Again, i've fallen behind on updating this blog. I've been doing short updates on facebook regularly, though. it's hard to do both and part of the problem is that the kids' computer crashed and it was my old computer and that was the computer on which i had my "email distribution list" for the blog. I haven't had time to create a new email list. So, since i couldn't send out an email telling people that i updated the blog, i just didn't update it. does that make sense? anyway, i'll try to work on creating that new list this weekend.
If you're not on facebook, check it out. So many of us are on there! Even Marlon has joined!
Anyway, the postings on facebook have to be shorter than on here, so i can't post my kids konnection articles on facebook. here is the column from the June issue.... you can read it here, or go to www.ocjewishlife.com to see the "real version." Just scroll down to the bottom row and look for Viewpoing: Kids Konnection or do a search for me by name!
Domestic abuse is one of those topics not easily discussed. Most of us wouldn’t even consider the possibility that Jews could be such victims. But domestic abuse does not discriminate. The Jewish community is not immune and we all know people who are abused, either physically or emotionally, even if we do not realize it. Not all bruises from domestic abuse are visible. Mental and emotional abuse are just as damaging to the body and soul as sexual and physical abuse.
Awareness of domestic abuse in the Jewish Community is ashamedly low. Studies estimate that 15 to 20 % of Jewish women are abused, a rate comparable to that of non-Jewish women. Further, there are no denominational differences – the rate of violence is the same among Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jews.
Unfortunately, the belief that Jewish men do not abuse their wives has made the situation of abused Jewish wives all the more difficult. Sometimes, women, believing that "Jewish men don’t do that", believe that they are at fault for what happens to them. Moreover, often, especially in closely-knit Jewish communities, women feel that, by complaining about their husbands’ behavior, they are undermining the community value of shalom bayit (domestic harmony or peace in the home). It is a cruel irony that this value is often invoked to deny or cover up the most blatant violations of domestic harmony, creating a sense of guilt for Jewish victims of abuse, causing them to feel responsible for the discord within their lives and families.
Relatives and friends of the victim may close their eyes to what is going on, or they may discount her story (if she tells of abuse) as exaggerated or hysterical. Rabbis may be so blinded by the conventional talk about how wonderful Jewish family life is that they do not recognize cases of abuse. Also, rabbis may find it hard to believe that Jewish men, often respected leaders of the synagogue or community, would behave in such a reprehensible, "unJewish", way. They may also be psychologically naive, and they may counsel people to work out their problems together, not realizing that they are, in fact, thereby advising the abused wife to suffer more abuse.
A few years ago, when I was the chairman of the National Young Leaders Advisory Council for the Orange County area of Hadassah Southern California, I organized a conference on domestic abuse for the Long Beach/Orange County area. As part of the full-day series of speakers and presentations, Israeli actress Naomi Ackerman presented her hour-long powerful monologue called “Flowers Aren’t Enough.” This moving and emotional dramatic presentation tells the story of Michal, a young woman from an upper to middle class Jewish family who finds herself in an abusive relationship. Michal describes how her partner gradually narrows her world and isolates her from her surroundings. We see her denial, her guilt, and how living in the Jewish community intensifies her shame and despair. We witness Michal sink into darkness and then we watch with joy as she takes charge of her life, re-discovers herself and ends the years of being victimized.
Michal’s story is a true story based on the lives and stories of several Israeli women. But not everyone’s story has a happy ending. A recent story is more shocking and illustrates my point that domestic abuse is prevalent everywhere and can have tragic results. There was an orthodox and very religious woman living in Jerusalem. She was a young woman in her early twenties, the daughter of very wealthy, ultra-Orthodox diamond merchants. Her marriage to a brilliant Talmud scholar was arranged by matchmakers, who demanded and received a huge dowry on behalf of the groom, a dowry which included a house, fully furnished, an annual income, a car, and many other gifts from the bride's father. Several years later, this lovely girl took her daughter, a gorgeous, blonde three-year old, to the top of a Tel-Aviv hotel and committed suicide with the child in her arms. This perfectly normal, lovely, deeply religious woman had been pushed to an extreme few of us will ever know by her husband and the society around her. She had been abused by her religious husband, a Talmud scholar, a man presumed to have the highest morals and values. Rather than seek help and bear the “shame” and guilt of being a victim, she felt the situation hopeless enough to take her own life – and that of her daughter’s.
There are many signs that someone is in an abusive relationship. The partner may try to isolate the other from her family and friends or demand that the other spend all her free time with him. The abuser may want to know where the other is at all time and may be impatient or become angry if the other does not follow his advice. Finally, the partner being abused is usually blamed for everything and regularly belittled by the abusive partner. Shouting at another person, demeaning or belittling another person, not to mention striking another person or coercing her to engage in sexual activity against her will, are wrong, even a single time.
When my oldest was in preschool, I had a friend – another mom from the J.C.C. – whose husband was, in my opinion, a real jerk. She had to ask his permission to do anything for herself or her son or to spend any money. He was very critical of her and constantly insulted her in front of other people. During that time, I felt bad for her that she was married to such a loser. But never once did I realize that she was a victim of domestic abuse and that I could – and should – help her seek help. As part of a Jewish community who cares about one another, we should all look out for one another and be aware of domestic abuse in our community, whether it be at school, at synagogue, on sports teams or in our neighborhoods. There are resources available to help people in these situations and we should not stand by silently while someone we know continues to be victimized. “Shalom Bayit” is an important Jewish value – we can all do our part to ensure that it prevails.
If we, ourselves, feel that we are victims of domestic abuse, or if we know someone who we believe is a victim, we can and should seek help immediately. Rabbis are trained to help people in such situations the Jewish Family Services has experience in dealing with cases of domestic abuse and provides an excellent resource to those in need. As evidence of how Jewish organizations are making such resources a priority, recently Hadassah opened a Center at Hadassah Ein-Kerem University Hospital in Jerusalem for the treatment of Sexual Abuse and Domestic Violence. The first of its kind in the Jerusalem area, the new center provides comprehensive multi –disciplinary care in physical as well as emotional treatment to victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence. The interdisciplinary team will include a gynecologist, a nurse and a social worker, who will follow the entire process. This will involve medical aspects, prevention of pregnancy and sexual diseases, documenting for legal purposes, help in the emotional coping, facing reaction of other people and continuation of care within the community.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Fun all Around
Today was an action packed day. At Michela's softball practice, the girls and parents "painted/decorated" everyone's car for the upcoming weekend tournament. all of the girls had a great time signing their names, nicknames and numbers on everyone's cars. Jacob made sure to put a part that said "...and Jacob rocks at Rainbow competition" amidst all of the "Silver U10 Allstars Rule" sayings, since the minivan will be going to Riverside for his competition in addition to Westlake for her tournament.
Tonight Jacob did his tap solo at the competition and earned a "high gold," which was good for this competition because they give out the platinums only sparingly.
Harrison worked on a big project for school and his never-ending thank you notes and also had batting practice.
See you tomorrow!
Tonight Jacob did his tap solo at the competition and earned a "high gold," which was good for this competition because they give out the platinums only sparingly.
Harrison worked on a big project for school and his never-ending thank you notes and also had batting practice.
See you tomorrow!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
New Blogging Promise
I know I sound like a broken record, but here I am again, apologizing for not posting in weeks. I just can't believe how fast the time flies by. And I also can't believe how overwhelmingly busy we have been.
The good news is that I now have an iphone (well, okay, i got it almost a month ago, but i'm now figuring out how to use it!) and i can blog from it while out and about, waiting for the kids' at activities, in line at the grocery store, etc. So i've decided that i'm going to do short blog entries every day so that i don't get so far behind.
To quickly catch you up, since i have to leave about 5 minutes AGO (!):
-Michela's softball all star team experience is going well. It's intense and time consuming, but she's loving every minute of it. Her team was CRUSHED in their first tournament, losing every game by a wide margin, but hopefully they'll do better this coming weekend. they had fun anyway, so that's what matters and she did a great job in her positions.
-Harrison's baseball all star team didn't fare any better in their weekend tournament. They were slaughtered three out of four games, but they ended the weekend on a high note by winning 12 to 7. Harrison played amazing -- getting great hits and making great plays in the field.
-With all the tournament games this weekend, marlon and I pretty much waved hi to each other on the freeway as we past each other going from game to game. Not exactly, but it felt like that!
-Jacob is as busy as ever with dance, as he has a competition coming up this coming weekend and the big dance show is in 3 weeks. He has something like 24 numbers (some of his perform more than once.) Michela is in 4. :)
-The other dancer in the family is Marlon. He's enjoying the "dad's dance," and has almost as many reheasals as Jacob does. They take this dance stuff seriously at Focus Dance Center. When i saw the rehearsal schedule, i just about thought he would kill me for signing him up, but he's loving it.
-New dance competition groups were annouced for next year's groups. jacob advanced to the next level, so he's happy about that. He'll be in Elites for jazz, tap and lyrical. they haven't annoucned honor groups yet, just large group competition numbers.
-School is good. the year is winding down. lots of projects and tests.
-Maintenance is good for the most part. I eat everything, just try very hard to keep a good balance, make every calorie count, and keep the calories low and the exercise high. sometimes i succeed at it, sometimes not. I'm basically maintaining, which is fine for maintenance, i just had hopes of losing a bit more. but my health educator today reassured me that maintaining the 120 pound loss is what's the most important thing. it's nice to eat somewhat normally again.
-My mom is doing thru a pretty severe depression and is not eating well, moving around enough, wanting to leave her apartment, etc. so that is taking careful monitoring and intervention. another thing to deal with, but i think the situation is improving somewhat.
-we still haven't finalized our summmer plans. i did decide on camps for the kids and just need to sign them up and we're still talking about/thinking about a trip around the 4th of July, which is our 15 year anniversary!
-I'm still (as always) hopelessly overwhelmed by the number of things that i have to do and on my to-do list (household stuff, kid stuff, work stuff, volunteer stuff, etc. etc) i have several new (fortunately, temporary) responsibilities that i'm trying to manage -- being in charge of ticket sales for the school musical, being the "team mom" in charge of scheduling tournaments and all communications for harrison's all star team and being a coordinator for one of the seven dance shows.
-on that note, it's time to go.....
i'll see you tomorrow!! and i haven't forgotten about posting bar mitzvah pictures, speeches and all that. i'll still get to it. believe it or not, we haven't even looked at the pictures ourselves yet! lol
The good news is that I now have an iphone (well, okay, i got it almost a month ago, but i'm now figuring out how to use it!) and i can blog from it while out and about, waiting for the kids' at activities, in line at the grocery store, etc. So i've decided that i'm going to do short blog entries every day so that i don't get so far behind.
To quickly catch you up, since i have to leave about 5 minutes AGO (!):
-Michela's softball all star team experience is going well. It's intense and time consuming, but she's loving every minute of it. Her team was CRUSHED in their first tournament, losing every game by a wide margin, but hopefully they'll do better this coming weekend. they had fun anyway, so that's what matters and she did a great job in her positions.
-Harrison's baseball all star team didn't fare any better in their weekend tournament. They were slaughtered three out of four games, but they ended the weekend on a high note by winning 12 to 7. Harrison played amazing -- getting great hits and making great plays in the field.
-With all the tournament games this weekend, marlon and I pretty much waved hi to each other on the freeway as we past each other going from game to game. Not exactly, but it felt like that!
-Jacob is as busy as ever with dance, as he has a competition coming up this coming weekend and the big dance show is in 3 weeks. He has something like 24 numbers (some of his perform more than once.) Michela is in 4. :)
-The other dancer in the family is Marlon. He's enjoying the "dad's dance," and has almost as many reheasals as Jacob does. They take this dance stuff seriously at Focus Dance Center. When i saw the rehearsal schedule, i just about thought he would kill me for signing him up, but he's loving it.
-New dance competition groups were annouced for next year's groups. jacob advanced to the next level, so he's happy about that. He'll be in Elites for jazz, tap and lyrical. they haven't annoucned honor groups yet, just large group competition numbers.
-School is good. the year is winding down. lots of projects and tests.
-Maintenance is good for the most part. I eat everything, just try very hard to keep a good balance, make every calorie count, and keep the calories low and the exercise high. sometimes i succeed at it, sometimes not. I'm basically maintaining, which is fine for maintenance, i just had hopes of losing a bit more. but my health educator today reassured me that maintaining the 120 pound loss is what's the most important thing. it's nice to eat somewhat normally again.
