In spite of all my ideas and efforts to have Camp Bubbie and Saba end with a bang not to be forgotten, the girls had other ideas about the last days of camp. They wanted to stay in and do all the homey things we had done all summer. Thursday was a beautiful day and we spent the afternoon at Beachcombers. Brenna joined her cousins and afterward, everyone wanted to just stay at home and hang out. They didn't even want to go out for ice cream at Freddy Hill and opted to make sundaes at home. Friday morning was spent catching up on some computer work while finishing the laundry. They wanted to stay in and eat leftovers for lunch as well. I finished packing all of Sami's things and enough of Izzy's things to get through a week. Then we all napped for an hour or so. We picked up Larry Shipper (who was also invited) at home and headed to Alex's parents' home for Shabbat dinner and to deliver the girls to them for their vacation week. We left an hour and a half for the drive considering the Friday traffic, and it took us exactly that to reach their 55+ community in Cranbury, NJ.
They prepared a beautiful meal for us and the table was gorgeously set with their beautiful antique china and fresh flowers. The girls behaved like little ladies during dinner and Maury had only a mild heart attack watching them help Elaine clear the dirty dishes carefully, one-by-one. Maury baked challot that were especially delicious and we had a variety of salads and succulent baked chicken and couscous. Dessert was cinnamon babka and a stunning fresh fruit salad. Beth looked in on Mom who was not up to the long car trip and warmed a bowl of soup for her. She has not been eating much else.
We decided to sleep in on Saturday as it was the first day all summer that we would not be awakened by the girls by 7:30 a.m. Instead, Mom decided to go into the kitchen at 7:00 a.m. and accidentally set off the burglar alarm. We spent most of Saturday vegging out and trying to make up for lost sleep. The Sunday NY Times Crossword puzzle was not challenging and I finished it in an hour. I finally finished reading "Loving Frank," an historical novel about Mamah Borthwick Cheney, who influenced Frank Lloyd Wright's life and work, and with whom he had a scandalous affair while she was married to another man and the mother of two children. Being a bit of an FLW fan, and knowing the horrific details coming at the end of the story, I felt as if I were watching the Titanic right before the iceberg. It has taken me all summer to get through the novel, which I did not find to be particularly well written. The ending provided even more gory details than I had known previously and I did not sleep well Saturday night after that.
Sunday, Mom called us extra early on the phone intercom to say that she had gone into the kitchen, could not open the orange juice carton, and had gone back to bed without eating or drinking anything. I got up early and made us all breakfast. I spent about two hours walking around the house putting away and organizing all the odds and ends that had been left out during Camp Bubbie and Saba, laundering the girls bedding and making their beds. Then, Saul and I began to dig into all the work we had left for the week the girls would be gone. Mom was having a bad day. She drank her oatmeal through a straw. She barely ate any lunch and at dinner time she whined and cried that she would not eat or get out of bed. I spent an hour on the phone with Adele and Ken trying to decide how to handle the situation. I was afraid to give her the evening medication if she did not eat. Just as we were at our wits' end, she trudged down the hall with her cane and sat down at the kitchen table. We managed to get a bowl of soup into her and then she took her medication and went back to bed.
Monday morning, I could tell by her coloring that she was feeling better and she was up awaiting her visit by her nurse, Eric. Eric found all her vital signs normal and Ken had a phone conversation with him explaining her erratic behavior. Eric was sympathetic but basically said that you can't make someone do what they don't want to do. Every meal and every hour is a struggle for the last few days. Last night, Saul and I both had the idea to start giving her Ensure as a part of her diet. We went to Costco today after our eye doctor appointments and picked up a case while Saul was fitted for his new prescription eyeglasses. Whatever is wrong behind my eyes, apparently doesn't involve my vision in any way, thankfully. I have just finished my 10 days of anti-inflammatory drugs and the problem seems to have lessened if not disappeared. The eye doctor seems to agree with my internist that the problem is in the sinuses behind my eyes.
The rest of today has been spent on phone and computer. Adele stopped over in the afternoon with Erica, Brenna and Ava so that she could visit and Erica could wash and style Mom's hair. They were treated to a dose of my struggle when Mom again pleaded to be left alone and cried and refused to get out of bed. Yesterday, Ken arranged an assessment with a geriatric specialist so that, hopefully, we will know whether we should just leave her alone, or whether dementia, clinical depression or over-medication is the problem causing her to act this way and we can reverse the process somehow. Adele also called while she was here and arranged for Mom to see the new doctor who is taking over the practice of her retiring physician. Adele also notified her insurance company of the change. Right now I am so happy not to be an only child and to have the support of brother, sister and husband in this struggle. Sometimes, I am just too tired to deal with it and they are there for me. Most of my major computer work is finished as of this evening and Saul has been making progress preparing for the new semester which begins on Monday. Izzy will be returning for the week on Monday without her sister, who also begins school now. As much of a grind as this week will be, I am greatly looking forward to having her back for a few days to lessen the pain of separation a bit and stretch the summer a little longer.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Back to the Grindstone
Samara's Corner
I went to the zoo with Brenna and Izzy and we had vanilla smoothies with peanut butter crackers for lunch and we had pizza for dinner with Beth. We went to the pool and got our arms painted. I got a rainbow with arms. Izzy got a butterfly with arms. Brenna got a dog without arms and we got our beautiful blue and purple ceramic clay birds.
Editor's Note: The drawing is of soba noodles with sliced baby bella mushrooms which Sami liked so much that I had to make it two more times for her in the last days of Camp Bubbie and Saba.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
The Last Week of Camp Bubbie and Saba
Friday morning, the girls watched movies that I had recorded for them on TiVo--The Rescuers and Happily N'Ever after. We used some of the quiet time to catch up with work and begin preparations for Shabbat dinner. Saul and the girls made matzoh balls. The girls were models of decorum at the doctor's office where we went for check-ups early in the afternoon. The doctor was delighted with Saul's blood work and the fact that he has lost 14 pounds. Although his knees may be shot from all the walking and biking in Ocean City, the rest of him is in good shape. The doctor gave him a prescription for a test if the tick bite gets the Lyme disease bull's eye around it and told him not to worry. My blood pressure was good and I got 10-day prescriptions for Clarinex and Celebrex. I developed some pain behind my eyes on and off during vacation and since then, and evidently there are sinuses behind the eyes that can become inflamed. Although I haven't felt anything there, he said my throat is red.
The girls look like the picture of health right now with their beautifully and gradually tanned skin and relaxed expressions (as you can see from the photos).
