A DAMN good reminder that "less is more."

Every night, before bed, I go in and check on Malka, just to, you know, make sure she's breathing and all ( I now totally get where the boogey man comes from - probably parents lurking in the shadows, checking to make sure their kids are breathing - but I digress!) So I do my usual creep into her room, peek at my sleeping cherub, wait for my eyes to adjust, and look to make sure I see a rising and falling chest. Well, she was SO damn cute, that I opened up her crib tent, and made to cover her up with her blanket.

BAD IDEA.

I woke her up.

I IMMEDIATELY crouch down, my face is in the diaper garbage can, my body hidden by the side of the crib tent. I crouch there for a good 10-15 minutes, waiting for her to go back to sleep. But nope. She's STILL standing up. And I finally realize why - her damn lovey fell out of the crib. So after my legs are asleep, and she's clearly not going to settle back easily, I jiggle the door handle, to pretend I've just come in, and pick up her lovey, and try to comfort her back to sleep.

Nope. She's still fussing on the monitor. Saying lovey. eemah. lovely. eemah.

Note to self - keep it simple with the nightly check-in's, no matter HOW cute she looks!

OY.

Banket, Maka, Banket!

She can't WAIT to get on her new "banket"
Originally uploaded by shellipsm

Malka is VERY much aware that this is HER blanket (banket!) made for her by Eemah.

THAT in and of itself is what makes me gush inside.

Now pardon me, I have to go and check on the Challah I'm making - the house smells AMAZING! (It's been great having Fridays off - I'm not sure how I'll manage my promise to myself to make Challah each week when I'm working on Fridays, but I'll figure something out - maybe an overnight rise, less kneading - not sure yet - but I'm open to suggestions)

Also - I'm so sorry that I've been a bit distant, and I wouldn't be surprised if a few of you have written me off. Now that the Jewish High Holy Day Season is completing, I should have more time to blog again.

Any ideas? Questions? I've never done the "answer questions" blog post - so send 'um on over, and I'll do my best to answer them.

Cheers!

Because, you know, it's funny.

Postponed, but all is not lost.

Nicole, our FSW (Fabulous Social Worker) is "Sick as dog," so she had to cancel our meeting for tomorrow. BUT.... She said she'd be back in the office on Wednesday, and just mail us all of our paperwork to get started on instead. She said the meeting was to touch base, to check in, so no worries in missing it. I told her we were open to any situation really, as we were last time, and she said that made things easier.

So there ya have it.

So instead, we'll keep Malka home from daycare tomorrow and go to Borough Park, Brooklyn and look at all of the Sukkahs that are up, and see if we can go bench lulav somewhere there.

And maybe next year, I'll get the beitzim and ask our co-op board if we can build a Sukkah in our back yard...

Did ya ever wonder?

Since the odds are 1 in 10 people are gay, that WHICH one of the Duggar kids it is?

Instead of "save the Cheerleader..."

It should be: "WTF!"

OK - I am LOVING Me some Claire's Dad.

How did Peter get in the box? What's with the symbol?

I bet it was Syler that got to George Takai.

I had to quickly switch to House Hunters at 10:00pm, so that I wouldn't get hooked on yet ANOTHER show. OK, off to do the dishes, and then to bed. MP3 had one of her famous "1/2 hour shout outs" last night - right around 3:30am. Ugh. AND, today was a major "schlep fest" at work (striking the "props" from venue A, and getting them to venue B, and then returning the non-needed items to Venue C.) Plus "Aunt Flo" came hedr visit. So I'm kinda wiped...

More of the crafty!

My first quilttop EVER. I'm not thrilled, but the seams lined up WAY better than I thought they would! And it only took me the weekend. So I think the next one will go easier. I'm HORRID at exact measurements, and I tend to sew and do carpentry the way I cook - "a little of this, a little of that." Now granted, I BAKE with recipes, as I don't trust breads and cakes to "improv." But I'm excited to see how this turns out in the end.

Thank you San Diego for stepping up to the Plate for Equality

Note to self...

If people are calling the office TODAY to ask about Kol Nidre tickets, it's probably better to just wish them a L'Shanah Tovah instead of A G'mar Chatimah Tovah. Because they may have NO clue what I'm talking about...

a L'shanah Tovah Tikatev V'taihatem, and a G'mar Chatimah Tovah! I have lots of cooking and cleaning to do between now and Saturday at 5pm when the guests come. (Sunset comes a bit early in toddler land...)

