat dish? And if you are a vegetarian, what is your favorite vegetable dish?



Tags: Meat Eater, Vegetarian, Steak, Lamb Chops, Roasted Chicken, Roasted Turkey, Beef Tenderloin, Barbecued Spareribs, Pot Roast, Roast Beef, Lobster, Crabs, Salad, Corn on The Cob, Peas, Chop Suey, Broccoli, Spinach, Carrots, Cabbage, Asparagus Spears


Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Viewpoint/Opinion

Progress

well here it is... a pic of me pregnant. So far so good, I really shouldnt complain YET about how big I am getting. I have heard from plenty of people in the last week that I am actually quite small for how far along I am... and well, I can never tire from hearing THAT :-)

Don't take any notice of the double chin though mmm'k? That's just the chocolate talking and i have sworn it off for good.

I think.

How Do You Want Your Steak Cooked?

How do you want your steak done, rare, medium rare or well done? What is your favorite kind of steak?



Tags: Rare, Medium Rare, Well Done, Fillet Mignon, T Bone, Porterhouse, Rib Eye Steak, Sirloin Steak, Strip Steak, Beef Tenderloin, Kobe Steak, Wagyu Steak, Black Angus Beef, Flat Iron Steak, Chateaubriand Steak, Hanger Steak

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Viewpoint/Opinion

"Ouch"...Not complaining though.

This morning after experiencing an odd climatic pain for about three weeks now.
My good friend Diane suggested to me strongly that I "probably" should call my Doctor.

I don't run to the Doctor, and besides...I see him in two more weeks for my IV treatment that I take on a monthly basis. I see him every other month and this is my time to see him.

However, I thought she might be right, especially since I am in a "Clinical Drug Study" and they warn me all the time to contact them I experience any pain, or changes or problems in my body.

Od course they wanted me THIS morning....in one hour in fact.

Once there...I met with my Doctor.

Now.....my Doctor is from Central America, he's very kind, and an extremely humble man. I love him and I think he's brilliant. But occasionally he phrases things a bit differently than I do.

Such was the case today when one of his very opening statements was after squeezing around in the pain area, was...
"You need to go on a diet."

Something every woman who is on the verge of menopause wants to hear.

So I embarrassingly replied......."Oh I know."

All the while thinking to myself....
"Thank you very much Doctor, but I don't think your going to win the Nobel Prize for Medicine with that diagnosis."

And the...

"I just paid a $25.00 co-pay for you to tell me I need to go on a DIET??"

Then right after I said the "Oh I know" part I think he had an "oops I said that wrong" moment. Because then with lightening speed he re-worded things a bit by saying..."no, no, a SPECIAL diet, smaller meals...no fried foods, and no proteins."Ahhhh.

Right, now I understood.

He then started to explain the gall bladder and drew me a picture on some paper of what happens when you have a gall stone, blah, blah, blah. GROSS!

See he wasn't actually saying I was fat after all....what he WAS saying was that I do need to calm down the gall bladder a bit by "CHANGING my dietary habits." Although I do know I need to drop a few pounds as well and all this "special diet" will help.

Later of course when I came home to look all this up on my trusty computer, like any red blooded woman would.

I found out something I hate to take out of my diet. It's heart wrenching really but I can survive without it. BLACK tea

I can always switch to GREEN tea or Rooibis, or something else.....thankfully.

See it all turns out....I'm not complaining.

Because I am continually reminded of all the little babies and the children that are in severe pain right now in Haiti...many were orphans, many now are orphans. Many now without limbs or eyesight. God have mercy.

Gall bladder flareup?
Who's complaining?
Not me.

What Is Your Favorite Dessert?

What is your favorite dessert?




Tags: Chocolate Cake, Custard Pie, Ice Cream, Apple Pie, Leche Flan, Pastillas de Leche, Ube, Macapuno, Nangka, Mango, Fruit Sherbet, Fruit Salad, Peaches, Lychees, Halo Halo, Sweet Banana, Black Forrest, Sans Rival, Brazo de Mercedes, Hot Fudge Sundaes, Brownies, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Strawberry Cheesecake, Blueberry Cheesecake, Peaches and Cream


Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Viewpoint/Opinion

A "New Day" coming for Haiti

It's hard for me to stay in "Shutdown mode" but after such a great world wide tragedy. I felt I had to do it. I was so heavy hearted that I just couldn't go on as if nothing was better in life than "my little world."

