Vacationing in England and Italy with Ari and Sami

Saul and I left Yona’s fifth birthday party on the afternoon of Mother’s Day, May 11, and began our headlong rush back down to Florida, so as to be able to wash clothes, pick up medication, get our house ready for a two-month absence, and repack our suitcases. Our plane was due to leave from Orlando International on Wednesday, May 14. Our first stop on our way to London—Philadelphia International! How ridiculous are airline prices?! We saved about $600 by submitting ourselves to this outrageous paradox. At least the situation gave us a chance to sleep in our own bed for a night.

The flight itself was actually quite pleasant. We left on time, had good weather, and our layovers in Philly and Amsterdam gave us just enough time to get to the proper gates, use the facilities, and rest for a short time before boarding. We were secretly hoping to be bumped in either of those places. Philly would have given us time with friends, and Amsterdam would have been interesting, but we were satisfied with relatively hassle-free connections.

Ari met us on the morning of May 15, at Gatwick Airport. We had a nice lunch there in a typical British pub, caught the train for central London, arriving at London Bridge train station, where we hopped on a bus in front of “The Shard,” and proceeded on the short drive to Ari’s beautiful, new, two-bedroom-two bathroom flat across the street from the Shoreditch Police Station. His flat was so centrally located, that Saul and I were able to travel on foot, or by a short double-decker bus ride to almost every place we wanted to tour in London. We spent the next several weeks seeing most of the city, some places (like the British Museum and Borough Market) multiple times. Ari joined us in our excursions on the weekends, and frequently met us after work to eat out together. We covered so much territory together that his colleagues chided him for trying to kill us “old folks” with such a grueling schedule. In the first two weeks there, we alternated ambitious travel days with vegging out in front of British television programs. Totaled up, we probably spent a few of our days watching everything we could find on a chef we discovered there, Heston Blumenthal, who should be considered a British national treasure. Why he is practically unknown in the United States we cannot fathom! When we returned, we tried to share some of his programs with the girls, but were only able to stream two or three from the U.K.

I probably should have kept a log of what we did each day that we were there, but we were just too tired, the computer was not that happy about intercontinental travel, and we were constantly thinking up new things to try. I guess it will have to suffice if I just simply list all the places we saw with observations about the highlights of our trip and unique aspects of British culture we observed, especially since my kids always accuse me of being too long-winded in these posts. The photos, for the most part, will have to speak for themselves. Suffice it to say that we had the journey of a lifetime! It was better than anything we could have imagined.

What we saw and did in London and its environs:
Full English breakfast at The Shepherdess Café; walking tour of Piccadilly Circus followed by some traditional English dishes like Scotch eggs and banoffee tart at Mews Art Gallery; shopping with Ari at John Lewis; Hampton Court; Borough Market under London Bridge for incredible artisanal food; Museum of London; Museum of London, Docklands; Cutty Sark; Greenwich Market; dim sum in London’s Chinatown; food shopping at a London Co-op Market; Bunhill Fields Cemetery; Tower of London; Banqueting House; buskers at Covent Garden and browsing the antiques and artisans’ tables; National Portrait Gallery; Buckingham Palace; Hyde Park; The London Eye; Number 10 Downing Street; Big Ben; Horse Guards at Whitehall, Westminster; Westminster Abbey; Tate Museum of Modern Art; Millennium Bridge; Shakespeare’s Globe Theater; Harrod’s Department Store; Victoria and Albert Museum; Brighton Royal Pavilion; Canary Wharf; Regent’s Park; Kensington Palace; Spitalfield’s; Kew Gardens; Platform 9-3/4 at Kings Cross Station, Brick Lane, Olympic Park, St. Bride’s Church; home of Samuel Johnson and statue of his cat, Hodge; Temple Church; original Twining Tea shop; Fleet Street, St. Paul’s Cathedral; Paternoster Square; Temple Bar; Trafalgar Square; statue of Boudica; Turkish haircuts ending with flaming sealing of the hair.

Highlights of our trip—London:
When we arrived by train for a day in Brighton, we were met, as we hiked to the seaside, by a long parade of nude bicyclists. They were protesting something, but what it was I don’t remember. At Borough Market, the fishmongers set up the gullible passersby (like us) for a scare from a very ugly monkfish (see video above). Discovering how Guinness truly should taste at The Eagle pub. Wow! Sprawled out on huge beanbag chairs on the floor of the Banqueting House to spend an hour contemplating the ceiling painted by Raphael while listening to a Rick Steves tour about it on our iPhones. Watching the horses being led to pasture at Hampton Court. Seeing the great vine, planted in 1769, which occupies an entire greenhouse at Hampton Court. Seeing the actual Rosetta Stone! The Elgin Marbles in the British Museum. Watching an elaborate parade rehearsal at Buckingham Palace preparing for the Queen’s opening of Parliament. Real, ancient, totally intact, Grecian urns. Watching the opening of Parliament on British television. Watching the Royal Ascot on British televison and seeing people returning from it on the train in all their finery, including those funky British hats called fascinators. Cruising the Thames with Ari on a KPMG ferry. Strolling and grazing alongside the Thames with Ari and Sami. Getting lost coming back from a day at Kew Gardens and happening upon an American-themed block party where everyone was dressed in Western gear and American flags were flying, but nobody there was actually American. Eating real British fish and chips. Indian food in London.

For Sami’s bat mitzvah, which took place last November, Uncle Ari had promised to take her on a vacation anywhere in the world that she wanted to visit. After much debate and negotiation, she chose Rome. Little did we all know, at that time, that Ari would be residing in London for a few years. So, in addition to us having the vacation of a lifetime in London, Sami got to spend several days in London with us as well, and we were able to join her and Ari on the Italian leg of the trip, which he extended to include Florence and Venice. Ari, the master of planning trips for us without benefit of travel agencies (Beijing, China, for example), outdid himself this time. The boutique hotels and inns where we stayed in all three cities were awesome!

What we saw and did in Italy and its environs:

Rome:
Strolling the area around Piazza Navona, just down the street from our adorable, three-story house; The Pantheon, also just down the street; Vatican City; Sistine Chapel ceiling; Michaelangelo’s Pieta; St. Peter’s Square; Apostolic Palace; Swiss Guards; the Arch of Titus; Imperial Forum; Basilica Aemilia; Castel Sant’Angelo; the entire ancient city, including quarters of the Vestal Virgins, Colosseum, and Forum; Trevi Fountain (under construction); the original Jewish Ghetto and its synagogue; Piazza Campidoglio; Capitoline Hill; National Monument of Victory; outdoor copy of Michaelangelo’s David

Highlights of Rome:
Our special trattoria (Il Fico) an arm’s length across the cobblestone alley from our house, where our lovely, wonderful waitress, Gianna, plied us with seemingly endless, complimentary, glasses of Limoncello, as we waited for our outdoor table, and where, for about $10 we had the best pasta dish ever, loaded with white truffles, mushrooms and butter. We ordered the same dish, in the same place, every night for three days, and savored it as we listened to the violins of the street musicians under moonlight. I don’t think anything will ever be that perfect again! Eating breakfast across the piazza from the Pantheon, under an awning, while waiting for a teeming rain to let up so we could see the inside; Sami posing for photos under The Arch of Titus (now that Israel is an independent State) after sidestepping the ropes put up to keep tourists out (at the prodding of her Saba). Before 1948, Jews traditionally did not walk under the Arch. She got yelled out by a tour guide, but we got the photo anyway! Shopping for groceries for breakfast in nearby shops with Ari. Hunting down the best places for gelato with Sami. Watching the street artists paint with spray cans and flames in the Piazza Navona and Ari buying Sami the one with the wolf in it. Touring the synagogue, viewing its treasures, and strolling the Jewish Ghetto.

From Rome, we took a taxi to the train station. The train ride, which took about two hours, was comfortable and pleasant, although we were not all able to sit together because of seat-specific ticketing. Saul had a pleasant journey a few aisles down with seat mates that were English-speaking from California. One of Ari’s favorite memories was of me commenting that the countryside through which we passed looked exactly like what I pictured Tuscany to look like. He laughingly explained to me that Florence is in Tuscany, a fact of which I was not aware. We were truly looking at Tuscan countryside on our journey.

Florence:
C Hotel The Style Florence (directly across the street from the train station, thanks to Ari’s great thoughtfulness and good travel karma); The Duomo, also known as Santa Maria Del Fiore Cathedral; Michaelangelo’s David and his unfinished Slaves in the Hall of the Prisoners, Giambologna’s Rape of the Sabines, and Botticelli’s Madonna and Child in the Galleria dell’Accademia Museum among many other magnificent works of art; lunch at Trattoria La Madia; Uffizi Gallery; Palazzo Medici Riccardi; Piazza Della Signoria; Ponte Vecchio; Mercato Centrale; dinner at Trattoria 13 Gobbi.

Highlights of Florence:
The David! It literally took my breath away when I first saw it in person. It is the most beautiful and flawless marble I have ever seen. The view from the balcony of our hotel suite. As we hurried back from dinner, we narrowly missed getting caught in the teeming rain of a very violent thunderstorm. We watched the lightning show from our balcony as it illuminated the distinctive skyline of the partially blacked-out city due to power failures. Doing the Rick Steves walking tour of the city together with ear buds and iPhones. Choosing gorgeous, jewel-like, preserved fruits and Italian honeys for my collection at the Mercato Centrale.

