The holiday are coming!

For me, the big ones are the High Holidays (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur), then Sukkot, then Halloween, two birthdays, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, another birthday and the New Year.

The High Holidays mean deep introspection, sweet honey and apples, long services, a the wonderful taste of a meal after a long fast

Sukkot...hoping to build a nice Sukkah this year. Spent some time today looking up plans! And I already have the decorations in my head...hope the weather is cool!

Halloween...can't do much at my place outside, oh, but indoors!!! Now where did I put that giant spider???? And then there is the 2nd annual trip to Universal for their Halloween Horrors event!

Birthdays...two...my daughter Nov 7th, my son Nov 8th. Gift ideas....hmmmm.

Thanksgiving...going away! Always good for Thanksgiving...maybe even some really cool weather!

Hanukkah...need to get into the storage unit and get out all the Hannukiot. Time for them to all shine again!

Birthday...my littlest one. Time is flying!

New Year's Eve...can it really be that close to 2010?

What are your holidays coming up? What makes them special? I would love to hear about them all!

New friends, old friends, real friends, pseudo friends

Okay, so it's not Dr. Seuss, because I doubt any of his books contained the term "pseudo" but the idea is the same. And this is my book! So pseudo remains.

I see a stack of people...old friends who have been a part of my life for so long, forming the base. New friends added to them. All of those as a real friends, all sparkling, golden, precious.

And then there are the pseudo friends. Not false friends. That is something that wouldn't even be in my book. But not really part of that wonderful group that glitters with love and caring. More like acquaintances. Potential friends -- some of them, to be sure. But others destined to remain outside of the circle -- familiar names, recognizable faces. But not the people we would call to share the big news, the small accomplishments, the secret fears or the maybe-too-silly dreams.

And yet they belong in my book. A hug, a shared laugh, some time over a lunch or a cup of tea. A friendly face in a crowd. A shared day at some public event or mutual friend's party.

A part of the blessings. Just not part of the stack...yet.

Words from the Talmud on Kindness

It seems that some of these get overlooked in the rush to construct or discern new rules or more details about daily activities. So I thought a little reminder might be in order for all of us.

If today was your last day...

Watch and listen to this Nickelback video.

Now answer this....

If this was it...end of the line...would today have been good enough?

Did you share your love with those who matter most to you?

Did you help a stranger with no thought about reward or even whether or not they deserved to be helped?

Did you smile at someone who was frowning and watch a smile form on their face?

Did you meet someone new?

Did you learn something?

Did you call someone far away who needs to hear your voice?

Did you pray and thank G-d for the morning, always aware that it is a gift and not a given?

Disney day

We went to Disney...my favorite place on earth! We rode the rides and watched the parade and planned another trip with the kids along.

We held hands and compared memories of visits there when we were little. I wondered if we had ever been in the park together, and not met -- not yet time. Or maybe rode a ride together and never knew we would meet again years later. In Disney World, anything seems possible.

Disney worked its magic. Lance snapped this beautiful shot of Cinderella's abode as the sun faded. We ended the day watching the fireworks over the castle, and dreaming about future visits together.

And although I saw some rough edges this time -- some rides in need of updates, some technology lagging behind competitors like Universal -- I still would not trade this place for any on earth. It is and always will be the Magic Kingdom for me. And now I have a prince to share it with. :-)