(no longer) The Northernmost Jew

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While on this short vacation, I feel like I have to cram in everything I can’t do at home. I went to Shobbos dinner and lunch at Chabad of Anchorage. My friend Nechama had a Chanukah party. I went to the Mensa weekly dinner here, and their New Year’s Eve party. Unfortunately, Mensa did not have a games party this week, and the women’s Tfillah Group did not meet (both occur approximately monthly). I have had pizza and cheesecake with cherry topping and a graham-cracker crust. (I wish I remember which restaurant had this great fettuccini alfredo with smoked salmon.) I can’t watch Desperate Housewives, since I am not up-to-date.
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I am also trying to get what I need to take back. Top on the list is a clock radio with battery backup, so I don’t have to reset the clock every time we lose power, which is approximately once a day. And socks, and a compact-flash so I can return Scott’s to Scott. I got some classical music since falling asleep to classical music is good for my insomnia.
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And I saw a doctor!! I have been coughing up gook for a while. The doctor gave me a prescription.
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Believe it or not, life here went on without me. The mall I used to frequent expanded. My daughter’s kittens grew bigger. Movies went up to $9.25. Dark chocolate M&Ms came and went.
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I spent the first weekend in Anchorage. I went to Chabad for Shobbos meals. They have a very nice couple there who set up a small shul in their basement. A lot of guests show up there in the summer months. On Monday they had a Chanukah party. It was large, with about 500 people. Thy lit an ice menorah (see picture) and had a giant dreidel piñata (se picture). They had a play “The Runaway Latke” (see picture) which bore an amazing similarity to some story I remember about a runaway gingerbread man.
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In Portland, I got to spend time with my daughter. She’s a really good kid. I miss her.
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Nechama had a Chanukah party, so I got to meet up with a lot of friends from Portland.
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John had a New-Year’s-Eve party for Mensa. I miss them. He set of fireworks at midnight. (They are not allowed where he lives, but he invites the fire marshal.) They had dark chocolate M&Ms. I did pretty well in a game of double-elimination-hearts, and a game of Quiddler (a cross between gin rummy and scrabble). I figured I should have some alcohol, since I’m not allowed to have it at home, but I still don’t like most of it. I did have a tiny chocolate bottle of raspberry vodka (the bottle is made of chocolate).
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Max stayed in Anchorage with Stephen while I went to Portland. I had called Alaska Airlines to find out what paperwork Max needed to travel instate, and had that paperwork with me. When I got to the airport to fly back with Max, they said he needed proof of some other vaccine, that is just needed for dogs flying to Nome or Kotzebue. (I have to change airlines in Kotzebue.) Max did have that shot and I had paperwork for it from Schnauzer Rescue when I got him this summer, but I did not have it with me. I figured I could have S.R. fax his paperwork to the airlne, but we couldn’t reach anyone. Finally an Airline supervisor drove me to a vet’s office where Max got a shot, drove me back, and had someone escort me to the front of the security line so I could make my flight.
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Now I am back home and back at work. Vacations are always too short, aren’t they?