rebecca_in_blue | Recent Entries

Well, there was no Purim carnival or Oscars, but Rebecca still managed to stay busy this weekend. Sara and I were both off on Friday, and we went out and had lunch at a deli. We both ordered meat dishes -- I love buying meat on Fridays during Lent. I get a very childish satisfaction from it, which I guess comes from being a Catholic school veteran and hating all the seafood commercials that always get shoved down your throat at this time of year. (I mean, shrimp tacos? No, Taco Bell. Barf!)

After lunch, we visited the art gallery downtown. They're having an exhibition right now of the 50 most famous photos from National Geographic, and it was a really cool show. These were my favorites:

Veiled Rebellion, by Lynsey Addario (women by a roadside in Afghanistan, 2009). I love how lonely and evocative this is, and how the blue of the women's burqas is set against the mountains and the sky.

Shelter, by Joanna Pinneo (a family napping in their tent in the Sahara desert outside Timbuktu, 1998). I love how the tent diffuses the sunlight and creates such a warm, peaceful glow, and the baby's toes in the sand.

There was also, of course, the Afghan Girl. The photos were so beautiful, and it was very striking and powerful to see such big reproductions. I'm going to miss this little art gallery. It's so charming, and we've seen some cool collections here. I think big art galleries can be kinda serious and obnoxious. After the art gallery, I just had time to go on a brief bike-ride it got too chilly. It just won't get warm and stay warm -- ugh!

On Saturday morning, we had a session of religious school, and I think the kids actually enjoyed it. We did a lesson on King Solomon -- read a storybook about him, learned a song about him, and practiced writing his name in Hebrew. Sarah's the oldest, and she wanted to read the Solomon story to the younger kids. So we let her (anything that equals less work for us is a win!). She read King Solomon and the Bee, which is based on a traditional Midrash, and Maddy laughed so hard at the silly voice she used for the bee. I'm going to miss this group.

Sarah reading to Maddy -- aren't they so stinkin' cute?

I should've gone home after religious school, but I stuck around for Torah study. Oy vey. I'm not going to miss that. Do we really need to read the entire parsha before we can discuss it? Do we really need to go around the table and see how everyone's Torah translates Exodus 33:14? Does yours have My presence will go with you, My face will go with you, or I will go with you? That just seems like missing the point to me. It was so frustrating, because I know Torah study has the potential to be really interesting.

Current Mood: "Kurt, how are you?" - "Hungry!"
Current Music: Sara watching Real Housewives

I've recently discovered that my swanky new smartphone comes with unexpected drawbacks. It's making me lazier than ever before! (Which, I know, no one thought possible.) But when I can read fanfiction, browse Facebook, watch Youtube, and more videos in bed... well, what motivation do I have for ever getting out of bed? This phone has made me late for work more than once, so I'm trying to learn some self-control.

I woke up early enough to go bike-riding today (which I haven't done in too long) but it was too darn cold! Ugh! So, instead, I'm posting my notes on this week's new NCIS! I couldn't find one thing not to like about this one! It was such a nice change to have an episode focused on Ducky and Palmer.

( God loves Ducky and 10x16 "Detour" )

It's hard to believe that tomorrow, we'll already be in March! Especially when we're hoping to move at the end of April! Yikes.

Current Mood: blah
Current Music: Defying Gravity, Samantha Barks

On Thursday night, I accidentally took a sleeping pill instead of an aspirin for a headache and slept for twelve hours. But I'm glad I got some rest in then, because I feel like I've barely slowed down all weekend! But it was fun, so I can't complain. On Friday night, I did my laundry, crocheted, and watched Star Trek at Mom's house. I finished my second plarn mat! It took me about two months to crochet, and its final measurements were 26" x 84". (My first one took about six months and its measurements were 22" x 76".)

Saturday was a full day. That afternoon, I walked the mall again with Briana; we hit a few bumps that I might need to contact our case worker about. Then I drove by Sassy Jewish Grandfather #2's house to drop off some hamantashen. He just had surgery and won't be able to come to temple for a while. I was happy to bring them to him, but I didn't have the best directions to his house and finding it was kinda stressful. Then Sara and I went over to CJ & Co's to visit Athena.

