Shepping Nachas

Shepping nachas is a Yiddish expression; literally it means "scooping up satisfaction/pleasure"

What is really means is harder to express.

I googled 'shepping nachas' and came up with this definition, penned by Treppenwitz: 'shepping nachas' can be roughly translated as a combination of deriving great pleasure from something and being extremely proud of someone... for example; when a friend or loved one does something exemplary.

That about sums it up for me.

I am so proud of my son. He delivered a complex drasha and, once again, he spoke clearly and with confidence.

Even when the microphone made all sorts of annoying noises, my son kept his composure and did not lose his train of thought.

At one point in the drasha, he realized that he skipped something earlier on and he seemlessly inserted the relevant information so that he could make his next point.

He had full command of his subject matter and he presented it well.

I could not be any prouder.



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

With love and optimism,
RivkA

Got It!!

Don't know if it was via Facebook or my Blog, but we got a screen!

Wish I could post more, but too much to do!!!

Thanks to everyone!!



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

With love and optimism,
RivkA

We need a screen for the Bar Mitzvah

Anyone have a screen we can borrow or know from where we can rent one?

If so, please call me if you can -- otherwise please email or comment.

(please do not email/comment if you do not have a concrete suggestion)

Thanks


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

With love and optimism,
RivkA

Better Late than Never

OK -- three (four, if you count this one) posts in one day is not as good as one post over three (or four) days....

But this is what there is.

I'd write more, but I have got to SLEEP!!!



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

With love and optimism,
RivkA

Bar Mitzvah -- Aliyah LaTorah

My son, God bless him, sometimes slurs his words, talkingnonstopwithoutdifferentiatingbetweenwords.

Sometimes he also speaks quietly.

It can be difficult to understand him.

He is aware of this problem and he works hard to speak clearly.

I wondered (read: worried) if he would be able to enunciate clearly when he read Torah.

It was difficult for me to accept that, once again, my heath situation prevented me from teaching my son on my own.

That said, I admit that I felt relieved that someone else would have the challenge (read: responsibility) of getting him to read loudly and clearly.

It took us a while to find the right teacher to teach him how to read Torah, but we did.

Our neighbor, DS, is a bit older (probably around the same age as my parents) -- he is exacting in his teaching (something that is important to me) and strict (my son was intimidated just the right measure -- enough to go to almost all his lessons and to practice seriously with his teacher).

Periodically we heard my son read a bit here and there.

When he practiced, he read pretty well. But I wondered, would he be the kind of kid who, when it came time to read in shul, would be overwhelmed and read quickly and quietly? Or would he be the kind of kid who would rise to the occasion, and read even stronger.

My son was definitely the latter!!

I heard EVERY WORD, loudly and distinctly.

I could not have been prouder!!



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

With love and optimism,
RivkA

Feed the Beasts!!

Members of my family share a challenging personality trait -- when we do not eat, we get really grumpy (to put it mildly).

Everyone (my father and mother, and my brother and his family) was scheduled to arrive at the end of Tisha B'Av, after fasting and a 24 hour flight with small children!



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

With love and optimism,
RivkA

Letting Go

(written last week -- forgot to post....)
----------------------------------------------------

My “plan” had been to “get through” all the end-of-the-year stuff and then focus on the bar mitzvah.

Of course, discovering brain mets less than a week before school ended stuck a real wrench into that plan!

I started radiation the first day of summer vacation!!

The almost immediate exhaustion hit me by surprise. I kept telling myself, I’ll start working on the bar mitzvah tomorrow…. hopefully I’ll be less tired then….

Yeah, right.

So, here we are, time is running out, and nothing is moving.

Those of you who do not know me personally might have figured out by now that I am definitely a “Type A” personality (those of you, who do know me, figured this out a long time ago). Among other characteristics, I’m a control freak.

Now, knowing that you have to let go of some of that control and actually letting go are two completely different ballgames!

So many wonderful people offered to help me, but I was too tired to even get them organized!! I did not know what to do with all those general offers to help. (Though I did think to ask people to bake for the Kiddush -- at least my brain has not retired completely!)

Thanks to a session with my OT, I made a list of things-to-do and figured out what I could give over to someone else.

I gave over so much already, and I’m still giving over more!

I am grateful for all the help offered by friends, family and acquaintances.

My sister-in-law (SIL) called almost every day, begging for more things to do! She made a MILLION calls to halls, caterers, family, friends, etc. (Did I mention that she has seven small kids of her own?!?)

My sister, SIL, and mother-and-father-in-law (MIL & FIL) all took various kids shopping for clothes for the simcha – not an easy task and one that I DREADED!!

Oh yeah, and did I mention that my in-laws, when they heard about my diagnosis, three days before they were going to fly to America, CANCELLED their trip so they could be here to help us!!

I am truly blessed.

Meanwhile, my son knows his parsha and his haftorah, and that is really all that matters!



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

With love and optimism,
RivkA