-My mom is doing thru a pretty severe depression and is not eating well, moving around enough, wanting to leave her apartment, etc. so that is taking careful monitoring and intervention. another thing to deal with, but i think the situation is improving somewhat.
-we still haven't finalized our summmer plans. i did decide on camps for the kids and just need to sign them up and we're still talking about/thinking about a trip around the 4th of July, which is our 15 year anniversary!
-I'm still (as always) hopelessly overwhelmed by the number of things that i have to do and on my to-do list (household stuff, kid stuff, work stuff, volunteer stuff, etc. etc) i have several new (fortunately, temporary) responsibilities that i'm trying to manage -- being in charge of ticket sales for the school musical, being the "team mom" in charge of scheduling tournaments and all communications for harrison's all star team and being a coordinator for one of the seven dance shows.
-on that note, it's time to go.....
i'll see you tomorrow!! and i haven't forgotten about posting bar mitzvah pictures, speeches and all that. i'll still get to it. believe it or not, we haven't even looked at the pictures ourselves yet! lol
Friday, May 8, 2009
Busy, Busy, Busy
I'm so sorry that it's been so long -- AGAIN. I thought things were going to settle down after the Bar Mitzvah. Well, I obviously thought wrong. It's been busier than ever.
The last two weeks I've spent hours and hours every day working on a work project. It went well and I actually enjoyed it, but basically all I did was work and do the basics to take care of the house and kids. I was already hopelessly behind on "things" (paperwork, correspondence, household projects, etc.) because of the Bar Mitzvah and this put me futher behind, but it was an important work project and had to be done.
Once it was finished, i spent some time this week catching up on post-Bar Mitzvah tasks, especially errands like returning the 11 dresses I had bought for Michela and we didn't choose, the 14 dresses for me, the 6 dress shirts for Jacob, etc. etc. Would you believe that I returned over $2,000 worth of clothes?!
we're gearing up for a very busy weekend. the kind that i have to do a typed up schedule for marlon and i to keep it straight. i won't give you the hour by hour rundown, but basically tomorrow (sat) we have: 1 baseball game, 2 softball games (semi finals and then championships), an "all star meet and greet" for Michela, two teams parties (one swimming all afternoon, one dinner and that's here), 7 hours of dance (jacob), 3 hours of dance (Marlon for the dad's dance) and i think i forgot a couple of things!
the next 2 months are going to be beyond busy with baseball allstars, softball allstars, dance competitions, big annual dance show, harrison's musical at school, normal end of year stuff, etc... I'm used to "busy," but these next two months are going to be hard for even me to juggle.
Here's a "bullet point" summary of the highlights of what's been going on (in no particular order other than the order i'm thinking of them):
-I got an iphone! so far i love it, BUT i haven't downloaded any songs or applications or had time to configure the email or anything. the texting is amazing. i got it last week. i need to make time to figure it out and get it configured.
-I'm doing a great job of maintaining my weight. i'm not really losing, but i'm not gaining either and i'm eating a full array of foods, so i'm very pleased with how it's going. hopefully eventually i'll start to slowly lose a little bit.
-i bought a FEW new things, including JEANS and a BELT. I don't think i EVER wore jeans or a belt before, believe it or not. i even have jean shorts now. and some cute capris.
-Jacob had his auditions for next year's honor groups at dance. Jazz/lyrical were last week, tap was tonight. he thinks he did well. we'll know in a couple of weeks.
-Michela made the softball all star team!!!!!!!!! She was so excited. it's very competitive. It's also going to be a very intense 6-8 weeks of 4-5 practices a week and tournaments every weekend. it's a very highly competitive level of play. it'll be a great experience and she's becoming quite a good softball player so we're hoping she'll keep it up and will be able to get a scholarship for college.
-Harrison also made his baseball all star team!!!!!!!! He was also excited. things will be equally intense and time consuming for him.
-in light of the two all star teams, our summer plans are completely up in the air and i've been trying to figure things out. we were talking about renting a motor home and taking two weeks to drive to texas to be with marlon's family, taking detours along the way to see things. but now we can't really be gone two weeks because you have to sign a committment contract for all stars. so we MAY still go to texas for the 4th of july weekend or we may do something more local, or we may just do little day trips around here all summer.
-our kids have the longest summer they've ever had this summer - 6 weeks. (not sure why.) usually we have 4 1/2 or 5 at the most. I'm trying to line up some camps for them because 6 weeks is too long to just sit around and i have a lot of work projects to work on. I think all 3 are going to go to SURF camp every day for a week. funny, huh? they have surfed a bit and want to learn how. it's a california thing. harrison might go to football camp (see below), jacob wants to try a basketball camp (huh? basketball? jacob? well, great if he wants to!). he may do a dance intensive. i'm looking into a softball camp for michela, etc. i think that jewish sleepaway camp is out of consideration because they can't be gone a week b/c of all stars and dance.
-Yes, harrison now wants to play football. he wants to try out for the freshman football team in high school (he has one more yr first). Matt Leinart is his idol. Matt Leinart runs a football camp for 5 days (overnight camp) here in long beach. Harrison is sending the receipient of his "camp scholarship" to it (he asked matt leinart's brother ryan if they'd make up the difference in cost between the $300 he raised and the $700 it costs and they said they would!)
-Marlon was away for a week and while he was gone i enjoyed a "special night" with each of the kids alone. harrison and i splurged (calorie wise and financially) and had a nice dinner out at the Melting Pot. Jacob and I went for manicures and pedicures and then had dinner at a cafe. Michela and I picked up dinner and ate it in a movie, just the two of us, then went shopping for some new clothes the next mornig.
ok, this is long enough. i'll try to update more often so that these aren't so long. and i know i still have to post bar mitzvah pics!
Barbara
The last two weeks I've spent hours and hours every day working on a work project. It went well and I actually enjoyed it, but basically all I did was work and do the basics to take care of the house and kids. I was already hopelessly behind on "things" (paperwork, correspondence, household projects, etc.) because of the Bar Mitzvah and this put me futher behind, but it was an important work project and had to be done.
Once it was finished, i spent some time this week catching up on post-Bar Mitzvah tasks, especially errands like returning the 11 dresses I had bought for Michela and we didn't choose, the 14 dresses for me, the 6 dress shirts for Jacob, etc. etc. Would you believe that I returned over $2,000 worth of clothes?!
we're gearing up for a very busy weekend. the kind that i have to do a typed up schedule for marlon and i to keep it straight. i won't give you the hour by hour rundown, but basically tomorrow (sat) we have: 1 baseball game, 2 softball games (semi finals and then championships), an "all star meet and greet" for Michela, two teams parties (one swimming all afternoon, one dinner and that's here), 7 hours of dance (jacob), 3 hours of dance (Marlon for the dad's dance) and i think i forgot a couple of things!
the next 2 months are going to be beyond busy with baseball allstars, softball allstars, dance competitions, big annual dance show, harrison's musical at school, normal end of year stuff, etc... I'm used to "busy," but these next two months are going to be hard for even me to juggle.
Here's a "bullet point" summary of the highlights of what's been going on (in no particular order other than the order i'm thinking of them):
-I got an iphone! so far i love it, BUT i haven't downloaded any songs or applications or had time to configure the email or anything. the texting is amazing. i got it last week. i need to make time to figure it out and get it configured.
-I'm doing a great job of maintaining my weight. i'm not really losing, but i'm not gaining either and i'm eating a full array of foods, so i'm very pleased with how it's going. hopefully eventually i'll start to slowly lose a little bit.
-i bought a FEW new things, including JEANS and a BELT. I don't think i EVER wore jeans or a belt before, believe it or not. i even have jean shorts now. and some cute capris.
-Jacob had his auditions for next year's honor groups at dance. Jazz/lyrical were last week, tap was tonight. he thinks he did well. we'll know in a couple of weeks.
-Michela made the softball all star team!!!!!!!!! She was so excited. it's very competitive. It's also going to be a very intense 6-8 weeks of 4-5 practices a week and tournaments every weekend. it's a very highly competitive level of play. it'll be a great experience and she's becoming quite a good softball player so we're hoping she'll keep it up and will be able to get a scholarship for college.
-Harrison also made his baseball all star team!!!!!!!! He was also excited. things will be equally intense and time consuming for him.
-in light of the two all star teams, our summer plans are completely up in the air and i've been trying to figure things out. we were talking about renting a motor home and taking two weeks to drive to texas to be with marlon's family, taking detours along the way to see things. but now we can't really be gone two weeks because you have to sign a committment contract for all stars. so we MAY still go to texas for the 4th of july weekend or we may do something more local, or we may just do little day trips around here all summer.
-our kids have the longest summer they've ever had this summer - 6 weeks. (not sure why.) usually we have 4 1/2 or 5 at the most. I'm trying to line up some camps for them because 6 weeks is too long to just sit around and i have a lot of work projects to work on. I think all 3 are going to go to SURF camp every day for a week. funny, huh? they have surfed a bit and want to learn how. it's a california thing. harrison might go to football camp (see below), jacob wants to try a basketball camp (huh? basketball? jacob? well, great if he wants to!). he may do a dance intensive. i'm looking into a softball camp for michela, etc. i think that jewish sleepaway camp is out of consideration because they can't be gone a week b/c of all stars and dance.
-Yes, harrison now wants to play football. he wants to try out for the freshman football team in high school (he has one more yr first). Matt Leinart is his idol. Matt Leinart runs a football camp for 5 days (overnight camp) here in long beach. Harrison is sending the receipient of his "camp scholarship" to it (he asked matt leinart's brother ryan if they'd make up the difference in cost between the $300 he raised and the $700 it costs and they said they would!)
-Marlon was away for a week and while he was gone i enjoyed a "special night" with each of the kids alone. harrison and i splurged (calorie wise and financially) and had a nice dinner out at the Melting Pot. Jacob and I went for manicures and pedicures and then had dinner at a cafe. Michela and I picked up dinner and ate it in a movie, just the two of us, then went shopping for some new clothes the next mornig.
ok, this is long enough. i'll try to update more often so that these aren't so long. and i know i still have to post bar mitzvah pics!
Barbara
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Catching Up
After my last post, i sort of "checked out" for a week or so! I think i needed a break from everything structured and busy. The kids and I enjoyed their last week of break - relaxing, playing board games, getting together with friends, going to the pool, sleeping until after 9 every day, seeing some movies (17 Again was great, although if you're conservative about movies, you might want to skip it because it's somewhat "mature", Hannah Montana was dumb and my kids thought that even more than i did!).
Harrison's birthday was low key after his big weekend, but we did spend the day with some good friends at the pool and then went out to dinner and he got to have a sleepover.
It also took the rest of the week to do a lot of the "post bar mitzvah " tasks, like put the centerpieces away, unload the car, unpack from the weekend, etc.
I gave Harrison a break on his thank you notes and let him enjoy the last week of his very busy spring break. Now, though, he has a goal of a minimum of 5 per day until they're all done. I hate thank you notes that are just one little sentence, so these are "meaty," full of substace and from the heart. Please know that he is working on them (in no particular order other than the order the gifts were openened) and yours will be coming. In the meantime, Marlon and I would like to say thank you so much for your generousity. Harrison has opened up a savings account and deposited all of his Bar Mitzvah money into it and he will be saving it for college. He did use some of the many gift cards and a couple of cash birthday gifts to buy himself a new (and somewhat expensive) DeMarini baseball bat, which is apparently the ultimate in bats. let's hope he hits some homeruns with it! lol
Soon i'll return to posts about the Bar Mitzvah. I've had several requests that i post our speeches, the candlelighting ceremony script and of course pictures, so i'll work on all of that!
Oh, by the way, a brief update on my weight loss/maintenance. I've been on regular foods now for about 3 weeks. I still use their products as part of my intake, but i also eat a wide variety of foods. During the long weekend of the Bar Mitzvah, I didn't really count calories at all, ate whatever i wanted, and enjoyed the delicious foods we had at all of our events. i must admit, i was also not careful at times when i could have been more careful, but i had been strict for so long that i guess i just needed a little break from it. i didn't keep track of anything and didn't exercise, but i didn't miss any of my classes - i went right back tuesday morning, even though i knew i had gained. Sure enough, I had gained 6 pounds (i had anticipated between 2 and 10, so i wasn't surprised by this.)
i got RIGHT back on track last tuesday, still eating regular foods, but counting calories, trying to keep it low, weighing and measuring, writing it all down, back to exercise (although not the gym yet, just swimming and the elpyp at home) and as of today i lost 7.2 pounds so i lost everything i had gained plus an additional 1.2 pounds! yippee!
ok, that's it for now. more later!
