Let's go shopping!

This morning Sheila and Sheri took me to my CT scan appointment at 11, and then we ate lunch at a cool bar/restaurant in Montclair (nicer part of Oakland). We drove through the Caldecott Tunnel to Walnut Creek and went through quite a few stores in the downtown area. Sheila told me to buy myself stuff, and I let her buy me a beautiful silver ring and a pair of pajamas which I'll specifically need during my recovery from surgery - they button in front.

The weatherman had promised sunny and warmER weather - like a high of 55, but it seemed pretty darn cool all day. We drove to Heshy's school for pickup and Sheri, a retired elementary school principal, was very glad to meet Heshy's secular studies teacher, Carolyn, and learn about which texts are used, etc. I showed them around the school (it's a really nice facility, just less than 3 years new), and I hope they were impressed.

They are now waiting to board their flight back to Palm Springs, and we are bustling about getting ready for tonight's celebration of the Jewish holiday of Purim. Tonight our family is doing a Used Clothing Drive at the synagogue, and we will be their early to direct people to the place where they can leave their bags of used clothing. This is our costume holiday. Heshy is dressed as a surfer dude and Avi a Giants' fan. I'm honestly not up to putting together a whole costume, so I'm simply wearing a funny hat with bells on it along with sweatpants and a denim shirt. At least I'm making an effort.

It's really fun to see the adorable little kids dressed up as the characters in the Purim story or as their favorite fairy tale folks. And a lot of the adults dress up too, even if it's just stuff they grabbed in a hurry, it makes it all the more fun. When the story of Purim is chanted and Haman's name is read (he's the Bad Guy) we are all supposed to make as much noise as possible to drown out the sound of his name. We use noisemakers, our voices and our feet to fill the room with noise!

After the reading of the story we all go to the social hall and have food, special Purim pastries, and the kids have a carnival. I'm exhausted, my feet hurt, but I wouldn't miss it for the world. I'm going to rest now for 30 min. and then off we go.