Bat Mitzvah Synopsis

I wanted to briefly journal some of my observations and musings about the B'not Mitzvah while they were still fairly fresh in my mind. I'm just going to list things as they pop into my head.

1. The Toe. Of course, the most trivial of matters, but just in case you wondered. When we arrived at the synagogue, I threw caution to the wind, and stuck my foot in the high heels. It hurt, but, surprisingly not that bad. The adrenaline pumped and kept me in those shoes for the rest of the day.
2. The Children. The Bat Mitzvah Girls were perfect in every way. They were behaved with poise and elegance on the bimah, and each completed all of her tasks with perfection.
3. Aunt Wendi. Looked stunning. Cried Buckets.
4. Gran-dad. Presented the Tallit to the girls, and, it was one of the most heartfelt moments of the day.
5. Grandmom. Stunning. I photocopied all of the speeches so she could follow along (since she is hearing challenged). As the girls spoke, I could here her chuckle a few moments before the punchlines were spoken. I'm so glad she got to experience their speeches.
6. Addie. Looked like a princess. When she was called to the bimah to open the ark, she ran up, fast as lighting. She had a slight meltdown at the reception. I think it was all a little much for her. If I had to do it all over again, I might have hired a babysitter to shadow her for the day, just to make sure she was taken care of. So I kind of feel bad about that.
7. My dress. Do you know how a lot of women look at the mirror and see an unrealistic view of themselves,(ie, they think they're really fat, but they are really not). Apparently, I have the opposite problem. I thought the dress looked nice, and I felt good about myself. I just saw the video, and eeeeeek, not so good. I think I was a Glamour Don't, and in the end, I'm very unhappy with my dress. My legs, according to my mom, however, looked good. I'll get over it, I think, what can I do now?
8. The Weather. March in the Northeast can be many things. Snow, springlike or somewhere in between. Of course we worried a lot about snow. What we forgot to worry about were monsoons. And we had one. It began around sundown Friday night, and lasted until sundown Saturday. So essentially the entire 24 hours of festivities. We managed well, however, when leaving the synagogue on the way to the reception, the rain came sideways under the protective awning area. My hair was destroyed. It also delayed us from getting to the reception and I'm pretty sure we lost a good 45 minutes of our cocktail hour.
9. The Cocktail Hour. The biggest disappointment. The food and drink were plentiful and tasty (I think) , but I requested that all 135 kids be separated from the adults for this one part of the event. Though I was assured that this would happen, it didn't. Again, can't do anything about it now, but I'm very disappointed.
10. The Decor. My heart skipped a beat when I walked into the reception room. It looked beautiful. I had made all the centerpieces, and they looked great. We also had a huge sign made professionally with the letters HC/SC (the girls initials), in the style of the AC/DC logo. It's now in my basement, and I'm not sure what to do with it :)
11. The Wii. My dear friend (the Ethel to my Lucy), worked her magic and gifted my family with a Wii system. I am now a Guitar Hero addict. Addison has mastered bowling, and I think Wii tennis is my favorite new activity.
12. Afterwards. We had out-of-towners, family and neighbors join us for a casual supper at the house. We also had 20 of the girls camp friends sleep over. That was probably too much. I was tired.
13. The Wine. I drank too much of it. Probably because I wanted to dull the big toe pain. I also forgot to eat. I was too excited. I didn't behave like a sloppy drunk, thankfully, but I kind of don't remember a good deal of the day. Ooops.
14. The Hora. Though I requested no chair-lifting for me, somehow, I went up. We watched the video and my daughter pointed out that I forgot to cross my legs. Who knew there was Hava Nagila etiquette. The last time I was up on a chair was my wedding day, and I had a long gown on. Oooops again.
15. My husband. Love him. Love him. Love him.
16. The Stomach Thing. Apparently, there was a fair number of people who attended who suffered from diarrhea and/or vomiting a couple days after the event. It didn't seem to be food poisoning, but rather a virus that made it's way through the crowd. I feel really bad about that one. Oooops again.
17. The Guests. I couldn't stop hugging people. Seeing everyone you know and love in one room is the most incredible feeling. And you know how usually a few people don't show up at the last minute? Not one No Show in the bunch. NOT ONE! Everyone was so gracious and seemed happy to be there. That was the greatest gift of all.
18. The End. That's it. I'm sure there is more that I forgot to write about, but as far as discussions about March 8, 2008...it is being officially put to rest.

Thank you for your patience!!! We will now be resuming our normal life.