The YMCIA (Part 5)

Wednesday morning we slept in a little longer than we'd planned.  Allen and I had come up with a list of things we wanted to see and do while in the Big Apple and we had a long day ahead of us!  First off we went to the Empire State Building.

One of my favorite parts of this place was actually the waiting in line.  So if you ever go, don't let one of the outside ticket-sellers convince you to pay extra for a ticket to bypass the line.  The line was what New York City is all about - diversity.  I'm pretty sure that Allen and I were in the minority as English-speakers, as every person near us was talking in a different language.  There were people dressed like they were ready for a long hike, a family wearing their Sunday best, a priest accompanied by two nuns sporting black New Balance tennies (not sure why this fascinated me), and even a group of businessmen.  I couldn't understand a word anyone was saying but I loved listening to the rise and fall of the voices surrounding us and just observing everyone - these strangers who are really my brothers and sisters on this planet.  The realization hit that I am a part of a much, much larger universe than I can ever really comprehend.

Like I said, don't fear the lines.  Embrace them.

The view from the observation deck was spectacular. *whistle*

Oh... and the view of the city was pretty spectacular, too.

 

 

Next on the agenda was a trip to the Museum of Natural History, best known at our house as The-Night-at-the-Museum-Museum.  It was fun to walk in and see Rexy right off.

 
And of course I had to go find the Easter Island statue (affectionately nicknamed 'Dum-Dum') so we could get a picture to show the kids.

 
Next up was a ride on the Circle Line Cruise to get a view of the NYC skyline

and see Lady Liberty up close.

She was amazing.


I could imagine what the immigrants of long ago felt upon seeing her for the first time, standing there so majestic and beautiful, welcoming all to the Land of the Free. 

We got back to shore with just enough time to grab a quick bite to eat (we did this a lot, actually) and walk to the Neerlander Theater where Newsies was playing.  On our walk to the theater the excitement began to really hit me.  I was going to see Newsies performed on stage.  I wanted to run, skip, do cartwheels and backflips down the street.  I wanted to throw hundred dollar bills from the top of a building.  I wanted to hug every person I passed.  I think I contained it pretty well, though.

Once we got into the theater and I saw where our seats were - oh my goodness.  Even typing about it now I can hardly stand the happiness and excitement.  I kept reaching over and patting Allen's leg (really hard, apparently) and saying Ican'tbelievewe'rereallyhere! with a huge, goofy perma-grin on my face.

When the lights started to dim, and the opening notes of the score floated up from the orchestra just in front of us as the curtain slowly rose, I thought I might explode into a million happy-faced bouncy balls.  The energy in the theater was so palpable - I couldn't help but wonder how many other people were feeling just as I did.

I'll have to write a separate post just about the show and all of it's awesomeness.

But once we left the theater on a total euphoria-induced high, we walked to the most gorgeous library I have ever seen in my life, the New York Public Library.

And then we went to admire Grand Central Station (they aren't kidding when they call it Grand!)

 before calling it a night.  Oh, and did I forget to mention the last step in my midlife crisis intervention?

Tickets to Wicked.  Thursday night.  I am so in love with this YMCIA, I can hardly stand it.

My Newsies Addiction

 photo here

I feel like I need to take a quick break from my posts about the YMCIA's awesome intervention in my life to explain the significance of my seeing Newsies on Broadway.

First there was Newsies, the movie.  It came out in theaters in 1992, a few months before Allen and I were married (20 years ago!) and I was super excited to see it.  It didn't have a very long run in theaters because there are too many people who can't appreciate awesomeness.  This was good news for me, however, because I got to see it at the dollar theater.  Repeatedly, with whomever would accompany me there, and at least a few times all by my lonesome as well.

When I went home to work for the summer before we got hitched I bought myself a VHS copy of Newsies and enjoyed it as often as I liked.  Which was pretty often.  Most of my friends were not fans of the movie, which was somewhat bothersome to me.  I was undeterred by those around me and blared my Newsies cassette from the tape deck of my 1976 Dodge Aspen everywhere I went.  I became a bit obsessed with the story in the movie and how it compared to the real Newsboy Strike of 1899.  Because the internet was pretty much unheard of I researched the true story behind the movie at my local library.

