Trip Report

[tanaise]

So, I was up at some ungodly hour New Year's Eve, and off to the bus stop. You wouldn't think that in a town this small there would be two buses to New York within 20 minutes of each other. But you'd be wrong. There aren't any other all day, but there's a bus at 6:35 and then one at 6:55. Which was my bus. But I got all flustered with the first bus because he kept telling me I wanted the bus to Philly, which was the later bus. And he was right, it's just that three hours of sleep just confuses me. So I caught the bus, we went to Leighton, stood around for 15 minutes, and I got the bus to Newark.

And then to Newark, which was much less stressful in part because I'd already done it once and knew where to go. Plus, last time I had to get on the Path, then switch to a different train, then get off and find the metro, then get the right money for it, which was harder than you might think, seeing as I usually travel with little to no cash, so all I had was a 20 and change, luckily exactly enough to get me a ticket. And then find the right train, and then worry the whole time about what stop I got off at, to the point that when I got to the stop, I had two different people telling me it was the right stop, which at least was very nice. :) By the time I got to Andrea's office it was after three last time. But this time it was so simple. I got on the train, and got off at the World Trade Center, same as the first time I went to New York. No escalator this time though. And the bus stop to her home is right across from it, so I just had to trace the way we'd gotten there. Plus, worst come to worst, I knew I could ask anyone where wall street was. :) This time, I was at her office by 12:47. Much nicer.

I always forget how gorgeous people are in cities. I mean, just run of the mill people walking by in the streets. And I don't know why, but it's always true. Honestly, it would be why I'd look forward to going back to DC after the holidays, and it's always been something I love seeing in cities. Wall street did not disappoint, thankfully. Made such a lovely change from the malls at home. :)

Lunch, then general fooling around while Andrea pretended to work, then the bus back to Chez Andrea. Well, back to Voiture Andrea anyways. And then grocery shopping (whee! Fresh mozzarella!), and then really to the house. Where we put away food and started food for the party the next day, and Josh showed up with other food and then we started food for dinner as well. And then I put together the new bookcases, and then we ate, and then we figured out how to put the backs on them, and what to do with the stuff on the bookcase it was going to replace. And lots of moving things around, and some putting aways. And then it was midnight and Kirsten called and we talked for ages. (bad Kirsten! Tell people on cell phones to call you back! Bad!) And then we went to bed. And slept lots. And woke up late (and yet still,within 12 hours we were all very tired and not wanting to do anything at all.) and I showered and Andrea made bread for breakfast, and we did the rest of the cleaning up and organized party stuff and then the party.

Andrea's friends are all geeks. I know. Shocking, isn't it. This is me not being surprised. We played Trivia Pursuit (Andrea knows a scary amount of TV trivia), and whupped some ass, and then everyone went home, and we cleaned up some and watched "A Mighty Wind" which was okay, but not as good as "Best in Show" or "Waiting for GUffman." Most of my enjoyment of it came from either watching Eugene Levy roll his eyes or trying to figure out who everyone had been in "Best of Show."

And up the next morning for the rest of the cleaning, and then Andrea needed to open a new bank account, and I went and looked at puppies and a cute kitten that was $800 which in my book is too much to pay for a cat. Or even a dog, though we've paid $600. And then I waited and read--oh, there's the other book I read. God, that was a bad one. No wonder I didn't remember it. One of the skinny little romance novels that I read while I waited for her to get done. And good bagels, though we just bought them at that time, so I was just hoping until it was proven so. And back to the house for plant watering. And then we actually started, and then I ate my bagels. And we called my mom at the Water Gap to tell her that if I was truly evil, I would have told her then that we'd just started out because my mom gets worried Andrea drives too fast (I get worried too, which is when I close my eyes and hope it works out), and we were only about an hour and a half away from my house.

And then I was home, and we had dinner (potato sog) and Saturday we went shopping up in Williamsport and bought books and good Italian food (for us at least, as we're neither born Italian or living in a big city) and craft supplies. And Sunday my mother showed Andrea how to quilt, so we all should ask Andrea how it's going on that because when it's all done, my mom will make it into a pillow for her, but Andrea doesn't think she's fancy enough to do it.

And that's pretty much it. I have lots of books, a few new patterns, and very cold feet. So I should go do laundry and maybe the dishes, and get dinner ready to be done. Just as soon as this song is over. "I am finally seeing why I was the one worth leaving."



Oh, and a fun page. Russian Names and Nicknames I love Aloysha, and all the rest of the -shas.