Not when there was this going on.

And this............
But especially with this happening.

I can't stand it. It hurts me inside to see human suffering.

Bricks and wood can be rebuilt......but lives are harder to reconstruct. Especially if they have no where to turn to.
Haiti has impacted our world because of the major earthquake that hit there a week ago now.

Tonight at the dinner table Mrs. Priss, Mr. Joshua, Luke, my husband Don and I were all discussing the "What is next for Haiti" questions and the "Why did people give more money world wide to help the Haitians, than they did for the Tsunami and for Hurricane Katrina???"

I can't answer "what will become of Haiti?"
I can only state that in my heart I feel that is an AWESOME opportunity for radical change for Haiti.

I feel that this will be a good chance for the government that has struggled with so much corruption and rebellion to be rebuilt along with the country and it's people.

Many, many people will stream into Haiti to help them. The country will be "teaming" with groups from all walks and nations that will go to be there and comfort them and help like never before. We will see this happening like never before and actually it's already begun.

As for the "Why have people all over the world contributed more money to Haiti than towards the Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina?"

A strong question we were all pondering....we felt it could be that even though Hurricane Katrina was the most terrible disaster to ever hit America's shores. We can only conclude that people's hearts are warmer towards one of the poorest nations on the earth. Unlike America who has wealth and a stable government.
The rational is totally understandable.

We ourselves as Louisiana natives watched our TV in our front room DURING Hurricane Katrina and breathed a sigh of relief when it finally passed New Orleans only to head our way. Our city of Baton Rouge is only 50 miles north of New Orleans.

Then our power failed because Katrina was now pounding us....we then turned to our trusty, little battery operated radio that was positioned on our kitchen table. We listened in HORROR as we heard the radio broadcasters tell of the "Levies breaching" in New Orleans and of the "Hole in the Super Dome Roof" and all the current wide spread destruction that was happening.
We felt helpless. Our own people were in trouble and we couldn't do a thing at that moment to help them.

We had no ideal what would unfold in the days after the hurricane left our region.

After Katrina had left...with no power and only through the help of a generator...we pressed on. But our city and our lives were about to be majorly impacted.

As we still struggled in our own household with no power, we went to work with our church to help in the relief effort that was begining to take place.

The Haitians can't do that. They can't press on yet. Because they are devastated. The people of New Orleans or Biloxi, and Gulfport couldn't press on immediately because they had no means by where to do so.
Their houses and infrastructure were totally gone. Some of their loved ones dead.

After Katrina, my husband was able to go into the New Orleans Airport and work with a special team that was able to go in and do some work there.
The N.O. Airport was used as a "morgue for the dead" and for "flying out injured people" as well as "evacuating people to other places."
My husband worked with those that were leaving..the injured and uninjured. But I think they were all injured in some way...maybe you just couldn't see it on the outside like you could some of the others.
Our best friends helped another team at the airport place "toe tags" on the deceased and "zip up body bags." They were sad for days over that experience. Both our friends and my husband.
It was surreal.

My husband also stayed in a local church "Shelter" full of Katrina evacuees so as to give the regular workers a "break" so they could have a good nights sleep. He came home unnerved after listening to their screams of torment in the night. All these these things were not easy for him but it was something that had to be done.

I was the one in the family who gathered spare clothes, bought new pillows, and meds to take to the drop off sites at our church to be distrubuted to those in need.

All the while we both worked full time jobs...and took care of our own children...and dealt with Katriana issues of our own. And tried to cope with the "changes to our own city" which took in some estimated 300 thousand people plus nearly overnight before Katrina arrived on land. Traffic became snarled and out of control.

Everyone we knew got involved somehow to whatever degree that they could. This was what we wanted to do. No one forced us.

So we have understanding and compassion for hard situations.

In regards to Haiti...we need to realize that this is an impact on an entire Nation.

America wasn't a "Third World Nation" when it was hit by Katrina.