But Sunday was really the big day - PURIM! The Purim carnival that we'd working on for so long was finally upon us! Making noise on Purim is a mitzvot, and Maggie couldn't believe we were letting her get away with making noise in the temple sanctuary. All the kids loved booing Haman and banging those groggers during the Megillah reading. After the Megillah, we turned the kids loose in the social hall, where we had pinatas, face-painting, horseshoe throws, balloon animals, cookie-decorating, pin-the-crown-on-Esther, and more! It was so much fun, it should've been illegal. I think these smiling faces speak for themselves. (I took a ton of photos.)

Me and Sarah in our cowgirl costumes. I almost said to her mom, "Hurry up and take the photo so we can eat these hamantashen!"

Maggie the Cat. Those two girls are always so much fun.

And Sunday evening, of course, was the Oscars! I missed the pre-shows and first hour or so because I had to attend a long boring meeting at work, but after that, I went over to Mom's house and watched them there with Sara. I was most excited about two child actresses attending (and one of them with a nomination!!) and all the nominations for Les Miserables. Even though the medley was a rather odd mash-up of Suddenly, I Dreamed a Dream, and One Day More, it was so exciting to see it performed onstage! Samantha Barks (Eponine) looked so sexy in that black dress, and I love her voice. I think she's definitely the best singer out of the entire cast. Seth McFarland's spoof of The Sound of Music when he was introducing Christopher Plummer just killed me! Especially since we just saw it on the big screen! The only two Oscar movies I saw this year were Les Mis and Beasts of the Southern Wild, but I want to see Lincoln and Django Unchained once they're released.

Samantha's posing was kinda odd, yeah, but she's a relatively new star, so it's understandable.

Ahhh, good times. But I was up very late for three nights in a row, and I was so busy that I never got around to washing my hair. It's getting kinda gross.

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: On My Own, Samantha Barks

Things at work that are pissing Rebecca off...

Last week, we got a shipment of chocolates and live roses to sell for Valentine's Day. The chocolates sold quickly enough, but the overpriced rose bouquets didn't really move. And guess what? As of today, the roses are still sitting on the counter! My manager marked them down and is hoping someone will buy them, even though they're all drooping, dying, and more black than red. Oh, well. I don't mind this quite so much because I enjoy the smell of dying roses. (Is that weird? Yeah, probably.)

The higher-ups are making us hold a meeting this weekend to discuss upcoming possible changes. (Call Rebecca cynical, but she's convinced that nothing will actually change.) I didn't mind... until they announced when it would be held: this Sunday evening, during the Oscars!!! I just about socked my manager when he announced that. I look forward to the Oscars every year! Ugh! But I'm hoping I'll still get to see most/some of the show and pre-shows.

We've always had an assortment of good, bad, and random movies in our breakroom. Lately the one that always seems to be on is Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. I just want to put a brick through the TV every time I walk back there and find it on. There are no words for how much I've come to hate that movie. An hour and a half of nothing but Steve Martin looking annoyed! Just awful. I actually visited its IMDb, expecting it to be full of fellow haters, but apparently and inexplicably, it's a fairly well-liked movie. UGH. I just don't understand the appeal of it. Or of Vance-centric NCIS episodes. Which brings me to...

( Notes on 10x15 "Hereafter" )

In other NCIS news, I think my latest fanfiction turned out well.

Current Mood: my head hurts!
Current Music: Sara watching Real Housewives

Yesterday I woke up early enough to ride my bike to work, but it was so freaking cold outside that I just couldn't do it. But it should be warming up soon. I want to get back in the habit of biking more because there might be something on the horizon to save money for. Sara and I were planning to move this year, and we might be doing it soon. Like, within the next two months or so. Maybe that isn't soon to some people, but it sure feels like it to me. I'm trying not to stress. I had a dream last night that we moved and it all went really well, which I think is a good sign.

I'm excited about possibly living in a bigger city, but this will likely be a long-distance move. Which means I'll have to leave my temple. I can't even think about that right now. My congregation has become like a second family to me. Then there's the fact that we'll probably be moving before I've been matched with Briana for a year, which is what BBBS asks of you. :\

Sara and I went shopping on the same day and we each bought milk and cheese. Consequently, I've been eating too much dairy and my stomach hurts. In other food news, one of my Sassy Jewish Grandmothers brought a laundry basket full of home-grown lemons to services on Friday, and I just about picked up the whole basket and walked out with it! They are so, so, so big and juicy and delicious. And our mom gave us a bag of strawberries that are really good, too. Hmm, it just occurred to me -- maybe it's all the acid that's making my stomach hurt?