We stopped at Trader Joe's to buy fresh kosher chicken. Izzy was cheering for the chicken as we didn't realize she had been chicken-deprived this summer. Dinner was fresh-baked challah, chicken soup with matzoh balls, grilled marinated chicken, iceberg lettuce with Russian dressing for Larry, and Israeli salad for the rest of us, and jasmine rice. Larry brought pareve pastry cigars in various flavors and we had an assortment of summer fruit dipped in individual bowls of chocolate for dessert. We tried out our new Cars and Board Games cartridges on the Wii before going to bed early.
Saturday, we went to synagogue. Rabbi Addison was away on vacation, but about three dozen members were in attendance, more than most of the large synagogues in the area would have on an ordinary August Shabbat. The girls found several other children with whom to play. We all took a nap on Saturday afternoon after lunch and we promised the girls we would go out in the evening if they slept. It was quite late when we were ready to leave and the evening turned into a dud. Dinner was very ho-hum at the outdoor patio of the new California Pizza Kitchen in Plymouth Meeting Mall and by the time we had finished eating, the Mall was closing and the merry-go-round was inaccessible. We saved the evening for them and redeemed ourselves by letting them watch movies in our bed for a while before tucking them into their own.
Sunday morning, I put the house in order, cleaning up after our weekend and I was frustrated because by noon when I was about to spend a few hours on the computer, we were beset by sporadic thunderstorms. It seemed that every time I thought we were finished with them and restarted the computer, I would again hear distant thunder and have to shut it down. I finally gave up and took a nap. The girls spent most of the day in pajamas playing and watching movies. We spent an extra amount of time with the girls putting them to bed and reading them the storybook that Jessica had put together about our vacation in Ocean City.
Monday, I awoke at 5 a.m. to catch up with the work I had not been able to complete because of the thunderstorms. By 9:30 a.m. I had completed everything I needed to accomplish for the day. Larry dropped off Brenna, who is done with camp, so that the cousins could be together for the day. The weather was incredibly beautiful and uncharacteristically cool for August and rather than go to the swim club, we decided to take advantage of our Philadelphia Zoo membership. I made us all lunch at home. Mom was having a bad day. I had taken her breakfast to her room and she barely ate anything. At lunchtime, she requested that Saul make her a yogurt smoothie and bring it to her room because she wasn't feeling up to joining us in the kitchen. We arrived at the zoo at about 2:30 p.m. and spent an absolutely delightful two hours there. Our membership entitled us to access the Tree House and the girls had not been there on our previous visit. They loved it and we took some marvelous photos there. We stopped at King Buffet on our way home and had an early dinner. Brenna was a bit tired and cranky when we arrived there and did not want to eat. That changed when she saw Sami getting soft ice cream from the machine and making a sundae. Among other things, she ate clams (which she loves) both large and small as she does not keep kosher, and examining them and playing with the shells was a revelation for Sami and Izzy. When we arrived home, about 6:00 p.m., I made Mom a bowl of soup and took it to her room. She had only half finished her smoothie. Erica and Beth came over and we all played with the Wii for a while. Everyone went in to say hi and spend a few minutes with Grandmom, but she was still not feeling well. They all went home early and the girls went to bed without argument having exhausted themselves with the Wii.
When we got into bed for the evening I decided to return a phone call to Roxy. While we were speaking to each other, Mom tried to reach Saul on the phone intercom. I put Roxy on hold and went down the hall to see what she wanted. She was extremely ill, dizzy and unable to get out of bed to go to the bathroom. I carried the commode from her bathroom (it has been there since her last hip surgery) and put it right next to the bed. I tried to help her sit up so that she could use it but she just sank back down saying she was too dizzy and unable to sit up. She was very distressed and I held her hand which was uncharacteristically warm while we wavered about how to proceed. Then, we began a debate involving Adele also about whether to call an ambulance to take her to the hospital. In the end, she did not object to our calling an ambulance as she has in the past. As timing would have it, throughout the evening, Ken was on a conference call with his partner and a big potential client in Hawaii. Beth came over to stay with the girls and within a few minutes eight emergency personnel were in Mom's room prepping her for the ride in the ambulance. I threw on some clothes and rode in the front of the ambulance. Saul drove himself down a few minutes later and Adele met us there almost immediately after the ambulance arrived. Around midnight, we were told that she would be admitted and Saul and I left to relieve Beth. Adele called us about 1 a.m. after Mom was stable and resting in her room. The problem appeared to be dehydration.
Tuesday morning, Randi went down to the hospital and called to say that Mom was sitting up and eating breakfast. Her vital signs were good and they might be discharging her. Randi left around 12:30 p.m. Saul and I took Brenna and the girls to Beachcombers and waited to hear whether Mom would be discharged. About 3:30 p.m. I received the phone call saying she was being released. I left Saul with the girls who were in the middle of Play Doh and face painting, and drove to Abington Hospital to retrieve Mom. She was delighted to be released so quickly and seemed to be feeling better. I took her straight home and settled her into bed. Then I drove back and picked up Saul and the three girls around 5:00 p.m. While I helped them shower, Saul drove over to Costco and picked up a large pizza and a large kosher hot dog for Mom. Beth joined us and then Adele arrived. Mom ate half a hot dog at the table with us. Then we all had leftover ice cream and cake from Sami's party. After that, Mom went off to sleep while the three girls watched The Rescuers in bed with me while I dozed and Adele, Beth and Saul schmoozed for a while. Around 8:30 p.m., Adele left with Brenna.
This morning, Mom was feeling terrible. Saul woke her at 8:00 a.m. when she had been sleeping for 12 hours. She was refusing to eat, saying she was too sick. With a combination of cajoling and browbeating, we managed to get breakfast little-by-little into her in the kitchen. Sami discovered a large corrugated cardboard folder from an oversized calendar in my office and she and Izzy took it, some additional cartons, scotch tape, and their art supplies box to their playroom upstairs ostensibly to prepare a puppet stage. About an hour later, signs began to appear around the house announcing the show, "Eligah the Profet" (sic) and advising us that they would yell when the show was ready. We videoed the show and loved every precious moment. While all that was going on, a nurse arrived who helped set up Mom's heart monitor. Her vital signs were good even though she was still feeling terrible.
We made Mom finish her oatmeal at lunchtime and saw that she finished drinking the smoothie she requested as well. I taught the girls to slice mushrooms with a small knife and for lunch we had soba noodles with mushrooms sauteed in sesame oil with scallions, fresh ginger, soy sauce, mirin, and fresh thyme from the garden. The girls were very curious about the brown soba noodles and I told Sami I would try to find her a video showing the unique way they are made. Both girls loved the dish and wanted to have it again for dinner. I told them tomorrow, maybe.
