the other day, you would think we don’t speak English. We are gearing up for a big VIP visit and were discussing the guest list. It made perfect sense to myself, my DFA and my DCR&F. But to an outsider? It probably sounded like this:
Me: HYA
DFA: ULT
DCR&F: FXR
DFA: MBG
And so on. Pretty much the entire conversation was Acronyms. (NOTE: Not one of the above acronyms is actually one we said. Thank you.).
At least I think its fairly nice out this morning. It is at least very still, which it hasn’t been for weeks.
I may bite the bullet (and why on earth would anyone actually bite a bullet?) and wear my spring cape today rather than my big winter coat. I may get a bit cold waiting for the bus, but at least I won’t be hot waiting for the bus this afternoon.
Which reminds me about something I wanted to write about…
The other day I was walking home from the bus stop. It must have been last Thursday because Simon works late on Thursdays and, therefore, doesn’t meet me at the bus stop when I get home. So I was walking alone. And watching the people.
All of them were in a hurry. Just rushing down the street to get to their next activity. Why? What’s the big hurry? Isn’t the journey worth the trouble to slow down? I always walk a bit slowly, especially on my way home from the bus after work. I like to look around. See what’s new. Are there leaves on the trees? How’s the construction on the neighborhood church going? Wow, that’s a cool car.
People really don’t watch the world. I find that sad. It is ever changing, even in the middle of City Centre of Belfast. The other day I was looking out the window in our front room and noticed that out of 10 cars parked on the street, 9 of them were red. When I looked again about an hour later? 9 of them were blue. I find that fascinating.
So.Stop.Look.At.The.World. Who knows what you might be missing…
Well, I would say the meds don’t work. I had lots of plans for this weekend. Building the final bookcase. Cleaning the flat.
Neither of these things happened. I spent most of today asleep. I did do some stuff yesterday, but not as much as I was hoping to do.
I hate it when I get like this, even though I know I can’t help it. And I guess it is better to do it on the weekend, rather than during the week. I will go to work tomorrow. I have to. I have a meeting and board papers to write. I have to be there. People are relying on me.
Simon relies on me as well, but the basic stuff is done. Clothes are clean. Groceries are ordered for the week. We had a nice dinner.
But I still feel bad that I didn’t get more done this weekend.
I’m sure I’ll get over it.
So tonight is the first night of Passover. What does that mean to me, a Jew in a Christian country?
Not a hell of a lot, actually. I haven’t been to a Seder in, gosh, about 5 years. The last one I was at was with my mother in Florida at a friend’s house.
I am not an observant Jew. I do not keep kosher. I do not observe the Sabbath. I do not go to Temple.
There is a small Jewish community here in Belfast. I know one other Jew, a woman I used to work with. Other than that? My being Jewish doesn’t affect anything.
Okay, so that’s not entirely true. When I got married, I insisted that my veil cover my hair as completely as possible during the ceremony. That was important to me on that day.
Oh and I skew the stats for our Fair Employment Paperwork, since I am the only one in my office who does not check off either Catholic or Protestant, but Other, on the form. (yes, in NI, those are the 3 choices. They don’t care what colour your skin is, but your religion is paramount).
Most of my memories of events like Seders have nothing to do with the Seder itself. I mostly remember the warmth of my mother’s kitchen the year we had a Seder for about 20 people as the women scurried about getting the meal on the table (and it was the women. Something about it being a Seder makes the traditional roles come through) and then cleaning up afterwards. I remember looking down the long table that year, with basically my entire family there, and feeling a part of something bigger than myself. Knowing that all over the world Jewish families were doing the exact same thing at more or less (with the variances of time zones) the exact same time.
Even my most recent Seder, at my mother’s friends house, I don’t really remember the Seder. I remember after the Seder, helping to clean up in the kitchen. The hosts had hired a caterer and serving staff to help them, as there were about 25 people there, and they wanted to enjoy the Seder and not be stuck in the kitchen. Even so, after dinner, the women were all in the kitchen, helping to put away the food and the dried dishes and such. The men? They were watching a sporting event on TV. 🙂
So being Jewish in a Christian country isn’t really that big of a deal to me. But sometimes I think maybe it should be.
I have to say, the problem with watching the Transformer movie is every time they change Simon and I have to say “Robots in disguise”.
Anyway, new meds are making me ill and giving me insomnia. Yeah, calling the doctor on Monday.
So very very tired. Need sleep. Nothing else to post.
tomorrow is my niece’s 8th birthday. It is also my brother’s 41st birthday. She was the best birthday present he ever got.
Her original due date was 15th April, tax day in the States. When my brother heard that he said ‘Nope, she’ll be born on the 18th.’ And she was.
My first view of her was being held by a nurse by her head and her heels, screaming her head off, just a few moments after she was born. I was suppose to be in the room when she was born, but my sister in law had some difficulty so my niece was an emergency C-Section. I have never seen my brother beam as bright as when he was standing next to that nurse as she held his first child.
She’s my special girl. So is her sister. I miss them both every day.
Happy Birthday for Tomorrow, my special girl. And to my brother too!
Its always tough coming back after being off for awhile, whether off for sick or off for holiday. So many things just don’t get done when I am not there.
Our receptionist did a good job covering the CEO for me, so that’s not too messed up. His diary looks to be in okay shape. Luckily he didn’t try to do things himself, he always messes it up.
Why is grown men can’t keep their own diaries? Back when I worked for the insurance company in the States, I was the PA to a VP. I used to threaten to have cards made up for him to hand out when he was at meetings saying “I am not allowed to book my own appointments. Please call Robyn on…..” He never let me though.
Even with Blackberry’s and other PDAs, I can’t trust the SMT with their own diaries. Makes me CRAZY!
Anyway, I’m back at work. And I spent the past two days doing website updates. And getting letters organized. And other assorted PA type stuff.
Who knows what tomorrow will bring…
Really not much else to say. Just hanging out, sleeping, doing some business type stuff (US TAXES YAY!).
Still have two bookcases to put together. Maybe after dinner? Maybe not.
In other news, my niece, who will be 8 in 5 days, now has a blog. When the heck did she grow up?
That’s really all. Back to work tomorrow, I hope.
I feel physically ill. Head-achy and nauseous and such. Hence the killing of the plan of fish and ‘taters and carrots for dinner in favour of soup and plain rice and some 7-UP. Simon’s run to the local Chinese.
Been a quiet day, with a bit of tidying, the watching of West Wing Season 1 and some laundry. Also finished my latest Puzzle Globe. Next puzzle will actually be flat and normal. Its of kitty cats. Cartoon kitty cats.
So yeah, not much to say. Maybe more to say tomorrow.
God, all this depression talk, is depressing me. 🙂 Time to move on to something else for a bit.
The view from the new flat is a brand new building. Its been finished about 2 or 3 months. It houses a hotel and a business of some kind.
Occasionally there are very late meetings at the business. We can see into their big meeting room from our balcony, and I mean very late. I think it was last week that there were 2 men and 3 women in that room until about 9pm. Very weird. Looked kind of like a board meeting, but so late?
Down the street a bit is a health club. I think about joining it on occasion. But I doubt I ever will.
This morning the Harbour Police were parked across the street. Bit out of their jurisdiction, since, not the harbour! City Centre, actually. Very strange.
So it isn’t the most beautiful view in the world, from our Flat. But its ever changing!