oops...

I forgot to mention in the last post that my response to my "newfound" cousin's revalation that we were indeed related...

"Nu, so are you coming for Peach or what?"

I thought it was funny ;)

Now, really my biggest concern about Pesach will be the Ashkenazi majority versus the Sephardic minority (of which we comprise). Eran has always had kitniot and rice for Pesach and luckily I have my learning partner with just the same familial situation as me so I have a resource to use and pick her brain.

Purim songs abound at our house - and Tu B'Shvat too still...

It's just been that kinda day...
My personal family tree grows and grows and grows.

A girlfriend who had a Tulane connection to New Orleans who has always seemed sweet and nice and (attracted isn't the correct word, maybe drawn? to me).
Turns out Jewish geography strikes again.

My mother's father and her mother's father were related (either brothers or cousins - I missed that part) meaning that her mother and my mother were first or second cousins making us second or third cousins.

When I told my mom that Ruthie so and so is her mother, my mother said yea - Ruthie had twins. My friend is one of those twins and her twin brother just got married a few months ago.

Small world!

Then I called the neighbor lady whose kid is in Jonathan's class. Turns out she grew up here in Houston around the corner on Renwick. Another small world. And her Israeli husband grew up in Haifa and is going to Israel in March just like someone else I know - more on that later :)

Gotta go now and get the $$ to pay the sitter. Yuk!
Have a nice day and just remember what a small world we live in

It's official, but lets keep it under wraps for now...

I am going to be headed to Israel this summer. click here for more details. Posting it here (finally) makes it feel more real somehow.

I was hand-picked and invited to attend a women's only "mission" to Israel with a truly motivational woman teacher and speaker along with 29 other females from my community. My weekly learning partner is expecting a baby this summer (b'shah tovah) and so she will not be joining us, which makes me kinda sad because it would be so fun to see Israel with her. [There's a whole other post about that - me emailing her to stop reading if she was pregnant when I wrote to her about the story of my sister-in-law's tragedy and her having to keep reading cause she couldn't disclose it yet]
There will be a total of 100 of going on this trip (which is the 3rd of the summer for Lori) with our group consitiving of Denver and Dallas and Houston (I think)

The night we learned the nitty-gritty details about it, Lori gave a keynote speech about "Tests from Hashem". Since I had to grapple with accepting this opportunity for a couple of weeks, I classify this trip as yet another "obvious" test for me.

• The invitation was presented and I had to hesitate because how on earth is Eran going to keep our household together while I am away?


• But, it is SO affordable, thanks to generous donations from sources unbeknowst to me, that how could I NOT go?


• How do I know I was hand-picked? The whole thing was cloaked in secrecy. We were invited to dinner but not allowed to see the guest list. When we were checking in, my entry on this list was just my first name. [Ed. note: I finally have something in common with Madonna. I am so well known in certain circles that no surname is even necessary - at least that's how I'm going choose to see that.]


• There is a general criteria for going. Must be over a certain age (otherwise you could go on birthright), 75% of us have children at home or that still use your address as their permanent one (college kids count) and I'm sure there's more but that's what I remember.

So now I really have to renew my US passport which expired about 2 years ago.

I kinda feel like this will be similar to the whirlwind trip I took with Pilgrimage as a teenager, but I am at such a different place in my life that it just has to be different. There is already an evident split amongst the participants we met that night - older vs younger, but it should make for an interesting mix and maybe some long-lasting friendships as well.

I wonder how I will fit in seeing all the multitude of friends I have to see in Jerusalem (and family in the North)...I might just have to do like Sam and Carlye and have a certain evening dedicated to visiting everyone at once. Maybe in the hotel lobby.

Plus, there was mention of a big "naming" ceremony at the top of Massada. I HATE climbing Massada - and at my current level of activity, I will surely choke and pass out before I make it there. Gotta get on that! TODAY. {As an aside, I heard on the radio this morning that "The Biggest Loser" is holding a casting call in Houston on March 7. Anyone want to join me there?}

So now you know - back to life as usual!