A Very Wifey Christmas

And so it came to pass, on December 25th, 1956, in Haifa, Israel, a baby girl was born to a VERY loving mother who had lost much of her family to the Nazis. Her father was on the road to Tel Aviv, called in, and learned that his first and only child had been born. He made a U turn and returned to Haifa to meet his little girl...

Yesterday we celebrated this anniversary, and Wifey hit the jackpot. First, D1's roommate Alyssa's family invited us to their traditional orphan Jews X mas brunch. Barbara and Alyssa baked delicious foods, and we feasted on bagels, lox, egg salad, tuna, etc...

We saw old friends who we didn't know were even older friends with Alyssa's family. The guests watched the Knicks-Celtics game, and greatly anticipated the Heat opener later.

We then drove to the Grove, and watched a movie that all 4 of us (Wifey, the Ds and me) agreed was one of the worst all time: "The Descendants." We typically enjoy Alexander Payne movies, like "Election" and "Sideways," but this one was a depressing clunker that somehow made Hawaii look like a place you'd never want to visit, like the sleaziest parts of the Keys...

We laughed at how bad it was, and may have prevailed upon Wifey to take a break next year from her annual birthday movie trip...I suggested a picnic instead...we'll see next year.

No one was too hungry after the enormous brunch, but I knew a few moments smelling the enticing aromas at Tropical Chinese would fix that fast. It did. We arrived at 6, and D1 ran into an sorority sister sitting with her parents. I knew who her Dad was -- my client had hernia surgery with him, and we all chatted while they waited for their food.

We sat outside, and as each steaming plate of food passed, we all got VERY hungry. We also saw another few families we knew -- Tropical is truly the South Dade traditional Jewish Christmas spot.

We were seated, and ate spring rolls, chicken and shrimp dim sum, wonton soup, orange beef, and black bean chicken. We savored the food and each other's company.

A dentist and his wife and daughter sat at the next table. We knew them from the 'hood. He was there with his friend, a UM transplant surgeon who knows Dr. Barry well. The dentist, David, said we clearly had a minyan at the restuarant...He was correct.

We came home and lit the 6th night's Chanukah candles. I just realized -- no one sang Happy Birthday to Wifey.

Somehow, I don't think she minds...