A commercial interruption

Today didn’t go quite the way I expected it to. We slept far better than the night before (thanks to my brother for stopping the clocks!), and I thought we’d get a fairly early start and spend the day at my Mom’s apartment.

But when I went to pour myself a second cup of coffee, I didn’t stop soon enough and got the grounds — and then my sister-in-law gave me the terrible news that they were out of coffee (this might explain why she asked me to pick up some while I was out shopping yesterday). This called for decisive action — and only twenty minutes later, we were en route to Starbucks. And then a quick trip to the supermarket. And then back to my brother’s house.

So we got to Mom’s apartment just before noon…and left an hour later, en route to a campus tour of the University of Richmond — we’re hitting various colleges on this trip, chosen mostly because they’re there rather than because they’re likely to be places Jeff is interested in. But so far, both schools have had personal connections — Diane went to Hofstra as an undergraduate, and I had won a scholarship to U of R on the WRNL-University of Richmond Scholarship Quiz, but I chose to go to RPI instead. U of R is a very pretty campus (probably prettier now than when I was in high school), and it was a good day for a tour. I got distracted, though, because our housesitters called me and told me that we had had a bad leak in the utility room; apparently the shutoff valve for the washing machine gave up the ghost. Fortunately, they caught it early and kept any water from leaking into the rest of the house, and have even arranged for a plumber to fix it before we get home — but I’m sure glad we had someone taking care of the house.

After the tour, we made our other planned stop for the day: Dave’s Comics and Silly Ass Toys. Jeff picked up his monthly order, as well as a few other comics, and then we spent a while in the backroom, talking.

I was planning to go back to Mom’s place, but in the meantime, my niece had gone over there, so we went back to my brother’s house instead. And then to dinner, and by the time we’d finished, she was tired (and so were we!), so we decided not to go anywhere. Tomorrow will be another day, right?

Why is this night different from all other nights?

Tonight, we had Seder at my brother’s house; the company was good and the food was delicious. And in honor of the holiday, I am going to give my son the rest of today’s space, as he shares…

Jeff’s Four Passover Questions

On all other nights we don’t open the door because bugs will get in. Why on this night do we open it for someone we can’t see or expect to show up?

On all other nights we don’t sit around for a long time before dinner starts, instead being on the computer until it’s ready. Why on this night are we here so early?

On all other nights the TV’s on during dinner. Why on this night, why are we falling behind on our watching?

On all other nights when we are asked questions we just answer “fine,” no matter what it is or how many there are. Why on this night why do we only get asked four, which we don’t need to answer with any words?

Happy Passover!