IHOP Girl: Back to the books, errr...blog....

Saturday, January 07, 2006

Back to the books, errr...blog....

Hello all,

I know that you have long awaited my return, and I apologize for the wait. Although there are definite positives of school, currently I am trying to enjoy the last days of Christmas break. I hope that you all had a delightful Christmas and New Year's Eve, I certainly did despite them being quite different from our family norm.

I fully enjoyed seeing my good friends at the beach, and the weather wasn't at all bad either! :-) When our two families get together all insanity breaks out, and we spend the entire (well, almost) time laughing. Poor mom, Audrey, and Aunt Carol they were recovering from Bronchitis and surgeries, and were trying so hard not to laugh... Anyway, we had a blast, and spent so much time in the pool and hot tub that I'm surprised that we're not permenately wrinkled! One of the things we did this trip, was play this game called CashFlow, which is a fun game aimed at teaching financial principle that will help you get out of the "rat race" of income verses expenses. Contrary to all appearances it was actually a fun game, and we played for hours. As part of the game, you can randomly fall on game board spots that help to show things that can happen in real life, and are costly. Poor me, I have a feeling that I will never live it down, but I fell twice on the BABY spot...Yes, I became the single mother of Verni and Veronica (long story with the names...don't ask...). I guess it was hilarious as we all joked about what I'd been up to, it was all terribly unfair! Not that I don't like kids I do, but the connotations..........Despite this I loved the game, and we all laughed more than what was good for us! :-)

Not back at school I am fully enjoying my peace and quiet! It is kinda nice that there is only a couple people around, or maybe I just love not having to fight for a parking spot *wink*...

Till later!

3 comments:

Clair Bannerman (alias) said...: I think it is something more to do with Liz's abs of fear...; 3:07 PM
Jess said...: Darling, take comfort in the fact that I, your friend, will never judge you for your indiscretions. I am looking forward to meeting Verni and Veronica and I am sure I will love them just as I will always love you no matter what situations you find yourself in! Ever your faithful friend and admirer, I remain,
Mary; 10:28 AM
Jess said...: Hmm, yes, I had always thought to adopt...but I thought I would adopt from India and Asia. However, VJ and Veronica sound absolutely darling. You will have to give us more details about them, dear clairvoyant one.; 8:16 AM

Movie Night In...I love a good movie!

Mega Mind
Taking Chance (Will make you cry like a baby)
Charlotte Grey (A bit of a different take on Nazi Germany)
Series - Merlin (I LOVE BBC)
Robin Hood (Okay, a love Russell Crowe, you'll have to understand that about me...)
Kingdom of Heaven (Chuck full of acting power with an epic tale)
Miss Potter (Such a great film! Story of the creator of Peter Rabbit)
How to Train your Dragon (Possibly my favorite animated movie ever...I'm like a little kid, I watch it over and over)
Buck (Sundance winner, Biography of Horse Trainer, heart touching)
Lost in Austin (Modern day spin on Pride and Prej.)

Life as a nurse...

Great words by Reb Jeff: Vayishlach: Facing Death

"Rachel died. She was buried on the road to Ephrat — now called Bethlehem. Jacob set up a pillar above her grave. It is the pillar at Rachel’s grave to this day."–Genesis 35:19-20

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidui http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva_(Judaism), and preparing the notifications to the community, feel like little fragments of the sacred. I have been entrusted with the care and tending of the most powerful, complex and difficult emotions that a person can experience in life. I have been made, in some small part, a guardian of the memory of a departed soul — a life that touches upon many other lives.After dropping off my older daughter at her high school this morning, I made a stop at Treasure Coast Hospice http://www.tchospice.org/, a remarkable organization that sets a very high standard for the loving and respectful care of the dying. There, I visited a lovely man whom I have seen a few times in his hospice room. I sat by his bedside and listened to him (in full possession of his faculties) as he told me about his worries about his family, the support of his wife after he is gone, and the future of his children and grandchildren. I was deeply moved by the way he put any concern for himself — even while facing death — in a distant backseat to his concerns for his family. When my own time comes, I can only hope to have his awareness of the way that one life can touch so many others.Also at hospice, I visited a woman I have known for the past two years — a dear soul who is a former Jewish religious school director. I sat with her, too, singing psalms to her as I listened to her heavy and labored breathing. I have no medical training, but I have come to know the sound of a person who is close to death. The body begins to fight for each breath as it slowly looses it grasp on life. As I held her hand and sang, I realized that being a rabbi is no protection against becoming one of the people caught in the web of connection. I, too, am changed by the loss of a life that has touched mine.Later in the day, I met with a couple from our congregation. She had just learned that her brother died yesterday in a car crash. Coming to terms with the loss is made more difficult for her by the fact that she and her brother had not seen each other or spoken in five years. Sometimes, people think it is easier to mourn the death of someone who has moved out of your life. In my experience, though, it's harder. Grief is magnified by wounded love and regret. I have no magic words to say to ease the pain of mourning. All I can do is listen, become a vessel in which people place their stories, and offer compassion.Actually, there is one more thing I can do. I can have faith that "all I can do" is all that I need to do. It is enough.In this week's Torah portion (Vayishlach) Jacob watched Rachel, the love of his life, die in childbirth. He was overcome by grief. Jacob had worked for his cruel uncle Laban for fourteen years to earn the right to marry Rachel. Now she was gone. Because she died while they were traveling, Jacob had to bury her by the side of the road. He built a pillar of stones on the spot to mark the place as sacred.This is what we all do, in one way or another, when death enters our lives. We grieve and our hearts break. We wish that we could continue to walk along the path of life with our loved ones forever, but the dead cannot fully join us. We have to leave something behind in order to resume our own journey. So, what do we do? We mark the moment as sacred. We erect monuments — both in cemeteries and in our hearts. The stones we place on top of stones remind us that a life may end, but its sanctity is forever.The Torah says that the monument Jacob built for his beloved continues to stand until this day. A life that touches the lives of others never ceases to send living reverberations throughout the web that binds us all.