July 4.

i...<3...July 4th. Well, I don't necessarily <3 July 4th in general, but I definitely <3 July 4th in New York City. It's probably my favorite holiday here... for one reason only....NO ONE IS HERE! ha How's that for a typical displaced Southerner response to the overcrowded city. I like this day b/c there are less New Yorkers than usual surrounding me. :)

I love that on July 4th weekend in NYC (at least in my experience), it only takes about 11 minutes to go the 7 miles between my house and the church instead of the typical 20 minutes. I love that on July 4th weekend, it only takes about 2 minutes to get down Delancey Street in traffic instead of the normal 10 to 15. I love that on July 4th in NYC, it only takes about 5 minutes to find parking wherever you go instead of the normal FOREVER. AND I love that on July 4th weekend, I see places CLOSED. Seriously, in most of the areas I'm in, the only time I see a store closed is if it's Chinese New Year or a Jewish holiday and the business is owned by a Jewish family. It's like no one celebrates holidays. Most everything is open on Thanksgiving and Labor Day and stuff. I don't know about Christmas. I haven't braved a NYC Christmas day yet. Maybe if I did, I'd like it. Anyway, I quite enjoyed my weekend with the vacant city. I suppose everyone who does stay in town for July 4th in NY heads to see the fireworks...actually, if I were you, I'd stay off of the GW Bridge....even tho the cars are told NOT to stop, I experienced last year that they indeed DO stop to watch the fireworks. So, steer clear of that bridge unless you want to experience typical NY traffic as opposed to July 4th NY traffic :).

I would also like to say that I can remember exactly what I have down every July 4th for the past 11 years...not because, again, it's my favorite holiday, but I guess just b/c for a while they were big life events around that time...and then after a few years of that I just decided to keep a record for the fun of it. :).

Ok that's all. Aunt Irene, I fixed the dates so you can see it now :). They were just in a color that didn't show up :).

p.s. I gave a guy in a Yankees jersey directions yesterday. I didn't want to b/c of his ugly jersey, but I'm a nice person.