Or maybe it's the thought of leaving my temple.

As the winter dies, the Earth is brought to life
And a thousand merchant ships sail to find
A worthy village to land and start again
With one more year for a man to change his ways
{From "Winter Dies," by Midlake}

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Dare to Be a Daniel, Brentwood Kids

I had such a strange dream last night. I was in a very small, crowded attic room with Sara, Adam, and one of my old college poetry professors. The room was full of fancy, old-fashioned furniture, like a bed on a very ornate brass stand, with lace-trimmed sheets and pillows. The windows were open, and outside I could see sunshine and leafy green tree branches. We were there for a poetry class. It was a regular thing for us, and we always started the class with one of us reading a poem of our choice. In the dream, it was my turn, but I had forgotten to bring my poetry book, so I decided to recite one instead. I have a number of poems memorized, but for some reason, I chose one that I didn't know all that well, "Hope," by Emily Dickinson.

This poem was in my tenth-grade English textbook, accompanied by the below painting (which I only remember because I was pretty big into René Magritte in high school). I really loved it when I first read it, and since then, my liking for it has waned, but it's still okay.

La grande famille, 1963 oil-painting by René Magritte

Anyway, back to my dream. I recited the first stanza perfectly.

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all

I got most of the second stanza right, only messed up on a few words.

And sweetest in the gale is heard
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

But I couldn't remember the third stanza at all. In reality, it's this:

I've heard it in the chillest land
And on the strangest sea
Yet, never, in extremity
It asked a crumb of me

But in the dream, I blanked and instead recited this stanza from another Dickinson poem, "Morning," which I've had memorized ever since I read it in our Childcraft Poems & Rhymes book as I kid. It's pretty obviously from a different poem than the previous stanzas of "Hope," but no one in the dream noticed.

Has it feet like water lilies?
Has it feathers like a bird?
Is it brought from famous countries
Of which I've never heard?

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: René & Georgette Magritte with their dog après la guerre, Paul Simon

Can you believe Rebecca went to two Mardi Gras parades this weekend? I hadn't been to one since 2007! I actually almost went to three, but I got the time wrong on the dog parade on Saturday and most of it was over when I arrived. The atmosphere there was kinda crazy, and I also made the huge mistake of driving instead of biking, and parking was a nightmare. After that, I headed over to CJ & Company's and just crocheted the night away. They had good food and a ton of plastic bags for me to crochet with -- what more could you want?

Today, I woke up early (UGH) to visit Aunt Carla, and this afternoon, Briana and I hit the two parades. It rained (pretty darn hard at times, too!) during most of the first one, and we got drenched, but we both genuinely had fun. It made me feel like a kid again -- remember stepping off the curb and looking down to see what was coming next, and dashing into the street between floats to grab candy before it got smooshed? Briana made a haul: two stuffed animals, two plastic cups, and more candy and beads than she could hold! I never in my life caught that much at a parade. But I did end up with a few beads, some candy, and the cutest little plush dog, so I was happy.

After that, there was a lighted boat parade on the lake. Neither of us had been to a boat parade before, and it was pretty cool. The boats and their reflections on the water was so pretty. It was a fun day that made me glad I joined Big Brothers Big Sisters, but it was also long, very exhausting, and kinda stressful. Briana was excited and wanted to do/see so much, and while it was GREAT to see her enthusiastic instead of bored, by the end of the day, my energy was flagging and she was still on the go. I was thinking about taking her to the last big blow-out parade on Tuesday evening, but after today, I think I might stay at home, rest, write fanfiction, and listen to the parade from here.

Geez, where did that weekend go?

Current Mood: so... tired...
Current Music: Sara watching Big Bang Theory

During last night's new NCIS, I crocheted on my plarn while watching it and compiled my notes today. As much as I love the big dramatic arcs, I also love the simpler case-of-the-week episodes like last night's. And my second plarn mat is coming along so much faster than my first one!

( Notes on 10x14 "Canary" )

I literally just volunteered to be a pinch-hit writer over at

purimgifts. I don't know how I missed signing up for this, as I think it's an exchange I would've enjoyed. Oh, well, maybe next year. I hope I get an assignment to do a pinch-hit!

Currently looking at: Still Life with Apples and Pitcher, an 1872 oil-painting by Camille Pissarro.
Currently thinking about: What to do with Briana this weekend. There are four different Mardi Gras parades around town this weekend! Surely she would want to go to one, right?

