Last month Jeff and I ventured out on our own for the first time since we have had kids. Planning a get away has been something we have wanted to do since Joseph first quit nursing, but when you don't sit down and pick a date, it just doesn't happen. So, having Joseph weened, turned into having Christian and then waiting for him to be done with nursing, and we almost missed our opportunity again by having another baby due soon.
So when the opportunity came up for Jeff to go to New Jersey for a job interview and my plane ticket being payed for, we didn't sit around thinking too long about whether or not I should go and make this a couple trip. Since I was young, I have always wanted to go to New York(which was a 20 min train ride from where we were in NJ). I always thought it would be cool to see everything in person, and it turned out to be a great trip for us.
Leaving the boys was so hard for me and up until the night before we left, I asked Jeff if we could reimburse ConcoPhillips for my ticket so I could stay home. Leaving the boys for the first time and doing something I hate doing, flying, equaled stress and anxiety for me.
During this experience, I took mental notes of things you don't want to see or hear as a nervous flyer. 1.) I don't want to hear males who have thick Arabic accents come over the PA system at anytime. 2.) I don't want the guy two rows in front of me (who was Arabic descent) keep looking back over his seat throughout a 3 hour flight. I had my eye on him and was going to take him out if he tried anything. 3.) I don't want the pilot to come over the speaker and sound like he just woke up..."ummm, we uh, are about, uh, 30 mile...50 miles from Newark." NOT comforting. 4.) Am wondering if it is standard for all airline employees to have to hate their life and job...those people are never happy. And I am the kind of person who you aren't going to get moving faster by having an attitude with. 5.) Why are they always patting down the whitest male and female in line? 6.) Human error. It happens. I hate that feeling. Jeff got on the plane going to NJ with his 1 inch pocket knife in his bag and was never checked. That's how things happen. On the way back, he left it ,again, in his bag, but this time his bag was searched and the knife was taken away. (Christmas gift idea for Jeff, a Swiss pocket knife).
Once we landed safely in Houston and walked into M&P's house to hug our boys, everything was worth it.
While Jeff was at the interview, I did something that I have been wanting to do for a long time....lay in bed and do nothing. I was able to sleep in till 9:30 (almost missed the free breakfast), went and ate, came back to the room and layed in bed until 2 something. Feeling like I shouldn't let a day go by without doing a single thing, I walked over to Target, that was so beautifully located in the same parking lot as the hotel. I stayed there until Jeff called me and said he was done with his interview. I purchased my things, headed back to the hotel and got ready to go for dinner with one of CP reps. We were treated to a really nice Italian dinner. I wasn't too happy about the drive to the restaurant because the parts of towns we were driving through. Needless to say, I wouldn't drive through those parts of town by myself if we lived there.
The dinner was awesome, but seriously, I am still convinced this place was frequented by the Mafia. The waiters had super thick accents, the place was dark, fancy and there was depressing music on. Let me just say this, I was glad to have been sitting in a seat that I could see the entrance, just in case there was a show down.
After the dinner, we were pretty much on our own. Friday morning we woke up early and headed to Liberty State Park in NJ. We took a ferry to Ellis Island and then Liberty Island. Such a humbling experience. After, our stop at the Statue of Liberty, we dropped off the rental and took a train from Newark to Manhattan. Once in New York, we walked across the street from the train station to our awesome hotel, The New Yorker. Checked-in, and immediately started looking for a place to grab some pizza. Yes, the pizza we had was amazing! From there we made our way to Times Square, M&M store, and then down to ground zero. After these stops, we went to the hotel, freshened up and headed to our reservation at Del Frisco's. I highly recommend this place to eat! It was a nice steak house. Let me put it to you this way, I had maternity jeans on and when I left, the spandex was super tight on my belly....I didn't know maternity pants could do that!
The next day, we had only about two hours before we had to head back to the airport, so we woke up early, grabbed breakfast to go and ate in Central Park. I felt like a cow eating my donut and watching all the super skinny bikers and runners whiz by me.
This was a fun trip and will go back one day, but I enjoy the more laid back, not having the feeling of people breathing down my neck, kind of atmosphere.
(Pictures below are the same ones from Facebook)
