2008

This year I resolve to put myself first, sometimes anyway. So far, so good.

We rang in the new year at home, a bunch of us, tired but together. Off to bed at minutes past twelve. Six a.m. comes early on New Year's Day.

A shiny new year! Off at 8 a.m., headed for the Bronx. But the very best part was knowing that in a few short hours, I'd finally be meeting Mary of ShortyPJs fame!!!! The drive wasn't great. It was raining cats and dogs. We'd travelled about an hour and a half when the cell phone rang. It was our little friend's mom calling to tell us she was in Springfield (MA) and asking if we could bring her boy there, a state away, instead of to the Bronx. Now, normally, I would have said yes, even though it would mean travelling another two hours out of our way (talk about the long route to Springfield), but c'mon, it wasn't even noon on New Year's day. I wasn't about to break my resolution yet! And, just last New Year's Day I had already broken a date with Mary. No way was I going to do that again. So, believe it or not, I said no. I was going to Manhattan with or without her son (yes, I would absolutely have dragged him along). She told me that she'd see what she could do. We reached a compromise. We'd drop little guy off in Bridgeport. After driving around Bridgeport for 30 minutes or so, we finally stumbled upon a very kind police officer who got us just where we needed to be. Back on the road. Sticking to our original plan, we drove to the Bronx where we spent another half hour looking for a place to park. We're now four and a half hours into the trip, soaking wet (from our romp around Bridgeport), but excited to be nearing our destination. Poor Mary had to listen to our tales of woe as we kept her posted during our adventure. Finally, I was able to call Mary and report that we were at the subway and would probably reach meeting place in a half hour or so.

Husband and I rumbled along beneath the streets of New York. Bedraggled, but happy, we made our way to our meeting spot. THERE SHE WAS. I would have recognized her anywhere. At first, she looked right past me. I know. There I was, hair frizzed from the rain, no make-up, wrinkled, probably looking nothing like any photo I've ever posted (don't you all choose only the best ones to show?). As my mom would say, I looked "like a drowned rat." Not the first impression I'd like to make, but from reading Mary's blog for a long time now, I knew that she wouldn't care one little bit. And if she wouldn't care, neither would I! I introduced Mary to husband. Then Mary and I were off!

One thing is for sure. When Mary says that she walks quickly, she means it. I'm usually the one everyone tries to keep up with. Not Mary. We walked our way to a delicious lunch. Then we walked off only a tiny bit of lunch on our way to ice cream. A great little shop offering flavors I could never have dreamed of. Delicious cone of honeydew and banana. Yum. Mary suggested we sit on a bench in a small park to finish our cones. There we ran into hubby. The three of us chatted. Bob found Mary quite charming and was pleased to learn that I'd invited her to come visit us here. After finishing our cones, the three of us rumbled our way underground back towards the Bronx. Who knew I'd ever take a subway ride with Mary?!! Mary exited at her stop, and wished us a Happy New Year. She had no way of knowing that, for me, it was one of the best and certainly the most memorable New Year in a long time.

I hope to see Mary again sometime over the summer. Yup, the two of us (with cocktails in hand) sitting somewhere outside overlooking the Atlantic. Or maybe just sitting on the boat's deck at the slip (still with drinks in hand).

I hope all of you have as much fun keeping your resolutions as I have. Happy New Year.