I Love New York in June...

On a recent trip that my Mother and I made to NY to visit my sister, I fell completely under the spell of the City. From the pigeons perched on lovely old buildings, to phenomenal music in the subway station, to the multi-cultural crush of humanity, it all held charm for me.

It's amazing that there is such a strong feeling of community on the small island of Manhattan that contains over 27,000 people per square mile. The compassion and kindness that resulted after the tragic events of 9/11 still seem to be prevalent.

All of the sidewalks (and even some of the stores) are populated by an abundance of dogs. This of course made me miss Katie and Louie. I kept wishing I could magically zap Gary and the Newfs to New York. I think we would have so much fun there although it would be difficult for us to ever get any exercise since we would likely be stopped every two feet by the Newf Paparazzi.

We stayed very busy during our visit. We went to the Lenox Lounge in Harlem to hear some old style jazz music, did a lot of shopping, toured the Museum of Natural History, went to a street fair, and took my sister's dog for several walks in Riverside Park. But my favorite two things were getting to spend time with my Mom and Sister...

And, getting to see my dear friend, her sweet husband and their two precious daughters who were adopted from China. We spent a lovely afternoon together and before the day was over I ended up with both girls in my lap. Spending time with them really made me happy and somehow made me feel closer to Natalie.

I'm looking forward to the day we have a reunion and Natalie is here to play with these girls. After talking with my friend about the status of our adoption I am actually allowing myself to think that we might get a referral within the next 12 months. After over 5 years of waiting I am more than ready for our daughter to come home.

When I returned to the Happy Haus I had a wonderful reunion with Gary, Katie and Louie. The Newfs were super excited to see me and their grandma walk through the back gate. It's always good to come Home.

By the way, Katie and Louie say Hi/Woof and wanted you to know we will back to our regular blogging soon.