Turning the Kitchen Over Part Two

Okay, I was way too busy and way too far behind to get on the computer again before Passover started and then we had 3 days where you can't go online in a row (two days of Yom Tov, followed immediately by Shabbat).

I did get one vote for tiling but I ended up just working like a maniac instead. It was hell. I hate that it always comes down to the wire.

But the house looks really good. We had both seders. The first one was downstairs in our space with just us and my mother-in-law and sister-in-law because my father-in-law (who has been having some fairly serious health problems) didn't feel well. We actually had fun, although Dear Child didn't make it all the way to the end. She fell asleep after Kos Elijahu (the Cup of Elijah) and before the song she wanted to sing at the end (an English version of 'Who Knows One?'). We ended up singing it in Hebrew instead. But she found the afikomen and got her prize.

The second night we had it upstairs and all the kids and grandkids were there. It starts later, so the girls went to bed after midnight and I was actually up with one of my sons until probably about 2 am, talking! Only the baby fell asleep in the middle. The others were bouncy to pretty well the end. Dear Child finally led Mah Nishtanah (the Four Questions), relieving my 24 year old son of his annual obligation as the (former) youngest child able to sing them. And she sat in my lap to do Who Knows One? and Had Gadya (which she liked until a few days ago when she really started looking at the words and got freaked out over the Malach HaMavet [Angel of Death]).

I went to shul the second day and took the baby with me because I can use a stroller on Yom Tov (unlike Shabbat) and she had a great time. Nobody went the other 2 days because it was raining and walking for an hour and a quarter in the rain, pushing strollers, is Not Fun.

From now until sundown Tuesday are the intermediate days of the festival, when we can do regular things. I've been online, catching up on all the PF blogs I usually read and watching the episodes of Survivor and Dollhouse that we'd set up to tape. As I went from blog to blog it seemed like a huge number of major things had happened in the few days I'd been disconnected. People in car accidents, relatives dying, relationships ending, medical crises. I actually felt pretty overwhelmed. I got kind of sidetracked, writing comments or emails to people and almost didn't come post here!

Well, it's very late, so I'm off to bed. Just one last thing before I go. I think the thing I did that I was most proud of was that I washed the dishes the second night course by course. As I'd bring the soup bowls or whatever downstairs I'd quickly wash them as I was filling plates to send upstairs for the next course. I can't tell you how good it felt to get up on Friday morning and not be faced with a stack of greasy dishes!