Wednesday is the day for clay at the swim club and we had to be there to pick up the clay birds that the girls had painted and that had been fired for them. This will be one of our last days together at Beachcombers. The girls are going to their other grandparents on Friday for a week and then school starts for both Saul and Sami. Izzy is coming back by herself for a week at the end of the month. I made cheese omelets for dinner and Saul went off to a meeting at Melrose B'nai Israel. Mom ate only half an omelet, but ate a full bowl of butternut squash soup at the table before going off to bed. Izzy had a temper tantrum at dinner and was carried off to bed by Saul before eating very much. She fell asleep shortly after that. I let Sami watch movies in my bed and just tucked her in a little while ago. It has been such a joy to have them here for the summer even with the occasional fit of temper from Izzy. I know I will be suffering from withdrawal as soon as they are gone.
The girls look like the picture of health right now with their beautifully and gradually tanned skin and relaxed expressions (as you can see from the photos).
We stopped at Trader Joe's to buy fresh kosher chicken. Izzy was cheering for the chicken as we didn't realize she had been chicken-deprived this summer. Dinner was fresh-baked challah, chicken soup with matzoh balls, grilled marinated chicken, iceberg lettuce with Russian dressing for Larry, and Israeli salad for the rest of us, and jasmine rice. Larry brought pareve pastry cigars in various flavors and we had an assortment of summer fruit dipped in individual bowls of chocolate for dessert. We tried out our new Cars and Board Games cartridges on the Wii before going to bed early.
Saturday, we went to synagogue. Rabbi Addison was away on vacation, but about three dozen members were in attendance, more than most of the large synagogues in the area would have on an ordinary August Shabbat. The girls found several other children with whom to play. We all took a nap on Saturday afternoon after lunch and we promised the girls we would go out in the evening if they slept. It was quite late when we were ready to leave and the evening turned into a dud. Dinner was very ho-hum at the outdoor patio of the new California Pizza Kitchen in Plymouth Meeting Mall and by the time we had finished eating, the Mall was closing and the merry-go-round was inaccessible. We saved the evening for them and redeemed ourselves by letting them watch movies in our bed for a while before tucking them into their own.
Sunday morning, I put the house in order, cleaning up after our weekend and I was frustrated because by noon when I was about to spend a few hours on the computer, we were beset by sporadic thunderstorms. It seemed that every time I thought we were finished with them and restarted the computer, I would again hear distant thunder and have to shut it down. I finally gave up and took a nap. The girls spent most of the day in pajamas playing and watching movies. We spent an extra amount of time with the girls putting them to bed and reading them the storybook that Jessica had put together about our vacation in Ocean City.
Monday, I awoke at 5 a.m. to catch up with the work I had not been able to complete because of the thunderstorms. By 9:30 a.m. I had completed everything I needed to accomplish for the day. Larry dropped off Brenna, who is done with camp, so that the cousins could be together for the day. The weather was incredibly beautiful and uncharacteristically cool for August and rather than go to the swim club, we decided to take advantage of our Philadelphia Zoo membership. I made us all lunch at home. Mom was having a bad day. I had taken her breakfast to her room and she barely ate anything. At lunchtime, she requested that Saul make her a yogurt smoothie and bring it to her room because she wasn't feeling up to joining us in the kitchen. We arrived at the zoo at about 2:30 p.m. and spent an absolutely delightful two hours there. Our membership entitled us to access the Tree House and the girls had not been there on our previous visit. They loved it and we took some marvelous photos there. We stopped at King Buffet on our way home and had an early dinner. Brenna was a bit tired and cranky when we arrived there and did not want to eat. That changed when she saw Sami getting soft ice cream from the machine and making a sundae. Among other things, she ate clams (which she loves) both large and small as she does not keep kosher, and examining them and playing with the shells was a revelation for Sami and Izzy. When we arrived home, about 6:00 p.m., I made Mom a bowl of soup and took it to her room. She had only half finished her smoothie. Erica and Beth came over and we all played with the Wii for a while. Everyone went in to say hi and spend a few minutes with Grandmom, but she was still not feeling well. They all went home early and the girls went to bed without argument having exhausted themselves with the Wii.
When we got into bed for the evening I decided to return a phone call to Roxy. While we were speaking to each other, Mom tried to reach Saul on the phone intercom. I put Roxy on hold and went down the hall to see what she wanted. She was extremely ill, dizzy and unable to get out of bed to go to the bathroom. I carried the commode from her bathroom (it has been there since her last hip surgery) and put it right next to the bed. I tried to help her sit up so that she could use it but she just sank back down saying she was too dizzy and unable to sit up. She was very distressed and I held her hand which was uncharacteristically warm while we wavered about how to proceed. Then, we began a debate involving Adele also about whether to call an ambulance to take her to the hospital. In the end, she did not object to our calling an ambulance as she has in the past. As timing would have it, throughout the evening, Ken was on a conference call with his partner and a big potential client in Hawaii. Beth came over to stay with the girls and within a few minutes eight emergency personnel were in Mom's room prepping her for the ride in the ambulance. I threw on some clothes and rode in the front of the ambulance. Saul drove himself down a few minutes later and Adele met us there almost immediately after the ambulance arrived. Around midnight, we were told that she would be admitted and Saul and I left to relieve Beth. Adele called us about 1 a.m. after Mom was stable and resting in her room. The problem appeared to be dehydration.
Tuesday morning, Randi went down to the hospital and called to say that Mom was sitting up and eating breakfast. Her vital signs were good and they might be discharging her. Randi left around 12:30 p.m. Saul and I took Brenna and the girls to Beachcombers and waited to hear whether Mom would be discharged. About 3:30 p.m. I received the phone call saying she was being released. I left Saul with the girls who were in the middle of Play Doh and face painting, and drove to Abington Hospital to retrieve Mom. She was delighted to be released so quickly and seemed to be feeling better. I took her straight home and settled her into bed. Then I drove back and picked up Saul and the three girls around 5:00 p.m. While I helped them shower, Saul drove over to Costco and picked up a large pizza and a large kosher hot dog for Mom. Beth joined us and then Adele arrived. Mom ate half a hot dog at the table with us. Then we all had leftover ice cream and cake from Sami's party. After that, Mom went off to sleep while the three girls watched The Rescuers in bed with me while I dozed and Adele, Beth and Saul schmoozed for a while. Around 8:30 p.m., Adele left with Brenna.
