Seven spectacular stories of our wonderfully wacky weekend

1) Xander adores Aaron and Lauren's apartment. They had an EMPTY SHOEBOX and an EXERCISE BALL and a BOOK and COOKIES and there was PIZZA for dinner. Oh my.

2) For my adult education next week I'm doing a lesson on contemporary Jewish children's literature. On Friday I spent a blissful two hours at Rockdale Temple's library chatting with the librarian. She gave me 24 books to take to my pulpit, and just said, "Bring 'em back whenever. We know where to find you!" I am (geekily) really looking forward to it, and I'm having so much fun planning it out. Did you know that there's a 4th grade level book about the meeting between Martin Luther King, Jr. and Abraham Joshua Heschel? Or that Holocaust children's literature has gone from being very metaphorical to realistic in the past twenty years? Or that references to Eastern Europe have waned, while stories about the new immigrant experience has gone up? I even found out that book illustrations have changed - realism is old hat, there are now some amazing abstract art pieces out there, and lots of stories based on midrash and mysticism. I swear, sometimes I feel like I learn more from my own lesson planning than I do from school.

3) Jeffrey came over at 7pm on Saturday to play video games with Jonathan. Xander was already in his pajamas, but when Jeffrey walked into his room to say goodnight, he insisted on showing him his favorite toy, babbling up a storm, and blowing him kisses. I had to practically order Jeffrey out, and Xander made sad sounds and blew three more kisses at the door before he would let me put him to bed.

4) We watched The Time Traveler's Wife. And then of course I had to reread the book. The book's still better, always, but the movie's quite good on its own. Some of the reviews said it was too sappy, but hey, what's wrong with that?

5) The kidlet now opens doors so fluidly that when he wakes up in the morning, he just comes right in our room and tugs on the blankets. This morning that happened at 6:12. My husband was a saint and took him all morning - I woke up by myself at 10:30 and was so befuddled, I hadn't slept that long in ages!

6) I finished Bread and Fire: Jewish Women Find God in the Everyday, and I surprised by how much I didn't care for it. Usually it's the type of thing I love (which is why Gwen had given it to me), but it was a bit too conservative. The author is Chabad (a form of ultra-Orthodox) and I had lots of trouble relating to the women's emotions and concerns. There was this was one great article, though, "Nursing in Judaism," that I thought was quite informative, so I scanned it and sent it along to a few friends in my mom's network. One thing led to another, and what do you know - next month I'll be teaching an adult education class on Judaism, birth, and nursing to two local midwives, a lactation consultant, and the president of our home birth circle!

7) It was 39 degrees today, practically balmy. I took the trash out in flip flops, jeans, and a t-shirt. My god, I think I've acclimated!