Else what's a heaven for?

Yeah, I know I'm posting this after the holiday is over. My Internet was down for 2 weeks and as you will see in this tale, the short week was busy.

Fri night I had a date with Jane & Julian. We went to Casa La Femme, an Egyptian restaurant in the west West Village. The drinks were fantastic and the food was good. I've also come to the conclusion that belly dancing places are an awful lot like strip clubs: it's all about scantily clad women interacting with the men and getting the female customers to act slutty. But also entertaining! I should hang out with J&J more often.

I didn't get nearly enough done on Sat, partly bc I was tired, but also bc I love lying on my couch and did you know you can get Bewitched for free on Crackle, a Roku channel? Unfortunately they have the inferior colorized versions of season 1, but it's fascinating to see the original premise for the show, social commentary through the lens of mild fantasy. Fun stuff and it's funny seeing how unliberated Samantha was back then. And she wore eyeliner and gloves!

Sun we went climbing at the sketchiest gym I've ever been to. I pointed out breaks in active ropes and one of the grigris didn't seem to be catching, yet the staff didn't seem to be perturbed. I think part of the problem is they have no local crags, so they are people who work in a climbing gym, not climbers who are aware of the risks. aiyee.

Still, they have some very roofy routes and a wall with a layback! and I got to hang out with TWH and then she took me to an REI bc she doesn't know better she loves me and the guy adjusted my pack so it fit perfectly and I bought a water bottle parka, a replacement prussik cord, and some food for my upcoming expedition. And then we had a nice long drive home, bc car time is quality time. I conned her into sleeping over, so I got cuddles too! and then we got tea and scones for breakfast. Clotted cream and cookies may not cure a broken heart, but they can't hurt.

Getting to my cousin's house in Teaneck for seder was irritating, mostly bc the car companies were too busy and have outsourced their order system to India, but eventually we got there. Bbro had a business trip, so the division of labor was I got the car, my sister got presents, and Lbro footed the bill. And it was pretty funny listening to him ball someone out on our way there: I still can't get used to the fact that he's a manager. I'd been looking forward to the two nights of Passover to benchmark how the family dynamics are working these days, but between Bbro not being there and having Lbro's gf there the second night, I don't think I got a very good reading. I got into an argument with my older cousin before things started bc he might work in IT, but he is so very wrong on security. Our host took forever with the seder, even though his kids were much quicker this year, and I was exhausted when I got home.

And then we had to do it again the next night, except this time, I turned up at Bbro's apt and we waited 1.5hrs for him to turn up, bc we couldn't really start the seder at his apt without him. He was fuming about a dire situation at work, but at least I got to know his gf better? Also, my father's in the early stages of glaucoma, so everyone agreed I should run the service. We did all my favorite bits, we didn't do the irritating bits, and I got to order Bbro to do the kiddush (we girls had to help him). My sister claims she's never done the 4 questions before, so that was pretty funny too. (The 6yos the night before were better.) If memory serves, we got it done in 45mins. Go me. Dinner was good, I acquired leftovers, and went home - to pack for my upcoming trip. *le sighs* At least expedition packing is old hat now, hm?