Bad Customer Service...

Michelle, myself and Wren stopped in yesterday morning to Barking Dog on York.  We were the only customers inside.  There may have been someone outside... We ordered, were eating and Wren was getting restless and wanting to leave.  Michelle and I each were drinking coffee - neither one of us had even finished our first cup.  When the waitress brought us our check, I asked if I could get a cup of coffee to-go.  I could have asked for a refill and chugged it, but thought a cup to go would be more enjoyable.  She took my mug, poured my remaining coffee into a to-go cup and topped it off with fresh coffee.  Then the manager said something to her.  She brought the cup over to me and then informed me that she would have to charge me for a to-go coffee and asked if I still wanted it???  Seriously?  No.  So... I then watch her walk back behind the bar, dump out the coffee and throw away the cup!  Good freaking grief.  So - now, instead of spending 10 cents and giving me a coffee refill in a paper cup - you've got one really peeved former customer!

Broadway - been there, done that.

Well, yes... that much is true.  But it's about to be more true.  Truer?  Hmmm....

Since my dear friend, Michelle Flynn, is on her way out to NYC again... and I was falling behind on my "at least one show a month" self imposed rule -- we decided it was high time we get back to midtown.

So... we're headed to see Orphans and Macbeth.  I'm also trying to convince her to go see Sleep No More as well.  If you recall - Greg sent me to see that last year and it was AWESOME.

AND - wait.  There's more.

Only a week later... Greg and I are headed out to the NYC Ballet again.  Woot woot.  May will be a stellar month for the arts!

In between all this glitz and glamour -- we've also got Wren's ear tube surgery, Wren's birthday and travel.  Oy vey.  It'll definitely keep me busy!

Central Park Zoo

Wren and I joined Melanie and Imogen this morning for a jaunt over to the Central Park Zoo.  I still think the girls (and Atticus) love riding the bus just as much as any activity we go to within the city!!

But -- the girls were on relatively good behavior today and having a ball running around looking at the polar bear, watching the seals, checking out the birds, ducks, and the Children's Tisch Zoo part too where you can feed the sheep, cow, goat, alpaca, etc.

I haven't uploaded the photos yet - but you can see the ones on Facebook where Melanie tagged me.

Checking things off the NYC bucket list!!  :)

Scootering About

Well, it's finally official.  Both kids now own scooters and helmets and I've allowed them to scooter down the busy NYC streets.  Oy.  Trust me, OY.

Atticus had his first shot at outdoor motoring this past Saturday while Wren was sleeping.  Wren got her chance this morning while Atticus was in school and we had a brief showing of sunshine.  I didn't get any pictures of Wren... next time!!

I think they're catching on fairly well.  Wren is still having some issues with steering - but hey, she's not even three years old yet.  I'll cut her some slack.  Yes, some of these born and raised NYC kids have been scootering for years (ha)... but maybe their parents are Jewish mothers??

The good news is that we've got time to practice before our next adventure.  And... from what I hear, the kids should find scooters quite handy in London too!  I'm not yet sure which is easier to manage on the subway/bus/tube -- scooters or strollers, but we'll keep the discussion going.  The biggest drawback to the scooters is the lack of storage space.  I must admit, it gets a tad handy having a basket under the stroller where you can stash stuff!

Built To Amaze Indeed

Yes.  I feel terrible about all the animals traveling by train all across the states and being asked to perform for crowds of people.  That said, it still was a great show and I honestly don't know how it's possible that I didn't run away to join the circus in my youth.  I still think that had I known about Cirque when I was still a young and limber woman - I would have dropped everything and moved to Canada to train.  Without a doubt.

But I digress.

The kids absolutely loved every minute of the show.  The elephants, the horses, the tigers, the magician, the goofy clowns, the dogs, the trampolines -- it truly is the greatest show on earth.  Wren says that her favorite part was the elephants.  Atticus is torn between the elephants and the clown who lit the other clown's tush on fire.  :)  Go figure, boys....

Me... I loved the horses and the trampoline act.  And the arial acrobatics with the cool ribbon things.  And, well - the tigers are still pretty damn cool too.

It was a late night, and I suppose technically our first trip to Brooklyn -- but all in all a great night.

My Life - The Circus

We're headed to the real circus in a couple of hours.  Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey.  Specifically, we're going to see the Built To Amaze tour.  The kids are so beyond excited.  It's going to be a long and late night - so our fingers are crossed that we don't have too many melt downs!  We're pushing the limits by attending a night show -- but the Groupon prices were too good to pass up.  Normally I would have opted for a morning show!!

I told the kids yesterday that after "one more sleep" we'd go to the circus, so let's just say that from the moment they woke up today they've been asking if it's time to go to the circus!

It should be a fun night....

P.S. 158

Yes - I'm talking you.  The foul tempered and overly mean and rude woman who works in the office on the second floor.  Yes, it is your responsibility to post "acceptable" times to drop off kindergarten applications.  There is a flyer downstairs with the police woman that clearly states we can come by today, February 20, 2013 between the hours of 9 am and 12 noon.  Do not tell me otherwise.  I have a picture of the flyer and it still resides downstairs in the "official" binder.

First off, nowhere on THIS page does it say that you can set your own hours on when you choose to accept applications!

Second, I understand that you're dealing with a mountain of paperwork.  I am in no way oblivious to the fact.  However, that is YOUR JOB!!!  You take the applications, you enter them into whatever system you have.  Let me repeat - my application in no way changes the fact that your job requires you to enter all the paperwork into the system.  Whether you take my application yesterday, today or tomorrow - it still must be entered.  Forcing parents to come when it's convenient for you is a total farce.

When I follow the HOW TO APPLY directions from the DOE, you should be capable of accepting a stack of papers and incorporating it into your existing stack.  It's not rocket science.  It's your JOB.  I chose a different career.  You chose to work within the infrastructure of the public school system.  Yes, without a doubt, registration is a pain in your yearly job details - but so be it.

Oh look.  Fantastic.  It looks like you did actually update your actual school's page to remove today's date from your list of acceptable times to drop off an application.  For those of us that are new to NYC -  we visit the DOE website,  not each individual school's website.  No where on the DOE site does it indicate that you should visit each school's website on the off chance that they've decided only to accept applications during 42 hours over the course of 6 weeks.

Seriously, 42 hours.

I'm livid.  There is absolutely no reason for you to be rude or mean tempered.  It's not exactly a walk in the park to get your child registered for kindergarten and even less pleasant of an experience when the staff is behaving worse than the children they're supposed to be teaching.