Harrison's birthday was low key after his big weekend, but we did spend the day with some good friends at the pool and then went out to dinner and he got to have a sleepover.
It also took the rest of the week to do a lot of the "post bar mitzvah " tasks, like put the centerpieces away, unload the car, unpack from the weekend, etc.
I gave Harrison a break on his thank you notes and let him enjoy the last week of his very busy spring break. Now, though, he has a goal of a minimum of 5 per day until they're all done. I hate thank you notes that are just one little sentence, so these are "meaty," full of substace and from the heart. Please know that he is working on them (in no particular order other than the order the gifts were openened) and yours will be coming. In the meantime, Marlon and I would like to say thank you so much for your generousity. Harrison has opened up a savings account and deposited all of his Bar Mitzvah money into it and he will be saving it for college. He did use some of the many gift cards and a couple of cash birthday gifts to buy himself a new (and somewhat expensive) DeMarini baseball bat, which is apparently the ultimate in bats. let's hope he hits some homeruns with it! lol
Soon i'll return to posts about the Bar Mitzvah. I've had several requests that i post our speeches, the candlelighting ceremony script and of course pictures, so i'll work on all of that!
Oh, by the way, a brief update on my weight loss/maintenance. I've been on regular foods now for about 3 weeks. I still use their products as part of my intake, but i also eat a wide variety of foods. During the long weekend of the Bar Mitzvah, I didn't really count calories at all, ate whatever i wanted, and enjoyed the delicious foods we had at all of our events. i must admit, i was also not careful at times when i could have been more careful, but i had been strict for so long that i guess i just needed a little break from it. i didn't keep track of anything and didn't exercise, but i didn't miss any of my classes - i went right back tuesday morning, even though i knew i had gained. Sure enough, I had gained 6 pounds (i had anticipated between 2 and 10, so i wasn't surprised by this.)
i got RIGHT back on track last tuesday, still eating regular foods, but counting calories, trying to keep it low, weighing and measuring, writing it all down, back to exercise (although not the gym yet, just swimming and the elpyp at home) and as of today i lost 7.2 pounds so i lost everything i had gained plus an additional 1.2 pounds! yippee!
ok, that's it for now. more later!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Bar Mitzvah Reflections, Part 1
It's going to take many posts, i'm sure, to tell everything about the Bar Mitzvah and weekend. Here's the first one, which is the text of my Kids Konnection article for May that I wrote this morning. It's a good start on my recap!
* * *
Words cannot adequately describe the magnitude of the emotions I am feeling and the thoughts that I want to express as I reflect about the most wonderful weekend of our lives as a family – the Bar Mitzvah of our oldest son. Every aspect was perfect. Each element exceeded our expectations. Being with so many members of both sides of our extended family from near and far was incredible. The pride we felt as Harrison led services and chanted Torah flawlessly, spoke words of wisdom articulately and conducted himself with poise, maturity and personality filled our hearts with great joy. The parties were all perfect with excellent food, beautiful decorations, wonderful “little touches” and everyone having the time of their lives! Here are some details to aid you in planning your own simchas.
1. Invitations. We were thrilled with Jackie Wolf (Jackie@wolfiesprint.com) who orders from the major companies and offers a discount. There is a huge range of styles and prices. Having a traditional invite that incorporated Hebrew was important to us and we spent hours on the wording. We received many compliments and no one knew that we had chosen a style at the low end of the price spectrum!
2. Involve your Child. We were fortunate that Harrison wanted to be involved in ALL of the planning. He helped with everything and was a part of all decisions (except for a couple of “surprises” I thought would be fun for him.) His involvement made it more special and we had so much fun and got so close doing everything together.
3. Service. Thanks to our well-prepared son and wonderful clergy, the service was beautiful and moving. We chose to personalize the service in a few ways and we were very grateful that we were allowed us to do so. It was important to us to “honor” and involve as many of our family members as we could because it was so meaningful to us that they were here to share this special day. So we added extra prayers, a special presentation of the tallit of my father, for whom Harrison is named, an instrumental piece (by Harrison on the trombone and our other children and two of their close friends from temple, all on different instruments) and we have the distinction of having more people for Aliyot than any other family!
4. Meals. Harrison wanted an evening party so we chose to have a luncheon following the service as well as the evening party. It was nice to do this because it gave people a chance to really be together. I did assigned table seating for both events and put a lot of thought and effort into mixing people up so that they weren’t sitting with the same people for both events, which everyone seemed to enjoy. We also had a Shabbat dinner for family on Friday night and a Sunday brunch for family and some close friends on Sunday morning, and we were very blessed that family members generously offered to host all of these “extra” events including the very “upscale” Saturday evening cocktail hour. Our caterers, Nina Varkel and Ruth Gueta of Gourmet Caterers (www.gourmetcaterers.net) were phenomenal in all respects and I highly recommend them. The food was beyond delicious, the presentation of the food was amazing and they were a joy to work with.
5. Venues. We were so pleased with our choice of venues. Having the extended Kiddush luncheon at the synagogue was perfect because everyone went straight from the service into the lunch. We had the evening party at the JCC, which was great. The dance floor was the largest we’ve seen and the set up of the room worked perfectly. There was plenty of space and it felt “right” to have a Jewish event at a “Jewish venue.” I looked at more than fifty places and the cost of the JCC was comparable to most of the other places and we got more space for the money (the use of other parts of the facility for the cocktail hour, buffet stations, etc.)
6. DJ. Mark Fortier of What a Party (www.whataparty.com) was simply amazing. He had the right amount of “energy” (he was “up,” but he wasn’t too hyper) and once we walked into the door of the ballroom, he did his thing and kept things moving along perfectly on schedule. Everyone there danced the night away and had the best night ever!
7. Décor. To keep things “moderate” and not “over the top,” we did all the décor ourselves. The lunch theme was based on Harrison’s mitzvah projects (which involved tutoring Santa Ana kids with their reading) and the centerpieces and baskets on the Bima were wrapped with pretty Star of David cellophane, tied with sparkling blue and silver ribbons, and filled with books that Harrison will be donated so they looked nice but served a useful purpose. The evening’s theme was “Harrison’s World,” with centerpieces made of vases filled with pretty rocks, tied with sparkly silver and blue ribbons, adorned with Stars of David, and each featured a photograph of Harrison doing something important to him (with the table placecards matching the tables.) We made the centerpieces and all the table placecards ourselves, and even though they looked homemade, they were creative and special (it helps that I do calligraphy.) Making the sign-in board and other “photo boards” for décor was easy and fun. Decorating baskets for programs, kippots, etc. made everything festive and beautiful for little cost and effort. Our balloon vendor, Irma Minsky (minskyfam@att.net) was excellent and decorated the room beautifully with arches, balloon trees and a fun “exploding balloon,” while keeping within our strict budget.
8. Little Touches. All the special extra touches added so much: the program booklet at the service that explained everything and mentioned everyone involved, Harrison’s Jewish friends led Havdallah at the party, special presentations to Harrison by his siblings, a candlelighting ceremony honoring close friends and family, a video montage made by Harrison’s uncle, (which was incredible), fun party give-aways, inexpensive party favors (personalized pens at lunch, bags of candy in the evening), etc.
9. The Hotel. I negotiated an amazing rate at the Residence Inn by Marriott in Irvine. We had a block of 25 suites and everyone enjoyed the luxury and comfort of the recently renovated rooms, the complimentary breakfast, the common areas to congregate, the fun sports deck and the fact that they let us use and bring in our own food to their downstairs “ballroom” for a large family seder.
10. Capturing the Day. Our photographer and videographer were fantastic: Mike Perez for photography (jacquelyngp@gmail.com) and Dennis Backer for videography (dbacker@mediabydesign.net).
11. ENJOY EVERYTHING. Most my important advice is to work as hard as you need to (and we worked really hard) to plan everything and then put it all aside. We were able to do this and I can honestly say that we savored and enjoyed every moment of the weekend.. It didn’t “fly by in a blur” as so many big events do, we were calm and relaxed, and we had the time of our lives. A few minor things didn’t go “exactly” as planned (very few, actually, given the number of events and people and all that was involved), but we didn’t worry about it and we just enjoyed each and every second of this wonderful simcha. We achieved our goals of keeping our focus on the importance of the service and Mitzvah projects and having fun celebration events that incorporated all the elements but were not “over the top.” It will be hard to come down from the clouds and return to a reality that doesn’t involve Bar Mitzvah planning and enjoying, but fortunately we have another one to look forward to in 2 ½ years!
* * *
Words cannot adequately describe the magnitude of the emotions I am feeling and the thoughts that I want to express as I reflect about the most wonderful weekend of our lives as a family – the Bar Mitzvah of our oldest son. Every aspect was perfect. Each element exceeded our expectations. Being with so many members of both sides of our extended family from near and far was incredible. The pride we felt as Harrison led services and chanted Torah flawlessly, spoke words of wisdom articulately and conducted himself with poise, maturity and personality filled our hearts with great joy. The parties were all perfect with excellent food, beautiful decorations, wonderful “little touches” and everyone having the time of their lives! Here are some details to aid you in planning your own simchas.
1. Invitations. We were thrilled with Jackie Wolf (Jackie@wolfiesprint.com) who orders from the major companies and offers a discount. There is a huge range of styles and prices. Having a traditional invite that incorporated Hebrew was important to us and we spent hours on the wording. We received many compliments and no one knew that we had chosen a style at the low end of the price spectrum!
2. Involve your Child. We were fortunate that Harrison wanted to be involved in ALL of the planning. He helped with everything and was a part of all decisions (except for a couple of “surprises” I thought would be fun for him.) His involvement made it more special and we had so much fun and got so close doing everything together.
3. Service. Thanks to our well-prepared son and wonderful clergy, the service was beautiful and moving. We chose to personalize the service in a few ways and we were very grateful that we were allowed us to do so. It was important to us to “honor” and involve as many of our family members as we could because it was so meaningful to us that they were here to share this special day. So we added extra prayers, a special presentation of the tallit of my father, for whom Harrison is named, an instrumental piece (by Harrison on the trombone and our other children and two of their close friends from temple, all on different instruments) and we have the distinction of having more people for Aliyot than any other family!
4. Meals. Harrison wanted an evening party so we chose to have a luncheon following the service as well as the evening party. It was nice to do this because it gave people a chance to really be together. I did assigned table seating for both events and put a lot of thought and effort into mixing people up so that they weren’t sitting with the same people for both events, which everyone seemed to enjoy. We also had a Shabbat dinner for family on Friday night and a Sunday brunch for family and some close friends on Sunday morning, and we were very blessed that family members generously offered to host all of these “extra” events including the very “upscale” Saturday evening cocktail hour. Our caterers, Nina Varkel and Ruth Gueta of Gourmet Caterers (www.gourmetcaterers.net) were phenomenal in all respects and I highly recommend them. The food was beyond delicious, the presentation of the food was amazing and they were a joy to work with.
5. Venues. We were so pleased with our choice of venues. Having the extended Kiddush luncheon at the synagogue was perfect because everyone went straight from the service into the lunch. We had the evening party at the JCC, which was great. The dance floor was the largest we’ve seen and the set up of the room worked perfectly. There was plenty of space and it felt “right” to have a Jewish event at a “Jewish venue.” I looked at more than fifty places and the cost of the JCC was comparable to most of the other places and we got more space for the money (the use of other parts of the facility for the cocktail hour, buffet stations, etc.)
6. DJ. Mark Fortier of What a Party (www.whataparty.com) was simply amazing. He had the right amount of “energy” (he was “up,” but he wasn’t too hyper) and once we walked into the door of the ballroom, he did his thing and kept things moving along perfectly on schedule. Everyone there danced the night away and had the best night ever!
