A Late Start on the New Year

Well, my first resolution of the New Year (of course, as you can see, thirteen days late) is to be a little better about posting to this blog. November and December were incredibly busy months with my 2nd annual trip to New York (mom's jail break as I refer to it) to see my sister who has a place on Long Island and then the holiday season.

My sister's place on Long Island. It originally was the potting shed of a large estate located on Red Cedar Pond on Long Island. There are four other homes on the property that also were used at one point to support the home (although really a mansion) located on a rise above them. Now all of the homes are owned by members of my BIL's family. A barn from Michigan was later disassembled by my BIL's father, transported and attached to the potting shed to make the home that my sister and BIL now live in. The right hand side of the house is the original potting shed and includes now a bedroom, bath and den downstairs and two bedrooms and bath upstairs, the lower middle section is the dining area and kitchen behind that. The left hand side is the barn which has been converted into their great room and loft and bar area (gotta have a bar!).

We did a lot of sightseeing while I was there. I love all the small towns and the ocean and Sound. The Sound is in back yard and Red Cedar Pond in the front. I could very easily get used to living there (if I could only afford it). We also visited the Duck Walk Vineyards and went through a tasting. Needless to say, I don't have pictures from that. I was feeling no pain when we came out of there and didn't even think to take a picture!

The lighthouse in Montauk

A windmill on the way up to Sag Harbor and Montauk.

After visiting with my sister, I go down to the City. New York City was incredible as usual. It's a town that's become very dear to my heart for a lot of reasons. :)

I really only get to spend one day in the City. Never enough time to see all that is there. Last year, I did more of the touristy things - Ground Zero, Wall Street and things like that - all the things that I wanted to see but had only seen in pictures.

This year I saw the Lion King. Incredible! I wanted to see it last year, but Broadway was on strike. Although, this year I almost didn't make it again. The train (LI Railroad) before mine from Long Island into the City derailed causing all of us to deboard and take the subway (something I vowed I'd never do). Scary to say the least, but everyone is so helpful there. I actually got closer to my hotel than I would have getting off at the station I was suppose to. This year's sights included Central Park, a Deli (with cheesecakes the size of truck wheels), The Museum of Modern Art with a Van Gogh exhibit, a lot of walking and some wonderful restaurants for dinner. Unfortunately, a long walk from the MoMA up to the MET was futile as the MET was closed. But the walk was a special time, nonetheless. It was a great day for walking along and into Central Park. The time spent there went much too fast!

Then Christmas was here before I knew it. It went by quickly. My DD came down with pneumonia just as her Christmas vacation from school started and then I came down with the same bug Xmas eve and it took me over a week to feel right. While I was trying to recuperate, my son had all four of his wisdom teeth taken out. He'd be highly embarrassed if I posted his "chipmunk cheek" picture, so I'll refrain from doing that. Some stitching was done however, and I'll post a picture soon.