Hello All. Happy Thursday!
Its a bit of a slower day here at College Nannies and Tutors (as opposed to yesterday...which whewie is another story...I'll get to that) so I thought I'd get the blog a-goin.
I guess I should back way up to last weekend, even though we're almost a whole week behind.
Rich and I have been TRYING to go to the Manhattan temple ever since we arrived. It had already been a while since we'd done a session in UT before we moved (shame on us) and boy oh boy did we realize how good we had it! Temples with parking lots are a blessing, folks - especially when there are like 10 in your state! So if you're in UT start taking advantage of that!! Anyway...we've been trying to go for the past SEVERAL Saturdays! Once we couldn't make it because Bilbo got hurt, another time we couldn't make it because Rich couldn't find his temple recommend...there were just a lot of things that ended up coming up last minute that prevented us from going! And out here, going to the temple turns into a WHOLE DAY commitment because it's so far away. And not only is it a commitment, but it's also expensive! Every time we go into NYC it costs us about $100 I swear...whether we try to save money by driving or taking the train...parking garages are insanely expensive! 40$ - can you believe that!? Not something we're used to AT ALL in UT. haha. Anyway - we MADE IT, and it was well worth it.
Luckily, the parking garage was literally a walk away from the temple. Shortly after parking we actually bumped into a couple ward members who had just gotten out of a session - they told us that it was the closest parking to the temple. So that worked out perfectly...even though it was 40$.
There she be. It really doesn't look like much from the outside - it almost looks dirty and it is a little plain... (it's certainly no Payson, UT temple), but the inside was amazing. Rich and I had done a little sight seeing (and by sight seeing - I mean that we got lunch...don't worry, pictures of that will be posted) before going inside to do our session - and it was HOT DAY. We were pretty miserable and hot and thirsty. When we went inside not only was it amazingly air-conditioned, but within those walls it was totally silent! I was pretty shocked. Manhattan is LOUD and busy - as you can see in the picture, but within those walls...you could be in a basement in the middle of the mountains. Totally sound proof!! It was a great session...so peaceful and much needed. I'm glad we were able to go because I feel like it prepared me for the insane week ahead!
So prior to visiting the temple we had done a little shopping at Bed, Bath and Beyond, which is across the street from the temple. It was HUGE just like any other BB&B, but instead of expanding up it expanded down into the basement. It had like 3 or 4 floors of all the fun things they have there. We ended up buying a laundry drying rack that hangs over the door - we've been needing one for a while because our dryer does squat unless there's only like 5 things inside of it.
We didn't really intend on buying anything, the main reason we went in was because I had to whiz like a racehorse! It was a hot day, like I mentioned, and I'd been drinking a lot of water! We had gone to Zoralie - which is a restaurant in Hell's Kitchen (one of the Districts in NYC) that serves Dominican and Puerto Rican food - you can NEVER GO WRONG WITH FOOD IN THE CITY! We've never been disappointed!
This is what I ordered. It has a Spanish name but the English translation is Stew Chicken with beans and rice with some yummy sweetened plantains atop. That was an ABSOLUTELY PERFECT MEAL! Oh it was so good! Rich said it took him right back to his mission and that he could eat this stuff every day! His meal was very similar, he had a large chicken leg instead of the different parts that I had.
These are smashed and fried plantains - SOOOOOO YUMMY! The waitress even threw together some fry sauce for us, although she called it mayo and ketchup. I'm getting hungry staring at this and remembering how amazing it was so it's time to move on! Needless to say, we will DEFINITELY be back!
Like I said you can never go wrong with food in NYC. After the temple we were craving a little treat so we Yelped something good and decided on Magnolia's Bakery - apparently they are world famous for that banana pudding. We'll get some in the future but we were more in a cakey-kind-of-mood.
Beautiful, decadent carrot cake. It was HUGE too. I didn't eat it all in one sitting. Every bit of it was magically tastey - including the frosting, which normally is gross.
Richy's favorite dessert is chocolate cheesecake....so naturally that's what he chose. It, too was very tasty - especially that OREO crust! YUMMMMM!!
Anyway, that pretty much sums up our weekend.
