Weekend in NJ

Last Saturday, my mom was honored by the Women's Commission of Salem County for her contributions to the community and for her perserverance in the face of numerous setbacks, physical and emotional. She thought I wasn't going to be able to make it to the luncheon where she'd receive her "Woman of the Year" award, but at the last minute Maggie, Panda, and I drove down and surprised her. (Apparently she had no idea, but some of her friends and family suspected I would show up. How could I not go? If my dad hadn't taught me the importance of taking time out from work for family before he died (and he surely did), then I certainly know how important that is by now.)

Here's a rough outline of the weekend, with some flip video footage as primary source evidence: 

We arrived Friday late afternoon, made homemade mac'n'cheese for dinner, watched Milk and went to bad. Saturday morning Maggie and I took Panda and Sophie to the Rec Field, where we met Allison and her beagle Sadie. The dogs had a great time, despite the crazy wind. We brought a stick for Panda to fetch, and Sadie turned out to be a fan as well. 

The luncheon at which my mom would be honored started at noon, and there was a big crowd in attendance, including (from left to right): Maggie, Carla, Susan, Brenda, Bill, Sandi, Cathy, and Chris.

After a teary introduction by Brenda Hall (wife of the Woodstown mayor), my mom accepted the honor of her selection as Woman of the Year with a brief but poignant speech:

After the luncheon, the Bernstein/Solomon side of the family reconvened at my mom's house, and I spent a lot of time playing with my cousins Josh, Sam, and Jacob. Here's the latter, spelling his name (but not my own) and singing a selection from Fiddler on the Roof.

Before Jacob sings, you'll see my mom and Sophie, Jacob's zedah (my uncle) Bill, Jacob's dad Ethan, the back of Bill's wife Brenda, my cousin David, and Jacob's mom, my cousin Sandi.

Josh and Sam showed off their karate skills.

Saturday night, we went to see Bubbe. She wasn't feeling up to attending the luncheon earlier in the day, but she did have a fun story to tell us about when she was pregnant with my dad.

After we left Bubbe's, we picked up dinner at Rushes, went home and watched Changeling, then skyped with Maggie's mom Dimi for a while. That was first time she had met my mom - success!!

Sunday morning my mom donated cuttings from some of her perennials for our new front yard garden, and we drove back to Somerville. Fun times!