Only Good Things -- Just the Beginning (There's more....)

So, as some of you already know, our blogger friend, Jameel, just had a baby boy.
(MAZAL TOV!!)

Well, to be technically accurate, Jameela is the one who actually gave birth... but those details are not relevant right now. What is important is that Jameel and Jameela are really good friends of ours and they do not live close by. When traffic is good, it takes almost two hours to drive there. In Israel, that is FAR! (Remember, the country is smaller than NJ and you can drive from the top to the bottom in just over 5 hours!)

So, when Moshe told me that davening (morning prayers) were at 7:15 and the brit (circumcision ceremony) would be at 8:00, I pretty much figured it was a non-starter that we would not go. As most of you know already, neither Moshe nor I are morning people and we would have to get up at 4:45 to get there on time! Maybe we could have gotten up at 5:00, but we already established, in a previous post (read the comments), that 5:00 am only exists in an alternate dimension!

Well, this would not be the first time that Moshe and I processed information differently!

"Let's go the night before." Moshe suggested, "We can sleep there and wake up at a normal time."

Now, let us ignore, for the moment, that for me 6:45 in the morning is not normal either. If you know me long enough, you know not to even call me before 9:00 in the morning! If I am up, and I know that you are a morning person (strange as that may be...), I'll call you! Still, for something important enough (this brit counts), I could wake up around 7:00.

The thing is, this is the first week of school. And, despite the fact that our kids are all super independent, and act as if we are just bothering them when we want to spend time with them at home... they all really want us to be home when they go to sleep. They won't admit to it, but they sleep easier (and better) when we are home.

To make matters more complex, the previous night (Monday), we were also out (for Danny's Frei's Yartzheit Shiur (memorial lecture)), and the kids did not get to sleep on time.

Normally I would not worry so much. But didn't I mention this is the FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL??? No pressure there!

Never mind that our son is in a new school and has all these crazy ideas about riding his bike (see previously mentioned post) to school. Besides the second day of school (after the shiur), when his alarm did not go off, he has been biking to school every day!!

So, it just did not seem like such a good idea for us to be out, two nights in a row.

I suggested that Moshe go on his own. Moshe and Jameel have been friends forever, and I could see that it was really important to Moshe to be there. I could see right away that Moshe really wanted to go with me. (OK, all together now: "awwwww, that is sooooo sweet!" )

Then I suggested that maybe we should just get up early and make the drive. There is certainly no traffic at that hour of the morning!

Moshe could not believe I was willing to get up that early. To my chagrin, in all honesty I was not so sure I would still be willing to do it either. The world looks a little different at five in the morning... and not much looks important enough for me to wake up at that bizarre hour!

Then, when another friend, and neighbor of Jameel's, actually offered to host us.... it just seemed like the stars of fate had aligned themselves....

I did stipulate that I would not leave the house unless I was convinced that the kids would be OK without us. Read: that the kids would all go to bed on time (more or less); that they would be able to fall asleep; and that they would be able to get up in the morning!

By 8:30, the kids were totally set and I was totally exhausted! I just wanted to go to bed and sleep.

Another friend had called for a ride and I again suggested to Moshe that he could go on his own, since he would have company. (In the end, the friend did not join us, but we did not know that then.)

Moshe suggested I could just as easily (almost) sleep in the car. He assured me that I did not need to stay awake for him.

So, I shoved some clothes in a bag and off we went!

Well, needless to say, I did not sleep in the car at all!

Besides that fact that spending time driving together is about the only time we have to really talk with no distractions or interruptions, almost as soon as we got in the car Moshe casually mentioned that he does "not really remember how to drive there."

Now, Moshe has been driving there for YEARS!! And when we first started driving there, together, many years ago, Moshe pretty much knew the way on his own; I just helped navigate a bit. So, how is it that now I am the one who knows how to get there without thinking?!?

*sigh*

By the time we arrived, at around 11:00, I got my second wind.

When we got there, Moshe noted that all the windows in our hosts' home were dark. I pointed to one of the downstairs windows, which was lit, and said confidently, our hostess "does not sleep." I know this for a fact because, besides the fact that she has mentioned it several times, every time I am up late on line, she instant messages me!!

Clearly, we are both insane!

The bottom line: we sat down for a drink (vanilla ice coffee, yummmm); after about 45 minutes, Moshe excused himself, and my friend and I sat up talking and laughing (and watching 1960's music videos on YouTube) until 2:00 in the morning!

Honestly, and truly, INSANE.

And TOTALLY WORTH IT!!

This friend just makes me LAUGH!! For the record, her life is not any simpler health wise than mine. She has different problems, yet surprisingly similar feelings about all sorts of health-related issues. And she deals with everything with a bitingly sardonic sense of humor. I love it!!

By the time I went to bed, I was in a great mood, but not sleepy. So I read a bit; it did not take that long for me to wind down....

Seven o'clock in the morning came around too fast.....



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

With love and optimism,
RivkA