Chapter 2....

I was blown away with all of your positive, lovely and totally overwhelming messages last week at my first chapter. I know many of you wanted the next one straight away so I have decided to publish one on Monday and another on Friday. So......Here it is...Chapter 2. (I have posted chapter 1 first so that you can recap the story so far.)

Thank you so much for being so supportive as I have a go at being a bit of a grown up.

CHAPTER 1.

The day started innocently enough with the sun streaming through the window attempting to wake the sleeping girl. Light beams reflected off of the bottles on her dressing table and formed strange patterns on the ceiling. She awoke with a yawn and a stretch and lay there for a while remembering where she was. Today was going to be an interesting one that was for sure.

Her life was unrecognisable from 2 years ago, and she thought about the past every day. She looked at the calendar....24th September; this was the day 12 months ago she should have been getting ready for the biggest, happiest day of her life. She remembered looking at her dress hanging in front of her and the hustle hustle of the others racing around downstairs.

She also thought about that life changing moment when she heard the phone ringing, her mother had answered it and she heard the cheery "hello" change to a gasp. Then footsteps, her mother’s footsteps slowly coming upstairs. The door opened and the woman who had bought her into this world stared at her...."Catherine...I'm....I'm....so sorry......it's Greg....there's been an accident".

She dragged her mind back to the present day and the reality hit her like a door slamming in her face. As she swung her legs out of bed the floor was cold and she quickly pulled them up tucking them under her chin. She had to get going and get ready a busy day an ahead.

The shower was hot and steamy and felt like a haven of peace as well as being like a double espresso shock to the brain. The water ran over her body and she winced as it touched a healing scar. As she sat at the mirror looking at her reflection she came to the conclusion that she liked herself better than she used to. She had changed beyond recognition and that pleased her as well as making her feel secure.

Her outfit had been chosen well and consisted of jeans and a polo neck. She had decided on flat boots today in case she needed to run or issue a blow to the ankles. The last part of her assemble was the most important, this accessory had to be right. The door clicked open and the array of options stood in front of her. "Hmmm" she said out loud “which one shall I use today" it needed to be small enough to fit into her bag but not so big that it drew any attention. The little black one was the obvious option but it needed something else, “there" she said as she found it “the perfect thing".

One last look in the mirror, a quick adjustment to her hair and she slipped the gun and silencer into her Hermes bag.

 

............................................................................................................................................

 

CHAPTER 2.

 

She found the car easily and climbed inside out of the cold. Her mind drifted again and she thought about all the signs that had been right in front of her. The late night phone calls the Sunday meetings and the way he watched her as if she may break if he took his attention away from her. He hadn't wanted to inherit the family business but had felt he had no choice and with his brother dying the year before tragically in a car crash he had stepped up to the post. It had finished his father too and he died of a massive heart attack six weeks later. She had felt like her heart could break for Greg but he had dealt with it all surprisingly well.

The night before the wedding was the last time she had spoken to him and she could still replay it word for word. "Hello Catherine it's me” he had said, "hello you" she had replied. “I’m so sorry but I can't make dinner tonight, something has come up and I have to get it sorted" his voice sounded soft but concerned. “It’s OK really, I understand. You will just have to wait until I walk down the aisle before you see me" she had said trying to sound seductive but failing miserably.

And that was that, the last time she had heard his voice and the last time he had used her old name.

The phone startled her back to reality and she shook her head to jolt her brain back to the here and now. "Yes" she said. "The address is 24 Lynmouth Road, I repeat 24 Lynmouth Road" a man’s voice replied. The screen went blank as he hung up; she removed the SIM card and destroyed it. This was all necessary and she did it like a robot that had been programmed to do so.

The drive there was uneventful and she paid no attention to her surroundings until she reached the destination. The road was one of the more affluent ones for around here and it struck her that she could have been living here if things had been different.

With the car carefully parked she retrieved her belongings and made one last check of her appearance. The house was a couple of streets from where she had parked and she made her way blending into the surroundings making sure she didn't draw any attention to herself. The house was big, white and ostentatious with private gates and two burly bodyguards stood like soldiers either side of the door.
This was where her training came in invaluable and she scaled the back wall like a cat landing softly without a sound. The first two shots had meet their targets and both men fell to the floor, two more appeared from behind the wall and they too were shot twice in the chest. One of them looked so surprised it almost made her laugh. Suddenly her real target was in front of her “WHAT THE......” he screamed... "Goodbye Mr Turner" was all she said and then pulled the trigger once more. He had only needed one bullet and she was satisfied the job was complete.

