Grandma Moy

It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my Grandmother, Moy Lee.

She was the original Orieyenta.

She was quite a character and I am quite certain there will never be another one like her.

Couldn't you just eat her?

I visited with my sister this weekend and got to see my new niece...isn't she the cutest thing? She almost makes me want to adopt another...I said almost! (Cause you know LO would never stand for that!)

A visit from "Gung Gung"

I'm ashamed to admit that I hadn't seen my Dad in almost 6 years. He lives in New York and while I have always had good intentions of going to visit at least once a year, somehow things always come up. I guess he decided that it had been far too long, because he decided to come and pay us a visit. If you would have seen LO with him you would have never guessed that she had not seen him since she was 3 years old. She definitely fit the role of "Grandpa's little girl" quite well and I must say that my Dad was quite the natural grandfather.

It really was a lovely visit and it definitely made me realize that I need to make a bigger effort to allow LO and her "Gung Gung" (Cantonese for Grandfather) more bonding time. Dad and PHD even had a little bonding time...PHD asked him for permission to marry me and Dad gave his blessing. Life is good.

A different stone wall

(photo by spinedoc18)

We met up in North Carolina with PHD's cousins and some friends who are all visiting from Israel. We decided to meet them at a restaurant called "Stonewall's" (probably named after Stonewall Jackson). Here is a snippet of the phone conversation:

PHD: The restaurant that you wanted to meet us at is closed on Mondays so another restaurant called Stonewall's was suggested to us.

Cousin: (with HEAVY Israeli accent) Stone wall? What is this stone wall?

PHD: It's a restaurant with a huge salad bar. It sounds very nice.

Cousin: Ok, so it is called stone wall? Like the Kotel?

PHD: (laughing) Yes, like the Kotel.

I giggled and just shook my head. Only family from Israel could have come up with that one.

Vegas here I come

Because of things like this and this, I don't generally enjoy traveling. I get shpilkes sitting anywhere (like on an airplane) for any length of time.

My Nana (who lives in Las Vegas) has been calling me constantly over the past few weeks. She always ends each conversation with, "So, when are you coming to see me? It's been a long time." (Yep - she's got that Jewish guilt thing down to a science.)

Also, it just so happens that PHD is going there for a conference.

So, I finally caved in and I am heading to Las Vegas to see my Nana and to share a little fun time with PHD. I haven't been out there since 1999 when my Stepfather Z"L passed away. I hear that I won't recognize the place. I'll be there over Shabbos, so if anyone has any suggestions for shuls, please let me know!

My Grandmother has a BOYFRIEND

No this isn't me in my Halloween costume...

This is my Grandmother. Way back when she came to the United States from China she apparently "fudged" her birth year and so no one knows exactly how old she is but we all guess that she is probably pretty close to 90 years old. She has always been known to be quite the character and she is actually the original "Orieyenta" (bet you don't find that hard to believe after seeing her picture!)

My sister just called me as she was leaving Grandma's house. Apparently Grandma is dating and she has a new boyfriend. Apparently he and Grandma have kissed. Apparently she felt the need to share this information in full detail with my sister (thank G-d it wasn't me!)

You GO Grandma!

(This gives me hope. Perhaps I don't need to take that trip to daven at the kever of Rabbi Yonatan ben Uziel quite yet!)

Happy Birthday JJ

My niece (who I'll refer to as JJ here) turned 2 today.

I called her this morning to sing Happy Birthday to her. Since my sister and I love to hear her "JJ talk" we are always asking her to say things. Today was no exception. (Some of my favourites are "ah-gai-er" for alligator, "dabba doo" for her dog Scooby"and "mel-mo" for Elmo.)

Here's a run-down of our phone conversation:

JJ: Hi Ai Yee (Ai Yee is Chinese for mother's older sister/aunt)

Me: Happy Birthday!

I then started to sing Happy Birthday but JJ paid no attention and just kept saying LO's name over and over. So instead of singing the rest of the song, I resorted to seeing if I could get her to say something funny.

Me: Say happy birthday

She continued saying LO's name

Me: Say alligator

LO's name again

Me: How old are you today?

LO's name again

Me: Say I'm two today

LO's name AGAIN

Me: Say LO's name

JJ: Bye-bye

Oh boy - another comedian in the family.