Emotional Hypothermia

I found this quote on Pinterest tonight that so perfectly put into words something that has been rolling around in my head for months now, that I had to write it down. 

“Some days I ache for silence, others, 

 silence makes me ache.”

For me, it would be more appropriately worded:

          
 “During the first half of my day, I ache for silence, 
the second half, the silence makes me ache.”

I’m a teacher, which means that the first half of my day is spent with twenty-five  children who need my guidance, seek my attention, and want my love and affection.  Twenty-five students who come for my instruction and my help.  Twenty-five little people who want to share things with me, to tell me stories, and make me laugh.   There are times when I am simultaneously listening to one student’s story, while answering another’s question, getting a band-aid for a third, and watching the other 22 to make sure they’re on task. 

While all this is happening, its never quiet…and often, I ache for silence. 

Then I leave work and I come home.  I spend the rest of the day in an empty, silent house.  There is no one here who needs my guidance or my help.  No one seeking my attention or looking for love and affection.  There isn’t anyone here who wants to share their life with me, tell me stories, or make me laugh.  One would think that after a day of chaos and noise, this would be nice...and it is for the first hour or so.  Then, the silence makes me ache.

If a person could get emotional hypothermia caused by alternating extremes, I'd totally have it.  Needless to say, I'm working on contentment in all circumstances.  

Catch Up: 10 items from my lists

When I started this blog, I intended to blog about each of the items on my list of 30 Things To Do While I'm 30.  But, three years, three lists, and 93 list items later, I've failed to do so.  So, I thought I'd do a little catch up...  

30.11 Make something I can wear

 This is going way back to my first list.  My friend
Rachael taught me how to make these felt flowers and I turned them into a brooch.  Unfortunately, I lost it before I could wear it.  I have a cute jewelry hanger that I foolishly have hanging over my trash can.  You do the math.

30.27 See a lighthouse

  On our annual summer camping trip on the coast, my family went with me to the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse.  It's a beautiful walk down to the lighthouse, where there is a museum inside.  You can also walk through the lighthouse keeper's home that has been turned into a museum.  It's a beautiful place for a picnic!














31.8 Learn to drive a stick shift

Incidentally, this is also proof that I grew my hair out for 6 months.
I think I'm going to do that again.  

 My Aunt Julie bravely volunteered to teach me how to drive a stick shift.  We took her mustang out after Thanksgiving dinner and practiced on the winding roads in the hills.  I really had no problem shifting between gears.  Shifting into first, however, was challenging for me, so my aunt made me do it over and over.  Fortunately, there is very little traffic through their little valley!  I only spun out once...I blame the gravel.

31.29 Learn how to play chess

       Also on the evening of Thanksgiving, my brother Joe taught me how to play chess.  I brought a chess set I'd found at a thrift store, but it was missing a rook, so we used a buffalo from my Grandma's toy basket in its place.
      My brother has always been smarter than me.  He took his SAT's the morning after staying up all night at Grad Night and got 80 points higher than I got...my third time taking it.  So, he both the best person to teach me how to play chess, and the worst opponent to play my first game of chess against.  Notice I'm biting my fingernails in the photo.

31.21  Sew or knit something

My friend Rachael and her mom, Vicci, helped me sew an apron for my mom!  I've sewn some basic things, and made a quilt, but I can't sew without someone around who knows how to thread a needle
or change the bobbin on the sewing machine.

 

32.3  Shoot Bubba's Bow

Isn't he so cute?

My cousin, Dan, is a bow hunter, too.

I actually did really well...shooting a stationary target.

32.6  Pottery: Throw or paint

I took Braden, Lauren, and Grayson to paint pottery in Chico as a kick off to our summer.  Braden painted flames on a motorcycle helmet piggy bank, Lauren painted a basketball bowl, and Grayson painted a mug with his name on it.  So, I didn't actually do any painting, but spending the day with these three was totally worth it.













32.12  Drive to the ocean for the day

Over spring break, Jennifer, my Mom, the kids, and I drove to Fort Bragg so I could take Lauren's 8th grade graduation pictures.  Although it wasn't just for one day, it was the quickest trip I've ever made to Fort Bragg...about 36 hours.  We stayed at a hotel with beach access and had two photo sessions.  They turned out great!

Jennifer was in the hotel room doing Lauren's hair, so we took
a walk on the Pudding Creek Trestle bridge.

Believe it or not, my niece is just as beautiful
on the inside as she is on the outside!

32.10  Make cake pops

Although time consuming, cake pops aren't really that hard to do.
I've made them a few times since.  

