Shorewood WI 87 - 88
January 14, 1987
Greetings from Shorewood (Milw.) Wisconsin,
We left Jerusalem November 30 and have since been happily ensconced in the home of Lisa's parents. The kids took the 18 hour journey rather well. We have all enjoyed good health since we arrived.
Deember now seems something of a blur. My first goal was to write an article on the Tax Reform Act and its effect on Milwaukee area real estate activity, reasoning that this would help get me the entry-level CPA job that I was seeking. The resulting piece is now scheduled to appear next week in a local business weekly around mid-month, I interviewed with and was offered a position by Seidman & Seidman/BDO, the country's 12th largest and worldwide the 10th largest CPA firm. They even have offices in Israel affiliated with them. They hired me knowing that I am here only through April 1988, at which time I expect to return to Tel Aviv to try a practice there (maybe even at a BDO affiliate). During the month I also flew into NYC for a day with Yehiel to visit my mother's parents and I spent two days in Minneapolis lecturing on the Israeli economy. Both trips were predictably fun. New Year's eve was tame.
January 4 I began my formal S & S -career with a week's training at the Houstonian conference Center and Hotel, with another 125 new staff accountants from around the country. The facilities were opulent and the food excessively tasty. I ran, ate and took saunas to my heart's content. I also made my first mistakes on the company's time. I also spent a few night's with my sister-in-law, who is soon returning to Israel.
I started real work 3 days ago and so far it has been tolerable. So far I have not done much more than bookeeping, but I expect more interesting work before my career is over.
Lisa is currently home with both kids. Yehiel, who turned 2 a month ago, will start an 8 AM -noon program/ 5 days per week, in March. It has the most Jewish programming of any daycare offering, which, though it is offered by the Chabad Lubavitch, is not all that much. He definitely needs that structure that he got from daycare in Jerusalem. It is a real effort in frigid suburbia to find other kids for him to play with. Our five-month old daughter, Orly, has a very agreeable disposition, cooing at everything. She has begun to turn over. Yehiel can count to 10 and has a growing vocabulary.
One of my major worries about our sojourn in the US, that I would get hooked on US speculative markets is proving unwarranted, so far. With the latest stock market surge, I have been content on the sidelines, in mutual funds. Becoming an accountant has increased the conservativeness of my financial practices.
Overall, returning to America has been remarkably void of culture shock. I am back to reading the NYT daily. Lisa's parents and family have bent over backwards to make us feel comfortable, supplying us with a 1980 AMC Concord, not allowing us to pay for utilities or rent, showering us with clothes and other gifts, and not letting the massive amounts of clutter that we generate bother them.
I did have a little thrill for awhile with the Cleve. Browns. Their demise gives me that much less that I have to read about and that much less identification with the city.
The diet here has a lot more beef and poultry than I have been eating the last few years. So far my weight is under control, but an inactive winter might not be what the doctor ordered. We joined the Milw. JCC and I do hope to work out reasonably regularly. Running may have to wait until spring.
Be well.
.
May 17, 1987
Dear Family,
A summery greetings to you from Milwaukee. I am embarrassed to recall that the last time I wrote, it was practically winter. We are all doing reasonably well and trust you are likewise.
As for the kids, they grow and get cuter daily. Orly now sits up quite well, scuffles along furniture edges with aplomb, nurses no more, likes solids (especially meat based baby foods), has tried eggs, holds her own bottle when lying on her back, sleeps soundly from 7 PM to 7 AM, has endured a variety of baby sitters without constant crying, laughs and smiles a lot, can still cry like an infant when not in her mother or father's arms, looks more like her mother daily, climbs up stairs, turns over garbage pails and gets into cabinets, usually has two naps, still often enjoys her pacifier, has been wearing a few dresses (and looking darling in them), has balanced herself without support for a
few micro-seconds, currently has a black eye from sources unknown, does not object to baths, has gone through various stages of congestion over the past few months and is generally adored by various and sundry friends and relatives alike.
Yehiel is, alas, still in diapers and regularly drinking from a bottle at home. We regularly expect and work for his leaving these two baby habits, but we are not panic stricken yet. We do continually hear that he is a favorite among the girls at his gan because, among other reasons, he is shy and smiles a lot. His verbal skills grow daily, though his diction, pronunciation, locution and grammar are still primitive. Just as he is finally getting his name down exactly, his mother is growing tired of having to explain her life story every time she introduces him, so we really may use the name" Eli." He still does not yet peddle his "big wheel" tricycle, but we can push him in it with Orly in the stroller, and he does keep his feet on the pedal. He enjoys immensely blowing soap bubbles and we pass hours outside in that activity. We bought bicycle seats for the kids and regularly take him to a nearby elementary school to play there. He only recently began enjoying the swing. He is generally a good eater, though his protein staples are milk, hot dogs, yogurt or eggs. His sleeping patterns are not good, as he occasionally wakes up during the night and we have difficulty getting him back to sleep. He usually sleeps 8:30PM to 6:15 AM, with a one to two hour nap after he comes home from gan and defecates. We generally stay in his room with him until he falls asleep at night.
He is at the Lubavitch gan 8:15 M_ to 12:15 five days per week and he seems to be enjoying it.
Lisa has her hands and time full with the above two. She is expecting to at least audit an a intro acctg course at UWM this summer, employing a babysitter for Orly during that time. She also regularly checks the classified ads for a part-time bookkeeping position. This weekend an old friend of hers got married and the gang of four of them were back together, like old times. In the next two months, two first cousins of hers are getting married here.
As for me, I am doing only OK. My class is really more work than I have. put in and the resulting flak is not great for my ego, but I expect to survive it and emerge $1,000 wealthier. Even more significant, I expect that I will be leaving Seidman & Seidman by the end of June. The post-tax season work load thins out greatly, our team is overstaffed, the person whose clients I have been working on returns this week from a five-month cancer-recuperation leave, and I received a less-than-favorable work-performance review this past month. I am currently job-hunting
and expect to be able to report good news to you by the next letter.
Sunday May 31, 1987
Dear Family,
A hot and humid spring greetings to you. We are all in good health and not sweating excessively, and trust you are likewise.
The kids are definitely grooving on summer. While Yehiel can't really be unsupervised outside, he can and does find lots to do on the grass and propelling himself along the sidewalk on either his
four or three - wheeled vehicle. His favorite outdoor activity is blowing soap bubbles and this he can do often in the day and it takes quite a while before he tires of it. He has become proficient at bubble making and the only problem remains that for one reason or another the bottles spill. Anyway we just bought a little plastic pool and we hope that mother and children will be able to cool off and play outside this summer.
Orly has begun to make a few consonant sounds, like "n" and “d” ...Yehiel now drinks only water from a bottle and he knows that for anything else, he must drink from a cup. Hopefully, during the summer we will be able to leave him without a diaper to toilet train him on occasion.
While we have not seen Aunt Sammie a lot recently, she does seem to be adjusting well. She does have lots of family comforting her and she recently confided that she was only half-way through with writing the 300 cards/responses to messages of condolences that she received. We did share an evening with her and some two dozen others in the immediate Rotter family at a barbeque at her younger son Billy's house, last week. She tentatively accepted my invitation to become a bridge partner at the JCC Tue night game. After my class ends I trust I will have time.
Lisa and I have not been going out a lot, for a variety of reasons, inertia among them. Additionally, Yehiel stays up till after 8:30 every night and we can't really impose on her parents or hire a sitter. He also awakens with daybreak, before 6 occasionally. We do go out at least once a week and expect some improvement. Orly sleeps straight through from 6:30 PM to 6:30 AM. Last night for our anniversary, Mert and Dottie took us and Aunt Lillian and Uncle Max out for a prime rib dinner that was tasty and fun. The babysitter who charged a typical $2/hr) finally got our son to sleep at 9:30 P.M. We do belong to a video club which entitles us to a free monthly VCR movie. Last week we saw" Sid and Nancy", a flick about punk-rocker Sid Vicious, at my insistence, and needless to say it was mildly disappointing. There are no movies at theaters that we are dying to see.
