Central Park

The car was safely parked, at a rate of 40 dollars a day I might add, and we were ready to start exploring the city.





We spent all of our time in Manhatten, though there are four other bouroughs of New York City we could have explored. We were on 92nd street a few blocks east of Central Park. Looking at the map we were east of the lake you can see in Central Park. Our plan that day was to walk through the park and head down to Times Square. Eventually we planned on making our way back to the hotel so we could change and catch a show later that evening. Things didn't really work out as planned but more about that later.

First up, Central Park.





It wasn't what I expected it to be. I thought it would be flatter and more open than what we saw. It was designed by a landscape architect and occupies more than 700 acres. More than 1600 poor residents living in shanties, Irish pig farmers and German gardeners, were displaced to create the park. There are many walking and jogging paths that crisscross the park.





By this time I was getting hungry and Dave spares no expense when it comes to feeding me.





Needless to say, because it is a park there are lots of trees.





There is our destination, Times Square.





to be continued....

Happy Thanksgiving

Did You Know?

New York City, Here We Come!

Well, we are finally on our way. When we left home the weather was doing nothing. An hour north of our house we ran into this.





The snow belt starts about an hour north of us so I guess we shouldn't have been surprised. We saw snow for a couple of hours and then drove out of it and never saw snow again. We made one sales call in Syracuse and a few hours later we stopped for the night. We had been in the car for 10 hours but were only 4 hours east of Pittsburgh when the day had ended.

We were up bright and early the next day and headed east. I added another state to my list of states I have been to.





Then we came to this.





That would be New York. Our plan was to drive down to Times Square and then go back to our hotel. But minutes after driving under that bridge we encountered this.





The traffic was backed up and cars were switching lanes willy nilly. We thought it best to just go to the hotel and park the car. Walking would be faster and easier.

To be continued....

It's All About EMPHASIS

Another week of scrapbooking homework and layouts. This week the emphasis was EMPHASIS. The idea was to make one element on the page really stand out.

Can you tell which photo is being emphasized on this page?





This is a subject I have done before but I love the picture and wanted to use it again. Again, one picture is being emphasized in this layout.





For Real World Color this week she sent us to a website that posts all different kinds of color combinations. We could choose any combination we liked and use it in the sketch she gave us. This is the color combination that I found and really liked.





That's it for week seven. Next, week? You will just have to wait and see.

Notre Dame, Part Two

Today's installment is brought to you by:



I really like it when we play the academies. They are so civilized. No yelling, cursing, or getting hit. Yes, all of that has happened to me on other campuses. Coming in a close second has to be Happy Valley. Other than having to listen to that lion roar for the whole game, I really enjoyed being at Penn State. It is so civalized that when the midshipmen were introduced, everyone cheered. After all, how can you boo military men?

I especially like games when this happens. Score!





As we were sitting there watching the game, we were also keeping an eye on the weather.





Especially when the guy behind us said that he was talking to his friend on his phone and he told him there were tornado warnings in DC and we had about 15 minutes before that front got to where we were. Unfortunately he was right. It started out as a light rain which wasn't so bad.





Remember when I said that there was no way one could boo a Midshipman? I was wrong. If they decide to call a timeout when the rain is coming down in buckets then that is an appropriate time to boo. The game suddenly became less civilized and suprisingly a lot less crowded in the stands.





The game was going along just fine until the last five minutes and then:

Notre Dame appeared to be coasting with five minutes left as Coach Charlie Weis cleared his bench. The Irish were suddenly and inexplicably overcome by a wave of turnovers, special teams breakdowns, defensive lapses, coaching gaffes and wrongheaded calls by the referees that nearly cost them the victory.

The game ended up a lot closer than it needed to be. But the Irish prevailed and won 27 - 21. Thanks, guys. I didn't sit through that monsoon to watch you lose.

In other sports related news, St Mary Catholic Central's football team found themselves with another surprising win. These undersized sophomores have gone farther than any thought possible. They find themselves in the semifinals Saturday against Leslie. Go Falcons!

On Tuesday, St Mary Catholic Central's volleyball team found themselves with another win. Like the football team this was supposed to be a rebuilding year for them. They move on to the semifinals Thursday night. Go Kestrals!

The Lions. What can I say? Overachieving is not a word that can or will be applied to them. Here is a post I found on a message board that made me smile.

I bet the best of the college players are having terrible nightmares of being drafted by this franchise and have thoughts of making some bad plays just to stay off the radar!

On the other hand, there's a lot of terrible players who are being told to give up the dream of going into the NFL.

"But coach, there's always the Lions!"

"... I'll arrange a scout for you next week.

I would say Go Lions!, but that would be pointless wouldn't it?

Go Notre Dame

I decided to work backwards and start with the end of our vacation which was the Notre Dame/Navy game in Baltimore.





As stadiums go it was ok. I think Heinz Field and Ford Field are much nicer football stadiums. Here are Cory and Sarah walking to their seats. Notice that they are dry at this point.





Yup, still dry and smiling. After all this game is under control.





Here come the Midshipmen!









There sure are a lot of them. Just who is protecting the country?





Why look who else is here. Can you tell who it is?





Why it is Condoleezza Rice. Well, look who is with her. It is Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Just who is watching the country today?

Until tomorrow's installment,