First Night of Hannukah

We got snowed in again on Sunday. Not that this is a bad thing; in effect, it meant I got the day off from teaching at the temple, Ethan got to sleep in (as a reward for letting me do the same on Saturday), and we both got to crack out to the premium channels that came with the new Comcast bundle we purchased in order to obtain a home phone line. We've put off doing this for quite a while, but when Maddy got sick and I couldn't find my cell phone to call the doctor and Ethan, I realized that in the case of a true emergency we can't rely on cell phones as a means of communication. It's nice to think that one day I'll overcome my absent-minded tendency to drop things somewhere, but it's unlikely. It's also very reasonable to assume that at some point a cell phone won't be charged, will lose a signal, or will be otherwise unreliable. At least now we have options if we need to make a call from home! And, as I mentioned, part of the deal was that we got HBO, Starz, Showcase, etc. as part of our package. I think as long as we don't end up glued to the couch watching reruns of Entourage on ON DEMAND for 6 hours in a 12 hour period (ahem...Ethan), we'll actually come out on top with this one. It provides relatively inexpensive entertainment, and I even worked out yesterday with Jillian Michaels (the trainer from The Biggest Loser) using Exercise TV on ON DEMAND. Of course, I got thirteen minutes into my workout when Maddy awoke from her nap hollering for attention and food. And, I'm embarrassed to report, that after my measly 13 minutes of exercise I am quite sore this morning! I definitely am going to have to start working out more!!

Yesterday we drove up to Andover to visit with my parents and light candles for the second night of Hannukah (the pictures below we took the first night). For some reason that eludes me, it took us 2 hours sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic to make the normally 30-minute trip. I'm not sure if it was mall traffic (the mall parking lot was jam-packed and glowing red from brake lights) or people getting a head start on their holiday travels, but it was terrible. Fortunately, at the other side of this trip was a delicious dinner and a glass of wine! We'll be spending a lot of time in Andover this week for the traditional Christmas festivities (a party at the Goldstein's on Christmas Eve, and brunch/movie/chinese food on Christmas Day). This time of year has become a little hard for me. I spent many Christmases in Canada with my Nanny and Grandpa, and due to many factors this changed a few years ago. I really miss this particular visit with them; we have so many great memories, and always had so much fun. I haven't seen them since April, and I am really hoping to get up there one day soon so they can meet their great-granddaughter. We're also looking forward to Maddy's baby naming on Saturday night, and we're excited to see Ethan's family, particularly his brother Josh with whom Ethan is very close and who hasn't seen the baby since she was born. Though likely hectic, it should be a week filled with good times and opportunities for dazzling memory making...