Sunday in New York & at Home

Chris always says the last vacation day is wasted. You're always looking at the clock, afraid to get too involved in something or to get too far away from your departure point in case something goes wrong and you miss your plane/train/whatever. Such was Sunday in New York. Luckily for us, there was a flea market and craft market in the three blocks around Doreen's apartment, so while we didn't do some of the things we would have loved to do, we didn't sit around waiting to get to the airport!

The morning started oddly, as there was a new person staying with Doreen - an Italian woman called Ann who apparently stays with her regularly. Doreeen later said she knows Ann isn't shy, but even she was surprised by the turns the breakfast conversation took. Ann was saying some things about America which Chris & I don't think are entirely true, stereotypes that we disagree with. It was unfortunate, as in general we're not exactly cheerleaders for the way our country does things - so it was strange to feel defensive. In fairness, she was making generalizations about the U.S. vs. "everyone else" that, in our experience abroad, just weren't true. In the end, however, we realized that it wasn't going to make any difference to try to convince her otherwise. We were glad when breakfast was over...

The trip home was uneventful, though we got in later than we'd hoped. (There was one odd encounter with an American Airlines rep in New York who thought Oregon was in Canada.) A couple things I saw in our Dallas layover reminded me of some things I'd noticed over the weekend - moments of what I've called "hidden whimsy." For instance, a woman whose glasses look boring and black from the front are multi-colored stripes on the stides, or a conservative-looking man's rolling suitcase's wheels lit up as they rolled. These things just delight me to no end. And I really want to know where he got that suitcase...

So, we're back home now, trying to get back to normal. The cats were thrilled to see us last night. We have unpacking and laundry to do now, and then Chris leaves for a four-day trip to China tomorrow afternoon. (He's promised to blog a bit while there.) That leaves me four days to watch all the girl movies Chris doesn't want to see... Any recommendations?