Gordon and I went to New York City for a week of vacation, and now we're so tired we need a vacation from our vacation! We got back on Friday, but I'm only now getting caught up enough to post!

Our trip was terrific. We arrived very late on Friday night, and Saturday morning my friend Suzanne and I went to the salon so she could get her hair done and I got a manicure. Then we went shopping and I found some really cute clothes, plus a dress for the wedding we're going to next weekend. We met up with an online friend of mine who came up from Washington DC to meet me and play in NYC for the weekend, and then we met up with Gordon's former partner and her daughter and another law school classmate of his (Riff). Had a fun afternoon with them just hanging out on the steps of the NYC Public Library talking, snacking, and listening to some street performers.

Saturday night, Suzanne sent us to see "Sweeney Todd" - great show, and very well performed. Not a happy or uplifting show, but we knew that before seeing it since I saw a production of it on Broadway 20+ years ago. We enjoyed this production quite a bit, and then I told Gordon that I was very glad we'd seen it, that I really liked this production, and that I never wanted to see it again. (If you don't know the story, it's about a barber who kills people and about the meat shop donstairs from the barbershop that makes the best meat pies in town. There's more to it than that, but that's the gist of it.)

Sunday we went to brunch with my friend, who then headed back to DC. Suzanne was waiting for a delivery for groceries for Easter dinner and couldn't join us. After brunch we went back to Suzanne's and laid low for a bit, then she made us (and her new beau) one of the best meals of our lives. Roasted chicken, lamb chops, scallops with asparagus, shrimp with cocktail sauce, roasted new potatoes, green beans, brussel sprouts, cannollis, chocolate covered strawberries, cookies, and several bottles of wine. We had a ball telling stories, eating too much, and just spending time together.

Monday we went to Ellis Island. To our knowledge, neither of our families passed through there, but it was fascinating and a very moving exhibit. We didn't complete the entire tour, though, because we got out there late and they closed before we finished. (We never did adjust to Eastern time, so we got late starts every day.) We met up with Suzanne and Riff for dinner at a Cuban place that was supposed to be wonderful. Gordon really loved his food - mine was just okay. But the mojitos were great! Again we sat around for a few hours telling stories and having way too much fun.

Tuesday we went to the Metropolitain Museum of Art. Again, we got a late start and also had to run a couple errands before the Met, but we enjoyed the couple hours we spent there and had had enough by the time the museum was closing. We'd walked enough over the previous few days that standing and walking around a museum was just not fun. Lovely artwork, though, and we spent the bulk of our time in my favorite area of the museum, the Impressionist area. Also saw a photopgraphy exhibit and some of the Egyptian collection.

Tuesday night we kicked Gordon out of the apartment and Suzanne and I hung out eating Sunday's leftovers and talking all night. We have been friends since we were sixteen, and have pretty much always been close, but this visit really deepened our friendship.

Wednesday we went to the Brooklyn Bridge. Neither of us had been there, and we both wanted to see it. So we head down there by subway, and as we're getting off the subway, I happen to see the name of the street that my cousin lives on - I didn't have her phone number, so I hadn't called, but I had her address! I had decided that since we didn't have a map of the city that I'd skip trying to find her this visit and would set something up for our next visit, but then when we got off the subway and her street was RIGHT THERE, and she lived at 172 XX Street and we were at 150 XX Street, we had to at least see if she was home. The doorman called up to her apartment, and she was confused for a moment about who we were (who wouldn't be, it was so out of context!) and then we were sent upstairs. Had a fabulous visit with her and her darling daughter (2 years and 4 months old) and then we headed for the Bridge. We walked across the whole thing, and then caught the subway back to Suzanne's.

I spoke with a friend of mine who lives on Long Island sometime on Wednesday, too, and it was great to connect by phone, even though we weren't able to see each other this time. I had really wanted to introduce him and his wife to Gordon (and vice versa), but it was just too short and too busy of a trip!

We finally saw "Wicked" Wednesday night, after a nearly two year wait! We loved it, of course. We already knew most of the details, so it was great to know the music as well as we do and really be able to pay attention to the acting and singing. Eden Espinosa played the Wicked Witch of the West, and Megan Hilty played Glinda. Before the show, we were the tiniest bit disappointed that we hadn't seen it with Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenowith, but once it started, we were not the least bit disappointed - Eden Espinosa can really belt and was fabulous as Elphaba (the Witch). When Megan Hilty first started singing neither of us was terribly impressed until she sang "Popular". She had the audience wrapped around her little finger, and she was working it the entire time. There was some adlibbing going on between the two of them, too, and it was hysterical to watch these two professionals cracking up on stage and trying not to. It was clear that they were having fun with it, which I love to see. The rest of the show was great - I loved that I was so on-target with my paper for school even though I hadn't seen the show yet. I think the only area that I was at all remiss about was that Glinda's character was more complicated than I'd made her out to be. All in all, great fun, and I was soaking up every second of the experience.

