Back from the Big Apple

So, I just returned from a long weekend in New York City with Tori to celebrate her 30th birthday. It was an awesome weekend filled with memories to last a lifetime. Here are some of the highlights:

• Two Broadway shows: The Producers and Hairspray
• Going to the weekend edition of The Today Show and seeing Campbell, Lester and the gang do their thing, in addition to seeing some cutie patootie dogs in costume. If anyone watched the show this weekend, we were actually on tv during the weather segment!
• Going on a tv and movie tour of the city (one of my favorite activities)
• Spotting Alan Rickman (Die Hard, Harry Potter, Love Actually) on the street
• Shopping in Times Square
• Having cocktails after going to the theater
• Sampling some delicious rice pudding at the only gourmet rice pudding shop in the world, Rice to Riches
• Enjoying some sliders at Ellen's Stardust Diner where they have singing waiters and waitresses
• Having some tasty soup at one of the Soup Nazi's stores (the original closed down)
• Late night talks with a great friend
• Surviving driving in the city, especially the Lincoln Tunnel!

Thanks to Granny Janny for coming to Baltimore to help Carl with Lily while I was away.

This was the first time that I was away from Lily for more than 24 hours. I think that I did pretty well, all things considered. Although I thought about her a lot, I kept my calls to a minimum. I knew that she was in good hands with her daddy and granny.

I think that I'm feeling the effects of being away more now than I did while I was gone. Because I work full time and don't get home until around 6:30, I only get about an hour and a half with her each night. So, weekends are my main Lily times. Without my time with her this weekend, I'm feeling deprived. Needless to say, I am anxiously awaiting the upcoming weekend. (Although, I wouldn't trade this past weekend for anything.)

It didn't help that she started doing something new over the weekend that I was not there to witness firsthand. She started blowing kisses!! It's so sweet. My heart ached because it was so sweet and because I missed her doing it for the first time. Right before I left, she started a new game of picking up lint or tiny thing off of the floor and handing it to me, and when she runs out of things to pick up off of the floor, she hands me imaginary things. When she gives it to me, I say "thank you". She has started saying something during this game that she does not say at any other time that is clearly an attempt to say "thank you". Although it is not quite clear, and you would have to hear it in context to know what she is trying to say, it is still pretty cool.

We are very excited about Lily's first Halloween. There is a Halloween parade tomorrow at her school, and I can't wait to see all of the little ones dressed up. Of course, I will take pictures to share. I hope that everyone enjoys their Halloween!