Once I ran out of research options I watched the scene where Jack sings Santa Fe repeatedly and memorized his dance number on the streets of New York (it starts at 1:43, just sayin') so I could bust the same moves along with him as he sang.  

I also became a huge fan of two of the actors in the movie, Christian Bale and Bill Pullman.  Christian Bale because - well, hello, he's Christian Bale. (And Batman.  And smokin'!)  And Bill Pullman because he has a great smile and was always playing such great nice-guy characters.

I decided that Disney would have to eventually make Newsies into a stage play and I would make it a priority to audition for it.  At first I wanted to be Sarah with her one-sentence solo (Think about seizing the day!), but I realized that I would be getting too old to play her part so I thought I could try out for Medda... but had a better chance of getting the 30-second part of Patrick's mom (and have a nice little solo).  As time went on and no stage production was happening I eventually resigned myself to the fact that I would have to be one of the nuns in the opening number.  And I was okay with that.

Once I got married my obsession died down quite a bit.  This was probably a good thing.  However, I did continue to listen to my cassette tape enough that it needed to be replaced a couple of times.

Throughout my life I have met many (okay, most) people who had not seen Newsies and I'd lend them my VHS tape with the promise that they'd love it.  The feedback was mixed, but mostly people didn't share my enthusiasm for the show, which continues to baffle me.   Because COME ON!  How can you go wrong with Christian Bale's hotness, Bill Pullman's niceness, a whole cast of guys who can sing and dance, and a little bit of history thrown in?  I was so in love!

When Newsies came out on DVD I was excited to purchase a copy and see what special features would be included.  It was grand.  This is one of the few movies that I do not keep with our family stash - it has a special place in my cupboard and none of the kids are allowed to touch it without permission.

Well, once the internet became popular (yeah, I'm old) I started doing periodic searches on Newsies there.  I found out little tidbits about the actors of the show, where they are today, that sort of thing.  And then, last November, all of my dreams came true.  I did my typical search and found this article stating that Newsies would be on Broadway.  Oh, be still my wildly beating heart.  It finally happened!  They turned my beloved movie musical into a full-fledged stage production at the Paper Mill Playhouse and it was so amazing (of course it was!) that it was going to Broadway.

The only problem with this whole situation is that there was no guarantee of an extended run or eventual touring company.  This meant that in order to see Newsies on stage I would have to somehow get from Utah to New York City.  How could I make this happen?  Allen and I are not big travelers unless we take a vacation with our family or a quick jaunt to Salt Lake City for our anniversary.  It seemed purely selfish to even suggest that we make a trip to New York just for me.  Think of the cost and time involved, too.  It was all too much.  I mean, sure, it would be fulfilling TWO of my life's dreams, but I still had a hard time believing it was possible.

I satisfied my renewed obsession for all things Newsies by checking daily for new Newsies postings on YouTube and the internet in general.  Through the magic of the online world I met much of the Broadway cast, saw a few of their (AWESOME!) song and dance numbers, listened to the entire new soundtrack, read raving reviews and found out about the major differences in the movie and the stage production (which meant that two of the roles I had dreams of auditioning for were gone.  But my youthful dream of being on stage again is also gone until I'm like 60 and have no more kids at home, so whatever.  I'll totally be a nun in the touring company.  Newsies the Musical 2032, holla!).

All of this, my friends, is what made getting those Newsies tickets so heartstoppingly, fantastically awesome.

The YMCIA (Part 4)

Our flight to New York was the longest I have ever been on.  Not only time-wise, but because of the happiness butterflies fluttering inside me in a well-contained explosion of surprise and anticipation.  At around 1:00 pm on Tuesday afternoon, we arrived.  I was in New York!  Once we gathered our things and entered the main terminal of the airport, Allen handed me my next envelope.