She disappeared into the distance leaving the car which would have been retrieved by another of her associates by now. Mia Campbell, as she was now known had finished for the night and she felt nothing ……nothing but emptiness...................

 

................................................................................................................................................

 

Come back on Friday for the next instalment xxx

My first attempt...

Not many people know this but I have been taking part in a writing course on line. I love writing my blog and enjoy all the feedback and comments I receive. However.....What I really want to do is have a go at writing a book.

Here is the first chapter from my Mini Book Project......Be warned though....It is not in my usual style of writing.

I will publish a chapter each Monday until you have read them all. I really hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it and would love to hear your comments............Please be kind and remember these are mini chapters not full ones. xxx

Chapter 1.

The day started innocently enough with the sun streaming through the window attempting to wake the sleeping girl. Light beams reflected off of the bottles on her dressing table and formed strange patterns on the ceiling. She awoke with a yawn and a stretch and lay there for a while remembering where she was. Today was going to be an interesting one that was for sure.

Her life was unrecognisable from 2 years ago, and she thought about the past every day. She looked at the calendar....24th September; this was the day 12 months ago she should have been getting ready for the biggest, happiest day of her life. She remembered looking at her dress hanging in front of her and the hustle bustle of the others racing around downstairs.

She also remembered that life changing moment when she heard the phone ringing. Her mother had answered it and she heard the cheery "hello" change to a gasp. Then footsteps, her mother’s footsteps slowly coming upstairs. The door opened and the woman who had bought her into this world stared at her in disbelief...."Catherine...I'm....I'm....so sorry......it's Greg....there's been an accident". And in that moment her world had crashed around her ears.......................................

She dragged her mind back to the present day the reality hit her like a door slamming in the face. She swung her legs out of the bed the floor was cold and she quickly pulled them up tucking them under her chin. She had to get going and get ready, a busy day lay ahead. No more time for dwelling on the past today.

The shower was hot and steamy and felt like a haven of peace as well as being like a double espresso shock to the brain. The water ran over her body and she winced as it touched a healing scar. As she sat at the mirror looking at her reflection she came to the conclusion that she liked herself better than she used to. She had changed beyond recognition and that pleased her as well as making her feel secure.

Her outfit had been chosen well and consisted of jeans and a polo neck. She had decided on flat boots today in case she needed to run or issue a blow to the ankles. The last part of her assemble was the most important, this accessory had to be right. The door clicked open and the array of options stood in front of her. "Hmmm" she said out loud “which one shall I use today ?" It needed to be small enough to fit into her bag but not so big that it drew any attention to her. The little black one was the obvious option but it needed something else, “there" she said as she found it “the perfect thing".

One last look in the mirror, a quick adjustment to her hair and she slipped the gun and silencer into her bag....

I Am Going To Brit Mums Live This Year.

I am going to Brit Mums Live this year.........................Are You????   Come and introduce yourself be linking up with this introduction linky

Name: Samantha (only used when I am in trouble with my mum) You can all call me Sam or Sammy.

Blog:The 40 Year Old Domestic Goddess

 

Twitter ID: @sthurley49

Height: 5ft 6ish depending on how high my ponytail is that particular day.

Hair: Mid length brown hair usually worn up but could be down depending on wind strength and if I am wearing lip gloss or not.

Eyes: Swamp green.

 

Is this your first blogging conference?
Yes it is and I am very excited indeed.

Are you attending both days?
Absolutely.

What are you most looking forward to at BritMums Live 2013?
I cant pin point one thing but I guess if I had too it would have to be meeting lots of new people who will hopefully become friends in the future.

What are you wearing?
Oh don't get me started.........Hmmmmm......Probably casual smart and something glittery for the evening..... No dresses for me as I have legs like a footballer.

What do you hope to gain from BritMums Live 2013?
Looking forward to getting some top tips from those who have been blogging a long time and generally having a catch up and a giggle with some lovely people.

Tell us one thing about you that not everyone knows.
Sometimes I snort when I laugh.....But.....You really would have to make me laugh to hear that, its quite an acquired skill.

Flat Tyre.

