Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Long time no see

Almost 2 months of being away from the great blogosphere! The chagim are finally over. It seemed so weird working a 5 day week again. Guests, food, fasting on Yom Kippur, eating in the sukkah, dancing on Simchat Torah, davening and learning Torah covers my chagim. After the chagim, David & I signed up for a Hebrew Ulpan class. Once again, we are trying to learn more advanced conversational Hebrew. Every night we are busy. Monday nights I have the Maimonides Leaders Fellowship at Loyola. The students are great! I love listening to their questions and helping them learn more about their Jewish heritage. Tuesday nights are classes at TLC. Everytime we offer classes, more people seem to attend! Wednesday night is free night...usually with David. Thursday Hebrew Ulpan then finally Friday is Shabbat! This is the first time in such a long time my life has been back to a "routine." I like knowing a schedule for a week & at the same time have room for spontaneous happenings.
The latest news is that David wants me to run for ASBI board. David is active on the hospitality committee. He thinks that between Bryan & I or him on the board, more will be accomplished. I have to think about this one.

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Rainy Day

This weekend, was beautiful. The sun was shining. David, me, Julie, Jacob, Mishka, Emily, Evan & a few others had a picnic at the park. We saw the Air & Water Show. Not bad view from Briar Park. It wasn't as jammed as North Ave. Beach. David woke up on Shabbat morning feeling yucky, but he still made it to minyan odin. I, on the other hand felt fine, but barely made it to kiddush at shul. By picnic time, David still didn't feel good. It just got worse and worse. The next day, we were supposed to go to Great America with Jacob & Julie, but then Jacob got sick. David was feeling a bit better, so we went to Starved Rock & the new outlet mall in Aurora (Michigan City is better, but not bad). By the end of the day, David still felt yucky. He ended up staying home from work on Monday. I wish he would eat. I made him some soup yesterday. He hasn't eaten anything except powerade since Friday night & soup. The stomach bug is no fun. Last night after Tamar's class (sh'koyach!) at shul, we took a walk. I wanted to try cold stone icecream. I guess the ingredients are kosher & when they sell it in the store its hechshered...so that was good enough for me. It was really rich...a little too rich for my taste, but yummy! David had a spoonful & loved it. I tried tempting him to eat more, but his stomach just couldn't take it. For me, icecream cures everything. but I guess gatorade for David attempts to cure stomach bugs.
We walked outside to a huge rainstorm this morning. By the time,we reached the car, we were soaked...especially David. He ran ahead without the umbrella as I took my sweet time. I think tonight will be a stay-in night. We wanted to go to the movie at Grant Park, but its supposed to rain. I wish the last week of August wouldn't be so rainy! Maybe we'll go out for icecream instead tonight.

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

No fair!

David & I had a wonderful Shabbat. Saturday, we even walked to Millenium Park with Andrew, Julie, Neer, Simona & a few others. It was a beautiful day. Once we got back...a few hours later, everyone felt a sense of accomplishment. Saturday night, we watched Vertigo with some friends at our place. I'm not sure if I liked the movie. It is definitely a classic & kept my attention, but the plot was a bit weird. I guess that goes with most Hitchcock movies. We were up so late Saturday night, I almost didn't get up Sunday morning. Thanks to David, I woke up just in time to take a quick shower and go to Ali & Ben Rosenthal's baby's bris. I'm really happy I went, even though I could have used the extra sleep. The baby is precious....Gavriel Shalom. It was really fun to see some new & old faces...lots of catching up. After the bris, David and I drove to Lake Geneva for the afternoon. I wasn't too impressed. Who ever heard of paying to go to the beach? Even on the most beautiful beaches in California or Cape Cod, you don't have to pay. Lake Geneva...an ok beach...not the greatest charges $7 to sit on the sand and take a swim. We didn't go to the beach. Instead we just walked around the town...its cute, but nothing too exciting. After two hours, we drove back to Chicago. We made one stop at Winnetka Park (on Lake Michigan) & had a small bbq with my mom & step-father. It got soo cold that evening, but at least we had quality family time.

I saw some family & friends this weekend. Overall, I had a good weekend.

Besides a little halachic issue that hopefully will be resolved soon, I can't complain. No more jealousy. My brother is home from Israel. He had an amazing time on birthright. I'm a bit annoyed that he didn't stay for my cousin's wedding. He said he'll go back soon. I hope going to Israel helped give him more of a connection to Judaism. He needs to spiritually grow. Tonight David and I are going to the Outdoor Movie at Grant Park. The summer is almost over. I guess we have to take advantage of the last days of summer in the city.

Thursday, August 12, 2004

Many brachas..

I've been blessed the past few weeks with so many things, except one - the green monster of jealousy. Thank G-d my mom's CAT scan shows no more cancer. She is almost recovered from her surgery. Its such a miracle. She is doing wonderfully. In a few weeks, she'll even get to go back to work. I just started at job at Torah Learning Center of Northbrook as Program Coordinator...so far so good. My husband, David is wonderful. We carpool to work every morning. I hate waking up in the morning to drive the north suburbs. Its such a shlep. It gives us time to catch up though. My brother is in Israel..finally on Birthright! I'm so happy he's having an outstanding time and might even be staying for my cousin, Andy's wedding. I'm so happy that my cousin is getting married to a wonderful gal from Queens. May they build a bayit neeman Yisael in Israel where they reside. The wedding is in Israel. My brother is in Israel. A lot of my family & friends are in Israel. Do you know where this is going? I'm not in Israel & thats why I'm soo jealous of everyone who is. Everyday I stare at my brother's itinerary for birthright and wish that I was on top of Masada, in the Dead Sea, davening at the kotel, dancing on Ben Yehuda St, on and on and on. I was in Israel 5 years ago and said I would go back in 6 months and I haven't been back yet. Right now, plane tickets are $1200 in August (peak season), David & I just simply can't swing it now. This jealousy has got me, yet I'm sooooo incredibly happy for everyone and wish I could share in such a wonderful simcha. Mazel tov Andy & Nili!!!