The Show MUST go on...

Ahhh... the day after Christmas gives me the respite I have been sorely lacking for so long. And with that I think to myself what a wonderful life it is in so many ways!
It is our third annual girls trip to NYC that I am referring to here. There seems to be something a travelling and bad weather theme for me as of late. Mom, Emma and I left here at 8 am to meet Lisa and Maddie in Windham. I knew there were threats of a Nor'easter in the making, but I had heard it was going to start later...later than 8 that was! For as soon as we left Exeter, the flakes started falling. I had talked to my sister, the flawless driver to see if we should make a different plan. I had even looked up the train schedule only to discover it would cost a mere one thousand dollars for the 5 of us to take it into the city and back. But Lisa was firm about going. I mean what else would we do? We had tickets for the 7pm show and the show was going to go on whether we were there or not.

So we drove and we drove and we drove and we drove. And as we drove the weather got nastier and nastier moving from snow to sludge to grease to ice to sheer insanity on the roads. At one point in Connecticut, there were cars off the road every 50 feet or so. The roads looked as though they had been oiled down with the thickest kind of grease. Lisa maintained her 10 and 2 position on the road, keeping her face with an appearance of utter calm as the rest of us tried to support her by occupying ourselves with everything but what was happening on the roads!!

Honestly, I cannot believe the woman's determination! I would have had several panic attacks had I been the one behind the wheel! The amazing part was that we were not alone out there on the roads. There was traffic and at times...lots of it! Now I am sure they were not in for the long haul of a five hour drive but still~
So we made it to our second cousin's house in just about 5 and a half hours...a good hour and a half more than it should have. Really not that bad if you consider the driving conditions!

At one point, this enormous tractor trailer skimmed by us...just inches away from our vehicle. The front of him spat up some brown sludge onto the windshield and before you could even think, you could hear sludge pummeling the side of our vehicle from the back wheels until finally it erupted in a sea of sludge that completely blinded the front windshield. I wanted to gasp and scream, but instead I looked over at Lisa who was sitting behind the wheel looking completely stunned and she very gently reached over and turned on the wipers! No reaction but the calmest of calm and thank God because I really think we could have been goners had she panicked in the least. It was right after that she stated that if the weather did not improve then we would be taking the train into the city from Anne's. Whatever you want my fearless driver was all I could think. Whatever you want!!

We made it there and took a long rest and as we were sitting there visiting with Anne the sun came out. Yep. We had done it. We had driven right into the Nor'easter and it was moving north and out of our final destination. We left Anne's and the rest of the ride was just a bit of rain in places.

We arrived and found our hotel after a beautiful entrance into the lighted city...there was Rockefeller center and then right into Times Square...but no place to pull over and get our stuff out. So Lisa just stopped! I don't think anything could phase her after that drive! My Mom and the girls jumped out with all the stuff and made their way to the hotel as Lisa kept the cops at bay. I jumped back into the vehicle and we were off to find cheap parking!!!

We stayed at the Marriott right in Times Square, giving us easy access to everything and Thank God because the wind chill alone must have been 30 below!! We braved the cold, made the show, Spring Awaking which was AWESOME, had dinner and crashed. The next day we made our way over to MOMA to expose the girls to "modern art" (what a joke but worthy of many laughs!) but also to see the Van Gogh exhibit that was there. FABulous!! Next it was back to the hotel for a hot totty and some very overpriced Sangria and then we went to see Wintuck.

Another fabulous evening of wining and dining at The View...a rotating structure at the top of our hotel where you could see the city from your table. All was well until Emma and I were drenched in wine that my mother accidentally spilled. For a moment it was tense as we were reeling with the feeling of cold wine all over us...not trying to make my mother feel bad...but we did and then I felt badly about that trying to explain I was no upset at her, just upset at being soaking wet! To no avail...finally the moment passed and we were on our way to get some food downstairs. Pizzas all around!

All in all it was a fabulous trip...but I did miss Hallie...our only original before Emma and Maddie joined in, but I am sure she will be there next year! I know I will because come hell or high water or nor'easter the show MUST go on!!

Just a little bit guilty...

I am feeling just a little bit guilty to be so warm and safe and sound within my house. But what adds to that feeling is that there are so many people without power and yet there are those who continue to light up their ostentatious displays of Christmas lights. Can you feel the irony here? I mean, I am all for Christmas lights. I sit and look at my tree beautifully adorned in Christmas lights...but perhaps in light (ha ha ha) of what has happened to us here in the northeast that this is the year to say no to outside lights. The lights that seem to laugh in the face of all of those who drive by and still do not have power. As they drive by the flashing colors and waving Santa's...just a reminder of all that they don't have...ahhh light to read by, eat by and live by, a source of heat just the basic needs like running water.
I don't know. Maybe it doesn't matter to these people, but at least for me...this will be the year that you will not see any lights outside of my house. It just feels wrong and well...anyone who knows me...that if I feel something then that is that. And if you are reading this and are in need of a hot shower...come on by. There is plenty to share!
But that is the problem as well...because if you need a shower then you cannot be reading this and as much as I have tried to reach out and find people...it is hard to get in touch with them or to even know if they have power or not.
I tried Christmas shopping yesterday and well...there was absolutely NO thrill in it. Again, it seems frivolous to be out there pounding the pavement for gifts when there are so many freezing their butts off! And it is much colder today.
Just thinking.....