7. Décor. To keep things “moderate” and not “over the top,” we did all the décor ourselves. The lunch theme was based on Harrison’s mitzvah projects (which involved tutoring Santa Ana kids with their reading) and the centerpieces and baskets on the Bima were wrapped with pretty Star of David cellophane, tied with sparkling blue and silver ribbons, and filled with books that Harrison will be donated so they looked nice but served a useful purpose. The evening’s theme was “Harrison’s World,” with centerpieces made of vases filled with pretty rocks, tied with sparkly silver and blue ribbons, adorned with Stars of David, and each featured a photograph of Harrison doing something important to him (with the table placecards matching the tables.) We made the centerpieces and all the table placecards ourselves, and even though they looked homemade, they were creative and special (it helps that I do calligraphy.) Making the sign-in board and other “photo boards” for décor was easy and fun. Decorating baskets for programs, kippots, etc. made everything festive and beautiful for little cost and effort. Our balloon vendor, Irma Minsky (minskyfam@att.net) was excellent and decorated the room beautifully with arches, balloon trees and a fun “exploding balloon,” while keeping within our strict budget.
8. Little Touches. All the special extra touches added so much: the program booklet at the service that explained everything and mentioned everyone involved, Harrison’s Jewish friends led Havdallah at the party, special presentations to Harrison by his siblings, a candlelighting ceremony honoring close friends and family, a video montage made by Harrison’s uncle, (which was incredible), fun party give-aways, inexpensive party favors (personalized pens at lunch, bags of candy in the evening), etc.
9. The Hotel. I negotiated an amazing rate at the Residence Inn by Marriott in Irvine. We had a block of 25 suites and everyone enjoyed the luxury and comfort of the recently renovated rooms, the complimentary breakfast, the common areas to congregate, the fun sports deck and the fact that they let us use and bring in our own food to their downstairs “ballroom” for a large family seder.
10. Capturing the Day. Our photographer and videographer were fantastic: Mike Perez for photography (jacquelyngp@gmail.com) and Dennis Backer for videography (dbacker@mediabydesign.net).
11. ENJOY EVERYTHING. Most my important advice is to work as hard as you need to (and we worked really hard) to plan everything and then put it all aside. We were able to do this and I can honestly say that we savored and enjoyed every moment of the weekend.. It didn’t “fly by in a blur” as so many big events do, we were calm and relaxed, and we had the time of our lives. A few minor things didn’t go “exactly” as planned (very few, actually, given the number of events and people and all that was involved), but we didn’t worry about it and we just enjoyed each and every second of this wonderful simcha. We achieved our goals of keeping our focus on the importance of the service and Mitzvah projects and having fun celebration events that incorporated all the elements but were not “over the top.” It will be hard to come down from the clouds and return to a reality that doesn’t involve Bar Mitzvah planning and enjoying, but fortunately we have another one to look forward to in 2 ½ years!
Monday, April 13, 2009
special thank you!
during the time at the party that marlon and i got to say welcome and thank you to our guests for being there to celebrate with us and got to thank the many people who hosted various events and who helped us in so many ways, he accidentally forgot to mention his grandmother, Meme, who co-hosted the family shabbat dinner. so, she got a whole special (and very heartfelt) tribute when i spoke rigth afterwards.
this next tribute is the same. I accidentally forgot to thank someone who helped me a lot (it happens, i guess) and i feel terrible, but this gives me an opportunity to give her her own well deserved little tribute so maybe it was "beshert" (fate.)
one of the many people who came over and helped me with centerpieces who I forgot to mention was my good friend elaine o'connor. she and her son, Fergus, came over twice to help and it was much appreciated. but even more than this centerpiece help, i really want to thank elaine for being the wonderful friend that she is. you have probably read some of her comments here b/c she frequently comments on the blog. she has been one of my biggest cheerleaders and encouragers during my weight loss journey and her support is endless. i know i can always count on her for a smile,a hug, some encouragement or just anything. she has this knack for making me feel so good about myself and is always so sincerely complimentary about our kids.
the week of the bar mitzvah she came over to help and harrison spent an hour showing her everything and telling her about all the plans. she was so excited to hear about everything and was so excited about being at the bar mitzvah service and party that it made harrison feel so incredibly good. she is the most selfless person i know and is the epitomy of a good friend.
elaine, i can't believe i forgot to mention you, but don't worry, everyone who was there reads the blog (and many more) and now they will all know what a wonderful person and friend you are and how much i love you!!!!!!
this next tribute is the same. I accidentally forgot to thank someone who helped me a lot (it happens, i guess) and i feel terrible, but this gives me an opportunity to give her her own well deserved little tribute so maybe it was "beshert" (fate.)
one of the many people who came over and helped me with centerpieces who I forgot to mention was my good friend elaine o'connor. she and her son, Fergus, came over twice to help and it was much appreciated. but even more than this centerpiece help, i really want to thank elaine for being the wonderful friend that she is. you have probably read some of her comments here b/c she frequently comments on the blog. she has been one of my biggest cheerleaders and encouragers during my weight loss journey and her support is endless. i know i can always count on her for a smile,a hug, some encouragement or just anything. she has this knack for making me feel so good about myself and is always so sincerely complimentary about our kids.
the week of the bar mitzvah she came over to help and harrison spent an hour showing her everything and telling her about all the plans. she was so excited to hear about everything and was so excited about being at the bar mitzvah service and party that it made harrison feel so incredibly good. she is the most selfless person i know and is the epitomy of a good friend.
elaine, i can't believe i forgot to mention you, but don't worry, everyone who was there reads the blog (and many more) and now they will all know what a wonderful person and friend you are and how much i love you!!!!!!
First of, I'm sure several, recaps of the big Bar Mitzvah and weekend celebration!
Our big weekend is over and the last of the relatives in town are leaving first thing tomorrow. I will be updating with detailed recaps of the Bar Mitzvah and weekend, but right now i want to get to sleep because as you can imagine, i'm pretty exhausted.
Words cannot even describe how perfect the whole bar mitzvah and weekend was - each and every party was spectular and beyond amazing, harrison did incredible in leading the service and reading from the Torah, and every little detail was just perfect. I had high expectations about everything because i planned it and knew what to expect, but it exceeded even my expectations. Harrison said it best when he told us last night that the day and night of his bar mitzvah was the best day of his life and the whole weekend was the best weekend of his life and he has no idea how anything will ever come close to being as good the rest of his life!
I promise I will write about everything so that those of you who weren't able to come can experience and those of you who were here to celebrate with us can re-live the experience. but i'll save that for another post.
Words cannot even describe how perfect the whole bar mitzvah and weekend was - each and every party was spectular and beyond amazing, harrison did incredible in leading the service and reading from the Torah, and every little detail was just perfect. I had high expectations about everything because i planned it and knew what to expect, but it exceeded even my expectations. Harrison said it best when he told us last night that the day and night of his bar mitzvah was the best day of his life and the whole weekend was the best weekend of his life and he has no idea how anything will ever come close to being as good the rest of his life!
I promise I will write about everything so that those of you who weren't able to come can experience and those of you who were here to celebrate with us can re-live the experience. but i'll save that for another post.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Long Overdue Update
I'm so sorry, faithful blog readers, that I've been so long in updated. I have received so many emails asking me what's wrong because there haven't been any posts in awhile. Many apologies! Nothing is wrong. Everything is fine and great, actually. We've just been busy beyond belief and there simply hasn't been time for anything extra. I'll try to catch you up and do better!
So, here's what's new:
-Weight loss continues to go well and i'm proud to say that i've now lost almost 120 pounds, which is about 5 pounds more than my interim goal. So, i've started back onto regular foods now, having gone through the slow transition of reintroducing things. The timing was just how i planned, just in time for the Bar Mitzvah week and weekend. It has been wonderful to be able to eat real food, but I'm being very careful to keep within my calorie budget. I worked way too hard to lose the weight to let it get out of control. I still look and feel terrific. My plan is to still lose another 30-40 in maintenance by contiuing to keep my calorie intake low, using the plan's shakes and entrees to help me do that (but still eating regular foods as well) and of course continuing the high amounts of exercise. I'm really pleased with how i've done and continue to do. And shopping for Bar Mitzvah clothes was so fun! Now i have new bras, new underwear (too much information?) and 3 new gorgeous dresses. everything else is still kinda big, but i'm not ready for a whole new wardrobe... yet.
-Work is good. i'm really enjoying this project i'm working on. once the bar mitzvah is over, i will be spending some time completing it and then... better sit down for this one b/c it might shock you... i'm planning on trying to work even more to bring me up to almost full time (but still flexible of course.) Believe it or not, this bad economy should be a good one for obtaining independent contracting business because small firms will still have work but might not want people on their regular payroll. Hiring me as an independent contractor is a win-win situation for both of us -- flexible for me (and i can say no to work if i want or need to) and they will have some qualified to do work, but can also avoid paying benefits and can just say they don't have work if they don't.
-kids are doing great. They're on spring break, which is nice. we're trying to intermingle some fun things in with bar mitzvah prep and we'll be doing some fun things with relatives next week. they seem to be having fun helping with decorations, etc. (esp Harrison of course) and Patti and Brian bought them Rockband 2 so they have been playing with that a ton! it's noisy, but keeps them happy. They are still busy with their activities (life doesn't pause just b/c we have a big bar mitzvah coming up!) and Harrison was excited to be selected to go on the middle school honor trip for a week to Catalina in May (it's an educational thing.)
-Of course i saved the biggest thing for last...the bar mitzvah. I can't believe that we are one week away. where does the time go? i remember when we first got the date assigned to us.... almost 3 years ago! Harrison is completely ready from the religious standpoint and we couldn't be more proud. the rest is coming together. So much to be done. it has helped that he is on break and he has been VERY hands on in the planning of this. very, very helpful and he and i have been having a really good time doing everything. we've had a lot of laughs as we do things like listen to itunes to select songs for things and make centerpieces. he isn't worried at all about his hebrew and leading the service... he's just worried about getting it all done. Our event isn't "over the top..." really it isn't... but it will seem like that because of all the little touches that we're doing. It's going to be fabulous. If it was just a matter of planning the actual bar mitzvah party, it would be a piece of cake. What's hard is that we're having two parties (lunch and dinner) plus other events that weekend like a passover seder, brunch at our house, etc. family is being so kind as to host different things, but it's just a matter of coordinating it all. harrison asks me every hour or so if we can cross another thing off the list of things to do! I've had a lot of help here and there from friends and I know it will all get done.
ok, this turned into a far longer post that i intended and i must go. it's 11:30 and I want to get an early start to the day and be very productive, so i need to sleep!
More later.
So, here's what's new:
-Weight loss continues to go well and i'm proud to say that i've now lost almost 120 pounds, which is about 5 pounds more than my interim goal. So, i've started back onto regular foods now, having gone through the slow transition of reintroducing things. The timing was just how i planned, just in time for the Bar Mitzvah week and weekend. It has been wonderful to be able to eat real food, but I'm being very careful to keep within my calorie budget. I worked way too hard to lose the weight to let it get out of control. I still look and feel terrific. My plan is to still lose another 30-40 in maintenance by contiuing to keep my calorie intake low, using the plan's shakes and entrees to help me do that (but still eating regular foods as well) and of course continuing the high amounts of exercise. I'm really pleased with how i've done and continue to do. And shopping for Bar Mitzvah clothes was so fun! Now i have new bras, new underwear (too much information?) and 3 new gorgeous dresses. everything else is still kinda big, but i'm not ready for a whole new wardrobe... yet.
-Work is good. i'm really enjoying this project i'm working on. once the bar mitzvah is over, i will be spending some time completing it and then... better sit down for this one b/c it might shock you... i'm planning on trying to work even more to bring me up to almost full time (but still flexible of course.) Believe it or not, this bad economy should be a good one for obtaining independent contracting business because small firms will still have work but might not want people on their regular payroll. Hiring me as an independent contractor is a win-win situation for both of us -- flexible for me (and i can say no to work if i want or need to) and they will have some qualified to do work, but can also avoid paying benefits and can just say they don't have work if they don't.
-kids are doing great. They're on spring break, which is nice. we're trying to intermingle some fun things in with bar mitzvah prep and we'll be doing some fun things with relatives next week. they seem to be having fun helping with decorations, etc. (esp Harrison of course) and Patti and Brian bought them Rockband 2 so they have been playing with that a ton! it's noisy, but keeps them happy. They are still busy with their activities (life doesn't pause just b/c we have a big bar mitzvah coming up!) and Harrison was excited to be selected to go on the middle school honor trip for a week to Catalina in May (it's an educational thing.)
