things we did (and did not) do

After a lovely ten-day stay, my mom headed back home last night. Her visit was both miraculous in that it actually still occurred as scheduled in the devastating and frantic immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, and a much-needed diversion to keep me from losing my mind as Blake was nearly buried alive in the needs of those in the ward and community who were affected by the storm, as well as with his own busy schedule at work. (I've seriously hardly seen him at all since just before the hurricane.) Our itinerary didn't play out as originally planned for a variety of reasons, but we did enjoy ourselves, and it was hard to let her go. Here's a sampling of what we did and didn't do while she was with us.

Things We Did

• Ate at the Hungry Store, known to the rest of the world as Five Guys. It's one of the boys' favorites, and they were thrilled to go out for dinner. Grandma treated, but it took two attempts to get in the door because they closed up just before the hurricane and didn't reopen until about a week later.
• Watched old episodes of Mad About You. The DVD came from Netflix, but the narration during the opening credits came from Garrett and Caleb: "Blue! New York City! Red! The Park! Purple! The Park! Pink! The Park! Green! Grocery Store! Orange! Library! Orange! Hungry Store! Blue! Going on a walk on a date!"
• And speaking of theatrics, Garrett earned himself the nickname "First Lady of the American Theater," while Caleb served as his understudy. Their knack for the dramatic, while it grated on everyone's nerves, especially when whining was involved, sure impressed Grandma.
• Visited the Children's Museum of the Arts in Manhattan. I'll do a separate post about this later.
• Memorized sight words. Grandma grilled Garrett, and now he has a stockpile of 25 words he can read. After aggressively searching the internet, we found and purchased the early readers my siblings and I used in kindergarten to learn to read. They're simple but fantastic, and I can't wait for Garrett to start using them.
• Went shopping in the city. We hit up our favorite spots: Fishs Eddy, Paper Presentation, and The Container Store. I introduced my mom to the divinity of hot chocolate and homemade marshmallows from City Bakery, and I came away from a stop into Old Navy to purchase Caleb new socks with an adorable (and ridiculously inexpensive) dress coat (with the most darling Peter Pan collar! I love those!).
• Spent a day with Emily and her crew while her husband helped their old (but favorite!) ward with hurricane clean up. We walked down to the one of the few open playgrounds in the neighborhood (carefully stepping around a few massive downed trees to get there). Getting there and back with 7 small children under the age of 5 (three of which were independently-minded 2-year-olds) was an exercise in patience, and the time we spent at my place was chaotic to say the least. But oh, it was good to hang out with them again -- just like old times!

Things We Didn't Do

• Watch the New York City Marathon, which, while the reasons for its cancellation were valid, was still a bummer. That's been on my bucket list since we moved here and discovered (thanks to the unfortunate obstacles it created in getting to church) that the route cut right through our neighborhood. 
• Sit on the crack. Caleb has staked claim on that spot on the couch where the two cushions meet, and he won't let anyone else sit there. Considering how many times Caleb made her scoot over so he could sit on the crack makes me wonder if one of the first things Grandma did once she got back to her own house was to sit on the crack of her couch, just because there'd be no one around to stop her.
• Leave the house much. Between a subway that only slowly returned to life after the havoc Sandy wreaked on the system, the powerful nor'easter we were hit with a week after, closed neighborhood parks, and the gasoline shortage, we found ourselves putting our feet up at home more often than not.
• Overdo it watching election coverage. It was too depressing. But I did vote!
• Lose my purse. One day, while shoe shopping with the boys at our local Century 21, I set my purse down to measure their feet -- and forgot to pick it back up again. I realized my mistake about 15 minutes later, at which point I frantically dropped everything, left the boys on the sidewalk with my mom, and ran back for it. Amazingly it was still sitting there, with none of its contents missing, right where I'd left it. My people found me as I was leaving the building and as I told them the good news, they told me that the prayer they knelt down and offered in a corner of the children's department had been answered. It's a miracle that miracles of this nature still occur in Brooklyn -- or maybe it's just a bit of loving divine intervention.
• Take an extra Zoloft after we dropped my mom off at the airport. I miss her, but I'm determined not to let her absence get me [too] down.