After the show, we ended up going for a drink with the couple that sat next to us - they live in Southern California, and we'd talked before the show and during the intermission, and it seemed so natural to spend more time with them. They are lovely, and we went to a restaurant called Azalea that is right next to the Gershwin Theater. We sat down and I promptly asked Gordon if he thought I should order an "Oz"mopolitan to drink. He laughed. I did have a cosmopolitan, and we ordered dessert, too. I had EGGPLANT for dessert! It was wonderful! Finely sliced eggplant cooked with chocolate sauce. So rich and chocolately that I couldn't finish it! I found it hard to believe that eggplant could be in dessert, but it was really amazing and yummy.

We got back to Suzanne's and I was so wired that I didn't get to sleep until 3am, and we were supposed to meet another online friend of mine who lives in NYC for breakfast at Grand Central Station by 9am. That ended up not happening because she had car trouble, though, much to our dismay. So Thursday we jumped on the train to CT so I could go see Dr. D'Adamo - I saw him two years ago and just wanted to see what's going on with my body and make sure I'm healthy. We got some amazing information about my body and I learned quite a bit from him. And I am pretty healthy, which was good news - I have so many 'reactions' to foods that I was concerned. I now have an individually tailored BTD just for ME, which is pretty cool! Some food values that are typical for Os according to the books are different for me, which is great information to know! I found out that most any form of protein that I usually eat is beneficial for me (except the usual culprit, pork products, and I'm pretty good about not eating anything but bacon). And food values for veggies, fruits, and other things are different for me, too - lots of soy products are beneficial for me, as are things like almonds and pecans that, according to the books, were considered 'neutral' in the past. So this was really valuable information for me.

And what Dr. D is doing now is just amazing stuff - really impressive and fascinating! (If you can manage to get to CT to see him, I highly encourage it! It's well worth the trip!)

After my appointment we got lucky and got back to the train station JUST in time to catch the 6pm train back to NYC, which was great - we hadn't expected to make that train, and to get back to the city much later, so it was great to get back by 8pm and be able to have dinner with Suzanne and her beau again for our last evening in town. We went to a great Chinese food place near NYU and again had a ball eating and talking.

Then we went back to Suzanne's and started to get organized to pack for our trip home. We got packed and to sleep by 1am. Then I woke up at 4:30 Eastern time, and the alarm went off at 5am. We dragged ourselves to the airport and poured ourselves on the plane. I was so tired that I fell asleep before we took off.

Landed about 11:15 am Pacific time and my friend picked us up and brought us home. I puttered for a few minutes, sorted the mail, cleaned out a few things in the fridge (shudder!) and went up stairs to find Gordon tucked in bed for a nap. I wasn't going to nap since I often have trouble sleeping at night if I nap, but I could barely keep my eyes open. Slept about 3 hours and Gordon had trouble waking me up. And I've slept 10 hours a night since then.

And now I have school in two weeks and haven't done my assignments yet. Though thanks to two long flights, I've gotten most of the reading done. And we have a wedding this weekend out of town, so nothing will get done then, but I will get it done, hopefully this week.

I was in class all weekend, and last month my low back problems flared up considerably right before the weekend. I was in so much pain I didn't know if I would be able to make it through the weekend, but I did, because of a lawn chair that they set out for me that allowed me to put my feet up and keep my back in a good position.

This month, my back started flaring up again the week before school, and I realized it was from sitting at the computer so much the week before school completing my homework!

I did not have 'the chair' this month, but I did go into class prepared with Thermacare Heat Wraps for my low back. One per day. Fabulous. I also made a point to sit in the front row of the room once I realized that if I put my feet up on the stage whenever possible, I was not in pain.

It worked like a charm. I had already set up an appointment to see my chiropractor today, and Gordon needed to see her as well. I didn't feel in desperate need of an adjustment, but Gordon hadn't been to her new office, and wanted me to show him where it was. She adjusted Gordon, and checked me and I didn't need an adjustment. At all. We were both surprised! And I went to yoga class again tonight to keep my back in place for as long as possible.

And school this weekend was great. We had 5 projects due since it was the end of the quarter, and I got 100% on all of them. I was stunned. I'm getting straight A's in this program, and I've gotten a few 100's, but I've never gotten 100's on EVERYTHING I turned in for the weekend! I was beside myself with excitement. So that means I should have a VERY solid A in the class.