weekend

Shabbat services were crowded on Friday. Our congregational choir and a new youth choir participated. I don't know how much of the crowd was due to that, how much was due to the bat mitzvah family, and how much was due to general ebb and flow. Lots of good music, which was nice.

Saturday's torah reader in our minyan was reading (and leading part of the service) for the first time since his bar mitzvah. It went pretty well, and I succeeded in getting him to sign up again. It gets easier over time, but it can be hard to get people to give it a shot. Gotta take the long view, though; I think in another year or so he'll be one of my regulars. (I want at least three more regulars than I currently have.)

Saturday night we went to two parties. First was a Chanukah party hosted by friends from shul; it was fun and I'm glad that Dani seemed to be comfortable talking with folks. (He's gone with me to this party for the last few years, so he's getting to know people at least a little.) I had forgotten that a lot of people would be opting for food suitable for vegans; I had not anticipated people asking if the (soft) mozzerella in the salad I brought was tofu. Yeah, I guess when it's cubed it does look like tofu; I just think of tofu as something you cook, not something you eat raw.

Then it was off to ralphmelton and lorimelton's holiday party, which was a lot of fun. They have a good party house; it supports several smaller areas for conversation, but there's enough room that everyone can also glom together. It looks like Lori spent a week baking. :-) I got to spend time chatting with ex-co-workers I don't see much any more; I think Ralph and Lori are the key that keeps the Claritech gang together. I'm glad they're doing that.

This morning we ran into celebrin in the restaurant we usually go to for brunch. It took several moments for my brain to process the context problem -- she doesn't live here (she's visiting) and it was pre-caffeine, and initially we saw the group from across the room, too far for my vision. (She also got spiffy new glasses and hairstyle since last I saw her.) Then once I made the connection I utterly blanked on her real name, and felt funny introducing her to Dani as Celebrin, so, um. I hope I didn't look too stupid.

Tonight we will be hosting dinner. I worked backwards from dessert; the sufganiyot (doughnuts traditional for Chanukah) are parve, so this allowed me to get the brisket to go with the latkes. Thanks to goljerp for the brisket recipe. Dani will just have to save the sour cream for some other meal; I've got plenty of latkes, and I generally can't go more than a few days without making fish anyway.