Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Sheheḥeyanu

With only three days under my belt, the new year looks promising. Since Monday, I have been out of the house each day doing simple tasks but feeling like I have accomplished something. It is a big shift from someone who arose at 6AM, did some combination of cardio/weights/yoga at the gym, worked a full day and then went to a meeting/board meeting/general schmooze and eventually home to family. This is clearly a new reality, but I am thankful for the prospect of returning to a productive life, in whatever form that takes.

There is a prayer giving thanks on special occasions for the opportunity to reach that particular day, which according to Paul Scheinberg, really applies to every day. I have to agree.

ברוך אתה ה' א‑לוהינו מלך העולם, שהחינו וקימנו והגענו לזמן הזה

Translation: "Blessed are You, our God, Ruler of the universe, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this season."

16 comments:

Lenore and Scott said...

Cinnamon Toast and Mazel Tov! However, you need to tear off more days on your calendar...the New Year is 7 days old (or young). It's great to read ANYTHING from you and even greater to read such promising words. Before you know it, you will be back to the yoga and stuff. A couple of walks to your mailbox and back would be plenty for me!!! And waking up at 6am is not all it's cracked up to be. Thanks for keeping us posted, updated, uplifted and damn proud!!

Anonymous said...

Amen!!It's great hearing from you. I think we all hold our breath until we hear from you next. May G-d grant you a full recovery and may you feel more and more strength on a daily basis. Love, Michelle S

Terri Meeks said...

Did you miss us? We spent New Year's in New Orleans at the Sugar Bowl. Everyone showed up but the team.Ha! We had never been before but it was quite a treat. It is worth going for the architecture and food. It is quite unique. When you recover, we need to plan a trip down there. After a hurricane and a hand grenade, you will be feeling fine. Can't believe it took me 54 years to finally visit the place. It was hit hard by Katrina but it is recovering ( you could never tell it happened on Bourbon Street) and so will you. Just keep getting up, look forward to the day and keep on trucking. We love you.

Terri & Barry

Burton said...

Its nice to hear from you Elyse. I check at least once daily -- glad I came back for a second check today -- and feel a rush of excitement when I see a new post. Even better when, like today, it brings more smiles than tears. Here's to a year of promise, accomplishments, and many more daily blessings. XXXOOOBGM

Anonymous said...

Amen!
HMS

Unknown said...

AMEN !!!!!!!!!! (if I knew how to make the font GIGANTIC, this message would fill up the entire comment box!) xo Rachel

Anonymous said...

Great to see the post today and to know that healing is well under way. Your positive outlook never ceases to inspire me. I'm always grateful to read your words and to know you are recovering. We all send our love,
Cynthia, Cliff, Norman (he's home for 3 weeks from Paris :) ), and Rachel

Anonymous said...

Great New..Keep that paddle moving!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update, Elyse. Always happy to hear from you for any reason... even if it's just to report on a troublesome hangnail or an uneventful trip to the grocery store. The most important thing is that you're continuing to put one foot in front of the other, continuing to persevere, continuing to beat this cancer one day at a time. Glad that you're feeling incrementally better... good enough, at least, to venture out. That's significant. We think about you a lot, and are looking forward to seeing you soon!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update Elyse. Glad to see you are in good spirits. We have a board meeting tonight. I'll tell them the latest on you. Your Gators are in the championship tonight too.

Anonymous said...

So glad to know that you are feeling stronger and better, and able to get out each day. From our conversation yesterday, it is quite obvious you are back to your feisty old self!!! Gotta love it! Once the Greenway gets out from under water, you, me, the dachsund doggies and Scout can go on a walk...sounds like a plan to me!!!! Keep up your positive spirit, and as we all know, you will prevail. You continue to be an inspiration to all of us.
Love and hugs,
Ann

Anonymous said...

So grateful for any good news. You stay in my thoughts, and we certainly missed you Wed. night. mbh

Anonymous said...

Hey! I'm glad the New Year has been kinder to you!I'm studying--gee that's new! It's snowing like crazy here and I spend much of my time playing with Duke! Your puppies would be completely covered. It's 3 feet deep in my yard. It's cute to watch Duke put his nose and head under the snow and act like he's hiding from me. HAHA. I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that the new meds at working wonders! I'm doing yoga and pilates right now. Well both have rock hard abs! :) Love you bridgette

Anonymous said...

It's nice to finally have a few of your green assignment forms finding their way to my desk again.

Steve Beagle said...

L'Chaim Ali.. I love your small steps approach and your optimism. I am very familiar with your prayer posting as it is part of my personal rotation. Hang tough - I know these later rounds must be at times brutal but the light you are steering towards is getting brighter I feel it.

Now for a long list of topical chazerai (sp?)to hopefully make you at least smile / laugh..
_________________________________

Activists are now pressuring President-elect Obama to make good on his pledge to end the “Don’t ask don’t tell” policy in the military, to allow gays to openly serve. Let me tell you something: If someone is willing to risk their life for our country, they should be able to watch “Dancing With the Stars” openly.

The economy is bad. It’s so bad, Iraqis can only afford to throw one shoe at President Bush.

It's so bad, a friend of mine started a Ponzi scheme — and lost money.

The economy is so bad, today the tooth fairy was handing out tubes of crazy glue and telling kids, “You’re on your own.”

