Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Today is December 25th and we are back in NC after a week of visiting.
The trip was harrowing to say the least. Let me explain.

It started off well....
On December 19th we left Raleigh Durham airport on time at 6am aboard a USAirways flight bound for La Guardia. We arrived on time, got our rental car on time and headed to Manhattan as the first flurries started to fall. So far so good.... We headed to a Barnes and Noble to pick up the last of the Christmas gifts for the grand nieces and nephew and then to my hair cut appointment with my NYC hairdresser who had to save me from my bad NC haircuts. After that, we met up with Erdem and Hale, our Turkish friends, at the Phillips Beth Israel School of Nursing where I used to work and then off to a Belgian restaurant for a fabulous lunch and laughter. Hale is feeling good and her baby bump is a girl!!! A new American citizen is due in April. But the snow was thickening and we had to head out about 40 miles to North Babylon, so we left at 2:30 and ended up crawling on the LIE etc etc etc... We arrived at Myron's sister's house at 6pm!!!
Anyway after a great Italian dinner we hit the sack and awoke to a snowy day on Saturday.

We headed out to visit Myron's Mom at her new assisted living home and found it lovely. She is very happy there and was so surprised to see us. Nick and Alaina have an incredible Christmas display on their lawn. I think it is a Long Island thing because we saw many homes with lawns completely covered with decorations and lights. Actually Nick said his electric bill climbs considerably in December because of the lights!!!

Giavanna, Michael and Diane's new daughter is cute and good.... a terrific combination.

On with the trials of travel......
On Sunday morning we left Long Island and drove in off and on freezing rain to LaGuardia airport to catch an 11 oclock flight to Burlington Vermont to visit my sons, Jeff and Sean and also to stay with friends Lynne and Jim DePaolo. The plane was at the gate and we were told we would board in 10 minutes.... super! But within 5 minutes of that announcement, they cancelled the flight !!! Too much snow in Burlington!!! I ran to the desk to try to reschedule and Myron started dialing USAirways. NO FLIGHTS AVAILABLE UNTIL THE NEXT DAY! So I said, "What the heck, let us rent a car and drive." Myron shrugged and said "Ok." ( Thank God, he didn't know what I knew about driving in a blizzard in Vermont or he might have reconsidered.)

I was desperate to see my sons because I wouldn't be seeing them for quite awhile and it was Sean's Birthday on the 23rd. As we were collecting our bags to make it to the car rental area, I spied a very forlorn looking couple. They were around my oldest son's age and looked totally confused as to what to do. So in the Christmas spirit,I asked them if they were willing to drive with us to Burlington ( 320 miles). They checked us out and determined we weren't axe murderers or interested in having them for sex slaves so they agreed. We scurried to collect our checked bags and Myron and I tried calling Hertz, Budget, Dollar, Avis and Enterprise for a car.... No one would let us take a car one way.... Hertz said they didnt have any in NYC at all... So... I called Avis again and lied and said to the Avis agent on the phone I would use the car locally and return it to the same office. I was able to reserve a car and pick it up in 45 minutes. Hallelujah!!!


We got the car, after again stating that it would be used locally and hurried to start the trip before we would get snowed out! It was a brand new front wheel drive Malibu!!! New all season tires and anti locking brakes... plenty of room and I had high hopes we would make it through the Donner passes of Vermont!

Tim and Holly, our passengers, were mildly anxious, but we told stories and taught life lessons about travelling the not so friendly skies.... Myron started the driving. It rained in NY, sleeted and started to snow in CT, snowed hard in Massachusetts where I took over driving near the Vermont border. For 6 years I commuted this route in all kinds of weather, so I knew every hill, every curve, every bad spot for plowing and every exit for gas, coffee and bio breaks. We proceeded through blinding snow, snow ruts and whiteouts from semi rigs passing us. The car was terrific, the visibility awful and the white knuckles glowed, but we braved it all and laughed to ease the anxiety. Tim's parents were going to meet us in the Mobil gas station in Waterbury and he kept texting them to keep them posted as to our progress... 9 hours later we arrived!

We all got out of the car, hugged and wished Merry Christmases! Tim's parents were so happy they gave us cookies and a beautiful ornament for our tree... What a mitzvah!!!
We arrived 30 minutes later at our friend's house. Lynne made us soup and we had some wine and then crashed.

I had forgotten how cold it gets in VT, it hung around 6-14 degrees all day.... my blood had thinned for sure in the southern climes.
The rest of our time in Vermont was spent with Jim and Lynne, Jeff, and Sean's birthday party at Sean and Liz's new home in Johnson. Additonally, Myron and I were invited to Skip and Marilyn Rosskam's for lunch. They own a vacation home in Stowe and Myron is doing some consulting for Skip's company. So all in all we had a pleasant time.

