A couple days after my 6 day cleanse, I ventured off to New York with Azam, the lovely Terina and her husband Brent. I loaded cheesecake, pasta, pizza, and several cannoli's into my very clean colon. Um, yeah. Looks like I'll be going back to square one.
Secretly....it was worth it.
OR, not so secretly....
We stayed in a cute apartment in Brooklyn, traipsed around the city, subways, and buses. It was wonderful! Azam had never been there, so it was fun to show him my old stomping grounds. I also got to visit my family and friends in Connecticut.
Jordan and Wendie
Ursula, Me, and Takeia
Azam and Me
One of the craziest parts of the trip was arranging a dinner to meet old friends in Manhattan. My dear friend Ted lives there and I wanted to meet him for dinner. He knows Terina because we all went to church together, so he was happy to invite her and Brent and Azam along.
Terina and Brent
Me and Ted
Then through blogging, I found out another friend of ours from church, Nicole and her hubby were going to be visiting New York at the same time. We invited them, and she informed me that her sister Amy and her husband Lamar (again, both of whom we went to church with) still lived there and would like to come along.
Nicole and Abe
Lamar and Amy
Then Terina told me she kept in touch with Carol and Dan (you guessed it.....who went to church with us) and that they would love to join us. And lastly, the lovely Morgan, who *surprise* went to church with us, happened to be on Terina's flight from Phoenix to NY, and she came to dinner with us, too.
Dan and Carol
MorganFrom my three contacts, we managed to have 12 people at that dinner table, and only 3 of them did NOT go to church with us nearly six years ago. It was effortless! It was so random and serendipitous that I had to share the story.
When I returned to LA, I found that my tidy home had been covered in an inch of black dirt from strong winds and the construction site up the street. Nice. I start my new job in two days and I can't start a new job with a dirty house. But of course I can't clean until I re-arrange the furniture again. And do I really want to do that because if I'm going to stay in this apartment, I simply HAVE to paint these ugly white walls.....
So here I sit in a half clean, half dirty house, blogging. Smart. My life seems to be a happy blend of two of my favorite childhood books. "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" and "Slowpoke Simon". It's ok. I can own it.
I also have been writhing in pain for the last 4 weeks, sleeping in hotel beds, futons, airplanes.... you know the story. I look like a hunchback. So I met Heather at the Olympic Spa today to detox in the Steam/Sauna/Hot Pool/Cold Pool, and to have 8 layers of skin rubbed off by a merciless Korean woman. My Mexican genes gave me many little raised moles that clearly offended this woman, and I believe she did her damndest to rid me of them. I didn't see blood, but I have to wonder......
So I'm done with traveling for now.....maybe even the rest of the year. :( I'm starting a new job in two more days. :) I'm going to a new church this weekend. :) I'm not going to get to see Azam for a while. :( I gained 300 pounds in New York. :( I got to see some of my favorite people while I was there. :) My house is nearly clean. :/ My family and friends are the coolest people on planet earth :) and I am humbled by the blessings I see in my life every day. :D Really......my emotions are all over the map. Hormonal? Maybe. But starting new chapters in life can be really great and really scary all at the same time. Forgive me for sharing my scattered thoughts....and if you're still reading, I apologize again. You must really love me........and I'm grateful for YOU too.