This morning, Mom was feeling terrible. Saul woke her at 8:00 a.m. when she had been sleeping for 12 hours. She was refusing to eat, saying she was too sick. With a combination of cajoling and browbeating, we managed to get breakfast little-by-little into her in the kitchen. Sami discovered a large corrugated cardboard folder from an oversized calendar in my office and she and Izzy took it, some additional cartons, scotch tape, and their art supplies box to their playroom upstairs ostensibly to prepare a puppet stage. About an hour later, signs began to appear around the house announcing the show, "Eligah the Profet" (sic) and advising us that they would yell when the show was ready. We videoed the show and loved every precious moment. While all that was going on, a nurse arrived who helped set up Mom's heart monitor. Her vital signs were good even though she was still feeling terrible.
We made Mom finish her oatmeal at lunchtime and saw that she finished drinking the smoothie she requested as well. I taught the girls to slice mushrooms with a small knife and for lunch we had soba noodles with mushrooms sauteed in sesame oil with scallions, fresh ginger, soy sauce, mirin, and fresh thyme from the garden. The girls were very curious about the brown soba noodles and I told Sami I would try to find her a video showing the unique way they are made. Both girls loved the dish and wanted to have it again for dinner. I told them tomorrow, maybe.
Wednesday is the day for clay at the swim club and we had to be there to pick up the clay birds that the girls had painted and that had been fired for them. This will be one of our last days together at Beachcombers. The girls are going to their other grandparents on Friday for a week and then school starts for both Saul and Sami. Izzy is coming back by herself for a week at the end of the month. I made cheese omelets for dinner and Saul went off to a meeting at Melrose B'nai Israel. Mom ate only half an omelet, but ate a full bowl of butternut squash soup at the table before going off to bed. Izzy had a temper tantrum at dinner and was carried off to bed by Saul before eating very much. She fell asleep shortly after that. I let Sami watch movies in my bed and just tucked her in a little while ago. It has been such a joy to have them here for the summer even with the occasional fit of temper from Izzy. I know I will be suffering from withdrawal as soon as they are gone.
Friday, August 8, 2008
The Thousand Natural Shocks
Here we go again with worries at 3 a.m. that may or may not have any foundation. I am actually feeling rather upbeat despite the gloomy title from Hamlet's soliloquoy. Although this past week has been among the most hectic this summer, it has been filled with joy as well as anxiety. Laura came to finish her school district's calendar with me on Monday and we were hoping she would bring her one-year-old granddaughter for us to meet, but her granddaughter was taken to the hospital Sunday night to be treated for croup. She is doing better now. Erica also spent Monday night in the emergency room at Doylestown Hospital. She has a virus and was told to spend the week in bed. I sent the proofed calendar to the printer on Wednesday.
Monday and Tuesday, Saul took the girls to Beachcombers to give me extra hours to make a dent in my computer work. Sami and Izzy both spent their afternoons with friends they had made at the club and had to be cajoled into leaving to come home for dinner. Izzy has been perfecting her underwater somersaults. They had their faces painted beautifully yet again by the talented lady who comes to the club. Tuesday evening, we went to the King Buffet in Plymouth Meeting Mall for miso soup and sushi just to allow me a chance to get out of the house. The girls love going there and were very well behaved, but Izzy didn't know where to put herself when she was finished eating because she was so tired by 8:00 p.m. She fell asleep as soon as we got into the car to go home and both girls went directly to bed sleeping in their dresses that night.
Mom has been up and down this past week. Some mornings, she is weak and I bring breakfast to her room. Other mornings, she seems much stronger and joins us for breakfast. Whenever the therapist, social worker, nurse or home aide see her, she is very upbeat and tells them she is fine. That does not bode well for getting the services to continue. Adele took her to both GP and cardiologist this week and both found no real problems in the course of their examination.
Wednesday, I caught up with my work enough to go along to the swim club in the afternoon. That afternoon, Saul was bitten by a tick on his chest. It was such a tiny black speck that he was not even sure it was an insect when he removed it, but there was a miniscule pinprick of blood when he did. Now, I am worried about Lyme Disease and whether the girls could have been bitten also and we missed it. Tuesday, each girl had what appeared to be two mosquito bites that swelled up until I dabbed them with alcohol and applied Benadryl Cream. All the bites were just about gone within hours. What if there is something on our scalps that we missed?
Yesterday was Sami's real 8th birthday. She had told Saul over the weekend that her fondest wish for her birthday was for me to spend the day with her using the portable easel I had bought for her for Chanukah last year and learning from me how to paint on the canvas that came with it. With her four-year-old sister around, we had never had the opportunity to use the oils or acrylics that came with the set. By spending a few more hours on the computer between 2:30 and 5:30 a.m., I was able to free up yesterday completely. I went back to sleep from 5:30 to 8:30 a.m. while Saul gave the girls breakfast. Adele picked up Mom early and took her to the hospital for a blood test that the doctor had ordered. Saul found a dead bird on our doorstep and spent about an hour being transferred from agency to agency inquiring if it should be saved for testing for West Nile Virus which has been found in this area. He eventually gave up and shoveled it into the trash. About 10:30 a.m. we took the girls to Toys R Us so that Sami could get a free birthday present (a small inflatable soccer ball printed like 101 Dalmations) and a mylar balloon. They also had a sale on Leap Frog cartridges and we bought them three more to add to their collection--WALL-E, a learn-to-write and draw program, and a math program. The girls took turns on a demo bike with an interactive screen where they pedal and zap moving targets with a flashing red button on the handlebars. Then, we went to Plymouth Meeting Mall for lunch. We went to Bertucci's at Sami's request. Bertucci's gives children pizza dough with which to play, crayons and children's menus with games while awaiting lunch. Coincidentally, we were served by one of Saul's students from Chestnut Hill College and were very pleased with the food and the service. After lunch we went into the Mall for free birthday rides on the merry-go-round which also gave the girls free large bumper balls in the color of their choice (blue for Sami and red for Izzy). While there, they also played with the interactive advertising movie on the floor of the Mall, a free entertainment that I am always forgetting is there, but they never do. The girls also tried on shoes, a favorite pastime for them since birth. We didn't find any shoes that were quite right, though.
Then, we went home, changed into bathing suits, packed up our two easels and art supplies and headed off to Beachcombers. Arts and crafts was in full swing so the girls went off to the grove to make woven paper mats with stickers while Saul and I set up the easels under a tree by the pool. Sami and I had a wonderful two-hour session with the paints while she enjoyed all the attention from other members, both young and old, who came over to watch and were curious about our activity. Then she grew restless and wanted to go swimming with her friends. I was pleased at what I was able to impart to her in those two hours and she was pleased with the results.
