Happy Birthday, Dad - Wordless Wednesday

This is from his 90th birthday party last year. Today he is 91.
Love you. me

Physical therapist, dentist and pediatrician

Three health professionals - three clients. Isn't that a more upbeat word than patient?

I had PT visit #4 of 5. My shoulder moves much better but there is still quite a bit of limitation and pain with certain movements.

Shoshie had a clean bill of teeth at the dentist. Even what she thought was a cavity is not.

Noach woke up with a cough and, as often happens when he gets a URI, began to wheeze. And of course we have no refill on an inhaler so we had to go to the pediatrician. Now he is taking a bit of Prednisone, 60mg a day for 5 or 6 days. I know - that's quite a bit. And the usual course is for him to be very reactive to any exercise for a week or so. He will be missing sports class for a week, I bet.

The other thing we did today is check out 2 exercise facilities, the local Planet Fitness and the Y. I really liked the Planet Fitness. It is relatively cheap and was really nice inside. They call it the Judgement Free Zone and it did feel that way. Of course, we went in at 11am, probably not a busy time. BUT you have to be 13 to participate. That leaves out Noach. And I think he is interested in some weight loss.

So we went to the local Y. Not fancy, not purple and yellow. But plenty of upscale equipment. And Noach can participate in some activities. He will be able to do even more in the summer when he is 12. It is slightly cheaper since Noach, Shoshie, Yakov and I will all be joining. No joining fee in February either. I think I'll join tomorrow.

Shoshie has to meet some physical fitness requirements for the Congressional Award. Yakov has been very conscious of his calorie intake and inadequate exercise for the last several months. His girlfriend must be behind that. And I think Noach has become very self-conscious about his weight. At a recent scout event, some of the bigger scouts were making fun of a fat scout who wasn't there. I could see that Noach was uncomfortable. And, of course, I need to lose weight, bigtime!!

So that's the plan, the YMCA. (Nooo, there's that singing voice again) PRM

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

35 degrees - a breakfast sandwich and a book by the fire.

Weekend update

Saturday at 11:30, I met my friends for lunch and a birthday party. We sat at Macaroni Grill for about 3 hours, laughing, talking, etc.

Saturday night, we went to the shul for a latke dinner. It was fun to take a hanukiyot for each family member, making our table quite the glowing area. Many people had never actually seen an oil menorah and so were curious to see ours. It is cool, but a bit messy. The food was good and the company as well. The student rabbi was friendly.

Sunday was, as usual, a work day for me. JP and I went to the new Super WalMart to do some grocery shopping. He had never been there and I had only been once before. I really hate WalMart. I know everyone says that. But I have to admit that I have missed the old, messy, disorganized store that was close to us. If Target didn't have what I wanted, I could always say I was forced to go to WalMart. Now I can't - it's too far away.

I spent the afternoon organizing the school week and doing laundry. Then we had Chanuka at home with only Shoshie and Noach. I gave out gifts - games and homeschool T-shirts.

Now I am waiting for biology lab.

A few pictures

No gathering is complete without that baby. Here with Aunt Shoshie.













A lot of sitting around, often watching the baby. Here my son, Big E, and my brother.













Yakov and my dad.













"Who is that?" Baby with her mom and my mom, her great grandmother.






The food was good, too, but the company was the best! PRM

Home, at last

We just got home. It was a long drive with frequent rain and two separate episodes of thick fog. I am glad to be home. I feel so much more at ease when I am back in my usual routine, dreary as it may be.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow. PRM

Prep for the bigmeal

I drove the kids to my hometown yesterday so we can spend the weekend with my family. My older brother, his wife and their older daughter and her family will be here as well. Best of all, Big E, my oldest son, will be here with his wife and that BABY we all adore. We spent last evening with them. Today they are driving to Memphis to spend this evening with the Big E's dad and his family. They will be back for the feast tomorrow.

Today my SIL and I will be doing some prep. Her daughter will be here about noon. Kim, my niece, can just get things done. She is awesome.

JP flies in tonight. As do thunderstorms. PRM