While we waited to board our train from Florence to Venice, Ari and I left Saul and Sami with the suitcases and went to buy delicious sandwiches and snacks at a small restaurant/deli down the street from the station so we would not be hungry on our journey. Again, our traveling time was about two hours. Again, the ride was very pleasant, and this time Saul was able to trade seats so that we could all sit together. Nothing in my life had prepared me for the incredible beauty of Venice as I experienced my first glimpse through the huge glass doors of the train station. That first view of the canals on a beautiful, cloudless day was absolutely breathtaking, and nothing like the murky, moldy, deteriorating city I had expected to encounter.

Venice:
Grand Canal; La Fenice; Saint Mark Basin; Palazzo Ducale; St. Mark’s Square (Doge’s Palace, Campanile, The Clock Tower, Bridge of Sighs); Ponte de Ghetto Vecchio, Campo Madonna, Rialto Market

Highlights of Venice:
The beautiful architecture. The lack of automobiles. Watching the gondolas. Riding the Vaporetto. Wandering the narrow streets on foot and getting lost in the maze of courtyards and small bridges. Having to retrace our path because there were no bridges in some places. Having dinner near our house alongside a small, quiet canal at sunset. Again, doing the Rick Steves walking tour of the city together with ear buds and iPhones. Shopping for groceries in the small bakeries and markets near our house. Touring the ancient Jewish quarter. Shopping for Murano glass souvenir necklaces in St. Mark’s Square with Sami.

We were all very sad to leave Italy. We all loved the culture, food, and people that we met far above anything we expected. The house where we stayed in Venice was so charming and comfortable that we vowed we would be back to enjoy a laid-back, extended vacation there. On the last day, we hopped a water taxi that took us across the lagoon to the airport for our flight back to London.

Our last few days in London were concerned with preparing Ari to move to a new flat in Greenwich. While his flat was beautiful, it was in a small building with very inefficient management and only one elevator, which was constantly breaking down and taking several days to repair. For the amount he was paying for the apartment, we felt he should not have to walk four flights of stairs, nor put up with dirty entranceways, and common areas. There was also no concierge, a problem for Ari anytime he needed to have a delivery, especially with the long hours he keeps at work.

We were only able to spend one night in the Greenwich apartment before it was time to fly back to Orlando for the beginning of “Camp Bubbie and Saba.” Saul and I traveled with Sami to Gatwick Airport by cab and placed her on her flight back as an unaccompanied minor. She had a good flight and was met without any problems by her mom, dad and two siblings who had driven down to our home the day before. Since Saul and I were leaving less than a day later, we arranged to stay at the Bloc Hotel, which is a box-type hotel within the airport itself. It was a very unusual set-up, but I would recommend it to anyone with a long layover in an airport. The clean, tiny room, with its comfy bed and bedding, was laid out very efficiently. The bathroom, with its shower was a wet room with the toilet paper in a protective cover so it would not get wet. Because we had decided to upgrade, there was a window in our room, but this type of accommodation is not for the claustrophobic. One caveat is that we were not able to check our luggage under this type of set up and had to drag our suitcases all over the airport until our room was ready, not a small inconvenience.

On our flight back, our information was misplaced when we landed in Edinborough. This had something to do with our switch from British Airways to American Airlines as part of the Oneworld alliance. They fixed the problem without too much stress and we were rewarded when we arrived in Philadelphia with a switch to first class seating for the flight from there to Orlando. The only other unpleasantness was the weather as we reached Orlando. A classic Florida thunderstorm was just getting underway and we watched bolts of lightning striking around us as we landed.

We had enjoyed the vacation of a lifetime, but we were very glad to be home, safe and sound, among our children and grandchildren. We had been missing our comfy bed and Florida weather and we were very much looking forward to the beginning of our next vacation, immediately, as Camp Bubbie and Saba was about to begin in the land of Disney World.

Time Spent Back in Pennsylvania and New Jersey

Shortly after packing all our Passover stuff back into the seven cartons in which it is stored, and after restoring the house to the condition in which it started before the arrival of all our guests, Saul and I reluctantly began the drive back north; reluctantly, because we were leaving beautiful, warm weather, and a lovely, inviting pool just outside our door, to return to the land of boots, wool socks, tights, winter coats, and sweaters.

Months earlier, we had planned the trip for a few reasons. We wanted to be present for Yona’s “Alice in Wonderland” fifth birthday party and to make her a decorated cake as we have always done for all the girls on their birthdays. In addition, we still have not selected doctors here in Florida, and it was time for our yearly checkups and colonoscopies. We love our doctors in Pennsylvania and figured we would kill two birds with one stone, as the saying goes, so we scheduled everything to take place within a ten-day period shortly before our scheduled trip to London and Italy. Fortunately, our friends, Ruth and Giora, offered us the use of their home, within a few miles of Jess and Alex’s home, and Rif and Paul’s home. Ruth and Giora were, coincidentally, in Israel at the time. We can’t stay with our kids because I am allergic to Inky, their dog. Other friends and relatives offered their homes as well, but none live as close.

Before the party preparations began, Saul and I joined the girls and Jess for the season’s last pottery session where I got to make a dish that the girls said they would finish at a future time. Another bonus was being able to make challah with Yona’s preschool class on parents day. Alex’s sister, Naomi drove in also with Talia and Ava for the party. Jessica and Alex, as usual, prepared an over-the-top, incredible birthday party. The cake, which Sami, herself baked, was a three-dimensional teapot with mouse peeking out, based on art from the Disney version of the mad hatter’s tea party in the movie, Alice in Wonderland. Working together, with even Yona participating, we all produced the most amazing cake and tea party ever! Part of the fun was Yona’s guests designing and decorating their own party hats and their own cupcakes.

Our check ups, done on separate days because of a policy of the doctor’s office, produced happy results. In both our cases, all our numbers were well within the normal range. This was especially happy for me because Saul had been sticking a needle in my finger every day for the last year to check my blood sugar. He has been so good about this because I am a big coward about needles. My A1C, which was really abnormally high last year (over 10), was normal this time (6.7). This has given me the freedom to test my blood every few weeks instead of every day. The few times we have taken a reading, it has been well within normal, but I have still changed my diet to avoid as much sugar and white flour as I possibly can, a good policy even when my sugar is normal. In the last few months, I have been learning to make some of my favorite Indian dishes, which also contribute to lowering sugar levels with the use of spices like turmeric, coriander, cinnamon, and cumin. A recipe for dosas with masala aloo should appear shortly on my recipe blog. As things turned out, I had to cancel my overdue colonoscopy because the insurance company to which we have been paying large premiums this year refused to cover it, although they did agree to cover Saul’s because he is already on Medicare. Saul had a clear colon this time. Likewise, they only covered half of the expense for my mammogram, which was also clear. Woohoo! :o)

I was really incensed at the insurance company at the time, but since then, I have learned that it is one of the best policies we could have chosen once I am eligible for Medicare in six months. If I had opted out of it at the time, I would not have been able to opt back in. We learned all this in an extensive interview we had with a remarkably-informed, volunteer counselor provided free by the state of Florida for our county, which is Polk. Once Medicare kicks in for me, I will schedule a colonoscopy, which will be covered this time. Our wonderful neighbors here in Florida, Gary and Terry, gave us a list of doctors and dentists who come highly recommended by the folks at the nearby hospital where Terry works. She is the one who informed us about the existence of the health insurance counseling program.

While back up north, we were able to meet our good friends, Larry for lunch, and Roxy and George for dinner. The most difficult part of our new life is missing our friends of many years.

We accomplished much during our visit, and we were happy when it was time to hit the road south again. As the hours passed on our drive home, we began peeling away the coats, sweaters, and socks with the rising temperatures. We were due to fly to London for an extended visit with Ari (for almost two months) within a few days. The stupid thing was that, in order to get the cheapest rate for our flight to London, we had to be back in Orlando to take a flight to Philadelphia, then to Amsterdam, and then to London. We saved several hundred dollars on our flights by driving back to Orlando instead of taking the much shorter flight directly from Philadelphia.

We enjoyed friends and family up north, but we were so happy to be back in our home in Florida for a few days before our trip!

Begin Again

So much time has elapsed since my last blog post that I wondered if I would ever get back to it again. Consequently, I have decided to tackle the catch-up of roughly the last six months of our lives in several installments. They have been such wonderful months that I think I can say that this past year has probably been one of the best years of my life (and Saul agrees that it is one of the best years of his as well). This is no small claim as we are both old now and struggling with the usual assortment of aches and pains and “the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to,” as Hamlet would lament in Shakespeare’s tragedy. The intervals can be easily divided, though, into “Passover with the Family (preparation and afterwards),” “Time Spent Back in Pennsylvania and New Jersey,” “Vacationing in England and Italy with Ari and Sami,” “Camp Bubbie and Saba in Florida with all three girls,” “Our Four Weeks of Relative Quiet regrouping before Rosh Hashanah 5775.”

Passover with the Family
Ken and Randi spent a few weeks with us in March enjoying the Flower and Garden Festival at Disney, checking out real estate with the intent of moving here, and spending a day meeting a recommended holistic doctor in Tampa Bay after which we lunched at Frenchy’s in Clearwater Beach. The Flower and Garden Festival included a series of “Flower Power” band concerts which we really enjoyed. Ken and Randi were here for Gary Lewis and the Playboys. We had some wonderful dining experiences together, including (with Adele) Artist Point at Wilderness Lodge, (our second favorite Disney restaurant), Jiko (with Adele, Lori and Jules) at Animal Kingdom Lodge, Kouzzina, Iron Chef Cat Cora’s restaurant at Disney’s Boardwalk, also Big River Grill, and the Captain’s Grill at the Yacht Club Resort there. At the end of March, they successfully bid on a three-bedroom condo in ChampionsGate, just five miles from our home, and began making plans to sell their house in Pennsylvania. As of this writing, settlement on their PA house takes place on September 30; we are picking them up at the airport that evening. They will be staying with us for a week or two until our contractor, John Hart, has finished the painting and flooring in the condo and their furniture arrives.