When we came home to change in the afternoon, Fed Ex had left a package on our doorstep addressed to Sami and Izzy from Jessica. Inside were two keepsake albums of photos of our vacation in Ocean City, NJ, with accompanying narrative that Jessica had drawn from this blog as well as adding some narrative of her own. After the girls were tucked into bed (Izzy fell asleep in our bed watching Sami and Saul play with the new Cars program on the Wii), I read the story aloud to Saul while we kvelled over the photos.
Today, Saul and I both have appointments for checkups with our doctor. Hopefully, he will advise us about what to do regarding the tick bite and some of the other "thousand natural shocks" that are worrying me. With a little luck, we will be able to deal with them all. No question that we want "to be."
Monday and Tuesday, Saul took the girls to Beachcombers to give me extra hours to make a dent in my computer work. Sami and Izzy both spent their afternoons with friends they had made at the club and had to be cajoled into leaving to come home for dinner. Izzy has been perfecting her underwater somersaults. They had their faces painted beautifully yet again by the talented lady who comes to the club. Tuesday evening, we went to the King Buffet in Plymouth Meeting Mall for miso soup and sushi just to allow me a chance to get out of the house. The girls love going there and were very well behaved, but Izzy didn't know where to put herself when she was finished eating because she was so tired by 8:00 p.m. She fell asleep as soon as we got into the car to go home and both girls went directly to bed sleeping in their dresses that night.
Mom has been up and down this past week. Some mornings, she is weak and I bring breakfast to her room. Other mornings, she seems much stronger and joins us for breakfast. Whenever the therapist, social worker, nurse or home aide see her, she is very upbeat and tells them she is fine. That does not bode well for getting the services to continue. Adele took her to both GP and cardiologist this week and both found no real problems in the course of their examination.
Wednesday, I caught up with my work enough to go along to the swim club in the afternoon. That afternoon, Saul was bitten by a tick on his chest. It was such a tiny black speck that he was not even sure it was an insect when he removed it, but there was a miniscule pinprick of blood when he did. Now, I am worried about Lyme Disease and whether the girls could have been bitten also and we missed it. Tuesday, each girl had what appeared to be two mosquito bites that swelled up until I dabbed them with alcohol and applied Benadryl Cream. All the bites were just about gone within hours. What if there is something on our scalps that we missed?
Yesterday was Sami's real 8th birthday. She had told Saul over the weekend that her fondest wish for her birthday was for me to spend the day with her using the portable easel I had bought for her for Chanukah last year and learning from me how to paint on the canvas that came with it. With her four-year-old sister around, we had never had the opportunity to use the oils or acrylics that came with the set. By spending a few more hours on the computer between 2:30 and 5:30 a.m., I was able to free up yesterday completely. I went back to sleep from 5:30 to 8:30 a.m. while Saul gave the girls breakfast. Adele picked up Mom early and took her to the hospital for a blood test that the doctor had ordered. Saul found a dead bird on our doorstep and spent about an hour being transferred from agency to agency inquiring if it should be saved for testing for West Nile Virus which has been found in this area. He eventually gave up and shoveled it into the trash. About 10:30 a.m. we took the girls to Toys R Us so that Sami could get a free birthday present (a small inflatable soccer ball printed like 101 Dalmations) and a mylar balloon. They also had a sale on Leap Frog cartridges and we bought them three more to add to their collection--WALL-E, a learn-to-write and draw program, and a math program. The girls took turns on a demo bike with an interactive screen where they pedal and zap moving targets with a flashing red button on the handlebars. Then, we went to Plymouth Meeting Mall for lunch. We went to Bertucci's at Sami's request. Bertucci's gives children pizza dough with which to play, crayons and children's menus with games while awaiting lunch. Coincidentally, we were served by one of Saul's students from Chestnut Hill College and were very pleased with the food and the service. After lunch we went into the Mall for free birthday rides on the merry-go-round which also gave the girls free large bumper balls in the color of their choice (blue for Sami and red for Izzy). While there, they also played with the interactive advertising movie on the floor of the Mall, a free entertainment that I am always forgetting is there, but they never do. The girls also tried on shoes, a favorite pastime for them since birth. We didn't find any shoes that were quite right, though.
Then, we went home, changed into bathing suits, packed up our two easels and art supplies and headed off to Beachcombers. Arts and crafts was in full swing so the girls went off to the grove to make woven paper mats with stickers while Saul and I set up the easels under a tree by the pool. Sami and I had a wonderful two-hour session with the paints while she enjoyed all the attention from other members, both young and old, who came over to watch and were curious about our activity. Then she grew restless and wanted to go swimming with her friends. I was pleased at what I was able to impart to her in those two hours and she was pleased with the results.
When we came home to change in the afternoon, Fed Ex had left a package on our doorstep addressed to Sami and Izzy from Jessica. Inside were two keepsake albums of photos of our vacation in Ocean City, NJ, with accompanying narrative that Jessica had drawn from this blog as well as adding some narrative of her own. After the girls were tucked into bed (Izzy fell asleep in our bed watching Sami and Saul play with the new Cars program on the Wii), I read the story aloud to Saul while we kvelled over the photos.
Today, Saul and I both have appointments for checkups with our doctor. Hopefully, he will advise us about what to do regarding the tick bite and some of the other "thousand natural shocks" that are worrying me. With a little luck, we will be able to deal with them all. No question that we want "to be."
Monday, August 4, 2008
Sami's Birthday Weekend
I am enjoying my hectic life right now despite the fact that I am very tired most of the time. I know that in a very short while, it will be too quiet to suit me. Mom's services from Abington Home Health Care have kicked in this time and she likes the nurse who comes for an hour twice a week to help her bathe and change. The physical therapist is a lady who helped her recover from her hip replacement surgery a few years ago. When the nurses are not here, however, she appears to be too weak to go about her normal routine and for the last few days, we have brought her breakfast in bed.
Because the nurse came Wednesday morning, the day of Naomi Taplar's retirement party, she was bathed and dressed and able to attend the party. Naomi Taplar has been teaching religious school at Temple Sinai in Dresher, PA, for 30 years and taught at Adath Jeshurun in Elkins Park for years before. She taught my cousins, Anne and Jaine, and she taught my children as well. Both Saul and I taught alongside her for many years. The group of teachers with which we taught there formed a more-than-professional relationship. We attended each other's simchas and watched each other's families grow up. Naomi grew up in Canada and received an excellent Jewish education about which she was passionate. She is fluent in Hebrew and was able to pass her passion and knowledge patiently on to hundreds of children in three generations. Now in her 80s, she is retiring to Egg Harbor, NJ. The party was arranged and prepared by our friend, Faith Rubin, the educational director at Temple Sinai, and we had a lovely nostalgic evening dancing to the music of Bruce Fagan, and wondering where all the years had gone. Wednesday, during the day, Saul took the kids to the township playground and the pool so I could spend the day on my computer work. Right before we left for the retirement party, Saul's sister called to say that she had placed their mother in an apartment at Lion's Gate Assisted Living in NJ that afternoon. She told him that the facility recommends no t.v. or telephone in the first fews weeks to encourage participation in social activities and acceptance of the new lifestyle. At least he will be able to go to visit his mother now that she is in somewhat neutral territory. Once she has acclimated, we hope to be able to bring her to family functions.
