Too much

I am feeling lately that there has been too much of everything.

First, snow: Boston is all excited because the City has reached the record snowfall for one season: 108.6 inches – over 9 feet of snow! Here is the snowfall (so far) for some select cities:

US States  and Cities	2010 City Population	2014 – 2015 Snowfall Totals	Normal Season at This Time
Syracuse, New York	145,170	116.0	113.1
Worcester, Mass	181,045	115.6	56.5
Lowell, MA	106,519	114.5	46.3
Buffalo, New York	261,310	109.3	86.4
Boston, Mass	617,594	108.6	38.7
Rochester, New York	210,565	96.1	88.8
New York, New York(Central Park)	8,175,133	42.5	23.9

I included Rochester because that is where Barry and I met and lived for eight years. We still talk about that snow! Clearly, in New York we have had only a fraction of the record Boston snowfall, but getting around has been even more difficult for me than usual. I noticed this morning that I have barely used any of the oxygen tanks from the last delivery.

Second, low temperatures: it has been too cold! The frigid temperatures make breathing a challenge. When Barry goes out to clear even a small area of snow, he becomes short of breath, and I keep telling him that now he can feel how I feel pretty much all the time.

Third, too many senseless killings all over the world. The shootings in New York and other cities and the ongoing hostilities throughout the Middle East are bad enough. But the terrorists (perhaps lunatics is a better word) who will maim and murder anyone who chooses not to follow their particular path leaves me quite afraid. It is simply exhausting to hear of it day after day, week after week, month after month. We may not have to worry about climate change making the planet uninhabitable because there may not be any life here by the time that would happen.  

I have to get out of this thinking, and where better to focus my energy than on Passover preparations? First, we discovered that, not too far from here are two stores we never knew existed anywhere near Riverdale: TraderJoe’s and Amazing Savings (both presumably relatively new).  Shopping at TJ’s in Manhattan is an experience in and of itself. It is unbelievably crowded with a very long line at the check-out. But because few shoppers have a car, and are far too trendy to use what some New Yorkers call “Bubbie carts,” they cannot buy more than they can carry; hence the line moves quickly. The Westchester TJ’s is significantly more civilized.

Before yesterday, our annual Passover shopping at Amazing Savings had involved a trip to either Monsey (an hour north of the city) or Cedarhurst (on Long Island). It is a great place to buy foil pans and really nice paper or plastic disposable plates, but these two stores are incredibly crowded and I always leave there with a headache. What a pleasure to find this store in Westchester – we hope it is there to stay!

So we will be driving a very full car up to Sharon before the holiday. This will be the first year in a while that the Rosenstein 11 (not to be confused with Oceans 11) will all be together for the Sedarim. We plan to have one at each of our daughter’s homes, and then we will make our traditional Passover Pizza and eat cake (chocolate, of course) and sing “Happy Birthday” to Simmie for lunch the second day. Remembering Simmie’s humble beginnings, having been born 12 weeks prematurely on the second day of Passover, is always a good opportunity to stop and appreciate all the blessings we have had.

The one thing I never feel I can purchase in sufficient quantity is holiday clothing for the children. It has been a bit of a challenge this year because the two older girls are in a size range that is more limited than the little girls clothing. Teenage girls are not usually looking for simple, nice dresses. I spent a lot of time looking around on the internet and have ordered quite a bit, so I am looking forward to the upcoming fashion show. Even though Julia has plenty of hand-me-downs, I could not resist getting her some new outfits as well. Of course I am not necessarily expecting them to wear any of this for Passover; it will almost assuredly be too cold and we will remain in our winter clothes.

I know I have mentioned, and those of you who have seen me have certainly commented, that I lost a fair amount of weight during chemotherapy. All my doctors keep after me not to lose any more, and I have been able to stay quite stable. During the spring and summer of 2013, the first year after I finished treatment and lost all that weight, I essentially had to start from scratch and buy a new wardrobe. But I was nervous to spend much because I had no way of knowing whether the weight would come back. Well, it has been 3 years now and I seem to be doing a good job keeping it off, so I decided that this year I could invest a bit more in clothing. After all, I don’t go out all that often so nothing gets worn very much. My goal has been to find things that I really like, nice colors, nice fabrics, and focus on having more interesting things in my closet. So I have not just been shopping for the girls, I have also bought some things for myself, and that has been fun. It helps me look forward to the nice weather which is hopefully ahead.

Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Rebecca