Haiti was a "Third World Nation" before this quake hit. Sadly they were so in need BEFORE it ever happened, making this all the bigger travesty.

Even though it looked like we here in American were as well during those following days after the hurricane struck...as we watched "bloated bodies float the streets of New Orleans and saw the U.S. Army come in and over take because the violence that was happening in the city of New Orleans was so out of control." It sure didn't seem like our "America" at the time.

We lived through Katrina and we saw it's after effects FIRST HAND...and we still see the effects today.
The Mississippi and Louisiana Gulf coasts will never be the same. I'm not talking about actual "ground" as in the coast line...I'm talking cities, towns, and people.

But likewhat which WILL happen in Haiti and unlike nothing we had ever seen here in America before prior to "9/11."

We saw people rally for EACH OTHER!!!
We saw the churches and all sorts of organizations come alive and help our State and the other States that were impacted by Katrina's wrath.

We watched group after group, from all over America and world wide come to our part of the world and help to tear down and to rebuild. And it was, and is still amazing.....because they are still coming. Just not in droves like before, but they do still come.

Yes, much more relief help is needed in Haiti than was needed in New Orleans...or in Mississippi but we (America) are not a "third world" country and we can rebuild ourselves to some degree. This is probably WHY we see so much international aid coming into Haiti and they will need to KEEP doing this for years to come really. We are not bitter for that.

I am sick and tired of reading and watching "editorialist" TRY to compare the two tragedies and I wish they would stop because there is no comparison and WHY do we want to even compare such heartaches?

Speaking of "Aid".......if you are wanting to give towards the Haitian relief efforts and do not know "WHO" to give to.

I have a few suggestions......

Besides your local church or non profit organizations that you know of, some entire cities are getting involved in helping so check in your local area and see what is happening.

Try these groups.
***Convoy of Hope***
(Our money went to them) They were already there on the ground prior to the earthquake even, feeding 7000 children a day in Haiti. We know this organization and it is trustworthy.

***Samaritans Purse*** This is Franklin Graham's non profit organization which has done wonderful things all over the world. They are there on the ground working in Haiti.

***Love A Child***......this is an non profit organization that is and was already on the ground in Haiti.

Our own church here in Baton Rouge has done a "medical supply drive" that will be sent down to Haiti in a few days. People all over our city have come together and gotten on board with this effort. So we purchased supplies as well and took them over to the drop site for this.

Everyone can do something be it little or big.
Every bit helps.
You can pray, you can give......you can GO at some point.

We are doing all those things. Hopefully....we can go too when the time is right and if it God's Will.

I've seen in my life that "Being involved in other people's lives who may never be able to 'thank you' is so rewarding."

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What Is Your Favorite Ice Cream Flavor?

What is your favorite ice cream flavor? How often do you indulge in it?




Tags: Dulce de Leche, Chocolate, Chocolate Chips, Mint Chocolate Chips, Oreo Cookies & Cream, Pralines & Cream, Very Berry Strawberry, Vanilla, Butter Pecan, Neapolitan, Vanilla Fudge Ripple, Cherry, Chocolate Almond, Coffee, Mocha, Rocky Road, Black Forrest, Pistachio, Avocado, Mango, Nangka, Watermelon, Melon, Guyabano, Quezo Real, Sans Rival, Halo Halo Special, Fruit Salad, Ube, Bubblegum, Raspberry, Blueberry, Apple, Peaches & Cream, Grapes, Kiwi Fruit. Mandarin Oranges


Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Viewpoint/Opinion

January 2010 Issue No. 1

Hello there and welcome to my new monthly online digest of crafts...(click here) 

*** PLEASE pray for Haiti***

"Insignificant"

This is how I feel about my blog.......or most blogs on a day like today.

Because when there has been a tragedy of the magnitude of what has happened in Haiti.

I think to myself....."Who cares about all this goofy stuff on blogs"......unless it deals with the current issue at hand.

I always have to pause and recheck my values especially at times like these. And wonder if I am being foolish with my time on this planet.

"Am I making a DIFFERENCE or NOT?"
You see this troubles me greatly.....because I dearly WANT to "make a difference."

