Weekend Plans Averted...

I had plans to go to Boston for the weekend.  As Hurricane Irene forecasts became more intense, I decided to stay in NY at the very last minute.  I was worried about leaving the kitties alone.  I have my preparedness kit all together: battery operated radio, flashlight, extra batteries, first aid kit, duct tape, a tarp.  Food and water wise I am good too.  I have a gallon of water, and 24 bottles of water.  Additionally, I filled the brita and a couple of sports bottles.  Some of the water bottles are in the freezer.  I also dumped the ice in my freezer in a bag and made some more ice.  A couple of other things recommended, I turned the fridge and freezer to higher settings and filled the bathub with water.  The bathtub is not for a bath, but to use to flush the toilet if needed.  Last night I was sitting in the living room and heard a big splash...Alfred had taken a dive in the tub...not on purpose.  Poor kitty!

The Mayor of NY ordered an evacuation of those living in the "A" group.  Basically anyone who is on the coast, at or below sea level. All of lower Manhattan has been told to evacuate.  I live on Wes 43rd street.  My apartment is located kitty-corner from the "C" group. 

Additionally, the MTA is shutting down the trains, subway and busses at noon.  Many people rely on the public transportation to get around the city, so many businesses closed so that people can get home.  The public transportation system is scheudled to start back up after the storm...assuming it is not floodded out.  The subway does have a system of pumps that sometimes get tested on big rainstorms, but it has not been hurricane tested.

The watching and waiting for Irene is crazy.  In this internet/media age you can watch the radar, forecast, tracks, models, blogs.....over and over.  (how many times did you click on that storm tracker on cnn.com?)

In light of the storm, I will post a few of some NY shots that I had on my computer.....

Mimi and Dave at Empire State building



Beautiful Bryant Park

Ian and Dave ESB Lobby

Meg and Mad having some fun in the Long Island surf!

Mad and Meg and their seashell castle - Robert Moses Beach, LI, NY

Kat, Sally, Meg and Mad....in a storm, on a bridge on a bus!   I may need to get a poncho like this....lol

Summer Storm... Crack! Boom! Bam!

The sky cracked and boomed....then it began to pour!  Here's a picture I snapped walking home on Fifth Avenue.

Below is the umbrella carnage that I saw on my walk home.  The closer I got to home the more dead umbrellas I saw.  (I snapped these pics for you Mom!)

Check-up, cleaning, gifts and Today Show Concerts...

Check-up:  I went to the dentist today for my six month cleaning.  The only thing it has been about 12 months since I went to the dentist.  My dentist office has this online appointment scheduling.  When you receive your reminder email, you 'click here' to schedule an appointment.  Well, that feature was not working when I got the last reminder, so I just forgot to give the office a call to schedule an appointment.  I received the reminder email last week and called the office.  The receptionist asked if I would like to schedule my appointment at the Park Avenue office or the Rockefeller Center office.  I have only visited the Park Avenue office in the past and I did not know they even had another location.  The Rockefeller Center office is closer to my office, so I scheduled my appointment there. 
Cleaning:  The hygienist started her probing and cleaning of my teeth.  This not necessarily a fun process, but I secretly cannot wait until they start the polishing part.  There is something about that 'minty-mud' that I like.  I imagine how shiny and buffed my teeth are getting.  When she was finished she had me do the swish and rinse.  As I swished and rinsed out the minty-mud, the hygienist got a pair of tongs and reached into what looked like a microwave. She handed me this little hot package.  I thought what is this?  Why is she handing me a hot tampon?  (honestly, the package looked like a tampon in a wrapper)  I read the package and realized it was a little lavender scented hot towel to wipe my hands and mug.  Once I realized it was a hot towel, I chuckled to myself, thinking the other place I have received these little hot towels from a pair of tongs is on an airplane.  (by the way the towel smelled wonderful)  The dentist came in and checked my teeth and said see you in six months!  Yay, no cavities!
Gifts:  The hygienist had asked me if I flossed regularly?  I told her yes, and that I had a great electronic toothbrush.  This is where the gifts part comes in.....I received my toothbrush as a birthday gift from the Sansoms and I love it.  After providing some birthday gift suggestions, a package arrived from drugstore.com and it was my new toothbrush.  You may think admiration for a toothbrush to be a little weird, but all I can say is try it, you'll be hooked! 
Today Show Concerts:  Where in the world does this come into the story.  Well, as I was waiting in the chair for my appointment, I realized that the window I was looking out was right above the Today Show plaza.  This would be a great place to have a view of a Today Show concert.  Hmmmm, maybe next appointment I will check out the concert schedule and coordinate with my next teeth cleaning?