Yehiel is going to the Lubavitch day camp this summer; the question is just for how many hours per day and week. I expect we will settle on a schedule similar to his current 5 day per week routine. Lisa will probably be taking an acctg course at UWM this summer, starting June 22. The only offered time is an inconvenient MWTh 12-3, so some sort of regular baby sitter will be in order. She
is also looking into Hebrew school teaching in the fall at a local synagogue...Speaking of which, we have been trying Sat. morning prayers at a few locations and have yet to find the no-frill intimate minyan where our son can also have a place to stay occupied.
Today we had plans to get to a small lake for some sand activity for the kids, but procrastination and intermittent incremental weather confided us to the JCC pool and some shopping. We'll try again next week
My class is going OK, as is my job search, but I have nothing definite yet to report. I am not yet desperate or totally disheartened.
Be well.
June 22, 1987
Dear Mom and Dad,
Greetings from Shorewood and a borrowed ADAM word processing system. Lisa's cousin Joey lent this to us and I hope to learn how to master it with this first endeavor. With luck, it could help my professional writing efforts in the immediate future. As things currently stand, I will be going freelance next week. No application has yet panned out, though today I had a second and final interview for an exciting CPA newsletter writing position. Other efforts are still in the slow germinating phase. Yehiel has been home from nursery school last week and this one, so my presence at home has been helpful. Next week he starts the pricier (and ostensibly better) summer camp, also run by Lubavitch. We are still uncertain over his hours and days of attendance. Much depends on what sort of sitter arrangement we get for Orly while Lisa is attending her UWM acctg class over the next eight weeks.
Both of the kids are doing well, though Orly has a slight but persistent diaper rash. Yehiel almost comes up with sentences, though he also grunts a lot when he wants something urgently and normal channels are too frustrating. His mastery of alpha-numeric symbols continues to mature. His grandma recently bought him his first real tricycle and he is beginning to get the hang of it. Orly remains cute and cuddly. She can now maintain her two-legged balance for seconds and is about to move beyond the lunge to her first real step. She drinks out of a cup reasonably well and I am sure she will be off the bottle in not much more than half the time it took Yehiel.
The Rotters are doing well and remain as giving and hospitable as when we arrived, though I know our presence frustrates Dottie at times. Aunt Sammie does seem to be up and about and in good spirits. Our next family affair is an August marriage to a non-Jew. Our Jewish neighbors just sold their house to an O'Brian family for around $175,000 imputing a value of at least $220,000 to this residence. I do manage to exchange an occasional Hebrew sentence with our Yordim neighbors across the street.
It has been so hot and dry here of late that I have not had to mow the lawn for over two weeks. Fortunately the heat wave has at least temporarily broken. We bought the kids a little pool for the back yard and in the front, the ripening fruit of the mulberry tree agrees with Orly's palate, if not Yehiel's. So far the best kiddy pool we have found is at Shorewood High, though it is open only from 1:15-2:30 PM and in the evenings...The kids are sleeping and napping well...This coming Sat. night we will be entertaining a number of other couples in our first social hosting endeavor. On Fri we will be at the Keller graduation/reception and Sun we may attend an S&S summerfest cookout, so our weekend will be full.
Be well.
July 1, 1987
A final free weekday afternoon greetings to you. I am returning to work (actually I never stopped). The public accounting firm of Scribner Cohen & Co. offered me a junior staff accountant position at $18,000 per year, doing essentially what I had been doing at S & S. It is a medium-sized local Jewish firm and they have more than an inkling that I will be leaving in one year. Still, after they did lots of interviewing, I evidently emerged as the best buy. They are located slightly closer to our home, along the same route that Mert travels to his office, so commuting will be no strain as I will continue to travel with Mert. The overall working conditions and benefits are not as good as at Seidman, but I am grateful to find work, with no lapse of employment.
Lisa is enjoying her accounting course at UWM, though not always the demanding homework. The lecture and discussion group meet from 12:30 to 2:30 Mon, Wed and Thurs. Because of this we decided to send Yehiel to summer camp on Tue and Fri mornings and leave him with the sitter when Lisa is at class. So far we are less than thrilled with his summer camp setup, so I don't envision our increasing his frequency of attendance. Orly is not thrilled about not having her eema around all the time, but she will have to get used to it.
Both of the kids are growing nicely and remain as cute as ever. Yehiel pedals his tricycle on walks and refuses to be pushed. His three-word sentences are almost routine, though his enunciation remains primitive at times. He takes a daily vitamin supplement and he eats lots of vanilla yogurt, but the rest of his intake is only fair, and I can't really blame it on him, as food preparation has not been our strongest suit lately...Orly remains as sweet as honey and gives us few problems other than her diaper rash.
Tomorrow night I will be playing my first bridge game with Aunt Sammie, here, against Mert and his brother Manny. Maybe we will make a duplicate game someday. Manny' s daughter Bobbie, whose wedding we were looking forward to in August, has been “postponed.” We entertained three other married couples here last Saturday night and everyone had a good time...On the previous evening we attended the Keller Grad School of Mgmt graduation, an OK affair. (I am now totally through with Keller and don’t expect any more teaching while I am here in the US this trip.)
I am avidly reading the press for news on Israel, with mixed emotions. The longer this national unity government lasts, the worse it looks. Of course, Ronnie R doesn't look much better these days. The paper carried the sad news of the 28-year old mother who lost her foot to a floating bomb on the Carmel beach. Ugh! more worries
July 7, 1987
Greetings from a hot and humid Milwaukee. The dry spell is at least temporarily past and the torrents are here. Our household is healthy and happy and we trust you are likewise.
Yesterday was my first day back at work and it went OK. I have a small office to myself with bare wood paneling. The office administrator next to me is the wife of a retired partner and has a son and grandchildren in Ramat Aviv. So far everything seems to be going OK as I have been doing routine year-end closing compilation work.
Lisa is enjoying her accounting class and responding to its growing complexity with more preparation time. With luck, she may be able to work a few hours per week in the fall at Mert's law office. Orly is still uneasy with the babysitters.
We expect to get to Chicago at the beginning of August to see Ralph and Ruth and Amy and David who will be in to celebrate David's parent's 50th wedding anniversary. We are still expecting to get to Phila. around Labor Day and to Madison in mid-August for a family picnic that is to replace the cancelled wedding. Lisa's Uncle Max and Aunt Lillian celebrate 25 years together in August and we expect to get them something nice.
While at home I was able to complete another article, though editing it in this word processor is proving painstakingly slow. It is on my favorite theme of investment guidelines and I expect it will find a home. Before I begin my next article on accounting software, I had better catch up on my audit exam preparation and homework. I am really out of an exercise routine and I hope to be able to get back into an early morning one. While at home I was able to cook up a batch of rice and vegetables which when microwaved with egg and cheese (and seasoned with soy sauce) also make a tasty repast for the kids. The key to keeping it reheatable is not to add the proteins until ready to serve. Last night I made some Gazpacho. Shorewood has a city parade on July 4th and we walked in the last part and then had dixie cup ice cream with wooden spoons at the celebration at the high school. Yehiel on his tricycle was just the right speed. Orly took it all (including the ice cream) in from her carriage vantage point. Yehiel enjoyed waving the flag around while Mert and I edged his double-corner-lot lawn later in the day.
The bridge game went well and I expect it may become almost regular. Mert displayed a hitherto unappreciated prowess and analytical bent.
