Well...I made it to New York and back without dying. I feel that is a great accomplishment, although I had nothing to do with it, I'm sure God wanted to prove to me that he is quite capable of taking care of me, thank you very much. So, thank you God for keeping me from being hit by an irate taxi driver, who doesn't care that I am a tourist who doesn't walk at a brisk enough pace to cross the street before the little red hand pops up. Thank you God for giving me the patience to sleep in a room with 3 teenage girls and not ruin their fun. Thank you God for the porta pottie on the bus for when I consumed far too much coffee on the 13 hour drive....and only got 2 pit stops. Thank you God for the continental breakfast at the hotel, that provided eggs and sausage every morning at 6 am....Thank you God for Head-On, that not only works on foreheads but also on neck muscles after you have walked for 8 hours in the rain shopping....Thank you God for cell phones, so I could call my husband and kids and hear their voices every day, so I could text Amy, Leigh Anna, James and Roy non-stop to make me feel like I was still at home....Thank you God for McDonalds in New York where you always know they have a bathroom......Thank you God for keeping me, Sammi, Brooke and Les safe from the crazy man outside the pizza place who was ranting and raving at us because a woman poked him with her umbrella.....Thank you God for using me as comic relief for the travel weary in the group when I kept calling the Empire State Building the Eiffel Tower and for when I called the Brooklyn Bridge the Golden Gate Bridge.....Thank you God for giving me the strength to climb into that elevator at the Empire State Bldg. which makes it to the 80th floor in less than 45 seconds and for the strength to walk around the top taking pictures with the appearance that I didn't have a care in the world...Thank you God for the bathrooms in the Empire State Bldg.....Thank you God for seeing only 3 people donning masks against the swine flu....Thank you God for the intermission and the end of Phantom of the Opera....Thank you God for umbrellas and hoodies......Thank you God for not letting me be arrested when I smacked a NYPD officer in the chest while I was laughing and saying something stupid to him.....Thank you God for ponytail holders that is the only thing that saved me from looking like a freak at the end of the day......Thank you God for holding me back from jumping over the counter at a McDonalds in WV and beating up the little jerk behind the register, I only smarted off to him which is much better.......Thank you God for waking me up just in time when I almost fell out of my aisle seat on the bus......Thank you God for not letting it be a stomach virus that the child in my room had on Monday morning when she woke up and promptly threw up.....Thank you God that the stupid singing cows at Hershey's only sang a short song on the silly tour....Thank you God for the free chocolate at the end of the tour.....Thank you God for not letting me miss the ferry from Ellis Island...Thank you God for not letting me miss the bus when we had to find the street ourselves to board it.....Thank you God for check out time at the hotel...Thank you God for the secret bathroom in the hotel by the laundry room....Thank you God for letting me see ground zero 8 years later and for sparing me on the day that it took place....Thank you God for all the new friends I made and all the memories shared....Thank you God for the friends that texted me while I was there to only say "It's time to come home now"....Thank you God for letting me make it back and giving me the chance to go. I do appreciate it all.....
