Anew Again

 We come upon another new year with the high holidays rolling through.  This year started out oddly, and certainly didn't wind up like a normal year, but was a good change of pace.  With having a Jewish partner, it means that rather than navigating things like Christmas or Easter, we need to sort out the many Jewish holidays, on who goes where, and how we celebrate.

My family as a whole more or less has been threatened by their doctor to finally behave like diabetics, and so they've been much more strict with their diet.  Going up to the holidays, as my mother makes the exact same things for every holiday she was incredibly clueless.  When I offered to make two or three things (which she wouldn't have to put in any work for) she tried to stop me from cooking, and I said that it would be a hell of a lot cheaper than buying seven little containers of each tiny thing.  That made her quiet down, and so it very clearly became another holiday that I would cook everything for, and far more obvious than when I just handle everything around her.

The holidays got closer, and it turned out that the holiday at our house would just be us.  However, the week before, Rabbit got a call from his mom, and found out that his parents were hosting for their family.  Not just that, but they were hosting the first night of the new year, where we were hosting on the last day.  This meant that after he was hoping for the last year, we would get to double dip and do the new year with both houses.  

I chose to make a round challah for Rabbit's parents, but didn't know until the day before that I was asked to make a dessert.  So that day I started some babka dough, along with everything I needed to do for the week.  As much as Rabbit tried telling me I didn't need to make anything even though I was asked, I'm glad I did, as there was no other dessert present.  One other person said they make a challah but forgot it, and was a little grumpy at dinner with how much everyone enjoyed mine, refusing to eat more than tiny bites, and very much showing that I had encroached on some territory.  No one else seemed to care, as they were more than happy to enjoy mine.  

His parents actually practice religion, and so we went through all the blessings and prayers for the first time.  This was especially good for Squishy I think, as she got to really see more of her own culture than my mother who is honestly clueless.  It was fun, and something I look forward to doing more of, as well as getting to finally learn more about all the things that I didn't get to do as a kid with my grandmother afraid of stepping on my parents' toes.

And so we bring in another new year, as well as these first few weeks of focus and introspection.  This year in particular, with plans and a future for what may well be the first time ever, I want to focus more on healing and discovering myself.  I want to bust my ass with my business and try to really get my income going so that I can contribute as much as possible when we start living together in about a year.

This year is about building.  I'm making a foundation for the rest of my life.  The rest of our life.  And it certainly spoke volumes about where I will grow from how it began.