Be well.
July 12, 1987
Greetings from your friends in Milwaukee.
We are still on and off in a heat wave, though is now at least temporarily over. We all wake u p with sweat-drenched linen. Lisa and the kids have it the worst as I am in air-conditioned surroundings all day. Thundershowers today did bring some relief.
I have now been at work for one week and everything is going well. Hopefully I am into a routine. The work has so far been mostly compilation and payroll taxes for clients, similar to what I was doing at 8&S. I have been introduced to most everyone and the people seem nice enough. The pace, professionalism, and DEC mini-computer are a touch below S& S, but maybe this is for the better. The absence of any acceptable eateries in the proximity has motivated my preparing a batch of rice with vegetables that I dole out for lunch portions to be reheated in the microwave (at which time cheese and an egg are added). My small office is between that of two of the three partners. Another neighbor is Harriet Steinberg, the office internal bookkeeper (and wife of a recently retired partner), who has a son teaching at Tel Aviv U and married to a sabra. She takes a beginning Hebrew and we have something to talk about.
I have completed my investment article, but the editing is going slowly so I probably won't get around to submitting it to various magazines for awhile. The last few days have been devoted to catching up on my Becker audit review homework. So far that is going OK. Lisa's accounting course is also progressing satisfactorily, though it is getting no easier for her.
While we are satisfied with the babysitters, we are growing less enamored with the Lubavitch program and are considering sending Yehiel to the JCC nursery school in the fall. No final decision has been made. We have tentatively decided to fly to Phila/NYC over the Sept. 6 Labor Day holiday weekend. We wi11 be staying with my friend Vivian in Phila and hope to see all the family (particularly the grandparents) at that time...Orly is having some tough teething times these days and nights. So far there seem to be only two teeth to show for it. Her diaper rash is better, but not gone. She should be walking on her own any day now. Yehiel is beginning to babble sentences. He generally prefers running to walking. We have been taking in a number of local parades and fairs, most of which everone hass enjoyed.
July 20, 1987
Greetings from a sweltering Milwaukee. Tonight the low is expected to be 76 degrees F and in the stuffy second floor here, we will all be sweating. We trust that the climatological warming trend of the earth is not making your summer unbearable. With the heat is coming the predictable ozone alert watches.
This weekend we cooled off by going to bodies of water on both Saturday and Sunday. Yesterday we tried a nearby suburb's man-made pond and today we traveled to Pike Lake State Park with.Peter and Anya and their kids for a pleasant few hours. Yehiel still stays generally on dry land, but Orly puts up no fuss when we get her wet.
The kids are generally doing well. Orly's isolated steps are almost systematic and a source of encouragement for further two-footed adventure. She is up to 3 steps in a row and it won't be long before she is a "walker.” She still has only two teeth (on bottom) but the signs are for more to break through any day now.
We also went to some house sales this weekend and got our usual assortment of children's clothes and toys. With the aid of a Fisher-Price magnetic easel/chalkboard acquired yesterday, Yehiel spelled his first word, "r-a-i-n"… We shop this way because as we pass the one-third mark of our stay here, I am disappointed with what we have saved (especially compared to the $25,000+ that we will need upon our return to buy a better apt. in the Tel Aviv area). So we (I) decided that we will not be getting to the east coast over Labor day weekend. The $800+ that it will run is just beyond our budget.
My job is going well. My article has made no progress since I last wrote because of the time constraint...The Becker audit CPA review course is also going passably, though I will have to increase my homework time somewhat...$200 into Lisa's accounting education and I think we are coming to the limit. She has gotten her resume together and is beginning to look seriously for part-time work, hopefully finding a job she likes by the fall.
On Friday night Lisa and I went gallery hopping and ate some sushi, having an enjoyable evening in the process. We will probably go out to eat for her birthday this week...On Sunday is the Jewish Jubilee at the JCC, an all-day extravaganza that Dotty is active in. The following weekend we hope to have a barbeque here and after that we are off to Chicago to see Ralph and family and then Madison in mid August, so our weekends will be busy at least.
1 August 1987
It has been ages since we heard from you and I am concerned that everything is OK with you. What is happening wi th you folks?
We are well and gearing up for the fall. Lisa is looking for part-time work and we are exploring various day-care options for Orly. This may entail moving Yehiel to a secular day school, about which we are less enthused.. .Yehiel is improving his communication abilities and mental faculty. He will now actually say "Yechiel tired,” but of course not act upon it. Actually, he and Orly have been sleeping very well. He enjoys having books read to him and he plays with his magnetic letters. He increasingly can amuse himself in a non-destructive fashion...Orly remains adorable and easy to entertain. She is happiest with familiar faces. She can take as many as eight steps at a time and stands up by herself without holding onto anything.
Last night Lisa and I finally had our dinner out to celebrate her birthday. The food was fair, but most of the pleasure was in being able to enjoy each other's company peacefully without children around. We did get a VCR tape of "Hannah and Her Sisters." this week and thought it was OK, more than we could say for the brief part of "Purple Rose of Cairo" that we saw on TV the night before. For me, Woody without hilarity is not much. His existential angst is forgettable.
Tomorrow we are having our big barbecue here and I suspect it will not be a recurring event as it is really just too much to impose on Dotty, though we are doing all the work. In addition to family, we are inviting the yordim neighbors from across the street. He is a professor of architecture at UWM. I will be trying my hand at mass open hearth cooking of hot dogs, bratwursts and chicken patty burgers. [the barbecue went well]
The weather here has been hot also, with little relief in the last few weeks....I do manage to read most of the Wall Street Journal daily (during lunch), but the NYT remains more of a time commitment than I will likely be able to handle in the next year...I am also in need of time to exercise regularly as my usual summer slim-down did not occur this year.
My job is going OK. The people are a little easier to relate to, though the work is less challenging. I do lots more keypunch/data entry.
9 August 1987
Greetings from your family in Milwaukee. We are well and trust you are likewise.
We have had a reasonably enjoyable and productive week. . . Orly now says "Hi". The big event was the drive to Chicago yesterday where we saw Uncle Sol, Ralph and Ruth, and Robin. The weather was rainy, but otherwise we spent an enjoyable 2 1/2 hours with them (and passable 4 1/2 hours on the road). Everyone was in good health and spirits, awake, alive, and busy. Ruth has practically no ticket business any more, as ticketron is into everything. Sol is comfortably settled into Buffalo, with a very minimal activity routine. Robin had the big news - she is leaving P & G to go work-for Pepsi as a technical consultant, principally to the Northern Indiana and Madison bottling plants, based in Chicago. Her condo is very nice, adorned with Rose Weinberg paintings and a water bed. Ruth's Buffalo family is also well.
Today we went to the State Fair and had a good time. The kids enjoyed the rows and rows of farm animals and we consumed lots of free-sample and purchased foods. The culminating merry-go-round ride was a. treat for both of them. Dairy products were in abundance, as WI produces 35% of the country's total.
Next weekend we have Lisa's long awaited 10th year high school class reunion and a big family dinner here and family picnic in Madison in lieu of the cancelled wedding. An elder sister of Mert's is staying with us for half of this week and the children and I are getting to know her.
At last the heat wave seems to have broken here also. We attribute it to Mert and Dottie's air-conditioner purchase. The lawn grows unabated. I have also gotten more mosquito bites and slimmed down less this year than I can remember.
My job went well this week. Mostly I compile monthly financial statements for assorted non-manufacturing clients. Apart from entry posting, trial balance, general ledger and financial statement preparation, it entails creating neat, orderly and helpful working papers, something foreign to nature and thus a skill I am learning with some pain.
