Some New Toys

Each of us received a new toy this week. Celeste got hers rather unexpectedly and mine I ordered the week before. On Monday, Celeste called me at work and said that the bike shop had her bike all assembled and ready to pick up. This confused us a little because they originally told us that the 2009 models wouldn't be out until December. Here's the story.

We started seriously looking for bikes back in July. I got my bike in August. Celeste decided that she wanted the female version of a bike we tried, but nobody seemed to have the female version in stock -- the Specialized Vita Elite. After calling about 10 different bicycle shops, we found one about 15 miles away with the bike in stock. We went there so that Celeste could test ride the bike, and she really liked it. The only thing that she wasn't sure about was the size. They had two different models of the same bike (one with carbon fork and seat stay, and the other with basic aluminum), one in each of the sizes that she would potentially want. After trying out each bike, she determined she liked the carbon fork and seat stay. But, as luck would have it, she also decided that the full aluminum frame was the better size. We asked them what our options were, and they said that they could order the correct size bike with carbon fork and seat stay. However, after looking at the computer, it turned out that there were none left of the 2008 model. So they ordered the 2009 model. We put a $50 deposit and left with the hope that Celeste would have a bike within a week.

Well, a few days transpire, and they called us to say that the 2009 model wouldn't come in until December. That put a little damper into our plans. We talked through it and determined that the best option would be to cancel the order and just wait until next season. Celeste called up the bike shop, but the manager wasn't there in order to cancel the order. A week passes, and we rearrange our budget to project the purchase of the bike in April or May. Then, what do you know, the next day is when they called up to say that Celeste's bike was ready. Surprised by this great news, we went to pick it up. That was Monday, and we were finally able to go on our first ride on Friday. It's a nice bike! Now we just need to rearrange the budget again...

Now for my new toy. While still a student, I decided to take up golf in anticipation of business meetings on the golf course. Well, after a year with KPMG, I finally got the chance to go with our client for a couple rounds of golf. It went okay. But I decided that if I wanted to make a better impression, I would need some new equipment. In looking at my options, I just couldn't bring myself to spending hundreds of dollars, especially for a sport that would cost hundreds of dollars just to play. Luckily, though, I have a friend who taught me how to golf on a budget -- play the less expensive courses, find the cheaper times, etc. One other thing he pointed out is that not all golf clubs cost a ton of money. Actually, while looking around on the Internet, he found a great deal on some irons that basically ranked number two in Golf Digest's 2007 hot list -- the Adams A2. Adams is a brand that doesn't spend millions of dollars on endorsements (think Nike and Callaway), so they don't have to charge as much to make a profit. In reading reviews on the clubs, I couldn't find anything that people didn't like about the irons. Then, I watched the clubs over two weeks as the price dropped by about 25 percent. I finally decided to take the plunge. They arrived this week, and boy do they look great. Haven't had a chance to use them though. That will be this week. :)

New York City: Our Second Honeymoon

Well, I guess you can't really describe it as our second honeymoon, since we shared a hotel room with Celeste's parents. But it was certainly fun. After getting dropped off in New York City (see Our Great Adventure Driving to NYC), we had a bit of time to kill before going to see Wicked on Broadway. We got to the city with sufficient time to completely plan our subway/train ride out to Long Island. The public transit in New York is amazing, but we wanted to make sure we got the 11:16 PM train and not the 1:02 AM train. We planned everything out, bought our tickets, and then looked for a restaurant. We ended up eating at Applebee's. Now I know what you're thinking -- "You're in New York City! You can do better than Applebee's!" This is very true. But it was raining and one thing us Californians aren't used to is rain. So we chose what was convenient, and Applebee's was close to the theater. One thing I'd like to point out at this time is that NYC has a law that restaurants must publish nutritional facts in their menus. Long story short: Knowing that a dish has 2,000 calories in it just takes all the fun out of eating -- so I sprung for the 750 calorie dish, and didn't feel bad about dessert.

Wicked was amazing. I really didn't expect much in going to the show, except that it had received great reviews. It definitely puts a different perspective on the Wizard of Oz, which I'd like to watch next time that I have a chance. We're very glad that we went to the show! We also made our train with plenty of time -- enough time, in fact, for a second dessert.