When we packed to move to Florida, Saul and I consolidated seven plastic cartons containing everything we would need to prepare a kosher Pesach for the entire family. Jess flew down with the three girls a couple of days before the Easter vacation and, as a result, got an absolutely fantastic rate (under $350 for all four of them). Alex drove down a few days later when his school ended, stopping in DC to visit with his sister’s family before tackling the long leg of the trip in one day. He brought an SUV loaded with all the accessories for the seder that has been taking place at their house for the last several years. As soon as they arrived from the airport in Orlando, the girl’s headed straight for their bedrooms, donned their bathing suits, and were in the pool within a half hour of their arrival. It was especially satisfying for all of them because of the polar vortex weather up north. Ahead of our preparations for Pesach, we spent a couple of days at the Flower and Garden Festival and the Magic Kingdom, having lunch at “Be Our Guest.” Yona was a little freaked out because we ate in the dark room of Beast’s castle where, periodically, simulated thunder and lightening enhanced the dark mood. We had a wonderful buffet dinner, along with Beth and Ari, who also arrived to celebrate the holiday, at Boma in Animal Kingdom Lodge. Saul and I purchased a Vision Kamado grill at Costco which we inaugurated during the holiday preparations, and which did a wonderful job of producing delicately smoked turkey, fish, and veggies. While the rest of us wrapped up our preparations for the holiday, Beth and Ari, who barely get to see each other any more, took a break and had a bonding afternoon at a nearby salon for pedicures and massages. Adele and Larry joined us for our first seder in Florida. We had a lively, lovely, and relatively stress-free seder with all the familiar accoutrements from past years. Our second seder was just as wonderful.

We spent the day after the seders just hanging around the pool and relaxing. Beth flew back to Arizona. The day after, we spent the morning at Animal Kingdom, where, among other entertainments, Izzy finally got to ride with her mom and Uncle Ari on the Expedition Everest roller coaster, twice. After lunch at home, a shower and a brief nap, we spent the evening at Hollywood Studios and saw Fantasmic! again. Yona chose not to see it again and spent some quality time bonding with Saba at some of the other attractions. She really enjoyed painting water-color Disney characters on the walkway at the exit with one of the Disney employees. We spend the remainder of the holiday dipping in and out of the parks and pool, enjoying such delights as a rock concert by The Grass Roots, Yona’s meeting with Alice in Wonderland, the butterfly pavilion at Epcot and the special Monsters University playground there. We were sad to bid our family goodbye and send them off back to the cold and bleak temperatures up north and “across the pond to the U.K.” We were even sadder that we were going to have to follow them into that weather within a few days for several reasons. Yona’s Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter birthday party, medical checkups and a colonoscopy for Saul with our usual doctors.

Life in the Bubble

Sometimes, things work out in ways one couldn’t have imagined. Saul and I bought the house here in Florida back in May thinking that we had an agreement of sale for the amount we wanted for our house in Pennsylvania, and we were devastated when the sale fell through and we had to return the sizable deposit, and then when subsequent sales agreements were violated. We tossed and turned at night, having trouble sleeping, not knowing what our responsibilities would be before we would finally be free. We could not have imagined how much we would enjoy our new life in Florida, and that helped us put everything in perspective and get through the months of uncertainty. In the end, we sold our beautiful and beloved home in Pennsylvania on January 10, 2014, to an extended family who agreed to buy it “as is” for a far, far lower price than we had anticipated originally. Little did we know or expect the bullet that we dodged in view of the type of winter weather in the Philadelphia area that began in January and has lasted to the present moment as I write. Had we not sold the house when we did and as we did, we would have had the added aggravation of keeping inactive pipes from freezing in frigid weather, days-long power outages, snow removal headaches, and flooding worries. We dearly loved that wonderful dream home that we designed ourselves, and that rewarded us with 20 years of incredible memories. We had innumerable parties, incredible and unique Shabbat and holiday meals with family and friends, and even set up a clinic of sorts when Aunt Ruth, my mom and I all required nursing care at the same time. Our single-level living with wheelchair-accessible floor plan and bathroom enabled us to take care of Uncle Jack, Uncle Stef, Aunt Ruth, and my mother for a year of hospice care in a loving and inclusive environment. Although my kitchen in Florida is spacious and well laid out, it will probably never equal the state-of-the-art kitchen I designed there. It was a great 20 years!

In the last seven weeks since January 10, a great weight has been lifted from us psychologically, physically, and financially. The polar vortex, a term with which most people were unfamiliar until this winter, has left us feeling that we are living in some kind of delicate bubble here in Florida. While temperatures have been hovering between sub-zero and 20 degrees throughout most of the country, we have been blessed with warm weather and sunny blue skies through most of this winter. Our pool greets me when I slide open our shades in the morning, and most mornings, I open not only the shades, but the multiple sliding doors as well, to invite in the delightful morning breeze that wafts through the screened lanai that keeps out insects and birds. We keep the pool heated to 84°F. and we like to use it not only during the day, but to swim at night under the stars and moonlight when the air is warm enough. Having bought discounted-for-Florida-residents Disney annual passes, we are free to park our cars in any of the four parks and use all the facilities the parks have to offer whenever we like. A few times a week, we choose a park and spend several hours walking there. Being at the Disney parks, which are only 15 minutes from our home, certainly beats walking in the mall. We wake up looking at our palm trees through the window and are tempted to pinch ourselves each morning because we can’t believe we are not dreaming. Life feels like being on vacation almost every day. We wish our friends and family could be here more often to enjoy it with us and worry when they are dealing with shoveling, icy roads, pot holes, power failures, cancellations and cabin fever.

There have been many changes and highlights to our lives in the last few months since I wrote the last blog post on December 16. Ari rented out his home in Washington, D.C. on a two-year lease and moved to a sophisticated, brand-new, two bedroom and bath flat in London to work for the United Kingdom branch of his company. Jessica resigned from her job where she had become very unhappy and took over my business, from which I have pretty much retired this year. We enjoyed the most delightful Christmas holidays. Jess drove down here in one day with the girls and our friend Larry in his Tiguan S.U.V., while Alex led a Confirmation class trip throughout Israel. The girls were in their bathing suits and in the pool within minutes of walking through the door. Jess, finally relieved of all the stress of the last few weeks, slept for almost two days. Saul and I took the girls to the Disney parks multiple times. Sami and I took drawing lessons together at the Hollywood Studios park to learn how to draw some of the animated characters while Saul took the younger ones to the “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” playground nearby. We took them at night to see the sensational Osborne Family Dancing Lights there.

On December 23, we all took the slightly over one-hour drive to Clearwater Beach for the most delightful beach day. The sandals came off the moment bare feet hit the warm, white, sugary sand. Before we had even dropped our stuff to make camp, 4-year-old Yona had stripped off her bathing suit cover-up and rolled in the sand, making a sand angel. Reprimanded for not waiting for sunscreen, she did not even wait for it to dry before rolling in the sand again. We had a delightful day bathing in the temperate water of the Gulf and basking in the warm sun, even though cocky seagulls snatched Sami’s sandwich right from her hands as we picnicked. Yona took charge of the situation and chased every last seagull away from our area of the beach, looking and sounding so formidable that we all laughed until we cried, including some of the other beach-goers around us. We spent December 24 at Animal Kingdom catching one of the last “Lion King” performances before it was closing for months of renovations. The girls wanted to bake together while they were here and they chose to make dozens and dozens of hamantaschen with me on December 25, 26, and 27, most of which we froze and sent home with them for the upcoming Purim holiday. We hung out by the pool, cooked great meals together, ate out in restaurants, especially Sweet Tomatoes, Kumo, and Woodlands. Right before New Year’s Eve, Ken and Randi flew down and Ari flew in from a month-long stint in London to join us. We shopped for special ingredients, and supplemented by some unique British victuals compliments of Ari, we prepared an amazing feast to welcome in the new year in our new home. New Year’s Day was spent at Epcot where Yona and Izzy met Winnie the Pooh and Tigger.

A couple days after New Year’s day, Jess and Larry headed back home with the girls, leaving in the evening with the intention of driving straight through. About an hour after they left, Jess called to say that they had a flat tire along with a number of other cars who had all hit the same piece of a drive shaft that someone had dropped in the road. The tire was beyond repair, but when AAA came to put on the spare, Larry could not find the key to his locking lug nuts. The car had to be towed to a nearby repair shop and Saul and I left in the Pilot to pick them all up after midnight to bring them back for one more night here. They left after lunch the following day, once the car had been repaired. Fortunately, Ari’s house was available, so they stopped in D.C. late that night to rest up for the remainder of the drive. Ken and Randi flew back on January 5, encountering all kinds of flight delays due to inclement weather in other parts of the country. They had to wait at Orlando airport from about 6 p.m. until after midnight to finally get a flight home and didn’t arrive home until the wee hours of the following morning. Usually, it is a little less than a two-hour flight.