I bought two paperbacks this week, on the advice of the NYTBH: 'The Chronicle of the Lodz Ghetto 1941-44’ and Slaves of New York, by Tama Janowitz.. What with studying for my auditing exam (let alone finishing my articles), I don’t envision getting to them soon.
17 August, 1987
Dear Ellen, Reuven, Noa, Liat and Nadav,
Greetings from a slightly less balmy Shorewood. We are (only) slightly less stifled. We trust you are over the worst of the summer heat. Similarly just as everyone here is well and in good spirits, we trust you are likewise. We hope and trust that you had the happiest of birthdays. Any words of wisdom on the occasion? We will settle for any words at all!!!
We had an active family-oriented week, with lots of relatives in town for a wedding that was cancelled. An elder aunt of Lisa's stayed with us for 7 days and during that time she got to know myself and the kids and vice versa. Bernice, an older sister of Mert, is charming and affectionate. Friday night Dottie entertained more than a dozen Rotters here for dinner and on Sunday we trouped up to Madison for a picnic at Uncle Roy's house.
Saturday night we went to Lisa's 10th year high school reunion at The Bavarian Inn. I had a passable time as went with a high school friend of Lisa' s and her husband, a couple we find compatible.
The real big news here is that Lisa starts work the day after tomorrow as a half-time accounting clerk at a law office. Her salary is over 3/4 my hourly wage (w/o the benefits) and the work is really ideal, starting in accounts receivable and data entry and expanding into the entire bookkeeping function as she learns more. The location is downtown, so the commuting isn't far, but the parking will be probably $3 per day. Other than a new wardrobe, the remaining quandry is day care for Orly. We will probably have to take Orly out of our home or pay most of Lisa's salary for in-house care. Until school starts, we will have a high-school sitter for both of them at a bargain rate. Yehiel will definitely be full-time mornings at the Lubavitch day school starting in the fall.
Orly now says "hi" and "bye" and is into her second pair of shoes (going from size 2 to 4). She has a voracious and indiscrirninating appetite and remains generally easy to amuse and please. Yehiel is getting to be a better speller with his magnetic letters. He also has found the first love of his life, the six-year old Tracy O'Brian, the new next-door neighbor. He is spending time with her and her four-year old brother Cory regularly and clearly benefiting from their company and as of yet they still seek out his company.
Tonight I got my fill of the fab four, in a broadcast entitled "The Compleat Beatles," which I recorded on the VCR. The show was good.
Work is going well and while I don't think I am making money for anyone yet, I am beginning to get the hang of the clients I am assigned to. People remain personable and the tax season remains distant on the horizon.
24 .August 1987
Greetings from a cool Shorewood. Today was pleasant and the outlook is for more of the same. Sandal-wearing is out for now. It was good to hear (from the folks) that you are also past the stifling heat
We are all well and busy. Lisa is enjoying her job, which so far has been learning her law firm's software and inputting billing hours and codes. She also, somewhat willingly, has much clothes and shoe shopping to do, to be able to go to work properly attired.. .Tomorrow is the first day of our new regular morning sitter for Orly. In the end we had something of a choice for this $2.50/hr position in our home and we have confidence in Terri, a widowed 29-year old hairdresser (w/o her own kids). She is vegetarian and macrobiotically conscious. Hopefully, Orly will stop being traumatized after the first few days and Yehiel starts 5-day per week half-day nursery school next week.
The kids are quite darling, as I trust you will see from the latest enclosed snapshots. Orly is already a confident and competent walker. Lisa started holding her bangs back with barrettes as an alternative to a haircut. Tracy and Corey from next door spend a lot of time with Yechiel and Or1y and he even goes over to their house to play. Over there he is forced to overcome his aversions to dogs, as they have a terrier.
This past weekend we sampled "A taste of Milwaukee," at the zoo, an extravaganza where city restaurants set up booths with hor's doerve size portions of their wares. :Finally, after a number of such events, Lisa has realized that the, kosher palate is out of place here. Otherwise the ha1f-day went well as the kids enjoyed the animals as usual.
I have managed to finish my investing article and hope to get it out this week, though probably to be submitted only to Better Investing. Life at the office is going OK, with some days better than others.
Otherwise, not much new here. I am hunkering down for a defensive Ronnie Reagan in his last year. Paul Molitor of the Brewers has hit successfully in 38 straight games, and that is the daily local headline. Most sport pundits are expecting the Browns to capture the AFC this year.
1 September 1987
Greetings on the first birthday of our daughter. We are well as the summer draws to a close. The raspberry bushes in the backyard and the mulberry tree in the front yard will have no more fruit for us. Our kiddy pool is about to be put away. Hopefully the grass growing will slow down a bit (though having had the wettest August in Milwaukee's history (9+ inches) is a big impetus). The mild winter and hot summer brought out the flying insects in legions. The mosquitoes and flies are bad enough, but the yellow jacket bees are intolerable. Both Orly and Yehiel were stung this week. Other than 5 minutes of crying and some residual swelling, both came away only slightly worse for it. Jeremy (Lisa' s nephew Yehiel' sage) was stung by a hornet while family camping this week and lapsed into a near critical coma before he got adrenalin and other medication at a nearby clinic.
Yehiel started nursery school today and Lisa will probably be car-pooling with other mothers for the ride home because it is otherwise very difficult for her to manage the delivery, pickup and 4 hours at the office under the time constraints. He is playing a lot with the neighbor kids. He did urinate on his potty for the first time this week, but he is still a long way from leaving diapers. He has yet to use a pronoun. We are teaching him the Hebrew alphabet and numbers. Lately he has not been taking naps.
Actually, as you know, yesterday was Orly's birthday, but Sunday was the convenient time to give her a party. Peter's family and the Kleiman's came over and we had pizza and homemade and store-bought ice cream and cake. The party was festive and lots of fun and Orly got some nice toys and a cute sailor outfit dress. She was predictably oblivious that the affair given in her honor. She is walking up a storm and her vocabulary is up to: Hi, bye, ball, and car. We are very satisfied with Terri the babysitter.
Lisa's job went well this week, and mine went OK. I have managed to finish my investment article and hope to send it out to Better Investing early this week.
Sat. night Lisa and I ate dinner out at a. Thai restaurant and for the first time in years, had food spicier than we could handle.
7 September 1987
Greetings from Shorewood. We are in the closing hours of our Labor Day weekend and the burden of eking out an existence will soon again be upon us. At least I will have a few quiet moments with you.
The weekend was both hectic and not all that productive, but fun nevertheless. Fri night we saw the favored home team Shorewood Panthers (on which cousin Mark Kleiman starts at outside linebacker) get trounced by the neighboring Whitefish Bay Dukes 33-0. Saturday night we got the - VCR tape of "Children of a Lesser God" and saw this powerful and moving flick in the comfort of our den. Yesterday we visited Milwaukee's botanical gardens and I came away very impressed with the broad splashes of color, wide variety of species and cleanliness of the place. Alas the mosquitoes gave us little respite. Today we had Peter and his family and the Kleimans over for a barbecue and the evening was reasonably pleasant. We also had a block party here, though the affair was subdued because of intermittent rain.
Our routines seem to be going well, though I m coming to the realization that public accounting, in this country at least, just may not be for me. I am presently probably not worth the $32/ hr that I am billed out at and I really will have to get better fast. Oh well, this realization isn't really all that much of a shock and I am closing in on my major objective of our stay in America: passing the final, auditing part of the CPA exam in Nov...I now have official confirmation that I will be able to take the exam in Milwaukee on Thurs Nov 5 from 8:30-Noon...My studying is going OK but I still will need a push at the end to cram it all in. I have two more review classes remaining.
