Baby, it's cold inside

I was reminded twice this week why I moved to Florida.  The first was when I got a photo from a distant colleague of her son going off to school that morning (it was hat day) and there was mound of snow behind him almost as tall as he is.  The second was this evening when I took the girls ice skating.  Yes, we ice skate in Florida (well, some of us do anyway).  Brrrrrrrr.  I am in no hurry to ever move back north, despite the fact that my most favorite cities are all north of here.
 


Everyone loves a Zamboni!

Guess I won't complain about our cool mornings for a while!

We'll be heading up to Albany in two weeks for Passover.  We'll get celebrate my sister's birthday (even though she said she doesn't really want to) and Aubrey's (she does want to) while we're there....as well as the exodus from Egypt, of course.  I love celebrating with turkey and pot roast and brisket!  oh, yeah, the family time is good, too.  The girls are hoping for snow while we're there, which I am most definitely not hoping for!  I'm hoping for 60s and 70s, but we'll have to wait and see what Mother Nature has in store for us.  So long as it's not like the weekend of my wedding, I'll be okay.

I think everyone will be amazed when they see the girls, especially my brother, Bruce and his family, since it's been the longest for them since they've seen us.  Aubrey is as tall as I am - which makes her significantly taller than my sister and her daughters (sorry, Deb!), and Devon is doing her best to catch up.  Bruce was nice enough to pick up some bikes for the girls to ride while we're there from a local bike rescue‎, although all Devon wants is her "motorcycle", really some sort of small electric motor bike - and it's pink, to boot!  Aubrey will be pleased with having a bike, she does love to ride, whether it's bikes or horses.

She spent this week, her spring break, mostly at the barn, taking care of her beloved horses and doing some riding, although not as much as I had expected.  She made a really cool dream-catcher from a horseshoe.  The girls made one today while they were at the barn - no riding for them, unfortunately, since by the time they got the horses ready to ride the skies opened up and the tornado warnings came out.  They didn't seem particularly upset though, which is good.

Another good thing is that we've been hearing a lot less of "it's not fair" from the girls about each other.  We still get it a bit, but it's mostly directed at being asked to help out with something, pick something up off the floor, put something away (I didn't put it there, I have to pick up more stuff).  I can live with that...mainly because I agree, it's not fair to constantly have to pick up stuff that you didn't put down.  Which I happily remind the girls that I do constantly.  They don't seem to get the inference... too subtle?

I can't believe we're at the end of March already.  Time is flying by.  Is that because I'm old?  They say time goes by faster the older you get.  I was talking to a woman at temple today who told me she just celebrated the 50th anniversary of her bat mitzvah.  Last November was the 40th anniversary of mine, and I have no plans to celebrate that particular anniversary.  We are starting to make plans for Aubrey's bat mitzvah, though.  Not sure what we're doing, but it won't be on the scale of the other (Herbach/Liebman) family events, which she has been told.  Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your point of view, she keeps changing her mind on what kind of celebration she wants.  One of the girls in her class is having a roller skating party for her bat mitzvah.  I really like that this synagogue isn't all big celebrations. 

In the meantime, we have a twelfth birthday celebration to figure out.  She told me today she wants a roller-skating party.  But she told Ron she wants a pool party.  I vote for the pool party - so much cheaper, and it'll be hot in a month when her birthday comes around.  Devon, too, is concerned about her own birthday.  She's worried that she won't get any electronics.  She really want s a phone, but she would be almost as happy with an iPad.  I had to wait until I turned 50 to get an iPad, and she wants one at eight!  (Ignore the fact that until shortly before I turned 50 there was no such thing as an iPad, okay?)  And Aubrey had to wait until she was 11 for a phone, so we would never hear the end of it if Devon got a phone before she turned 11.  Not that she needs one at 8 anyway.  If anyone has any suggestions for some other type of electronics, please let me know.  Devon says her DSi doesn't count, it's not "real electronics"....even though I thought you could access the internet on it.  Not so?  Good thing I have a bit of time for this one.  Makes her Disney wish this past year seem simple!

Tomorrow is spring cleaning day at our synagogue, and yes, I am volunteering to help clean out closets and organize supplies.  No comments, please, that I should be doing this at home instead of at Temple Israel.  The temple will be so much easier to do!  An I'm a sucker for volunteering.  I didn't win volunteer of the year (not that I expected to), but I did get Outstanding Volunteer.  Yea, me!  I don't really do it for the recognition, although recognition is always nice. I like feeling that I am helping out, someone, somewhere.

When Aubrey and I stopped at the supermarket today, the Citizens on Patrol people were there trying to recruit volunteers.  She and I decided this might be a fun thing to add to my list of volunteer activities.  Not the actual Citizens on Patrol, that requires 3 hours a week which I don't see me having, but their auxiliary, which only requires 3 hours a month.  I won't get to drive around doing patrols (bummer), but I could help out at special events, as needed.  And we're getting introduced to a new organization in May that sounds great, too.  One of the things I love about our synagogue is that a "mitzvah" project is required as part of the preparation for your bar or bat mitzvah.  A mitzvah is usually translated as a good deed but it is really more than that, it is an obligation, a responsibility, a commandment.  There are lots of them listed in The Torah and spelled out over the ages by the rabbis (613 I believe), and they include things like visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, lighting candles for the Sabbath and Hanukkah. and so on.  One of the kids' upcoming projects is at an organization called Feeding Children Everywhere and the project is to prepare 10,000 meals for local distribution.  (I may have mentioned this before.)  The organization makes an actual meal, and when you volunteer there you are helping to create this meal through sort of an assembly-line operation, where each person puts a different ingredient into the meal bag.  The older kids from the religious school will all be participating, and I've already registered to help out as well.  I think it's a good match for our family, since the girls and I regularly volunteer at Second Harvest Food Bank, the regional distribution center and part of Feeding America.  That's an operation on a huge scale, where they supply food to a few hundred pantries and kitchens throughout several counties.  This is similar, in that the meals we prepare will go to a local food pantry for distribution to needy families.  I'm hoping that these experiences will help the girls be more aware of both the need and the wastefulness in our society.  They're young, and they haven't personally experienced it (real hunger, that is, they definitely have experienced wastefulness!), so I'm trying to open their eyes a little to the world around them.  They love going to volunteer with me because it's fun, but little by little I see the lessons sinking in.  (And I mean LITTLE so far.)  What can I say?  They're bright, but slow learners.

Anyhow, I better get to sleep so I have energy for cleaning tomorrow.  Who knows, I might come home inspired to work on my own house - or car!  (So long as it's not too cold outside, that is.)