RIP Rudy

I'm still trying to absorb this news myself - our sweet cat, Rudy, died this morning, quite unexpectedly. He was clearly sick when I saw him this a.m., and luckily Larry was off today and was able to take him to the vet. But he died right after they got there, of heart failure. He was 15 years old (or would have been, next month), and never a svelte figure. He was undoubtably sick in the last day or two, but he's so mellow and unobtrusive, I hadn't noticed. I'm so glad he went quickly and didn't suffer, but I wish I'd had a chance to give him some extra TLC before he left us for good. He was always a sweet cat, but he's gotten a lot less attention since we had Caleb and then Alana and then Roxy (our dog). Please have a kind thought for him today as he journeys to a better place where he gets scratched and petted around the clock and his world is full of cantalope (which he loved) and cat treats.

We're baack!

Back in this hemisphere but not in NY - first, a short side trip to see the grandparents in NJ for the weekend. The trip to AZ was mah-velous. Gorgeous weather and the plane trip was pretty painless too. Saw my sister's kids (22 and 24 years old, as hard as that is to believe) and of course my brother's ADORABLE new baby (picture the Gerber baby, only cuter), and his darling daughter (age 4). I'll send photos when I get home.

More snow

This morning on the ABC morning show, I saw Sam Champion, their weather man, broadcasting from "outside Syracuse," but he was 30 miles outside Syracuse. Up there, they've gotten over 60 inches of snow this week. I think we've gotten two inches. Every time it snows up there, they get at least a foot of snow! Larry spent the last two nights in Watertown and will probably be there overnight again tonight (Wednesday). But the snowfall in Watertown has been typical, maybe 6-8 inches each time it snows. It's the area between Watertown and Syracuse that gets the serious "lake effect" snow (defined as 7 inches in an hour), so the roads get closed and he can't travel. We expected problems, but this is fairly unusual. We're also experiencing what they call a "polar vortex" which is sending the cold Canadian air down into our area. It's been *freezing* here (it hasn't been above 32 degrees in over two weeks), even when it wasn't snowing.

The attached picture is the view out my kitchen window and it gives me an immediate read on our snow accumulation. What's there now is a 6 inch snowfall from 2 weeks ago (that never melted), topped by about 3 snows in the last week, of about 1 inch each.

Anyway, in case you lost track, Larry's restaurant opens Monday, February 12th, so this week is super important and super busy for him, even without the crazy weather. The "dress rehearsal" is this Friday and Saturday night. If the weather cooperates, I'm planning to take the kids up on Saturday evening.

Gotta run take Roxy to the park. We've only missed one day in the last month. She doesn't seem to care about the weather at all, though her fur is very short. Me, on the other hand, I have to bundle up - two pairs of socks, etc! Stay warm!

Larry's birthday

The party for Larry's BD yesterday (our first real party in Syracuse) was a great success. The attached photos show Alana helping to decorate the cake on Saturday night (Larry and Caleb were at the hockey game!) and Larry blowing out his BD candles with a little help . . .

I am employed!

I got a call from the Anesthesiology Dept (at SUNY's Upstate Medical University) this morning and they offered me the job at a much higher salary than I thought I would be getting. I'm in shock! I have to wait to hear from the dept Admin Asst re when I will actually start. But I am finally rejoining the workforce, 6 months and 13 days (so far) after leaving it. I have to thank everyone for all the encouragement over these many long months!

Finally, snow!

January 11, 2007

After weeks of mild weather, we got hit with some of that famous "lake effect snow" Tuesday night and Wednesday, enough so that schools in the area were closed on Wednesday. Caleb looks unhappy in this photo, but that's just how the camera caught him - he had a blast, outside several times yesterday, despite very chilly temperatures.

Happy New Year to all!

Caleb was off school last week and Alana stayed home from daycare every day except Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday I took Caleb and his friend across the street, Phillip, to see Night at the Museum (cute movie - we all laughed, though at different things). We went to McDonald's a couple of times and to the Science Museum once. I considered going to the children's museum in Rochester (The Strong Museum), but decided I didn't want to drive all that way (and the weather was iffy that day). We'll have plenty of chances to get there.


Larry was off Sunday and Monday both weekends, so we saw more of him than we have in a long time - he's been working 6 days a week since September. He started working up in Watertown a couple of weeks ago. The opening date of his restaurant was moved up from March to February 12, so he's been very busy (the mild weather helped the construction get finished early). But it seems to be going well, he's not freaking out yet. They've hired over 100 people already (out of a total of 180 that they'll need to open). Because of the mild weather, the commute has largely been painless (so far!) He quit smoking (again!) on New Year's Day, so if you talk to him, encourage him to keep it up.


The kids wish there was snow, so they could go sledding. We only had one minor snowfall early in the week, but it melted within a couple of days. We had fun taking Roxy for walks at the park on the (mostly) nice days that we had both holiday weekends. In general, it's been a really mild winter here, as it has all over the east coast. It's 50 degrees today, which is really crazy, but it's gorgeous.


We had pretty low key holidays. The kids got lots of small gifts (they're young enough that they're still happy with that), and we ate lots of latkes - at home, at the Hanukkah party at the synagogue, and at a Hanukkah party that my neighbor had (I made all the latkes for that).

We went over to my neighbor's house for New Year's - the kids ran around and the adults played Songburst, a song lyric game that my sister gave Larry years ago (unfortunately, Larry stayed home and went to bed early that night b/c he was very hard hit with some persistent cold that we've all been fighting all week). The New Year's party was very low key and fun. Now it's back to the routine - everyone back in school. I've finally gotten some good news on my job search - the Anestheisology Dept at the Medical Univ is looking for a research coordinator and have all but offered me the job. But things are delayed by bureacracy, so it's not actually settled yet. But it's the closest I've come to actually being gainfully employed, so I'm pretty hopeful right now. At this rate, I hope to be working by the time Larry's restaurant opens.

I'm attaching a couple of pictures from Hanukkah and the one snowy day photo that we've gotten.


My favorite cute kid quote of the holiday - we all spent the day together on Dec 24 for the first time in a long time, and when we sat down for dinner Caleb said, "What are we going to talk about - we already know what everyone did today." I thought that was hilarious. You'll be happy to know that we muddled through, conversation-wise!


Hope your new year is filled with health and happiness.

Love fromThe Gang in NY