Our childrens’ development continues apace. Now that Orly is walking with some competence and confidence, we and she are into new roles. She is much more aggressive about wanting to be put down at times. More profoundly, she now grabs toys that Yehiel is playing with and. scurries away, pleased with herself. He, of course would like to knock her over and grab his toy back, so we are now into what will clearly be at least a decade of refereeing. But on the positive side, we can now watch them less than every minute
As Orly will walk about the first floor into the den where Yehiel is playing and he"ll say: "Look Orly, ... and then in his simple English explain to her what the farm animals are that he is playing with (she loves to grab his favorite, the horse, and call it cow) and the noise each one makes...Yehiel is making real strides in his toilet training
Next weekend we'll spend a night in Madison and we will attend a benefit concert for the Lubavitch day school and I will be attending the symphony as Aunt Sammie’s escort (Incidentally, she fractured her e1bow today in a fall).
16 September 1987
Greetings from Shorewood, Wi, where all is well, wet and not cold: We trust that your fall onset is a pleasure to the senses. Here, with massive trees all around, each day brings brilliant flashes of color anew, though two friendly and mammoth (alas diseased) Dutch Elms across the street were recently reduced to grass-high level stubs. The drive to and from work by Lake Park is beginning to blossom into a -spectacle of yellow and red.
Last Friday we drove 70 miles to Madison and spent the night at a room in the student union. The weather was pleasant and we had a good time. Sat morning we took in the farmer's market, held on the sidewalk round the state capital bldg. We purchased some tasty garlic cheese. For me the trip's highlight was Fri night after Lisa and the kids retired for the evening and I got to sit in the union rathskellar and soak up and eavesdrop in on campus life while quaffing a few dark brews. Ah youth! Ah freedom! Two sets of tables around which intellectual activity focused were chess games and discussions of high-energy physics.
Sat. evening I attended the opening of the Milwaukee Symphony's season as a guest of Aunt Sammie. The main event was Mussorsky/Ravel's "Pictures at an Exhibition," performed well and quite enervating. Sunday evening Lisa and I attended a solo performance by Marvin Hamlisch, composer of the musical score for 33 movies (notably "the Way we were" and the play Chorus Line) for a benefit-performance for Lubavitch. He was brief and at times in poor taste.
Yesterday we attended a Lubavitch day school picnic with the kids. Other than the mosquitoes, everything went well. For the first time, Orly took off on her own and wandered about quite independently for a while. Lots of women commented how darling, cute and well-behaved our son is and how the girls all want to mother and kiss him and how he has so many friends.
My manuscript was rejected by Better Investing (principally because of its length) so I will be submitting it locally, to avoid having to bury it.
Work is going OK and at this particular moment I assume I will last until our planned May-June departure. The new Milwaukee JCC opened this week and Lisa went swimming tonight. Hopefully I will be able to get into an exercise routine for the winter. It has a. 1/4 mile outdoor track and an indoor 13-lap-to-the-mile track, along with the transplanted Omni weight lifting machines.
Yesterday a partner of Mert's won a $1 million liability suit (of which 33-40% goes to the plaintiff lawyer and his firm) so everyone here is feeling a little more secure.
Be well.
22 September 1987
Happy New Year to you!! We hope you wi11 be inscribed for another healthy joyous year. Hopefully the enclosed pictures will bring you cheer. Orly is the doll that she looks like, but her mischievous mind does create problems. She is developing the propensity to want the toys Yehiel is playing with precisely for that reason. He is developing a belated terrible-two stage. He is throwing temper tantrums like none I have ever seen. Orly is a little more irritable of late and we are attributing it to her insecurity over Lisa’s working, which we hope won't necessitate her leaving her job. .Progress in toilet training Yehiel is slow. He went apple picking with his class last week and we hope to go as a family, soon, in addition to a scenic Sunday train ride through the fall foliage at a nearby state park.
Last Sunday we paid our first visit to the new Milw JCC, located in the suburb north of ours, Whitefish Bay. It is located in what used to be University School, similar to Cleveland's setup. The Phys Ed facilities are sparkling clean, modern and adequate. The pool is gigantic and boasts the US’s first non-chlorine filter. (its got a European ozone filter system). Hopefully its late open hours will enable (Lisa and) me to frequent even during tax season. I am up to a semi-blimpish, sluggish 147 lbs.
My big news is that my manuscript on investing, entitled "Acaaem1c Advice" was accepted for publication in the Milwaukee Business Journal, the same non-paying people who published my January piece. Oh well, if not elated, at least I am relieved it found a home.
September28, 1987
We had a pleasant New Year holiday. We took off work only Thursday (my day off was paid) and attended prayers at the Lubavitch synagogue on Wed evening and Thurs. Yehiel had friends there so the time went easily and we will probably return there for Yam Kippur.
This past Saturday was busy. We viewed the sand sculpture competition results at a nearby Milwaukee beach (including a lively “Persian Gulf Mine Sweepers") and then went on to the Schlitz Audubon arboretum, where we were awash in color and non-mosquito insect life. The crunchy leaves and distinctive smell make this a memorable season. We are also experiencing temperatures still getting into the 80s. In the afternoon I worked out and Lisa swam at the JCC while the kids slept in the car. In the evening we took Dotty and Mert out for dinner in honor of their 29th anniversary and while the food was uninspiring humongous hunks of prime dead cow, the setting overlooking a lake and the company were fun. The restaurant was in Oconomowoc (Indian for "I-can-no-more-walk"), a wealthy, picturesque and quaint little town 45 minutes west of here that I would not have otherwise seen...Sunday and again tonight we got back to the JCC for swim/workouts and our establishing what I hope will be a frequent routine has come nary a moment too soon, as hubby is turning into tubby, almost breaking the scale at 150lbs...I will probably start dieting.
Yehiel is beginning to take to the water better and we will probably enroll him in a swim class that starts in Jan (if we are still here). Orly likes the frolicking about...He has taken a fondness to Lisa' s one-inch heel black patent leather shoes, particularly because we discourage his playing in them. Tonight he took a tumble down a few stairs attempting to walk in them...Orly seemed better with the babysitter Terri this week.
10 October 1987
The weather has become very cold here suddenly. We hit a record low of 29 degrees F the other day and everyone is into their winter jackets. Within a few weeks, the screens will be replaced with the storm windows. So far we have not suffered any colds because of unpreparedness.
We are almost at the peak fall foliage color time. Tomorrow we are headed for the train ride through the woods. Yehiel enjoys stomping on crinkling piles of leaves.
My Yom Kippur fast went easily and we were again at Lubavitch for prayers. At the sumptuous breakfast we heard of Uncle Max's recently arriving Russian relatives who are not adjusting particularly well to the capitalist U.S.
We have been going to the JCC fairly regularly to work-out/swim and I am: afraid our son has little left to try in life. He has exercised on a number of the weight machines and had dips in the 104° F whirlpool, both of which are technically administratively forbidden to him, so I don't know how much more he will do. While not afraid of the water, he is not serious about learning to swim and mostly clowns around. He dreads showers less.
Because Orly starting pulling her barrettes out, Lisa trimmed her hair and she looks quite cute in bangs. Her vocabulary develops a single word at a time.
Last night we spent an enjoyable evening with a married couple friends of ours sipping Guinness stout and chatting. Lisa and I have not been going out all that much alone.
My CPA. exam studying is going on schedule, with less than four weeks to go. I will probably take the three days prior off from work as an "insurance" cram.
The campaign currently underway to discredit Supreme-Court nominee Robert Bark has been shocking and shameful. It's really war... The one- by-one self- immolation of presidential candidates has been no less curious... We have little invested in the broad US equity markets at this time and I expect we will be buying US bonds before we return to stocks.
Be well.