Thursday, I was able to make such progress on my work that I felt comfortable joining Saul and the girls at Beachcombers Swim Club for a few hours in the afternoon.
Friday, we shopped for last minute items for dinner and for Sami's party and worked in the kitchen most of the rest of the day preparing Shabbat dinner and Sami's Beijing Olympic-themed birthday cake. Happily, Ari was able to leave work early on Friday and pick up Jess and Alex early as well. They arrived here to all of our delight by 3:30 p.m. Dinner was both cauliflower soup, which Jess loves, and strawberry soup, which Sami wanted to learn how to make, a large filet of wild sockeye salmon which Alex marinated with herbs from the garden and grilled over hard wood smoke and topped with portabello mushrooms and onions, and grilled veggies and black and white rice. For dessert, we had an assortment of fresh summer fruit--apricots, peaches, strawberries, cherries, lichees, and apples dipped in individual bowls of vanilla custard sauce, and cinnamon buns that Larry had bought on a previous occasion that I had frozen. Larry was not able to join us this week because he was attending a concert by one of Ted's grandchildren downtown. Beth joined us for dinner and although we were all tired, we spent a few hours before and after dinner enjoying Ari's new Wii which he had brought along to entertain us. I had put the chocolate cakes for Sami's party into the oven right before dinner and they began to bake over the edges of the pan and burn onto the element, so we had a few moments of frantic scrambling about trying to handle the problem. As it turned out, the cakes were practically indestructible. I was able to spoon the excess partially-baked batter from the two long loaf pans into yet a third pan and all of the cakes turned out delicious anyway.
Saturday morning, I awoke early, anxious to finish up the color flow sugar decorations I had begun for Sami's cake so they would have a chance to dry. Jessica was up early also and enjoyed finishing them up as I colored and prepared the icing for her. Beth joined us for dinner and also got involved in the preparation of the cake. We all enjoyed preparing it and were very happy with the results. Ari spent the day with friends and attended a friend's party in the evening. When Shabbat was over, I was able to put in a few hours on the computer having taken a nap in the afternoon. When Ari came in at 12:30 a.m. we both went off to bed.
The party began at 11:00 a.m. at Beachcombers Swim Club. We were all up early rushing around to pack up everything we needed to take with us. Ari and Jess went out to buy fresh bagels and ice cream. Beth came over to help us load up the cars. Mom came in Ari's car which we parked right beside the picnic area. It was a beautiful, breezy day, and she insisted on sitting in the car through the brunch of lox and bagels, whitefish salad, etc. Saul had gone a little crazy with a staple gun securing the tablecloths and managed to puncture a full gallon of apple juice which we then tried to tape up with tape from a roll of scotch tape that Beth had given Izzy (she loves scotch tape!). It didn't work, but at least the leak was slow! We were joined by Maury and Elaine Weinberg, Alex's parents, Adele and Larry Abramovitz, (Ken and Randi are away this weekend for a vacation in Cape May) Erica and Danny Graham with Brenna and Ava, Larry Shipper, our friend, Laura Feller, Jamie Parker, and two of Sami's little friends from the swim club, Sarah and (believe it or not), her sister Brenna. Five children and two of them were named Brenna! After the brunch, Ari took Mom back home and rejoined us. We set up camp by the pool, setting the remaining cake on our trusty blue folding table to share with others. Sami passed out Chinese party favor bags to some other friends who arrived at the pool later that included Kung Fu Panda Pez dispensers, inflatable balls and stars, dragon lollipops, jewel tattoos, and yo-yos.
We left for home about 3:00 p.m. after a wonderful, beautiful day. I helped shower all the girls while Jess, Alex and Ari packed and prepared to leave. Then, we sat in the living room while Sami opened her presents. Beth and Erica stayed for dinner so that Brenna would have more time with her cousins. I quickly threw together a dinner of macaroni and cheese and leftover soup and salad. The kids adjourned to the bedroom to play with the Wii. I read to the kids after Brenna left and put them to bed by 7:30 p.m. exhausted. Then, Saul and I showered and were asleep by 9:30 p.m.
Because the nurse came Wednesday morning, the day of Naomi Taplar's retirement party, she was bathed and dressed and able to attend the party. Naomi Taplar has been teaching religious school at Temple Sinai in Dresher, PA, for 30 years and taught at Adath Jeshurun in Elkins Park for years before. She taught my cousins, Anne and Jaine, and she taught my children as well. Both Saul and I taught alongside her for many years. The group of teachers with which we taught there formed a more-than-professional relationship. We attended each other's simchas and watched each other's families grow up. Naomi grew up in Canada and received an excellent Jewish education about which she was passionate. She is fluent in Hebrew and was able to pass her passion and knowledge patiently on to hundreds of children in three generations. Now in her 80s, she is retiring to Egg Harbor, NJ. The party was arranged and prepared by our friend, Faith Rubin, the educational director at Temple Sinai, and we had a lovely nostalgic evening dancing to the music of Bruce Fagan, and wondering where all the years had gone. Wednesday, during the day, Saul took the kids to the township playground and the pool so I could spend the day on my computer work. Right before we left for the retirement party, Saul's sister called to say that she had placed their mother in an apartment at Lion's Gate Assisted Living in NJ that afternoon. She told him that the facility recommends no t.v. or telephone in the first fews weeks to encourage participation in social activities and acceptance of the new lifestyle. At least he will be able to go to visit his mother now that she is in somewhat neutral territory. Once she has acclimated, we hope to be able to bring her to family functions.
Thursday, I was able to make such progress on my work that I felt comfortable joining Saul and the girls at Beachcombers Swim Club for a few hours in the afternoon.
