cheesecake, "W", torrential rain, christmas and teenagers

Quietn night Friday. Both girls went to the high school pep rally and no one needed a ride from Mommy.





Saturday was Homecoming. Usually there's a parade at 10 AM, followed by the class skits and presentation of the court at 11 and the game at 1, with a big halftime show, and the announcement of the winners of the skit contest and the king and queen at the end of the game. But the weather didn't cooperate, so they cancelled the parade and held the skits in the gym at noon. Becca wanted to see the skits, and came home before halftime. Jen wanted to hang with the cheerleaders, and she skipped the skits but went to the game.



It was a little weird for me not to go to Homecoming this year. As a cheerleader, Jen was always in the parade and at the game. The dance team dances during halftime, and Becca was on the team for two years. And Becca was in the skit for two years as well. But she's no longer on dance team and she didn't have time to do the skit. So there was no reason for me, as a parent, to be there.



Saturday night....Becca had plans with her friend J, who lives in Smithtown, and P, who lives in Arkansas but was visiting her father who lives in Commack. The three girls planned to meet a fourth friend, a boy who lives in Patcheogue, at the Chili's in Holtsvile. She hoped I'd pick up the othr girls and drive them to Holtsvile, P's parents would take all three girls back to their house for a sleepvoer. But I had plans for the evening, so Jen wound up driving the girls. I was so happy she volunteered, I want her to learn a little more self reliance. they got directions from Mapquest, and Jen has a GPS prpgram in her cell phone, o even though they got a little lost on the way to the restaurant, they persevered and didn't panic. Jen found her way home no problem, and spent the rest of the evening with her boyfriend, D.



So, MY plans....I met my friend K at Cheesecake factory. couldn't believe the Fortunoff's Mall was already decorated for Christmas! We had a couple of drinks at the bar before our table was ready. Times must be tough; instead of just bringing us a basket of bread, the waitress asked us if we wanted it -- of course we did, and the butter too. K ordered a farfalle pasta dish, and I ordered Bang Band Chicken and Shrimp. the waitress quizzed me on my likes and dislikes "do you like coconut? Curry? Spicy food?" before she realized I'd eaten the dish before and knew exactly what I was ordering. they put enough food on the plate to feed an army, I took half my dinner home (and my date appropriated it, but that's OK, I like to see him enjoy things.) (anyone who reads the unDIS on yuku understands that last reference.)



then came dessert. K wanted the pumpkin cheesecake, and was very disappointed when she learned that the pumpkin hadn't defrosted yet. She wound up with caramel cheesecake, but ordered a slice of pumpkin "to go" when she ordered cheesecake for her husband and children.



I, on the other hand, had the most decadent dessert -- the Godiva chocolate cheesecake. It was so rich I couldn't finish it, though I did eat every bit of the whipped cream.



Next was the movies. We'd planned to see The Secret Life of Bees, but by the time we got to the movie theater ...well, the movie started 15 minutes beofre we got there, and at $10 a pop I want to see the whole movie, KWIM? So we wound up seeing W, Oliver Stone's sarcastic view of our current President. Frankly, I could have lived without seeing "George" in his tighty whities, and even though I thought the portrayals of the major players were realisitc, I didn't hink it was a great movie.



Though considering the real-life drama of Bees star Jennifer Hudson, I'm not sure I would have felt comfortable in that movie.



Came out of the movie to a torrential rainstorm, made the driving so much "fun" -- street flooding is not my idea of a good time. And there was a tree down on my street.



And of course, with a daughter who drives, I was worried ....though as it turns out, Jen didn't drive, her boyfriend did, and he didn't bring her home until after the storm had passed.



Busy day today, too. Had to pick up Becca at P's house. Then I headed over to the temple for Mitzvah Day -- that's the day the Social Action Committee does various projects. We collect books for Israel -- Israeli schools are mandated to teach English, but the government doesn't fund the mandate, so Americans have to send books to the school libraries. We collect used clothes, etc. for a local outreach center. We make get well cards for patients in Hadassah Hospital in Israel. And we prepare toiletry kits for homeless people housed in temporary shelters.



Of course, the morning was not without its drama, sometimes I feel like I'm back in high school.



I took some photos, and I'm going to write up an article for the temple newsletter.

As Mitzvah Day was wrapping up, Becca sent me a text...she and her boyfriend M were at IHOP and needed a ride back to our house, M's arents had driven them to IHOP and would piick up M at my house. She modeled her new costume for M, since she won't see him on Halloween She looked so cute!!!!

Later I took Jen out to lunch at Panera. Becca came with us, but she told me she wasn't hungry -- then picked off my plate and Jen's. We dropped her off at Michael's, her plan was to meet her friedn S and buy supplies, they went to S's house and made a Halloween costume for their psych teacher -- the teacher talks about Google all the time, so they made a "google" costume. She came home after dinner, did her homework and went to bed early.

Jen took an 8:00 train back to college, she got back to her dorm shortly after 11.

All in all, a very full weekend.

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