Today was one of those days when I probably should of either stayed in bed or at the very best stayed indoors. I began the morning yelling at the kids and then feeling guilty, emotional and dreadful as they left for school.....Bad Bad Mummy

Then I managed to smash not 1 but 2 glasses on the kitchen floor putting the dog into a near nervous breakdown as he ran around the house shaking violently and crying in terror.

Next on the agenda was my inability to walk down the stairs carrying a pile of washing without falling off the bottom step. CRASH!!! I went as I landed with a thud on the floor...."Woof" went the dog as he tap danced around me whilst still shaking.

Then came the headline act .....I dragged myself off to the gym to try and do some good and felt quite happy with myself as I not only managed the gym but then went for a swim as well. As I left I stupidly commented to the Manager "Phew...I feel more human now, hopefully my day will get better now"..........WRONG.....WRONG.....WRONG!!!

As I reached the car I noticed a little yellow snail on my passenger door and thought how I should put it somewhere safe so that it didn't get thrown off as I whizzed down the bypass .Suddenly a voice said "Oh...Glad you've seen it, I was just about to come over".........A man had approached me and I realised he wasn't talking about the snail....I did in fact have a very, very, very flat tyre........................

I then had a complete feeble woman moment and had no clue what to do.......I sat for what seemed like ages trying to figure out who I should ring...........The Husband was less than sympathetic as he quizzed me on how I had done it and why hadn't I noticed it. I left him to ring the AA and sat in my car feeling like I might have a little tantrum any minute.

Just as tears started to spring to my eyes a face appeared at the window "Hello...You alright" The manager of the gym said. "Ermmm....Not really.....I've got a flat tyre and have no idea what to do" I replied feeling like a total prat. "Don't worry" he said "I will get some of the maintenance men to come and put your spare on" it was at this moment I wasn't sure whether it was appropriate to kiss a gym instructor or just say thank you....I decided on the latter and watched as he radioed in an emergency call to my rescuers...................................................... I watched as a blur appeared in the distance.....Could it be van filled with hunky men in small shorts with tool belts.......Was it a car with guys like the one from the Diet Coke advert all glistening with sweat from working so hard................No..............It was not......................It was a golf buggy with 3 blokes young enough to be my son with dreadlocks and baggy trousers on....................My fantasy was short lived but I was so incredibly grateful that really I wouldn't of cared if The Chuckle Brothers had arrived.

They very kindly changed my wheel and even put all my reusable bags back in the boot for me. I waved them goodbye as they sped of at 2mph and thanked them again feeling very lucky that I had been parked and not driving when it had happened.

The Husband was less than impressed at having to cancel the now on route AA man and continued to lecture me on the art of avoiding punctures in the future   Blah Blah Blah........

I in turn wound him up by telling him that I had left the punctured wheel propped up against a hedge and hadn't realised that I needed to bring it home with me.....................Haven't managed to tell him I was only joking...............................Whoops!!!!!

I'm off to take a course in car maintenance

Lots of Love

Me

xxxx

Happy Tears.

Have you ever been in a really sad situation and suddenly something so funny happens it changes your whole outlook on the day. Well, last Friday was one of those days.................Very sadly The Husbands father passed away a couple of weeks ago and last Friday was the funeral. The first part was in a very large church followed by a cremation at a much smaller chapel about 20 minutes away. The service was sad and happy all at the same time as lots of friends and family members that we hadn't seen in ages turned out to pay their respects.

After the first service we shook hands, hugged and chatted to all the lovely people that has gathered there. Then it was time to head off to the chapel for the cremation.............This is where it all went slightly wrong.......I should tell you all at this stage that we had moved away from the area 13 years ago to East Sussex so our sense of direction was a little hazy.

As The Husband and I held hands and walked back to our car we talked about how the sun had come out in time and the rain had stopped. He was visibly shaken by the whole experience and I held his hand tightly not quite knowing what to say. Once in the car the reality of getting from one church to the next in 20 minutes took over and here is what followed.......

The Hubby (TH)..."Which way do we go?"
Me.."Ermmmmm......Oh my god...My mind has gone blank....Ermmmm...try that way"
TH..."Are you sure?"
Me..."No"

We then engaged it what I can only describe as a scene from The Streets Of San Francisco, weaving in and out of traffic, flying over speed bumps and generally driving very erratically. After 11 minutes we were still no nearer to where we needed to be and it was looking very much like we were going to miss the whole thing.