A Picture is Worth...well you know!!

Powerless and Powerful!

As I sit warmly in my kitchen, admiring the Christmas tree, I am reminded of what a long strange trip the past couple of days have been. The weather people were touting the idea of a great big storm, and honestly, I just ignored them, as usual. That was until I was going to drive to the airport at the same time that the storm was going to strike!! Suddenly, I found myself wondering if THIS time Channel 9 could possibly be right. I needed to get to the airport in Manchester because I was scheduled to do a workshop for 150 teachers through Rowan University in New Jersey. If I was not nervous enough about the prospect of a "football field" sized ballroom, then this was enough to just push me over the edge...or was it? Was there, perhaps, some part of me that was feeling the impending energy of the storm? That feeling that something is coming that you have NO control over. Honestly, I think I love that feeling. I love it because no matter how much you worry or don't worry, there is ultimately, nothing you can do!!
I would be amiss here if I did not mention that prior to this engagement I found myself engrossed in creating the world's most perfect power point. Hours and hours I spent putting everything on my computer because I was told that I had to join the world of technology and give up my overheads! You see I LOVE my transparencies that I can lay on top of the overhead projectors because I can physically hold them in my hands. You see I have a love/hate relationship with technology and because of that I do not TRUST it! Having something physically in my hands is much more concrete!! But that said, I knew that managing two overheads, as they told me I could do, would be next to impossible for someone like me who tends to teach "in the moment". So I discovered that instead of scanning everything, I could take pictures of my student samples and then download them onto my computer and put them in my Power Point. It is here that I will point out the my niece, Hallie, informed me that Power Point is not new technology...and I KNOW that, it is just that I resist using it because so many presentations I go to people just read their power points without actually engaging with the audience. Hiding behind my Power Point was not going to be my goal though...no, I was going to use it "like" my overheads, as visuals to compliment and illustrate what I was talking about! Anyway, I actually enjoyed the process of organizing everything and was feeling very good about my upcoming presentation...when the weather report became more and more ominous.
I got to the airport early to avoid the ice and hail and torrential rain that Channel 9 continued to spout on about. I got there two hours early in fact only to discover after 15 minutes that my flight, indeed had been delayed. As I sat in the airport I could feel the energy building around me. People on cell phones, running from ticket counter to ticket counter, trying to get on another flight when theirs had been cancelled. It was looking less and less likely that I was even going to get out of NH after all of this preparation and stress! Good Lord!
My flight was delayed again and more and more flights around us were cancelled. By the time we were lining up to board, the airport was desolate, save for those of us on this one last flight to Philly. We lined up. and boarded. The attendant told us to keep our boarding passes...just in case. Would we get out? Would we be the last flight out of the state? Yes, after de-icing...something I have never been a part of before and am fine NOT to experience again...we took off. I was amazed at how smooth the take off was...the landing...well we might just have well dropped out of the sky. BRUTAL. One of those Hail Mary and God I am not ready to die today kinds of landings. The collective sigh that overwhelmed the cabin was deafening as the wheels hit the tarmac. Phew. We were here and we were alive.
Needless to say I got to the hotel, dropped my things in my room and went down to the bar for a great big glass of wine and a sandwich. Then it was off to la la land. Phew! I had arrived and although the wind pummelled my windows all night...I could not think or worry anymore. I was there and I would present and that was all I could or would think about as I went to sleep!
The presentation went great. My Power Point DID work and calling to find out how everyone was back in NH was just not where I was at. I knew I needed to get through this thing before I could think about anything else. I finished, got on the van to the airport and never looked back. It was then I called home and was amazed to discover that not only had it been a bad storm, but that a tree had fallen ON MY HOUSE!!! The kids were traumatized! All I could do was laugh and think to myself...wow! There was drama everywhere and that is when I also found out there was no power. Honestly, that is worse than the tree to me...until I got home and saw it. You just can't imagine something like that until you see it for yourself. And as far as fallen trees go, this one fell perfectly! It was millimeters away from touching windows with it's fingery branches. It did put a hole in the deck and smash the railings and a chair, but it fell on the back of the house that is ALL windows. How gracefully it simply avoided every single one. Not even a mark on any of them. AMAZING!!
The tree guy has come and gone, the power has since come back on and as I sit here writing with the warmth of my computer in my lap, I am feeling for all of those hundreds of thousands of people out there without power. I even tried calling people to share our warmth and power...but even the phone lines are out and many a cell phones are now dead. People are unreachable. It is such a strange thing in our age of constant contact and interaction via texting, phone calls, e-mails, facebooking and blogging!!
So, to those of you out there...you see there is something to be said for remaining rooted in the dinosaur ages of technology. Without power we are powerless in so many ways...more and more ways every day. And so when we sat in front of the fire to find warmth, I realized that I was not all that crazy after all to bring not just my laptop, but also my big purple binder filled with all my overhead transparencies...just in case. You never know now do you??