Perfect beginning to Thanksgiving!

Malinda took this photo of me and the turkey after we walked in the second annual Turkey Trots (sponsored by Bloomington Bagel Company). After Bob Z (my boss at the HT) told me about the Turkey Trots, we couldn't resist! Malinda, Gregg and I drove over to begin at 7 on the 5K walk/run. Walking through the quiet campus, along Dunn Meadow, was such a georgeous beginning to the day! Afterward, free bagels and coffee at BBC, and running into lots of friends. Even met some neighbors from our new neighborhood, friends of Bob Z, who I had never met before.

Then home to begin a tranquil and wonderful Thanksgiving Day...brunch with Lee, Eric, Ruthie, Gracie, Mom...a nap and playing around with the leaf vacuum for a while, as the kids and mom put together remaining dishes for dinner (I figured if I stayed inside, I'd be in charge and I wanted to empower the kids to do it. Adam did the stuffing and the noodles, Abby did the green bean cassarole. I had done the potatoes the night before, and Jordie did the turkey.) We bought pies and I had made cranberry walnut bread. I also made a big dish of fried potatoes and onions, ready for brunch.

So we had a good Thanksgiving dinner about 5, really relaxed, and then Jordie played a game with the kids while I read...then we watched TV together.

It was a wonderful day. The only thing that would have made it better would be if Amalia had been there, but we'll have her home soon for Chanukah!

Fourth Street Fair 2006

Abby was Bonnie's assistant this year at the Fourth Street Fair!

A blessing

Earlier this week, I learned that my good friend Vicki's chemotherapy would begin today (Friday). I was in a bit of a muddle, because the North open house was Wednesday and then we had a Renewal minyan meeting (alternative service at our synagogue, Beth Shalom) scheduled for our house Thursday night. AND, I had a Beth Shalom personnel committee meeting at 3:45...so, I emailed a few women friends. I made some soup in the crockpot and got home just as other women arrived. They brought salad, bread and hummus, drinks. We shared a meal at our dining room table, then as we finished eating, we passed -- one woman to the next -- a small bowl containing some shells which Vicki had gathered on the beach. As each woman held the small bowl in front of her, she gave a message of support and love to Vicki. Hopefully, Vicki will remember all the kind words whenever she looks at that little bowl of shells.

Then, we moved out onto the back porch. We held hands and breathed quietly for a minute, then I read aloud this healing meditation:

Healing Meditation --- by Ariel Neshama Lee

I wrote this healing meditation for a friend diagnosed with a brain tumor. It can be used for healing from pain, stress or grief by substituting these words wherever the word “tumor” appears. I wish to acknowledge my teacher and friend, Carol Rose, for her gifts of wisdom and light, which inspire my writing and my spirituality.
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Imagine that you are walking in the desert. You see a woman approaching you. This woman is Sarah. She gives you a candle that never goes out. Meditate on the flame. Feel the streams of light entering your body, penetrating every cell, becoming a part of you. This light is healing and energizing. Feel this light surround and envelop the cancerous cells in your body. Envision the light leaving your body, taking the cancerous cells with it.

Now you see another woman approaching you. This woman is Rivkah. She gives you a beautiful golden cup filled with sparkling water. Pour the water over your body. It becomes a waterfall. Feel it as it shines and shimmers with all the colors of the rainbow. Feel this water cleanse, soothe, and heal you as it washes any residue of the cancerous cells away.

Another woman approaches you. This woman is Rachel. She gives you a beautiful silk tallit with all the colors of the rainbow. Wrap yourself in the tallit. Feel the soft fabric caress you. Feel the Presence of Shekhinah all around you and within you. Feel the healing energy as you connect to the Divine Healer, Rofeh ha-Cholim.

You meet another woman. This woman is Leah. She gives you a beautiful flower. The flower bursts into full bloom. It becomes a part of you. Feel the flower fill the space where the cancerous cells were inside your body. Feel the space where the cancerous cells were fill with hope, rebirth and renewal.

The women join hands and make a circle around you and bless you. You thank them for the gifts. Know that these gifts will always be there for you. Call on them when you are afraid, tired, exhausted, and in need of healing. Know that Shekhinah is always there for you. Know that the Divine Healer neither slumbers nor sleeps and is always there for you, lifting you on Healing Wings and renewing your strength.

Then, a magical moment. Diane David gave to Vicki a new lithograph of Bruce's -- containing the Four Matriarchs! It just could not have been more perfect. Vicki loved it.