TH..."I am NOT going to miss this...We ARE going to get there" he said
Me.."OK...OK....Just slow down a tiny bit" I replied trying desperately to hang on to the contents of my stomach. I declined to tell him at this point that I needed a wee as we flew over the sleeping policemen.

Suddenly a familiar road and then "There...there...go down that road...its just there" I screamed. He followed my instructions and we turned into the Cemetery with 1 minute to spare......"Crikey" he said "We've beat everyone else...even the hearse".

It was at this point that it all came flooding back to me........This didn't look anything like the place we had cremated my Grandparents "Noooooooooooooo.....Nooooooooo....This is wrong....This is the cemetery not the crematorium"I nervously said. It wasn't that we were the first to get there or that we had missed it, it was in fact that we were at the wrong place. "Its the next road down" I cried. As we wheel spinned out of the cemetery, it felt like an episode from Only Fools And Horses which was his dads favourite show.

I cannot repeat what The Hubby said to me at this point other than it wasn't very polite.

However, we did make it with 30 seconds to spare and the tears that were shed afterwards were ones of laughter as we sat back in the car in hysterics. "My dad would of loved that" he said "I can just imagine him laughing his head off at the pair of us".

At the time when I thought I was going to either throw up or wet myself it seemed to be a complete disaster but now when I look back it was probably the best thing ever to happen. The Hubby got through the rest of the day smiling and chatting about the old times spent with his dad and I looked on with love and pride at my gorgeous brave man.

As we raised a glass later we started to laugh again at how a very sad day turned out to have such a funny ending. I guess its what often happens in those situations, my Mum says its a mixture of being overwhelmed and relieved all at the same time.

One things for sure though.........I don't think The Husband will be asking me for directions any time soon.

Lots of Love
Me
xxx

This blog is dedicated to My Father In Law and My Husband for being the best Dad and Hubby ever.

New York Diary....The Final Day.

Day 6.....Our Final Day.

As we opened our eyes it struck us all that this was our last day and in 11 hours we would be in the air on our way back to England. The kids were excited about having another week off, The Husband was excited about giving his wallet a rest and I was .........Well, I was........Dreading the flight home. However we still had all day and I was going to try and put it to the back of my mind for as long as I could. The hotel had been super nice and said that as they weren't busy we could leave the room at 2pm instead of 10am.

We decided to go for one last big breakfast at what had become our favourite diner "Astros". A family run Italian/American place just down the road which served the best pancakes I had ever tasted.

The Teenager wanted to take some more photography and the boys were desperate to make their breakfasts go down before the taxi ride to the airport.


We took one last walk down 5th Avenue and marvelled at the rich doing their shopping with actual people/personal assistants carrying bags and boxes to cars for them. "One day" the Hubby said "When we win the lottery, we will come back here and have a good shopping spree" he teased.





All too soon it was time to go to the airport and we began our taxi ride to JFK. I have to say it was a better ride than the first one but that was mainly down to me telling the driver that the kids would throw up if he drove to fast. Once at the airport I was relieved the plane was on time and before I knew it I was sitting on the jumbo jet waiting to take off.

The plane journey was going well....Too well.....And at approximately 2 hours from our final destination my worst nightmare happened.....The captain put the seat belt sign on.....Oh my god....Oh my God....Calm down....Get a grip.

The Husband woke up as the air hostesses ran about waking people up and checking they had their belts on. I grabbed his arm and shut my eyes awaiting what was about to come, luckily the kids stayed asleep as the plane bumped around through the turbulence. After about an hour I noticed the hostesses getting up and carrying on as if nothing had happened "Is that it?" I asked the Hubby "Looks like it" he replied. "Well done you for not freaking out" he reassured.

I had done it.......I had taken a deep breath and conquered one of my biggest fears. To say I was slightly proud of myself was an understatement and I felt like I had climbed a huge mountain. We cruised into Heathrow without any other incidents and touched down beautifully with a slight bump as the wheels met the tarmac.






And that my friends is that....Our New York adventure was over and we were home safe and sound. I will never forget the looks of amazement on the kids faces as we took in the first sights of America and the smell of Manhattan. We have laughed until our sides hurt and felt incredible sadness at Ground Zero as we read all the names of the poor souls that died. I asked everyone to name one lasting memory of their holiday and this was what they said.......

The Husband......Looking down 6th Avenue for the first time and thinking how it looked like a slice had been taken out of Manhattan.