That's CAPTAIN Ethel to you...

My pirate name is:

Captain Ethel Kidd

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. Even though you're not always the traditional swaggering gallant, your steadiness and planning make you a fine, reliable pirate. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

Argh!

'tis talk like a Pirate day, there maties! 'An if ye happen ta be a Jewish Pirate? 'tis OY instead of Aye!

because you asked for proof of the crafty...

Lo, I think it was, asked for proof and pictures of the crafty.

I think, now that I'm back on book 4 (that would be of the Harry Potter series, for those who don't know me, because they, um, live on MARS) of the series, I have more time for the crafty.

So this is a table that Malka and I did. Our dear friends from ADProb gave this awesome set of table and chairs to Malka. I figured that somewhere along the line, we'd get to finishing it.

Then, this weekend, the opportunity presented itself. It needs another layer or two of shellac, but it's good to go, and will be a lovely thing for Malka to get lots of fun use out of. A true "artist's" table.

NOT the way I wanted to lose weight...

But the food poisoning? It SUCKS. We've had a lovely Chag so far, and Malka even gave us a present by napping during lunch. That's where I think I got it. I'm not going to mention the place, because we love the diner, and I just called and spoke to the manager to give him a heads up. I think it was either my salad, or the pickles. Because I KNOW it wasn't Cousin Sylvia's cooking last night! :) And I don't think it was the matzoah ball soup.

So I'm just going to go curl up and keep reading Harry Potter. I'm on book 4, Narda's on 5, and we have to get 6 back from a friend. But I officially have ALL of the British editions, thanks to my dear dear Amy.

Shabbat Shalom, or as Malka says: "Bat Lom!" May this new year bring health, love, light and new life to all of you.

Happy New Year!

We're gonna partay like it's 5768!

Woot!

L'Shanah Tovah U'Mitukah.

Today's post. Re-Posted.

Narda and I were asleep, and Tom had just come in from walking the dog, Resque. He said Shelli, Narda, wake up, a plane just hit the World Trade Center.

Now Narda and I are both theatre folks, and generally have a slightly difficult time waking up.

We thought Tom was kidding. He said no. We turned on the news. We thought it was a small Cessna plane or something similar, a mistake, an accident.

We watch the news some more, and plane two hits. We lose color in our faces, and run up to the roof, we can't see anything. We throw on bras and somewhat acceptable clothing and run outside.

At the time, we lived on West 27th Street and 6th avenue, and had a nice little view of the towers from our corner.

Traffic was NON-existent. People were flooding the streets.

There was smoke coming out of the twin towers.

We are in shock, go back inside, make coffee, and stay glued to the TV for hours. I put a video tape in to catch the news of the day. (I still haven't watched it again...)

Around 10am, we decide to do something. We all go out and vote.

We come outside from voting, on 23rd and 6th, and I look downtown. I say to Tom and Narda: "Hey, you guys, I think there's only one tower." Tom just reassures me that it's the smoke from the towers obscuring the view.

We walk back to the apartment, and back to the tv... My sick vision has come to pass. BOTH towers are now gone.

I had been having problems with my old roommate Jane, as we had been friends since Junior highschool, and we had been roommates for about 7 years - far too long to live with someone that you are not having sex with. I remember that she works for the Federal Reserve bank of NY, and I immediately try to use the phone. No luck. No Internet, no cell phones, and land line service is intermittent. I finally get a hold of Jane's folks in Portland, Oregon, and Yes, they have heard from her. Thank G-d. She, and her fellow employees have been ushered down into the basement of her building, and they had one phone, but no news. They are eventually let out to go home, and she, among the others, walk home through the smoke, debris, ash, and human remains.

We thought the death toll was 10 thousand. It was almost 3 thousand. 3 thousand too many. Young, old, rich and poor.

At the time, I didn't know Jordana and David; Narda and I would meet them a few years later, in our Derech Torah class. We became friends, and have continued that friendship past the class's end date. Jordana's father perished in the towers. Herman Sandler, z'l. They read his name today. I thought it was a hard day for me and my memories. I cannot imagine being in her shoes.

Jordana, I send you love. nothing more, and certainly nothing less.