We then gathered around Vicki and laid our hands on her and sang the Misheberach blessing for healing.

I felt really lucky to have each woman as my friend.

I wish Vicki did not have to go through this, but I think she is really wise to be open about it and accept loving support from her friends and family.

August Panorama

Just stealing a few minutes before going home. Abby is up at North soccer game and Sue will give both Talia and Abby rides home.

Later tonight, Sue says she will give me a call and she and I will WALK!

I really like the class I'm taking -- F358 -- Jewish Identity. The prof is funny and interesting and really nice -- he spills over with fascinating stuff.

So, I have reading to do for the class, it's already 6:30 and I haven't left work, the bed in my office is full of clean laundry waiting for me to sort it and put it away...

But it is better to be busy.

I was thinking about that issue because two of us moms were standing around talking about how we were going to take some food to a friend who needs some loving care right now. And another person was telling us how she could not find time to help out, but maybe in the future. Not that we asked for help -- but evidently there was a need to make excuses. And both of us have husbands and kids and pets and work full-time and participate a lot in our respective faith communities...

I actually had a talk with Abby about that. About how life is always busy, but it's better to say "yes" when an opportunity for service is put in front of you. I don't know if that's a Jewish thing, but it feels like it is...

Of course, Abby is the kind of kid who, when she and Jordie came to help out with the Welcome Back Brunch at synagogue Sunday morning (I was chairing and so they automatically volunteered to come early with me and help set up) -- anyway, I said to her "Can you go handle the table in the front hall and greet people, help them make nametags?" And she just said "Sure" and went to do it. I was so grateful to have that kind of kid -- all three kids are that kind -- and several people said nice things to me about our beautiful and gracious daughter.

But there is a thing -- Jewish or not -- that, if one if fortunate in life -- you owe it to life to give back.

Anyway, August has been a colorful and interesting and busy and good and bad and happy and sad panorama.

The Jeffersons came and that was good in so many ways. Our house was full -- but it was relaxing and joyful. Nora and Rita have diamonds in their noses! It was just perfect to hang out with them.

One of my best friends, Vicki, had to have a mastectomy and I've been thinking about her all the time. She just found out the other day that it has NOT metasticized (sp?) and I realized I had been carrying a huge ball of dread around all week, waiting to hear the news. So, she will have to have chemo and radiation, but at least, a good prognosis for recovery.

And another good friend, Shirley, my retired boss who basically taught me everything about pagination and made my current life so enjoyable by hiring me and making this job possible for me...she fell down the stairs at home and hurt her head and I have been so worried about her. Jordie has been helping out by stopping by their house, too, as well as some other good friends of hers.

We drove to Chicago and met Amalia at O'Hare -- she and the younger kids took the train into town to Lollopalooza and Jordie and I took her suitcase and headed up to Ika and Shlomo's. We went out for a relaxed meal with them and spent the next couple of days with them...picking up the kids at the Deerfield train station after midnight, when they would return from Lollopalooza...and we went to IKEA and got some chairs, and we all went on a architectural river tour in downtown Chicago...and after we were home, we went to Clifty Falls for a night and Jordie and I took a canoe and the kids, all in kayaks, paddled for SEVEN MILES down the Blue River...it was so much fun. At one point, Abby was alone on the river ahead of us. She was singing the Three Dog Night version of "Joy to the World, all you boys and girls..."and keeping time with her kayak paddle...later in the week we rented a pontoon boat and spent the afternoon on Lake Monroe. Then a really great 25th anniversary party that Saturday night! So much fun for lots of friends to come and share food and memories and see the house...

A busy and happy month that slipped by in the blink of an eye (Adam would call me "oldie" for saying that!)

OK. Time for me to get home.

A very interesting day

The house is quiet. I can hear the air-conditioning running. A faint murmur of Jordie and his friends from the Community Justice and Mediation Center committee, talking downstairs.

And I can hear my mom, breathing a bit noisily, sleeping on the living room couch.

She had been in the hospital for a week. They diagnosed microscopic colitis. With an IV, she had begun to look and feel much better. They put her on medication which costs $400/month, but it has been helping with the terrible diarrhea, which is a symptom of that disease.

At the hospital, before she was released Friday, we all had the impression that an Americare nurse would be with her at home all day Saturday. Wrong.

The Americare nurse called at 3 p.m. Saturday. My mom was so upset that she told her not to come that day.