So forgive me I don't put any photos of my family having a fabulous time at Christmas in New York right now while hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children are dead or dying in Haiti.

I just can't do it. Not right now.
I'll do that later.

Because my mind runs back to the memory of the Cabbie driver that took us to the movie theater on Christmas Day and we asked him where he was from and he told us...."Haiti."
I wonder about how his loved ones back in that country have fared.

And the time I was in Nicaragua and was SHOCKED and appalled at the great poverty and the condition of the country.

While I was having a conversation with the Missionaries wife we were there with I said to her......."This has the be the poorest country in this hemisphere" and she told me....."No Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, it's way worse than Nicaragua." I just couldn't even comprehend that thought after seeing what I was already seeing there and this was just after the civil war had ended. All I could think was "How could Haiti be much worse than this country??"

But through the years and through many friends of mine that have gone...I've read and learned much about the country of Haiti and it has suffered one thing after another it seems.

BY the way....there is NO condemnation to any of you that do blog and do what you do. Don't misunderstand me.
This is just something I need to do for this moment.

Here are some things that we will do as a family regarding Haiti for now:

#1.GIVE ...locally to our church which is involved in partnering with other relief organizations that are already there working as recently as last evening in this sad, tortured, country.

Not to brag but the churches in this area are nearly "experts" at "disaster relief" due to the work they and others in our area partnered together to do in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

#2. We will PRAY..which is so important right now.

#3. We have offered to "GO" if they need us....we have "valid" Passports and have offered our help in any way possible.

PLEASE take this opportunity to "SHINE" to these people who are so in need right now.
Everyone can do something.
Trust me...no matter how small it may seem to you, no good deed will go unnoticed.

Never boring

Well it's been an interesting few weeks here at the compound...and I must say that my life is and probably never will be, boring. I would like to attribute that to my awesomeness... but I am sure it has more to do with something cosmic, like Karma. I probably do something repeatedly that puts me in the bottom of the 'let's do something good for her' category.

Ok, that's not entirely true... good things happen, but my pig headedness will tell you that it's all because I MAKE them happen... no one else. Honestly. I'm awesome remember?

First, we had a bit of a set-back with E's health. It's all better NOW, but on Dec 23rd he had another seizure at work. He hit a conveyor belt, then the concrete, so his face took quite a beating. Other than his mouth looking like an 80 year old man who forgot to put back his dentures, he has come out looking good... so cross your fingers WCB comes through with the new grill, mmm'k?

Thankfully his medication has been muddled with and is now at a good dose so this 'shouldn't' happen again... but the down side is he has to take it for at least a year. E is a typical guy's guy. He does not like to be dependent on anything that is in any way health related, so this has been a bit of a struggle for him. Admitting he needs it isn't easy, so I am trying my best to be a little less authoritative when I ask him if he is taken it. You know, I don't grind it up in his food anymore. (I kid, I kid). I may not show it all the time, but I'm proud of him.

So the second entertaining thing to come our way is that we are moving. I say entertaining because really, it's been nothing short of a laugh-o-minute. (Please note sarcasm). It's been awhile since we have been in the rental market, so hunting around to find the perfect place isn't what I call a hobby-I-should-take-up. It's fucking exhausting...and well, unrewarding to say the least.

Funny enough, we selected the second place we viewed. It really is perfect for us, but before we submitted our application we wanted to rule out the others so we didn't 'miss out'. Well, we were definitely NOT missing out, and wasted a few days by making that decision I tell you.

Regardless, after about two weeks of back and forth with the property managers, we have finally been approved and we move in 3 weeks. Packing has commenced, but I did forget that you can't really pack much unit the week before because ... YOU FUCKING USE EVERYTHING! Not going to lie, I have had to re-open a few boxes and it pleases me none.

Secondly, down-sizing from 3000sq ft of house to 1000sq ft isn't something I would recommend. Even to someone I don't like very much. Short of giving away whole rooms to random strangers, I still haven't worked out what we are going to do with some of the stuff. Looks like craigslist is going to get a few postings from me shortly.

Shit, I guess I better do that quickly huh? Cause from what I hear, things don't always sell on there. Perhaps I should list them CHEAP?