-Of course i saved the biggest thing for last...the bar mitzvah. I can't believe that we are one week away. where does the time go? i remember when we first got the date assigned to us.... almost 3 years ago! Harrison is completely ready from the religious standpoint and we couldn't be more proud. the rest is coming together. So much to be done. it has helped that he is on break and he has been VERY hands on in the planning of this. very, very helpful and he and i have been having a really good time doing everything. we've had a lot of laughs as we do things like listen to itunes to select songs for things and make centerpieces. he isn't worried at all about his hebrew and leading the service... he's just worried about getting it all done. Our event isn't "over the top..." really it isn't... but it will seem like that because of all the little touches that we're doing. It's going to be fabulous. If it was just a matter of planning the actual bar mitzvah party, it would be a piece of cake. What's hard is that we're having two parties (lunch and dinner) plus other events that weekend like a passover seder, brunch at our house, etc. family is being so kind as to host different things, but it's just a matter of coordinating it all. harrison asks me every hour or so if we can cross another thing off the list of things to do! I've had a lot of help here and there from friends and I know it will all get done.
ok, this turned into a far longer post that i intended and i must go. it's 11:30 and I want to get an early start to the day and be very productive, so i need to sleep!
More later.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
A must read!
As most of you know, I’m a voracious reader. I love to read every spare chance I get. I usually go through a couple of novels a week (at least 5 when on vacation.) I have a whole list of favorite authors. An author I just discovered, Peggy Chrusciaki, has just jumped to the very top of my list! And what’s more, she’s the mother of a friend and I have had many personal email exchanges with her.
When I sat down to eat my lunch a few minutes ago, an incredible feeling of sadness and let-down washed over me because last night I finished her book, which is probably the best book I have ever read. (It was actually two books because there was a “part one” and a “part two.”) I was sad and let down not because I didn’t enjoy the books, but because they were over and today I didn’t have more of the story to look forward to!
It was one of those “catch 22 situations,” where I couldn’t put the book down because I just had to see what happened, but I also didn’t want to finish it because I knew how disappointing it would be when it was over and I didn’t have any left of it to read.
If you enjoy family sagas and stories about real people, you MUST read these two books. You will love some of the characters, you will hate others. You will relate their lives to yours. You will feel protective over some of them, you will feel like crying for them, and you will feel like laughing over some of the things they say and do. You will want to be part of their family and you will be glad that you’re not. Just when you think that there is no way one of the characters could possibly hurt or betray his family any more than he already has, he goes and does it again. But as angry and frustrated as you may get during the stories (and these books are long so you have lots to read – nothing worse than a short book in my opinion!), I guarantee that you’ll feel good at the end and that’s all I’ll tell you. If you want something wonderful to read this spring and summer, get these books – you deserve to relax and I can’t think of a better way!
Here’s how you can contact the author about buying them directly from her, even though the books are available in bookstores. www.simonsays1and2.com, www.peggypoet.blogspot.com
p.s. maybe we can all encourage her to get her fingers moving on that keyboard and write a Simon Says Book 3 – there’s still more of the story to be told!!!!!!!!!!
When I sat down to eat my lunch a few minutes ago, an incredible feeling of sadness and let-down washed over me because last night I finished her book, which is probably the best book I have ever read. (It was actually two books because there was a “part one” and a “part two.”) I was sad and let down not because I didn’t enjoy the books, but because they were over and today I didn’t have more of the story to look forward to!
It was one of those “catch 22 situations,” where I couldn’t put the book down because I just had to see what happened, but I also didn’t want to finish it because I knew how disappointing it would be when it was over and I didn’t have any left of it to read.
If you enjoy family sagas and stories about real people, you MUST read these two books. You will love some of the characters, you will hate others. You will relate their lives to yours. You will feel protective over some of them, you will feel like crying for them, and you will feel like laughing over some of the things they say and do. You will want to be part of their family and you will be glad that you’re not. Just when you think that there is no way one of the characters could possibly hurt or betray his family any more than he already has, he goes and does it again. But as angry and frustrated as you may get during the stories (and these books are long so you have lots to read – nothing worse than a short book in my opinion!), I guarantee that you’ll feel good at the end and that’s all I’ll tell you. If you want something wonderful to read this spring and summer, get these books – you deserve to relax and I can’t think of a better way!
Here’s how you can contact the author about buying them directly from her, even though the books are available in bookstores. www.simonsays1and2.com, www.peggypoet.blogspot.com
p.s. maybe we can all encourage her to get her fingers moving on that keyboard and write a Simon Says Book 3 – there’s still more of the story to be told!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Odds and Ends
The bullet point format worked well last time, so I think I'll keep that for now.
-Please check our Bar Mitzvah blog at www.harrisonsbarmitzvah.blogspot.com. There is an important letter from Harrison on there regarding his Mitzvah project and he would love and appreciate your support to reach his goals and help an underprivileged child.
-Hilarious comment of the week: at dinner last night I was telling everyone about how I dropped Harrison off at the family resource center where he tutors kids with their reading (part of his Mitzvah project), raced to the Dollar Tree to buy a few more items I need for the centerpieces, and then raced back to get him. Jacob looked at me with a straight face and said "see, mom, money DOES grow on trees!" I'm constantly telling the kids "money doesn't grow on trees, guys" when i feel like they're over-spending. We cracked up! Almost as funny as the time when Michela was about 3 or 4 and was wearing this beautiful dress to Marlon's sister's wedding and someone asked her where her mom bought it and she said "the 99 cent store - it's her favorite store!"
-I'm slowly but surely getting things done. My work project is going well, although it's very time consuming. Little by little, I'm able to cross things accomplished off the Bar Mitzvah task list and boy do i draw lines through those tasks with flourish. It's coming together and we're actually having a lot of fun doing everything, it's just that everything takes longer than I expect. For example, Harrison and I spent about 4 hours listening to songs on itunes to pick the ones for his photo montage. We were cracking up at some of the crazy songs we found, but we found great ones that have perfect lyrics and nice tunes. And something simple like ordering yalmulkes-- i thought that would take 15 minutes. Well, after I looked on-line, found three places that looked good, called them all, compared their products and prices, figured out what we wanted on the imprints, finalized the colors, called back with more questions, then agonized over how many to order, i finally placed the order 1 1/2 hours later!
-Weight loss continues to go well. I've now lost 115 pounds and am just about ready to continue my transition on to maintenance, where i will hopefully slowly continue to lose the last 40 or so.
-That's about all that's going on. Our life is pretty much about Bar Mitzvah stuff, this work project, exercising and just regular activities.
-Don't forget to check the bar mitzvah blog!
-Please check our Bar Mitzvah blog at www.harrisonsbarmitzvah.blogspot.com. There is an important letter from Harrison on there regarding his Mitzvah project and he would love and appreciate your support to reach his goals and help an underprivileged child.
-Hilarious comment of the week: at dinner last night I was telling everyone about how I dropped Harrison off at the family resource center where he tutors kids with their reading (part of his Mitzvah project), raced to the Dollar Tree to buy a few more items I need for the centerpieces, and then raced back to get him. Jacob looked at me with a straight face and said "see, mom, money DOES grow on trees!" I'm constantly telling the kids "money doesn't grow on trees, guys" when i feel like they're over-spending. We cracked up! Almost as funny as the time when Michela was about 3 or 4 and was wearing this beautiful dress to Marlon's sister's wedding and someone asked her where her mom bought it and she said "the 99 cent store - it's her favorite store!"
-I'm slowly but surely getting things done. My work project is going well, although it's very time consuming. Little by little, I'm able to cross things accomplished off the Bar Mitzvah task list and boy do i draw lines through those tasks with flourish. It's coming together and we're actually having a lot of fun doing everything, it's just that everything takes longer than I expect. For example, Harrison and I spent about 4 hours listening to songs on itunes to pick the ones for his photo montage. We were cracking up at some of the crazy songs we found, but we found great ones that have perfect lyrics and nice tunes. And something simple like ordering yalmulkes-- i thought that would take 15 minutes. Well, after I looked on-line, found three places that looked good, called them all, compared their products and prices, figured out what we wanted on the imprints, finalized the colors, called back with more questions, then agonized over how many to order, i finally placed the order 1 1/2 hours later!
-Weight loss continues to go well. I've now lost 115 pounds and am just about ready to continue my transition on to maintenance, where i will hopefully slowly continue to lose the last 40 or so.
-That's about all that's going on. Our life is pretty much about Bar Mitzvah stuff, this work project, exercising and just regular activities.
-Don't forget to check the bar mitzvah blog!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Long Overdue Update
I'm so sorry that it's been so long since I've updated this blog. I know what you're thinking -- what happened to the twice a week plan?
Just totally and completely overwhelmed by everything that has to get done, so haven't had much time to update.
I'll do this update in bullet point format since there's a lot to cover:
-Weight loss continues to go well. I'm still averaging about 2-3 pounds a week, even though I'm on healthy solutions now instead of the very low calorie diet. I'm no longer under the dr's supervision. I have 3 shakes or cereals, 2 entrees and at least 5 fruits and vegetables each day. So basically i'm eating normally. Still exercising as much as i can, but we've been busier than usual, so that takes a toll on that.
-Harrison's big southern california soccer tournament FINALLY took place last weekend. It was hectic because Jacob and Michela had a lot of stuff too, so they stayed with my mom for the weekend, which worked out well and she and they enjoyed it, but lining up different people to pick them up and drop them off for all of their stuff was incredibly difficult. And we couldn't stay overnight anyway because it was the bar mitzvah party of a good friend, but it worked well.
-It's good that it was an honor to get to go, because it was demoralizing there! They went into it being undefeated. In the tournament they lost 5-0, 5-1 and then 12-1. pretty brutal.
-Jacob and Michela both made the talent show and are having fun at the practices.
-Harrison made the middle school musical but didn't get the part that he wanted the most (Gaston.) He got a good part (Maurice, the dad, plus some "extra roles,") but was disappointed at first. He's over it now
-Softball and baseball both started and are going well
-Marlon was in DC and had a good trip
-I have a huge work project, which is good, but it's due April 10th, which is bad. can you believe it? what were the odds? the day before the Bar Mitzvah! But i'm working on both night and day and telling marlon that he needs to help pick up the slack with regular household stuff. like today he spent the whole day with michela at her opening day for softball while harrison and i did bar mitzvah stuff before his baseball game.
-bar mitzvah planning is going well, there's just so much left to do and i can't believe it's in 5 short weeks. for an update on that, if you're interested, check out the bar mitzvah blog at www.harrisonsbarmitzvah.blogspot.com. I'm actually way more creative and artistic than I thought and am having fun designing table centerpieces, name cards, etc.
Ok, times up. It's almost 11 p.m. but it's daylight savings time tonight, so it's really almost midnight. I have about 10 more small bar mitzvah tasks to do and then i need to go to sleep!
Just totally and completely overwhelmed by everything that has to get done, so haven't had much time to update.
I'll do this update in bullet point format since there's a lot to cover:
-Weight loss continues to go well. I'm still averaging about 2-3 pounds a week, even though I'm on healthy solutions now instead of the very low calorie diet. I'm no longer under the dr's supervision. I have 3 shakes or cereals, 2 entrees and at least 5 fruits and vegetables each day. So basically i'm eating normally. Still exercising as much as i can, but we've been busier than usual, so that takes a toll on that.
-Harrison's big southern california soccer tournament FINALLY took place last weekend. It was hectic because Jacob and Michela had a lot of stuff too, so they stayed with my mom for the weekend, which worked out well and she and they enjoyed it, but lining up different people to pick them up and drop them off for all of their stuff was incredibly difficult. And we couldn't stay overnight anyway because it was the bar mitzvah party of a good friend, but it worked well.
-It's good that it was an honor to get to go, because it was demoralizing there! They went into it being undefeated. In the tournament they lost 5-0, 5-1 and then 12-1. pretty brutal.
-Jacob and Michela both made the talent show and are having fun at the practices.
-Harrison made the middle school musical but didn't get the part that he wanted the most (Gaston.) He got a good part (Maurice, the dad, plus some "extra roles,") but was disappointed at first. He's over it now
-Softball and baseball both started and are going well
-Marlon was in DC and had a good trip
-I have a huge work project, which is good, but it's due April 10th, which is bad. can you believe it? what were the odds? the day before the Bar Mitzvah! But i'm working on both night and day and telling marlon that he needs to help pick up the slack with regular household stuff. like today he spent the whole day with michela at her opening day for softball while harrison and i did bar mitzvah stuff before his baseball game.
-bar mitzvah planning is going well, there's just so much left to do and i can't believe it's in 5 short weeks. for an update on that, if you're interested, check out the bar mitzvah blog at www.harrisonsbarmitzvah.blogspot.com. I'm actually way more creative and artistic than I thought and am having fun designing table centerpieces, name cards, etc.
