Jeff got his first semester report card today, and we’re all pretty happy about it.

I couldn’t help noticing one big difference between the kind of teacher feedback he gets from Kehillah and what he got from public school (especially since I found his middle school report cards this morning). Here’s a comment on today’s report card:

To say that Jeff has had a lot to do this semester would be an understatement. He plays three roles in Tartuffe, including the title role — this has been quite a task, but one I truly believed Jeff was up for. And he has not let me down (or anyone else, for that matter). His work is very good and he is doing things that show his growth as both an actor and a comedian. As he is the President of Mish-Mosh, this is a very cool thing….

Compare that to a typical comment from his public school report card:

Gd. beat; can dnc to it.

Today’s my Mom’s birthday. Although I guess it’s probably more accurate to call it the “anniversary of her birthday”, since she stopped accruing birthdays last April.

And I’ve been acutely aware of the significance of the date all day — ironically, one of the things I’ve done today is work with my brother on planning her unveiling, which will be a very small event. He talked with the Rabbi in Richmond about it and was told that it would only be 15 minutes long, which matches the 15 hours or so of round-trip travel time that would be required over the space of three days.

I could hear my Mom’s voice telling me “don’t be silly!” (well, she wouldn’t have worded it exactly that way!), and I think I may listen. She’ll still be there later this year when we can make a real trip to Richmond with time for visiting and sightseeing and all that good stuff (and if she’s not still there, well…..).