One Week Down

Hello folks,
Well, here we are we have been here exactly one week - so far so good.
Terry and I got up on Saturday morning and walked to The Metropolitan Museum.  We bought a membership for a year. They have "Associate" Memberships for people who live 200 miles from NYC.  It costs $60 per person but is good for one year. We thought it was a good deal as we hope to spend some time here.
We discovered walking 20 blocks (the streets not the avenues) is one mile.  Walking 4 avenues is also one mile. By that reckoning it is just over 2 miles from our apartment to the MET.
After checking out the roof top in the MET (it is always the first thing I want to do when I go to the MET) we looked for the old masters - another favorite. I love the Van Gough's and Monet's.  The roof top commissions different art projects.  At the moment it is an exhibition called "Big Bambu" (their spelling) by twin brothers from New Jersey (I think that is where they are from) It is really interesting. They have created an intricate "wave" from bamboo.  If you get the chance check it out.
We came home and rested for a bit before heading out to Mass. We are hoping to attend different Catholic Churches while we are here.  We attended "Our Lady of Peace Church",  237 East 62nd Street.  It is one and a half blocks from our apartment. It is very pretty, lots of blue and white paint, beautiful pieces of art and 2 amazing chandeliers.  There are a few stained glass windows but the light did not seem to get to them. This church has a building on either side of it which seem to block the light.
After Mass we returned home to cook some salmon for supper - made us feel at home.
We are so lucky to be able to Skype with Jonathan and Roision.  We have also set up an account with Skype to use for our long distance phone calls - can you believe 2cents a minute - what a deal!!!!!
Pat,  just in case others are wondering I will answer your comment here.

Hannah's apartment....  In July we discovered a $75 bill added onto out rent notice.  We called the Management company to find out what is was for. They told me it was because the girls picked their keys to the apartment up on the 31st of April and not the 1st of May (the start of their lease).  The office was closed on the 1st as it was a Saturday. The girls had a choice, pick the keys up Friday or Monday.  They were not told there would be a fee for picking them up a day early, had they known that they would have chosen Monday.  Now, I could make an argument that the Management company should have made arrangements to get the keys to the girls on the 1st - but I digress.
So, when I tried to talk to them about this they said they could do nothing about it - we need to talk to "Linda" at the Leasing Company.  We call Linda 4 times from Vancouver - she never answers her phone or returns messages.  We call as soon as we arrive in New York - still not answering her phone or returning messages.  It is very frustrating..... We may have paid the money had someone just returned our calls.
The other issue - the girls are on the top floor (they like to call it the Penthouse) They have had a leak through their roof since May.  When Hannah and I left NYC in May we were told it was going to be fixed the next day.  Not fixed yet .... the girls now have a black bucket in the middle of their bathroom - since  May 24th.  The maintenance man is always coming "tomorrow" to check it out.  Hannah has told him she is concerned about mold.  Did I say how frustrating this is..... I am not sure what good it will do  if I go to the Management office but I reckon I have nothing to loose.  I will keep you updated on this little saga.
Sunday, Terry was out running with his new fancy MBT shoes - he loves them.  He is trying to persuade me to look at a pair.  Perhaps when Roision comes we can look, I know she is very interested in a pair.

We were very excited as Hannah and Franky were coming to dinner.  Terry found a little Hibatchi (don't know about the spelling) on our deck and decided to BBQ.  I think the last time we used one of these was when Jonathan was 2 years old and we lived in Edmonton!!!  The coals did not want to light - the bag said we did not need lighter fluid - I think maybe we did.  It was way to hot to be up on the deck so we headed back downstairs and cooked the chicken on the stove.  We had a lovely time with Hannah and Franky.  After they left  to go visit some other friends Terry and I settled down to watch the Emmy's that we had taped - yes we have a pvr.