On Christmas Eve, we headed to the airport for a 1:30 flight and left the car at the Avis office there. No problem but $250.00 one way rental fee was added to our charges. Such is life...
The flight to Philadelphia was on time!
When we got to Philly, our connecting flight was on time and we headed to the gate. Here comes the best tale!
As we handed our boarding pass to the woman, she said, " Sorry I have to change your seats."
I said, "What?! Why?"
She said, " I am not discriminating but we can only give Exit rows to people who ...., I am not discriminating, but you are older. We have rules."
I thought I was going to explode, Myron was actually laughing. We had had exit rows on all our flights and never did anyone ever question our ability to open the damn exit door in the plane! I mean, we work out regularly, go to spinning classes, lift weights, run on treadmills etc etc etc!!! I would venture to say that we are in better shape than most of the people on the damn plane who eat Burger King, McDonalds and weigh 200 pounds!!!
I then yelled at her , "Wait a minute, I am not OLD!" I was incredulous and Myron wanted to see me go balistic.
At that moment, another ground crew came to the desk and asked what was wrong. The woman said that " I am not discriminating , I am following the rules about the exit rows."
I said," What rules, where does it say....?"
The man looked incredulously at both of us and then simply asked us if we were capable of performing the duties of a passenger in the exit row.
We both chorused" Yes"
He told her that we could board.
I was pissed, but Myron found the whole thing totally humorous.
The man followed up up the jetway and apologized. He didn't understand what she was doing.
He said, "you get what you pay for."
Myron simply replied, " At least she is not flying the plane."
We settled into our EXIT Row seats.
Within 5 minutes, the woman came onto the plane and came to us and she appeared as if she was about to cry. She apologized for the confusion and said that she was going to offer us First Class seats . The "old people" moved to First Class! It was all too funny after I stopped fuming.
We arrived in warm NC... 64 degrees .. I really forgot how cold weather is painful.
Thanks to Julianne's Christmas present, Myron and I enjoyed a terrific meal on Christmas Eve at Four Square Restaurant in Durham!

I can't wait for the next adventure!!
BTW ... the cancelled leg of the trip refund equalized the one way car rental fee! We love America!

Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year....

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Dancing Tonight- Tango

Finally, it is Saturday after a long week of work in preparation for the beginning of the New Year courses I have to get online for the hospital by January 1st. Believe it or not they have to be turned on January 1st so the 12,000 users can start completing them. I am enjoying my work at UNCH and am pleased at how it is going. I am also just finishing up teaching a Math for Meds class online for the Phillips-Beth Israel School of Nursing in NYC and can now spend more time on Tango .
Myron is finishing up with his students this semester and we have to get ready to leave on the 19th for NYC to visit Myron's family and then on to Vermont on the 21st to visit my sons and friends in Stowe. We will be back on the 24th to have Christmas with my parents who recently moved to CARY,NC .... Containment Area for Relocated Yankees! Most people in Cary are from NYC or Long Island... it is entertaining. They came for the weather, for hi-tech work, to retire, and to experience a cheaper cost of living. Houses and taxes are about half the cost of a comparable house in NY.

Tonight is dinner out with Bob and Lil Mazza followed by a Tango Milonga till 2am!!!
We are planning a ski week in Salt Lake City March 14-21. We plan on flying out Chris and Keiran from Colorado and Sean and Liz from Vermont. We will rent a house 15 minutes from the slopes and everyone will get to ski and snowboard to their hearts' content. Paul and Jeff live in SLC so they can easily join us in the festivities.
Jeff had his tonsils out this past Monday. He has had over the past 3 years multiple bouts of strep throat and this past month an abscess on his tonils that required hospitalization. He is doing fine; a little sore but eating ice cream and healing with his Dad in Vermont. We will see him next week.
Paul's girlfriend, Julianne, sadly is being deployed to Iraq in January. She is in the National Guard and will be gone for at least 4 months. We all worry about her safety. She has requested shampoo and conditioner to be sent to her... :-). I will be sending her the best!
My dear friends in Vermont, Lynn and Jim DePaolo and Sherry and Bob Yandow will be grandparents next summer. Their daughters broke the news this past week. It is a first grandchild for both of them and they are very excited. We will be seeing them next week!
No other news right now.... we will keep you all posted as to our goings on...
Love Anna and Myron

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Merry Christmas Everyone!


It is cool here in Chapel Hill/Durham and time to put up the tree. We finished the Christmas cards and have the tree decorated and the house smells of piney woods. Missed the boys, but plan on making them holiday cake anyway and shipping it... Tonight Oma and Opa are taking us out to dinner. Then afterwards, perhaps we go to the late night Milonga..... Love Anna and Myron