We got up at eight a.m. to go to see the Statue of Liberty today. The trains were crazy on the way down, so we didn’t wind up arriving until nearly 10:30.

I’d been there before, back in college when they still let you climb up to the crown. We opted not to do the monument pass and just walked around on the island. It’s hard to get a sense of scale until you get there. I mean, sure, you know it’s a big statue, but standing at the base is a whole different thing. You know the pedestal she stands on? It’s equivalent to a ten-story building.

And the star? I always thought that was part of the base, but it’s not. It’s a fort that was built for the War of 1812. I had no idea.

The weather was gooooorgeous today and the island was so pretty that I almost think it might be worth the twelve dollar ferry ride on it’s own. If there just weren’t so many darned tourists.

Katherine and I headed to Yankee Stadium tonight for the game. She was a Tampa fan amidst a sea of Yankees; I was just there to watch the game. My understanding is that the Durham Bulls (her hometown minor league team) funnel into the Rays so she knows a lot of the players.

The game was fun. Of all the sports, baseball is the only one that I really get. And I’ve always preferred watching it live to t.v.

But, I must say that the best part of this game was the behaivor of the fans. The Yankees did not play well so we got to listen to a lot of booing — not at the Rays but at the Yankees for sucking. When the Rays got a home run, with the bases loaded, this guy behind us kept yelling, “What the f*ck is going on? What the–” etc. He eventually got so fed up he started rooting for the Rays. “Show them f**king Yankees how it’s f**king done!”

Katherine and I laughed and laughed and laughed.

Katherine and I just got home from seeing Spring Awakening on Broadway which was an outstanding production.

Smart, with an excellent cast, the musical is both moving and funny. It’s based on an 1891 play by Frank Wedekind which deals with themes that I can’t even imagine audiences watching back then. Sexuality, puberty, homoeroticism and abortion… it’s powerful stuff and somehow the play ends with a note of hope. I highly recommend Spring Awakening and my niece does too.

I was so horrified about the Braves’ game that I completely forgot to tell you about taking Katherine to Madame Tussaud’s wax museum. One of her school chums told her that if she did anything in NYC, she had to go there. I was, to say the least, skeptical but I am nothing if not a devoted aunt.

They’ve got wax figures standing around in the lobby. The funny thing was that as we waited in line, we started wondering if anyone standing still was wax. Like the security guy who was really bored. When he blinked it was a surprising.

The exhibit starts in “opening night” which is set in this big diaorama of a rooftop party hosted by Tony Bennett. Some of the waxworks were uncannily good, and I found myself not wanting to get into their line of sight. Others seemed to bear little resemblance to their namesake. The most interesting part about this room was getting sense of height and size. Harrison Ford is a tall man. Joan Rivers is tiny. That sort of thing.

From there we went into the history room, which, I must say, was surprisingly edifying. See, they’ve got a wax self portrait of Madame Tussaud there that she did in 1842. Yeah. And it is very, very convincing. Across the room is a wax figure that she did in 1801 of Napoleon. It was really chilling.

The rest of the exhibit, didn’t really take me the way those two did. I think that both are recast from her molds — though the exhibit doesn’t say that — but it is still astonishing. I’ve since looked up Madame’s history and am now fascinated by her.

Now, it should be obvious that I’m not really a sports scene sort of person. That said, if there’s a sport I enjoy, it’s baseball and the Braves are the only team that I’ve ever seriously followed. So I was not dreading going to see the game with Katherine. I called around, found a place that would have the game on and we headed down.

We all, including Katherine, agreed that Blondies was a ruthlessly unpleasant experience.

Food? My vegetarian chili was fine. The caesar salad was so watery as to be almost inedible. I mean, yes, wash the lettuce, but then at least drain it. Rob’s fries and garden burger also seemed fine. Katherine’s buffalo wings? She couldn’t even finish them because they were “slimy” and “gross.” This is a girl who loooooves buffalo wings. The fat and skin to meat content was apparently on the wrong end of the spectrum.

Atmosphere? Frigid. We had to wear our coats the whole time.

Music? Deafening. I mean, Rob put in ear plugs. I actually had my fingers in my ears at one point because it was nightclub loud. Not a nightclub. Sportsbar. I finally asked one of the waitresses if they could turn the music down a little.

She said, “It’s really hard to turn music down in a bar. Where are you from?”

“I live in New York.”

“Oh. Well, it’s really hard to turn music down.”

Right… funny thing. From my time waiting tables if a customer asks you to turn the music down, you turn it down. Now, she did briefly turn it down. For one song. Then she turned it back up, louder, so she could dance in the back to it. I kid you not.

When the Braves tied the Nationals at the top of the ninth, I was not happy. I should have been rooting for the Braves but all I could think was that now we were going to be stuck there for another inning and that I would have to kill someone.

The Nationals won, without going to extra innings. Katherine was sad, but we were all grateful to get out of that joint.

Oh, and the ladies bathroom? Gross. Truck stop level grossness.

Katherine has arrived safely. Her flight got in twenty minutes early, so she had already claimed her bag by the time I got there. Flights arriving early! Since when does that happen?

We’re heading out in a quest for a bagel and Diet Dr. Pepper in a bottle.

My niece is coming to visit us this week and my brother has informed me that she will be a sad girl if she can’t watch the Braves game on Sunday. Rob and I don’t have a television. I don’t suppose that, among my NY based readers, one of you already plans on watching the game and wouldn’t be averse to having a seventeen year old girl and me watch with you? We’ll bring snacks!

I had to go to the mall today.

Surely, that explains all of the horror without further detail, so I may go onto the pleasant things.

Steve and his family arrived during the night and somehow managed to get a teenager, a proto-teenager and a three year-old into the house without waking anyone. Now that, is fine parenting. This morning Rob and I went downstairs to the smell of pancakes cooking and Mom bustling around the kitchen. She is a non-stop cooking machine.

Well, almost. She did consent to go to Couch’s Barbecue for supper. I don’t think it had anything to do with being tired, I think it was a decision based entirely on having no where to put anymore leftovers. At dinner we gave Katherine her birthday presents. I think, and it’s hard to tell with fifteen year olds, that she liked the jacket that Rob and I gave her.

That was part of my mall activities today. I finally resorted to going into a store, Wet Seal, and saying, “Help. Fifteen-year old niece. I see her once a year and I’m clueless about what teens are wearing these days.” I felt like such a fogey and I’m nowhere near the right age for that.

After dinner Mom, Rob and I tackled prep work for dinner tomorrow. While we did that Dad, Steve and Rob did a mini-beer tasting. I’m very impressed that my husband managed to taste beer and help in the kitchen. Everyone else went to the basement to watch The Grinch. Had it been the original, I would have joined them.

Now, I just need to finish wrapping gifts, a feat which is complicated by the fact that our box o’presents has not arrived from Portland. I will be very put-out if my party favors arrive after the party.

Wish a happy birthday to my brother’s firstborn.