Seeing And Staying With An Old Friend

It was wonderful to see an old friend in San Diego yesterday. Even if it meant sitting in the train station, at dusk, for 30 minutes before she came to fetch me.

It appears her phone doesn't ring, which makes calling her difficult. When I couldn't get through, I had to call a mutual friend in Los Angeles for alternate numbers. During the wait, I caught a glimpse of the Muslim taxi drivers praying on rugs outside the train station. Don't get to see that up close that often, if at all. Seems the Muslim population of San Diego is growing.

What a relief when she finally showed up. At first I was a little mad, but no one can stay mad at her for long. She is sweet to the core. We grabbed a bit to eat, and then sat up for a few hours catching up with each other.

Despite the odds against it, she dropped me off nearly on time this morning to my volunteer site (see previous post). I'm home now, able to relax and breathe before my internship begins tomorrow morning. Seeing and staying with an old friend is apparently a good way to get ready for any trial to come.

Doing The Right Thing

Sometimes we get caught up in our lives and can't see the big picture. I have been stressed out recently, and found myself sitting at my computer working on a project due today. Or so I thought.

As I sat there, I checked my email and realized that a friend was sitting shiva (in mourning) for the recent death of her mother. As things stood then, if I didn't get up and go pay a shiva call right then and there, I would have missed the opportunity to do this great mitzvah.

It was 8:30 pm and the shiva sitting ended at 9 pm. I looked at my computer and thought to myself: Israel and the Jewish people are in such a perilous state, GET UP and do a mitzvah!

I jumped up, grabbed my purse and ran out of the house. I got there in time to join two other friends comforting our mutual friend. Of course I stayed until 9:30 pm and got home 15 minutes later to a text message from a son who needed to be picked up from the airport.

It's all good, I told myself. I let my eldest drive, number 3 rode shotgun and I sat in the backseat. We had a really good time there and back, including a message from my project leader saying we couldn't meet today. As I am on my way to S. Diego today, I bought my ticket for 4 pm, which would have been after the meeting. So here I sit, waiting for 4 pm.

I can't imagine what would have happened if I decided to give up the shiva call to work on the project. I don't think I could have lived with giving up the mitzvah for nothing.

Lesson learned: follow your gut. Do the right thing. Regardless.

It Must Be Me

I went to a beautiful wedding last night. The bride was gorgeous, the groom was handsome, and everyone was happy. This young lady is quite accomplished, and it took her a while to find the right man. Her mother, a friend and my daughter's English teacher last year, looked at me all smiles and said "we did it!"

After the chupah (ceremony), the crowd went back inside for the meal. We polished off the salad with lively conversation and waited for the bride and groom to finish picture taking. It seemed to be taking a while, but we relaxed, noting that the parents were back and that's a good sign.

An hour later, with no further courses being served, the couple came into the room. Sorry, it was 9:00 pm, my bedtime, or at least the time I like to snuggle in bed and either read a book or watch a movie. I danced a little, then raced out. I had been there since 6 pm.

It must be me. I am so anxious about the internship starting, and my life finally getting in order that I can't seem to settle down. It didn't' help that the generator light came on in my car yesterday and I practically starting crying.

It's that control thing again. I like to be in control. I have no money, but I'm thinking of buying a new car just to make sure I get to my internship on time. Is that crazy? Okay, the bus/subway takes 2 hours, but it's only 10 weeks. After that, I'll be some place closer to home.

I need to relax. Going to San Diego tomorrow to volunteer for the upcoming American Dietetic Association conference this coming weekend. I give them 8 hours, they give me free admission. I'm taking the Surfliner train down, which should give me a good 2.5 hours to relax. The view is amazing - it's runs a good part by the beach.

Okay, every once in a while I have to stop myself and say, "it's gonna be okay. I can do this." Thank you to all my dearest friends and family who have been saying this all along.

Planning The Trip

I may have mentioned this before, but I hate surprises. That's why I read the end of novels so I don't have to wait to find out what happens. Yes, I continue to read the book, and actually enjoy it much better.

So today I decided to use two different paths of public transportation to access my internship site. In other words, I got up at 4:45 am, showered, choked down food, filled up a thermos with coffee and set off, in the pitch black, to wait at a bus stop for a trip to Downey Regional Medical Center.

Oy vey. I decided to take the subways going there, and that was very fast (listen, it takes two hours to get there, but at least on the subway it seems faster). The last leg, or the last 35 minutes, was overland by bus. I paid close attention to the street names for future reference.