October 18, 1987
Our big hews is that we are expecting our third child in mid-June 1988. If our late April return holds up we will probably stay in J' m at least through mid-June for the birth ...In fact since I last wrote of successful cases at Lisa’s father's firm, the senior partner won a $15 million blockbuster DPT vaccination liability case in Kansas which I expect you will get the clippings of.
On my birthday night we went gallery hopping and out to dinner with Lisa's parents. Yesterday Amy and David Brenner drove in from Chicago where they flew into for a wedding. They still enjoy southern CA and expect to stay for a few more years. They looked good and sounded :happy.
Orly's verbal development continues apace. She is a year ahead of her older brother and is capable of two-word expressions like an unprompted "good cake." Most of her teeth are in, she waddles with a degree of stability, and her bangs make her quite a talked-about beauty. Both of the kids are generally quite happy and reasonably well behaved, though Yehiel has his bully/aggressive traits.
Today we went to the JCC and had our usual swim/workout routine with the kids. It is not optimal or particularly relaxing, but at least both the kids and us have a reasonably good time. I expect the routine to be regular.
We have been shopping around for a 220 V microwave to take back with us. There aren’t a lot of models to choose from with our requirements (600+ watts,, .7+ cu meter capacity, digital)but I expect we will still be getting a better buy at $300 + maybe $100 shipping plus maybe $200 tax than had we bought there. Can you make any suggestions on the relative servicing ease and cost of Amana vs. Litton vs. Westinghouse vs. Toshiba?
Next weekend we are to hear the symphony play Gershwin.
My big CPA auditing test is in two weeks and I expect to pass. I have been studying enough, though not enough to classify for insurance.
All the fannly here is well and in good spirits. Marshall and Sammie’s younger son is getting married to a Jewish woman from Beachwood, Ohio next March so we are looking forward to that.
For my birthday Lisa has made me a 4,000 calorie per slice chocolate cheesecake that will deservingly increase my currently low 141 lbs.
I also forgot to mention that Orly now drinks through a strawed-cup at least once daily.
6 November 1987
I know that I have not be doing any corresponding in the last few weeks as I have been cramming for the auditing part of the CPA exam which I took yesterday and I think I passed. Of course I did not study exactly the right things and could have done better, but I am reasonably confident I did well enough. Our sojourn here is thus proceeding according to schedule and things are going reasonably well.
One adversity this week did provide, though, was the stock market's recent crash. While not actually as bad as the $1,200+ economic loss we suffered, the fall-off meant that Milw Bus Journal magazine editor revised her Personal Finance supplement and my piece no longer had a home. So now I will have to take it back on the road, revise it, and hopefully find a new home before the tax season onslaught.
Lisa's pregnancy is evolving reasonably well, though much more expensively than in Israel. She has her share of the first trimester nausea and blahs. While her weight is stable (as she alternates between ravenous hunger and overstuffed illness in a matter of bites), she has thickened slightly at the midriff. Work outfits are becoming problematic, particularly because of her fear of the adverse consequences for her employment if her female boss catches on that she is pregnant.
Anyway, the bountifulness of America means that we continue to shop at rummage sales and we now have a wardrobe and library for at least an army of Levinsons. We are already bundling up to ship back kids clothes and books.
At one such sale (of a nearby parish) I picked up a $3 am/fm radio and new wave music to bookkeep by at the office. While listening two weeks ago, I also won two contests: a round-tip and entrance to a Chicago play and an admission to a Milw Art Museum benefit Halloween party. The one-day (Thurs) bus sojourn to Chi-town with Lisa was fun (though we walked out on the play) as was the party. On both occasions I saw some exquisite modern art.
With the approaching winter chill, the cold, season has hit my children. First Yehiel got a cold from school and then he gave it to Orly, who after a week, is only now beginning to recover. Both kids are otherwise in good spirits, cute and progressing. Yehiel does interject an unnerving and pointless "Why?" of late...He is to start getting a hot lunch at the day school, starting next week...Orly' s vocabulary continually gets better
I did get the VCR tape of Woody AlIen’s Radio Days last week and I was basically unimpressed. I think the recent release "Tin Men" will be next on the agenda Another bit of civilization did begin to reavh this household with today's commencement of daily home delivery of the New York Times. It is here by 6: 30 AM and for only $4.50 per week (for the first 13 weeks), I am ecstatic.
November 21, 1987
Things are going reasonably well here. The kids are healthy, happy and growing. Lisa recently attended the parent-teacher conference for Yehiel an came home with glowing reports, e.g. he is everyone’s friend, he picks up toys when told to, eats well and is very strong on identifying with animals. We worry that his speech development and toilet training are slow, but the assurance we receive is that he is within the realms of normalcy. I guess he also takes after his father in that at home at home he manifests aggression towards his sister and general unruliness when he wants to.
Orly remains a cheerful doll (except at 8 AM when everyone else leaves and Terry the babysitter arrives), though we are saying “no” to her a lot more. Fortunately she is still intimidated enough by the word to obey. She eats a lot and drinks lots of milk from her bottle. Since Yehiel gave up drinking from a bottle he has not drank much milk. Orly seems like she is going to be susceptible to the cold weather so we'll have to bundle her up extra well.
Lisa is well and in generally good spirits. Her job is not challenging, but at least we are starting to accumulate some savings. It is unclear at this time how long into 1988 she will stay with it. She is accumulating through purchases and borrowing a loose fitting/maternity wardrobe...It only took her first visit to her ob/gyn physician to be examined and tested for her pregnancy to reach our insurance-imposed $200 deductible medical expense threshold. Through house/rummage sales she has acquired lots of nice clothes for the kids at least through 1988.
Usually twice on weekends and I during the week we are getting to the JCC to exercise. I have even started doing a little swimming. With the truly cold weather finally upon us, entertaining the kids on weekends (and for Lisa the rest of the week as well) is growing more challenging. Partially for this reason and also maybe to give them an employable profession) we will be buying for them for hannukah/his birthday, a 32-key electronic keyboard (on sale for $33). While above the kids' level, with all the gizmo features, it should be fun for all.
My days are filled with work, family and then the New York Times. At least I can boast of knowing most of the Saturday News Quiz answers...We will probably let our J'm Post Int'l edition subscription lapse when it expires next month as I am the only reader and with tax season coming, I simply won't have time...Work has good and bad days. Currently I am immersed in a very fun LOTUS software electronic spreadsheet creation of journals and ledgers for the yearly activity of a $1.7 million pension and profit sharing trust.
31 November 1987
Greetings from the close of November. We are in good health and spirits as we keep warm from the initial cold onslaughts and trust you are likewise. I hope the weather there has remained warm.
Our latest big news is somewhat disappointing. Terry, our babysitter for Orly, gave us (begrudgingly) four days notice of her quitting. Since we are not comfortable shipping Orly out to daycare and the search and adjustment process to a new babysitter feels daunting, Lisa also gave four days notice at work. She is looking forward to getting other things done and being with Orly.
Healthwise the kids are OK, but the house's dryness leaves Orly with almost a perpetual runny nose. While their diets are not as balanced as I would like, at least Yehiel takes a daily children's vitamin supplement and I am starting Orly on it...Yehiel is making strides with his language development...The latest "toy" I bought them is a truly amazing 32-key 2 lb electric piano with a battery of gizmo features. To date, they have not reacted as child prodigies should, but I will give them until New Year's before I book them into the Waldorf Astoria...We haven't yet finalized what we plan to do for Yehiel's birthday, but I suspect the affair will be subdued and limited to kin.
We had a pleasant Thanksgiving, with the Kleimans and Peter Rotter family over for the 26 lb bird, which came from the store cooked and sliced. I almost ate myself sick.
With the cold weather, we are into a Sat and Sun routine of of pool activity with the kids at the JCC. I have begun swimming laps, given the time constraints.
