Quiet Shabbat

As great as it is to be with family, it is also great to be returning to our "normal" routine.

We had a lovely, quiet Shabbat.

We were invited out to dinner with friends whose company we all really enjoy. (Bonus: they live only 8 buildings away, so it is a short walk to their home.)

It was almost midnight when we arrived at home, but everyone was in a nice, relaxed mood. The kids and I hung out in the living room, just chatting for a while.... until Moshe reminded us of the time.

Then we all went to bed.

I got up early enough in the morning to help my son wake up and go to shul with his dad. I knew he really wanted to go, but it is really hard for him to get up in the morning.... like his mom.

Once my son was ready to go, I put the food on the hotplate to warm up and... went back to sleep.

Oh, yeah, first I took my chemo drugs....

My girls were still asleep when Moshe and my son returned home; I was almost back asleep as well. I asked Moshe to wake me when we were ready to eat.

I really needed the extra sleep.

Lunch was terrific! I pulled together the entire meal completely from the freezer: perfect Basmati white rice (leftovers from when my MIL cooked for us for Shabbat), delicious chicken (cooked by a friend on a day that we did not actually need food), broccoli (left over from last Shabbat) and chicken soup (from my sister's freezer).

My youngest daughter, with a wink in her eye, looked at the full Shabbat table and asked: "Who cooked this meal?"

The best part of the meal: my eldest daughter (15) looked at all of us around the table and said "It is so nice to be together, just us."



Please daven (or send happy, healing thoughts) for RivkA bat Teirtzel.

With love and optimism,
RivkA