But did you know that when it snows... Rebecca can't drive!
Friday was such a day. The temple was holding an all-musical Shabbat that evening, followed by a dinner. Rabbi B had asked me some time ago to give the Torah reading that night, and since I conducted entire services as a lay-leader at my hometown temple, I figured that one Torah reading wouldn't be a problem and said yes. Then I realized that I've never been on the bimah at this temple before, and since there was a dinner after services, there would probably be a lot of people there. The temple also didn't tell me which verses of the Torah portion I would be reading until the very last minute, so I couldn't rehearse ahead of time! Ugh.
So all day at work on Friday, I kept thinking about what outfit I should wear when I went on the bimah, and kept checking my e-mail to see if the temple had sent me my Torah verses yet. My coworkers, meanwhile, were smart enough to keep checking on the weather reports instead, and I overheard B talking about a snowstorm so big that he dubbed it "the white death." But I was too busy worrying about the Torah reading to pay much attention to that, and like a fool, I went to the temple that evening in heels.
Well... the service was lovely, the music was beautiful (it was all Debbie Friedman songs, just like the Musical Shabbat back here), the dinner was yummy, and Rebecca didn't mess up her Torah reading. But it was a long evening, and while I was at temple, "the white death" hit. There wasn't one flake of snow on the ground when I went in, but by the time I came out, everything was covered in white, and snow was still falling! Like the ice we had earlier, it was so pretty to look at, but I almost fell on my face trying to walk through it to my car. Scraping all snow off the car made me wheeze, and driving home was a nightmare. Even though I live just down the road from the temple (usually a <5-minute drive), it took me thirty minutes to get home! The streets were all clogged up with stalled cars and fender-benders. I saw one car almost buried in a snowbank and had a very scary slippery moments. I said a Shehekianu when I finally made it back to my place. I hadn't brought my good camera along, but here are some crappy phone shots of the temple parking lot...
...and my poor Muse Watson!
I got home in time to watch the end of the opening ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics. I'm bummed that I missed the Parade of Nations, but since I missed them in 2012 because I was at Shabbat services, I guess it's only appropriate that the same thing happened this year. What I saw of the opening ceremony was impressive, certainly moreso than the one in Vancouver four years ago.
So today, I'm staying inside with the cats where it's warm! Sara talks about going outside to play in the snow, but I'm not sure I can bring myself to go outside again!
So all day at work on Friday, I kept thinking about what outfit I should wear when I went on the bimah, and kept checking my e-mail to see if the temple had sent me my Torah verses yet. My coworkers, meanwhile, were smart enough to keep checking on the weather reports instead, and I overheard B talking about a snowstorm so big that he dubbed it "the white death." But I was too busy worrying about the Torah reading to pay much attention to that, and like a fool, I went to the temple that evening in heels.
Well... the service was lovely, the music was beautiful (it was all Debbie Friedman songs, just like the Musical Shabbat back here), the dinner was yummy, and Rebecca didn't mess up her Torah reading. But it was a long evening, and while I was at temple, "the white death" hit. There wasn't one flake of snow on the ground when I went in, but by the time I came out, everything was covered in white, and snow was still falling! Like the ice we had earlier, it was so pretty to look at, but I almost fell on my face trying to walk through it to my car. Scraping all snow off the car made me wheeze, and driving home was a nightmare. Even though I live just down the road from the temple (usually a <5-minute drive), it took me thirty minutes to get home! The streets were all clogged up with stalled cars and fender-benders. I saw one car almost buried in a snowbank and had a very scary slippery moments. I said a Shehekianu when I finally made it back to my place. I hadn't brought my good camera along, but here are some crappy phone shots of the temple parking lot...
...and my poor Muse Watson!
I got home in time to watch the end of the opening ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics. I'm bummed that I missed the Parade of Nations, but since I missed them in 2012 because I was at Shabbat services, I guess it's only appropriate that the same thing happened this year. What I saw of the opening ceremony was impressive, certainly moreso than the one in Vancouver four years ago.
So today, I'm staying inside with the cats where it's warm! Sara talks about going outside to play in the snow, but I'm not sure I can bring myself to go outside again!