NYC Photo Safari

I bought a new camera last month.  This is the camera I purchased....Nikon D3100.  I did some research and this camera was recommended as a great D-SLR for beginners.  It even has a 'guide' mode.  I knew nothing about the fundamentals of taking pictures and I wanted to learn some of the basics.  There are so many cool things to photograph in NYC, that I wanted to take advantage of my time here.  I saw on Groupon an offer for a NYC Photo Safari.  I clicked on the link to find out. (I should have bought the Groupon...duh!)  If you clicked on the link you saw that there are several 'safaris' to choose from.  I chose the Central Park Safari and I signed up to go yesterday morning, August 13th.  The safari is led by a professional photographer.  I met the group at the Belvedere Castle in the middle of Central Park. The group was is limited to only eight participants to make sure you have some one on one time with the teacher for tips and feedback.  Our first assignment was to take a picture of one person and the castle.  The teacher took on of me for an example. (see below).  Next we moved on to Shakespeare Garden where we worked on our close-ups, my favorite....the flowers.  For the third exercise, we photographed the road and the fence.  Next we moved onto the stone path followed by the curved bench.  After the bench we moved to the sundial.  Finally we moved to the garden sign, steps and the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre.  When the safari ended I had learned many different things about my new camera.  The rest of the afternoon, I walked home through the park and shot some more pictures using my new 'skills'.  You can see those photos here.  Below are the pictures from my Central Park safari.

"When you get caught between the moon and New York City...."

The title of this post is a Christopher Cross song called "Arthur's Theme".  When I was thinking about a title for this post that song came into my mind.  If you have no idea what I am referencing, then you must be too young.  Back to the moon...

Last night as I was getting ready to go to bed (about 1:00 AM), I looked out the window and there was the moon, low in the sky.  I took out my camera and started to play around with the settings to get a good shot....the result on the first shot is what happens when you press the shutter and then move the camera around not realizing it is still open.  The next two are the best shots I had.  There are still a few more nights until the moon is full, so I will continue to refine my skills.  There were some clouds in the sky that I could only see when they crossed in front of the moon.

As a contrast, when I woke up this morning, (about 5:30 AM) there was a beautiful sunrise reflecting off of the building across from my window....so I snapped a few shots.

July 4th from my window

This post is about a month late, but I decided to post for the pictures.
Every year Macy's puts on a great firework show for New York City either the East River or the Hudson River.  Luckily, for the past two years the show has been held on the west side of Manhattan on the Hudson River.  The firework show consists of six barges moored in the Hudson River.  I had a view of three of the barges from my window.
Below are some pics that I took.  (my camera was new, so I was playing with the settings)

Found on my iPhone....

From time to time one of the kids (Madison, Megan or Mason) will ask to play with my phone.  Days later, I will find interesting pictures or videos.

Today I found this video.....

Tired....and where did July go?

Isabel...zzzzzzz

It is almost the end of the week and I am TIRED!  I don't know where July went, but it is gone!  Looking back, I realized that July was a pretty busy month.  The first week of July was pretty busy at work and I was getting ready for an extended visit to SLC.  The second week of July, I went to Salt Lake to visit and hang with the family.  We had a great time, going to the park, taking Mason to Camp Roger, cleaning out the boat (yes, it was fun), and just hanging out.  The third week of July, Sally and the girls came to visit NYC.  We took a road trip upstate and visited the Hill Cumorah Pageant and Niagra Falls.  A great time was had by all!  The fourth weekend of July (and the hottest days in NY on record), cousins Patrick and Teresa, Aubrey and Andrew visited.  We had a packed weekend with shopping, Empire State Building, sightseeing and a Yankee Game.  It was great visiting with them and showing them around, and did I mention it was HOT?  Last weekend was busy too.  I went to a friend's house for some traditional Brazilian food and a nice afternoon.  Sunday, I went to the Yankee game again.....then July ended....looking back, no wonder I am tired....

Below are some highlights from my busy July....

Picnic at Liberty Park

July 4th fireworks from my window

Mimi and Mason: Camp Roger

Madison and Megan...model shots...lol

Megan, Lehi, Madison at Hill Cumorah...(and some guy with a kid on his shoulders)

Megan, Sally, Madison: Sacred Grove...before a bug bit Sally

Niagra Falls

Madison: "ooo-o"

Madison and Megan:  I liked this pic!

mimibabe.blogspot.com....all locked up

I started a blog several years ago with the intent to update frequently.  The name of that blog was mimibabe.blogspot.com

Over time, I had problems getting into that blog because I could not remember the password.  Several times I would have an experience or story and think.."hey, that would make a good blog post".  I would try to sign in and with no luck, could not access the dashboard.  Additionally, the original email account linked to this blog was deleted.  So....I have started this new blog.  I hope you enjoy reading my stories, experiences, thoughts, insights and random babble.

If you would like to link to this blog, then you can go here