The next day, we began our travels north with Ari to help him wrap up his affairs in the United States in advance of moving to London. It had been snowing in DC, and we watched the temperatures dropping as we proceeded north. We stayed overnight in our usual Comfort Inn Suites in Florence, SC. While Ari wrapped up things in the office, Saul and I began packing up his personal things. Three different management companies that he interviewed all independently agreed that his furnishings were of a quality that could stay, a great relief to all of us because it made the packing far less complicated and meant that he would not have pay for storage facilities while in London. Ari is not one to accumulate a lot of stuff, so we were able to fit anything he wasn’t taking in two suitcases to London into the back of our SUV for the trip back to Florida. During our stay in DC, settlement finally took place (without our presence) on our home in Pennsylvania, managed by the best real estate lawyer ever, Michael Maley. The three of us were able to wrap everything up and be back on the road to Florida by January 14. On the sixteenth, we finally opened a bottle of bubbly to celebrate our move to Florida that had been given to us by the realtor who facilitated the purchase of our Florida home. It had been chilling in our fridge since May 17. We had not felt like celebrating until we felt we were free of the other home. On Friday, January 17, our Shabbat dinner was a Tu B’Shevat seder. I had almost everything I needed for the seder either in the pantry or the freezer. It was beautiful!

On the next evening, Saturday, we really began to celebrate with a very special Chef’s Table dinner at the Edgewater Hotel in Winter Haven. We arrived to find an antique car show in progress along the main street of quaint Winter Haven and we took some photos before sitting down to dinner. Ari and I ordered the wine pairing to accompany the various courses and Saul had a few sips of each one. The meal was amazing! The next day, we took a drive to Clearwater Beach, but Ari’s experience of Clearwater, due to the damp weather, cold water, and piles of seaweed at the water’s edge was nothing like the previous experiences we had had. I hope he will come back to enjoy it as we had done before on numerous occasions. Meanwhile, back in the north, the whole polar vortex thing had begun with snow and ice storms, school closings and power failures. Sami and the girls used some of the time for creative projects at home. On January 22, the dining room table and chairs I had ordered back in May finally arrived! They were worth the wait. I just love them. While he was here, Ari helped me to pick out lighting fixtures and home accessories that had been put on hold until the sale of the house. I ordered and received some items of furniture that had been waiting in my shopping carts online for months. The whole house really started to come together beautifully. On good weather days, we hung out by the pool, or enjoyed the parks. We finally got to try the new restaurant in The Magic Kingdom, “Be Our Guest.” We waited in line for about 45 minutes and had lunch there, which was a unique experience. On entering, you choose your meal from a computerized menu at an ordering station that looks a bit like a casino slot machine in a very elegant castle-like setting. You are presented with an artificial rose-shaped homing device and choose any table in one of three French-castle-themed rooms straight from the “Beauty and the Beast” animated movie. We sat next to a wall of soaring Palladian windows which appeared to look out onto a night-time French countryside in which it was snowing. There was actual, artificial snow falling outside the windows. The homing device allows the waiters and waitresses in French colonial garb to find you and serve you the appropriate choices from a glass-encased, mahogany-framed rolling cart reminiscent of the cribs they use in hospitals to wheel out premature newborns, or perhaps Snow White’s tomb. We discovered at lunch that if you find an employee with a clipboard as you leave, you might be able to snag a dinner reservation that evening based on the day’s cancellations. We had been unsuccessful at booking dinner reservations there even a few months out, so we were delighted to be able to book really late reservations for the same evening. The dinner service is far more formal and expensive, but not unreasonably so. We felt we had a very wonderful dinner in a unique setting for a reasonable amount. We were happy to be able to view most of the fireworks show outside the castle before we went in for dinner. I also was absolutely delighted to be able to celebrate with a glass of French Sancerre wine from the Loire Valley, which I have not been able to locate by the glass since we dined in Paris over 20 years ago.

Trying to squeeze in all the fun we could before Ari was leaving for London for at least two years, we spent more sunny, warm days by the pool, and, the night before his flight, we had dinner at Monsieur Paul’s, an upscale French restaurant on the second floor above the regular French restaurant at France, Chefs de France, in the World Showcase of Epcot. Dinner, again, was truly wonderful, although I was a bit disappointed not to be able to get my beloved Sancerre by the glass there. Our wonderful, authentically French waiter, however, recommended a French pinot noir to accompany my meal which was quite good. That night, beginning at about 2:00 a.m. I became very ill with what I feared was food poisoning. I was aghast to think that Saul, and especially Ari, would have to deal with what I was going through while involved with packing, airports, and a long airplane flight. There was not a single food or beverage that we did not share at dinner the previous evening. In the morning, to my relief, I learned that both Saul and Ari had slept well and were feeling fine. By 6:00 a.m. I was feeling okay and felt fine by 8:00 a.m. after a two-hour nap. Apparently, I had been the unfortunate victim of a nasty 4-hour stomach virus. I later found out that Randi had experienced the same weird symptoms back in Pennsylvania a few days before they arrived here in Florida at the beginning of February.

A couple of days after Ari arrived safely in London, Saul and I met Adele and Larry at First Watch in The Villages for breakfast. We brought Adele home with us for a few days to visit. On the way back from The Villages, we spent the whole day shopping to put in provisions for the visit from Ken and Randi, and subsequently, Haley and Erik. We discovered that The Villages have a very active Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co. (they even import the water from NY!), but we decided we prefer the Clearwater bagels even more. We stopped at Tuesday Morning in The Villages, Aldi’s, B.J.’s, Walmart, and the Cagan Crossings farmers market. We had a beautiful Shabbat dinner together with the groceries I had purchased along the way. Saturday evening, we took a walk to the Epcot gate from Disney’s Boardwalk. Adele had never been at The Boardwalk and was really taken with how realistically it mimicked the Atlantic City of our youthful vacations, albeit for only short distance. The weather was threatening rain the whole time, but we lucked out and only experienced a light drizzle for a few minutes. As all the restaurants there had at least a half hour wait, we decided to have a late dinner on the way home at Bahama Breeze, which has a late-night, half-price happy hour menu of appetizers and drinks. We had a great time schmoozing in the happy atmosphere of mostly-vacationing families.

The schmoozing continued with the arrival of Ken and Randi and we all spent a lovely, warm and sunny day hanging around the pool. Larry came to pick up Adele and we all had lunch together. For Izzy’s birthday on February 2, we sent her a robotics kit with several motors that allow you to assemble and build whatever you choose. She made very good use of it in the large expanses of time available due to all the school closings for snowy, icy weather in February. We had brunch with Ken and Randi at First Watch in Orlando on February 3. While we were traveling back, the outside temperature registered 93°F. on our car’s gauge, even as the weather in PA and NJ was in the teens. Unbelievable! Another unbelievable sight that day was an ultralight airplane flying over our house. In advance of their stay with us, Haley and Erik sent us a floating chess, checkers, and backgammon set that can be used in the pool.

After a few days with us, Ken and Randi left in our Pilot for a pre-scheduled stay at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL, and were very pleased with the doctors they encountered, the state-of-the-art facilities, and Ken’s test results, as well. After a few days there, on their drive back, they picked up Haley and Erik when they arrived at Orlando airport. Ever the consummate foodies, Haley and Erik, began their vacation, along with us, at their favorite steak restaurant, Charlie’s Steak House, on Rt. 192 near Celebration, as good a steak house as I have ever experienced. Thus fortified, we proceeded to celebrate Saul’s birthday with a string of amazing and decadent food experiences. After seeing the poignant movie, Monuments Men, together at Downtown Disney’s AMC theater, we finally were able to fulfill our reservations at Fulton’s Crab House. On two previous occasions, we had had to cancel at the last minute. Our meal was, again, a home run, and I have to say that Fulton’s makes the best Bloody Mary I have ever had, bar none. Next up was another encounter at the Chef’s Table at the Edgewater Hotel. We were just as pleased with the experience as the first time with Ari, a great relief, because you never know when you laud a restaurant to someone if it will come back to haunt you with a fiasco on the next occasion. Everyone was just as pleased as we were with both the food and service. They were a bit surprised at the ambience, having expected a big, glitzy hotel from our unwitting description, instead of the quaint, bohemian atmosphere that prevails. Following this, Randi’s sister Lori and her husband, Jules, drove in from Boca Raton. They were staying at The Swan Hotel and walked down The Boardwalk to meet us for lunch at Big River Grill and Brewing Works. We sat at a table outside, soaking up the warm sunshine, and keeping a wary eye on the hovering rapacious seagulls. Afterward, Jules and Lori returned to their hotel and we hopped on a ferry boat which deposited us at the gates of Epcot. We spent some time rocking with The British Revolution band in the garden at Disney’s English Village, and roamed around Epcot, meeting with Haley and Erik who had spent the day at Epcot with Erik’s mom, Betsy, and his brother and sister-in-law, with their little boy. Erik’s family had dinner reservations at The Garden Grill in The Land Pavilion, while Ken and Randi, Saul and I, Haley and Erik, and Jules and Lori had reservations in France to celebrate Saul’s birthday on the actual day. We met Betsy, Haley and Erik at Test Track and walked Betsy over to the other side of the park to meet her children for dinner. Then we walked back to have a late, elegant, but very noisy dinner in the crowded downstairs restaurant, Chefs de France in “France.” Saul has two birthday cakes with candles in the photo because we were also supposed to be celebrating Jules and Lori’s anniversary, and the staff got their signals crossed.

