Getting ready…

We are headed down to NYC first thing on Thursday morning. We haven’t been down to the city in 9 years. Sam gave us two tickets to the Broadway show Hamilton for our February birthdays. Plus two Amtrack round trip tickets from Albany to Penn Station. The kicker is he also booked us one night at the hotel, OYO in Times Square, which is located very close to the theatre.

This was a shock. The first thing I did was cry. Then I felt terrible he spent so much money on us. We always tell our boys not to spend money on us and use their money for themselves.

I wouldn’t see Sam for hours to thank or talk to him about his gift. When I did see him, he told me he planned on doing it for a while. He said that since he was working so many extra hours, he could afford it. I guess he could, but I still felt bad. No one ever gave me or us a gift like this before.

Marty and I never got to go away when our kids were small; neither of our families would babysit for us. Hell, they wouldn’t even babysit for one night. If my mother had to, I would “owe her big time.” Owing you to spend time with your grandchildren? Ok then. Too bad she felt that way. My mother-in-law flat out refused. Sadly, that was her loss too.

I have a million things going through my head before we go. We have a lot of spätzle to make. Wholesale orders to fill and deliver. Plan for what needs to be done when we get back. Answer calls and email and post on social media; we will not be at the farmers market on Saturday. Plus, anything else that comes up.

I always pack days ahead when we go away. When the kids were small, and we rented a shore house for a week, I packed for weeks, including bedding, towels, inside and outside toys, books, clothes for four people, and food. We didn’t eat out; I cooked or grilled whatever I could find from the butcher shop and produce markets on Long Beach Island.

Last night, I got out what I am taking to NYC. It was easy because everything is black and I have an entire wardrobe of it. The weather will be iffy with rain and temps around 55 degrees. I hope the coat I am taking will do the trick; however, the thing about NYC is that you can find absolutely anything at any time if you need something.

We leave Albany at 8:30 am and get into Penn Station before 11 am. We can’t check into the hotel until 3 pm, so we have to carry whatever we bring all day. We are taking backpacks and are packing very lightly. This stressed me out until I got what I wanted to take and found everything fit, and my pack wasn’t too heavy.

Today, we were in the production kitchen bright and early so we could each go separate ways to make deliveries. Marty headed to Saratoga, and I went to Rutland. I wanted to pick up some food for Sam while we were gone, so I stopped at Aldis. I like leaving him good food since he is as much a food person as I am.

When I got home from Rutland, I made Klausie boy his doggy meatballs that we sneak his allergy meds in every morning. He will run out of meatballs before we get back on Friday night. I also made a quick marinara sauce for a baked ziti for Sam as a quick reheat and-go meal.

Last night, in the middle of the night, when I couldn’t sleep, I did some research and found many dedicated gluten-free restaurants in the city. Other restaurants can virtually make anything on their menu gluten-free if you ask. I see a big pastrami sandwich at Friedman’s and a real NY bagel at Modern Bread and Bagel, which is gluten-free and gets rave reviews by actual New Yorkers.

Hamilton starts at 7 pm on Thursday night, we plan to go out afterward in search of cocktails and snacks. We have the whole day on Friday in the city since our train doesn’t leave until 9 pm. Sam planned it this way for us to enjoy as much of the city we wanted to. We get back into Albany around 11:30 pm.

We love lower or downtown Manhattan. Our old stomping grounds in Greenwich Village haven’t seen us in decades. We always love to walk through Little Italy and Chinatown as well.

I found several dedicated gluten-free restaurants downtown. One is called Senza Gluten NY, and I want to check out a dedicated GF bakery called Posh Pop. It’s very girlie with pink roses on the walls. I am a sucker for girlie things, believe it or not.

After waking up to an anxiety attack at 4:30 am, I feel less stressed today than I have about our trip. Since we have an early morning train on Thursday morning, Marty is picking me up after bellydance Wednesday night and heading to Albany to spend the night. We have Hilton rewards points up the ass, so we may as well use them.

Now, I won’t have to worry about oversleeping or hitting traffic on the hour-plus ride. I know we would never oversleep, but my 2 am brain doesn’t know that.

Sam is happy to see me so excited; he told me he wanted us to have this trip and see Hamilton in person because he knew we would never do it ourselves. He’s 100% right! We wouldn’t do it in a million years. I am so looking forward to it I can hardly stand it! 🤗