Four Feasts & a Physical

11:44pm Why am I up? Should gone to bed by now. But this here new fangled computin' machine got me burnin' watchyamacall ...that midnight errl. Been schlepin' all over creation a-singin', a-crackin' jokes & a-shoppin'. Kids are all excited about going to Safta's (Grandma's) house for our annual Hanukkah get together. All the cousins will be there. Then the following day we're having Xmas Eve dinner here with H's family. Then Xmas Day at Nana's house. Mo gifts. Mo dinner. Then Kwanzaa (the next day)...we don't celebrate it...but my bro is takin' me & the little lady to yet another dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant. Looks like four eves of feasting! Got get back on that imaginary treadmill. Or at least pace me self at buffet & dinner tables, before I go for my annual physical. Maybe Santa will bring me a gym membership (right next to my lump 'o coal.)

Anyhoo, it's just great to see the kids getting excited about the holidays...lighting candles, giving gifts to teachers, making cookies, decorating the house, seeing relatives...would be nice if we got some snow.

1st night

1st night of Chanuka! Hannah lit candles. Jonathan enjoyed clapping & attempting to sing "Chanuka, Chanuka" with his bros. I made scallion latkes which totally rocked! Can we ever go back to plain latkes? I don't think so. Well, maybe...if there's a scallion shortage.

Oh, XM has a new channel, XM 108, XM Hanukkah: http://www.xmradio.com/hanukkah/. I checked it out today. Some cool rock-based & klezmer tunes, & some heart-on-your-sleeve, quick-turn-it-off-before-I-platz tunes.

What's the TRUE spelling for Hanukkah, Hanuka, Chanuka?

On an unrelated note, I'm running a contest on my other blog, Indie Kids Rock, courtesy of Trout Fishing In America. Keith & Ezra have autographed 3 CD's & 3 DVD's for a giveaway on my blog. There will be an interview with TFIA there shortly.

10:00pm Just got back from our whirlwind Hanukkah Concert tour of NJ & PA. Two concert in two states on the same day! OK, so the venues were only an hour apart, but the shows rocked! The sound system at JCC in Deal was great, & we got the kids & parents clappin', singin' & rockin'. Later, a private concert for Temple Kol Emet in Yardville, PA was packed with 130+ folks. The kids were jumping out of their skins...too much sugar, I guess. Parents joined in the dancing. We even did Hava Nagilla about as well as any Jewish Wedding Band which is saying something cause we have no clarinet player. Next week we're off to Bridge over troubled Waters, I mean JCC in Bridgewater.

40 !

Yup, I'm official in mid-life. Crisis? No. Just a leather jacket, first tattoo of a Harley saying "Born to Be Wild, Baby!" Kidding, of course. Just another regular day, except for some well-wishers, the b-day song & a home-made cake. Yum. My dad used to say he felt like 18 when he was 40+. I dunno, somehow 18 felt lighter in many ways. Don't mean to complain but there's the beginning of arthritis in one hip, & I aint quite as 'springy' as I use to be. BTW: I share my birthdate with Mark Twain, & Billy Idol. Two notorious pains in the tuchass. What will the next 40 bring?