snugglekitty

The best feature of this Pesach was that Ilan and Deb came up! Their arrival encouraged me to do two new things: one, finish buying stuff for the guest room. I'd previously bought a really cheerful and bright duvet cover for the bed and stuffed it with a blanket from my childhood that looks its age. It, of course, was not quite the right fit and was also too light-weight for what I wanted. I bought the actual duvet that fits that cover, plus some new hangers for the closet. They really loved the room, said it was bright and cheerful, and the blue chair was perfect. Alas, we discovered that it's actually important to maybe screw in at least *some* of the slats so the whole thing doesn't come apart too easily. Ilan liked to use it "day-bed style," leaning against the window wall. He suggested reorienting the bed to be long-wise in the room, headboard under the window, but the headboard is higher than the windowsill so I'm not sure about that, and it would also necessitate the drawers going into the closet, which would limit hanging space. It would also require taking the bed apart to move everything, which isn't nothing. I'm not sure it's worth it, but heck, next time he's here, we can try it?

The other thing it encouraged me to do was hire cleaners to deep-clean the bathrooms as well as the kitchen, and take care of the living and dining rooms and dusting. (I had them leave the bedrooms alone.) Overall, I'd say this was not worth the money. They did an outstanding job on the bathrooms, and acceptable job in the living/diningrooms (not better than I could do), and in the kitchen they disappointed. The refridgerator got cleaned, the oven, most of the counters but not all, and they didn't sweep the floor or vacuum the runner in there. They did clean the cabinet doors, which was nice. Given that this was the pre-Pesach cleaning, leaving one counter undone and the floors unswept and unscrubbed was very disappointing. I ended up scrubbing the floor in the necessary spots, sweeping, and then doing the change-over to Pesach mode.

Ilan & Deb were scheduled to arrive at 10:45 AM, but their initial flight (6 AM) was delayed until 12:45 PM! They ended up arriving at 8:45 PM, basically too late for the 1st seder. They took an Uber to my place and arrived basically 5 minutes before we did. First seder was at Ellen and Julian's, and there were 40 people! The place was packed. The food was excellent, the company fantastic, and the davenning went rather quickly. We had the typical post-dinner attrition, but a good group stayed for birkat hamazon (truncated). I'm not sure if we did any Hallel, alas, or if so it was so brief I felt like it was missing. Benito and the kids took forEVER to find the hidden afikomen, which amused the adults, and kept the kids out of the way for a while. OMG, the noise level of that group! Upshot of the night for me: I got to take home a bunch of Ellen's macaroons (holy crap tasty) and a few other desserts, and they made it through many days of chag. Next year: totally order some, or dedicate myself to making them on my own (which I've done once before successfully).

Thursday morning, Benito and I went to shul (I led shacharit) and I gave Ilan and Deb the car. They took off for Steveston and ... I can't recall where else they went locally, but not too far. Services went pretty well with a small group; afterwards, a handful of us stayed to set up the 2nd seder tables. Ilan and Deb returned and brought in the flowers I'd bought for centerpieces (little pots of pretty colors), and we went home for lunch. I think this might've been a simple affair, as we chilled at home before going to the 2nd seder around 5:30. The synagogue had about 70 people attending! It was a bit chaotic (go figure), very funny (lots of filked songs found on Kveller), and Ilan and I stole the show with a "Master of the House" parody, in brash British accents. The food was not that bad - evidently an improvement from last year. I made efforts to balance my attention between Ilan and Deb and my other friends; I introduced them around but also took some time to sit next to others and schmooze.

Friday, Ilan and Deb went out to Granville Island and Stanley Park and had a lovely time. After services, I came home and in a relaxed fashion made my baked gefilte fish, a goodly-sized salad, and chicken schnitzel for dinner. Everything came out perfectly, though not in the timing I anticipated: I hadn't bought a freakin' onion, so I had to wait for Ilan to get me one. Dinner was a bit late, but delicious! A good time was had by all.

Saturday I booked ahead: we went to the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. (Deb really did her research on coming up here and what to see, where to go, some places to eat...) I'd never been, nor had Benito, so it was new for all of us. The drive went well, the weather was lovely, and best of all, I didn't get any bit of vertigo on either the bridge itself or during the tree walk! The main bridge was quite broad, and even though it certainly swayed and dipped with the various distribution of weight, as well as people intentionally trying to make it move, I didn't have any issues. Benito got an activity page with things to spot and some interactive features, which was lovely, and he'd run ahead and then wait for us while watching a stream or pond or other feature. More challenging (for Deb in particular) was the "Cliff Walk," which was a very narrow (as in 1-person wide) but completely steady metal walkway right off the edge of the main side of the river gorge. Again, I weathered it okay. We didn't do all of the trails, and locals get an annual pass with their 1-time ticket, so Benito and I can come back during Adventure Week in the summer!

We were there from maybe 10:30-2:30 and had lunch there (Benito and I from home, Ilan and Deb not), and then we went home. I think it was Saturday afternoon that we broke out the Rummikub, and in his first game, Benito totally hustled and won! Ilan and I loved it. Later, Ilan and Deb went to Steveston for dinner, and Benito and I stayed home and had yummy leftovers. They arrived home again after Benito went to bed, and we had a good evening and good schluff.

Sunday we took it easy in the morning; I made a sweet and a savory matzahbrei that even Ilan liked! While discussing possible plans on Saturday, Benito asked if maybe we could go to the aquarium, and I said I'd pass that by our guests. They were enthusiastically in favor! We all trekked out there and had a blast, and then I drove them to Granville Island, so they could catch the Aquabus over to Gastown for their dinner plans. Benito and I had a chill night, Ilan and Deb got home at a reasonable hour, and we played a bit more Rummikub before bed.

Monday, Deb was feeling a bit under the weather, so we stayed at home and they packed in a leisurely fashion. Ilan and I took a few walks in my neighborhood, and we took them to the airport in the mid-afternoon. It was a sweet parting, and we missed them when we got back home. Both Benito and I had an energy/emotional let-down, not quite crash: Benito mentioned that the house felt different without them, and I agreed. They are both very positive people (even though the adults discussed a bunch of the hardships we've faced in the last year), and especially when mixed with Benito, we were all so joyful the entire time. It was a hard re-entry into 1 day of school/work, and then the end of the holiday.

Wednesday and Thursday had more services; I led shacharit again on one Wednesday and read Torah on Thursday. Thursday evening to break the holiday I took us to a dessert place where Benito had a waffle and ice-cream with toppings, and I just had a scoop of very good ice-cream. It was a lovely holiday, and I'm so glad I had my family with me.