Parking Problems

Today started out very happily. The husband woke me up and told me we were going out to breakfast (one of my favorite things to do in the whole world...go out to breakfast). But first we had to stop off at the car for some extra diapers. So we all got ready and walked the two blocks to where I'd parked the day before. Doug asked me to move the car over two blocks so we wouldn't get a ticket from the street sweeper. Unfortunately, we read the sign wrong and already had a ticket, but I moved the car anyway. So as we walked down the block and I didn't see the car up ahead, I got a really sick feeling. Very similar to the feeling I got one of our first Sunday's in San Francisco when, after church, we discovered our car had been towed.

Turns out, our car had been towed. It so happens that in San Francisco, if you're car is hanging over into someones driveway by even an inch, you can be towed. And in New York, if the sign says "No Standing" that means "DON'T PARK HERE OR YOU'LL BE TOWED, YOU TOURIST IDIOT!!!"

Now, normally when something like this happens, it really stinks but can be dealt with. In this particular instance, it wasn't so easy. Since we have only had our fabulous mini-van for a few weeks, we didn't know the license plate number. And since we didn't know the license plate number, we weren't able to use the automated system that tells you if your car has been towed and where it's been taken. After a million fruitless calls to various NYC government agencies with no luck, we had one life-line left--my fabulous father-in-law. Since we bought the car from him and it is still registered in Utah, he was kind enough to drive to the DMV and stand in line for over an hour, VIN in hand, to find out the required license number. By now, we had gone back to the apartment to sulk and kick random objects.

Eventually and painfully, the van was retrieved by SuperHusband and we were ready to start another fun-filled New York day...at 4p.m. Good thing we're so darn resilient and impervious to the flushing of a few hundred bucks down the proverbial toilet!!! We went straight to Time Square and took the boys to see "Cars" which they've been dying to see. We all loved it and followed it up with a trip to a very large "Toys R Us" for a ride on their indoor Ferris Wheel. Also very cool. That's it for our adventures today. Tune in tomorrow when we see if we can get our van stolen and driven off the side of a bridge!!!

(Don't worry...I still love New York even if I am getting a slight nervous twitch.)

A few other quick items of note:
* Since coming here, Sam has developed a severe elevator phobia. Whenever we get near one, especially the one in our apartment building, he starts whining and runs the other way.
* Max has become very smell conscious and announces it very loudly if he smells anything "yucky" or "stinky".
* Mother-of-two (that's me) has discovered she has NO good walking shoes and will be stopping at the outlets on the way home to RI.
* Father-of-two has probably discovered it was much simpler and cheaper having his family in another state...though he wont admit it.