The Big Update

Sep 02, 2007 23:31


It's been a month since I last updated and *tons* of things have happened since then. Ergo, this will be a big update, but I'll try to keep it concise. In a nutshell, I had one of the best summers ever this year!!! I totally did not want it to end, but alas, you know what they say about all good things.... Off to the update:

Visited Westfield over Civic Holiday weekend during their annual Ice Cream Festival. Got to try three different kinds of homemade ice cream. My favourite would have to be the lemon sherbet at the men's tavern. I asked the costumed guides what was in it, to which they replied it was a secret recipe back in the day, and still is, so they would have to shoot me if they told me. I'm not really sure if they were joking... My mom and I had foot-long hotdogs for lunch and bought pop in glass bottles from the dry goods store. Near the end of the day, there was a pie eating contest, and we stuck around to watch it. I have never actually seen one in person. It was very messy, but definitely something you need to see for yourself!

After the Civic Holiday long weekend, my sister and I, along with one of my sister's friends, took off for New York City. We stayed for a whole week. This was our first time in NYC and let me tell ya, New Yorkers truly do not appreciate all the wonderful museums and parks and sights and shopping that their city has to offer. Judging by our experience alone dealing with the New Yorkers we encountered, part of the stereotype that they have a tendency to be rude and jaded *is* true. Our hotel was close enough to the financial district that almost every single person who walked beside you was either on his/her cellphone or Blackberry or was busy text messaging. They crossed streets even though it says not to cross. We got yelled at by a lady who wanted to make a left turn while we were crossing (at the right time, by the way!), and she told us to, "hurry up because for crying out loud, she didn't have all day!"

The taxi cab drivers were somethin' else. They drive *fast*, they turn three lanes of traffic into *five* lanes, and the way they change lanes is an *experience* (with your life flashing momentarily before your eyes, hehehe!). Traffic was *insane*. We were in NYC the day a thunderstorm paralyzed the subway system and a tornado touched down in Brooklyn. Buses were literally *overflowing* with people.

We caught two Broadway shows: The Color Purple, with Fantasia as Celie, and Rent, which I was stoked for, but ended up kinda disappointed. I found the plot to be dated and not to mention problematic. But it was great fun catching Broadway shows in New York City! We also walked Times Square, went to the American Museum of Natural History (yes, the same one from Night at the Museum -- I have pictures with the T-rex!), walked around Macy's (didn't buy anything because everything was frickin' expensive), went to Battery Park, took the Circle Line and visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, visited the 9/11 site, walked through Greenwich Village, sat around in Washington Square Park (yes, the same one that Henry James wrote about!), visited NYU, ate dinner in Little Italy out on the street, walked through Chinatown (our hotel was *in* Chinatown, which is a story for another time!), saw Carnegie Hall, walked through the South Street Seaport, walked the entire length of the Brooklyn Bridge, took pictures by the Supreme Court (can anyone say Law & Order???), the Flatiron Building, and the Chrysler Building, walked past the Empire State Building, and through Wall Street and past the NYSE. Shopping? Hell, yes! I bought one pair of Italian-made shoes and one pair of Italian-made boots!!! Don't ask for how much! Hehehe... Still so much we didn't get to see or visit like Central Park. I think we'll have to plan a return visit!

We had so much fun walking through the woods in the dark down at the Hermitage in Ancaster that we decided to try the ghost walk through a known haunted building in Hamilton. It's known as The Customs House, which is currently occupied by the Workers' Art & Heritage Centre, and is located close to Hamilton Bayfront. We were lucky enough to get the same adorable-looking ghost guide with the lovely British accent as our guide for the Customs House, so no complaints from the girls at all!!! We even got to get a real good look at him this time because of fluorescent lighting, and we also managed to get right up close to the front for some good ogling!

The walk itself was much creepier than the Hermitage. You just get this heavy, burdened feeling while you are there and the sense that you're not welcome in the house. We heard some noises that sounded like tapping and something wooden scraping across the floor in a room that had no occupants. Our guide experienced the feeling of being choked and being unable to speak for a few minutes. The attic was just plain creepy, and so was the frickin' basement, where, apparently, 15 men were buried alive, and that's just to start! This walk was a very good scare, indeed.

The following weekend, we had some friends over at the house for an end-of-summer get-together. We had tons of fun and yummy food, not to mention much laughing while we tracked down stats on the computer about our cute ghost guide! Remember, m-chronicles? Heheheh! We must do that again!

This part will be short because it's not very fun! *sadness* Went back to the school during the last week of August and set-up for the new crop of Grade Ones coming in. Thank goodness for my sister and my mother who both came on separate days to help me out. I would never have finished without them!!! My room looks great because of them. Now, if I can only get this teaching part right, I would be set. That remains to be seen, however. I am severely anxious and nervous about the first day (this coming Tuesday)!!!! Gaaaaaah!!!

Because my mom and my sister managed to help me set up my classroom, the three of us got to make some time to go down to Niagara Falls last Friday! We walked by the Falls, ate lunch, walked through Clifton Hill, had tons of fun at the Midway (I absolutely loved it!), and then had some waffle cone ice cream. This past Saturday, we went down to the Ribfest in Burlington: two full racks of ribs, a blooming onion, Texas taters, and Tiny Tom's donuts. Yum! The only sucky part about the whole thing is my mom managed to catch strep throat and is currently down at the ER trying to get some antibiotics for the pain. Get well soon, mom!

And that, folks, would be how I spent my last month of summer! Hope you all had a blast too!
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