Current Mood: curious
Current Music: Tovah playing on her cat tree

Rebecca has had a busy few days getting ready for Purim. Today, I spent about five hours in the temple kitchen helping to make hamantashen -- from scratch! I'd never made hamantashen before, just eaten them, but it wasn't hard once we got an assembly line going. I got the job of brushing on the egg wash and spooning out the different fillings. I enjoyed it, but my hands were coated in jelly and flour by the time we were done! We made apricot (yuck!), chocolate, and strawberry (yum!). Rebecca tried sneaking a few into her mouth, but we're going to sell some as part of a temple fundraiser, and the rest we're saving for the Purim carnival at the end of the month.

A small sample of all the hamantashen!

Speaking of which, on Saturday morning, we had another class of religious school. Our temple plans to host a big Purim carnival this year, with all sorts of fun activities and guests from other temples. We teachers have all been working hard on it, and the kids have, too -- they're going to perform the megilla play! On Saturday, we assigned roles and the kids had their first rehearsal. It all went pretty well -- two brothers are playing Haman and Mordechai, and they loved pretending to shoot each other with their toy guns. We even found a role for the super shy kid who couldn't handle being on stage -- audio technician! He was happy to sit in the wings and work the CD player. The kids enjoyed it, and everything was going so well until...

( This happened. )

P.S. When I get frustrated, it's good to remember there are certainties in life.
Things I Will Never Like
1) When I make plans with someone, only to have them cancel on me later. This is probably #1 on my list of ways to piss me off. I hate when this happens.
2) People who bitch at me about things that haven't even happened! Yeah, I don't understand the thought process there, either. But there are people who think they can see the future, predict my actions, and feel entitled to yell at me about it now. Gag me.

Current Mood: frustrated
Current Music: Take It All, Marion Cotillard

I rode my bike to the library today! I ride my bike to the much smaller downtown library all the time, but today I biked to the much larger one. It's much closer to our apartment, but you have to go through some heavy traffic to get there, and I'm a big believer in safe biking and not crossing busy streets if I can help it. But it's been so cold this week (almost like Sara and I brought that cold weather back from Arkansas with us!) and today was so warm and sunny that I decided to try it. I love being able to ride my bike to the library; maybe this will inspire me to pay my library fine, which, once again, is pretty high. Aunt Carla's house is on the way to the library, so maybe I'll bike there sometime.

I love being able to ride my bike, period. It's a way to slow down and notice all the cool and beautiful little things that you can never notice from a car. It's a chance to focus on the journey, rather than just the destination. That's what I love about riding my bike to services (which, unfortunately, I couldn't do today -- it was just too chilly after the sun went down). It makes me really see and appreciate the beauty of God's creation. It gets me out of my harum-scarum weekday mindset and into a Shabbat state of mind.

For dinner last night, I had a pulled pork sandwich with pickles and pickled onions, and Sara made yummy frozen cannolis for dessert. Then we watched Adventures in Baby-sitting (one of the few movies that I could probably watch over and over) while I crocheted plarn. Fun times, y'all. I have to log off and go to bed now -- waking up early tomorrow morning for religious school!

Happy February!

Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: We don't even have to try, it's always a good time - Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen

I tried something a little different with my NCIS notes this week. Usually, I scribble them furiously while watching the episode on TV, but last night, I just sat back and really watched the episode. Tonight I watched it again online and wrote my notes. I might start doing this all the time.

Anyway, onto my notes for the new episode. Abby-centric stuff isn't really my thing, but I enjoyed this one more than I thought I would.

( 10x13 "Hit and Run," the young Abby episode )

Current Mood: hungry
Current Music: Sara watching Jeopardy

We leave cold, cloudy Arkansas to return to warm, sunny Louisiana tomorrow morning. I will be happy to see Tovah and have my own room/bed again, but I'm going to miss Athena. She's been the best hostess ever, and we've had so much fun here.

On Friday, Sara and I drove down to the riverfront and saw the playground and sculpture garden. The playground was so much fun! It was multi-level, with lots of tunnels and all sorts of ropes, rocks, and walls to climb on, and I had to climb on them all! I ran around so much that I broke a sweat, and now I have big bruises on my legs and my arms are going to be sore for some time. I guess I'm getting too old for playgrounds, but I don't have the sense to quit!

A climbey-thing!

