As the year comes to a close, so do things around here

1) I finally finished the Bible outline. 32 pages single-spaced, size 10 font. As much as it pains it me to say it though, it was a really good assignment. I have a much better grasp on Biblical exegesis than I ever did before.

2) We have an official closing date for the house! We'll be getting the keys on Thursday, January 24th. Unfortunately I'm at my pulpit that weekend, so moving in will commence on February 1st-3rd.

3) Holiday letters are all sent out. I feel so adult. Did you know that on average only 5% of post office mail is personal? I bet it doubles during the holidays.

4) I paid bills and cleared off my desk... when I get stressed the desk organization is the first thing to go. I think I'm too Type A, I feel much more settled now.

5) We've been cat-sitting this week for Pumpkin, Roosevelt, and Whiskers (they belong to two separate houses). 'Tis the season for all cat parents to go visit their families. As cute as they are, I admit it will be nice to return to doing only own litterbox.

6) As a Hanukkah gift I bought Jonathan "Carnivorous Creations," a kit that comes with a pot, soil, and seeds of 10 types of carnivorous plants. It's been a week. There are no sprouts. I'm very impatient. How long does it take these things to grow?!

7) We're now officially addicted to Amish bread. Each batch yields four starters, and we keep keeping one for ourselves. Jonathan's enjoying the baking, and I'm enjoying the eating. But I told him this is the last one, our waistlines can't handle any more.

8) Things have been slower at Jonathan's work since the year's coming to a close. He came home today at 3pm! To celebrate we went to Taco Bell and had Fiesta Burritos. Oh, the exciting life we lead.

And... I can't think of anything to say for numbers 9 and 10. Any suggestions?

A Jewish December 25th

We went to see a movie, then we went out for Indian food.

I can hear the gasps - what, no Chinese?! - but we decided to shake things up. Three cheers for curry!

Random things

- In the past two days we've gotten three separate holiday update letters in the mail from friends and family. It's shamed us into writing one. So if you want a letter in a week or two but aren't sure if we have your snail mail address, email me. (I don't like posting emails/addresses on the internet - all of you who know us well enough to get a letter should have one of our emails, I'm guessing)

- Definition of irony: Holly, Becca, and Glenna are all in CA right now and I'm in the midwest. I miss you guys. *waves madly *

- My father has offered to finance our guest bedroom furnishings. It's so exciting, we can get a real bed! Perhaps it will be more exciting for anyone who comes to visit and no longer has to stay on our couch. :)

- I had a brainstorm yesterday and realized we don't need to go to the supermarkets to get packing boxes. I know many people at - gasp - a school, where boxes abound. I came home yesterday with about ten, and will now do regular box collections in the copy room, the bookstore, maintenance, and the front desk.

- I'm a big fan of Jhumpa Lahiri, and anyone who hasn't read her book of short stories Interpreter of Maladies should do so right now. Last week we rented the movie version of her novel The Namesake, and I was pleasantly surprised. Usually I pooh-pooh movies made from books, but this one was beautifully done and presented the tension of immigrants and their first-generation children in a manner that was extremely touching.

- Also on the subject of movies, I'm such a geek. I watched our new copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with my Sorting Hat atop my head and my Time-Turner around my neck. You may laugh, but it really did make it more fun!

Off to bed... I'm going to glory in the fact that I can sleep in tomorrow and not teach Sunday school. Yay vacation!

Almost over....

Yeah, so I decided to get an extension on the outline. I finished all other papers and tests, and am through Genesis. Only four more books of the Torah to go.

Regularly scheduled blog updates will resume next week. :)

Busy busy busy

- I've lost count of the amount of hours I've spent writing papers. I have two tests tomorrow and three more papers to write. The last day of finals is Friday, and unless I decide to get an extension on my Bible outline, I'll be DONE.

- Jonathan drove me to my pulpit this weekend because of the snow. We rented a Jeep even with a four-wheel drive. Only two people showed up to Adult Ed on Saturday due to the bad weather, and six more inches of snow fell after we left. Sunday school today was even cancelled in Cincinnati.

- Work has been killer for Jonathan lately. He had an all-night call on Friday, and then an emergency call today the whole time I was at a study group. Osher at least approves, because he gets to sit on his lap the whole time.

- In a study/work break we made the Amish Friendship Bread given to us by Carl and Anne. It was delicious! It's full of cinnamon and raisins and lots of other good stuff, and kind of tastes like coffee cake. It's been a wondrous respite... studying is fine as long as we have cake!


- Most importantly, we have a tentative move-in date for our house! We close the third week in January, and will most likely move in on Monday the 21st, Martin Luther King Day (when Jonathan gets off work and I off school). Hooray!

Hanukkah pics

Hanukkah is after all the Festival of Lights, and someone asked how we could light things up without making it look Christmas-y. Here's what we did.