Sweet!  Now to get to the hotel.  I asked if we were renting a car.  Allen told me that there was no need for a car in New York City because public transportation was plentiful and could get us anywhere we needed to be.  We boarded the air-train to Jamaica Station, transferred to the Long Island Railroad

and got off at Penn Station, just below Madison Square Garden.  When we surfaced from the underground station I was not disappointed.  The streets were filled with all of the sights and sounds that I expected - masses of people, honking taxicabs speeding through traffic and street vendors galore.  I snapped a couple of pictures of Allen at Madison Square Garden

and we headed toward our hotel.  Allen asked if I wanted to take a bus, ride the subway or walk - I had to choose walking.  It seemed the best way to soak in what the city had to offer.  And I was IN NEW YORK!!  We purchased hotdogs from a street vendor and made our way to the Hotel Edison.  As we walked we passed the venues for all sorts of productions and I realized we were staying in the heart of the theater district - also just a short walk from Broadway and Times Square.

(the view from our hotel)

After we checked in to our room on the 18th floor Allen told me that we should do everything we possibly could in the next 3 days (we would be heading home Friday morning).  We talked about the extensive list of things we would like to see and do and Allen suggested we get passes for a tour bus that could take us uptown, downtown, and everywhere else while informing us about the city along the way.  After a quick and simple dinner we boarded the open-air tour bus and took the night tour of New York City.

The lights, the skyline, the bridges, the architecture - so. awesome.


Once we returned, we just walked the city and found all sorts of great places.

 Rockefeller Center

 Saint Patrick's Cathedral

 Radio City Music Hall and the NBC Studios

 And just when I thought it couldn't possibly get any better...

Newsies on Broadway.  Wednesday night.  Amazing seats.

Goodness gracious.  NEWSIES ON BROADWAY!!!

This was almost too much happiness for one day. 

The YMCIA (Part 3)

With my bags packed in an unsure but anxiously excited manner (Where am I going? How am I getting there? What am I packing for? When is something going to happen?!) we finally crawled in to bed somewhere close to 2:00 am.  At precisely 5:00 am last Tuesday morning, Josh Groban entered my dream to sing me a lullaby.  I quickly awoke, disoriented, and realized that the music was actually coming from a small DVD player at the side of my bed.  When I reached over to silence it, I saw that the YMCIA had left me another note.

I was suddenly not so sleepy as flipped on my closet light, cracked the door open and read my next letter:

I handed Allen his envelope, watched him open it, and asked if I could see what was inside.

Nope.

We hurried to ready ourselves, put out some cereal for the kids, loaded our suitcases into the suburban and headed north.  Finally, the suspense was killing both of us enough that about half way there Allen handed me his envelope from the YMCIA.

Inside was a boarding pass (we were flying!) and it said the plane was going from SLC to JFK.

JFK... JFK... I had to think.  Where was an airport called JFK?  I scanned over the rest of the boarding pass and wanted to laugh and cry and scream all at the same time.

New York.  NEW. YORK.  (insert crazy-woman combined laugh/cry/scream here)

Going to New York City has been something I have wanted to do since I started performing 20+ years ago in high school.  Can you imagine the emotions I was experiencing?!  NEW YORK!!  

We parked, ran through a beautiful morning downpour to the airport shuttle, effortlessly passed through security, and boarded our very full airplane.  But of course it was full - it was bound for New York!  Who doesn't want to visit New York?!  I was continually incredulous that in just a few hours, I would be in NEW YORK.


NEW YORK!!

The YMCIA (Part 2)

Late last Monday night there was another knock on my door.

When the kids ran to see who was there, all they found was this:


I opened my newest envelope and read the next step in my intervention.

Life is grand, indeed!

I needed to pack in anticipation of a... TRIP?!

To say I was excited at this point would be quite an understatement.

The YMCIA

There was a loud knock on my door early this afternoon. When I went to see who was there, I found only a thick, white envelope waiting for me. The front was blank, there was no name or address written on it - so of course I opened it up immediately.

This is what I found.

