Val-isms

Abroad

The flights were fine.  We slept from Toronto to Tel Aviv.  We rented a car and drove to Jerusalem like natives.  Ok, not quite like natives.  More like the blind leading the blind!  We had directions that were written by someone who doesn't drive (my Dad) and who didn't know a lot of street names but with only one stop at a gas station, we found my parents apartment.

Unfortuntely, we didn't have a phone and couldn't find the entrance to their building.

Fortunately, our sister-in-law and 2 of her 3 kids, as well as her father-in-law, drove up JUST as we were sitting on the street wondering how we'd be getting into the building!  It was a nice reunion on the street!

We have spent the past couple of days walking around Jerusalem, in the German colony and around the Old City.  We've shopped in shuks, seen the Western Wall and just basically been enjoying the wonderful  weather - high 60's and partly cloudy.

We had dinner at my brothers' place last night in Efrat - about 25 minutes from Jerusalem and completely enjoyed the bedlam that is a Bogner reunion tradition!

Tonight, our niece and nephew (Ari & Gili) will be spending the night with us at my parents and tomorrow, Linda & I will be taking Sophie, Ari & Gili to the Tel Aviv beaches and surrounding area for the day.  It's supposed to be close to 80!

My parents' apartment is just beautiful with a great balcony where you can hang out reading and watching the bustling of people and traffic going by underneath. They live in a great neighborhood that reminds us very much of being in Manhattan with lower buildings.  Lots of shops, great restaurants and lovely parks.

We are completely enjoying ourselves. 

Up, up and away

As I hoped it would, the evening went perfectly.  My patient and calm fiance kept reassuring me that it would all work out fine.

Like a well-oiled machine, after work Linda went with her list of things to get and I had my list.  Things on the lists were for both of us. of course, and we met back home about 6pm.  My ex picked up Sophie and I ran to the grocery store to pick up a few things to bring to Israel (that my parents couldn't find there) and some things for our dinner.

While I organized the purchases, Linda cooked a wonderful dinner for us.

After dinner, we each set out to pack our respective suitcases.

By 9:00pm, we were done except for a few things that needed to be washed and ended up being packed this morning.

The house has been cleaned, beds stripped and remade with clean sheets to greet us upon our return.

The car will be loaded later this morning and all that is left will be to head out about 1:15pm, stop to pick up Sophe's luggage at my ex's, pick up Sophie at school and head to Newark Airport.

Linda & I have books to read and Sophie has books, games and a portable DVD player with plenty of movies to watch.  The 3 of us travel well together.  Each time we take a trip together, it gets even easier and smoother.  (the fact that Sophie gets older each time certainly helps!)

We'll miss Services this weekend, which always makes me feel slightly out of synch, but I'll say my prayers as we board our flight at 7pm.  We land in Toronto, Canada at 9:30pm and then take off for Tel Aviv at midnight. 

When we land in Tel Aviv at 5pm local time, we'll rent our car and drive to my parents apartment in Jerusalem.

As I type this, I look forward to the end of this journey around the globe - having some bagels, lox and cream cheese with my parents, my daughter and my love.  I wonder if it would be too much to hope that the reunion with my brother David and his family might also be a possibility upon our arrival in Jerusalem???  If not, I'm sure we'll be seeing them on Sunday.

Shabbat shalom.

What, me worry?

The day before a trip is a flurry of activity.  And today will be no different than the norm.

We leave tomorrow for Israel, my beloved nephew Gili is having his Bar Mitzvah, which we will be attending on November 1st.  Here's the guy who will soon be a 'man' now:

 

Unfortunately, my sister and her girls will not be traveling this trip.  This fact has not been revealed to my daughter as we know it will be a huge disappointment for her.  I'm sure she'll have a great time with her Israeli cousins and the cousins who live an hour from her here in the States will be lined up for sleepovers in the future.

So, today will include lots of cleaning stuff up at work and picking up some last minute items, doing laundry and packing.

For your entertainment pleasure... some recent pics.  Here are the East Coast cousins(l-r: Sophie, Maisie & Noa):

 

 

After carving pumpkins:

 

Some biking shots of yours truly & my love on a bike ride in Westport, CT:

 

 

Guilty of being impressed

I will admit that I'm intrigued with some famous people.  Not to say that I am stalking anyone.  But I like a few stars (like Angelina, Julia, Oprah and Ellen, to name a few) and their stories interest me. I don't know why. 

But recently I was exposed to a woman that really has got me focused.  No, I'm still not stalking or anything, but she has me watching political shows on a very regular basis, which is not something that I usually do.