Ok, times up. It's almost 11 p.m. but it's daylight savings time tonight, so it's really almost midnight. I have about 10 more small bar mitzvah tasks to do and then i need to go to sleep!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Weekend update
We were supposed to be in San Diego all weekend for the Southern California Championships for Harrison's soccer team, but it got postponed yet again because of predicted rain that didn't materialize. So, instead, we had a pretty mellow week and weekend.
Here are the highlights:
-Jacob and Michela both auditioned for the talent show and did really well. (Jacob did a tap number, Michela sang lead vocals in a band with some friends)
-Harrison got a callback in his audition for the middle school musical (Beauty and the Beast) and is hopeful he'll get a leading role
-With a little help from my mom and a good friend, I got the Bar Mitzvah invitations assembled, calligraphized (i know that's probably not a word), sealed, and mailed (well, they're going in the mail tomorrow). We're really happy with how the invites came out, esp since we chose one of the least expensive ones, but we love them and we worded them ourselves so we put a lot of thought and effort into them
-I got new bras -- i had gone down about 4 cup sizes! :) amazing what new bras will do. i'm nice and perky now! lol
-Several of my friends took me out to celebrate my 100 pound weight loss - we saw a movie and had coffee out. woo hoo!
-Midnight turned 3 years old yesterday (21 in dog years.) :)
I guess that's pretty much it. Things are good. Felt a bit less busy this week but that doesn't mean that I still don't have five gazillion things to do, it just means that I didn't stress out about them all!!!!!
Have a good start to your week!
Here are the highlights:
-Jacob and Michela both auditioned for the talent show and did really well. (Jacob did a tap number, Michela sang lead vocals in a band with some friends)
-Harrison got a callback in his audition for the middle school musical (Beauty and the Beast) and is hopeful he'll get a leading role
-With a little help from my mom and a good friend, I got the Bar Mitzvah invitations assembled, calligraphized (i know that's probably not a word), sealed, and mailed (well, they're going in the mail tomorrow). We're really happy with how the invites came out, esp since we chose one of the least expensive ones, but we love them and we worded them ourselves so we put a lot of thought and effort into them
-I got new bras -- i had gone down about 4 cup sizes! :) amazing what new bras will do. i'm nice and perky now! lol
-Several of my friends took me out to celebrate my 100 pound weight loss - we saw a movie and had coffee out. woo hoo!
-Midnight turned 3 years old yesterday (21 in dog years.) :)
I guess that's pretty much it. Things are good. Felt a bit less busy this week but that doesn't mean that I still don't have five gazillion things to do, it just means that I didn't stress out about them all!!!!!
Have a good start to your week!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Weekend Update
Whew. What a weekend! Here's a quick recap:
Jacob had his first dance competition of the "season." He's in 5 competition numbers. Last year he was in 3. It's a lot. Kept us at the Disneyland Hotel for hours and hours all three days, but of course he loves every minute of it. His numbers did well. His small group jazz honor group during which he has a nice solo feature took platinum and placed 4th overall, so that was great. His other three group numbers got gold, so there's room for improvement, but it was the first competition. He did AWESOME on his tap solo (it's really a level above him but our studio director who is his choreographer views the solo as an opportunity to really challenge yourself and strive for the next level) and got gold, almost platinum, placing 5th overall out of 9 in his age/category. There are three from his dance studio in that category and age, and he placed just behind one of them and just ahead of the other, which was really great because both of them have been tap dancing longer than he has and are at a higher level.
While sitting around waiting for Jacob's numbers, I was very productive and re-organized my "to do" list for the Bar Mitzvah, putting everything into categories like service, catering, invitations, clothing, decorations, etc. and putting deadlines by which I need to do everything. It took some time but it was a perfect task in between watching numbers and helping Jacob with costumes, etc. Now I feel very organized and, dare I say, even a bit less overwhelmed! Still tons to do, though.
In between the hours that we were there, Michela and Harrison each had a basketball playoff game and, unfortunately, they both lost, ending their seasons. Harrison's team hadn't really done well all season, so it was expected. Michela's team was undefeated, however, so it was quite a shock to lose the game and be out of the playoffs already, but it's ok because softball and baseball have started and it's so hard to juggle the multiple sports.
Marlon, Michela and Harrison came for two of Jacob's numbers on saturday and then the four of us walked around Downtown Disney and had lunch at the ESPN Zone (we've never been there -- with a 50 foot wall-long TV screen of a basketball game and 12 other tvs with different sports, Harrison was in heaven!) and the food wasn't bad either. (my baked potato w/veggies was certainly yummy!) Sunday Harrison went with a teammate to his game but Marlon and Michela came to watch Jacob's solo. It's a big honor to be "asked" to have a solo, so it's quite a big deal.
Both Marlon and I have been having nightmares every night, so I think we're both a tad stressed out! Sat night he dreamed that I was pregnant again and he only found out about it because he overheard me telling hi mom! I dreamed that I had forgotten to order the yalmalkes for the bar mitzvah and the temple didn't have enough so the rabbi was mad at me. then i dreamed that I had forgotten to do the table seating assignments and when everyone got to the party they were running around trying to find seats and it was chaos!
I guess that's it. I better go tackle the mountains of laundry waiting to be put away while I have a few extra minutes. I think the kids change clothes in the middle of the night just to create more laundry for me!!!
Jacob had his first dance competition of the "season." He's in 5 competition numbers. Last year he was in 3. It's a lot. Kept us at the Disneyland Hotel for hours and hours all three days, but of course he loves every minute of it. His numbers did well. His small group jazz honor group during which he has a nice solo feature took platinum and placed 4th overall, so that was great. His other three group numbers got gold, so there's room for improvement, but it was the first competition. He did AWESOME on his tap solo (it's really a level above him but our studio director who is his choreographer views the solo as an opportunity to really challenge yourself and strive for the next level) and got gold, almost platinum, placing 5th overall out of 9 in his age/category. There are three from his dance studio in that category and age, and he placed just behind one of them and just ahead of the other, which was really great because both of them have been tap dancing longer than he has and are at a higher level.
While sitting around waiting for Jacob's numbers, I was very productive and re-organized my "to do" list for the Bar Mitzvah, putting everything into categories like service, catering, invitations, clothing, decorations, etc. and putting deadlines by which I need to do everything. It took some time but it was a perfect task in between watching numbers and helping Jacob with costumes, etc. Now I feel very organized and, dare I say, even a bit less overwhelmed! Still tons to do, though.
In between the hours that we were there, Michela and Harrison each had a basketball playoff game and, unfortunately, they both lost, ending their seasons. Harrison's team hadn't really done well all season, so it was expected. Michela's team was undefeated, however, so it was quite a shock to lose the game and be out of the playoffs already, but it's ok because softball and baseball have started and it's so hard to juggle the multiple sports.
Marlon, Michela and Harrison came for two of Jacob's numbers on saturday and then the four of us walked around Downtown Disney and had lunch at the ESPN Zone (we've never been there -- with a 50 foot wall-long TV screen of a basketball game and 12 other tvs with different sports, Harrison was in heaven!) and the food wasn't bad either. (my baked potato w/veggies was certainly yummy!) Sunday Harrison went with a teammate to his game but Marlon and Michela came to watch Jacob's solo. It's a big honor to be "asked" to have a solo, so it's quite a big deal.
Both Marlon and I have been having nightmares every night, so I think we're both a tad stressed out! Sat night he dreamed that I was pregnant again and he only found out about it because he overheard me telling hi mom! I dreamed that I had forgotten to order the yalmalkes for the bar mitzvah and the temple didn't have enough so the rabbi was mad at me. then i dreamed that I had forgotten to do the table seating assignments and when everyone got to the party they were running around trying to find seats and it was chaos!
I guess that's it. I better go tackle the mountains of laundry waiting to be put away while I have a few extra minutes. I think the kids change clothes in the middle of the night just to create more laundry for me!!!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The Top 5 Good and Bad Things of the Last 5 Days
Top 5 GOOD things that happened in the last five days:
1) I am LOVING eating veggies every day. They are so delicious. We went out to dinner and I was able to order and eat a MEAL -- a half of a baked potato with steamed veggies (minus the cheese sauce) at Claim Jumper. So yummy!
2) Harrison and I FINALLY finished sorting through ALL of our family pictures and choosing the ones we need for various aspects of his Bar Mitzvah. It was a HUGE job - took us hours and hours and hours and we must have gone through 2,000 pictures. But now we're done with that part of the planning, plus all of our family photos are pretty well organized.
3) I'm slowly but surely getting things done and being able to "cross off" the things I've accomplished off my unbelievable list of things to do. We even made huge progress on new clothes for the Bar Mitzvah weekend for everyone but me (i'm not ready to shop yet) and only have a few things to fill in, like ties, etc. and we found these new suits and other things at an incredible SALE at Macy's.
4) We love our brand new tile in the kitchen and have been making progress on some other minor "home improvement" projects
5) Even though I'm finding it hard to juggle the Bar Mitzvah planning along with work projects, kids' activities and life in general, and even though i feel a bit overwhelmed, it is coming together nicely and we are actually enjoying the planning and finding things to laugh about. Every night I have some new story for the family (like the day I made the balloon vendor choke on her coffee when I told her our budget or the day someone else's "Bar Mitzvah coordinator" called to ask if harrison was coming to that party and she said "hello, I'm so and so, i'm the bar mitzvah coordinator for so and so. and i said "very nice to meet you, I'm Barbara and I'm the Bar Mitzvah coordinator for Harrison Boarnet...!" Both Marlon and I are enjoying involving Harrison in all aspects of it. (There's just so much involved with the service, the parties, the mitzvah project, etc. etc. Because i'm doing so much of things myself instead of hiring people (to save money), it's just a lot.
Now for the top 5 BAD (or just annoying) things that happened in the last five days:
1) Harrison has the flu and is miserable
2) Even though I've made significant progress on my original list of things to do, I thought of about 50-75 new things to add, so the list is longer than it was before!
3) Everything associated with planning this Bar Mitzvah takes longer than I thought it would take and costs more than I thought it would cost!
4)I had to go to 7 stores to find the right kind of "plain long sleeve red tshirt" for Jacob's tap solo costume (the studio director has a "vision" for how his costume should look and the red shirt is part of it). When I showed her everything tonight, guess what? She LOVED the one I got FIRST (that cost $5 at Kohl's) even though I thought she would hate that one because it's not plain, it has a picture of a guitar on it. I could have saved myself a whole DAY of running errands and now I have to go back and return about 5 versions of a "long sleeved red plain tshirt"!
ok, that's pretty good - i can only come up with 4 bad things. i'm racking my brain and nothing else comes to mind. so i'll just add a couple more "good" things -- i got a new really cute and short haircut! (I wanted a new look to match my new looking body!), Jacob has a dance competition this weekend, Harrison has the southern california soccer championship tournament the next weekend, and we all saw a cute and funny movie last weekend called "New in Town."
Okay, that's about all the time I can take for blogging - gotta get back to accomplishing real things now!!!
Until later....
1) I am LOVING eating veggies every day. They are so delicious. We went out to dinner and I was able to order and eat a MEAL -- a half of a baked potato with steamed veggies (minus the cheese sauce) at Claim Jumper. So yummy!
2) Harrison and I FINALLY finished sorting through ALL of our family pictures and choosing the ones we need for various aspects of his Bar Mitzvah. It was a HUGE job - took us hours and hours and hours and we must have gone through 2,000 pictures. But now we're done with that part of the planning, plus all of our family photos are pretty well organized.
3) I'm slowly but surely getting things done and being able to "cross off" the things I've accomplished off my unbelievable list of things to do. We even made huge progress on new clothes for the Bar Mitzvah weekend for everyone but me (i'm not ready to shop yet) and only have a few things to fill in, like ties, etc. and we found these new suits and other things at an incredible SALE at Macy's.
4) We love our brand new tile in the kitchen and have been making progress on some other minor "home improvement" projects
5) Even though I'm finding it hard to juggle the Bar Mitzvah planning along with work projects, kids' activities and life in general, and even though i feel a bit overwhelmed, it is coming together nicely and we are actually enjoying the planning and finding things to laugh about. Every night I have some new story for the family (like the day I made the balloon vendor choke on her coffee when I told her our budget or the day someone else's "Bar Mitzvah coordinator" called to ask if harrison was coming to that party and she said "hello, I'm so and so, i'm the bar mitzvah coordinator for so and so. and i said "very nice to meet you, I'm Barbara and I'm the Bar Mitzvah coordinator for Harrison Boarnet...!" Both Marlon and I are enjoying involving Harrison in all aspects of it. (There's just so much involved with the service, the parties, the mitzvah project, etc. etc. Because i'm doing so much of things myself instead of hiring people (to save money), it's just a lot.