Work is going OK. Another bookkeeper is leaving so I am feeling secure. Most days I have my portion pre-prepared rice-vegetable medley, while reading the WSJ.. Of late, I have been using a Wehani brown rice, a $1.09 lb bargain at Pic-N-Save.
12 December 1987
Greetings from a chilly Milwaukee. We are all in the best of health and spirits and trust you are likewise.
Yes, winter is just around the corner and the thermometer flirts with freezing daily. The kids do not play outside much, but at least they haven't had any colds of late. Each morning when I arise at 6-6:30 to read the NYT I plug in our car's heating coils and so far it seems that we will be able to finish our tenure here without further investment in the vehicle, as it moves OK after this priming. I think we have also bought our last winter coats for this season at least.
Our world, of the kids, is a happy one. They play together and in parallel well and continually come up with new signs of maturing. Orly's vocabulary is notable and she can even put two words together. Of the words she first learned, her favorite (somewh.at) non-utilitarian is "downstairs,” which she can blurt out without prompting in almost any situation...Yehiel is developing a drawing capacity as his pictures become more than random scribbles. As his language abilities mature, a faint hint of a personality is emerging. (nevertheless we are actually getting a more frequent occasional tantrum). He seems to be enjoying his (new) hot-lunch at schoo1. We are disappointed that we have returned 100% to diapers with him and await any sign of progress...Finally, Orly is truly comfortable with Mert and Dottie. She does unfortunately have a slight diaper rash that never seems to disappear for long.
Lisa and I are definitely into our returning to Israel mindset. It appears that prices for all airlines go up around April 1, so as of now our expectation is for a March 28-30 return, in time for Passover. Our last major purchase is a microwave oven and we expect to snap up a post-Christmas bargain (though the dollar's continual fall does not bode well). We are still not certain whether the appliance will be 220V/50hz or 120V/60hz but the convenience of the former and the fact that airline baggage specifications are spatial dimensions and not weight seem to outweigh the $140 price and 25+ Ib shipping weight differential. I also expect to purchase a good new or used receiver to bring back with the tape deck I bough t.
I received the multiple choice question answers from the exam I took and found that I got 48 out of 60 correct meaning I need 25+out of 40 on the essay questions (which I won't know until Feb). I am still confident that I passed, but at least in the back of my mind I am bracing myself for the worst...CPA life goes OK professionally as the office gets psyched for tax season. Our Christmas party is 12/21.
Dottie is beginning to prepare for our departure with Sunday brunches with family members. Tomorrow Sammie and her son and soon -to-be (March 19) daughter-in-law will be here.
One of my disappointments is that I have not found the time or desire to assemble a post Oct. 19 market crash investment article. I have been diligently collecting relevant input but the will and the time for the product have not been found. I do hope to overcome my lethargy.
26 December 1987
The weather here has hovered below the freezing mark for the past two weeks. The day before Hanukah began we got one of Milwaukee's worst snow stroms ever, with some 7 to 12 inchs of accumulation in the morning wee hours alone. Even work was cancelled, but as Mert went in, so did I (and staying longer than any of the other three dedicated worker bees who showed up). Yehiel is at the tail end of a congestion-cold that has been afflicting him for the last five days. The house temperature ranges from cool to roasting, but the air is always dry so we are always on our guard. The snowstorm did allow Yehiel to get one good playing in. We also utilized Mert's snow blower, though Shorewood does plow its sidewalks when 4 or more inches accumulate (the least Mert can. get for his county second-place property tax rates)...Our car seems to be weathering the winter OK and hopefully we will escape without further significant investment in it.
I took my last sick day of 1987 and Lisa and I drove down to Chicago where we bought a 700 watt 1.2 cu ft. 220 v 50hz Amana microwave oven. Afterward we tried for lunch near my old haunts but the Mexican restaurant was closed for the holidays, the whole-food cafe around the corner from where I lived was closed on Tue and Fritz-Thats it, with its luscious dessert bar closed for good on Nov 1. Yes the Christmas (Hanukah) season is big business in the US. We have been buying and buying and getting and getting gifts. I am certain I have enough sweaters for the next decade. My kids have more toys than they know what to do with. We did have a nice pool party with Peter's family and Mert for Yehiel's birthday. we might routinize the endeavor.
I have all but given up hope of getting an investment article published and of even reading a book before we go. The NYT takes up practically all of my free intellectual time. I took out The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes from the local library and while it is enjoyable I finished only 30 pages in a week and will have to content myself with buying it and some others in paperback to take back. With tax season starting imminently, I will be lucky to continue my regular exercising (which now consists of swimming 250 meters).
Work is going QK. I am certainly growing more competent. Last week was our office party at the Milw Athletic Club, a formal but fun cocktail/dinner party which Lisa also attended. It looks to have been our only adult affair of the season.
January 14, 1988
Dear Family,
Thank you very much for your recent letters. We are generally well and in good spirits and trust you are likewise. Our major exception is our littlest one, who underwent vaccinations yesterday and is still disabilingly sore. She also has yet to shake the diaper rash that has afflicted her all winter, but of this I am less concerned.
The winter is certainly upon us in full force with temperatures around 0 F for the past week. I have even donned an overcoat for the few seconds I am exposed to the elements. At least the snow has been avoiding us, beyond the initial blizzard.
We are settling into something of a tax-season routine before our departure. Today I put in a 10+ hour day and expect more of them before we go. Saturday work days are imminent. At least I am busy and the work, while somewhat routine, is not only tedius.
Our social calendar has had some highlights and our weekends until the end of March are beginning to fill up. Last Shabbat we attended a delightful bar mitzvah anniversary service of Lisa's Uncle Hanny. I unfortunately arrived too late for my aliyah. That night we enjoyed the company of Sarah and Mark Fiorita, our only real (if infrequent) friends here this year...In a week and a half, my high school friend Greg Malkin is coming up to visit for the weekend, an event I am looking forward to.
I am still plodding through the daily NYT and WSJ. I am chock full of "Valleygirlistic" "totally awesome" cocktail chatter and have even continued to build on basic beliefs and foundations but I expect to return the same skeptical libertarian - conservative type I was when I left.
Lisa's pregnancy is proceeding more-or-less without difficulty. She'd prefer to skip the varicose veins (worse the third time around) but otherwise she is managing.
Like a year ago at this time, I am psyched for the Browns-Broncos AFC championship game on Sunday. I am sure the Browns are as ready as I am.
Despite (because of?) my best efforts, my weight has been creeping up and so after working, eating, and fulfilling some of my family responsibilities I am exercising to shed pounds.
As something of a final stocking-up act I ordered some 60 worth of new-and-noteworthy paperback books to take back for all the intellectual interested types.
Be well.
January 25, 1988
Dear Family,
As usual, thanks for your letters. We are generally warm, well and in good spirits, despite the frigid winter about us. Hopefully we are suffering the last major snowfall of the winter, but I doubt we are so lucky. Yesterday Yehiel had a great time "digging" the snow. As he saw the most impressive results of his efforts in moving the piled snow from the grass into the entrance door vestibule, I was unable to impress upon him the counterproductiveness of this endeavor. Needless to say, he cried when we had to go in and preferred his ensuing hot chocolate cold.
We are in both a slow and hectic period. We are about to commit ourselves to the 'I'WA March 28 return and so we are doing a lot of thinking and packing. We sent our first box of clothes back. Predictably, parcel post to Israel can neither be insured nor sent return request notification.