The Teenager.......Meeting Lady Ga Ga albeit a wax one.

The Whirlwind.....Finding a burger bigger than his head and seeing a Red Panda.

Mine......Mine was easy....It wasn't a place or a memory, it was a simple one really.....Mine was just being on a great adventure with my 3 favourite people in the whole world.

Thank you for following our journey and I hope you have enjoyed it.

Lots of Love
Me
xxxxxx

New York Diary..Day 5.

Day 5.


After Larry and Clare had checked out we hoped and prayed nobody else would check in.....WRONG!!!! We now had a family of 4 from the deep south who sounded like the family from The Nutty Professor. In fact I was convinced Eddie Murphy was in there doing all 4 voices. They were even louder than Larry and Clare and proceeded to whoop and howl at the basketball they were watching. Instead of getting stressed about it which I would of usually done I figured that there was no way there would be any "Special time" as the kids were in there and just laughed hysterically at the whole situation. They sounded like a family I would of loved to of met and hung out with and anyone who knows me will tell you that within 20 minutes I had their voices off to a tee and proceeded to mimic them for the rest of the day. The best bit was when we met them as we left and they were every bit as brilliant as I had imagined. What a shame they hadn't been in there for our whole holiday I reckon we would of opened the adjoining door and had a great laugh. Turned out they were in New York as they belonged to a gospel choir and even joked that they must of sounded like The Klumps to us.

Anyway, today was my day and I had chosen a place I had always wanted to go to but had not had time when I had come before.This place had been on my bucket list and I was determined to make it this time......We were off to.......Central Park and more importantly The Zoo.




We headed off to the park (managing to dodge Johnny Cash who was still yelling at us to have a free ride) and immediately felt a sense of space and trees once we were inside. What a totally beautiful place it was, I couldn't take the smile off of my face the whole way round. We found the fountain from the opening sequence from Friends and watched as a man proposed to his girlfriend on one knee. Everyone cheered and clapped and I honestly had a tear in my eye as we watched on.

After a good couple of hours we decided to find the zoo........This proved a bit tricky as we couldn't find the entrance. Little did we know it was back where we had come in and a long walk followed.The Whirlwind began to get Denim chaffing and The Teenager moaned that she couldn't feel her feet.

As we walked a man approached us trying to sell us his CD, it was at this point reality left the building and we found ourselves in the tricky situation of being confronted by a rather large man holding a stack of Cd's. We tried to say no thank you but we were alone in a street with 2 kids and he was very persistent. I must admit my imagination ran away with me and I had visions of being mugged, shot and ending up on Fox News at 10.


However what actually happened was very different, he was a real a character and thought he was the next Puff Daddy, he referred to me as Muma Luv and The Husband became Big Daddy which the kids found hysterical. We somehow ended up giving him $10 and making a hasty retreat as he shouted after us what a great family we were.

Once in the zoo we wandered around still laughing at what had just happened. I was slightly disappointed that there was no lion, zebra, hippo or giraffe like in Madagascar but the animals that were there were super cute. The Whirlwind made friends with a Red Panda and remarked how it liked him because they were both ginger which made the whole crowd laugh. It was quite strange how it only looked at him and followed him around as he walked round the enclosure but this anomaly was solved as we realised The Whirlwind had a bag of pretzels hanging out of his backpack.

Big Daddy and the kids went into the 4D theatre and I waited outside as they give me a right headache. I sat in the sunshine watching the world go past and wondered what it would be like to live here. My mind wandered and smiled to myself as I thought of all the funny people we had met here, then..........."Hey....Its Muma Luv" a familiar voice dragged me out from my dream state.......It was him again....The man with the Cd's. He was walking past the zoo and had seen me sitting there "Oh..Um...Hi" I replied. He then stood the other side of the small fence chatting away to me for what seemed like an eternity before suddenly grabbing his bag and running off with a cheery "See Ya Muma, have a good day". I saw the reason for his quick departure......2 Police officers........I pretended to be on the phone just in case he was one of Americas Most Wanted and they thought I was associating with him..............Alcatraz here I come.

After all the excitement of the day we walked to FAO Schwarz and had our picture taken with Iron man....Not the real Robert Downy Junior one.........But never the less Iron Man. The kids got a teddy each which were adorable and we even managed to get a few sweets we had never heard of over here.

We walked home and laughed as the kids played hide and seek in the trees..."Love you Muma Luv" The Husband said, "Love you too Big Daddy" I replied with a wink.

