Brought my Moose Menorah to West Wing Wednesday. After a successful Chanukah lighting both last WWW and at the holiday party, I was eager for one more. What I didn't realize, and what the other Jewish person in our group pointed out, was that Chanukah ended Tuesday. Whoops. So we celebrated the "ninth" night of Chanukah instead (there are nine candles on the menorah anyway). Anticipating that people wanted to sing, which they did, I brought song sheets. We sang some rousing renditions of mi yimalel both in Hebrew and English. And The West Wing was halfway decent too.
Today I was slightly miffed about a non-bloggable issue, so I wanted to ice skate off some steam. I had also just recently re-discovered my skates in my closet and felt the need to test them out this winter. I tried to get to the Mt Vernon ice rink's free skate, but was waylaid by traffic in Old Town. I arrived two minutes after the public skate ended.
Not to be discouraged, I drove back north hoping that the Pentagon Row skating rink was open. (This rink wasn't my first choice due to its relatively small surface area.) Approaching, I noticed a few people standing near the opening to the rink, but I was unsure whether it was open.
"Hi," I said to the lady behind the counter, "do I have to pay if I have my own skates?"
"Uh...are you with Paychex?" was her reply.
"No."
"Then sorry, we're closed. We're open tomorrow until 11pm."
"Freakin' ridic--" I was thinking before young woman about my age chimed in. "Unless you want to be her date," she said half-chuckling, referring to another 20-something lacing up her rental skates.
"Hi, I'm Aaron," I say with hand extended (and quickly, in case she was joking).
And thus I was introduced to Dana, Paychex employee and invitee to their private office skate. She was a skating novice and clung to the rails. I attempted to give her some pointers and held her hand for balance at points, but after a few laps she grew tired of both skating and talking to a random nerd she had just met. This abandonment was no problem for me as there were several children around (upper management's kids). Both 7-yr-olds Brandon and Marilee went from rail-holding to skating in the open with relative ease by the evening's end. The kids were quick learners. I even successfully taught them to put their hands on their knees if they lose their balance. (Throwing their hands in the air could have caused them to lose balance and fall backwards, increasing the chances of a head injury.)
Came home and barely sat down when my cell phone rang. 'Twas Marcie inviting me for round two of bowling. I scored well: two 139's and a left-handed 99. (And for the second time in as many years, I walked outside with my bowling shoes on :~\ .)
A good night.
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