Well, our son is finally a “Man in Jews”!* I don’t have much time this morning to post about it because we’re exhausted and it would actually be infringing upon our pre-scheduled “Family Pajama Day”, but I wanted to check in with the blog world and tell you that everything yesterday went FABULOUSLY. I’ll post more over the next couple of days, especially when I get the good photos back from Julie and the funny ones back from the disposable cameras we put on every table, for our guests to use. These photos aren’t great but they’ll do for now! More soon! *Background story: Some time before our older son…
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He’s Ready! (and so are we!)
We had the rehearsal for Saturday’s Bar Mitzvah last night. Jim, the kids and I met the thirteen-year-old’s Hebrew tutor and the Rabbi at the temple for the run-through. It went really, really well. I couldn’t believe that my younger son was up there; time flies by and before you know it, they’re 13 years old, 5’4″, with a deep voice that can’t hit the high parts of some of the stuff he had to sing. I started feeling a little emotional. He is so totally ready for this, it’s not even funny. His tutor gave him a lovely gift. It’s a book about Jewish values and he wrote a…
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An Ugly Cake For a Handsome Kid
So the THIRTEEN-year-old’s birthday went well on Sunday; very low-key. I didn’t expect much fanfare, considering we had the birthday lunch last weekend at the Signature Room and this coming weekend is the big Bar Mitzvah. It was a nice day. Aunt Joodie/Doody/Juzie/Jooie came over and we made homemade pizza (using our cousin Eric’s dough recipe: it’s a winner!) for dinner and had assorted appetizers too. We were the only home, apparently, in America that did not watch the Super Bowl. Instead, we watched the Brian Regan DVD. Then of course, it was time for Rainbow Cake. I had asked the boy on Saturday if he wanted me to make…
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No More Tweens In This House…
Thirteen years ago today I was resting comfortably after giving birth to a 9 pound, 11 ounce little munchkin. (Ouch) He is Mr. Personality, he is smart, he is caring, he has a great sense of humor, and there are so many other things I love about him I could go on for days…but if I do that, then I’ll be spending his birthday HERE at the computer instead of UPSTAIRS with the Birthday Boy. So, for your enjoyment, here’s a walk down our Memory Lane. Thank goodness we have a world-class photographer in the family; she’s responsible for a few of these! Aww! Three days old. One of my…
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Don’t Be Alarmed; I’m Just a “Normal-Looking” Fitness Instructor…
I had a great class last night, thanks for asking! Becoming a fitness instructor is something I’ve wanted to do since I was 24 and got heavily into taking aerobics from one peppy instructor at my tiny little gym in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Mary was a powerhouse: a petite girl with big(ish) hair, and huge muscles. She taught cardio classes and was a bodybuilder. Not a professional, but boy, was she “cut” (slang for “toned”: am I the only one that says that?)! What I loved was that in spite of her slightly intimidating presence, she had an absolutely adorable personality, and—off the microphone—she was very soft-spoken. She motivated me so,…
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Go Wednesday, Go!
I’ve been wanting to do this post for a long time, and I figure since it’s Wednesday and that day figures prominently in the story, why not today? Wednesday is my favorite day to exercise. A couple of years ago it was just “any old day” as far as my workout went, but then in 2006 I started teaching a group cycling class at 5:30 p.m. at a new (to me) healthclub. I wasn’t super-excited about the location of this place because it takes me about 25 minutes to get there with NO traffic, which is not usually the case. I was, however, excited about the Group Fitness Director, who…
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I Am The Lucky Recipient…
…of another award! Yippee for me! Melissa at Such Simple Pleasures was kind enough to bestow this lovely award on me and/or my blog. I don’t exactly know what the meaning is behind the award or what; there is no story that I am aware of but I am happy to accept it just the same. Now I guess I need to pass this along, don’t I? I don’t know what the criteria would be so I will customize it for each person. First, obviously I will award it to my sister Julie/Julie/Aunt Doody/Joozie from House of Jules, because not only does she have the blog to beat all blogs…
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Happy Birthday To My Love
It’s my love’s birthday today! (He never reads this blog unless I specifically tell him I want him to, so I shall do that this evening…) Happy Birthday to you! I know today is pretty low-key, with it being a Wednesday/workday and all, but we will have a lovely dinner with the boys and of course you’ll open the presents that I spent $5,000 on…err, I mean, the presents I bought within the constraints of our budget! Of course, since this is your birthday post I will go on about how fabulous a person I think you are. Because I really do! From the day when I saw you, “holding…
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Happy Birthday, Mom!
It’s the birthday of our (mine and Julie’s!) mom today! Can I get a Holla! from all over the world, please? I have some photos to share, of course, dating from 1968 to now. I also have childhood photos of mom, but didn’t have time to find them. That’s right, FIND them. I will now type one of mom’s favorite sayings: They’re here, SOMEWHERE. (I say it all the time, too!) I’ll get to the pictures in a minute. First, because we always give Mom a hard time, I want to get some of the funny facts about her out of the way at the top. Funny facts about our…
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Gimme A Break!
In the next couple of days I will post about why foreigners make me giddy. (Not in the same way they make my sister giddy, though! Stay tuned!) In the meantime, I have to share with you the exciting surprise I received in the mail–yes, from a foreigner–over the weekend. I checked the mailbox on Saturday and was delighted to see a puffy envelope shoved in there within an inch of its life. I pulled it out and saw the little blue international Air Mail sticker and felt my heartbeat speed up. “Yay,” I exclaimed to nobody but myself, “I got a package from the U.K.!” There was no return…