After that, we walked through the sculpture garden so I could catch my breath. The sculptures were all so beautiful, and the sun even made an appearance! We walked through the lobby of the Peabody Hotel to see the ducks in the fountain, which was a highlight of the trip for me because God loves ducks! We got lost on the way there and back, but downtown Little Rock is really beautiful. That evening, I dragged Athena and Sara (the Mormon and the heathen) to Shabbat services at the local Reform synagogue. The synagogue was beautiful, but so big that I felt a little intimated, and I was kinda uncomfortable with a few things they did.

How cool is this paper-airplane sculpture we saw in the sculpture garden?

On Sunday, we went to two museums, the art museum and the black history museum (which we visited by accident because it had a confusingly similar address to the art museum) and walked through one of the cemeteries here. The cemetery was so cool, but it was so cloudy all day today and my fingers almost froze to my camera! After that, we found a nice warm pizza parlor to eat dinner in. Yum!

Pommiers près de Vétheuil, an 1878 oil-painting by Claude Monet.

This was one of the pieces we saw at the art museum. It reminded me so much of the pommier right across the street from the Lycée Européen.

Current Mood: my arms are still so sore!
Current Music: song from Happy Feet 2 stuck in my head

Sara and I dropped Tovah off at Mom's house last night. When we packed up her dishes, litter box, and cat tree, she got so scared that she hid under Sara's bed and spent the whole drive meowing like she was begging for her life. Maybe she thought she was going back to the pound. But once she saw that she was just going to another house where she's still the only cat, she seemed okay. Sara has put up more of a fuss than Tovah did. "My poor BABY! I miss her so MUCH!" When we dropped her off, Adam and I quoted the exchange from that episode of Star Trek where Data has to leave Spot with Warf. Hahaha!

Our trip up here was uneventful, just looong. And the stretch from northern Louisiana into southern Arkansas almost did me in. About forty miles of highway that had signs every five feet reading Speed Limit 55, Speed limit enforced by radar, and Speed Zone Ahead. Ugh! We drove from here to Little Rock, but we only had to map the route between Natchitoches and Little Rock, because we still remember the way to Natchitoches that well. It felt so good to get out of the truck after we finally found Athena and Josh's place. Athena was standing in her front lawn waving -- haha, I love her! We had dinner at the Red Lobster here (Sara insisted, of course) and watched Taken 2.

Some lol's of our trip so far...
Sara: "Look, look!" Both of us, in unison: "It's black silhouetted cowboy leaning against fencepost!"
Me: "We need a trash bag." Sara: "There's no room for a trash bag! There's barely enough room for us!"
Sara: "Wait a minute. Is this... One Direction?" Me: [singing along with You Don't Know You're Beautiful] "Yes!" (Sara refused to listen to any "Jew songs" or Les Miserables, but I did have to listen to "Merry Go 'Round" and "Begin Again" three times each! Hmph.)
Me: [ranking the best Jean Valjeans] "It goes like this. Alfie Boe, Hugh Jackman, and then, if there's any room left at the bottom, Colm Wilkinson." Athena: [gasp] "Blasphemy!"
Sara: "What sort of gun is it? I mean, what does it shoot?" Athena: "It shoots bullets, Sara." Sara: "Well, I thought maybe it shot beanbags or something." Rebecca: [dies laughing]

P.S. It's so cold up here! You know you're from the south when Arkansas is too cold for you!

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Athena talking to Ayla

700th LJ ENTRY! And I decided to celebrate by changing my journal layout! I'd had my eye on this new layout for some time, and I really love it. It's such a cleaner, simpler, more grown-up look. I switched over to it last night and spent some time tweaking it to get my sidebar just right. I don't have a personalized header image in this layout, so I didn't have to fiddle with the CSS code (which is always a headache) at all! Hallelujah!

I also thought my 700th post would be a good time to stroll down memory lane and look back at my past layouts. Click on each screencap for a bigger version.

( Below the cut )

See also: 600th entry and 500th entry.

In other news, last week, we got a lot of food at work for a contest we won some time ago. There was barbeque, mac and cheese (which was a nice change from the pizza smell that's always in our break room), picked jalapenos, and... pickled onions! I don't know how I'd never tried those before! They were so good, and I ate just about all of them. Today I went out and bought the stuff to make my own. My homemade ones aren't quite as good as the ones we had at work, though.

