Home Sweet Home

It is so incredibly fabulous to be home - I can't even sufficiently put it into words. (Even if we can't pinpoint where home is, exactly.) In the two weeks since we've been back in the United States, we have spent time in Delaware, Washington, DC, New York City, and Florida, squeezing in quality time with friends and family, doctors' appointments, and job interviews. We have greedily devoured all things good about American culture: shopping at great American stores like Filene's and Walmart, eating authentic NY bagels, drinking Starbucks coffee, getting super-cheap NY mani/pedis, devouring kosher meat and fresh, yummy summer fruits, etc. etc. And like Matt said in his last post, it's great to be among our own, able to communicate freely and without boundaries.

Our first night at home (at David and Jen's house), from left top: Alyson's dad Jay, Matt, Alyson's mom Bryna, Alyson and our niece Hannah

We know we've been bad about posting to the blog, so I hope today's post starts to make up for it. Let me start by saying, NO, we still don't know where we'll be living. Right now the front runners are DC and Cleveland, but that might change at a moment's notice if I get a job offer in Philadelphia or Matt's lead in Miami pans out. Alas, our lives are still very much being lived out of suitcases.

Hanging out with some girlfriends in Washington, DC, from left: Becky, Miriam, me, Jill and Deborah

A few highlights of our last two weeks:

Our first Shabbat back was a perfect transition back home. We had Michael Farbman (the rabbi from Shaarei Shalom), his wife Olga Marcus and their two young boys over for a casual Shabbat dinner at my parents' house in Delaware. Eating outside, while the boys swam, with our new friends from Petersburg was admittedly a bit surreal, but lovely nonetheless. The following morning was a big brouhaha at my parents' synagogue. Mind you, Matt and I are minor celebrities, returning from our big adventure to save the Jews of the world. Matt read the haftarah and I gave an introductory talk, which I'll post online soon (I promise). In addition to our big moment in the spotlight, there was also an auf ruf for the educational director and his soon-to-be wife. And, if that was not enough to celebrate, my brother and sister-in-law were called to the Torah to name their newborn daughter, Abigail Sophie (Avigail Leah, in Hebrew). All in all, it was a spectacular homecoming Shabbat, replete with lots of family time.

With our nieces, Abigail (on Matt's lap) and Hannah (on my lap)

Between interviews, we've had a few moments of vacation-like bliss. Take this week, for example. We came to the Orlando area to spend time with Matt's family. On Thursday, we spent the day shopping at the outlets with Matt's sister Sharon and his Aunt Francine who is visiting from Minneapolis. That night, we drove up to The Villages, where Matt's mom recently moved. It is heaven on earth. A planned community for people over 55, The Villages is like camp for active seniors. There is constant organized activity -- from Mah Jongg to painting to line dancing -- at all hours of the day. Since we got here, we've played ping-pong, gone swimming, taken a tour of the community, driven to and from Gainesville, and even attended Shabbat services at the New Jewish Community at Temple Israel. We even learned a new sport called pickleball, which is a blend between tennis and ping pong. And we've been rolling around town in Barbara's golf cart, pretending like we are cool enough to live here.

BBQing with Matt's siblings, from left: me, Matt, Sharon and Ethan

Tomorrow we are off to South Florida for a few days to see my cousins and for some more interviews. As of late, our lives have been so full and busy that we keep forgetting that we are unemployed! Having this much fun seems like a full time job -- and hopefully, some day soon, we'll have one of those, too!