Annnnnnnnd...........there went May

To recap:  Great Adventure on May 20 with the Indian Hills High School Chamber choir was a long rainy day but a lot of fun and they sang beautifully.  We must have walked about 10 miles (not counting running for dry shelter at various points) and by the time Rod picked us up, we were wet and tired and slept most of the way back to Oakland...............just in time to shower and change for Ari's confirmation service.  In addition to helping to lead the service, he had two "speeches" - one a teaching piece about the omer and why we count it (I can send you his teaching if you'd like to know what the heck I'm talking about) and one personal piece about why a Jewish education past Bar Mitzvah is valuable (also available.)  He was terrific - so comfortable "preaching" - and so were his fellow confirmands, some of whom he has been friends with since preschool.

Two days later, again in intermittent rain (feels like we here in northern NJ were just plain wet for over a week) we began the ending-of-religious-school process with the last Sunday classes, followed by our 40/10 celebratory BBQ, which was really nice.  Monday brought two more last sessions of school, and Tuesday afternoon, the LAST last session of the official religious school year! But, I had to leave early to get home and get Ari to the high school, freshly groomed once again, for the spring concert. Andrew and Alex joined us to hear the wonderful choir pieces, highlighted, of course, by Ari's solo and also his part in a trio in the Sweeney Todd medley (videos available by request!)

Lest we not forget, the 24th was also Rod's birthday, which we ended up celebrating "officially" that Thursday at the delicious Saddle River Inn with the boys and Maggie & Tom McVeigh (who we cannot thank enough for everything.)  And then, boom, it was Memorial Day weekend and we were off to Baltimore for Digital Overload, a video gaming convention/LAN party where all three boys were registered to play.  In general it was a very nice trip, highlighted by brunch with Rod's cousins Joan and Ann and Ann's husband Rick at an outdoor restaurant by the harbor.

The view from our table!

The lowlight, if you could call it that, was our first night at the hotel, most of which was spent trying to re-inflate my side of the sleep number bed - didn't realize it was broken until about 5:30 a.m., and by then I had a lovely stiff neck :( but as I was trying to wake up in the shower I slipped and fell OUT of the tub, fer cryin' out loud!  It actually sounds worse than it was; two layers of shower curtain and Rod ensured that no serious damage was done.  (Of course 24 - 48 hours later, all the muscles that tried to stop me from falling were feeling the strain!)  But we saw a lot of Baltimore and did quite a lot of walking in the process, and got back to NJ early Sunday evening.  Of course, I couldn't miss my first "religious school is over" dim sum, so first thing (sort of) Monday morning, we were off to Chinatown.

Tuesday the 31st was our rabbi last official day before his sabbatical of three months off, so we fit in one last staff meeting and then poof!  May was over.  On to June (but that's another entry.............)