On the art calendar, I'm looking at Henri D'Albret, King of Navarre, a 16th-century enamel portrait painting by Léonard Limosin.

THREE DAYS UNTIL WE LEAVE FOR LITTLE ROCK!

Current Mood: full of onions
Current Music: A Little Bit of Cucumber, Julie Andrews

Right now I'm in the middle of working six days in a row -- ugh! But I do have the best carrot dangling in front of me to keep me focused. Once it's over, Sara and I both have a four-day weekend, and we're going to Little Rock to visit Athena! I can't wait! Tovah is going to stay at our mom's house while we're away.

This was a pretty busy weekend. On Saturday morning, we had religious school at the temple; straight from there, I went to Torah study, and straight from there, I went to work till close. We did a lesson about Purim at religious school this week, and I think the kids actually enjoyed it. We made small batches of popcorn for them to eat while they watched this movie about Queen Esther, and afterwards, they put on masks of the different characters and clacked all groggers. It's kinda early (Purim falls at the end of February this year), but we have a lot of stuff planned for the holiday this year. I just hope it all goes according to plan! You never can tell with the religious school.

Sticking around for Torah study was a mistake on my part. I hadn't been in a while, and I'd forgotten how phenomenally boring Rabbi W can be. I know that sounds harsh, but it's true. First he has to hold a Shabbat morning service (which I wish he could schedule at a different time that wasn't during Torah study) and cant "Elohai N'shama" about ten times over. And the Torah parsha for this week was Bo, which I think is one of the most interesting and packed parshas in the Torah. Oh, well. I should stop now before I start to sound bitter.

FOUR DAYS UNTIL WE LEAVE FOR LITTLE ROCK!

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

The movie theater in our mall shows vintage movies on weeknights, and I really love that idea. Since they started doing it, I've probably seen more old movies there than new ones! When Sara and I saw Les Miserables on Christmas day, there were previews for all of the old movies that the theater would be showing in January. One of them was The Sound of Music, and ever since then, I'd been looking forward to seeing it almost more than I was Les Miserables! Sara and I grew up watching The Sound of Music, used to act it out as kids (with the two of us playing all seven von Trapp children -- and every other role!), and could probably still recite the whole thing from memory. I was beyond excited at the thought of seeing it on the big screen.

Well, today was the day. Sara and I just got back from seeing it with a friend of hers, and it was so good. I wouldn't've thought seeing it in a theater would give me a new appreciation for a film I know like the back of my hand, but it did. So many wide, sweeping shots, so much beautiful scenery, so many little details that Rebecca had never noticed before! I enjoyed every second -- but not having to wait for the frost on Muse Watson's windshield to melt so we could drive home. That's how cold it's been here!

All day at work I was trying to rewrite "Do You Hear the People Sing?" (from Les Mis) to be about The Sound of Music, but it didn't really work. I only got as far as "Do you hear the von Trapps sing, singing about their favorite things?" Can you guess what I'm doing right now? Yep, writing The Sound of Music fanfiction.

P.S. On the art calendar, I'm looking at Improvisation 27 (The Garden of Love II), a 1912 oil painting by Vasily Kandinsky. Sara bought another page-a-day calendar of art from the Met for 2013. We'll be fine-art connoisseurs by the end of the year! I couldn't find my usual Emily Dickinson calendar in stores this year, so I bought a Jewish calendar instead.

Current Mood: cold
Current Music: The Sound of Music, Julie Andrews

The mall is not my favorite place to go, but by tomorrow, I'll have been there three times in four days. I went back there this morning to get service transferred onto my new phone. My old one had gotten into the habit of dying inexplicably in the middle of calls -- so frustrating -- so I switched over to a new (to me) iPhone! I'm still as poor as ever, but I was lucky to get this one used for free from a friend.

It's a first-generation iPhone, which was released in 2007, and the guys at the AT&T reacted like they were looking at a dinosaur, but it so by far the swankiest piece of technology I've ever owned. I'm still getting used to just how much features it has (a full Internet browser, weather forecasts, maps, and more) and it's kinda intimidating having so much information right at my fingertips. I hope I don't become too dependent on it.

And now, onto tonight's new NCIS! It was a great episode, but my notes run a little short this week because I need to go to bed!

( 10x12 "Shiva" )

Hard to believe Season 10 is already halfway over!

Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: Sara watching House

I had a pretty busy (and mostly fun) weekend here. On Friday night, our temple enjoyed the most wonderful Shabbat service with Marshall Klaven, our guest rabbi from the Institute of Southern Jewish Life. We also used him as an excuse to host the most delicious Shabbat dinner. There was brisket, kugel, challah, brownies, and Rebecca ate almost the entire saucer full of lemon slices that people were supposed to put in their ice water! I biked to services for the first time since last fall (I think it was the first time I'd biked all year, period -- it's been so darn cold!) and I can't wait until the weather is warm enough that I can do it regularly again.

Jacob (Sassy Jewish Grandfather #3) had set up a large screen in the social hall, and during dinner, we watched a compilation of clips of local news coverage of our temple from the '90s and early '00s. There were segments about our annual corn-beef sandwich sale and Hannukah latke dinner, among other things. I almost died laughing when I saw the hairstyle that one Sassy Jewish Grandmother wore during the '90s, and I saw the same hat stand and silverware holder in our social hall that we still have today! I wonder how old those things are? Also, right before services, one couple in our temple got officially engaged! He proposed to her right there in the temple, and every old Jewish lady in the place started bawling. It was a very special evening.

On Saturday, my mom and I saw Sassy Jewish Grandfather #1's latest play in a theater downtown. He's playing Morrie in Tuesdays with Morrie, and he was so good. The play was a bit too sappy for my taste, though. Mom read the book and liked it, which I think was the only reason she agreed to go (she's not keen on meeting anyone from the temple). Practically the whole congregation was there, because none of us wanted to miss Rabbi Klaven's service and come on premiere night. I tried to hang around and talk to them after the play, but Mom was practically shoving me out the door.

And on Sunday, I got together with Briana again. Can you guess what we did? That's right, we walked the mall again. *sigh* She did seem less bored out of her skull than usual, though. I was just irked that every store seemed to be playing the Rihanna song "Diamonds." Ugh, I got so sick of it. Anyway, I'm hoping that later this month or next month, we can go to one of the Mardi Gras events around town. I just don't know.

From the mall, I went straight to the hospital (yeah, that was a change of scene) to spend the night with Mrs. S again. It was very stressful and exhausting. I collapsed into bed as soon as I got home, and stayed there until it was time to go to work. I hope she gets better soon, because I really don't want to spend the night there again, but I also don't think I could say no. I keep thinking that as hard as it is for me to spend the night in that recliner, it has to be way worse for her elderly husband. Ugh.

But there is good stuff to look forward to this week -- tomorrow, another new episode of NCIS, and on Wednesday, going to the movies with Sara!!!

Current Mood: hungry
Current Music: Ce n'est rien, Marie Dufour (A Little Fall of Rain in French)

Okay, I kinda did a lot of complaining in my last post, so today I decided to make today a Thankful Thursday. I'm calling this one the "cold weather edition," even though it isn't exactly cold here. It's a typical Louisiana winter, cold one day and warm the next.

Things Rebecca is thankful for during the wintertime:

Tovah loves sleeping in bed with us, and on cold nights, it's really nice having a warm cat curled up next to you. (Although she's very obviously about preferring Sara's bed over mine.)
The water in this apartment gets hot and stays hot! In fact, I almost burned myself right after we moved in. The hot water never lasted this long in Smallpartment, which had the oldest plumbing known to man, so I try not to take this one for granted.

In other, more embarrassing news... I can't believe I'm posting this, but here goes. I've set a goal for myself to write a fanfiction for fandoms in every letter of the alphabet. I made this goal recently, after realizing that I'd written for fandoms starting with A, B, C, and D. It's going to take some time, but I'm sure that I can do it, since I've already written fandoms in more letters than not. Writing fewer NCIS stories has helped. Make no mistake, I still love NCIS, but writing for new and different fandoms feels kinda liberating. My other goal, to write more stories about Jewish characters in different fandoms (made here), is still going, too.

For my own future reference:
Fandoms I've written stories in: A, B, C, D, G, H, J, L, M, N, P, R, S, X, and Z.
Letters I have yet to write: E, F, I, K, O, Q, T, U, V, W, and Y.

I've never written a fanfic for Star Trek, but recently I browsed around in that category, and the first fic I happened to see was Data/Tasha Yar. When I told Adam and Sara this, they said: Adam: "Well, they were a canon couple. I mean, sorta." Sara: "Well, it could've been worse. It could've been Warf/Troi!" Adam: "I kinda like Warf and Troi together."

