Just popping in to say hi

Hellooooooo everyone. Or anyone who's still reading after I sadly abandoned my little bloggy for the past month. I've been pretty busy this past month, what with the chagim, a family simcha in the making (to anyone who doesn't know what that's about--no, I'm not engaged, nor am I dating, thank you for not asking), lots of traveling and fun times and not so fun times and everything in between. I guess I'll just summarize the past few weeks so you'll know what fun you missed in my life. :)

R"H was a blast (thanks again to SerandEz!), the davening was amazing and the company was highly entertaining. I'm not even sure I'm allowed to have that much fun on R"H. And of course, motza"sh playing Boggle until 4 AM was highly entertaining as well, even though I didn't stand a chance of winning with SJ playing.

Y"K was intense but good. The place I davened at only had a 15-minute break the whole day (well, there was also a 10-minute break for those of us who are b"H still able to leave for Yizkor), and davening started very early (7? 7:15? I don't remember anymore) but it was good. I like places where there's no (or at least minimal) talking in shul.

The first days of Sukkot were spent in Lakewood Ir HaKoidesh, visiting various families I've gotten to know there over the course of several years. It was especially nice that every family I went to was disappointed that I would only be there for a short while and asked when I'd be coming again (and hoping it would be soon!). It's nice to feel welcome and wanted. :)

During Chol Hamoed, I went to a friend's l'chaim, went to work (blah), and spent time doing other various fun things like getting ready for the upcoming simcha and eating in the sukkah of a fancy restaurant.

And Shmini Atzeret/Simchat Torah was spent at home in "Montana" with my family, who up until then had been sorely neglected this holiday season (if you couldn't tell from my itinerary). We had many guests, hakafot were fantastic (the women dance in my shul, which is much more fun than watching the men IMO), new friends were made, and in general a good time was had by all.

Now it's back to the grind, working and such. I'd say that now I can relax, but with various things going on, as well as the aforementioned simcha looming, I'm not going to be able to breathe until November. C'est la vie. I'll try not to go for a whole month without posting again, but no promises.