32.30  Get new glasses

 I never wear my glasses.  It's not that I don't think glasses are attractive, in fact, I think they're a great accessory.  For normal people.  Unfortunately, when it comes to the ability to see, I'm not normal.  I've had glasses since I was 4, and the only reason I was that old is that it took that long for my parents to figure out I couldn't see.  I've probably been blind since birth, and they've gotten worse every year since.  This makes for hideously thick lenses, which instantly downgrade my glasses from "hip accessory" to "freak show".  If you've never seen me in glasses, don't hold your breath...you probably never will.  At least not if I have anything to say about it.

I can't even fold them up all the way because the lenses get in the way,
which means they won't fit in the case they came with.  

New York: Day 2

It was our first full day in New York City.  I got out of bed and walked the 5 steps across our tiny hotel room to peek out the window.  On the roof of the building next to us was about 8 inches of fresh snow from the blizzard the night before.  We bundled up for a COLD day…I included sunglasses to protect my eyes, not from the sun, but from the frigid air. 

I’d found a popular breakfast place on the south border of Central park called Sarabeth’s on my New York App.  I’d told Jenn when we were planning the trip that we were not allowed to eat at any chain restaurants…only restaurants unique to New York City.  We took the subway to a station just a block away from Sarabeth’s, but it took us forever to find it!  Neither Jenn or myself are very good navigators, but I’ll tell you, New York City made us downright pitiful.  Normally, I can use a map if I can find my bearings…some kind of landmark to help me negotiate North, South, East, and West.  Well, when buildings are growing from the ground on every side of you like blades of giant grass, it’s pretty much impossible to do this.  

Fifth Avenue

So, after some failed attempts at navigating, we tried using the map app on my phone.  Well, apparently, SIRI is downright pitiful in NYC as well.  We stood on a sidewalk outside the Plaza hotel while searching for Sarabeth’s and the map app told us we were in the MIDDLE of the Plaza hotel.  Trust me, we were far too cold to be in the middle of the Plaza hotel.  After walking up and down the block, we finally found the place.  

It was a cute little place, with $8 glasses of orange juice and a view of central park.  It was pricey, but it was delicious! 

You can't see it, but Central Park was right over Jenn's shoulder.

The Italian guy behind me was
pacing and talking on his phone

We left from Sarabeth’s and went to FAO Swartz, the famous toy store.  It was a child’s dream.  They had every toy you could imagine.  My favorite was the dollhouse section.  They had miniatures of everything you could think of!  They’re really genius, in that they have adults wandering around the store demonstrating toys…kind of like Costco samples on Saturdays.  A young man showed us some beanbag/hackysack things and even got us tossing them around in the store.   More importantly, he got me to buy some for my nephews.  

What we went to FAO Swartz for, however, was the giant piano.  If you’ve ever seen the movie BIG, you know what I’m talking about.  I was prepared to do a full on rendition of chopsticks, but it didn’t work out because there were several other people jumping around at the same time as us and you couldn’t really make out the sounds the keys were making.  It didn’t live up to the hype, but it was fun nonetheless! 

         From FAO Swartz, we headed down 5^th avenue.  Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare through Manhattan, and has been called “The most expensive street in the world”.   We only walked along a fraction of it, but we saw evidence of how the street got its moniker.  Our first stop was Tiffany & Co…the jewelry store made famous by Audrey Hepburn in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”.  We went in and ogled the jewels (and got out of the cold) for a minute.  And can you believe it, no one offered to help me?  Apparently I don’t scream “big commission”!  It’s probably for the best, as I probably would have asked them to show me their sterling silver telephone dialers. 

         After drooling over the shiny stuff, we continued down Fifth avenue.  We passed Bergdorf Goodman, a department store famous for its opulent window displays, Harry Winston, whose windows were topped with giant rhinestones, The Trump Tower, and countless shops bearing the names of designers I’d only ever read in fashion magazines or seen celebrities refer to on the red carpet.  If one had money…and I mean A LOT of money…it would take a good, solid fortnight dedicated solely to shopping to get through all Fifth Avenue has to offer. 

         I was excited to see St. Patrick’s Cathedral, only to be disappointed to find that she was under construction and COVERED in scaffolding.  We were able to go inside, but there was scaffolding there as well.  I encountered this problem when I went to Europe as well…old buildings require attention from time to time if we are going to be able to continue to enjoy them.  I don’t like it, but I get it.  In spite of the scaffolding, it was still beautiful.  I’m not catholic, and I don’t understand the finery of Catholic cathedrals (My church is an old National Guard Armory), but I still enjoy the beauty and grandeur of them.  It was warm, candlelit, and quiet…a vast contrast to the street outside.  And it was beautifully decorated for Christmas (even the scaffolding was adorned with wreaths). 

