I think that last wedding may have done some damage to my body clock because since getting back, I haven't been able to get my full forty winks at night. More like half that amount, followed by a lot of tossing and turning. For someone who was known to her college roommates as the girl who habitually got into bed and never moved again till morning, this is highly unusual.
We had a good time in New York -- I got in around 1 p.m. that Saturday and met up with my friends in Greenwich Village. We proceeded to talk our jaws off until D arrived in the late afternoon and then headed over to Bryant Park to ride the merry-go-round (why not?) and talk some more. Dinner followed at a random Chinese restaurant in Murray Hill (authentic, believe it or not!) and then more talking until D and I had to make a dash for the subway in order to catch our train from Penn Station to Long Island, where the wedding was going to take place the next day.
The ride was interesting, to say the least. There was construction on one section of the line that forced our particular train to divert to a station not normally on its run so that the tracks could be switched. Since it wasn't an official stop on the schedule, the train doors stayed closed. However, several large, loud guys in our car seemed to believe that it was a stop, and they started demanding that the conductor let them off. Demands led to threats about pulling the emergency brake, and then other patrons started getting involved, telling them to stop making trouble. D and I hastily grabbed our suitcases and moved to another car when one of the passengers said something about using someone's head to bash open one of the windows.
Can't say I'm sorry I don't live there anymore ...
The ceremony and reception on Sunday were lovely. Sadly, we weren't able to stay much longer than the first two hours because we had to head back to the airport for our 5 p.m. flight. But we did get to congratulate the bride and groom and wish them well, which is what mattered most. We also got to witness what was probably the best unscripted promotion for Tide to Go that we will ever see. Dave, one of our friends at the wedding, got attacked by a plate of pasta during cocktail hour, and within seconds, a sonsy middle-aged woman had the stain-removing pen out of her purse. "Here, sweetie, I've got Tide to Go!" she said, handing it to him before he had even registered what was happening.
Her husband patted his ample gut and winked. "You got one of these, you need one of those," he said, gesturing with his loaded hors d'oeuvres plate, which really did seem ready to drip spring roll sauce onto his belly. "This is what you learn after 25 years of marriage!" (all of the above spoken with an especially thick Long Island accent).
Needless to say, Dave was quite grateful -- as was his fiancée of three days. Yes, that's a wedding for next summer that we can already count on! Exciting news. Hopefully the travel will be less hectic and our visit will be longer.
The first week of class finished well, despite Monday's rustiness. My Wednesday class went beautifully -- my students are quite willing to engage in discussion! -- and my own seminars look like they're going to be interesting and helpful for my writing. Tomorrow, I'm meeting with a professor in my minor to figure out how to do independent study in her department so I can finish my requirements there. With luck, I can get that done this year and not have to deal with it while working on my thesis.
News on the home front: The owners of the house we love have dropped their price a little more! But again, not enough. Definitely nervous that someone else may put in a bid, but if it happens, so be it. Our time will come. Our realtor has pretty much figured out that we like the place -- she sent us an article about rising mortgage rates a few weeks ago to encourage us not to stall just to see if prices would come down further in the market at large -- but we're sitting tight. Hopefully the house will too until we're ready.
I got way less done this weekend than I wanted to, especially in planning my unit on Hamlet, but it's time for bed. To sleep, perchance to dream ... oh heck, just give me sleep and I'll be thrilled.
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