P.S. Quvenzhane Wallis, the young actress from Beasts of the Southern Wild, got an Oscar nomination for Best Actress today!!! She's nine years old and the youngest actress to ever get this nomination and she's from Louisiana! What a time to be alive!

Current Mood: grateful
Current Music: Valjean's Confession, Michael Ball & Gary Morris

I haven't posted in a while because I've been kinda busy. Lately I feel like my phone has been exploding with calls and texts, mostly from the Jews, and mostly asking me for favors. Can I help Sassy Jewish Grandfather #1 practice his lines for his latest play? Can I bring/make something for the dinner after services this Friday? Can I baby-sit again? Can I spend the night at the hospital with a sick lady from my congregation? Holy Moses! I'm tempted to smash my phone if it goes off one more time, and considering how many problems it's been giving me lately, that wouldn't be a huge loss. I need a new one, but I'd rather gouge my eyes out than sign another contract with AT&T.

Like a fool, I said yes to more of those questions than I should have, which is why I spent last night on a reclining chair in the hospital. First of all, I hate hospitals. They're very uncomfortable places for me; they make me think of Dad and Grandma and shots. Secondly, the lady I was staying with was very elderly, confused, and uncomfortable, so it was a pretty stressful night for both of us, and I wasn't able to get a lot of sleep before I had to go to work this morning. Ugh! I also bumped into my mom, which was weird. I was half-awake and had a conversation with her around 3am that I don't really remember now.

I honestly don't understand why they asked me to stay with this lady. (Actually, I do; it was because Sassy Jewish Grandparents #1 volunteered me for it. I'll take care of them later.) I barely even know her, and I'm not the most patient person. I guess it's the same question that got me roped in teaching Hebrew school -- "If not the least qualified person for the job, then who?" Oh, well, I know I shouldn't complain. It's over for me now, but the sick lady is still stuck in the hospital and could be for some time.

I missed seeing yesterday's new NCIS live since I was at the hospital, but I watched it online tonight. What a packed episode!

( Notes on 10x11 "Shabbat Shalom," the first NCIS of 2013! )

I'm going to cry tears of joy over getting to sleep in my own bed tonight.

Current Mood: chapped lips & nagging cough - ugh!
Current Music: A Little Fall of Rain, Lea Salonga

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rebecca_in_blue

March 2013

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Page Summary

Not that Rebecca doesn't love waiting 10 minutes for everyone to find the Torah parsha...
If you didn't already know, Rebecca's phone is smarter than she is!
A weekend with the mall, the Oscars, plarn, and Purim!
In which Rebecca gripes about work (and this weeks NCIS)...
Long time no post, but there's not much news to share.
These dreams go on when Rebecca closes her eyes...
And nobody's gonna rain on Rebecca's parade!
Who would say no to a Mardi Gras parade?
Purim preparations underway! And Rebecca rants.
A love story between a girl and her bike...
It feels like it's been way longer than two weeks!
God loves the ducks at the Peabody Hotel!
Greetings from Arkansas! Only four hundred miles later!
Rebecca likes pickled onions, she likes picalilli...
Rebecca doesn't know what 2013 has in store, but...
Do you hear the von Trapps sing?
In which Rebecca joins the 21st century!
A recap of Rebecca's weekend...
Thankful Thursday: Cold weather edition.
And then Rebecca's phone exploded!

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on your journey, i will bless you...

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Recent Entries

Not that Rebecca doesn't love waiting 10 minutes for everyone to find the Torah parsha...

If you didn't already know, Rebecca's phone is smarter than she is!

A weekend with the mall, the Oscars, plarn, and Purim!

In which Rebecca gripes about work (and this weeks NCIS)...

Long time no post, but there's not much news to share.

These dreams go on when Rebecca closes her eyes...

And nobody's gonna rain on Rebecca's parade!

Who would say no to a Mardi Gras parade?

Purim preparations underway! And Rebecca rants.

A love story between a girl and her bike...

It feels like it's been way longer than two weeks!

God loves the ducks at the Peabody Hotel!

Greetings from Arkansas! Only four hundred miles later!

Rebecca likes pickled onions, she likes picalilli...

Rebecca doesn't know what 2013 has in store, but...

Do you hear the von Trapps sing?

In which Rebecca joins the 21st century!

A recap of Rebecca's weekend...

Thankful Thursday: Cold weather edition.

And then Rebecca's phone exploded!