Snow Storm

WHAT A WEEK! Flew in Monday night for a screening scheduled Wednesday morning. We arrived Tuesday morning and I was told to go straight to the clinic. They knew a snow storm was coming Wednesday so they squeezed me in Tuesday. Everything went really well aside from the fact that I had NO sleep the night before. I hung in pretty well but hit a wall at some point. Oddly enough, the wall came at the same time I had to sit down and take the psychological testing. Sheesh. However, I think I did well and I enjoyed meeting everyone in person I had been talking to so many times on the phone. I was finally there.

Jessica checked into the hotel earlier while I was in the clinic and she came back to pick me up at 4pm. We went back to the hotel to rest before meeting IF for dinner. It was very pretty there. It had obviously snowed at some point before as the snow was here and there on the side of the road. So we took pictures of our view out the hotel window as evidence before the storm hit.

IF and friend picked us up at the hotel and we went on to the Mall at Shore Hills. It was a mall FULL of stores like COACH, FENDI, CHANEL, etc. I'm sure Prada was in there somewhere. It was a nice mall full of richies. We had dinner at a nice place called Joe's and dinner was nice. We all got along very well. Had to make a stop at CVS on the way home and when we were leaving....the snow started. It was so pretty.
IF had to drive back home before he got caught up in the snow storm so we said goodbye at the hotel and unfortunately that was the only time I would see him while I was there.
The next morning I woke up to white. Everywhere. Nothing but white. I had received a phone call at 5am informing me our flight home was canceled. We decided to make the most of our day so we bundled up and rode the train to NYC, in a blizzard. It was about a 50 minute ride on the train to Penn Station. I had never been there before so it was another world. We came up to the surface to a busy, busy, snowing world. It was still very very cool. We found a great pizza place, Bella Vita. Great pizza and a warm place to sit while we figured out what we want to do. We rode the subway down to Canal Street to buy some nicknacks and look for the ladies with the fake bags. We found them alright but they wanted $65 for Louis and only had ONE coach bag so we moved on. We saw so much but due to the snow pelting us in the eyeballs, we didn't DO much. So back to Penn Station, train back to the hotel.

The next day was a lazy one. We went to the mall for dinner and found an Italian place that had Pepperoni bread Jessica was in search of. We got some sweets there and made our way back. I fought a headache pretty much the whole time we were there so we headed back to the hotel early.
Friday was the magic day. The day we left. I am leaving out all of the drama surrounding our flight fiasco and the HORRIBLE way it was handled because I lived it for three days and don't want to think about it. Just soooo glad to be home!
Jessica and I had to drive to LaGuardia airport, flying out at 8:45 pm. We decided to go early to ensure we made it in time and spend a little time in NYC again. We mad eit there quickly despite TWO toll bridges and NO cash to pay them. No tolls in AZ, who knew! So after dropping off the car and stashing out luggage at the car rental, we took a car to NYC. Made our way to our little pizza place again for lunch. We took some great pics in Time Square and spent some time (and money) in the M&M store. A little something for everyone. Then of course we got your typical souvenirs such as fridge magnets and key chains. Found a cute purse for my Mom from a street vendor and headed up to Central Park to catch a cab. Central Park was beautiful. We didn't go in as we had to get going but it looked so beautiful and had the horse drawn carriages all over the place. I kept thinking of the girls and how much they would LOVE this. Grabbed a taxi and headed for the airport. The driver was pretty cool and we chatted him up the whole time. Got his card, he said he's pick us up the next time we were in town. Back to the car rental for luggage and shuttle to airport. It got a little ugly here as our flight was delayed 2 hours which would have made us miss our connecting which would have stranded us in Philly until the next day at 1pm. So after a few tears we managed to get on another flight going to Philly, caught our connecting to Pittsburgh where we spent the night (We had a GREAT travel agent). The next morning we were on our last flight home. We couldn't believe we made it. We were a little worried since it had snowed all night, but after a little place deicing, we were on our way. The flight felt a little long since I was passed out during take off and when I woke up I thought we were almost there. We still had over two hours to go. There was a sweet older gentleman on the aisle I made friends with and we talked the entire flight. We shared stories and finished crossword puzzles together. When we landed I helped him find his gate for his connecting flight, gave him a hug and hurried outside to find my Mom and my girls. They were missing me pretty hard and had a couple of tearful nights. I promised them the next time I go they will come with me. :)
This has been a VERY long week, but it was still a great time. Jessica was a great companion and I think we had a great time. My only complaint IS the traveling. The snow was beautiful. NYC was terrific. Seeing my IF and his friend was wonderful. Jessica and I laughed all the time and made the most of a snow storm. I am soooo happy the med screening is done and they were able to squeeze me in on Tuesday. We now wait for the results on my blood draw and may be transferring late March/April. Hopefully it won't be snowing. ;)