I'm back. The weekend wasn't too bad and more important, I think my mother was
happy with the way things went. I spent almost the whole time eating and sleeping,
the former courtesy of two brunchs and two family dinner outings and the latter
courtesy of a 3AM arrival on Saturday morning, followed by the necessity of
arriving at synagogue at 9. (Yes, we managed to stay awake during the service.
Even Rudder, who had never been to one, and couldn't join the singing or try to
keep up with the Hebrew. He's a veteran of far too many
meetings.)
One thing worries me a bit: I went expecting to hear the
usual chorus of "Oh, Puawleh (how my name is rendered in a NE Philly accent) you
never change!" Instead, the reaction was evenly split between "I haven't seen you
since you were this high ]" (holding a hand about 3 feet off the ground -- these
being people who saw me last when I was at least 17) and "You don't look like a
little girl anymore!" Well, at 36 I should hope not -- but it was amusing to watch
them back-pedal to assure me they didn't mean I look old. I think that may mean I
do look old. Then again, there was one woman there with whom I used to carpool
when we were about 10. I last saw her in junior high or so -- and I thought she
looked old. Good, though.
We got back too late for me to go into work
as I had planned, which is unfortunate since I hadn't wanted to use a vacation
day. On the plus side, I was able to go get a couple of watch batteries changed
and to finally spend a gift certificate that was a late birthday gift --
things I'd been wanting to do for weeks and hadn't had time to do. I tried on a
bathing suit or two, also, but that can only be described as a depressing
experience. Whether or not I look old in a dress, I certainly do in a
bikini!
Almost forgot: there was one exception to the eating/sleeping schedule. We (me,
Rudder, my brother and uncle) did get to the Rosenbach museum, which I had wanted
to visit for years. (Last time I was there and had time, my parents dragged me to
the zoo instead.) The museum, in a gorgeous townhouse on Delancey, was the home
and officeof the the famous bookdealer A.S.W. Rosenbach (mentioned in Nicholas
Basbanes' books and almost anything else I've ever read about serious book
collecting) and his brother Philip, and antique dealer. As you'd expect, it's full
of wonderful Colonial furntiture and some incredible books -- a 1st ed of Don
Quixote, manuscripts of Joyce's Ulysses and parts of Dickens' Pickwick Papers and
Nicholas Nickleby, many incunabula and unique historical papers. Lord Peter Wimsey
would be in his glory.