(click on the picture to make it larger)

The second envelope contained this letter:
I drove to my first destination and retrieved the bag which was waiting for me. It contained 2 window wiper blades and a new rear-view mirror, as well as another envelope.


Inside the envelope was this next step:

The only drawback here was that there was no disk in the bag. However, undaunted, I drove to my next destination and repeated the words I was told to say. They assured me that a disk had already been delivered and handed me my next envelope.

I hopped onto the freeway and headed toward my next destination, a Village Inn restaurant about 30 miles away. Once I arrived I called the number at the bottom of the page - but the YMCIA agent must have been busy because I got his answering machine which revealed his name as 'Jace'. I tried again, this time connecting after a few rings. "Is this Mrs. Black?" he asked. I verified my identity and he then repeated, "Please stand by" a few times between noises which sounded like a car door being opened, running, numbers being dialed, and some objects being moved around. He then asked for me to name the restaurants to the north and east of my location before reading me my next set of instructions.

I was told that I needed some serious intervention, so the YMCIA had flown in one of their finest agents to be my personal assistant in order to accomplish the rest of my tasks. I needed to drive to the airport and then proceed slowly around the pick-up area, looking for someone in a red jacket who would recognize me.

When I got to the airport, this was the first red-jacketed person I saw:
I drove past him slowly, making eye contact and smiling, but he just turned away and looked toward the airport.

No dice.

So I continued on, driving slowly, until I found...

My mother-in-law! They weren't kidding when they said she was the best in the business. She is the best at EVERYTHING she does, and someone I respect immensely and consider a dear friend. To say I was excited would be an understatement.

She handed me another envelope, which contained this:


So, off to Zupas we went for lunch and then to a few grocery stores to purchase a week's worth of food. We returned home, unpacked the groceries, made dinner, and now I am writing this post.

I am dying to see what else is in store. What is this elusive YMCIA?!

Quick Quips

Hubba: Can we start wearing our short-sleeve pants since it's warmer?

Little O: Mom, those socks are boo-tiful!
Me: ?? I'm not wearing any socks...

Curly: Can I try doing fasting?
Me: Sure. When?
Curly: How about right now? I'm pretty full from breakfast.

Hubba: My leg-wrist hurts.
Me: Can you show me?
Hubba: (points to his ankle)

Me: (after Little O finishes a crying tantrum) Why were you so sad?
Little O: I just had to cry drips out my eyeballs to the floor.

On Temper Tantrums

Being a 3-year-old boy can be so tough sometimes.

Today Little O was eating his lunch when Baby X came along and tore off a bite of his sandwich. Oh, the humanity! There was no consoling Little O. A new sandwich would not be the same. His other sandwich was now defiled. What is a boy to do?

How about this?



It seems so obviously irrational, but he doesn't see it that way. It's just his way of handling things.

You know what, though? There are times when I'll get myself all upset about something and then I just let it fester. There are no possible solutions, and I don't want to talk about it. Over time that feeling of anger or sadness grows like a festering cancer on my happiness and in the end the only outcome is the continual feeding of my increasingly negative attitude.

I wonder if there's something to the whole tantrum thing. I think it might actually be better sometimes to just put myself in a corner to kick and scream and cry and yell and work all of that bile out of my soul until I've gotten myself into such a frenzy that I collapse with exhaustion and finish it off with a nice, long nap.

Maybe these tantrum-throwing kids are smarter than we think.

Maybe they're on to something.

Spring Break

Over the past week the spring weather has been gorgeous. The kids have been playing in the backyard until the sun goes down. ElemenoB sits on the lawn to do her homework. I've enjoyed some long walks and even took the littlest kids to the park one day so we could all just soak in the sunshine.
The littlest ones and I were looking forward to a picnic lunch at a park within walking distance later this afternoon.

But then, at about 6:40 this morning, Mother Nature decided to bring us some of this:


If April showers bring May flowers, what does April snow bring?

A typical finicky Utah spring.

