A New York City New Year For the past three days, we have been having a marvelous time with the Jameeds. We met up with them in New York for New Year’s Eve, where we had a blast in every sense of the word! New York on that day was simply out of this world! The sights and sounds of the city were exhilarating. Without doubt, New Year’s Eve of 2006 will be a memorable one.

One interesting New Year’s Eve observation was how jam-packed Manhattan was with NYPD policemen. They were simply everywhere, wandering around in groups in their highly visible dark blue uniforms. Another memorable sight for me was the skating rink at Rockefeller Plaza. It was fascinating to finally see the rink up close and personal after seeing it in movies many, many times. By the way, it looks much smaller in real life.

Skating at Rockefeller CenterMaking the whole environment still more surreal and movie-like, out of the blue a young man skating with his girlfriend got down on one knee and presented his partner with a ring! The crowd cheered, the couple kissed; I guess it was a yes! Being in NYC at this moment and seeing such a Hollywood-ish moment in real life was truly surreal! Yes, I felt like I was watching a film!

But, I must say, I was disappointed with how small and insignificant the New Year’s ball [changes are afoot] is when we saw it moving behind the barriers of Times Square. Somehow I was expecting it to be more glamorous, or at least more colorful.

The next day, we returned to the DC metro area, where we took the Jameeds to see some of what DC has to offer. Georgetown was the first place on the list, as we enjoyed a nice dinner at the quaint French bistro, Café La Rouche. The next day we explored the monuments, including Capitol Hill, the Washington Monument, the Vietnam War Memorial, and some museums.

The next day, the Jameeds were on their own, while the two of us went back to work. We met up later that night for dinner and a movie (Munich). The Jameeds are a superb couple — very smart, extremely friendly and yes, incredibly funny! We really enjoyed their company. We hope we convinced them to leave Mormon-land behind and move to the nation’s capital. We’ll see!