What a weekend
Dec. 15th, 2003 12:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gilanaMy parents have not been to visit me in Boston since my college graduation in 1991. (Well, they dropped me off on the way back from Worcestor as Passover once and came in to see my house, but I don't think 5 minutes counts as a visit.) The choir I'm in was doing a concert of Jewish music on a Sunday this year, instead of our usual Saturday concert, so they decided to come in for the weekend to see and hear me.
My mother's brother lives in West Hartford, CT. My dad likes to be near an Orthodox shul on shabbos, and my mom doesn't see her brother much, so it was decided that we'd spend shabbos there and then come in to Boston Saturday night.
I took a bus in to Hartford and my parents picked me up there. We went back to my uncle's place and were greeted by a herd of tiny dogs; he and his wife have four Japanese Chins. I'm not one for small dogs, but they weren't yappy, and they grew on me pretty quickly. My uncle was amazed that I managed to learn to tell them apart in the times I was there; I think he likes me more now that his dogs have approved me than he did before. :)
We had a nice and restful shabbos, then Saturday night came back here around 9pm. My parents came by my house to see it; I went up first and put my roommate's dog in her room, since my mom is terrified of dogs. (She was a little nervous around the Chin but dealt pretty well; I think it's because she could easily have squashed them underfoot if they attacked.) Luckily, Japhy didn't bark at all so my parents got a good view of my place, which I had FINALLY finished unpacking and decorating in anticipation of the visit.
They went back to the hotel they were staying at, and I called Eric, who was in town from Japan for a few days. There was a DAAM at Rogers Ave, and I really wanted to see Eric but was cold and tired. So I asked if he would come get me. He did -- on his motorcycle, which he pried out of a snowbank and started up. The seat was pretty chilly, but other than that the ride was just insane enough to be really fun. I hung out there for an hour or so, then he took me back home so I could go over my music. I practiced most of the 23 pieces in the program, then finally went to bed some time after 11. I had trouble falling asleep, and my roommate got home around 1 and probably didn't realize I was home, because she wasn't particularly quiet about it. Sigh.
At 8:30 Sunday morning my parents came to pick me up and we drove over to Harvard to see the Harvard Museum of Natural History , including the famous glass flower exhibit. Mom is crazy about flowers, so I thought she'd enjoy seeing that. The whole museum turned out to be really impressive and interesting; I especially enjoy seeing stuffed animals, and getting a better idea of size and interesting little details.
We drove over to Brookline to have lunch with family at Rubins Deli (and I successfully navigated by car, surprising myself no little bit). My cousin Josh and his wife and baby came -- they live in Westford, but I don't see them often. And my dad's cousin Diane and her husband came from Marblehead. Mom has never met Diane, and dad has never met her husband, so it was fun to get to introduce them. We had a delicious lunch (mmm, barbecued ribs), stopped into the Butcherie to get something for dinner and into a few other Jewish stores just so I could show them what we have around here, then came back so I could change for the concert.
By that time the snow was just starting, so instead of dropping me off for my rehearsal at 4 and then coming back for the concert at 7, my parents just stayed at the synagogue the whole time. The rehearsal was exhausting; we went through all 23 pieces in our program, all standing. As we came to one piece I noticed that the arrangers name was Allan Naplan, and it finally clicked that he is the son of my dad's cousin Diane, with whom we had just lunched. Somehow the name didn't occur to me when I was doing the programs.
I was very gratified that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
miss_chance, palmwiz, and kjc007 all made it to the concert, and very happy that my parents had a chance to meet some of my friends. The weather was pretty nasty, and I'm amazed that anyone came at all. The concert itself seemed to go well; it was fun to sing, I didn't make any noticeable mistakes, and the audience seemed to enjoy it. Mom was very impressed, especially when I told her that I was standing between a soprano and an alto singing the other part, and had to just trust myself to sing the right part.
We had a little trouble getting back; we started out right, but missed the exit for Alewife Brook Parkway. But we found signs for Arlington Center, so I managed to direct us back from there. I fell into bed exhausted as soon as I got home. Originally we had planned to do some more sightseeing today, but we decided they might be better off leaving early to take there time getting home in daylight. So I got a call at 9am to say goodbye, and I had already arranged to work from home today so I'm sitting here in my PJs typing this up.