We stayed with Celeste's parents at the Glen Cove Mansion. It was a fun hotel with plenty of activity (there was a wedding and/or party each of the nights we were there). Actually, I think it is one of the only hotels in Glen Cove, NY. (As a side note, Celeste's parents were out there for Doug's 51 year class reunion.) On Saturday, we met with some of Doug's cousins. First, we met with the Bell cousins. We had a nice conversation and Celeste loved looking through the family pictures. It's funny because you could definitely see the family resemblance in some of the pictures. After that, we met with Jane Hollister at her home for a fantastic meal of poached salmon and fresh vegetables for her garden. One of the things I realized from spending time there is how quickly life seems to go. We were able to sit down and really talk for a couple hours. We ate, but we weren't rushed at all. Time just passed by. We talked about everything from family history to gardens to boating to current events. It was great!

That night, we took the train back into Manhattan so that we could go to Swing 46, our favorite restaurant from our honeymoon. It is a little spendy there, but you sure have a fun time. We had a great meal of coconut shrimp, steak, and salad. Then the live music started and we were able to dance the night away. It was our first time dancing since Celeste's injury back in June, so we took it easy a little bit. But overall, it was very fun. We forgot our camera, so I figured it would be fun to post a picture from when we went there for our honeymoon.



The next day, we took it easy. We went with Doug and Sandra to a brunch as part of Doug's class reunion. I think it is safe to assume that we were the youngest people there. We also did a tour of some of the places Doug remembers from growing up. It was a relaxing day.

The next day, we packed up and then home we went. Already looking forward to our next vacation...

Our Great Adventure Driving to NYC

The car ride getting from Baltimore to New York City was interesting. We thought we were pretty clever to use my computer as a navigation system (my Sprint aircard is a wonderful invention). However, we still managed to miss a few turns. This was very convenient, though, and some might say intentional. :) As posted earlier in My Geocaching Quest, I'm trying to find geocaches in all fifty states. Our route from Baltimore would go through Delaware (where I hadn't found a geocache yet) but just miss Pennsylvania (where I hadn't gotten a geocache, because I was just getting over a cold during my first and only trip to Pennsylvania). After finding a geocache in Delaware, I jokingly suggested that we should make a detour and go through Philadelphia. As we got back onto the highway, there was a bit of confusion with the signs and next thing I know, we missed our exit. In looking at the map, we could still get to NYC going this way, which also happened to take us through Philadelphia. Very convenient! :) We ended up getting a geocache right near the Philadelphia Phillies stadium. That's state number 17!

Our next stop would be Manhattan. Celeste's parents were going to drop us off and then continue on to Long Island. It seemed pretty straight forward in looking at the map -- take the Lincoln tunnel, across on 34th Street (drop us off at Penn Station), and then continue out on Queens Midtown Tunnel. But actually driving through Manhattan is a different story. For some reason, a cop wouldn't let us turn onto 34th, so we got a street level view of Manhattan during rush hour (I say rush hour, which I think is ALL the time for Manhattan). So what we thought would take only ten minutes ended up taking about an hour. But it worked out in the end. Thank you so much Doug and Sandra for your patience in driving us to Manhattan. For future reference, I will never suggest driving in Manhattan again, unless it is by taxi.

Going to Miss the Summer

It's been a great summer filled with lots of fun. We're definitely going to miss it, but we made the most of it. A few weeks ago, we took a trip to the East Coast with Celeste's parents to visit Celeste's sister's family (Heather and Julio). We had a wonderful time, although we only spent about a day with Heather and Julio. I actually arrived a day earlier, since I was out there on business as well. I was very excited to see my nephews, and it seems like Paul was excited to see me, too. He decided that we should sleep in the same room. Since I didn't really feel like blowing up the air mattress, I decided to sleep on the ground in his room. Of course, since I was going to sleep on the ground, he thought that must be the cool thing to do. So, he decided to sleep on the ground, too, which left his bed free. There's no use in leaving a bed empty, so I decided to sleep there instead. :) A pretty good trick if you ask me.

Wednesday, I worked until Celeste and her parents flew in. We had dinner at Chevy's (where, coincidentally, I had eaten a few months before during another business trip).

Thursday, I helped Julio install a new light fixture in their kitchen. Oh the joys of home-ownership... But it felt rewarding once we got everything in its place and working. Next, we went to the park to play. Julio, Celeste, and I played tennis and later joined everyone else to play on the toys. I forgot how much I enjoy tennis. It's great exercise and very fun. For dinner, we split assignments for a barbecue. The assignments for our fantastic meal were as follows: Julio - barbecued steak, Celeste - salad, me - twice-baked potatoes, and Doug - store-bought rolls. ;) It was a great meal. That night, we said our goodbyes since on Friday morning we left for NYC. A very short trip to visit our favorite nephews...


Matt with his nephews


Matt with his nephews again (I guess only one is allowed to look at the camera at a time)