Who, you ask? 

Why, Rachel Maddow, of course.  The first openly gay woman to be offered a Rhodes Scholorship.  You can read all about her HERE.

My fascination with her is fairly new, but apparently others are interested in her, too, as she was featured in the NY Times in the Magazine section this past week. 

Just something about her.  And she's only 35!  It's nice to have a smart and savvy gay icon around.

Biking for a day

It said that check-in was at 9am.  We headed out at 7am.  Stopped for coffee and bagels and picked up our friend at 7:30.  We arrived at 8:30am Sunday morning in the Bronx.  We checked in and found that the ride would actually start at 9:40am.

At 9:50am we began riding.  It was a beautifully crisp fall day.  Chilly, but I had biker shorts on with a long sleeved t-shirt over a short sleeved t-shirt underneath.  I had my neon yellow biker windbreaker over it all and had my summer bike gloves (fingers bare, but paded palm area) on.  My fingers were instantly frozen.  I wondered what I was doing up and out in this freezing weather anyway!

Linda had tights, fatigue cargo shorts, a couple of shirts and her neon jacket on, along with gloves.  Of course, she was still freezing!

After 4 miles, we stopped at the Court House in the Bronx, where our group of a thousand riders joined with MANY thousands of riders!  It was amazing!  Some were doing 40 miles (pointed one way) and the 25 milers (us) were pointed in another way.

We didn't start the ACTUAL ride until close to 11.  sigh.  (I had stupidly thought we'd be done by noon and home by 1!  Silly, silly ME!)

The positives:

• Some cool bikes and people all around.  All ages, sizes, colors and biking levels.  Riding in harmony.

• Some of the areas in the Bronx (especially along the water) were just beautiful.

• We rode through a few neighborhoods where people were standing in front of their homes with banners and big smiles on their faces, yelling, "Welcome to the Bronx!!" with such pride and friendliness.

• We finished without either of us having to get off our bikes to walk up any of the hills on the route and without me falling!

• According to the tracking device on my bike, we rode for a little over 32 miles!  We finished about 3pm!

The negatives:

• Very unorganizedly run.

• Too many cops in some areas and not enough in other areas. 

• Route wasn't marked too well and Linda & I got separated from the group somewhere in the Bronx and were very thankful to be aided by a few woman who led us out of God knows where somewhere in the Bronx and back with a pack of riders!

• We lost our friend (who had inadvertently gotten merged with a group of riders doing the 40 mile route) and waited at the finsh line for close to an hour (as we tried to find out from police and 'ride marshalls' how you would find out if a rider had been injured on the course and no one had a clue!)

• Because of the late finish, we missed the Kulanu Succoth celebration, as we were tired, hungry and sitting in traffic when we left the Bronx about 4.

We ended up stopping in New Rochelle, NY on the way home and got some dinner at a small Italian place.  Not sure if the food was as good as we thought or it was that we were just that hungry, having only been fed chocolate chip granola bars and water all day!

Linda & I actually thought we'd be staying up to watch our Sunday night shows, but fell out by 9pm!  (Thank goodness for DVR's!)

Oh and Saturday Night Live exceeded all expectations with their show that had the REAL Sarah Palin guest star.  Oh. my. God.  The opening was great, but Amy Poehler's Rap was beyond funny.  And to see Sarah enjoying it right along with everyone was priceless!

Another full weekend

This week was the first full week that I've worked in a many weeks (thanks to the High Holidays!) and it was a LONG one!  TGIF!

Tonight Sophie, Linda & I will go to services and receive a travel blessing for our upcoming trip to Israel (leaving on the 23rd!) and afterwards, Sophie is going to my ex's for the weekend, since she'll be gone for 10 days with me.

Saturday will be a whirlwind of trip related errands (dry cleaning drop off, picking up q-tips, Bonine, etc...)and also having regular pedals on my bicycle, as we're doing a 25 mile bike tour in the Bronx (Tour de Bronx!!) Sunday morning!

Saturday night, we're going to a birthday party for a friend and then home in time to watch Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live !!!  This should be excellent! 

Sunday morning is the Tour de Bronx - a free bike ride that Linda & I will be doing with a friend of ours.  25 miles cruising around the city.  What fun!

We'll relax in the afternoon (or recover, whichever!) and then our Kulanu group has their Succoth gathering in the late afternoon.

I am still writing and rewriting my response to my last post, so look for that either later this weekend or early next week.  Thanks for those who already weighed in on the subject. 

Shabbat Shalom.

