Checking out the neighbour's dogs...

Working at uploading photos I've taken over the last few months. This is in our backyard.

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Creative Child

R discovered that if you grind up the small remnants of chalk and rub it all over your hands, you can pretend to be an Avatar.

And if you have one or more younger brothers, they can play too.

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Test post

From the droid... What happens when 4 year-olds fill the dishwasher.

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Ob La Di... Life Goes On...

I seem to have gotten out of the habit of writing. Not just here, but journal writing and working on my book seem to be lacking as well. I made a practice to write every day for a week, and came up with nothing much.

It's finally fall here in Louisiana. I wore jeans for the first time this week. And my red boots. (Which are completely awesome and I want to wear every day).

Kids are pretty well resigned to wearing uniforms at school. J has figured out that he can get away with t-shirts if they have the name of his school on them. Halloween has come and gone. (See my facebook profile for their picture).

Hanukkah begins on December 1 this year and I'm a little bit panicked around how I will get gifts in time. We've got some ideas, but finding time to go shopping when boys aren't around (and both Tom and I are together) isn't easy. Especially when we don't think about it until 5pm on a Sunday night.

We started religious school at the temple. But forgot to get board approval and go through the appropriate channels. Working on that now. Sometimes it's easier to just go ahead and do things and deal with the fall out.

Missing friends around the world, in Denver, Houston and Paris.

I have an alcove in my bedroom in which I've hung all of my Paris artwork. (I have a painting of the Arch de Triomphe, a photo of the Louvre, two photos of art from inside the Louvre, two ink drawings, and an embroidered pillow. It's a nice place to hang out.

This week we are taking a short vacation to Galveston Island to celebrate T's birthday. I think a little beach time will be lovely. Gotta get to the library first so we all have good reads.

I'll try to get into the habit of posting again. And will figure out how to upload photos from my phone - cause that's where all the good ones are!

Keep in touch!

Home is... Judaism?

In the last three weeks, I have spent more time in the company of Jews, doing singularly Jewish things, than I have done in the last twelve months. First, I went to Colorado to witness my brother's Bar Mitzvah - a coming of age ceremony, usually celebrated at the age of 13. Saturday was Yom Kippur, the final part of the Jewish New Year celebration which began ten days prior (Sept 8) with Rosh Hashana.

For those unfamiliar with Judaism, my basic understanding is that Rosh Hashana is a celebration of gratitude that we made it through the previous year. After the ceremony, we eat apples and honey to start the next year off on a sweet note.

Then we spend the next ten days (the Days of Awe), contemplating the previous year and cleaning up our affairs - recognizing when we didn't quite live up to our expectations of ourselves (and god), and asking forgiveness from people we had wronged.

At the end of this ten-day period, we go into Yom Kippur, which is known as the Day of Atonement. Beginning the night before, we fast, spend the day apologizing for all the things we have done wrong, and begging god's forgiveness. We also pray for the following year to be a good one for us and our families.

While Yom Kippur is a relatively somber occasion, I find the liturgy to be both beautiful and deeply touching. It is less about how we are outwardly, and more about whether we are experiencing and sharing the love and joy in which we were created.

And yet, during the entire morning service (two hours plus), I was in tears. This last year (from September to September) has been incredibly chaotic for me. This time last year, I was in the company of Jews from around the world in the middle of Paris. I had no inkling of the craziness that would be coming. It was a time of peace for me, feeling (finally) completely at home in France, having lived there a year. So many good things were happening.

Now here I am in this new/old location, feeling homesick for a place I had left nine months ago, and also strangely at home here. The thoughts I had went something like this: Oh the last year has sucked so badly; I miss Paris; I miss my friends; I've lived three places in the last 12 months; I am so pissed that we had to leave; where can I find peace?; did I have to leave Paris to find it?; I don't want to stop being angry about leaving; but I want to be happy. I don't want this to be the place I am happiest. I don't want this place to be home. Yet here is everyone welcoming me with open arms. What does home mean, anyway?

Whew!

So now it' s Monday, and I am still musing. What does it mean to be home? Can home be in more than one place? Can I love here and still wish I was elsewhere?

One of my teachers would surely say that I can find home in the liturgy of my religion. I wonder if that is what will happen. As I get older, and move more and more often, maybe my home will be Judaism. I find that surprising, but also hopeful.

Got religion?

There is a temple here that has been around for over a hundred years. When we lived here before, I attended sporadically. Being a small town in the south, rabbis are a little hard to come by. There was a woman rabbi here when we first arrived in 1998, but she was gone within a year or two. Then there was a retired rabbi from Chicago who flew in once or twice a month for awhile. Right now there is no rabbi at all, so all the services are lay-led.

I went to services last night by myself, and last week with all the kids. We were warmly welcomed and remembered. Nice feeling.

Since I've been gone from this place, I have deepened my understanding and appreciation for Judiasm. When in France I became a part of the community of moms at the temple program for kids. In Sugarland (the first time), I became a member of the sisterhood and attended various events. I even started celebrating Shabbat in the home a couple of times a month.

Now, that I am here in a place without a *leader*, I find that I am very drawn to participe.

I have been looking for a place where I feel at home and connected to a community. I think this is going to be one of those places. (I'm starting to think about activities I could host, and how to get the kids involved.) This could be great for us. For me.

Short post

Hi folks,

Still here. Now live from Lake Charles, Louisiana. It's been a wild ride and probably the worst moving experience ever - combine BAD packers with SICK husband, then add stuff I put into storage two years ago plus kids who are tired of each other, and you'll get a sense of the craziness.

School started last week. Aside from the uniforms (yuck) and homework (double-yuck), I think the kids are settling into a routine. I am still looking for it. Should be easier once we get internet at the house. (Today, I hope).

I've got new phone numbers (and a new smart phone - yay!) If you want 'em, send me an email or FB post and I'll pass them on.