Tired, Lazy and Not Much To Say

No. I'm not retired.

I'm just tired and lazy and have very little to say.

But, since you asked, here's a rundown.

1. The Toddler. Next Sunday marks the third anniversary of her first day with us.

This is what I wrote back in September, 2005 (I was semi-retired in July, 2005, when she first came).

On another front, two months ago, in a moment of temporary insanity, MHW agreed to take on another foster child, this one an infant, ten weeks old at the time of her arrival. She is the most delightful baby you can imagine and has added light and joy to our home. We have all flipped out for her. She has become our "hanimtzah kazeh". (And, as an example of how the Aibishter runs the world with a sense of humor, she is 90% height and 75% weight on the growth charts. For the vertically challenged MoChassid family, to be ON the chart is unusual and anything above the 3% mark is amazing.) We don't know how long this will last but we are enjoying her day to day.

Who knew that, three years later she would still be with us, an integral part of the family, who continues to bring us great joy and light? The hardest part is not knowing what the future will bring. (I guess that's always the hardest part with children but more so here).

2. Riding. I've been doing a lot of riding. I did 170 miles between the last two Sundays, including a 70 mile organized ride. Mostly, I ride with OOS who's an animal. I'm in really good shape but if OOS had a bike that was nearly as good as mine, he wouldn't even want to ride with me (of course, he is 29 years younger than I). This Sunday, another long ride, either 70 or 100 depending on how I feel.

3. Musical Noise. Over the past few months, MHW and I have been to a number of simchas where the decibel level has been off the charts. This problem, which is by no means new, seems to be getting worse. I really don't get it. Don't the band leaders get that there's a problem when they see numerous people walking around with their fingers in their ears? (I find it particularly amusing that one band actually markets a well-known drummer whose style could be described as "insanity let loose". While he may be a very agile drummer, he creates a level of noise that everyone else in the band needs to compete with. The last two times I've been to a simcha where he's played the lead singer was basically screaming in order to be heard. The other joke is that on each such ocassion the band also had a percussionist which was ridiculous because you could discern his playing whatsoever because of all the noise).

4. Baseball. How funny would it be for the Mets to take the division while the Yankees find themselves out of the playoffs? It could happen. (Keep in mind that a bit more than a year ago I predicted the demise of the Yankees and the ascent of the Mets).