Now for the top 5 BAD (or just annoying) things that happened in the last five days:
1) Harrison has the flu and is miserable
2) Even though I've made significant progress on my original list of things to do, I thought of about 50-75 new things to add, so the list is longer than it was before!
3) Everything associated with planning this Bar Mitzvah takes longer than I thought it would take and costs more than I thought it would cost!
4)I had to go to 7 stores to find the right kind of "plain long sleeve red tshirt" for Jacob's tap solo costume (the studio director has a "vision" for how his costume should look and the red shirt is part of it). When I showed her everything tonight, guess what? She LOVED the one I got FIRST (that cost $5 at Kohl's) even though I thought she would hate that one because it's not plain, it has a picture of a guitar on it. I could have saved myself a whole DAY of running errands and now I have to go back and return about 5 versions of a "long sleeved red plain tshirt"!
ok, that's pretty good - i can only come up with 4 bad things. i'm racking my brain and nothing else comes to mind. so i'll just add a couple more "good" things -- i got a new really cute and short haircut! (I wanted a new look to match my new looking body!), Jacob has a dance competition this weekend, Harrison has the southern california soccer championship tournament the next weekend, and we all saw a cute and funny movie last weekend called "New in Town."
Okay, that's about all the time I can take for blogging - gotta get back to accomplishing real things now!!!
Until later....
Friday, February 6, 2009
WOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hot of the presses! As of tonight, I have hit that major milestone and have lost over 100 pounds! 100.8 to be exact. Very exciting. It's been a challenging almost six months, but I look and feel terrific and it has been worth every second of challenge.
I still have about 40-50 pounds to go, but I've very pleased with my progress and feel that it has been a total and complete success. Even if I didn't lose another pound, I've definitely completely improved my health risks and lifestyle.
I've started the transition to the "Healthy Solutions" plan, which incorporates unlimited fruits and veggies (including potatoes and beans). It's a 4 week transition, so this week i get to have an entree every day (which i was already doing) and a cup of vegetables. Those green beans tonight were delicious! Next week i add an extra entree and veggie, then weeks three and four incorporate the fruits. I'll stay on healthy solutions for about a month or so and then continue the transition to mainteance in early april so that i'll be on real foods by the Bar Mitzvah. I'll still plan to keep my calories low enough to continue to lose very slowly until I reach my goal and then to maintain.
I want to thank everyone for the support that you have shown me along this journey. I appreciate the calls, emails, comments on this blog, and comments in person - it helps keep me going, so keep 'em coming!
As far as other things, still totally and completely overwhelmed. It's really good that the weight loss efforts and exercise routine are so under control because everything else is spiraling out of control. Just way way way too much to do (Bar Mitzvah stuff, work, normal activities, doing some household maintenance things like a new kitchen floor etc.) and not enough time in which to do it. You all know that I rarely get stressed and adopt a "it will all get done eventually" attitude, but i must admit i'm stressed! Big time. I'm making good progress in getting things accomplished, but there are so many things to do that even getting one or two things done per day is just a drop in the bucket. :)
and on that note, it's time for bed!
I still have about 40-50 pounds to go, but I've very pleased with my progress and feel that it has been a total and complete success. Even if I didn't lose another pound, I've definitely completely improved my health risks and lifestyle.
I've started the transition to the "Healthy Solutions" plan, which incorporates unlimited fruits and veggies (including potatoes and beans). It's a 4 week transition, so this week i get to have an entree every day (which i was already doing) and a cup of vegetables. Those green beans tonight were delicious! Next week i add an extra entree and veggie, then weeks three and four incorporate the fruits. I'll stay on healthy solutions for about a month or so and then continue the transition to mainteance in early april so that i'll be on real foods by the Bar Mitzvah. I'll still plan to keep my calories low enough to continue to lose very slowly until I reach my goal and then to maintain.
I want to thank everyone for the support that you have shown me along this journey. I appreciate the calls, emails, comments on this blog, and comments in person - it helps keep me going, so keep 'em coming!
As far as other things, still totally and completely overwhelmed. It's really good that the weight loss efforts and exercise routine are so under control because everything else is spiraling out of control. Just way way way too much to do (Bar Mitzvah stuff, work, normal activities, doing some household maintenance things like a new kitchen floor etc.) and not enough time in which to do it. You all know that I rarely get stressed and adopt a "it will all get done eventually" attitude, but i must admit i'm stressed! Big time. I'm making good progress in getting things accomplished, but there are so many things to do that even getting one or two things done per day is just a drop in the bucket. :)
and on that note, it's time for bed!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Happy Birthday Trent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We just wanted to take a minute to wish Marlon's younger brother, Trent, a very, very happy 40th Birthday! It's a big one!!!! We are sorry that we don't live closer so that we could join the family in the celebration dinner tonight, but we are thinking of you. You're a great person, a wonderful brother/brother in law, and an even better uncle and we all love you!!!!!!! From my viewpoint, life keeps getting better and better even after you turn 40. Although Marlon left Trent a message saying that he shouldn't worry about it being bad when you turn 40 because it was all downhill after 25! ha ha
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The Big "O"
No, not that! :) Overwhelming!!! That's the word to describe our life the last couple of weeks. Overwhelmingly busy, to be exact. More so than usual. It seems like every day is a "crisis" that needs to be handled that day -- the invites needed to be ordered quickly (the holidays set me a bit behind on that), the contractor doing our new tile kitchen floor had a job cancel so he gave me one day's notice that he was ready to start our job and I hadn't even looked at tile, so that had to be done THAT day, Harrison and I have spent hours and hours sorting pictures for Bar Mitzvah stuff (decorations and slide show montage) and we're almost done but not quite there (we'ver literally gone through thousands of pictures!!!), and just a bunch of other stuff that seems like it has to be done NOW. I try hard to prioritize, but it's hard to do that when everything seems to be top priority!! Mix all that in with trying to work, exercising 2-3 hours a day, and the kids having an extra busy schedule, plus just normal stuff and what do you get? You get OVERWHELMED!
Anyway, I'm doing my best and know that everything will get done at some point! :)
We had some unexpected excitement last sunday at Harrison's basketball game. The game was practically tied and there were two minutes left in the game. harrison stole the ball on the opposing team's side of the court and was running full speed towards his basket. An opponent either tripped or pushed him (accidentally) and he went flying, landing with a huge thud flat on his face. He falls a lot in sports and gets right back up. This time it took a second and when he got up, he was covered with blood. There was soooooooo much blood. All over his face, running down his chest, running down his arm (b/c he was holding his face.) We couldn't even tell what was bleeding and first. Blood all over the floor and everything. I was very good and didn't panic. We calmly put my sweatshirt on his face to stop the bleeding and left the game to head to the ER. Turns out it was a very straightforward cut right on his eyebrow line (which is good, won't scar much) but it was deep - needed SIXTEEN stitches! He was fine by that afternoon and resumed sports again less than a week later.
Speaking of sports, Harrison's sports stuff is keeping us more than busy. Usually he plays one sport at a time with just a little bit of overlap. Well, this year isn't working out quite that way. It's basketball season so he's knee-deep in that with two practices plus one game a week. Then, he was nominated for basketball allstars (nomination goes to the top two players on each team, so an honor!) So he went to those tryouts and we'll see if he makes it. It would be great if he does, but would make the next couple of months even busier, so it wouldn't be a bad thing if he doesn't. His soccer season was supposed to end in November, but they're still going strong and playing in a regional tournament in two weeks. if they win that, they represent our region at teh state level up north! Then, baseball season is starting up, with those try outs last week. They are doing one "coach select" team in his division, where that coach gets to hand pick his whole team first, and then the other coaches do a draft where they alternate picks. He got picked for the coach select team, so his team will be a bit more competitive and will play higher level teams from other cities. A good thing, but just a bit more intense. And THEN, to add to it, he's trying out for the Maccabbi games, which is a huge thing for teen jewish athletes, where they compete against other Jewish teens from all over the world and they stay in "host" homes and there's all kinds of other cool stuff going on. A year and a half ago it was here and we were a host family. He is trying out for basketball and baseball and we'll see which one he makes. Baseball goes to New York, basketball goes to San Francisco.
Anyway, between sports, Bar Mitzvah preparation, band, his mitzvah project and school, he is keeping busy, but is happy and still has time for friends and got his progress report a week ago and has straight A's, so i can't complain.
Jacob and Michela are doing well and are busy as well with school, hanging out with friends, dance and sports. Jacob has a big dance competition coming up the second week of feb. (of course it's the same weekend as Harrison's big soccer playoff tournament, so we'll need to divide up much of that weekend) so he's busy getting ready for that with a lot of extra rehearsals and working hard on his tap solo. Michela is playing basketball and her team is undefeated so far, so that's exciting. She also recently had her softball tryouts and did very well with that. And they're both of course still going to hebrew school and doing youth band and band at school.
Marlon and I are just trying to keep up with everything spinning out of control around us.
There, that's a pretty good update for now. More another time!!! Hope you are all well.
Anyway, I'm doing my best and know that everything will get done at some point! :)
We had some unexpected excitement last sunday at Harrison's basketball game. The game was practically tied and there were two minutes left in the game. harrison stole the ball on the opposing team's side of the court and was running full speed towards his basket. An opponent either tripped or pushed him (accidentally) and he went flying, landing with a huge thud flat on his face. He falls a lot in sports and gets right back up. This time it took a second and when he got up, he was covered with blood. There was soooooooo much blood. All over his face, running down his chest, running down his arm (b/c he was holding his face.) We couldn't even tell what was bleeding and first. Blood all over the floor and everything. I was very good and didn't panic. We calmly put my sweatshirt on his face to stop the bleeding and left the game to head to the ER. Turns out it was a very straightforward cut right on his eyebrow line (which is good, won't scar much) but it was deep - needed SIXTEEN stitches! He was fine by that afternoon and resumed sports again less than a week later.
Speaking of sports, Harrison's sports stuff is keeping us more than busy. Usually he plays one sport at a time with just a little bit of overlap. Well, this year isn't working out quite that way. It's basketball season so he's knee-deep in that with two practices plus one game a week. Then, he was nominated for basketball allstars (nomination goes to the top two players on each team, so an honor!) So he went to those tryouts and we'll see if he makes it. It would be great if he does, but would make the next couple of months even busier, so it wouldn't be a bad thing if he doesn't. His soccer season was supposed to end in November, but they're still going strong and playing in a regional tournament in two weeks. if they win that, they represent our region at teh state level up north! Then, baseball season is starting up, with those try outs last week. They are doing one "coach select" team in his division, where that coach gets to hand pick his whole team first, and then the other coaches do a draft where they alternate picks. He got picked for the coach select team, so his team will be a bit more competitive and will play higher level teams from other cities. A good thing, but just a bit more intense. And THEN, to add to it, he's trying out for the Maccabbi games, which is a huge thing for teen jewish athletes, where they compete against other Jewish teens from all over the world and they stay in "host" homes and there's all kinds of other cool stuff going on. A year and a half ago it was here and we were a host family. He is trying out for basketball and baseball and we'll see which one he makes. Baseball goes to New York, basketball goes to San Francisco.
Anyway, between sports, Bar Mitzvah preparation, band, his mitzvah project and school, he is keeping busy, but is happy and still has time for friends and got his progress report a week ago and has straight A's, so i can't complain.
Jacob and Michela are doing well and are busy as well with school, hanging out with friends, dance and sports. Jacob has a big dance competition coming up the second week of feb. (of course it's the same weekend as Harrison's big soccer playoff tournament, so we'll need to divide up much of that weekend) so he's busy getting ready for that with a lot of extra rehearsals and working hard on his tap solo. Michela is playing basketball and her team is undefeated so far, so that's exciting. She also recently had her softball tryouts and did very well with that. And they're both of course still going to hebrew school and doing youth band and band at school.
Marlon and I are just trying to keep up with everything spinning out of control around us.