Friday, we shopped for last minute items for dinner and for Sami's party and worked in the kitchen most of the rest of the day preparing Shabbat dinner and Sami's Beijing Olympic-themed birthday cake. Happily, Ari was able to leave work early on Friday and pick up Jess and Alex early as well. They arrived here to all of our delight by 3:30 p.m. Dinner was both cauliflower soup, which Jess loves, and strawberry soup, which Sami wanted to learn how to make, a large filet of wild sockeye salmon which Alex marinated with herbs from the garden and grilled over hard wood smoke and topped with portabello mushrooms and onions, and grilled veggies and black and white rice. For dessert, we had an assortment of fresh summer fruit--apricots, peaches, strawberries, cherries, lichees, and apples dipped in individual bowls of vanilla custard sauce, and cinnamon buns that Larry had bought on a previous occasion that I had frozen. Larry was not able to join us this week because he was attending a concert by one of Ted's grandchildren downtown. Beth joined us for dinner and although we were all tired, we spent a few hours before and after dinner enjoying Ari's new Wii which he had brought along to entertain us. I had put the chocolate cakes for Sami's party into the oven right before dinner and they began to bake over the edges of the pan and burn onto the element, so we had a few moments of frantic scrambling about trying to handle the problem. As it turned out, the cakes were practically indestructible. I was able to spoon the excess partially-baked batter from the two long loaf pans into yet a third pan and all of the cakes turned out delicious anyway.
Saturday morning, I awoke early, anxious to finish up the color flow sugar decorations I had begun for Sami's cake so they would have a chance to dry. Jessica was up early also and enjoyed finishing them up as I colored and prepared the icing for her. Beth joined us for dinner and also got involved in the preparation of the cake. We all enjoyed preparing it and were very happy with the results. Ari spent the day with friends and attended a friend's party in the evening. When Shabbat was over, I was able to put in a few hours on the computer having taken a nap in the afternoon. When Ari came in at 12:30 a.m. we both went off to bed.
The party began at 11:00 a.m. at Beachcombers Swim Club. We were all up early rushing around to pack up everything we needed to take with us. Ari and Jess went out to buy fresh bagels and ice cream. Beth came over to help us load up the cars. Mom came in Ari's car which we parked right beside the picnic area. It was a beautiful, breezy day, and she insisted on sitting in the car through the brunch of lox and bagels, whitefish salad, etc. Saul had gone a little crazy with a staple gun securing the tablecloths and managed to puncture a full gallon of apple juice which we then tried to tape up with tape from a roll of scotch tape that Beth had given Izzy (she loves scotch tape!). It didn't work, but at least the leak was slow! We were joined by Maury and Elaine Weinberg, Alex's parents, Adele and Larry Abramovitz, (Ken and Randi are away this weekend for a vacation in Cape May) Erica and Danny Graham with Brenna and Ava, Larry Shipper, our friend, Laura Feller, Jamie Parker, and two of Sami's little friends from the swim club, Sarah and (believe it or not), her sister Brenna. Five children and two of them were named Brenna! After the brunch, Ari took Mom back home and rejoined us. We set up camp by the pool, setting the remaining cake on our trusty blue folding table to share with others. Sami passed out Chinese party favor bags to some other friends who arrived at the pool later that included Kung Fu Panda Pez dispensers, inflatable balls and stars, dragon lollipops, jewel tattoos, and yo-yos.
We left for home about 3:00 p.m. after a wonderful, beautiful day. I helped shower all the girls while Jess, Alex and Ari packed and prepared to leave. Then, we sat in the living room while Sami opened her presents. Beth and Erica stayed for dinner so that Brenna would have more time with her cousins. I quickly threw together a dinner of macaroni and cheese and leftover soup and salad. The kids adjourned to the bedroom to play with the Wii. I read to the kids after Brenna left and put them to bed by 7:30 p.m. exhausted. Then, Saul and I showered and were asleep by 9:30 p.m.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Got Guilt?
It seems I can no longer have a conversation with any member of my family (including my kids) that does not include a reminder that I have not submitted a blog entry in a while. I think that the ability to weild guilt must be genetic in the Ashkenazi Jewish DNA. Since I am the only human being at Pearlstone today, and I need to be at an appointment in Reisterstown in an hour anyway, I will use the quiet solitude to assuage my guilt, and catch you up on my life for the past month or so...
My last blog was just before Alex's return from Israel. As predicted, his return caused the need to adjust my "single gal's" routine a bit. and the weekend after he got back I got a pinched nerve in my lower back that my chiropractor said is a common side effect of rapid weight loss. I was grounded for a whole week from any extreme physical activity. But do not fear loyal followers of my quest for healthier living! While I have not been journaling my daily accomplishments and failures, I have been having a relatively easy time of keeping up the lifestyle.
My smaller portions have become routine, and I have combined the "gerber bowl method" with a system of calorie calculations. I am trying to eat approximately 1200 calories per day, which usually divides into 3 meals of 400 calories each, but sometimes winds up being a 200 calorie breakfast with a 100 calorie morning snack or sometimes, if I am having "one of those days" with which you are all familiar, I have my first meal at 1pm and reward myself with a 400 calorie snack at 3ish! :)
I am still working out regularly, if not as systematically as I was before. In addition to going to the gym for classes a few times a week, I have Monday and Thursday Bootcamp sessions, which have jumped up in intensity as we get further along into the program. This past Monday, our whole workout was outdoors in the hot humid night. We used the mall parking lot to run line exercises, did step aerobics on the parking bumps, and then went for a jog around the mall to the other side, where we ran steps for 15 minutes. I am now walking 3-4 miles every Thursday, and then we do stretches and lunge walks to wrap up.
During our vacation in Ocean City, it was a pleasure and a boost to my determination that I was able to bike for 5 miles each day without too much effort, go to the gym and work out for "fun," and walk miles and miles every day wherever we went. Alex and I only took our car out once the whole 2 weeks we were there, and that was because we would not have been able to carry all of the groceries that we needed. I resisted a lot of the temptations of travelling with my parents including an endless supply of snacks, desserts, and such in the house, and forays for ice cream every evening! I took a small lick here and there of the girls' cones just to clean off the "excess" (this should not be understood as a recreation of, but merely as a reference to, Grandpop Strongin's use of that word to insinuate something his children would not like, and which he would heroically "protect" them from, by eating 2/3 off of their cones for them.) There was one day when Alex and I went on a particularly long and very hot walk in the middle of the day, and when he stopped for water ice at Jakes I ordered a rootbeer float (a particular favorite of mine) but I only drank half, and Alex finished it for me as we walked home.
The day we returned from vacation (last Saturday) I went to the gym for bootcamp, and had my first weigh-in. We have reached the half-way mark, and will be weighed again at the end. I have officially lost 20 lbs, 2 inches off of each of my measurements, and 5% of my mass. It felt good to know that I ammaking quantifiable progress, but not nearly as good as wearing pants from the bottom of the drawer where I keep the ones that are too tight to be comfortable!