40 More Acts of Kindness

quote here

I was thinking today over the last month and how much I loved my birthday and I started to think of all of the kind things that others did for me to make it awesome. There were a lot! I wondered if I could think of 40 things in order to make another list of 40 acts of kindness - and I totally did.

I hope I don't embarrass anyone by naming names. Just accept the fact that you're awesome and OWN IT.


1. Hubba's teachers at church invited our whole family over for pizza and treats (because he asked them if they would).

2. My little brother Chip brought me lunch when he was in town working.

3. The Relief Society sent me a birthday card.

4. Our friend Barbara fed us some corned beef and cabbage stew on St. Patrick's Day.

5. Barbara gave us a crockpot full of leftovers to enjoy for dinner the next day, too.

6. My oldest 3 kids did a lot of babysitting while I ran around doing things for my birthday.

7. The Young Women at church sang me a happy birthday song.

8. My sweet friend Jan fed me dinner and sent me home with a birthday bag filled to overflowing with things that made me smile.

9. Jenny, in true awesome fashion, gave me enough duffel bags to double my donation for kids in foster care.

10. My favorite neighbors across the street, Ashley & GaeLynn, brought me a plate of delicious cookies.

11. Chip and his wife Becky gave me a huge box of magazines to help with my donation to the hospital.

12. Allen let me sleep in!

13. My friend Jenny (who knows me so well!) gifted me a tray full of eclairs along with a movie to enjoy as I stuffed my face with them.

14. My Facebook friends left me an overwhelming amount of happy birthday wishes.

15. My dear friend Michelle gave me a whole plethora of fun, crazy, brightly colored socks.

16. Chip and Becky (yeah, they're pretty awesome) gave me a whole trunk full of scrapbook supplies to donate.

17. Allen made breakfast and got the kids sent off to school.

18. I received a birthday card in the mail from my Uncle Earl.

19. My mom sent me a happy birthday email.

20. My funny friends Natalie and Rachel brought me a bag filled with things I'll be needing in my 40's (a hairpiece and some reading glasses, see below) - along with some delicious cake bites.


21. My littlest kiddos wrote me sweet birthday notes.

22. Coolister rode his bike home so he could be here when I blew out my candles.

23. Chip carpooled to Salt Lake City with me (he drove) for an interpreter workshop.

24. Chip bought me some One World Cafe lunch after the interpreter workshop.

25. Beth, Amber and Amanda brought me a fun (and tasty!) cupcake from the Sweet Tooth Fairy.

26. Our friends Bill & Rike treated us to a night at the Hale Center Theater to see Xanadu (SO FUNNY!).

27. Our awesome friend Dave taught All-a-Boy how to make crepes so that...

28. All-a-Boy could make me breakfast in bed, all by himself.

29. All-a-Boy then made crepes for everyone else's breakfast, too!

30. My oldest brother, Toby, sent me a happy birthday email.

31. Our friend Ben brought some KFC for a group of us who were helping a friend get moved.

32. Another friend, Korey, walked home to get some water bottles to pass around after we ate Ben's KFC.

33. ElemenoB made dinner for the family quite a few times.

34. One of the kids folded and put away the laundry without being asked.

35. Coolister changed Baby X's diaper without being asked when he was home for a visit.

36. Thumbelina made me a darling button bracelet.

37. All-A-Boy gave up his ticket to Beauty and the Beast at the Capitol Theater so that I could go with my oldest 4 girls.
38. A stranger complimented me on an outfit I was wearing.

39. My pal Jacqui gave the elementary school kids a ride home more than once which meant I didn't have to load up all of my littles to do it myself.

40. A sweet older gentleman at the store told me repeatedly what a darling family I have (when I thought they were being less than darling) and helped me remember what a great stage of life I'm at.

Life is grand! I could have kept going beyond forty. I need to make the time to count my blessings more often.

(Just) Stop It

I made this little reminder based off of an awesome, much needed talk given by Dieter F. Uchtdorf yesterday. I'm tempted to print it off and post it everywhere I go as a reminder to just STOP IT.