Friday night, we did the Oneg at Temple. Usually, there are others working with us (well, I should say “with Diane” because she’s the official Oneg person; Jeffrey and I are just assistants), but not this weekend; fortunately, the Bat Mitzvah family provided ample goodies, already on platters, so setting up took far less time than it usually does.

Saturday, we went to the Rensselaer Northern California Alumni Chapter picnic in Palo Alto; the weather was fine, the company good, and the food quite pleasant. The wine was excellent, but I forgot to write down its name. *sigh*

Sunday was Father’s Day; we celebrated by having pizza for lunch and going to see Shrek, which we all thoroughly enjoyed. One of the trailers before the movie was for A. I. — I was intrigued to see some Hebrew on the screen (in red) at the end of the trailer. I couldn’t quite make out the letters in the time I had, so today I looked at the trailer on the computer and dropped the Rabbi at Temple a note asking what was up — she said that the word appeared to be Chochmah, meaning “wisdom” and apparently related to the Kabbalah, which is quite popular in L. A. this year.

I also read the second and third volumes in Harry Turtledove’s Colonization series during the weekend; the third volume leaves very obvious room for yet another sequel (in fact, it demands one), but there’s no “coming soon” at the end of the book or on any of the Turtledove web sites I just looked at. I guess I’ll have to practice patience again.

And I hatched a plot to have a Field Day station at a party we’ll be at next Saturday — I started with a one-line note, and now we’ve got at least four hams involved, two of whom are bringing gear. Our goal is to have a respectable score but not make it too much work!

And then today, I spent all day at work. What more need I say?

Today’s link

Gilbert and Sullivan were right!

Today, Jeffrey finished elementary school (at the end of 5th grade). I don’t remember there having been any kind of ceremony when I finished elementary school, though I did decorate my school dictionary with all sorts of notes saying how many minutes were left in school (starting at about 5 hours and counting down), but that’s not the way it is today.

They started with a school-wide awards ceremony recognizing all the children who were in Glee Club, Student Council, and several other activities; then they sent the primary students back to their classrooms and recognized the fourth and fifth grade honor students. Then the fourth-graders left, and the serious business of the morning began.

Each child’s name was called, and while he or she zipped across the room to pick up a certificate from the principal, the teacher read a paragraph telling a little bit about the student — their favorite subject, favorite moment, and a word or two about what they were looking forward to in middle school.

The whole thing took about 20 seconds, which only gave me time to take two pictures, the other of which was blurry. I hope Diane’s picture came out better.

Then the students went back to their classroom for their last two hours of elementary school, which were taken up by a recess (of course!) and yearbook signings. He’ll see most of the same students next year in middle school, but not one of his best friends.

They’ve been friends since kindergarden — his parents had wangled some sort of intra-district transfer to get him to Alta Vista rather than the elementary school nearest his house, but next year, he’ll go to the middle school near him instead of continuing to commute. I’m sure they’ll stay friends, but it won’t be the same as being friends and classmates.

Every year, the 5th grade class makes tiles

and assembles them into a plaque which is placed on an outside wall as a permanent memento of the class.

I’m not sure how permanent the placement of this particular plaque is, though — this summer, they’re doing major renovations to the school, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find that they’ve moved things around before September.

School let out at 12:30; we walked over, said good-bye to his teachers, picked him up, walked home, and went out to lunch. Later, as we were driving home, we passed the school, and I said, “Hey, Jeffrey — there’s your old school!” He smiled and said, “Yeah, it is!”

Shabbat Shalom!