Top Ten Barack Obama Plans To Fix The Economy

10. Encourage tourists to throw spare change in the Grand Canyon
9. End our dependence on foreign owls
8. Sell New Mexico to Mexico
7. Put a little of that bailout money on the Ravens plus 3 at Tennessee. Come on! It's a mortal lock!
6. Rent out the moon for weddings and bar mitzvahs
5. Lotto our way out of this son-of-a-bitch
4. Appear on "Deal or No Deal" and hope to choose the right briefcase
3. Bail out the adult film industry — not sure how it helps, but it can't hurt
2. Release O.J. from prison, have him steal America's money from China
1. Stop talkin' and start Obama-natin'!

A couple of days ago, there were UFO sightings in New Jersey. But don’t worry, it’s not an invasion — they were just looking for a place to dump a body.

The aliens were just here looking for some of that bailout money.

I sent in early for tickets for the Obama inauguration, but I got lousy seats anyway. I’m right between Govs. Spitzer and Blagojevich.

Each president gets to add his own little touches, his own little signature features. For the Clinton inauguration, ladies drank free.

President-elect Obama gave a major economic speech today. He said that Americans will be able to go online and see where the bailout money is being spent. In response, Americans said, “Thanks, but we’ll stick to downloading porn.”

During his speech, Obama said, “It will be too late to change course if we don’t take dramatic action as soon as possible.” Then Obama said the same thing is true about NBC’s primetime lineup.

On Inauguration Day, Obama will be riding in a brand new presidential limousine made by General Motors. The parade route is only five miles long, so GM says that Obama should only have to stop for gas twice.

The National Gallery announced that it will display a campaign poster of Barack Obama. In a related story, a campaign poster of Joe Biden will be displayed at the Hair Club for Men.

Remember when Barack Obama said that there could only be one president at a time? Turns out he meant him.

The first lady was showing off a new set of plates she just got. They are gold rimmed, official state china that cost $493,000 . . . but don’t worry — it was paid for by a private trust, funded by lunatics.

She was going to use the china herself, but she ordered it two years ago and it just came — which is what happens when you order your table service from FEMA.

You can’t trust President Bush with a $3,000 plate. His does come with a sippy cup, though.

Gov. Blagojevich is in trouble for allegedly trying to sell the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama. In an interview today, Blagojevich said, “If what I’ve done is impeachable, then I’m on the wrong planet.” That would explain his Klingon helmet hair.

President Bush has declared three Pacific Ocean regions as national monuments, making it the largest marine reserve on the planet. They are now totally protected areas. Unless, of course, somebody finds oil.

Joe the plumber is now going to the Mideast as a war correspondent for a conservative Web site. On one hand, he’s not really a war correspondent . . . on the other hand, he’s not really a plumber either. Why not?

An ex-boyfriend of Amy Winehouse says that Amy smokes crack for breakfast. Isn’t that unbelievable? Amy is up in time for breakfast? That’s hard to believe.

Top Ten Things Overheard At The Presidents' Lunch

10. "Sorry . . you're not on the list, Mr. Gore"
9. "If Hillary calls, I've been here since Monday"
8. "Laura! More Mountain Dew!"
7. "You guys wanna see 'Paul Blart: Mall Cop'?"
6. "Call the nurse — George swallowed a napkin ring!"
5. "Hey Barack, wanna go with us to Cabo in March? Oh that's right, you have to work!"
4. "Kissey kissey"
3. "Obama? I think he's downstairs smoking a butt"
2. "Did you ever see a monkey sneezing?"
1. "I hope Clinton's unbuckling his belt because he's full"

The murder rate is up in New York City — I knew we were making a comeback.

The Army is now accepting overweight recruits. You know you’re overweight when you see a Domino’s guy crawl into your fox hole.

Barack Obama wants TV doctor Sanjay Gupta to be the next surgeon general. Wait a minute — isn’t that the kid from “American Idol?”

The decision was hard for Obama: It was between Gupta, Dr. Phil, and a guy from “Scrubs.”

Earlier today, President-elect Barack Obama had lunch at the White House with all the living U.S. presidents. Obama called the meeting “an extraordinary gathering.” In a related story, John McCain had lunch at Quiznos.

Of course, Bill Clinton was the only one who brought a date.

On Inauguration Day, Barack Obama will be riding in a brand new presidential limousine made by General Motors. Because nothing says hope for the future like General Motors.

The Washington Post reports today that Barack Obama wants to appoint CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta to be surgeon general. Obama said the CNN doctor must be pretty good since he’s kept Larry King alive all these years.

Very bad news today: The porn industry is asking for a $5 billion bailout. Gives a whole new meaning to “give it to me!”

They say things are so bad, some porn stars are being forced to deliver actual pizzas.

This whole porn collapse would never have happened under Clinton.

It was a historic day when all four of our living presidents and our president-elect had lunch together at the White House. President Bush was especially excited. He said, “Hey — you’re the guys from the paintings in my office!”

There was an awkward moment when Carter asked Obama to bring him more bread.

Another time, Bill Clinton said to Bush, “I love this rug.” Note to Obama — you might want to get it dry cleaned.
_______________________________

LH&P - the Beagle clan ( I am in Lisbon right now for 12 days - sounds glamorous - trust me hotel to factory every day 17-18 hr days - no glamour in that..

Anonymous said...

Shabbat Shalom
We were thinking about that and you last night at temple services, Sheheheyanu. Exicited to see you this week. : )