It's been a crazy couple of days lately, and I'm still trying to catch up with the housework. Marc's great uncle passed away last week and we had the funeral and shiva calls over the weekend. Friday was the funeral, and that was the first Jewish funeral I had ever attended. While the funeral wasn't all that different, at the cemetary, things were VERY different and I was sort of taken aback by it. After the ceremony at the gravesite, everyone drops a little dirt into the grave, with the men in the family working afterwards to cover the casket with dirt. It was hard to watch - and made me realize how far removed we are from the realities of death.
Friday night, we went to the Worcester Ecotarium for their Jazz at Sunset finale. Which was lovely, really. We brought blankets and chairs and a picnic dinner, and sat out under the stars. Well, under the sun, because it was from 6:30-8:30, and the sun doesn't set until close to nine. But it was a really nice night, and I'm sad that it was the last one of the summer.
Saturday morning, we had a yard sale at my mother's house. The kids (with the exception of my little packrat Sam, who insisted that he loved ALL of his toys, and in fact, bought two of Jessica's before I got them into the car) brought down toys that they had outgrown, and we set them up with a lemonade stand. A good time was had by all, and we made enough money for lunch and ice cream, so everyone wins there.
Saturday and Sunday night, we went to Marc's cousin's house in Framingham to pay a shiva call. Marc is extremely literate in Hebrew, and led the prayer services both nights. I thought it was a beautiful tradition, I'm still learning so much about Judaism and it was really nice to be able to be with his family and mourn together. Marc's uncle had diabetes and had suffered so much before his death, it was almost a relief in many ways that his suffering had ended.
Sunday morning, we had gone down to my stepfather's father's house. He had passed away at the end of April and they were cleaning out the house. We found an awesome rowing machine that nobody else wanted and brought it home.
With our new rowing machine in place, we are embarking on a family fitness routine. Last night, we set it up and rowed our little way into oblivion. I'm a little sore this morning, but not too bad, and am now feeling pretty good about this. I'm even considering taking up jogging - now that Julie is almost big enough to sit in the single jogger carriage. Also considering selling the super nice double jogger - it's too heavy for me to easily take out, Sam is way too big for it, and the single jogger works fine.
In other news - Jess is in the shower, Sam is dressed and watching television and Julie is napping. I'm going out this morning with them, either to the park or the library, before it gets too sticky hot out there.
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