Electric menorah


Archway with blue and white lights and silver/blue Star of David.


This one didn't come out at night - this side of the room has white lights only.

Our lions wear kippot and are covered with gold glittery stars.

Hanukkah is a fabulous holiday. You can pretend you're a kid and decorate cookies!

Suuuuuch a good cookie.

Hanukkah!

It's been an amazing Hanukkah so far. We have blue and white twinkly lights all over the living room, our electric menorah lights up the window, and we've never felt so loved.

Winter is definitely covered between silk underwear from Aunt Lois and thermal socks from Tante Edna and Uncle John. Reading is covered between books from Jan and Jonathan. Dessert is covered between a chocolate maker and bamboo cooking utensils from Gwen. And we've gotten cards from everybody, and haven't even opened everything yet!

The big news for me - JONATHAN GOT ME A TREADMILL! I've been wanting one forever. It was stored at Jeffery's, and when we went over there tonight for dinner they shocked me out of my skin. Jonathan also nailed me by getting me Scene It: Harry Potter, a fabulous board/DVD game based on all things HP.

I, in turn, got him a geekalicious solar-powered watch which has an altimeter, barometer, compass, world times, atomic clock, and more. Here is he is modeling the watch as well as his t-shirt which displays the strength of a wi-fi signal wherever he is.



The pictures below have nothing to do with Hanukkah, but they're fun anyway.

Snuggly cats.

Icicles outside.

Simcha deciding that I really shouldn't do my homework, I should pet him instead.

Simcha tries to determinedly remove the button from Jonathan's shirt.

You notice that Osher is missing from these pictures. He's too busy looking out the window.

Snow

As many of you already know, it snowed yesterday in Cincinnati. Of course, we had all the warnings, for the weather people kept warning us about the dreaded “S” word is coming. Everyone spoke of the first snow in hushed tones of contempt. They were all native people of the Midwest, and for them it was that "Annoying Thing that Happens in the Winter." For me, a 3^rd generation Californian who has very little experience with snow, it was magical.

My alarm kicked off at its normal morning twilight time and the weather report began. The weather person started the report with “It’s 15 degrees and snowing this morning, it’s expected to….” and I don’t remember anything she said after that. My eyes snapped wide open and leaped to the bedroom window to look out. There before me was the surreal image of a white-painted world seen through a gray fuzzy lens. White fluffs were drifting carelessly down like bits of cloud falling to earth. I woke up my wife, who was equally awed by the scenery, though she had to shake more of her sleep off before she realized what was going on.

I’m luckier than many because I get to work remotely from home on such days. I got to take some hot soup breaks that allowed me to look out the window. The addition of some warm felines snuggled up to me added to the “comfyness” of being home in this cold weather. (I 've noticed that our cats' affection level rises in inverse proportion to the temperature.)

When at last I did leave the comfort of my home, I found my car completely incased in ice. Fortunately my locks work by remote, so an iced lock wasn’t a concern. I went for the door and found it frozen shut. I had to pull it free as ice shards flew everywhere. I couldn’t help but feel that it was very cool. Michal couldn’t get her door open so I opened it from inside the car, knocking all the ice loose.

The next day I drove to work and Michal walked to school bundled up like a snow bunny. I was informed by my co-workers that I will need to get a snow shovel with my house in January. Something about your car being “iced in” if you don’t shovel the snow before it “refreezes.” Right now I’m just enjoying the novelty of it, but this is all new vocabulary to this California boy in the land of ice and snow.

I love Maura. She gives me rides to school.

Right now for Cincinnati, OH

Cloudy

30°F

And tomorrow they're predicting 3 to 5 inches of snow. Sarah has promised to take us both sledding/skiing this winter... neither Jonathan nor I have gone, so it looks to be fun. Just cold. Yes, I still have thin California blood.

OMG

We did it! Our house offer was accepted! Pending inspection and all that good stuff, we should close at the end of January. We're SO excited. I'm literally jumping up and down.

We actually got the news tonight when we were at Carl and Anne's, decorating Hanukkah cookies with their girls. Frosting is obviously a good luck charm. :)

In other news, Christmas in Ohio is insane. The normal soft rock radio station plays Christmas music 24/7, every store in existence has a tree and decorations, and the whole atmosphere is permeated with Christmas themes. It's like Christmas in California times ten. We made Hanukkah cookies out of protest.

Jonathan is still busy at work, I'm still busy with school, there's frost on the car windshield every morning, and the cats are happily exploring and destroying everything they can. This week's casualty was a pillow stuffed with tiny white styrofoam balls. It took us two hours to clean them all up, and we're still convinced we'll find white balls til the day we move out.

I shall end with our new prayer: Baruch atah adonai, elohanu melech haolam, who has granted us a fabulous housing market!