The Unfriendly Side of The City

Well today was a bad day. It started off poorly mostly because I have a nasty cold. The kind without many symptoms except feeling rotten and tired and uncomfortable. I couldn't sleep, couldn't focus on anything, just felt in pain and stuffed up. Not even the 3 hours of cheering crowds outside could lift my spirits--there was a huge AIDS walk today and it sounded really festive. Our street was blocked off right outside since the walking route went through our corner of the park. Check out the photos to see how big the crowds were and the oodles of money they raised for AIDS research.
Anyways, I finally thought of taking ibuprofen to put myself out of misery. It worked and I decided to take the dog for a walk because he was panting and pacing, signs of imminent diarrhea, which is a nightmare in an apartment building. The kids wanted to come too, so they brought their scooters and we went to the playground right outside. It was warm and pretty out and I was starting to feel better. When we got ready to leave, we gathered our things, only to discover that someone ripped off the kids' scooters. Only Maya's helmet was left behind. The scooters were Christmas gifts and the kids love them, we use them every day. I am so bummed. We found no trace of the scooters, even after walking around the whole area and enlisting the support of some nearby police officers and park workers, none of whom noticed anything. They all, however had this to say: "This is the city. Keep a very close eye on your belongings." Yes, I guess I will from now on.
Banchi continues to have major stomach issues--not sure if it is from the flour or if the thing he made a mad snatch for in the park the day after that was a pokey chicken bone or something--but he is sick and it is a major inconvenience. Sigh. Sure was a lot easier when we could just turn him out into the yard instead of throwing on shoes and grabbing a leash and walking downstairs and across the street every time we thought he was about to hurl or have the runs.
Brett made some progress on our boxes this weekend while I was wallowing around in phlegm. Now the table is in it's own niche and not in the middle of the kitchen, and also you only have to squeeze by one row of boxes, not two, to get to the bathroom. The box thing is getting very old...we are at the point of needing to just dump a bunch of stuff, but sorting it to get it to different places and actually carting it off feels like a big task.
I am sure tomorrow will be a better day, but NY is feeling like a very unfriendly place about now.