Pictures of my NYC trip

ok, so here are a few pictures of my New York City trip. I finally figured out the picture part of this. Aren't you proud of me? :) During the day, we took a ferry ride to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, and walked around Manhattan, and through Little Italy and Chinatown. We had an evening out down on Broadway, with a fancy dinner at Serafina's, and second row seats for the Broadway show, Chicago. One of the actresses tossed me the rose I'm holding in one of the pics.

Spring has sprung!!!

Wow, what a wonderful week, at least weather-wise! It's been gorgeous! Up to the 80's for several days now, and 90's today! Shorts and tank tops are out, and everyone is enjoying getting out in the sun. I've had to work every day, but I've started pulling my camping chair out and sitting outside reading between customers. A little bit of sun is a good thing. Just wish I tanned more than burned. Ugh. Oh well, it's well worth it.
My insur. company decided not to pay for some of my medical bills. Unfortunately, they've decided to stop covering the massages. Bummer! :) But the worst thing is they aren't covering chiropractor either, and those were both things helping me tolerate the pain, and therefore avoid going to the ER more often. I've looked into getting a lawyer, but it's overwhelming, and from the looks of it, not going to help me much. Hmmm. Gotta keep working on that end of things, I guess.
I am sooo excited to have some friends coming to visit this year. So I'm looking forward to June, July, and October. I'm also trying to get to Alaska, maybe in August, so there is potential for a busy summer and fall.
Work has slowed down even more, and it is rather boring now. I'm hoping that with the good weather, people will start to get out more. I took the afternoon off today, and have to get my car in to the garage now. The front brakes and rotors need changed. Ouch. I think I'll have him change the oil while he's at it, since it's been almost 11,000 miles since the last one. Oops.

Ben, Sarah, and Caleb's visit, and the week in general

After a week of doing all sorts of things, Ben, Sarah, and Caleb left on the 16th to head home to Spokane, WA. Caleb is adorable! I was able to hold him on a couple occasions, and he is the sweetest little guy! He has huge eyes, and doesn't miss much.

We were able to enjoy a Seder meal at the church with many others, which was really neat. A lot of people participated, and it was meaningful for all.
We took a day to tour Howe Caverns with the Phippens and many of our family. So much fun, and I was able to get some really good pictures. Caleb was content the whole time, and our crew thoroughly enjoyed it all. We drove our tour guide insane with questions he couldn't answer and comments to his monologue that he couldn't counter. Poor guy, but it was pretty funny. The stalactites and stalagmites kept even the youngest enthralled the whole time.
Afterwards, we went on to see the college mom went to years ago. The trip back became an adventure when mom got us lost and the hour trip took almost 3 hours. We teased her to no end, but unfortunately, after sitting so long in one position, my pain level increased rapidly, and by the time we made it home I could barely walk.
After 2 hours of every muscle seizing up and spasming almost continuously, we decided my medications weren't going to work, so mom took me to the Bennington ER. They got me into a room quickly, but it took awhile till the doctor came in. He did x-rays and drew blood for tests. While the gal had the needle in my arm, another episode of spasms hit hard. The nurse was on top of things and jumped right in, jabbing my other arm to get the dilaudid in quickly. Thankfully, that worked to start bringing it down, and after another dose shortly after, the pain was back to tolerable. And of course, I was feeling loopy. When the tests came back and he was convinced that I'd be ok, the nurse discharged me, and we headed home. It was the shortest trip so far, only there for 5 hrs. Talk about an exhausting evening!
Easter morning was beautiful, though a little chilly. My aunt, uncle and cousin came over for Easter dinner, and we shared the afternoon. One of the few days the Coffee Connection is closed each year, so I was able to enjoy the whole day without thinking about work!