Dinner at Sam's

So I went to 'Shabbat' dinner at Sam's last night. It was pretty chill. It was really funny how Sam’s Aunt Lisa kept trying to set up Julie, Sam’s sister, with one guy or another. If only I would have known that she was looking for a man – I would have stepped up my game. She’s super cute. The age difference doesn’t bother me. I would say I’m probably manlier than Sam, and he just had a “becoming a man ceremony.” Now explain that one to me.

As for the food, Sam was so right. His mother is an amazing cook; the food was really good. Lots of Jewish dishes. No clue what they were, but I smiled and tried a little bit of everything, and enjoyed every bite. The brownies were delicious too, but they would have been even better with some milk. It must be rough having to eat brownies without milk all the time!

Tony's First Shabbat

Tony joined the family for Shabbat dinner last night. I’m really glad he came. It seemed like he had a good time. He is really a funny character. During the meal when Aunt Lisa was trying to set up Julie, Tony turned to me and said, “Tell Aunt Lisa that I’m available.” Tony’s a really nice guy, but Aunt Lisa is trying to find Julie a JEWISH boy. She’s quite good at picking non-Jewish boys on her own. Plus, we are 13 and Julie is 22. That should say enough.

Also, I felt kind of bad that I couldn’t give him milk to go with his brownie. I mean, I guess I could have because he doesn’t keep kosher, but I didn’t think it would be appropriate since we keep kosher and we were eating a flashic meal. Dad tried to explain the laws of kashrut and its purpose. For example, we were able to eat those brownies after a flashic meal because they were parve. But I’m sure it was confusing to him. I can only imagine. I could tell mom was feeling kind of uncomfortable with the situation too. With all the food she prepared, he asked her for the one thing she could not give him. Awkward! Poor mom!

But I think Tony really enjoyed himself and I tried to reassure mom that it was fine. He asked if we had dinners this big every night. Mom said she would love it if we did but that it was too hard to arrange it with each family member having a different schedule. Tony kind of ignored her answer and continued by asking each member of the family how much he/she exercised each day in order to avoid obesity.

TGIS!

So the rest of the world says TGIF. But in my house, we say TGIS – “Thank G-d it's Shabbat.” No doubt it’s my favorite day of the week. It’s that one time each week I don’t have to beg the kids to come home so we can have dinner as a family. I don’t even have to try to bribe them by telling them that I made their favorite dishes. When it’s Shabbat, they know family time is on the agenda.

Boy do I love cooking for shabbas – especially when all my kids are home. Sam’s friend Tony is even visiting. He is one of Sam’s cross-country friends. Sweet boy, tall boy, so I am sure he can eat. I love feeding people, well of course I do. I mean I am a Jewish mother, after all. And I’m pretty sure I fit the part. And, tonight is going to be extra special because Julie is coming home. I’ve been begging her all semester, but she keeps telling me it’s a schlep. I can’t wait for her to bring home a nice Jewish boy. She tells me to leave her alone, but I can’t help it…..time is ticking!

Tonight for shabbas dinner we are starting off with my matzo ball soup – one of Julie’s favorites. But before that, we get to enjoy grandma’s delicious homemade challahs – one plain and one chocolate chip. My mouth is already watering. I’m also making salad, gefilte fish, some corn kugal, kreplach, shakshouka, sautéed vegetables, schnitzel, and chicken. And an assortment of homemade parve desserts: brownies, ice cream, rugelach, etc. I sure hope we have enough food!!

Going to Sam's?

So Sam invited me to a family dinner this coming Friday. I said sure, why not. I don’t have anything planned yet. I’ve heard his mom is a good cook. And I’m always game for free food. I hope it will be a chill evening : /

The talk..

So I am walking around my college campus, hanging out with friends. Boy do I love being a senior. Yes it is Friday and I should be getting ready for Shabbas. I am sure I will be getting the pre-Shabbat call from mom momentarily, telling me to keep my eyes pealed for a nice Jewish boy at Shul tonight. Sorry mom. I have a slightly different agenda in mind; I really want to go out.

I did, at one time, try to appease her and TRY to look for a nice mensch at Hillel with the rest of my friends. But I found that tiring. Did you know that all of the boys that go to Hillel are friends? It really was not a good cycle for me.

Ring ring! Uh oh. There goes my phone. "Good Shabbos Mom. Yes. No. No, mom I have not found a husband yet. Ughhh. No, please do NOT let Aunt Lisa set me up." Here we go again. "So mom, how was your day?" You probably could have guessed that she didn’t bother to answer my question with more than one word plus thank you honey. "No, I do not want to see your friend's, cousin's son, Larry. He sounds like a dweeb. Okay mom, I will talk to you later, have a good weekend. I love you too."

Finally, it is time to go out. My friends, Rachel and Tamar, walked to my place to get ready. We all went through very similar experiences throughout college. Well, not exactly, but we all came to the same conclusion: 'be happy now, find a guy later.'

I mean Syracuse is only filled with so many men. Chances are we will each find a good one, eventually. If he is Jewish, that’s great for mom. But if he is not studying medicine, law, or business, then, according to Jewish law, I must kick him to the curb.

It has always been the same dilemma: listen to my family, or do what I want?

Post- Bar

I just had my Bar Mitzvah. You know, the time when I am supposedly becoming a 'man.' The time when everybody is so proud of me. At least my parents, and Bubbie and Zadie and all the other old folks are proud of me. Afterall, I did do a good job reading from the Torah, if I may say so myself. But to be honest, I have never felt so unsure of myself. Oh joy. Hell, the party was the talk of the class for about a day, if that. But seriously, I was hoping to gain more attention, preferably from people in MY generation.

I have been the class geek for as long as I can remember. I rarely associate with the ‘in crowd’ other than when one of them tries to use me. But I saw my Bar Mitzvah as my only hope for a breakthrough. You know, 'becoming a man', being able to start new and fresh, not being judged. But most of all, I was hoping to attract the attention of the prettiest girl in school. But nahh. That was just wishful thinking. All I got from Sara was 'Mazel Tov Sam. We had a great time this weekend.' I know she was just being polite. She is with Bobby, the school jock who erks my nerves and picks on me to no end. How could she even talk to a boy like him?!

Sara is the most beautiful girl in the class. And of course she is Jewish. She always wears her light brown hair in a braid and she is always writing in her journal. I wonder what she writes about in there. Probably Bobby. He is the most annoying kid on the face of the earth. If I had the baseball team to back me up I would totally get back at him. But I don't. I have the cross-country team. Hey, at least I am good at something

I am pretty tight with the dudes on the cross-country team. I wonder what they thought about my Bar Mitzvah and what they think of Bobby. They are a bunch of Italians, so I am sure they loved the food and dancing. Maybe I will invite them to dinner at my house; hopefully one of them has a sister I can take to the 8th grade dinner-dance. I seriously have to stop thinking about Sara.