Non-emotional subject or will it be?

With all the misty-eyed people who are kvelling over the recent decision about marriage in CT, I propose a discussion on the following subject:

Names.

Specifically last names and Titles.

1).  Titles - after getting married, 2 woman (or 2 men) are addressed how:

• a - Mrs & Mrs Lastname of wife#1 or wife #2

• b- Ms Lastname of wife #1 & Ms Lastname of wife #2

• c- Mrs Last name of wife #1 & Mrs Last name of wife #2

• d- other (please describe)

2). Last  Names

• Does anyone change their names?  If so, whom?  Do you create
  another name?

Remember to be respectful and play nice with your comments.  It'd be nice to hear why you feel the way you do, as well.

I'll reveal my opinions in a later post.

Hump for joy

Get your minds out of the gutter, kids.  It's the Hump Day of the week and we're gonna be joyful tonight in our celebration for the historic decision on Oct 10th enabling gay folks to get married in CT!

Be there or be square!

If you're able to, get your butts out tonight!  Click here for details.  And for goodness sakes, do stop over and say "hi" to me and Linda!

A weekend to remember

What a weekend!

Aside from the historical decision, the weather was simply glorious.  And in New England, October weather (when not raining) is simply spectacular.  The magnificent leaf colors and the crispness of the air.  The wafting scents of burning leaves and/or fireplaces.  It's enough to make you forget how friggin cold it can get in just 3-4 more months!  Ok, well, I like those days, too.

Saturday, we (my parents, our nieces (Maisie & Noa), Sophie and LInda) went up to Bethel, CT to do some apple and pumpkin picking.  It was beautiful up there and we left with 3 good sized bags of apples.

We didn't get pumpkins there, as the line for the hay ride TO the pumpkin patch was too long, so we headed to a farm closer to home.  We found 3 good sized pumpkins and headed to my parents' home to have some take out pizza for dinner.  Then we headed to our home where the cousin sleepover would take place.

After movie watching, we attempted 'tuck in' about 8:45.  At 9:15, after much giggling, Sophie came out to the living room complaining that her loose tooth was bleeding.  I told her to stop wiggling it and get back to bed.  At 9:30, all 3 came running out announcing that Sophie's tooth had come out!

Sophie's face was covered in blood, but a big loopy smile was plastered on her face.  It was the first tooth to come out without the assistance of the dentist!  Very exciting.  After cleanup, all were in bed and asleep by 10.

They woke up about 7am (not bad!) and scrambled eggs were cooked for breakfast with some bagels on the side. 

About 8:30, pumpkin carving commenced out on the deck.  It was a beautiful morning and they girls drew good faces for me to carve and they cleaned out the pumpkins meticulously.  They separated the 'guts' from the seeds and Linda went about cooking up several batches of pumpkin seeds so that everyone got to bring some home with them.  YUM!

My parents came over about 11 for some coffee.  Sophie was picked up by my ex about noon and the rest of the crew left about the same time.  Aaaaaaaaaaah, the silence was lovely!

Linda & I packed up the bikes and headed to Westport where we parked and then took off to ride bikes through the center of town and out to Compo Beach and back.  We stopped at my parents home to say hi to my sister who was picking up her kids and then headed to the main Library in town.  We got an ice cream cone at Ben & Jerry's and then found a nice bench under some trees along the Saugatuck River where we read for about a 1/2 hour.

Upon returning home, we put the house back together again and Linda prepared a great meal of tofu with a great home-made Thai sauce that she was trying for the first time.  Over candlelight, we toasted each other with a nice Cabernet, to being able to get married and to enjoying our wonderful family.

Last night, Linda, Sophie & I spent a few hours at Temple celebrating the holiday of Succot.  There was the decorating of the succah and then a nice pot-luck dinner, followed by a short service.  It was organized chaos at it's best, but that's what it's all about.

10 seconds of fame

Linda & I made the local news.  Check it out!   Click on the video and you'll see us as they taped us yesterday afternoon in our home.  (NOTE: if you're not a Cabelvision customer, you won't be able to see it.  :()

Last night, we headed up to Hartford (the state's capitol) to celebrate at the Hilton where some of the case's plaintiffs canced and Love Makes a Family's leader Anne Stanbeck spoke.

It still hasn't sunk in. 

This morning at services, many of the congregants offered me congratulations and asked when the wedding would be taking place!  And the Rabbi called me up for an aliyah before the Torah portion was read, in honor of 'the historical event that took place yesterday'.  I was totally embarrassed, but thrilled by the level of support and love this congregation has shown me.