Come back tomorrow for the last instalment.

Thanks for reading
Lots of Love
Me
xxxxx


P.S Here is the adorable Red Panda who loved The Whirlwind pretzels or not.

New York Diary...Day 4.

Day 4.

Our American friends checked out this morning and had one final "Love session" before going. I instructed the kids to be as loud as they wanted and even turned up Lady Ga Ga on the Ipad, before accidentally on purpose throwing a suitcase at the adjoining door. As we left, so did they and I gave them the type of look only a mother would give. They in turn looked mortified and practically ran down the hall to the lifts. Bless them (I'm only jelous).




We were off to Tussaud's today as The Teenager feeling very disgruntled that she hadn't bumped into the real Lady Ga Ga wanted her picture taken with a wax one. The Whirlwind complained that he hated the creepy wax figures and we had done it in London last year so why did we have to go again.(We still laugh at the fact the only figures he wanted his picture taken with were Stephen Hawkins and Gandhi). I explained that if he did Tussaud's we would go next door to the Ripley's Believe It Or Not exhibition straight after, this seemed to work and we headed off.




Once at Times Square we found it easily.....Then we saw the queue.....It must of been 100 people deep and a slight groan echoed from every ones mouths. "Never mind" I said cheerfully "It will go down quickly, come on". We went to the back and stood waiting patiently, I tried my best to engage the kids but any mum or dad reading this will sympathise with me. Once they get over the age of 11 Eye Spy just doesn't really cut it and I received "the look" from The Teenager when I suggested it. After 1/2 hour of not moving forward The Hubby decided he would go and ask how much longer it was going to be. On his return I noticed a strange smile on his face....."Errrmmm.......This is the queue for the bus tour....Not Tussaud's" he whispered to me........."What" I yelled back, "Yep...There is no queue at all for Tussauds, we can just walk straight in"................ARGHHHHHHH!!!!!

I decided not to tell the kids the truth and try and earn some street cred back after the eye spy fiasco, informing them that we could go straight to the front of the queue as we were from England and they had been so well behaved standing for so long. I'm not sure if the eldest believed me but I was certainly not going to correct myself.
Both exhibitions were brilliant and we all really enjoyed it......Some more than others!!!!!


On our way home The Teenager decided she would quite like a Yankees hoodie and The Whirlwind wanted a cap so we headed on in to The Yankees store. I remained outside as The Northern Mother had phoned to check up on us. After what seemed like an eternity I popped my head round the door and discovered the kids lining up to pay and The Husband standing watching the baseball on a huge TV in a slight sport coma induced state........Bloody Typical.

We had dinner at Applebees (which The Husband assured us was mentioned in a film he had seen). Great restaurant and very kid friendly, food was immense and I even had 1 of my 5 a day by having green beans....Trouble was they were deep fried.....Think I'm just going to go with it from now on.






We then had a slow walk around Times Square which was amazing at night time all be it very busy and very slightly intimidating with all the people dressed up as characters who then expected money after having your picture taken with them. Luckily we had our very own 007 escorting us.......Think he had also enjoyed Tussards a bit too much as well..........






Think we will sleep well tonight.
Come back tomorrow for Day 5.

Thanks for reading
Lots of Love
Me
xxxxx

P.S....The Whirlwind finally got his chance in a yellow cab......And The Husband couldn't say no this time. x











This post has been published a day after the Boston Marathon bombings. My thoughts are with all those that were injured and lost there lives as well as the families of those that have been affected by this terrible tragedy. God Bless. xx

New York Diary...Day 3.

Day 3.

Today was Monday and we all awoke after a slightly disturbed night due to Larry and Clare having extremely loud "Special Time". I was glad I had kept all the earplugs from the plane and made everyone shove a pair in to save any embarrassment. I had decided that if it happened again tonight I was going to knock and have a discreet word with our American neighbours.



Today was slightly different as we were splitting into boys and girls teams, myself and the Teenager were off shopping for prom stuff and the boys were off to The Natural History Museum and The Intrepid aircraft carrier exhibition. We walked together for a while and got accosted by a man trying to sell us a horse and carriage ride round the park, The Husband did his best at ignoring him but he was very persistent and practically followed us all the way down the road eventually telling us we could have the ride for free. As we said our final "NO THANKS" he told us to come back once we had ditched the boys and to remember his name.....Johnny Cash............"Yeah" said The Teenager, "and my dads Elvis".

