Another Week in New Jersey (and New York)

Saturday--Getting a Princeton Library card was a big step for me in belonging here.  However, because our apartment is just over the line from Mercer County and in Middlesex County, I had to pay the senior rate of $75.  It will be worth every bit of that!

I braved Route One by myself and did a bit of recreational shopping.  Nordstrom Rack was a mess but I did buy a comfortable top.  Sadly, my arthritic hip suddenly hit me with pain and I cut the shopping trip short--only to find myself heading south to Trenton on Route One instead of north to Homewood Suites.  It took a few miles but I got turned around.  I blame the jug turns and the construction and the overwhelming Saturday afternoon traffic!

Sunday we worshiped at Nassau Presbyterian Church and happened to end up in the pew with our good friends the Moorheads.  I was glad to be there but I found myself missing the warmth and fellowship and music of our church--and I will need to stop calling it "our church" in South Bend.  Jeff and Susan had us over for a supper of grilled chicken and baked potatoes.

Monday was a day of accomplishments in getting doctors' appointments for new patient physicals, re-routing pension and social security checks, changing addresses, and for Jim, still more conference calls with TIAA and our ND Private Member Group with Michael Schultz, one of our advisers. We spent most of the morning on the phone or online.

In the evening we had a lovely dessert and visit with Martha Himmelfarb and her husband Steven Weiss.  Jim knows Martha from their professional interests and she is the one who arranged library privileges for him at Princeton.  Steven is an artist and had some fine work displayed in their 1880 home--a block off Nassau Street.

Tuesday we purchased beds and paraphernalia from Princeton Mattress Shop where I think we got overwhelmed by the owner; however it did save us from any more shopping!  We arranged for xfinity hookups and then treated the Moorheads to dinner at On the Border courtesy of gift certificates from my Bible study friends in South Bend.

Wednesday Jim golfed nine holes at Meadows at Middlesex which I assume was a big step in making him feel more at home.  We were able to see our apartment for the first time and it looked lovely and spacious.  I fixed chicken stir-fry for Jeff and Susan and James at their house.  The sad part of a good day was that we hit one of the omnipresent deer when two of them bounded into the road from the Delaware Raritan Canal into the woods.  We hit a fawn and it went limping off.  We were sick about it but Susan comforted us by saying that they are called Jersey Rats around here.

On the A train

Thursday we took New Jersey Transit to NY Penn Station and the A Line to Brooklyn where we stayed in a Hilton for $3.50 thanks to all those Hilton credit card points!  We treated Dan and Alex to dinner at Rucola's for Dan's 35th birthday.  The restaurant definitely had what Alex called Brooklyn Vibe--it was noisy, crowded and expensive and Jim and I had to be twice the age of most of its patrons.  We had umbrellas but got very wet anyway as we walked the half mile back to our hotel.  We shared a bottle of wine there where we could hear each other talk!  At the beginning of the trip I wondered if we still had the energy to handle Uber, trains, subways, hotels, crowds, etc.  But we did it and enjoyed it!

We're back at Homewood Suites now.  Tomorrow we get the keys to our apartment and next Wednesday we hope to have our furniture as well and then our time of transition will be over!

Fulton Street Ad

"Unparalleled Parking"