Evidence that we're ready for a relaxing, quiet Shabbat at home...

For the first weekend in a month, we woke up on Friday morning with nowhere to go. We're staying home and having quiet, small meals. Yay! Now I know we've been getting pretty worn out and tired, but we always had a day here or there to recover a bit. Just now, as we were working together in the kitchen getting food prepared, I had a moment of, "Wow. This is why we need Shabbat."
All day I've been going back and forth from the computer room working on homework to the kitchen to check on food to the bedroom to change the sheets, etc. So anyone who knows me knows that my phone has already been misplaced a few times throughout the day. I wanted to make a call, so I asked Yoni if he has seen my phone. Of course he says, "I've seen it many times, but you've probably moved it a few times since then." So I proceeded to pick up the house phone and dial my number. After first dialing my old cell phone which has been out of service for six months, I dial the correct number, hear the ring, and start around the house in search of its location. Well, when I walked into the computer room it sounded like it was coming from the bedroom ... so then I walked into the bedroom and now it sounded like it was coming from the computer room. After walk and back half a dozen times, I fell on the floor cracking up. Yoni came to see what was so funny .... Well, lo and behold the phone was in the waist of my skirt the whole time...

That being said, we are quite excited for relaxing meals just the two of us, and a good calm day tomorrow of learning and rest.

Now an update on this last month that's kept us so busy...
(in a nutshell)
A wonderful Shavuot in Dallas, where Sandy and Libby are becoming fast friends:









Home for two days, then off to Baltimore/Columbia/DC/New York. We spent two days down in DC. I spent time with all of my friends from college. Yoni came for some of those dates, and spent some of the other DC time visiting the AFROTC detachment at University of Maryland and checking in with a lot of the music stores in the area which he used to frequent. We spent some good family time in Columbia, had a wonderful Shabbat in Pikesville, then drove up to NYC Sunday morning to get all settled into our Brooklyn hotel and go to AJ and Zoe's wedding. The wedding was beautiful. The venue, an old opera house, is exquisite!
Besides the wedding itself, I also had a good time staying in Boro Park. It's been a while since we ventured out there. It's quite the experience with lots of thought-provoking observations. Anyone who's never been to Boro Park, it is reminiscent of Meah Shearim in an American setting. Anyone who's never been to Meah Shearim ... picture New York streets packed wall to wall with lots of chareidi families. Even more than that, every single storefront is a Kosher restaurant or something having to do with Jewish life. Quite a contrast to Enid, Oklahoma.

We came home after a week, the following Wednesday. We had Thursday to reunite with Libby (who was being watched at home by the Wing Commander's high school-age children), unpack, repack, and then head off Friday morning down to Dallas. We spent a nice quiet Shabbat there, and then Sunday afternoon went to Shimon and Karen's wedding. Yoni's family has known Karen's family for a while in Dallas, and we also knew Shimon from Hopkins/Pickwick in Baltimore. Their wedding was the first that we've attended at Ohr Hatorah (the congregation in Dallas with a near brand-new building). Everything was gorgeous, and more importantly, they are a very cute couple and it was fun to watch the whole ocassion. On Friday, Yoni got recruited to accompany Chaim Lazarus in the singing under the chupah. They did a wonderful job: