Archive for March, 2008
A picture is worth a thousand words
Thursday, March 27th, 2008The Kiddush
Thursday, March 20th, 2008Alright, we really should have updated earlier but we are both ridiculously busy. There are also pictures that we will add next time, but for now this rather short summary will have to do.
So the Kiddush was awesome, really great. Mom came in from Atlanta on Thursday, it was wonderful to see her. She treated us to Chineze in Chosen Island and was very impressed with the quality, variety and taste of food. She also went to Costco and Gourmet Glatt with Adiel, who doens’t love great shopping centers. Then Adiel cooked chicken soup (mike style ) and fish.
Friday the house was buzzing all day. Loads of neighbors and relatives were bringing over all sorts of homemade goodies. Mommy and I and Adiel and Mom were cooking up a storm. Batya and Sorah Leah came and slept nearby and so did Moshe. It was all a lot of fun, very hectic and a good thing they changed the clock!! Friday night the meal was very nice. The 7 of us ate together and shared divrei torah, songs and good conversation.
The rain came down overnight but Boruch Hashem when we woke up in the morning, the sky was crystal clear. Remember last Shabbos there was storms? Despite the weatherman’s prediction of rain, it was a gorgeous day and people walked from as far as Lawrence (Schloss and Czermack), Bayswater (Shabsy and Rochie), and the walking winner of the day — Tina walked all the way from North Woodmere – the walk is like an hour and a half. Don’t worry she stayed for lunch.
Anyway, the kiddush was loads of fun. We had a lot of family and friends come in and out, take some food, make a lchaim and wish us mazel tov. There were all the goodies plus cholent and kugel from Oldak Caterers, formely of the LES. Other East Siders who came were the Sebrows and Solomons and the Selevens came by too. The whole party lasted close to two hours and at about 1ish I went downstairs to feed the party girl who behaved very nicely. Everyone else followed soon after. There was some arranging and setting up and by the time I came out, 2 tables full of 14 people were ready to eat. The meal was fun and enjoyable. Adiel said a beautiful dvar Torah about what Shaina means to us. The Koster girls spent most of the time fighting over, and throwing to the sky, the pink balloons that Adiel had bought on Friday.
We all got a chance to nap and that was that.
Thanks to all who participated in this special event — the first of hopefully many simchas that Adiel and I are making together as a family. To those who came, who sent food, who called, or who just said Mazel Tov: It means a lot to all of us. Special shout out to Mom who flew in and stayed till Sunday and Mommy who literally toook charge. Let’s keep sharing simchas, and IYH pictures will be posted soon.
Have an awesome Purim everyone!!! 
Monopoly
Sunday, March 9th, 2008
This past Tuesday, Adiel and I did something I haven’t done for about 15 years – we played Monoploy together. Adiel ordered a bunch of new games for the two of us and this was the first one we played. It was a lot of fun and a different activity than the usual. We each ended up owning only one ‘Monopoly’ of colors, me the yellow and he the blue. And I had all the Railroads and he had all of the Utilities. Even though he had the blues and I landed on Boardwalk with a house once, I still won because I put THREE houses on Marvin Gardens, and he landed there three times!! But Adiel was a good sport and played until his last property was mortgaged and his last dollar was spent. I felt bad making my own husband go bankrupt but it was fun game to play.
The game is a classic, around almost 75 years. It hasn’t changed all that much either, although they did introduce the ’speed die’ which we opted not to play with. However, there were some things that I remembered doing as a kid which were different now, reading the rules. But almost everyone I spoke to remembers playing like me, so I don’t know if Monopoly used to have different rules, or if someone very popular made up some additional rules and they just spread like wildfire.
The rules were:
1) Snake eyes. Remember, if you got two ones, you get one of each bill?
2) Landing on Go. You get $500 instead of $200. This would’ve helped Adiel a lot, he landed on Go like 5 times.
And the best one of all; 3) Free Parking, you get all of the money that had built up from the ‘bank’ plus the extra $500. The Monopoly people must have even known about this because they clearly stated ‘when landing on free parking, you get no money, you just get to stay there for free’ (as opposed to paying rent when landing on properties of others).
Anyway, let me know if you remember anything different about playing Monopoly when you were a kid.
This week: The Trump Game! You’re all invited
Time for an update
Sunday, March 2nd, 2008Sorry for the long delay, last week was back to work for me, so you can imagine just how exhausting it was for all of us. It’s been a real challenge to spend the night with the baby, and still have energy the next day. My mornings start extra early to make sure to feed and get her ready, and I pump during the day to send to the baby-sitter during the day. I never appreciated mothers so much, so thanks to Mommy Price and Mom Miller and all of the wonderful mother out there. We’re aweseome!! Shaina is now spending her days at Morah Shira, her baby-sitter, who reports she is doing well. Monday was Shaina’s 6 week check-up. She got her shots but didn’t cry for too long, and she reportedly gained a pound since last visit. Not as much as we had hoped but the Dr. is happy with the way she looks.
Tuesday we went to the Yeshiva Primary Reunion. It was in Annie Chen, yummy food. R’ Deutscher spoke well and Adiel and I had a nice time, even though we didn’t know anyone. The seating was seperate but becuase we got there early, we were able to sit together as bookends to each side of the table . Sometimes it pays to get there early! Shaina was right near us, in the corner and she slept the entire time.
Last week, Shaina’s friend Gavriel Koenig, and his mother, Shoshana came to visit. Even though he’s only 4 months older than her, what a difference that makes! Notices how their seats and bunting are exactly the same, just different colors. Like she usually does when visitors come over, Shaina shluffed through everything, but she was nice enough to let Gavriel use her swing.
This past week Shabbos we went to the Langsners in Brooklyn with Shabsy and Rochie and that was wonderful, we hadn’t been to them in ages! Adina J walked over and we shmoozed for a bunch, great seeing you, Adina!
Shaina’s kiddush is in two weeks, March 15 which is Parshas Zachor. We hope to see all of you here in Far Rockaway then!
Here are a couple of short clips of Shaina and me. I sound ridiculous but Shaina is adorable.