Anyone want a Tony Little 'elliptical', an Ikea bed frame and mattress, an old treadmill, an entertainment unit, or a 27" TV? Call you friends... going quick!

And lastly... baby. He kicks the shit out of me frequently and doesn't let me sleep much... but other than that all is well. Ok, not WELL... I'm getting fatter by the chocolate, but whose fault is that except the chocolate companies??? GEESH.

Just as a special note: if you invite me over for a visit, lock away your goodies because I can't seem to keep my hands off them. I can smell 'em a mile away.

**sigh**

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More from New York

Later that evening of the very same "FIRST" day of arrival in New York, my husband and I went on to church services at "Times Square Church"

The "honeymooners" were tired and worn out so they went back to their hotel room to go to bed.

We, "The Parents" who are about 30 years older.......KEPT on "going."
Which would be the case for most of this trip in the end. :~)

Not that we hadn't all gotten up at 3:30 this very morning, drove to New Orleans, flew into NYC, got into Manhattan, checked into our hotel rooms, and then proceeded to trudge all over New York already..."on foot" something we don't do in our own city even....then..add to this that now it was currently about 7:00 Eastern time...and you know, sort of COLD.

Honestly we were tired as well..but we figure we only have "so much time to do what we wanted to do" and that included attending T.S. Church.
Here's some views from the inside....the place is just beautiful!

This evening they had their church adult and junior choirs to combine and were having a
"Christmas Concert" of sort. And it was fabulous.

Of course our photos of the choir didn't turn out clear.
But trust me...if you go to New York. You must stop in for a service there.

It's right in the middle of Times Square. Looks just like a theater on the outside......and inside. But it's "no nonsense" once you enter. Believe me...they are "not" there to entertain you by any means.

On our walk back to the hotel which was about 19 blocks, in the freezing cold, and about 9:00 at night...we decided we were hungry and should find someplace to eat.

Most restaurants on Broadway were closed...so we stopped at an Irish pub off the beaten track. It was cozy and warm inside and the food was GOOD....we had "Clam Chowder" and their special "Shepherd's Pie." Then off we trudged back into the Manhattan night air.

The next day...the husband and I were to "set out alone" into Central Park and see what we wanted to see, while Mrs. Priss and Mr. Joshua were going to go off together and "do their own thing" as well.

I'll fill you in on some "high lights" of our special day......like "spending the morning walking in Central park with a temp of 21 above"..."lunch at 'Tavern on the Green' which I hear is now defunct, shopping with the "Maddening Crowd, at FAO Schwartz"....and more.
Plus a few other things we squeezed into our day. I'd have to say that this was my MOST favorite day of our entire trip.

Come back later and we will chat...it's much to late tonight to start this new chapter.

What Was Your Favorite Children's Game or Play When You Were A Kid?

What was your favorite children's game or play when you were a kid? Do you still see kids playing them?



Tags: Children, Play, Games, Hide and Seek, Tag, Jump Rope, Hopscotch, Playing Marbles, Playing House, Dolls, Robots, Miniature Cars, Remote Controlled Toys, Dodge Ball, Freeze Tag, Kick The Can, Simon Says, Playing House, The Blind Game, Easter Eggs, Capture The Flag, Hula Hoop, Obstacle Course, Guess What I Am, Charade, Red Light Green Light, Follow The Leader, Shadowing, Kick Ball, Kite Flying, Playing With Cooking and Baking, Playing Mother and Father, Monkey Bar, Story Telling


Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Viewpoint/Opinion

Winterlicious Bun Challenge?

We've received many requests for a Winter Bun Challenge. Please vote on the poll below as to whether or not you would like to participate. If this challenge gets many votes then it will take place. Thank you for your time.

Please VOTE HERE

What Is Your Favorite Dream Car Or Vehicle?

What is your favorite dream car or vehicle?



Tags: Rolls Royce, Bentley, Maserati, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Porsche, Audi, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Acura, Lexus, Infinity, Saab, Land Rover, Cadillac, Lincoln, Ford, Volvo, Range Rover, Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, Mercury, Citroen, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mazda, Honda

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Viewpoint/Opinion