I loved this quote on the Scaffolding of St. Pat's

         Across from St. Pat’s was 30 Rock….Rockefeller Plaza.  I never realized that Rockefeller plaza is a whole city block…a giant complex.  This is where NBC studios is and where many of their shows are filmed, like Saturday Night Live, (Now) The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and the Today Show.  We didn’t really want to get up early and stand in the cold, so we didn’t do the Today Show…but I did peek in the windows when we were there after they taped.  We wanted to go on a tour of the NBC studios, but they weren’t doing them because they were remodeling…I’m guessing they were remodeling a studio for Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show stage.  I would have loved to see that!  We saw the skating rink and the famous Christmas tree, but didn’t skate (yet).  

Atlas

After Rockefeller Plaza, we went to the New York Public Library.  It is a beautiful building…inside and out.  Marble everywhere.   We had to charge my cell phone (the navigation app, and searching for service while underground in the subway really suck the juice), so we sat in the Rose Main Reading room and rested while our phones charged.  I think if this were my library, I’d be too distracted by it to read!  It had a temporary museum exhibit on Children’s literature that was fantastic.   There were examples of children’s literature throughout history, including most of my favorites! 

 

The library is on the corner of these two famous streets

The two lions outside the library were named
 "Patience" and "Fortitude" during the Great Depression

The Library lobby

The Rose Main Reading Room

The actual stuffed animals that belonged to a boy named
Christopher Robin and inspired Winnie the Pooh

Goodnight Moon

Anne of Green Gables

After the Public Library, we kept trudging down the snowy sidewalks of Fifth Avenue to Grand Central Station.  You may have heard someone use the metaphor, “It’s Grand Central Station in here!”.   I got to see how that metaphor came about…people were zigzagging across the main terminal like ants to a picnic.  And it is a beautiful, classic train station.  The ceiling is a  turquoise-green color with constellations painted on it. More marble and half-round windows letting light criss cross into the terminal.  Except for digital train schedules, it’s been beautifully preserved.   Downstairs was a food court that we decided to have a late lunch in.  Being Grand Central Station, the restaurants were all unique to New York.  We had lunch at Junior’s, which wasn’t that great, but we had cupcakes for desert from Magnolia Bakery, which were tremendous.  I had the “Grand Central Station Cupcake”! 

We took the subway back to Times Square.  We saw several subway performers in New York, but my favorite was the group we saw on this day.  They played "My Favorite Things".  Once we were back in the chaos of Times Square, we ducked into a Starbuck's (the only chain place that I allowed) to get warm and charge my phone AGAIN.  Because it was so very cold, once it was dark, we didn’t want to be outside.  So, even though we had tickets to see Annie on our last day in town, we decided to buy tickets for another show on this night.  There’s a booth in Times Square where you can buy liquidated tickets on the day of the show for a fraction of the regular price.  If it weren't for my generous parents, brother and sister-in-law, grandparents, and aunt who gave me money for Christmas and my birthday, we wouldn't have been able to afford an extra show.  They made much of this trip possible, and I'm so grateful! (as is my credit card)

We went around 5:00 and got discounted tickets to see Cinderella at 7:00.  We went back to the hotel to rest and freshen up. The theater that Cinderella was playing at was about a block from our hotel, which was fortunate because it was 12 degrees.  We had great seats, and the show was amazing.  The costumes, the “magic”, and the original Rogers and Hammerstein songs…it was all amazing.  

The actor who played Prince Topher (Santino Fontana)
also played the voice of Hans in "Frozen"!

         After the show, we were hungry!  We took the subway to Serendipity, the restaurant made famous by the movie that was named after it.  We had to wait awhile, luckily, we were able to squeeze inside to wait.  The décor is colorful and kitschy!  They’re famous for they’re frozen hot chocolate, so Jenn got that.  We shared some nachos and I got apple pie a la mode.  It was such a fun place. 

The menus were giant!

         By the time we left Serendipity, it was around 12:30 am.  We should have taken a cab back to the hotel, but decided to take the subway, not realizing that the line we needed didn’t run after midnight.  We had to take an alternate route and wait in the station longer than normal.  It was about 1:00 by the time we got back to our room. 

It was a spectacular day.