The day after Christmas what is there left to do but go see a movie? Yeah, apparently we weren't alone with this thought and so our attempt to catch "Sing" at Kaufman in Astoria was a bit chaotic. The 6:00 showing was sold out so we had to catch the 7:00pm and kill some time in meantime. After hustling it over in an Uber (because Nacho was back to work and took the car), I wasn't going to chance wandering around and being late to the next show. So after we grabbed some popcorn and icees, we were all set. And really the show was pretty cute and the music was great. A win all around...
The next day we spent most of the afternoon outside with a pizza lunch at SGP since it
was in the 50s....felt like spring!
And then we came home to celebrate Nacho's birthday with Thai food and ice cream cake--a winning combination. Happy #41!
We spent the following day sleeping in and strolling around Central Park Zoo trying out our
Cool Culture (FREE!!) pass from AOC
Seeing Dessi and her daughter for a bit was a nice end to the day
I promised them Chuck E Cheese. I delivered. Thankfully Max and Amanda joined me to keep me from going insane
The girls picked out new toys from Aunt Stacey and we had dinner with Carmen in LIC before one last stroll with Olive and her foster doggie Moxie
My favorite NYC holiday shot
Finally made it to see the Rockefeller Christmas tree and grab some dinner in K-town...a holiday evening just before school starts again
And then just like that school started back up and I took off for a very impromptu visit to KC. I had been texting happy new year's messages with my high school ladies on a Facebook thread we keep up when it dawned on me that their usual meet up this week was perfect for a drop in visit. Since Jenny is always willing to host my crazy ass at the last minute, I checked flights and it looked like I would make it there. And with Nacho off all week, he was happy to oblige my travel plans. What a good man. So I set the wheels in motion and less than 12 hours later, I was on a plane flying over the frozen tundra of the Midwest. I made it in time to grab lunch at Arthur Bryant's and then head over to the Plaza for a little retail therapy. Not much has changed about Kansas City except that it feels like a long forgotten dream when I'm there. Not having much family around any more makes it all feel like a far away place from my past and I suppose it kind of is. I made a quick drive through of Raytown the following day, but really there wasn't much to see. Our night out in Overland Park was mostly to to honor Christi who doesn't stray far from home, and I was glad to get the whole gang out for the occasion since mostly it's just Jenny, Michelle and Joey who make it to the monthly meet ups. I appreciate these ladies and their viewpoints however different from my own. One thing that this whole election cycle reinforced was how much time we all spend preaching to our own choirs--how easy it is to live in a bubble of confirmation bias. So it's nice to be able to have friends from all parts of the country--from all walks of life--who know me and know the parts of me that I have always been. We don't see eye to eye on everything, but they are still my friends. We are all good people. And I feel like that shouldn't be a revolutionary statement, but these days it kind of is. So I'm glad I got that cheeseburger the next day with Christi so we could hash out some of this current political craziness. I'm also glad that Leighann popped me a message and we were able to grab a quick drink together before my flight out. Seeing her again was a breath of fresh air and I wish we could do that more often. I laugh those deep laughs and feel like we are hitting on the Truth with a capital T when I'm around her. That's what friendship feels like. All of this. And for me, that's what Kansas City will always be. So starting off the year with more of that can only be a good thing.
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