There, that's a pretty good update for now. More another time!!! Hope you are all well.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Recap of Last Weekend's Fun Family Camp Retreat, in Photos
Well, it's a weekend late, but I finally took some time today to post the pictures from our get-away last weekend and will do a "recap" of the weekend mixed in with the pictures, so be sure to go all the way through! We went to Camp Hess Kramer in Malibu with our synagogue for a family camp retreat. My Kids Konnection for February is all about it, so i'll post it as soon as it's published.
And speaking of Kids Konnection, my January article is a doozy! Scandalous and "eyebrow raising." I've received many, many phone calls, emails and questions about it - really got people thinking! I'll give everyone a day or two to read this post and look at all the pictures, then i'll post it. In the meantime, it'll give you something to wonder about!!
Oh, and before I post the pics, as of this past thursday, my total weight loss is 93 pounds!!! Hopefully within two weeks i'll hit 100! woo hoo.
Ok, now for the photos and recap.....
A nice shot of Marlon and I. We were at dinner the first night. All of our meals were served family style in a big dining hall and we enjoyed talking with many different temple friends at each meal. I didn't eat, of course, but everyone said the food was great and it looked and smelled delicious. They were very accommodating in heating up my stuff in the microwave and all that.
This is a shot of Jacob, Michela and a couple of their friends in our cabin. We shared a cabin with 3 other families - about 12 of us in one room and using one bathroom! It was sort of "roughing it", but it made it more fun. At night, when Harrison went to the teen programs, Jacob, Michela and their friends played multi-player DS games, hooking up their DS' with each other, and had great fun!!
Despite all the noise in the cabin until midnight or so, Marlon fell asleep in his bunk by 10 p.m. the first night. Everyone was cracking up at how he could sleep.
Michela and her two best friends from temple brushing teeth
Harrison at the Shabbat service in the outdoor synagogue
Jacob climbing up the ladder to do the 50 ft high "leap of faith" on the ropes course. He didn't make it all the way to the top, but he tried 3 different times and got a bit higher each time. It was really fun because everyone was encouraging each other and it was a huge "team building" experience.
Jacob strapping up
Michela all geared up
Michela climbing up the poll. She didnt' think she could get herself up there, but she did!
There she goes- starting to walk the tightrope. She's FIFTY FEET up! She was so scared, but she did the whole thing. It was so funny because as soon as she got up there, so said, in her very Michela attitude voice, "I could use a little pep talk about now." When no one said anything right away, she said, "Um, now would be good, so who's gonna give me one?"
There she goes - walking across! (sometimes swinging)
Like now, she's sort of just hanging there b/c her foot slipped off the wire!
Jacob almost to the top!
Jacob hanging around!
Harrison just scooted right up, no fear, no hesitation.
Reaching the top of the platform
And there he goes - leaping!
Now he's on the tightrope wire thing, again fairly effortlessly. He's the most adventurous. Jacob and Michela did it, but it took a lot of prodding and encouragment. We were very proud of them, though, and more importantly, they were proud of themselves. Marlon and I, well, lets just say we kept our feet flat on the floor! 
There he goes, almost done
A photo of our cabin, nestled in the woods, a good 10 minute walk from the dining hall and locations where all our sessions were held. But I am in so much better physical shape than I was a few years ago, i could so very easily do that walk, whereas last time it was very difficult for me!
In the dining hall
A nice shot of Michela. Doesn't she look pretty with her hair down?
A shot of all the people in our cabin. We got these shirts as a "parting gift." Marlon was amazed when I put it right on. He said in all the years we've been together and all the activities where we've been giving tshirts, he's NEVER known me to actually wear it. That's cuz they never really fit comfortably and now they do!!!!
A nice family shot
Michela and I at the beach. We HIKED (yes, hiked, yes, me!) to the beach twice - once just marlon and i on sat late afternoon and then again with the kids on sunday after the program ended before we went home. it was so beautiful and so fun to hike there.
The boys on the beach
Michela and her friend Shelby. She went with her dad and sister (her mom was sick) but they had to leave sat afternoon, so she stayed with us the rest of the weekend.
The giant menorah at the top of the hill. I'm including this picture so you can see how high up it is because we climbed up to it!!!
Just a nice beach shot
Jacob hiking
All of us hiking
A nice shot of Marlon
During our hike we found this fallen tree to walk across. You can't tell from the picture, but it's actually a pretty decent drop down into a ravine if you fall! Marlon was pretty nervous about the kids walking across it, but they did great.
He did pretty good too...... well, until he needed to drop down and crawl across on his hands and knees. i decided to save him some embarrassment and not put that photo in! :)
Effortless, again, for Harrison! :)
And here we are, having made it to the top of the hill to be at the giant menorah. It was beautiful up there, overlooking the ocean 
Very aptly named "inspiration point."
And speaking of Kids Konnection, my January article is a doozy! Scandalous and "eyebrow raising." I've received many, many phone calls, emails and questions about it - really got people thinking! I'll give everyone a day or two to read this post and look at all the pictures, then i'll post it. In the meantime, it'll give you something to wonder about!!
Oh, and before I post the pics, as of this past thursday, my total weight loss is 93 pounds!!! Hopefully within two weeks i'll hit 100! woo hoo.
Ok, now for the photos and recap.....
A nice shot of Marlon and I. We were at dinner the first night. All of our meals were served family style in a big dining hall and we enjoyed talking with many different temple friends at each meal. I didn't eat, of course, but everyone said the food was great and it looked and smelled delicious. They were very accommodating in heating up my stuff in the microwave and all that.
This is a shot of Jacob, Michela and a couple of their friends in our cabin. We shared a cabin with 3 other families - about 12 of us in one room and using one bathroom! It was sort of "roughing it", but it made it more fun. At night, when Harrison went to the teen programs, Jacob, Michela and their friends played multi-player DS games, hooking up their DS' with each other, and had great fun!!
Despite all the noise in the cabin until midnight or so, Marlon fell asleep in his bunk by 10 p.m. the first night. Everyone was cracking up at how he could sleep.
Michela and her two best friends from temple brushing teeth
Harrison at the Shabbat service in the outdoor synagogue
Jacob climbing up the ladder to do the 50 ft high "leap of faith" on the ropes course. He didn't make it all the way to the top, but he tried 3 different times and got a bit higher each time. It was really fun because everyone was encouraging each other and it was a huge "team building" experience.
Jacob strapping up
Michela all geared up
Michela climbing up the poll. She didnt' think she could get herself up there, but she did!
There she goes- starting to walk the tightrope. She's FIFTY FEET up! She was so scared, but she did the whole thing. It was so funny because as soon as she got up there, so said, in her very Michela attitude voice, "I could use a little pep talk about now." When no one said anything right away, she said, "Um, now would be good, so who's gonna give me one?"
There she goes - walking across! (sometimes swinging)
Like now, she's sort of just hanging there b/c her foot slipped off the wire!
Jacob almost to the top!
Jacob hanging around!
Harrison just scooted right up, no fear, no hesitation.
Reaching the top of the platform
And there he goes - leaping!
Now he's on the tightrope wire thing, again fairly effortlessly. He's the most adventurous. Jacob and Michela did it, but it took a lot of prodding and encouragment. We were very proud of them, though, and more importantly, they were proud of themselves. Marlon and I, well, lets just say we kept our feet flat on the floor! 
There he goes, almost done
A photo of our cabin, nestled in the woods, a good 10 minute walk from the dining hall and locations where all our sessions were held. But I am in so much better physical shape than I was a few years ago, i could so very easily do that walk, whereas last time it was very difficult for me!
In the dining hall
A nice shot of Michela. Doesn't she look pretty with her hair down?
A shot of all the people in our cabin. We got these shirts as a "parting gift." Marlon was amazed when I put it right on. He said in all the years we've been together and all the activities where we've been giving tshirts, he's NEVER known me to actually wear it. That's cuz they never really fit comfortably and now they do!!!!
A nice family shot
Michela and I at the beach. We HIKED (yes, hiked, yes, me!) to the beach twice - once just marlon and i on sat late afternoon and then again with the kids on sunday after the program ended before we went home. it was so beautiful and so fun to hike there.
The boys on the beach
Michela and her friend Shelby. She went with her dad and sister (her mom was sick) but they had to leave sat afternoon, so she stayed with us the rest of the weekend.
The giant menorah at the top of the hill. I'm including this picture so you can see how high up it is because we climbed up to it!!!
Just a nice beach shot
Jacob hiking
All of us hiking
A nice shot of Marlon
During our hike we found this fallen tree to walk across. You can't tell from the picture, but it's actually a pretty decent drop down into a ravine if you fall! Marlon was pretty nervous about the kids walking across it, but they did great.
He did pretty good too...... well, until he needed to drop down and crawl across on his hands and knees. i decided to save him some embarrassment and not put that photo in! :)
Effortless, again, for Harrison! :) 
And here we are, having made it to the top of the hill to be at the giant menorah. It was beautiful up there, overlooking the ocean 
Very aptly named "inspiration point."Tuesday, January 6, 2009
PHOTOS!!!!!!!!!!!!
As promised, here are the photos from the last week of Hanukkah (last week of December), when Marlon's parents were here visiting. These are the best 25 or so of the 110 on my camera! (I guess I take a lot of pictures.) I've even captioned them all for you, so you know what you're looking at. Enjoy them and don't forget to comment!
Our house, all decorated for Hanukkah
A side view
A night view (hard to see our pretty twinkling lights)
Another night view, not the greatest, but you can kind of see the lights
Barbara's mom opening her gifts. Not the greatest pic, but we had to have one of her on here!
Poppy (Bernie) playing poker, which we played as a family every night for 3 or 4 nights when they were out here last week, using the new awesome poker set the kids got for Hanukkah from Patti and Brian
Michela - holding her cards tight to her chest!
Bubbie (Esther) concentrating on her dealing
Marlon always stands up to deal. funny!
Jacob collecting his many winnings. He won often. He's a shark!
Barbara placing a bet
Midnight hanging out on his pillow while we played
Harrison just hates to part with that money!
Ok, this was hilarious. One day we had to take Barbara's mom home on our way to ice skating (that's her walker in the back) and we had an extra couple of kids, so the car was FULL. Poppy rode in the trunk for the 10 minute drive until she got out and freed up a seat.
Yes, he was able to get in and quite easily.
Michela, Jacob and Barbara on the last night of Hanukkah
Bernie, Esther and Marlon, same night
Awww, so sweet!
Harrison with Bernie and Esther, same night
The last night of Hanukkah happened to also be Marlon's birthday! Happy Birthday sweetie. One candle on your freshly baked hot apple pie.
At the Newport Beach Back Bay Nature Preserve - we went "hiking" (well, walking) and the kids enjoyed climbing trees and being in nature
A nice shot of Bernie and Esther
Jacob up in the trees with Marlon
Harrison climbs to the top
Michela needs help down
A nice family shot overlooking the back bay. even Midnight had fun
Our house, all decorated for Hanukkah
A side view
A night view (hard to see our pretty twinkling lights)
Another night view, not the greatest, but you can kind of see the lights
Barbara's mom opening her gifts. Not the greatest pic, but we had to have one of her on here!
Poppy (Bernie) playing poker, which we played as a family every night for 3 or 4 nights when they were out here last week, using the new awesome poker set the kids got for Hanukkah from Patti and Brian
Michela - holding her cards tight to her chest!
Bubbie (Esther) concentrating on her dealing
Marlon always stands up to deal. funny!
Jacob collecting his many winnings. He won often. He's a shark!
Barbara placing a bet
Midnight hanging out on his pillow while we played
Harrison just hates to part with that money!
Ok, this was hilarious. One day we had to take Barbara's mom home on our way to ice skating (that's her walker in the back) and we had an extra couple of kids, so the car was FULL. Poppy rode in the trunk for the 10 minute drive until she got out and freed up a seat.
Yes, he was able to get in and quite easily.
Michela, Jacob and Barbara on the last night of Hanukkah
Bernie, Esther and Marlon, same night
Awww, so sweet!
Harrison with Bernie and Esther, same night
The last night of Hanukkah happened to also be Marlon's birthday! Happy Birthday sweetie. One candle on your freshly baked hot apple pie.
At the Newport Beach Back Bay Nature Preserve - we went "hiking" (well, walking) and the kids enjoyed climbing trees and being in nature
A nice shot of Bernie and Esther
Jacob up in the trees with Marlon
Harrison climbs to the top
Michela needs help down
A nice family shot overlooking the back bay. even Midnight had fun
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