Yesterday was an uncharacterically busy day which seemed to hold promise for a more full life for me here in NYC. At the end of the day, I felt a "high" that surprised me. I was up and out of the apartment to catch the A or C train uptown even before Bob went off to work. I had a 9am appointments up at 168th at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and New York Presbyterian Hospital for my upcoming part time independent evaluator position with the Child Psychiatry Division of Columbia University. I had to take a physical exam which was interesting in that for the first time in a very long time, my blood pressure was well within normal limits (even though I was a bit confused and rushed as to where I was supposed to go for my physical exam and the unexpected paperwork they had me fill out with very little direction). For the last several years, my doctor in Seattle shared concerns with me about having borderline high blood pressure. Certainly the major reduction in stress has made for better health. I checked in as being in very good health. I then turned in a pile of paperwork and was scheduled for two mandatory orientations and given instructions for further online trainings. It felt very familiar walking around in a hospital and in hallways of academic offices. I had really nice interactions with several of the staff and I am genuinely looking forward to starting work with the research team. That took up the entire morning and in the rush to make my appointment I forgot my keys and needed the doorman to let me into my apartment. The staff here are so incredibly nice. We continue to feel very fortunate to live where we do. I had just enough time to drop off some things from my earlier appointment and get to the bus stop for my afternoon get together.
I already had plans to meet up with Margaret at 1pm to explore the Gramercy and East Village neighborhoods near where she and her husband live. I took the cross town M16 bus to her place, 2.2 miles away per Google maps for walking. The bus leaves a block from my building and drops me a block from her apartment complex. Public transportation doesn't get much better than that! It only took about 20 minutes or so and it was nice to be above ground for a change rather than underground. It was a really beautiful sunny day yesterday in the mid-forties. It's always interesting to see other people's living spaces in NYC. There is always an assessment of the layout of the apartment, how space is used, how much natural light comes in, what do you see out the windows, (and for me) what kind of kitchen space is there. Margaret had made us a very lovely lunch to start our afternoon and we continue to uncover more layers of shared interests. We then ventured off into the streets of Gramercy, Flatiron, and East Village neighborhoods. We both like Thrift stores and discount designer clothing stores. Being this is NYC, those stores have inventory far and above better than you find in most other cities. The East side is a haven for some really great ones for discount designer clothes and housewares. If and when I ever get a private practice going, no doubt I will want to dress many degrees more professionally than what I do now and plan to take advantage of shopping at these places more seriously. One of our stops was at the Strand Bookstore (their slogan is 18 Miles of Books). In all honesty, we originally stopped there so I could use a restroom but it is a place I had wanted to go and it was just a really fabulous place. Multiple stories of books filling every nook and cranny covering any and every topic you could think of.....it came close to being a beloved library. Definitely made a mental note to go there on any rainy afternoon as browsing books is highly encouraged there and many were there doing just that. Great, great vibe in that place. Walking around that part of town, we covered a fair amount of ground and it was fun and easy and comfortable. Margaret and I parted ways after several hours with plans for another outing soon and having discussed earlier a number of ideas of other excursions to make. On my way home I made a stop at the Indian/East Asian grocery store Bob and I like to shop at, Kalustyans, to pick up a few things. Then I caught the M16 for home. I just had a really good feeling at the end of the day that things are starting to fall into place for me to build my own life and connections here in NYC. Obviously not a separate life from Bob but one that is not so dependent on him. It's important to me to have my own "comings and goings," so to speak, for reasons very particular to me. Yesterday felt that way with a clear sense of far more to come.
I downloaded Adele 19 and Adele 21 from ITunes. Darrow turned me on to her and she is GREAT! Love listening to her. She will be in town when Jeffrey comes to visit in May and I am going to try to get tickets for us. She is performing at the United Palace Theater up at 175th. It's a beautiful grand old performance hall. Check out these pictures of it........
http://www.google.com/images?q=united+palace+theater&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&oe=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Q9dmTbaxJsTpgAfz0pTLCg&ved=0CDQQsAQ&biw=1419&bih=693
Bertrand is here tomorrow visiting from Vancouver BC and it will be so wonderful to spend the day with him. We have a great time talking and laughing together. The weather is supposed to be CRAZY tomorrow, very high, gusty winds and some rain. It'll be an adventure going out and about.
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