This week has been kinda crazy at work. Leona, my boss has been out of town away at a conference, so Warren and I have had to do a little bit of crazy pick up and try to manage the place and all of the nannies while she's away.
For those who wonder what exactly my job is, hopefully this will give you an idea of what I do - I had to wake up fairly early yesterday to help figure out who was going to cover a job that a nanny didn't show up for work at 7:30. It was a job in Westchester County, the nanny was a new hire, and wasn't responding to texts, calls or emails! I even got in touch with her emergency contact to make sure that she was ok! No responses whatsoever.
So I frantically started texting/calling other nannies in the area who could possibly take the job. While all this is going down, some mom is out there waiting for her babysitter, not sure what to do and probably hating us for the nanny we provided not showing up. After reaching out to what seemed like 50 people - a nanny texted me and said she was available. 2 hours had gone by - I felt so terrible for the poor mom whose sitter didn't show! (you would not believe the unreliability of some people in this area!)
Anyway so I got her all set up, made some phone calls, got her booked when....bam. She has a job that starts in 3 hours with a different family. The job I assigned her to went until 8 o'clock at night. I almost pulled out every last one of my hairs at that point thinking - WHY DID SHE SAY SHE WAS AVAILABLE THEN!?! Ugh... I guess some of these girls aren't the brightest bulbs in the tanning bed.
Anyway...everything got resolved but that was the peak of the craziness that happened yesterday. We had to fire the girl who didn't show because she caused a giant headache for everyone involved. For the most part my job IS NOT that insane, but it was yesterday, and I had several moments where I thought to myself "How did I get myself into this?" But it's all good now because yesterday is over and it's almost Friday!
Today at work has been MUCH slower! Nothing crazy happened this morning so I have a little time to get this written.
Earlier in the week we noticed that Bilbo had a little rash going on near is genitalia where there is much thinner hair. We think he may have gotten into poison ivy because he's always bounding through the woods whenever we take him anywhere. For the most part he hasn't been licking at it, or been acting like it's hurting him. I sent the pic to Paige and she says to get him antibiotics - so we have been giving him what's left of the antibiotics from when he had his puncture wound.
This is what it looks like...it looks painful but like I said he hasn't been acting differently really. And it HAS started to look better, so we won't be taking him to the vet unless we notice it getting worse!
He has been being very cute lately...I mean...look at him
As I was taking this picture I was talking to him and he was just turning his head from side to side...as if he was sincerely trying to understand what I was saying! There are some downsides to having him here...it does make it hard to work full time...and to just drop everything and go wherever without getting a sitter - but I wouldn't trade it for anything! He's just such a sweet boy - even if sometimes he's a little dramatic and accident prone!
You may have seen this post already on FB. Rich and I were both on the bed because the A/C is in our room and you can get the best air right on top of the bed (it's so great at night haha). But it was a hot one a few nights ago and we're not usually both on the bed if Bilbo is out of his crate and I guess he just felt bad and wanted to be involved too! He kept standing up on the sides of the bed whining so we finally caved and let him on the bed. He was content there for...ya' know...only about 5 minutes, but those 5 mins were so great for him! It was so cute...I'm such a sucker for him haha.
Above are some really pretty pics of Cranbury park at sunset. That tree has recently fully leafed out and it is just so huge! I thought the light shining on the trees in the background was also really pretty. We are SO looking forward to our time in MT this coming July with the Wilkins clan! We suuuper miss UT and the mountains! I just can't wait...it's gonna be so relaxing!
To some things up...here's a funny snapchat pic of me. I've really been enjoying these little effects! They're just so funny!! The face swap one is so ridiculous!! I swapped one of Rich's face and showed it to him and he said it was so ugly and disturbing it made him want to throw up! hahahaha!!!!
I deleted it, so that incase he ever saw it again he wouldn't be disturbed!
This is NOT the one, but it was the frowny-face one but I thought it looked too funny not to share! Also...yes, that is Alps, my stuffed dog that I've slept with for years. Shortly after we got married I stopped sleeping with him...but, Rich never cuddles with me in bed because it's "too hot" so...I've gone back to hugging Alps.
Happy Thursday!!!
Love, Tara and Rich
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