Leaving at 5:40 am from the bus stop put me at the hospital where I will intern at exactly the right time: 7:30 am. I don't want to be on time; I want to be early.

Coming home, I tried the bus only route. OMG, I didn't even know this part of the city existed. It took forever, which means 2 hours. Don't ask. Sitting in two places (two different buses) for two hours is a lot different than four places in two hours.

I know. I'm not making any sense. I almost fell asleep on the bus, but willed myself awake in fear I would miss the bus stop. I'm so tired right now I could curl up and snooze, but I won't. I left the house at 5:40 am but got home at 10 am. The day is young, even if I'm not.

While it is pointless to do so, I worry it will rain. That will make traveling public transportation miserable. Some stops have no protection from the elements, especially screaming rain soaking you even with an umbrella.

Okay, I'm going to take a nap. Hope to be coherent soon.

Spending Time With My Kids

While I'm not proud to admit it, I don't spend a lot of time with my children. Either I'm studying, working, computing, or preparing for all the above. Really puts a crimp in relationships.

Today was completely different. After a good workout (400 calories, 40 minutes), a lunch shared, literally, with a dear friend, I drove one of my sons to the airport. He had to catch a 4:30 pm flight to New York, so we spent a good 30 minutes driving to LAX and talking about things.

When we got to the airport, there was a tremendous amount of police activity. But that was on the way out. On the way in, there's a "random" checkpoint, which I always get waved into when I'm driving the big Dodge Ram 250 van. Today was no exception.

After we rolled down the window on my son's side, the police officers, dressed like black ops, leaned in the van and told us it was a random stop. Don't ask me why, but I told him it wasn't, that I always get stopped in the van, and go ahead and check it out. Which they did - opened all the doors, looked under the seats, used a mirror to check underneath the van itself.

Then the officer asked me where I got the airplane seats in the back. When we bought our van, it was a used 8-seat commuter for the General Electric Company. That was definitely not enough for us, so our options were to either buy a bench seat ($500) or two used airplane seats ($100). We went the cheap route, and 10 years later they are still the most popular seats in the van.

After I dropped my son off at his airline, I spent the next 40 minutes in the parking lot we call the I-405 freeway. When I got home, I had a few minutes to spare before loading my other three kids in the van and heading out for dinner: kosher Subway with coupons.

Everybody got what they wanted, and it was an inexpensive treat. Afterwards, we all went to the library to check out books for the weekend. Thursday turned into family night, minus a few. It felt so good to all be together, like old times. Or the times before I decided to go back to school.

I'm gonna sleep great tonight.

Coincidence?

When I got off the bus today at school, a young woman came up behind me and tried to read the tag name on the clasp of my hamsa. She couldn't get the Hebrew script, so I turned the tag over and let her read the English.

We talked a bit about Israeli jewelry and how much we love it. She then mentioned that tomorrow is the last day to sign up for a Birth Right trip this winter and spring. I was amazed. My eldest sons had just mentioned how they wanted to go on a Birth Right trip this winter, and I assumed they had their bases covered.

Of course, it's an assumption that comes from I don't know where, considering teenagers in general, and my boys in particular, don't seem to ever think farther ahead than their next meal.

So I'll just chalk this up to another message from the Holy One, inspiring me to inspire my boys to get going on the applications. Don't you just love it?!

No Control

I'll speak for myself here, but I'm sure most people would agree. We like to be able to control some, or even just part of our lives. That's why we have "Things To Do" lists. Makes us feel good about ourselves.

I had just such a mental list this morning. Got dressed for the gym, grabbed my big Tehillim, and decided to make three stops before going to work out.

First stop, the doctor's office to pick up my medical form for the dietetic internship. My doctor is so sweet, just told me to drop by anytime and pick it up. So I did. Then the staff told me to check in first, and when it was all over, it took 30 minutes to just "drop by" and pick it up.

Then to the library to return videos and books checked out. If I had only been there 15 minutes earlier, I would not have been assessed $12 in fines for the movies, due Saturday. Yeah.

The highlight of the morning came when I went to renew my bus pass (see previous posts) and I was 3rd in line! How happy that experience was.

Got to the gym at 10:50 am (my quest began at 9 am) and spent a few minutes talking shop with a fellow senior. My phone rang, but I was too engaged to pick it up. When I checked the message a few minutes later, I learned that my son had thrown up and needed to be picked up from school.

After that, I went home, found a great parking spot, and here I am. Just goes to show you, the more you think you've nailed it, the more you miss it. Thank you G-d, for reminding me just who the Boss is.