Once we had said our goodbyes the boys headed off (still walking at this point, no cab was being hailed). Myself and The Teenager got our map out and made our was to 5th Avenue at which point she remarked how we would definitely find some prom shoes here.........I explained gently that unless Donald Trump was going to pop down from his tower and declare us his 1 millionth visitor giving us $100,000 there was no way she was getting anything from this Avenue. We decided to hail a cab and make our way over to Macy's then Bloomingdale's then the shopping mall. Shoes, clutch bag, clothes, more shoes and sunglasses were purchased (all by her) and I ended up buying myself........A keyring.


By 3pm we realised we had only eaten cupcakes all day (not a bad thing) and found a salad bar to have a late lunch. I must admit I loved it being just the 2 of us shopping in New York and was super impressed we didn't get lost once.






Once back at the hotel the boys arrived back with The Whirlwind declaring that "Dad has made me walk all the way back AGAIN" and promptly dropping his trousers revealing a terrible case of Denim chaffing. Poor kid was not only exhausted but in agony too.
Feeling bad The Husband announced that if we wanted room service and a movie tonight then that was fine. We all jumped at the chance and settled back to watch The Hobbit whilst stuffing our faces with Macaroni cheese, hamburgers and chicken wings........................I am not confident we will fit on the plane home at this stage.

Another great day in this wonderful city had been had by all and we were all exhausted but extremely happy.

Come back tomorrow for Day 4.

Thanks for reading
Lots of love
Me
xxxx

New York Diary...Day 2.

Day 2.

Today was The Husbands day and he had a jam packed itinerary for us. First was Ground Zero which was thoroughly moving and we all felt very sad whilst looking at all of the hundreds of names engraved around the edge of the memorial waterfalls.








We then walked to see the Statue of Liberty which proved to be a jolly exciting moment for The Whirlwind as he had always wanted to see her ever since Ghost Busters the movie.
At one point I had to practically rip The Teenager away from some very dubious looking man who was selling sunglasses from a sheet.....any excuse to shop.



Then we were off to Wall Street where I suddenly realised that my toe was really hurting, not only was it hurting it was bleeding too. I leapt into full mummy mode and found a pharmacy purchasing some plasters and a pair of toenail clippers as I feared it might of been my little toe nail digging in. (I must explain at this point that I am not some grungy women who allows her toenail to grow to extraordinary lengths.) I have a very unfortunate little toe that looks like a little alien stuck on the end of my foot, it has a horrible little nail that sometimes digs in to my next toe.
Once my suspicions had been confirmed I found a suitable place to snip and cover my wound. Unfortunately I chose the steps of the Husbands company to do this medical procedure and only realised this as we stood up to leave, he then worried that they might of had face recognition and would get sacked for defiling the company steps by showing my alien toe......I put this moment of insanity down to the fact he was still in some type of shock about the taxi ride.

We stopped at a Diner for lunch and ate our entire body weights in pancakes, bacon and maple syrup. The Whirlwind commented in a very loud voice that "Its a good job we don't live here or else we would be as fat as houses" it was at this point a sudden hush swept over the Diner as all eyes glared at us......"Check please".





Grand Central was next (I wonder if you are exhausted reading this as we were walking it) and I had to remind the kids there wouldn't be any wild animals running round just in case they were expecting a scene from Madagascar the movie. The Whirlwind was hoping to see the famous clock stuck on a giraffes head and a hippo dancing around.




The New York Library was next and they both stood at the top of the steps actually hugging each other...This city is having a remarkable effect on them. Actually looking at this picture I now see that he is hugging her....At least she is smiling.
As we arrived back at the hotel after walking the whole way home (Hubby was doing anything not to get in a cab again) we hobbled in like we had just run the marathon with no training. The kids were moaning, I was moaning and The Husband was elated at the completion of his agenda.










Finished the evening off with a foot soak before going out to a gorgeous place for dinner. Whirlwind was thrilled when his burger was bigger than his head and The Teenager was overjoyed at no only having free Wifi but the waiter asking her if she was a model.........The Husband at this point muttered something about cheesy lines and proceeded to shoot him filthy looks all evening.

Day 2 had been exhausting but brilliant and I could not wait to get on with the next day.

Come back tomorrow for Day 3.

Thanks for reading
Lots of Love
Me
xxxx