Passover Recap

I have yet to decide how much of this to report, but I'll probably break this up into a few different posts.

Anyway, the reason I went on hiatus is that we were actually out of town. It may be paranoid, since I have not completely identified myself or where I live or who I work for, but I still have certain issues with saying too much. My lack of posting was due to being away from the normal computers I work on. Or blog from. Or whatever.

In any event, the SkinnyFamily spent Passover in what is technically Down South. I would say it's the Shallow South rather than the Deep South, being a suburb of the Nation's capital. Regardless, I believe it's officially below the Mason-Dixon line, so it counts as the South. Mrs. Skinny's best friend, her husband, and their new dog all live there, and they were insane enough to invite us to spend the whole week with them. Two extra adults is bad enough, but adding a 4 year old & a two year old is unbelievably brave, if a little insane.

As most of you probably do not know, the Passover holiday is one of the longer holidays on the Jewish calendar. Outside of Israel, the holiday is two days of full holiday (no cars, lights, phones, etc.) followed by four intermediate days (everything but the food is normal), followed by two more full holiday days. In Israel for various reasons, each full period is only one day. This year the first days were Sunday & Monday, which means you begin the holiday with a Saturday & all the normal restrictions.

What this all means is that regardless of anything else, you will be spending three days minimum locked in the house with whoever you are spending the holiday with. Imagine having your family for Christmas for three straight days. Subtract TV, computers, cars, and other distractions. You have to REALLY like the people you're with to make sure you don't kill each other by the end of it. Even family you love is irritating by the third day. So clearly we love these friends, as nobody was refusing to talk to each other by Monday afternoon.

The trip started off extra nice for me. Mrs. took the kids, the car, and all the luggage down on Thursday, leaving me at home. Alone. I love my family more than life itself, but there's something nice about coming home, picking something for dinner, not having to share, and not having to argue with kids about what we're eating. I got to play hockey, came home & stayed up really late fighting with my wife's computer to add music to the shiny Ipod my wife bought for me. More on that later.

Friday, I went to work where I vaguely got some things done for a few hours, then headed to Manhattan, where I bought kosher certified Krispy Kremes and took an Amtrak down to DC. Two small bags, no small children, and plenty of reading. I like travelling by train - I don't really need to concentrate on where we're going, I can read, I can eat, I can sleep, whatever. Got there, offered donuts to the family (outside - no leaven in the house to keep it passover-kosher), and got ready for the pre-Passover Shabbos.