Pass the Epsom Salt Please………

Long time, no write…..As you can guess, we’ve been busy. Well, Noah’s been busy and I’ve just, well, had no time……Our whirlwind started last week in Los Angeles when Noah began his dance training, wardrobe fittings, physical therapy, core cardio classes, and tutoring with the Billys.  For me, this meant trips back and forth to IDA (International Dance Academy) and The Pantages Theater (where Billy Elliot is playing) in Hollywood, and the makeshift school set up in Oakwood Apartments, building E, in Burbank.

And now we’re in New York City, Hell’s Kitchen to be exact. Funny how I had been here for four days before I realized exactly what neighborhood our small one-bedroom apartment was in. I guess that’s what happens when you don’t have much time. But little by little, I am getting to know this pretty cool neighborhood. Noah, on the other hand, has basically seen the inside of our apartment and the studio where he is rehearsing in Chelsea (17 blocks downtown). That’s because he’s in rehearsals and tutoring from 9-9 six days a week. He went in Noah on Monday, May 7 and will emerge Billy Elliot on Saturday, June 10.

Ok, so now you’re probably thinking: what the heck am I am doing for 12 hours a day and why haven’t I had any time to write? I know, I know, it doesn’t seem to add up, does it? Well, here’s the low-down: think of it like the first year of a newborn baby’s life. For first-time moms (or dads), taking a year off from work after your baby is born seems like a luxury until you leave the hospital. Right? Suddenly you are home for entire days at a time and have no idea where the days went. You wake up after little to no sleep, feed the baby, change diapers, put the baby down for a nap and repeat. In between, you may have an hour or quite possibly 2-3 hours to do a load of laundry or make food for yourself. And then you are onto the same thing the next day. Essentially, you have windows of time all day long but not enough of a block of time to get anything substantial done. This is the best analogy for my life right now.

With the way “Billy” training works, I need to get Noah there in the morning and pick him up at 9 (or trade-off with the other Billy-in-training’s parents). Then, I have to be back to meet him for lunch and dinner breaks. Don’t ask…something about labor laws. All these trips require time to get there and back. You guessed it: leaving only small windows in-between. I decided that today I would grab one of these small windows and crank out this blog post.

Among the other essential things I’ve managed to do in my small windows: order food online as I realized I cannot shop the way I do at home. I figured this out quickly on Sunday night when I tried to carry four bags of food several blocks. I also bought a subway pass, met a New Yorker friend to check out a condo uptown, bought toiletries as the apartment was barebones when we arrived, visited a dermatologist as I needed a prescription, did a load of laundry, and took a yoga class (restorative yoga is in the cards for my window tonight — woo hoo!) I considered getting my nails done at the nail salon right next door but I didn’t think my window was long enough. So, the nails will have to be a mess until I get a bigger window. Oh, and I bought some epsom salt and frozen peas for Noah.

Except that all this doing nothing is exhausting and I think I’ll leave the peas to Noah tonight and reserve the warm epsom salt bath for me. It’ll be an evening of salted peas for us…..