Wait Just a New York Minute

Being a proud Catholic, sometimes it surprises me that I would cling so steadfastly to a Hindu idea like Karma. Deep down I truly believe that the universe will right itself. If I send out negative, hateful vibes; not only will it send them back but balancing that negativity with a more optimistic outcome will eventually happen. If I was responsible for the negativity, I have to be responsible for some positivity before the cosmos will grant me that. In turn, I must be incredibly grateful when fortuitous circumstances come my way in order to avoid (or at least cope with) the not so fortunate that will inevitably follow.

My proof that this works? It isn't a stretch to consider myself a good person. Perfect? Definitely not. But being an idealistic over-achiever has its rewards: lots and lots of good karma. Both my professional and personal lives stand witness to this idea. The fact that teaching is my true calling means I get to love what I do AND be good at it. The miracle birth of my son is also testament that a lot of faith and optimism goes a LONG way. Meeting my husband was also a great moment of good Karma showing some favor.

Even with our typical married couple problems (we call it "The Divorce Log" knowing neither of us will ever really use it...or would we-he he he...), there is no doubt that we belong together. This brings me to my 6th anniversary present: A TRIP TO NEW YORK CITY!

A passion, zealousness if you will, for The Big Apple houses itself deep inside my heart. Before this trip, I had been to New York as both a freshman and senior in high school. I squeal inside at the blocks and blocks of architectural giants. I giggle a bit when using the subway (even the mama/germaphobe inside of me melts away). I appreciate the grid like layout making it enjoyable and easy to navigate the five Burroughs. If cost wasn't an option, I would move here without any regrets or second thoughts.

My husband knows this. He also knows that the Museum of the Moving Image is currently showcasing Jim Henson's Fantastic World (Henson's birthday-September 24 just happens to be our wedding anniversary-intentional?). Aside from Manhattan, another obsession of mine is all things Jim Henson. Again, my hubby knows this which is why is taking me to the museum while in New York where we'll get to meet Kevin Clash, Henson's protege! As if this weren't enough, tonight we are seeing How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying starring Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe! Everyone knows how I feel about all things Harry Potter. So what I have here is the perfect storm of an ideal anniversary present! All that preparation and hard work at the beginning of the school year (a different approach for me since I usually fly by the seat of my pants) must have stored away a treasure trove of good Karma:).

Yet the beginning of this trip has left much to be desired. New York has not disappointed. That's not even possible. The trouble started brewing at DFW Airport with the incompetent company American Airlines. Here's how it goes: it cost to take luggage, so everyone tries to fit it all in one suitcase to save money, then the suitcase is too heavy, so everyone has to open his suitcase at the weigh station to remove items. See, American did this to themselves the idiots. So even though hubby and I arrived at the airport long before our flight took off, we waiting in line to be checked in an absurdly long amount of time because E-V-E-R-Y-B-O-D-Y had to open and remove things from suitcases. The lady behind us was participating in a "bitch-till-you-drop-a-thon." All we heard about was how she was about to miss her flight because of how slow everything was. Finally we just told her to go ahead of us (clearly her intention) just to shut her up! I wasn't too upset because being kind to her just racked up a bit of good Karma for us.

We finally checked-in and the American Airlines lady told us we almost missed our check in time (another ridiculous concept since we still had about 40 minutes till our flight). Hubby very bluntly asked, "Well who's fault is that?" Uh-oh. Bad Karma. We got on the plane and wouldn't you know, our seats were the very last row waaaaaaaaaaay in the back. When I opened the window shade to at least take in our view, I only saw airplane. But then the flight attendant noticed they had two seats open up further up in the plane. Would we like them? Yes! Ding, ding, ding! Good Karma stopping by for helping that insane-o lady.

By the time we landed, we were hungry and ready to start our metropolistic adventure. Wouldn't you know, our suitcase somehow didn't make it on our flight and would be arriving with the 9:40 P.M. plane. Did I mentioned we landed at 2 P.M.? I couldn't be shaken from the high I started to feel just knowing I was in New York City! Well sort of. We had to take the train from Newark to Penn Station to Grand Central and then walk about 10 blocks to the hotel. People who know me would assume this would cause my delicate nature to rear its prissy head and insist on taking a cab for the journey. NOT IN NEW YORK CITY! If it wasn't made obvious before, I LIVE for the kind of city life that includes well oiled public transit (a major reason London is also a perfect city). However, this kind of foot travel doesn't bode well for people with 50 pound luggage. Therefore, it turns out that having our suitcase delayed was a blessing because the airport would deliver it to the hotel for us! There's that universe doing its thing and achieving balance:).

Of course the suitcase wouldn't be officially delivered until 2:00 A.M., so we just settled in for 100 Most Shocking Moments in Music on VH1, spent $104 on room service, and crashed in our clothes around midnight. Now we are up and ready to start our day. The irritating delay in receiving our luggage has reinforced in me the idea that something phenomenal will be happening to us today or tomorrow. Since I am meeting a least one of my obsessions, I hope the phenomenon is a powerfully positive one.

We're off to Ground Zero. The last time I was here, I actually looked out from the top floor of the World Trade Center. It will be a surreal experience for sure.