Wow, so much to blog about: John David arrived on Thanksgiving day, we signed a lease on our new apartment on Saturday, and now we are spending the weekend together: walking, eating, drinking, sleeping in, watching movies, trying to catch up for the last few months of separation. I'll just dig in.

Thursday:
I went to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. At first I went to Columbus Circle, which is the southwestern corner of Central Park. Huge mistake. I really cannot remember the last time I have been in the midst of such a crowd. I soon decided to move uptown, walking along the edge of Central Park glimpsing the balloons. Here is Ronald McDonald (please tilt head 90 degrees) looming through the trees over the crowd huddled along Central Park West Ave:

After the parade finished, I watched the crowd scatter through the streets and across the Great Lawn of the park. Then I read and waited for JD's flight to come in. I waited on some benches, watching artists draw the faces of tourists. Then I took the train and bus to the airport and waited in the airport.
Then he arrived!! yay
We took a taxi back to Brooklyn and collapsed on my air mattress for a long nap. At night we headed back to Manhattan to eat at Ellen's Stardust Cafe, the only place for singing waiters in Times Square. A little annoying and overpriced, but the novelty was a bit entertaining. We finished the night looking at the Christmas windows at Macy's and then walking around the Empire State building.

Friday:
We got up. Ate. Made the long trek across town to sign the lease on our apartment. Complicated and frustrating, but we've made another step and that feels good. Later that night we watched the movie Willow on youtube and ate Chinese food. We played this game on the internet: www.freerice.com. Go to it. Vocab and solving world hunger together at last.

Today:
Slept in very late. Hung about and finally made it outside. We took the subway to Coney Island. We walked along the boardwalk, looked at the closed rides and games, and crossed through Brighton Beach before heading home. Brighton Beach (aka "Little Odessa") is the Russian center of Brooklyn. All the signs are in Russian, you can order borsch if you can read cyrillic, and the pastries look wonderful. Sergey recommended I try the Napoleon cake, and I bought a brick of it from the cutest pastry shop I've seen in a while. John David reluctantly had a slice, describing it as bacterial sludge made from the chewed remains of something that once tasted good. Through my perspective: Layers of graham cracker crumbs are separated with a sweet cream cheese filling. It is a little mushy--true, John David--but I think it tastes good. We ate at the Mexican restaurant across the street, and now we are cruising the internet, chatting with friends, looking at Ikea goods, blogging, and posting photos.

These next few weeks will be difficult--I'm sure--but it is nice to have someone here. A pair of hands to help carry a heavy load. A reassuring hug. Soft sleep breathing at night. Company for the ride. I'm feeling a little better each time I think of the coming days.