I was thinking the other day about how nice computers are. They really serve so many purposes. They keep us in touch with people who are far away. They bring us news and information on demand, and they help us to organize things in our life.

However, after today, I am not so sure. Actually, I first became overwhelmed with the possibilities when I returned from China with my 1100 pictures and endeavored to put them in some logical order to show to others. Fortunately, the pictures were taken in order and therefore the digital camera numbered them consecutively, but when one of my children said, “Why don’t you just pick out 100 of the best?” I was not able to do it.

So today I brought home the pictures and CDs of my daughter’s wedding. In addition to the several hundred pictures taken by a friend of the family, we now have an additional 288 pictures. Well, first I had to copy the CDs. Then I had to take each file, open it, and then copy and paste all of the pictures onto my desktop computer. Once all of that was done, I had to download all of the pictures onto my laptop through the LAN. And now I really have to organize the pictures which for some reason are NOT in chronological order! Of course that means interspersing them with the other pictures of the wedding that we already have. I think it was easier when we brought home a stack of photos from the drugstore. We’d look through them and then throw them in a drawer. With film, we would limit the number of pictures we’d take. But digital cameras have made a virtue of excess.

Of course the pictures are beautiful. Everyone looks beautiful and everyone looks happy.

And now I return to the real world… where tomorrow is the day.

Every year as I gear up for Pesach, there is a sequence I follow. I won’t bore you with the details, but suffice it to say that tomorrow is the day that the fridge gets relined, the perishable items get bought, the dishes all go into the dishwasher for storage for the duration of the holiday, the counters and shelves get lined, the toaster and blender get exiled, and finally finally the counters get covered.

Then the Passover dishes will emerge and a certain lightness will enter my heart as the joy of the holiday supersedes all of the work that was necessary to prepare for it. And then will come the pleasure of cooking and baking and making the house look pretty for the guests. I happily anticipate the smiling faces who will join us this year: three of our children, their spouses, seven of the grandchildren, and my sister. A happy holiday to all!

Rachel, our older daughter, was sent to the hospital to be induced on Thursday morning. We followed her progress by phone. By “progress” I mean progress in obtaining a room in which they would be able to induce her. Apparently all of the rooms were full– all of the rooms at Shaarey Zedek Hospital where she was, all of the rooms at Hadassah Ein Kerem, all of the rooms at Hadassah Mount Scopus! In short, unless you were about to deliver imminently, you were in line to be induced.

Thursday passed with no action. Friday brought the news that Rachel was 5th in line. By Friday afternoon, she was second in line, but then someone came and took her place and she remained second in line for a long while. By the time we lit Sabbath candles, all we knew was that Rachel was still at the hospital waiting.

But the end of shabbat brought good news. Rachel and Ohad have a brand new beautiful baby girl! Rachel and baby are fine.

So the task at hand was to try to get to the hospital in Jerusalem to see her. Here are the details: Leah and I had to pick up her wedding gown, also in Jerusalem and drop it off at the hair and makeup lady’s house, about 10 minutes closer to our house. This necessitated an empty back seat in the car. Meanwhile, my husband, my sister, and my friend also wanted to go to the hospital. In addition, we needed to pick up the groom’s mother also in Jerusalem. As we added it all up, it was clear that we needed to use more than one car.

A friend’s son had told us that he would lend up his car if it was available when we needed it. Unfortunately, I didn’t have his phone number. So, I looked in the phone directory. It wasn’t there. Nor was his brother’s name listed. I looked on the online listings on the internet (it wasn’t there). I tried calling information, but they didn’t answer. I called his parents, but they were not home and their cell phone was not on. I called someone at our synagogue to which he belongs, but he didn’t have the number. I called the person who he in turn told me was a good friend of his, but he didn’t have it either. Finally I called one other person who I thought might have it and she asked if I had looked for it in the telephone directory! Fortunately, she had it. They were willing to lend us the car.

All’s well that ends well. Leah and I picked up the dress and veil, dropped it off, got to the hospital just as visiting hours had ended, but managed to see Rachel and the baby as well as Sam and Ofi who had hosted the Rachel’s three oldest children for the Sabbath (making 9 children in the home!—including 3 sets of twins!), and met up with my husband and sister and friend. Later we left and picked up the groom’s mother, and returned home safely.

We’re entering the home stretch. And we are entering it with a beautiful new little person accompanying us. We are blessed.

10. Unlimited opportunity to brag about my son to other family members
9. Smokeless environment
8. Warmer temperatures
7. Radio knows how to speak a language I can understand
6. Room lights turn on without inserting card in slot
5. Annoying chimes heard on the hour are in my living room, not in church located within deafening gonging distance
4. Access to heating food without walking down a long hall with a hot pot full of boiling water to pour over the sealed food packets in the sink a minimum of 5 times
3. No more Argentinian ready-to-eat kosher meals. (Don’t ask!)
2. Fewer lions dressed up in alpine costumes (at least for the next day or two)
And the number one top reason I have for being glad to be home:
My family (need I say more?)