Been a long time

I had not realized that it has been almost two weeks since my last post.  We had a great end of trip up north and a smooth train ride home.  We have been home three full days, and tomorrow Lowell and Emily arrive to stay with us for five nights.

I have gained a ton of weight.  This morning I was 288.3, so up five since my last report.  Not good.  I'm eating everything in sight at home and out of the house.  Binge eating when possible is not a good way to go, but it's what I'm doing right now.  I wake up every morning and tell myself that I will stay in control today, but every day I have broken that pledge.  UGH.

Evey and Eric flew overnight this past Monday to Copenhagen.  They are doing a two week trip to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.  Today they spent the day at Tivoli Gardens and had a ball.  What a wonderful time they are having!

Yesterday Mark and I went to Flagler Beach Winery with Susie and Ed for our Tourist Tuesday on Thursday trip.  It was awesome.

Here are a few pictures from that.

This winery is literally right at the beach.

We shared this cheese board for lunch.

Susie and Ed

Only Ed had enough energy after lunch and wine to go down on to the beach.

We also visited their little local museum.

NY and NJ then back to Baltimore

We left Monday to visit Mark's parents' and grandparents' graves, see his cousins, stay with his high school friend, visit other friends, and have dinner with Evey's in-laws.  All went exactly as planned.  It was a wonderful trip although the weather was mostly way too cold and gray to do any swimming.

My weight this morning was 283.5, so I have added one more pound for that leg of the trip.

Today we are going to shul and then relaxing.  Tomorrow I'm going to the wedding shower for Kat H., the fiancee of Ilan Oresky, the youngest son of Saul and Phyllis.  Then Monday we are heading to the Poconos and Camp Vestment to visit with more friends.

Here are some pictures from our trip to NY and NJ.

Playing Mah Jongg at Robin's house last Saturday.  Seated is Mary Kaigler and Arlene Gottlieb.  Standing is me, Sue Ponemon, Robin Olsen, Annie Haber, and Janet Davis.  I actually won four games!

Reading out on Cindy's lanai last Sunday. I finished this book on this trip.

At the graves at Beth Moses synagogue out on Long Island.  Left to right are buried Mark's mother Bernice, his father Leonard, his grandfather Abraham, and his grandmother Celia.  We will be buried in front of those footstones along with his Aunt Esther and Uncle Pinky.

Dinner at the Laverne Diner in W. Hempstead  on Long Island with cousins Arnie and Thelma.

Mark getting ready to go to the gym in his high school buddy's house.  We stayed three nights here in Monroe Township,  NJ.

Friend Vinnie in the kitchen.  It's a very big, very beautiful house.

Lunch out at the Jamesburg Diner on Tuesday.

Tuesday evening we went to Evey's in-laws parents' home.  Me and Leslie in her kitchen.

Dinner at our favorite kosher place up there.

Me and Mark with Marc and Leslie.

Back at their house for homemade strawberry shortcakes.

Wednesday we drove up to Basking Ridge, NJ to visit our snowbird friends Jonathan and Susan.

Jonathan and Mark walking past the pool area.

Lunch at a local Indian restaurant with Jonathan and Susan.

Wednesday night we went out to dinner in Freehold, NJ with Vinnie and Annette.

Who knew this was in this shopping center?  Next year we will make a point to come visit it.

Our restaurant choice for the evening, and the museum is on the second floor of this building.

Delicious dinner.  Thursday we headed back to Baltimore.

Friday we stopped at Lowell's house to get our Shabbat candle holder back and visit briefly.  Starting that day, he is permanently working from home.  Great for him.  No more commuting!

Ozma

Trillian

Playing with Ozma

Just a quick one

I described what we would be doing in the last post.  It's been a week since we arrived, and everything has gone as planned.  It's been a fabulous trip, and today we are heading shortly up to Long Island and then NJ.

Meanwhile, I have only gained one pound, up to 282.5 this morning.  I think that's pretty good considering what I've been eating.  LOL!

Here are some pictures from the trip so far.

Friday night we had dinner at Lowell's house, and he grilled chicken breasts.  We also had corn on the cob and asparagus. Delicious.

Cindy and Ken with Lowell's dog, Ozma.

Shabbat dinner with the family.  L-R, Ken, Cindy, Lowell, Mark, Emily, Phil, Pat

Mona and me.

Me and Reuben

The honored family, Rabbi Jonathan Cohen, son Reuben, and wife Mona.  Rabbi Cohen is now Rabbi Emeritus!

Incoming Rabbi Saul Oresky

Mark chatting with the synagogue president, Steve Ungar.

One of three beautiful cakes.

Two of my friends and former choir members, Jan Bloom and Mona Baumgarten.

Frank waiting for the show to start.

Cantor Greenfield was master of ceremonies.  He has worked with THREE rabbis at this synagogue, over 30 years!

Mayor of Greenbelt presenting a certificate to Rabbi Cohen.

The choir, under Rachel Greenfield's direction, performing an original composition by Josh Rosen.

One of the many skits and performances of the day.

Their son Reuben gave a wonderful speech to his dad.

Incoming Rabbi Oresky also gave a fabulous speech.

Outstanding final song by just about everybody from the choir and a few folks who aren't.

Mona gave some farewell remarks.  They will be moving to a  rental house in Montreal on August 1.

Rabbi Cohen ended the afternoon with his good byes.  At 19 years he is the longest serving Rabbi at our synagogue and the only one to retire from there, so they gave him Emeritus status.  Very nice.

Me and Rena Sodie, my Hebrew teacher!