Happy Rosh Hashana!

Well, we had a great time in New York, even though Drew wasn't there. I have decided that a) Rachel is a wonderful traveling companion; when she needs to get going quickly, she does it without dawdling or complaining; and b) I love traveling alone with her. She was so fun to talk to and be with on the train; she read to herself; she read to me; we both took naps, and on the way back she kept pestering me to give her "hard word problems" and algebra problems.

We all (Drew included) took the Metro in to the District; Drew got off at work (he was heading to a conference in Chicago, which is why he didn't get to come to NYC with us) and Rachel and I got off at Metro Center and struggled to Union Station. We were aided by a very nice woman who insisted on dragging Rachel's suitcase (her backpack was filled with the approximately 3,498 books she has to have on every trip) and getting us exactly where we needed to go, which fortunately turned out to be next to an Einstein Bagel place, so I got breakfast and Rachel got a pumpkin bagel that held her until the end of the train ride.

We got to Penn Station an hour earlier than I had thought our tickets said, so I talked to a guy at a tourist information booth and decided we'd take a cab to the Queens public library in Rego Park, hang out for an hour, change into our fancy holiday clothes and then walk to Darryl and Daniella's apartment. Thank heavens that Daniella offered to have Darryl drive us there because it would have been a long, ugly walk.

We had a delicious dinner with Mom, Dad, Daniella, Darryl and Valerie (who was overjoyed to see Rachel and they immediately changed into their matching Hana Andersen dresses) and cousin Patty who was visiting from Israel. They all left around 10 or so, and by the time the girls got to bed and I got to bed, it was around midnight.

The next day was rainy. We all got up and went to services at Daniella's lovely old synagogue, which is very progressive because they have a children's playroom on the third floor; Rachel and Valerie played, ate some challah and fruit and watched movies while Daniella, Darryl and I stayed downstairs for most of the services (although only Daniella and I listened to the rabbi's sermon, which was great and I'm glad we stayed).

Then I took everyone out to lunch, and got Daniella to promise to take me back, just us, because there is a fabulous drink menu and I was dying to try a flavored martini or two. She treated the girls to frozen yogurt for dessert while I went to a bakery and got some treats for myself and shared with Daniella and Darryl later.

We went home and the girls watched some old, old episodes of "The Electric Company" -- a great reminder of why I can read and count so well, I learned it all from public television -- and then "Dora the Explorer." The contrast could not have been greater. Seriously, the people who created "The Electric Company" must have been on a serious acid trip, even though the show moves at a snail's pace, and "Dora" looks so unimaginative and flat in comparison.

I fell asleep on the couch; Daniella fell asleep on the floor and the girls played in Valerie's room until we all got up and Daniella decided it was time for a refreshing nighttime walk (plus I needed to go to CVS for some hair clips). When we got back, Daniella reheated the previous night's excellent dinner -- chicken, couscous, challah -- and we went to bed.

More later...