My mother's brother lives in West Hartford, CT. My dad likes to be near an Orthodox shul on shabbos, and my mom doesn't see her brother much, so it was decided that we'd spend shabbos there and then come in to Boston Saturday night.
I took a bus in to Hartford and my parents picked me up there. We went back to my uncle's place and were greeted by a herd of tiny dogs; he and his wife have four Japanese Chins. I'm not one for small dogs, but they weren't yappy, and they grew on me pretty quickly. My uncle was amazed that I managed to learn to tell them apart in the times I was there; I think he likes me more now that his dogs have approved me than he did before. :)
We had a nice and restful shabbos, then Saturday night came back here around 9pm. My parents came by my house to see it; I went up first and put my roommate's dog in her room, since my mom is terrified of dogs. (She was a little nervous around the Chin but dealt pretty well; I think it's because she could easily have squashed them underfoot if they attacked.) Luckily, Japhy didn't bark at all so my parents got a good view of my place, which I had FINALLY finished unpacking and decorating in anticipation of the visit.
They went back to the hotel they were staying at, and I called Eric, who was in town from Japan for a few days. There was a DAAM at Rogers Ave, and I really wanted to see Eric but was cold and tired. So I asked if he would come get me. He did -- on his motorcycle, which he pried out of a snowbank and started up. The seat was pretty chilly, but other than that the ride was just insane enough to be really fun. I hung out there for an hour or so, then he took me back home so I could go over my music. I practiced most of the 23 pieces in the program, then finally went to bed some time after 11. I had trouble falling asleep, and my roommate got home around 1 and probably didn't realize I was home, because she wasn't particularly quiet about it. Sigh.
At 8:30 Sunday morning my parents came to pick me up and we drove over to Harvard to see the Harvard Museum of Natural History , including the famous glass flower exhibit. Mom is crazy about flowers, so I thought she'd enjoy seeing that. The whole museum turned out to be really impressive and interesting; I especially enjoy seeing stuffed animals, and getting a better idea of size and interesting little details.
We drove over to Brookline to have lunch with family at Rubins Deli (and I successfully navigated by car, surprising myself no little bit). My cousin Josh and his wife and baby came -- they live in Westford, but I don't see them often. And my dad's cousin Diane and her husband came from Marblehead. Mom has never met Diane, and dad has never met her husband, so it was fun to get to introduce them. We had a delicious lunch (mmm, barbecued ribs), stopped into the Butcherie to get something for dinner and into a few other Jewish stores just so I could show them what we have around here, then came back so I could change for the concert.
By that time the snow was just starting, so instead of dropping me off for my rehearsal at 4 and then coming back for the concert at 7, my parents just stayed at the synagogue the whole time. The rehearsal was exhausting; we went through all 23 pieces in our program, all standing. As we came to one piece I noticed that the arrangers name was Allan Naplan, and it finally clicked that he is the son of my dad's cousin Diane, with whom we had just lunched. Somehow the name didn't occur to me when I was doing the programs.
I was very gratified that
miss_chance, palmwiz, and kjc007 all made it to the concert, and very happy that my parents had a chance to meet some of my friends. The weather was pretty nasty, and I'm amazed that anyone came at all. The concert itself seemed to go well; it was fun to sing, I didn't make any noticeable mistakes, and the audience seemed to enjoy it. Mom was very impressed, especially when I told her that I was standing between a soprano and an alto singing the other part, and had to just trust myself to sing the right part.We had a little trouble getting back; we started out right, but missed the exit for Alewife Brook Parkway. But we found signs for Arlington Center, so I managed to direct us back from there. I fell into bed exhausted as soon as I got home. Originally we had planned to do some more sightseeing today, but we decided they might be better off leaving early to take there time getting home in daylight. So I got a call at 9am to say goodbye, and I had already arranged to work from home today so I'm sitting here in my PJs typing this up.
