Weekend Stories

We did a lot of things this weekend, but I forgot the camera for some of them...

Friday night we attended an event called "Shabbat in the Park," hosted by the young adult group of the Ann Arbor Jewish community. Since the weather was still drippy and cold they moved the BBQ to the local Jewish Community Center (JCC), which happens to be right across the street from our house. This annual get together is a chance for new members of the community to meet other Jews and have a nice Shabbat dinner. Here is my one picture from the evening:

It was a lot of fun and we met some really wonderful people (yay for having friends!). The greatest part of the evening was when I looked over at another table and thought I recognized some of the people. I poked Jake and asked him if they were our neighbors from across the way. He wasn't sure, but thought I might be right, so we went over and introduced ourselves. Turns out they ARE our neighbors and are very nice people. They invited us over for coffee after the BBQ but told us they had to run to the store for cake first. Apparently, they had tried to bake a cake and discovered the oven was broken. Well of course I told them to come use ours!

After the cake was baked we all headed over to their house (all of 50 feet away) and enjoyed the company of some of the other people we meet at Shabbat in the Park and the neighbor's little girl. Great company and a great night!

On Saturday Jake had to work at school and the landlady brought a guy to help with the stinky closet issue, you can read about that here. He ended up replacing portions of the drywall which were saturated with stench, as well as the baseboards. My extra-sensitive nose can still smell a bit of stink, but we need to repaint the closet, so maybe that will help. It's definitely better!

 

There was also a football game on Saturday, Michigan vs. Notre Dame (booooo!) and the downtown was flooded with tailgaters and fans who drove over from Chicago. This was Michigan's first ever night game, but the festivities started early in the day and continued late. When Jake got home we went to the grocery store (around 5pm), and there were still masses of people and hundreds of cars and RVs parked in every space, having cook outs. I wish I would have had the camera, it was pretty impressive. Also, we won by one touchdown in the last 2 seconds of the game - woohoo!

On Sunday we had some cuddling:

 

and we went for a nice bike ride along one of the trails in Mary Beth Doyle Park (the one behind our house). I forgot the camera then too, but we rode through a field with so many yellow wildflowers. It was really beautiful. I'll try to get some pictures of that soon.

We also tried a Michigan-grown Honey Rock — a yummy, giant melon that tastes a lot like cantaloupe.

 

We all enjoyed it!

Melon is one of his favorite things.

And finally, A Sad Story with a Happy Ending.

In March-June of last year I attended a number of web and graphic design courses in San Francisco. Every day I would walk from the train station to the classes and I would pass a donut shop. Now, you should know, I have a weakness for donuts, especially for the cakey, buttermilk loaf kind... Every day I would look at the donuts in the shop and every day I would keep walking, a girl has to maintain her figure!

In June, the classes came to an end and I only had one day left. I decided to celebrate by finally getting that donut. It was early in the morning (the classes were a full day) and I was really looking forward to a fresh-out-of-the-oven donut, because you know they only make fresh donuts in the morning. I walked the 6 blocks, mostly uphill, and arrived at the shop. WHAT?! It was closed! Damn, it was Sunday.

I suppose I could have gone to another donut shop on a different day, but I never did. In September I started to have a donut craving, but I never went to get one. I guess I just thought that I had time, I would get one when I passed another donut shop. By October, though, I wasn't feeling well and I know something was wrong. I tried a week without gluten and felt 100 times better, and wheat/gluten have not touched my stomach since. It's great because I feel better, but the reality that I would never get to have that donut haunted me and the craving grew worse.

And then we went to the market:

 

I had one last night, and while it isn't a buttermilk loaf, man did I enjoy that donut!

Moral: eat your donuts while you can.

Hope you have a good week!