As part of their vacation, Haley and Erik had pre-scheduled all of us, including Erik’s family, for a dinner at Mama Melrose’s in the Hollywood Studios park which included special seating for the evening’s performance of Fantasmic! The package deal enabled us to order absolutely anything from the menu, which, thanks to our knowledgeable and efficient waitress, enabled us to take more than we could eat with us in packages, which we snacked on a few hours later while watching the show on the stadium seats that surround the lagoon where the show is presented. Before the show, we had time to experience “The Great Movie Ride” together. Our foodie experience the next day was in Celebration at the Columbia Restaurant, which Ken and Randi had loved, and couldn’t wait to share with Haley and Erik. We had a late, delicious, dinner with a waitress who kept us entertained with funny stories as she waited with trepidation to see if one of the owners of the restaurant would arrive from the airport before closing time. We had a few false alarms, but he was a no-show, as we were among the last to leave at closing time.

We spent several hours on a few different occasions looking at condos in the area, as Ken and Randi have decided to sell their house and move nearby. Haley and Erik have just rented out their home in the suburbs and were getting ready to move into an apartment in the city of Philadelphia. They found a chair that they liked online from a chain that has outlets near us, Rooms to Go. We finally located the appropriate chair on the floor of the outlet in Kissimmee. We drove to see it and then, ever searching for the new food experience, Erik had previously discovered, by searching online, that nearby Lakeland was having a gourmet food truck extravaganza. Somewhat reluctantly, we all agreed to take the drive. We were glad that we did because it did turn out to be a very unique and delicious experience. As the sun set though, the evening turned distinctly chilly, and we were glad to abandon the windy, green expanse of the town square, surrounded by food trucks purveying every type of food imaginable, for the warmth of our heated S.U.V.

The next morning, after dropping off the four of them at the airport, Saul and I went to buy provisions for Shabbat dinner. We went to B.J.’s and discovered in the midst of our shopping that we had missed a phone call from Betsy. Erik’s brother, wife, and son had driven to Florida because they could not find a peanut-free flight. Their child has a life-threatening allergy. Betsy, who is afraid of flying, had taken a two-day train ride down. Because of severe ice-storms in North Carolina, her return train had been cancelled and she was unable to book another night at her hotel because it was full. She was stranded with no place to stay and no transportation. Haley managed to book a flight for her the following day. Saul and I left from B.J.’s immediately when we heard the situation, and went directly to pick her up. We had relaxing, no fuss, Shabbat dinner together. In the morning, I gave Betsy a few of the Lorazepam tablets that I take when I fly, and she said, over breakfast, that she felt it kick in to calm her down. We also plied her with lots of fresh ginger tea to settle her stomach. During the drive to the airport, she was freaking a bit because she couldn’t find her driver’s license for identification that she had been holding that morning. When she arrived back in Philly, after an apparently smooth and uneventful flight, she laughingly texted us that she had stuffed it into her bra for safekeeping and then forgotten that she did it. Luckily, she remembered in time at the airport. Erik’s brother and family also returned home after driving through some harrowing weather, safe and sound.

Having overdosed, happily, on lots of wonderful food, we spent the following week detoxing by eating healthily at home, swimming, walking in the parks, and shopping a bit. Not long after, friends of Jessica and Alex from their life in Baltimore came to stay at the Disney Resorts for a few days during Presidents’ Weekend. Alice, with her daughters, Leanne, and Danielle were here with her sister and her sister’s two children for a brief family vacation. On two of the days, we met them in the afternoons at Epcot and the Magic Kingdom and enjoyed the spectacular weather and made use of our “Tables in Wonderland” discount card. The first day, we lunched together at the new Moroccan restaurant at Epcot, The Spice Road Table. It was the only really poor Disney experience we have had. The portions were so tiny (think half a breakfast-sized sausage, or two olives)  that we were compelled to order more food, also tiny portions, so the bill was quite large, over $120 for the eight of us. Although they had told us at the front that they accepted the discount card and the waiter had also nodded off on it when we showed it to him when we ordered, when it was time to pay the check, the card was rejected. We were ticked off enough to complain at Guest Services, but, while sympathetic, they did nothing to rectify the situation. At the Magic Kingdom the next day, we waited in line at “Be Our Guest” so that they could continue to enjoy the rides. They absolutely loved the lunch there and felt it was a good value and fabulous ambience. They had scheduled reservations well in advance for dinner at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant, and Saul and I were able to add ourselves to their reservation when we stopped in to check. We went on many of the rides with them, using our Fast Pass Plus to save them time waiting in some of the lines. It was such a fabulous day that we stayed with them until after dinner to view the light show on the castle and fireworks.

The following week, I began experimenting with food. I turned me and everything in the kitchen bright yellow preparing fresh turmeric that I had purchased at First Oriental Supermarket in an attempt to make a liver detox tea from a recipe that Jessica found online when we realized that the spices in the Southern Indian food at Rajbhog and Woodlands were very effective at lowering my glycemic index. The tea, which included cinnamon, coconut milk and honey among other things, was delicious, but did not do enough to lower the numbers based on the amount of work to prepare it. Luckily, OxiClean in a bucket was successful at removing most of the stains, or my Cuisinart would have been ruined; probably my kitchen counters, too.  One of my best experiments involved incorporating several cups of a variety of high protein, non-glutinous flours into my challah recipe. I will be putting that recipe on my other blog shortly, and may never make it with all standard bread flour again because it was so delicious, healthy, and beautiful.

On February 22, we went to the Magic Kingdom in the evening to walk and found ourselves there until almost midnight because we had such a good view of the Electric Parade and the light show and fireworks. As we were leaving, we discovered that the entire monorail system had been shut down, and I was leery of getting on an overcrowded ferry boat at night to get back to our car. We hung around for a while, getting really close up photos of the parade a second time in the very uncrowded park, and by then, the monorail had been repaired and we got back to the car in record time.

During the rest of February, we continued to enjoy the great weather, swimming in our pool for a few hours every day, eating out occasionally, checking out condos for Ken and Randi, organizing our house, and walking in the parks. We could not be more contented. We also spent a few days searching for flights to London and were rewarded with a very good price. We will be in Europe for almost two months. We also arranged to have all our medical checkups back in Pennsylvania with our long-time doctors. We scheduled routine physicals, colonoscopies, and a mammogram for me all within a one-week period at the beginning of May.

At the beginning of March, we went to the AMC theater at Downtown Disney to see a matinee showing of The Wind Rises, the new, and probably the last, Miyazaki movie, as he is set to retire at 73. It is a beautiful and haunting tale based on real-life characters. When the movie ended, I felt very sad that such artistry will be at an end. Following the movie, we had a leisurely dinner at Joe’s Crab Shack where the chef makes us a special preparation of spicy chili citrus sauce that allows me to indulge without raising my glycemic index.

On March 4, we attended the Plant City Strawberry Festival. It was a huge extravaganza covering several acres of tract with carny rides, street food stands, midway games, livestock shows, pig races, sales booths, displays of local crafts, preserves, quilts, sewing, knitting, etc. as well as a huge stadium with country-western performances by well-known groups, such as The Oak Ridge Boys. Thousands of people were in attendance. We walked around for several hours, but the heat and humidity got to us after three hours of walking and we decided not to stay for the performance of Brenda Lee. After a quick late lunch at a Sonny’s (I could not bring myself to sample the fare at the questionably sanitary booths) we collapsed at home. We had lucked out bagging a reservation at Victoria and Albert’s, an uber upscale restaurant at Disney’s Grand Floridian Hotel. We had tried for months to get a reservation, and one last try a few days before my birthday had succeeded. That was another reason that I didn’t want to risk doing damage to my system with carny food.

We spent the morning of my birthday at Epcot where Disney’s Flower and Garden Festival was just opening. The park, which is usually beautifully landscaped anyway, was exceptionally gorgeous with the addition of topiary gardens, myriads of flowers planted in designs around all the water features and lagoon, breath-taking bonsais, and herb-surrounded booths selling ethnic delicacies from around the world in the World Showcase. The weather was beautiful and temperate, so we strolled for hours. In the afternoon, we met a realtor, so we could take Ken and Randi on a virtual tour of another possible condo, on which they bid, but subsequently, the bank withdrew from the market. We rested for a few hours in the afternoon, too excited about our 9:15 p.m. reservations to take a proper nap beforehand. The experience was scintillating on so many levels, probably the second or third best of my life, just after The French Laundry and an incredible meal in Paris many years ago. It was my first time at the Grand Floridian Hotel, which is over-the-top in a way that only Disney can pull off. Under the elaborate white portecochère, a complimentary valet took our car and directed us to the restaurant on the second floor overlooking the soaring skylit lobby. A full orchestra in period clothing was adding beautiful music to the majestic spectacle. The entrance is so tucked away that we had trouble finding it and had to ask at the gift shop. Even the salesgirl was not quite sure where to find the entrance. We were met by a receptionist and greeted by a hostess in Victorian garb who ushered us through a set of double French doors to our table. The room was small, housing about two dozen tables and was done in shades of peach, gold and tan. A large table with a huge fresh flower arrangement was the focal point at the center of the room. Our waiters were dressed in Victorian morning suits and were pleasant and low-key, but were extremely well-versed in their craft. Our customized menus were presented in leather cases. I ordered the wine pairings and Saul helped me with a few sips of each one (seven in all), although they poured a complimentary quantity of Champagne for him right at the beginning. I drank all seven of them, for the most part, over the next three hours without any sulfite reactions or headaches, something to which I am very prone. I was able to walk out (with a very pleasant buzz) in my high heels, and had no hangover the next day. We finished every morsel and drop of everything we were served, except for the last course of exquisite bonbons, which they wrapped for us and added to a complimentary bag at the end along with a remarkably good, freshly-baked loaf of orange-date-nut bread spiked with Triple Sec, our souvenir menus, and a long-stemmed red rose. Writing about the delights of the meal itself would take several pages, but suffice it to say that each course was gorgeous to behold and was a wonder of contrasting tastes and textures. The employees in Disney World always tell you, “Have a magical day!” My birthday was, definitely!

We went to synagogue at Ohalei Rifka for services on Saturday, took a nap after lunch in the afternoon, and then returned to Epcot to walk because the weather was so perfect, and because there was a rockin’ concert by the Guess Who. We bought some delicious sandwiches from the nearby kiosk, and ate them while we watched the concert under the starry sky. Then we watched the IllumiNations fireworks show over the lagoon, walked back to the Boardwalk to pick up our car from the complimentary valet at the hotel there, and drove the 15 minutes back to our beautiful home. I can’t imagine life being any better. May the Florida bubble never burst!

Hakuna Matata

Hakuna Matata, what a wonderful phrase

Hakuna Matata, ain’t no passing craze

It means no worries for the rest of your days

It’s our problem-free philosophy, Hakuna Matata

We went to see the “Festival of the Lion King” at Disney’s Animal Kingdom park with our friend, Larry, who joined us for a few weeks. The lyrics from this song struck me as perfect for our new retirement lifestyle here in Florida. Although I have known and loved the music for many years, until I googled the phrase, I wasn’t sure if it was a made-up word like “supercalifragilisticexpialodocious” or a real African phrase. Sure enough, it is a real Swahili expression meaning “no worries.” Most of the time, Saul and I achieve this idyllic state, as most of our days for the last few months have consisted of rising in the morning when we feel like it, having breakfast by the pool in gorgeous weather, possibly shopping, doing a small project around the house (there are always ways to improve it), and either swimming in our pool, or enjoying walks in one of the four Disney Parks, or both. Tough, huh?

Since my last post, I can report that we had as delightful and easy a fast for Yom Kippur as anyone could wish because of the temperate weather. Our drive back to DC with Ari after breaking the fast was fine, even though it was late. Saul and I left DC on Sunday, September 15, after having breakfast with Ari. Unfortunately, because of our timing, we spent about three hours in heavy traffic just traveling the first 100 miles of our 900-mile journey back home. Doubly unfortunately, once the traffic eased up, we almost immediately ran over a blown tractor-trailer retread that damaged the undercarriage of our Prius. It sounded much worse than it looked, and Saul, with his amazing talent for quick fixes, was able to crawl under the car with some hose tape that we purchased at a nearby truck stop, remove part of the damaged cowling and tape the rest up so that we could continue our journey. For this fiasco, we only lost about a half hour of traveling time. As we neared the end of our first evening’s trek to Florence, SC, the rain was coming down so heavily that we almost missed our exit in the dark. Fortunately, we were able to get a comfortable room for the night at our favorite Comfort Suites, and left refreshed and well rested the next morning, a clear day, after a satisfying free breakfast. We really were excited to be heading home to our new life.

We arrived home on Monday, September 16, and had dinner at Sweet Tomatoes before 5:00 p.m. We quickly unpacked our car and suitcases and met Ken and Randi at Epcot for the IllumiNations fireworks that same evening. They had been in Disney World at The Swan Hotel vacationing with Jamie and Andy, Presley, Evan, and John and Cindy, Andy’s parents. The next morning, we met all of them at The Art of Animation Hotel where Jamie and Andy and the kids were staying to have a rather chaotic breakfast together. Following breakfast, Jamie and Andy went off to a timeshare pitch, while the parents babysat, and we went home to catch up with laundry and food shopping. The next day, we picked up the “old folks” to see our home. That night, while Cindy, Randi, Jamie, Andy, and Presley were attending the “Not So Scary Halloween Party,” dressed as various characters from Peter Pan in the Magic Kingdom, Saul and I picked up Ken, Evan, and John and had dinner at Joe’s Crab Shack, where Evan was able to play in the restaurant’s playground with me while we were waiting to be served. Afterward, we dropped the three of them off at The Art of Animation Hotel to put Evan to bed and await the return of the others. The next morning, we picked up Ken and Randi from their brunch at The Grand Floridian, with John and Cindy, dropped John and Cindy back at The Swan to meet their airport shuttle, and brought Ken and Randi with their luggage back to stay with us for what was supposed to be two weeks.

We spent Thursday with Ken and Randi relaxing by the swimming pool while the kids fulfilled their self-scheduled activities at the parks. Over the next few days, we picked up provisions for Shabbat dinner at Costco and First Oriental Supermarket, went to see Fantasmic! at Hollywood Studios, bought a used wheelchair for Ken from a Craigslist ad (so that we would not have to rely on renting them from Disney), took a late night walk around the lushly-landscaped indoor gardens of the Gaylord Palms Hotel, and shared half price mojitos and small plates at Bahama Breeze. Randi’s sister and brother-in-law, Lori and Jules, became grandparents to a new baby boy, so we spent a day driving to Boca Raton to visit them and to see the new baby, a drive that was memorable in that we were held up for half an hour alongside a car that had just flipped over, while the medics evacuated a badly injured young woman by helicopter. It landed on the cleared highway right in front of us. After visiting the children at home with their new son, we had a lively and delicious dinner together with Lori and Jules, sitting at outdoor tables along the seaside at Boston’s. The next day, we toured Animal Kingdom. Afterward, we picked up Ari at Orlando Airport on his return flight from Paris where he had been vacationing for a several days. He stayed with us for the last few days of his vacation, before flying back to DC. During his stay, we spent some very enjoyable hours making the rounds of the Food and Wine Festival that had begun at Epcot, sampling some really exotic wines and beers from around the world. Thirty different countries were represented at the festival. On Friday, September 27, we shopped for and prepared a Shabbat dinner and were joined by Larry and Adele, who drove in from The Villages so that we could all be together. The strain of the vacation took a toll on Ken’s health and he and Randi decided to return home earlier than planned so that he could receive a few extra treatments from his applied kinestheologist. We took them to the airport on September 29. Ari spent a day shopping with us and just hanging out by the pool before we returned him to the airport on September 30. For the next few days, Saul and I accomplished various odds and ends around the house, including finishing hanging our artwork, a process that began with Ari’s input, assembling a few miscellaneous pieces of IKEA furniture (a television table and a printer table), adjusting some wiring to be more unobtrusive, unpacking and organizing a few last boxes from our move, cleaning out the garage, cooking to use up some leftovers, etc. In between, we swam in our pool and took long walks in the parks almost every evening, enjoying the “Eat to the Beat” concerts that were a part of the Epcot Food and Wine Festival, especially The Pointer Sisters.

Our friend Larry drove down to stay with us for a few weeks beginning on October 18. Larry, like Ken and Randi and Ari, also decided to buy an annual pass to the park so that we could all come and go at will. On his first Shabbat morning here, he accompanied us to services at Ohalei Rivka, where he was immediately welcomed and rewarded with an aliyah. Over the next few days, we visited Epcot and Animal Kingdom. We dined at various restaurants in the area, Miller’s Ale House, Bahama Breeze, Sonny’s Barbecue, Sweet Tomatoes, First Watch and Ming’s Bistro. One night, we visited Universal Studios City Walk and had a very lively dinner at Margaritaville where Larry imbibed a multicolored and flavored flight of margarita samples. We visited Adele and Larry at The Villages and had a very pleasant lunch with them at Lighthouse Point Bar and Grill by the side of a lake. Saul developed a nasty ear infection in both ears during the first few days of Larry’s visit. He was much better after we visited a nearby walk-in clinic and he began taking antibiotics and ear drops for a few days. He was under the weather for a day or two, though, so just Larry and I went to the parks a few times. Saul missed the Boyz II Men concert at Epcot. At our Shabbat dinner on October 25, I made a number of Larry’s favorite dishes to celebrate his birthday on October 22, including kasha and bow ties, Texas sheet cake, wedge salad with Russian dressing, chicken satay, corn on the cob, and homemade challah. Larry brought with him a collection of etrogim from the Sukkot celebration at MBI-EE. While he was here, we turned them into a collection of etrog/honey jam to take back home with him for our friends. Saul and I went to see Smashmouth at Epcot, an amazing concert. After making arrangements to visit the lodge, Saul and Larry attended a Masonic meeting in nearby Clermont.

At Larry’s suggestion, we took a drive to Clearwater Beach, somewhere none of us had visited before. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and the pleasant drive took about an hour and a half. Coincidentally, we arrived to find that their Second Annual Chalk Walk Art Festival was in full swing. We had a delightful lunch sitting on the second floor deck of Frenchy’s, a seaside restaurant. The beach was spectacular white sand, and the calm Gulf water warm even at the end of October. We took off our shoes and strolled a few blocks down along the water’s edge. The artwork was incredible! I even was invited to pose, sitting on the concrete sidewalk inside one of the chalk drawings that was designed in perspective to look three-dimensional, so that it looks like I am sitting in a beach chair! It is one of my favorite photos ever. Another bonus of the trip is that we found a little place that makes the most delicious New Jersey-style bagels anywhere—Clearwater Bagels. We bought a dozen to put in the freezer, a good thing, because we had recently discovered that the one place in our area to get good bagels, A Roll with a Hole, had just gone out of business. On October 31, Halloween Day, we decided to explore Celebration, Florida, a nearby planned community that was to be a prototype a la Disney. We had an elegant and memorable lunch there at the Columbia Restaurant, a 100-year-old family institution that began in Ybor City, a Spanish community that settled in Florida many years ago. In our meanderings through this very charming and unusual town, we happened upon a sizable, Halloween-decorated private house that was the ultimate. In fact, it was not immediately recognizable as a house. The entire front was obscured by a two-story-high, fake facade that emulated a haunted pirate ship. The presentation was so enormous and so detailed that we immediately wondered where the whole thing is stored during the rest of the year. Our meal at Columbia was delicious and memorable. We returned home and spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool, only drying out to hand out candy to the approximately 15 kids who came to the door trick-or-treating.

We had Shabbat dinner that I prepared with Larry on Friday, evening, November 1. He left for home the next day right before we were hit with a driving rain storm. During the following week, we went to a Christopher Cross concert at Epcot. On Tuesday morning, we picked up Adele at The Villages and brought her home to stay with us for a couple of days as Larry was attending a Bridge Tournament in Daytona Beach. We hung out by the pool, ate at Sweet Tomatoes, and spent Wednesday in Clearwater Beach. The weather and water were as beautiful as the first time. We had lunch on the second floor deck of Crabby Bill’s Bar and Grill, next to Frenchy’s, overlooking the Gulf. Again, we walked for several blocks at the water’s edge. Again, we picked up bagels and added some pastries, Adele’s treat. On Thursday, before returning Adele home, we stopped in Celebration to show her the Halloween house and then went for dim sum in Orlando at Ming’s Bistro, because Adele is a big Chinese food fan and Larry is not. That Friday, Saul and I just had a quiet Shabbat dinner together. Within a few days, Ari flew to London for a work-related extended stay.

Also, a few days later, we picked up Erica and Danny, along with Brenna and Ava, at Orlando Airport to begin their one-week planned Disney vacation. Their vacation had been planned long before we had an inkling that we would be buying a home here. We brought them home to drop off their luggage, lunched together on our good bagels and lox, and then we took them to visit their parents, and tour The Villages. We all had dinner together at Sonny’s Barbecue in The Villages. Brenna stayed with Adele and Larry, and Erica, Danny, and Ava stayed with us the first night because of Ava’s allergy to the dogs. The next morning, we awoke to the happy sounds of Ava in the pool with Danny poolside with his cup of French-press coffee. We headed over to their Disney hotel, the All-Star Disney Movie Resort to meet Adele, Larry and Brenna so that they could all check into their rooms. It was a process that took over two hours. After that, we rendezvoused at Joe’s Crab Shack for dinner. After dropping them back at their hotel, Saul and I went to Epcot, taking photos of Epcot’s “England” to exchange for the incredible photos Ari was sending us from the real England. Then, we attended the Big Bad Voodoo Daddy concert, which was majorly swinging! We met the family off and on for various experiences in the parks. To celebrate Brenna’s birthday, we all had lunch together at the Rainforest Café in Animal Kingdom. Later, we bought Brenna a microchip-controlled set of light-up Mickey Mouse “Glow with the Show” ears which coordinate with various extravaganzas at the Disney Parks. Unfortunately, Danny got sick with a stomach bug almost from the beginning, but toughed things out for a few days until it got the better of him. On Friday, November 15, our friends, Ruth and Giora stopped in on their way down to their winter condo in Marco Island to see our home, have lunch with us, and drop off instructions so that we could stay in their home in Voorhees, NJ, the week before, and during, Sami’s bat mitzvah. Their home is only about two miles from Jess and Alex’s and from TBS, and, more importantly, it is pet free. On Saturday evening, November 16, Saul and I went to the Magic Kingdom to see the castle lit in gorgeous fashion as though it were encased in ice (a la the new Disney movie, Frozen). We hung around that night to see what the park looks like when it is almost empty of people. Unhappily, that is how we discovered that the monorail back across the lake to our car ceases running at midnight, but we were able to take a much slower ferry boat. We felt a bit like Cinderella when the coach turned back into a pumpkin.

With true serendipity, Saul and I discovered a free, invitation-only party online, sponsored by Yelp with suggested donations to help Harbor House, that was taking place on Sunday, November 17, in Orlando. We put in our names as alternates, as the guest list was already filled, but were awarded last minute tickets when there were a few cancellations. We had an absolutely incredible afternoon, strolling around the grounds and sampling the offerings of dozens of restaurants and vendors from the Orlando area. In addition, there was entertainment by a number of local acts—singing, dancing, magic, guitar, etc. There was even a hairdressing salon set up outdoors if you wanted to sit still that long. Billed as Yelp’s Bohemian Bash, it was an amazing amalgam of food, wine, whiskey, cocktails, and entertainment where we ate wonderful tidbits until we couldn’t move and drank more alcohol than we should have. We went home loaded with more flare and beautifully-packaged desserts than we could easily carry. An added bonus was that, in addition to learning a great deal about what was available around us in Orlando, we met some really delightful people from the area, although of the 500 that were lucky enough to get tickets, we were probably among the oldest.

A few days after Danny, Erica, Adele and Larry all went home, we hit the nearby outlet malls in search of a folding suitcase. We found exactly what we wanted and returned home to pack our party clothes, anything we still had that was warm, and anything we thought might be useful in the kitchen to prepare for the bat mitzvah (about two cartons worth of cake pans, cookie cutters, cake decorating equipment, etc.) and packed up the Prius for our trip to New Jersey for Sami’s bat mitzvah. We left on Tuesday, November 19. We had planned to have lunch at Fresh on the Fly in Lake Mary, FL, again, along Rte. 4, but sadly discovered it was already out of business and replaced by another restaurant. Around the corner, we ate instead at Jax 5th Avenue Deli and Ale House, a bit disappointing, but the food was okay. Staying overnight again at the Comfort Suites in Florence, SC, we later discovered a charming new place along our I-95 route in the college town of Wilson, NC—Quince, A Southern Bistro. Besides the charming setting, we were welcomed with warm southern hospitality and good southern cooking—definitely a great respite from the long hours of driving.

We arrived at Ari’s home on November 20, and walked over to nearby Meridian Pint for a satisfying dinner. Since Ari had been assigned to London with only a few days notice, we were able to get things organized for him that had been left undone, such as emptying his refrigerator of perishable food, etc. During our time in DC, we discovered two new breakfast places that we really liked, Highlands, very fresh food, reasonable, and just a mile from his home; and Mark’s Kitchen in Tacoma Park on our way to New Jersey. Mark’s Kitchen had some really unusual offerings and I was delighted with my savory mung bean pancakes, served with teriyaki sauce, home fries with onions, and eggs. Saul was also delighted with his breakfast sandwich and buckwheat banana pancakes. We made the final drive to Jess and Alex on Friday, November 22, arriving at Ruth and Giora’s with just enough time to open the house, unpack, change clothes, and head over to join the kids and Alex’s mom for Shabbat dinner. We all attended Alex’s family service at TBS the next morning.

Beginning on Sunday morning, our preparations for the bat mitzvah the following Friday and Saturday began. Jess and I went shopping after her Sunday morning classes were over. We delivered everything to the TBS kitchen and I began to bake all the cakes needed to somewhat emulate the tiered wonder that Sami had found on Pinterest. While at Michael’s for additional cake decorating supplies, such as fondant, we were inspired by pearly blue chocolate-filled beads that matched the colors for the party, which were turquoises, peacock blue and copper. I found copper Luster Dust there as well. Jessica had ordered sugar peacock feathers to add to the cake decor, a discovery she had made online. They inspired the rest of the cake. In the months leading up to the event, Jess, Alex and the girls had all been busy with crafts and items that made the affair truly unique. From the acrylic painting I had made based on Sami’s Torah portion, Alex produced beautiful invitations incorporating various elements of the design, as well as birkat hamazon benchers. The girls had spent countless hours producing one-of-a-kind women’s head coverings made from copper wire, beads, and charms. Jess had crocheted the men’s kippot. Leftover wood strips of flooring from their kitchen remodel had been turned into long centerpiece planters which housed herbs and etrog trees that Alex had grown from seeds leftover from last year’s etrog-honey jam. Suspended above each of them were nine delicate glass globes to house tealight candles in a chanukiah-type configuration as this year, Chanukah, Thanksgiving, and Sami’s Bat Mitzvah all came together in one marathon long weekend. Elaine, Sami and Jess, but mostly Elaine, had labored to produce a gorgeous tallit for Sami to wear that is as unique as she is, with embroidered messages of love in the corners. Alex and Jess grommeted the holes for the tzitzit and Alex and Sami worked together to tie the special knots incorporating the tekhelet of blue into the tzitzit. Sami has worked countless hours this year volunteering for Hazon CSA of Southern New Jersey, a group whose mission is to support sustainable agriculture and local farmers. With this in mind, Jess planned everything from the recycled centerpieces, to the plates and cutlery made from pressed palm leaves and bamboo, to the stacks of fabric towels in the bathrooms, to the local and sustainable sourcing of the meal itself, so that disposable waste did not accumulate because of this event. To date, Sami has personally raised over $2,500.00 for Hazon.

With everyone pitching in, we were able to complete all the preparations that had been planned right on schedule. Ari flew in from London the Saturday before the bat mitzvah, worked in DC for a few days, drove to Cherry Hill on Wednesday, and stayed with us at Ruth and Giora’s. He was, as always, a tremendous force for good, keeping everyone cool and on track, always pointing out what is truly important when we all get stressed over the details, and lending a hand wherever necessary. He spent several hours tying multicolored ribbons around the napkins which draped from the plates down the sides of the tables, adding a colorful touch to the room. On Friday morning, we returned his Mercedes, which was at the end of its lease period to the dealer in Cherry Hill, ahead of his returning to London. Jess and Alex were especially happy to host their friends, Rabbi Menachem and Liz, and their three children from Berkeley, CA. Their friendship dates back to JTS days and with all the demands of family life and synagogue congregations, they have had precious few moments to spend together over the last 17 years. Menachem was the best man at their wedding. Every child had one corresponding to their age with whom to relate, and they all seemed to get along famously.