The nurse came this morning, several hours after Mom had been found in the lobby, not totally dressed. And upset and confused. We think that must have been the influence of the sleeping medication she had been given.

She had been without her medication for a full 24 hours, which was enough to start the horrible diarrhea again. And thanks to that very heavy-duty sleeping pill (we think) she fell so hard in the bathroom that she broke the toilet. It wouldn't work. So in desperation, she went down to the lobby to be close to a bathroom.

So, the nurse was helpful this morning, telling us about the medications, etc. And it was a big misunderstanding, I guess, that we thought she would have someone with her in the morning yesterday.

We brought her home with us. She thinks she is going home on Tuesday when we pick up Abby from the airport. But, Jordie says she should stay till her gastrointestinal thing is all better, and I agree. And if this should turn out to be for a longer time, or for good, we are ready for that possibility.

Now that she is at our house, Mom is perfectly coherent and it's good to have her there where we can help her out while she is ill.

Oh, and the Honda minivan chose to overheat just after we left Mom's. So, we left it at her house and brought her car.

And, I'm afraid to turn on the news to even see what has been happening in Israel right now. My heart is full of fear for our family and friends there.

I am sick about what is happening, and I don't have any answers about what is right or wrong. But I'm just worried.

Now, I must go finish cleaning up some stuff out of our bedroom, where Mom is going to sleep. I want to take a nap myself before I go to Vicki's tonight -- there is a prayer service at her house tonight, before she has her mastectomy tomorrow.

I could take a few boring days after this.

Mellow Shabbat, in spite of everything

Just had a wonderful evening, hanging out with my husband...

In spite of the past week just being one heck of a challenge (Carol, my office-mate, is on vacation; my mom has been in the hospital in southern Indy all week with what turns out to be microscopic colitis and I have been worried and have gone up there most days this week; busy with thinking about Beth Shalom stuff, too; car got fixed; washing machine broken; my foot hurts -- although less than it has; and terribly, terribly worried about what is happening in Israel; and over everything, worrying about my buddy Vicki, who has to have a mastectomy on Monday):

So, Rod was as helpful as he ever could be, volunteering to do the Sunday editorial page and I got out of work by 6 or so...normal for a Friday. So, I met up with Jordie and we went downtown, hoping to start the evening by looking at a peace art exhibit in the Showers Building. However, Showers was all locked up. We proceeded over to the Square, to see Jeremy Bazur's art show at the Wandering Turtle Gallery -- the show and the whole gallery were wonderful! We walked over to Roots, a vegetarian restaurant and had dinner...then over to South Washington Street to listen to a few minutes of music in the park and then to Jen Molica's art show at Boxcar Books. I want to commission her to do a piece for the Miriam collection, but not until the fall, when I can afford it. Catching up on bills this summer!

Now, Jordie is out giving Sadie a walk and I am going to bed soon! Roger Kugler is coming over in the morning to talk about the future fireplace mantle and surround, and I am so excited! He is going to loan me his "tile box" with a tile cutter and a book on how to do it, so we can do the tile for the fireplace in the living room. YAY!

Oh, but first....



This is the red-brick-with-white-frame-(but no mantle!)-fireplace in our living room. In front, on the hearth, you can see the blueish-greenish stone tiles that are going to be on the fireplace! And it will have a light wood mantle and surround. Bellissimo!



Amalia sent me this photo last Sunday when Abby had just arrived in Los Angeles, and they had gone to a movie together...along with leaving me a message that she was feeding our little girl from the three major food groups: Milk Dud, popcorn and nachos!



And the girls sent me this photo while they were trying on sunglasses!



This is a house I had been hunting for. Even last time when Sandy was here, she and I drove around looking. One summer, I was walking down West 14th Street, and I saw a guy named Odie, who I knew. He mentioned that he and his wife Beth needed to find a full-time babysitter for their new baby, Morgan, because Beth wanted to be able to work (she was a chef). So, I ended up babysitting that whole summer for Morgan, a sweet baby boy. I kind of wanted to find out if I could deal with little kids, since I had never really taken care of any. SO, Sandy used to come over there, as she was friends with them, also. And it was frustrating that we could not locate that house where I spent happy summer days with that sweet baby. After all, I was out of college already -- I should be able to remember. So, it was a relief to finally drive by that house and say "That's it!" I emailed the photo to Sandy with a note: "Found it." And I know she will understand!