Making Candy, and speading light
Busy weekend! Friday we had chavurah at the Pearlman-Evans house. Saturday Erez & Sarah's wedding (beautiful affair, may their marriage be strong, happy, and prosperous). Sunday Sarah and Sydney's party at XP Laser Sport (thankfully went off mostly without a hitch, and we donated the gifts the girls collected to Paul's Place). Whew!
Bouncing around. (shock)
In preparation for Chavurah, I modified a recipe I found for peppermint patties to make a delightful assortment of sweets. Spearment, Peppermint, Berry and Orange Spice. The best part was making them, assembly line style, with Hillel and Sarah. Hillel on my left popping the candies into the chocolate, me scooping them out of the chocolate with a fork, and Sarah sprinkling on the topping. Crushed peppermint, or heart sprinkles, or green sanding sugar. It was a beautiful moment to me; simple, and perhaps mundane, but there was something so delightfully extraordinary in the ordinary.
Perhaps because it's *not* ordinary.
So much of our family time is spent together alone. Alone toegether. Each of us on our respective devices, watching YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Reading, or doing homework. It was just SO nice to do someting "real" with a tangible (and tasty) product, and to do it as a team. The only thing that could have made it better is if the rest of the kids had been involved as well.
Chavurah turned out to be bursting at the seams. It was an especially nice gathering, and I was grateful to be part of it all. The kids were off being kids with other kids. I got an opportunity to catch up a bit with friends, and meet some new ones - a family from Italy.
The candies were a HUGE hit which filled ye olde pride bucket. :-)
After eating, we walked as a family to see the lights on 34th street in Hampden with magic glasses that turned all the Christmas lights into Chanukkah lights. The "magic" glasses looked like the old paper 3-d movie glasses, but with polarized lenses that put magen davids around every light. Very fun.
Afterwards we walked to the Mosses for warm apple cider and general hang-out time.
All in all it was a lovely evening. Exactly the sort of evening I hope will bubble up when the kids are in a nostalgic mood reflecting on their childhood.
It was a much needed counterpoint to the visceral layer of anxiety Hillel and I have been living under these past 6 months while we wait and wait and wait and wait for the startup he joined in June, to get FUNDED and actually PAY him for the work he's been doing these last 6 months. Long story short, it was on track for funding in early summer, but the Goldman Sachs shake-up meant starting from scratch with a brand new group of investors.
Suffice it to say my job, that I love and am grateful to have, is not enough to support our family without a second income. We've been wearing down our savings to the proverbial nub, and push is coming to shove. Soon.
On a happier note, tonight's the first night of Chanukah, and we're letting our little lights shine.
"There are two ways of spreading light. Be the candle, or the mirror that reflects it."
-- Edith Wharton