I also noticed a real change in the bathing suit photos from this summer's vacation compared to last summer's.
My last blog was just before Alex's return from Israel. As predicted, his return caused the need to adjust my "single gal's" routine a bit. and the weekend after he got back I got a pinched nerve in my lower back that my chiropractor said is a common side effect of rapid weight loss. I was grounded for a whole week from any extreme physical activity. But do not fear loyal followers of my quest for healthier living! While I have not been journaling my daily accomplishments and failures, I have been having a relatively easy time of keeping up the lifestyle.
My smaller portions have become routine, and I have combined the "gerber bowl method" with a system of calorie calculations. I am trying to eat approximately 1200 calories per day, which usually divides into 3 meals of 400 calories each, but sometimes winds up being a 200 calorie breakfast with a 100 calorie morning snack or sometimes, if I am having "one of those days" with which you are all familiar, I have my first meal at 1pm and reward myself with a 400 calorie snack at 3ish! :)
I am still working out regularly, if not as systematically as I was before. In addition to going to the gym for classes a few times a week, I have Monday and Thursday Bootcamp sessions, which have jumped up in intensity as we get further along into the program. This past Monday, our whole workout was outdoors in the hot humid night. We used the mall parking lot to run line exercises, did step aerobics on the parking bumps, and then went for a jog around the mall to the other side, where we ran steps for 15 minutes. I am now walking 3-4 miles every Thursday, and then we do stretches and lunge walks to wrap up.
During our vacation in Ocean City, it was a pleasure and a boost to my determination that I was able to bike for 5 miles each day without too much effort, go to the gym and work out for "fun," and walk miles and miles every day wherever we went. Alex and I only took our car out once the whole 2 weeks we were there, and that was because we would not have been able to carry all of the groceries that we needed. I resisted a lot of the temptations of travelling with my parents including an endless supply of snacks, desserts, and such in the house, and forays for ice cream every evening! I took a small lick here and there of the girls' cones just to clean off the "excess" (this should not be understood as a recreation of, but merely as a reference to, Grandpop Strongin's use of that word to insinuate something his children would not like, and which he would heroically "protect" them from, by eating 2/3 off of their cones for them.) There was one day when Alex and I went on a particularly long and very hot walk in the middle of the day, and when he stopped for water ice at Jakes I ordered a rootbeer float (a particular favorite of mine) but I only drank half, and Alex finished it for me as we walked home.
The day we returned from vacation (last Saturday) I went to the gym for bootcamp, and had my first weigh-in. We have reached the half-way mark, and will be weighed again at the end. I have officially lost 20 lbs, 2 inches off of each of my measurements, and 5% of my mass. It felt good to know that I ammaking quantifiable progress, but not nearly as good as wearing pants from the bottom of the drawer where I keep the ones that are too tight to be comfortable!
I also noticed a real change in the bathing suit photos from this summer's vacation compared to last summer's.
Hawaii Summer 07
Ocean City Summer 08
Ocean City Summer 08
I hereby pledge to blog once a week, no matter what! Please stop with the guilt trips and reminders!
同一个世界同一个梦想 - Part One
Some quick background is probably in order. Shortly after I gave my two-week notice at Skadden on a whim in mid-December, my Dad called me at the office to bring my attention to a really cheap Travelzoo Top 20 deal for a trip to Singapore, with a 3-day extension to Bali that would have only been a few hundred dollars more. My mother, though never one to initiate any plan that would involve her getting on a plane, has been longing to visit Bali for many years now. Though we called the company selling the deal within a few hours of it being advertised, it seemed that they were already sold out within the first two hours, and the subsequent deal they were offering us was not nearly as lustrous.
But the vignette that played out that afternoon really got my OCD wheels spinning, since I came to the realization that come December 28th, for the first time in 7 or 8 years I was going to be FREE to do whatever I wanted for at least several weeks, as I didn't really expect to get anything lined up in the way of new job interviews for some time after the holiday season wound down.
So within an hour or two after the Singapore/Bali disappointment, I had found a deal through Sherman's Top 25 for the three of us to spend a week in Beijing which included round trip direct flights from Dulles and two hotel rooms in the brand new Westin there. At the price we got, it took about 30 seconds to convince Dad, and thanks to Jay Schinfeld applying some reason (and a bit of peer pressure, I suspect), my mother agreed to take the plunge as well.
We all got an overdose of spontaneity that day when, after making the purchase, I remembered that we would all need to get visas for our trip (which was to begin about 10 days later) from a Chinese embassy or consulate, and that we had a very small window of time because of Christmas and New Years closings. So later that evening, my parents made the drive down to DC, and we trekked over to the relevant Chinese authority early the next morning to have pictures taken, fill out visa applications, and drop off our passports. Thankfully, for some extra money you can get your visa the same day if you get in by 10:30 and come back to pick it up sometime between 3PM and closing (sort of like a Chinese laundry).
Our January 2nd departure was delayed one day due to mechanical problems with the airplane, but they put us up at the Dulles Hyatt. In the ensuing madness at the airport, we met these two really nice women from Alabama who were heading over to lead a seminar for Chinese teachers on a special method of Science education for middle-school aged students. We grabbed our car from long-term parking, gave them a ride into DC for some siteseeing, and found out that we could leave our car at the Hyatt for free instead of parking back at the airport. But I digress.
In today's installment, I bring you pictures from the Badaling section of the Great Wall. It is the most touristy of sections and heavily restored, but we felt that it would suffice for our purposes. We became friends with the head chef at the Westin, and he arranged for us to have a personal driver take us out there (for about one third of what the hotel's normal charges were) so that we didn't have to worry about negotiating non-verbally with a cab driver, or signing on to one of those bus tours where they make you stop and buy overpriced junk at a Chinese herbal medicine place or a Jade factory. Essentially, we didn't want to waste a whole day doing two or three things we didn't want to do, just to do the one thing we did want to do.
One of the more entertaining moments of the trip happened here. When we got there, we ran into a massive tour group from some kind of company or factory. There must have been a few hundred people in matching red vests and hats, and they were taking group photos with a big banner at the entrance plaza. Since it was the dead of winter--the ultimate low travel season in Beijing, we found ourselves to be generally the only non-Chinese tourists in the Beijing area, so naturally, we attracted quite a bit of attention wherever we went. The group really latched on to my dad, and a whole bunch of groups lined up to take photos with him and my mom. I got a few good shots of the scene, which was pretty hilarious.
Enjoy!
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