Perspectives: Part VIII

On Monday, I worked with a group of students on the rug in the back of the classroom.  We’ve developed a pretty good relationship over the past two years, and have gotten to know each other pretty well.  They always seem to enjoy stories about my small town, rural upbringing.

One of the boys pointed to me, completely unrelated to the assignment, and said, “She has an iPhone.”

“Really?” asked the other boy.

Although we were venturing off task, I decided to take the opportunity to teach an important life lesson.

“Yes, I worked really hard to save my money and buy it.  Now, my dad has one too.  We like to text each other to stay in touch.” I said, proud of my ability to slip in the importance of saving and using money wisely.

 “Wait,” the first boy said pretty surprised.  “Your dad has one, too?”

“Yes,” I replied, wanting to redirect his thinking back to financial awareness, but still confused by his shocked expression.  “Why is that so hard to believe?”

“I didn’t know country people had phones and could text!” he said.

Oh, city people have so much to learn about us.

Scenes From Home

My mom drove me around town to take pictures when I was home for spring break.  Our excursion was also an excuse for us to "girl talk" with NO men getting in the way or eavesdropping.  Here's a couple of photos from our photo shoot of the Kentucky countryside.

School Subjects

Yesterday, I walked down the hallway with two kindergarteners.  We clapped the syllables of words as we walked.  “El-e-phant… 3 syllables!”  “Hallway… 2 syllables!”

One boy kept dragging his hand along the wall. 

“Ms. Natalie will not be happy if you knock someone’s artwork off the wall,” I said.

The other little guy perked up and said, “Natalie?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Like Natalie from the Bad Girls Club?” he asked.

“You mean the wild TV show on Oxygen?” I asked, incredulously.

“Yeah,” he said.  "The Bad Girls Club."

It can takes weeks to learn new sounds or language concepts, but just one hour to learn something from cable television.  Amazing.

Milestone

Thank you to everyone who reads the blog!  This is my 300th post!  Hard to believe, I know.

I have come a long way since my first post on September 30, 2007.  I am NOW a real New Yorker with a New York state license, employed, married for almost three years, and, most importantly, still alive.  Thank goodness for the last one.

Life has turned out pretty, pretty good.

Thank you for checking out Itty Bitty and (hopefully) enjoying it.

Safety

People ask, “Is living in New York City scary?”

No.

Truthfully, it’s not.  Sometimes, I feel safer living in a city of 11.7 million people than living in a slightly less populated place.  Crazy, I know.

New York City feels safe for many reasons.  One, I live in an area of Manhattan that has lots of young people and families.  Those people tend to be pretty harmless. 

Two, the police are highly visible in the city.  They patrol the subways, the streets, touristy destinations – they’re everywhere.  I like that.  Supposedly, it was not like this before Giuliani, but now, thankfully, it is.

And, third, there are always so many people everywhere I go.  I probably pass thirty people just walking one block to the grocery store.  People in my apartment building, people on the sidewalk, people on the corner, people at the bus stop.  I pass several hundred in the morning on my way to work.

I can’t ever recall walking down the street and not passing or seeing someone.  It’s a comfort to know that.  Someone is always somewhere.

Just because I feel safe doesn’t mean that I ‘m stupid.  I take the same precautions here that I take at home.  I don’t walk alone late at night.  I avoid poorly lit areas.  I don’t take to strangers.  I don’t go to unfamiliar places.  I let people know where I am. 

I mean, duh, that’s just called common sense.

So, ultimately, when out-of-towners ask “Do you feel safe in New York?”  I can honestly answer… yes.

Sisters

Ben and I were very lucky several weekends ago... we got these two as guests for the weekend!  One of my best friends (and a former roommate) and her sister came to experience NYC firsthand.  Hopefully, they enjoyed the city and will be back soon for Round 2.

Dirty Little Secret

I know, I know. What I’m about to say is so unbelievably non-environmentally friendly that I can’t believe I’m going to publicly admit it. But, I am tired of hiding our dirty little secret. We need to come clean.

We use paper plates, paper bowls, AND paper cups.

We are horrible! As the former president of the “Save The Planet” club and a co-adopter of Nick the manatee in elementary school, I am ashamed. Just ashamed.

We do (sometimes) use real dishes, but it’s hard. We don’t have a dishwasher, a luxury in New York, and we only have a three foot area to cook, let dishes dry, and set stuff. Two dirty plates or a couple of glasses make the sink full and impossible to wash hands or even fit in more dishes.

We used real dishes for a long time, but the back-and-forth of whose turn it was to do them really started to tax our marriage. The bartering of who had to do them usually went of for so long that the dishes eventually overflowed the sink and made it an even less desirable chore.

We try to make up for increased paper usage in other ways - our paper products are biodegradable, we don't use paper towels, we recycle everything, we try to buy locally grown produce, our cleaning and body products are organic, we don't drive cars. Hopefully, those things make our carbon footprint just a little bit smaller.

For now, though, we deal with the shame and embarrassment and use paper. Not the most environmentally friendly choice, but definitely the most marriage friendly choice. And, right now, that’s most important.

Licks and Giggles

My girlfriend, Melissa, and her online dog boutique were featured in Cincy Chic on April 5, 2010. Check out the great article about Licks and Giggles using the link below and, just for fun, see who got the photo credit at the very end of the article. (Pretty exciting!)

http://cincychic.com/content/view/2546/1/

Different Angle

How Spiderman sees the Brooklyn Bridge.