Wednesday evening, Jess had arranged a professional photographer to take formal shots of the family as no photographs could be taken during the Shabbat festivities. It was a happy and productive evening. The photographer, Sheena Levi Photography, a friend and co-worker of Jessica’s was very professional and exhibited a creative and delightful personality. Elaine hosted the Thanksgiving dinner for the family this year and we so appreciated the delicious food and all the effort she lavished on the details, especially after our daily labors to ready everything for the bat mitzvah.

The actual event was far more than a warm and unpretentious service and meal. On both days, Sami handled almost all aspects of both services with poise and expertise. We all knew how smart and creative she is, but we were nevertheless wowed by the amount of preparation and knowledge that she exhibited. She was a superstar! Entering the candlelit hall, we were impressed with the creativity of the beautiful setting, sparkling with not only the suspended tea-light-illuminated, glass globes, but the fairy lights that twinkled beneath the sheer fabric of the buffet tables and lattice panels. The seating arrangement, listed on a board next to the cake at the entrance was also unique and beautiful. The families and friends, who had come from near and far, moved about the long tables and actually engaged in lively conversation. The food was delicious and beautifully presented on the buffets. The servers were efficient and friendly. And, as is usually the case with Jessica’s affairs, the weather was great, too. The evening was lovely in every regard.

Saturday’s main event was attended by over 300 people. If Sami felt any nervousness or pressure, she did not show it at all. In addition to leading the entire service, she flawlessly read in Hebrew all but a small section of the entire Torah portion. She even impressed the part of the family that attends Chabad services regularly with not only her fluency with Hebrew, but her accuracy as far as the trope (rhythmic cantillation) of the reading. During the previous week, we had all worked at the synagogue to prepare four items for the meals—the cake, a dozen challahs, butternut apple crisp, and baked ziti. Everything was greatly appreciated by the guests. The cake, especially, turned out spectacular (better than the model on which it was based) and weighed about 60 lbs. when completed. After an enjoyable and sociable afternoon feasting and catching up with friends and family members we have not seen for far too long, we were ready for a long nap. As evening approached, Jess and Alex and Menachem and Liz headed off with the kids to a nearby indoor water park at the Hotel ML where some of the relatives were staying. Saul, Ari, and I decided, after we rested for a while, to pack up and leave for DC that evening, rather than waiting for morning, as Ari needed to be delivered to Dulles Airport by 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, and we feared getting caught in traffic on the holiday weekend. We secured Ruth and Giora’s home, stopped in Havre de Grace on our way home for a light meal at Laurrapin Grill, and were in bed in DC before midnight.

The next morning, we arose early to have a dim sum breakfast together at Oriental East. Arriving back at his home, we helped him finish his laundry, get his house together for his absence, helped him pack for the trip back to London, and delivered him to the airport right on time. Saul and I decided to sleep for one more night in DC before heading home. We had dinner one more time at Meridian Pint and then hit the sack early so that we could be on the road very early to avoid the DC traffic in “the mixing bowl.” We arose at 3:00 a.m., packed our Prius with our overnight stuff, and were on the road home by 4:15 a.m. When we left DC, the temperature was 30°F. and we were in winter coats, scarves, sweaters, wool socks, etc. We couldn’t wait to get back to our balmy Florida home. Encountering very little traffic at that hour, we fairly flew through Virginia and were in Florence, SC, our usual stopping place, before lunch time. We decided to press on and we were feeling great, both psychologically from our happy, contented, and productive week with family and friends, and physically, from the great food, lack of stress, and anticipation of resuming our warm, retired, Florida lifestyle (Hakuna Matata). We had a late lunch at Dickey’s in Pooler, GA, and decided to try to complete the drive in one day. By the time we reached Georgia, we had ecstatically stripped ourselves of coats, scarves, sweaters, and socks. We stopped at Sweet Tomatoes in Kissimmee for dinner as the sun was setting, and walked in the door of our home before 8:00 p.m. It was 72°F and it was sweeet! We lit our first Chanukah candles in our new home in Florida the last three nights of the holiday.

Tuesday, after unpacking everything, stowing all our winter duds far away, and catching up with our laundry, we spent the warm evening wandering at Epcot, taking more photos of “England” for Ari and our other Dr. Who enthusiasts, and viewing the special extra fireworks added onto the already-spectacular IllumiNations show. On Wednesday, we went to Downtown Disney to catch the movie, Frozen, in 3D. The weather was so beautiful that we strolled for hours by the lake, lounged under the palm trees in the public square, popped in and out of art stores, and lunched outdoors at Bongos Cuban Café before reluctantly leaving the sunshine to enter the opulently-appointed theater to see the visually-stunning animated movie. To our surprise, Downtown Disney is undergoing some sort of massive reconstruction project and we can’t wait to see what is being added. Thursday, we went shopping to replenish our supply of coffee for our newly-pilfered Tassimo (from Ari). We located a really well-stocked Bed, Bath and Beyond, and were gratified to find that their 20% off coupons were honored if you picked up the coffee there, instead of ordering it online. On Friday, we restocked our pantry and refrigerator with the most wonderful stuff. The Aldi Supermarket in Clermont has beautiful, fresh, mostly-local produce at bargain prices. On the way back, we stopped at a roadside farm stand to buy freshly-picked, locally-grown strawberries, that were expensive, $4.00 a box, but incredibly beautiful, sweet, and delicious. They were a variety that was long and slender, unlike the usual generic tasteless ones. Also on our way home, we stopped at the Friday afternoon farmers market at nearby Cagan Crossings, something we have been meaning to do for months. There, we picked up the most amazing eggs from a local farmer who cares for his chickens in a true free-range setting. He cannot sell his eggs directly because they are not pasteurized as commercial large egg producers are required to do. So, his business is billed as “Rent a Hen.” Technically, you are not buying eggs, but picking up the output of your rented hen. He has many different varieties of chickens and they lay eggs ranging in color from blue through various shades of brown and beige. The eggs, which we have been using all week, are wonderful! We also bought homemade tamales, hot, from a local husband and wife team, and my favorite Jubilee orange tomatoes. We sampled delicious, freshly-popped artisanal caramel and salt popcorn from two local guys, but we’re waiting for company to come before we buy some as I would probably be tempted to snack on it incessantly.

On Saturday, we attended services at our new shul, Ohalei Rivka, especially to say kaddish to remember Saul’s dad, who died right after the end of Chanukah many years ago. The synagogue was packed to capacity in honor of a bat mitzvah that was taking place that day. During the next week, as blizzards began to hammer practically the entire country, including the Philadelphia area, we were enjoying record high temperatures and sunny skies in Florida. We spent whole afternoons enjoying our pool, further exploring our surroundings, and taking long evening walks in the Disney parks which culminate with incredible fireworks and light shows. We discovered the seasonal Osborne Dancing Lights at Disney’s Hollywood Studios Park, truly an overwhelming and sensational experience. In the midst of all this warmth, we were experiencing man-made snow flurries in the park. Wow!

During our week with Jessica and Alex, we ate twice at Rajbhog, a completely vegetarian, southern Indian restaurant with an incredibly complex and delicious menu. On both occasions, even though I overindulged, my sugar measured in the low 80’s afterward, the lowest it has measured since I started monitoring it several months ago. I was incredulous, but then Liz pointed out that certain spices, especially turmeric and cumin, are extremely efficacious in lowering blood sugar. Since then, I have been experimenting with adding spices to my food with very good results. In conversation with our favorite waitress at Sweet Tomatoes, whose nickname is Jellie, I mentioned the fact that we had left behind, in the north, a vegetarian, southern Indian restaurant, that was capable of lowering my blood sugar substantially every time I ate there. She proved to be extremely knowledgeable on the subject, suggesting various spices and a homeopathic spice-based capsule that supposedly works in conjunction with traditional medication. She also recommended a vegetarian, southern Indian restaurant in Orlando, which she and her family have been frequenting for at least eight years, Woodlands. Saul and I immediately went there for their buffet lunch, and again, after overindulging in the unlimited buffet, including a sweet dessert called payasam and fresh wedges of Florida oranges, my blood sugar was normal. Today, we had lunch at a non-vegetarian Indian restaurant just about a mile from our home, Dhaba. I have high hopes for my blood sugar reading tomorrow! Rajbhog was the yummiest, but I would rather be living here.

Another signed agreement on our house in North Wales fell through when a home inspector managed to convince the buyer that a new dimensional roof on top of the first one was not really a new roof because it was a second layer, and they wanted us to remove both roofs to install a third new one. We are now awaiting the results of a third signed agreement that is supposed to be settled by December 31. We substantially reduced the price because they agreed to such a speedy settlement, and will take the house “as is.” In the meantime, the latest home inspector is about to drill holes through the outside stucco to check for mold with no liability on his part. We are fully expecting this deal to fall through as well, not because we think they will find mold, but because our life is so wonderful now, we expect that there must be some reason for us to worry. In that regard, we just keep reminding ourselves how lucky we are right now and that we should not let the stress of dealing with our former home creep in to wear away at our present happy state of being. Hakuna matata!