'I'wo weekends ago I psyched myself up for the Cleveland Browns AFC championship only to see them lose a heartbreaker. Oh well, again I can tune out team sports until next January. This past Saturday my dear high school chum Greg Malkin came to visit. I had not seen him since 1981 and we had much to catch up on. He is an extremely successful entrepreneur, the exclusive distributor of AUTO-CAD, a software template for engineers, designers and anyone constructing anything (like LOTUS 1-2-3 for accountants). I can't get over his diligence, industriousness and absence of self-destructiveness. Reminiscence was kept to a minimum as we showed him the domes (Milwaukee’s enclosed gardens) and the JCC. The variety of micro brewery dark beer he was able to imbibe has not yet reached Cleveland. I suppose we will meet again when he comes to Israel in a decade or so with his wife and only child (4 yr old Shana).
Tonight I prepared my weekly rice dish and I must comment how bean sprouts ($0.79 per lb) are cheaper than the green peppers($0.99 per lb), let alone other peppers ($2.29 per lb.). What a changed world!!!
We will probably be having family-related events each weekend till we go. In two days we are to attend a symphony dress rehearsal with Mert and Dottie and this weekend. is a friend's surprise 30th birthday party.
Lisa's pregnancy is progressing more-or-less without problems...I will probably check into a dermatologist this week as my eczema is blossoming...The kids colds appear to be over for know and we may all actually go swimming next weekend, for the first time in ages...Our luckless niece Talia has her second cast of the winter, from a sledding fracture in her foot (following an earlier jungle-gym fall arm fracture).
Be well.
February 2, 1988
Dear Family,
Greetings from the home stretch. Things are well here as I begin my last full month of work. We trust you are also in good health and spirits.
The kids seem to be over their colds for the time being and Orly's diaper rash is almost actually gone. Yehiel can talk (babble) up a storm and now constructs dialog among various play toys. Orly is also becoming an effective communicator. This past Sunday we tried the family hours at the JCC and they had tons of fun on the mats, balance beams etc., -so we'll hopefully do it regularly.
Saturday night we attended a 30th birthday party for Mark Fiorita at a restaurant and had a good time. Meeting different types of people was fun, and the world really is small, even if you're not Jewish!! Sunday night we attended the S.J. Perlman comedy "The Beauty Part '" but it was uninspiring and we walked out at intermission. I won the tickets on a call-in contest on the Milw commercial classical station, where I also won tickets' today for the Milw Symphony Orchestra's presentation of a Bach evening (featuring the Brandenburg Concertos) a week from Fri. The dress rehearsal rendition of Beethoven's 7th symphony by the MSO that we heard last week courtesy of Dottie and Mert was inspiring, even if flawed. Before the play Lisa and I dined at an Italian restaurant, which was fair, confirming to us our preference for east Asian food. Anyway, at least we are not totally without cultural stimulus.
Right now it is tax time here in the cold US of A. Our return clutters up the desk in front of me and must be attended to this week. At work, I am doing a lot of real estate partnership returns as well as the usual monthly and annual compilation stuff, so I am busy. It seems I won't be wading through any of the drama and tragedy of individual returns, at work, this year.
Last Saturday I did visit a dermatologist because the cold, dryness and my near-nightly whirlpool baths ,(draining the skin of necessary oils) fostered a rash of atopical dermatitis (my old-friend eczema) on my arms, chest and waist. I learned that it is connected with my assumed inherited asthma and an allergy unbeknownst to me. Hearing my son clear his throat in the mornings to an excessive degree leads to the inevitable assessment that he too has it. I am currently taking antidotal antihistamine at bedtime, but mostly, I’ll just have to live with it. This coming weekend we will be taken out to dinner and host Mert's brother Manny and family for Sunday brunch.
February 16, 1988
Dear Family,
A cheery greetings to you from snow-covered Shorewood. We are well and in good spirits and trust you are likewise.
My big news is that I passed the final part of my CPA exam with 4 points to spare! The results came last week. Now all I need is another .1+ years of apprenticeship and the title will be mine. Then it will only be another 35+ years of hard labor and I may then actually get to retire with a modicum of dignity. Meanwhile each morning the coal mine beckons.
The other big news last week was that Yehiel is now out of diapers except for sleeping. We got him some new underwear and for whatever reason, that seemed to do the trick, with few accidents so far. He is otherwise his usual charming and earnest self, usually almost an overeager helper. He continues to get rave reviews at school.
Orly also demonstrates an appealing and friendly personality, even to strangers, whom she will engage in one-word conversations. She did take a nasty fall a few days ago that has left her with a black eye worthy of an Israeli army beating, but otherwise both kids are healthy.
Lisa is also surviving this pregnancy in generally good health. Of course her legs, veins and back pain her at various times, but she is generally a tight-lipped trooper as long as the kids play nicely and her day is not too draining. She does have a persistent sore throat which I suppose we will have to look into.
We have a little under 6 weeks to go before our departure. I expect to give notice at the office shortly. Lisa is reasonably well packed and I really must get started...Dottie had the third (and final?) Sunday family brunch for us last Sunday with a pleasant time had by all.
Lisa and I attended a Bach "go for Baroque" chamber concert last Friday with promotional tickets I won on a radio call in show and the performance was pleasant, if not quite the Bach we remembered. Today we shared lunch at a health food restaurant shop, Beans and Barley, near where I work. We spend much time discussing our return.
The weather here has been almost unremittingly cold and snowy, unlike last winter. My last letter's hopes were evidently premature but I now do hope and expect the worst is over. Don't misunderstand, snow blowing is lots easier than lawn mowing.
Next week Dottie and Mert head to FL for an 8 day vacation and then we gear up for the excitement of cousin Bill Rotter's wedding... We are also looking forward to social occasions connected with our departure.
I finished our relatively uncomplicated tax return and expect to be rewarded with a state $110 and federal $6 refunds.
Be well.
February 28, 1988
Dear Family,
A happy greetings to you from Shorewood. We are in generally good health and sprits and trust you are likewise. We had a brief warm spell today in between sub-freezing weather. With the temperature approaching 40 degrees F, though wind-chill brought it way down, I seated Orly in the carriage and Yehiel rode his tricycle for an abbreviated walk. A local TV cameraman passing by filmed us and we were famous for 15 seconds on this evening's weather report and we taped it for posterity.
The real news around here is that Yehiel's chicken pox is 5+ days old and he appears over the worst, which wasn't even too bad. Hopefully Orly will contract it soon, if at all, so as not to endanger our departure. Yehiel should be back at school tomorrow, crusted-over pox and all.
Our departure grows more imminent. I gave notice at work 8 days ago and the news was not shocking or devastating. I will try and work on the most interesting projects I can over my remaining 3 1/2 weeks. I have yet to start packing or shipping acquired books. We also have the bulk of our shopping yet to do.
Last Saturday Dottie and Mert gave us their Milw Symphony Orch tickets and we heard some Mozart, Shoenberg and Rachmanoff's second piano concerto for our last classical music before we go. The following evening we took them and the Kleiman' s out to Ko Am a Korean restaurant where the food was typically ample, tasty, fun and reasonably priced.
Today was the Purim carnival at the JCC and a good time was had by all, with crown making providing the most fun for Yehiel. Lisa made Humantashen this evening and we will be delivering them on Thursday. We expect to hear the megillah reading Wed night. Thurs I will call in sick and do some shopping for computer software to take back.
Rotter family activities get into full swing next weekend for cousin Billy's wedding. Dottie and Mert return from a week's Florida vacation with Aunt Sammy on Wed and on Friday Mert's sister Bernice arrives for a two-week stay with us. Next Sunday we have an aunts' brunch for the couple.
A lot of movies have been coming our way on Cable TV and on VCR tape, all of which I considered forgettable after no more than 20 minutes. I do hope to see John Houston version of Joyce's "The Dead" before we go. It has gotten great reviews... Actually, "Amadeus" was mildly entertaining.
Be well.
posted by Family and Community Guy @ 5:15 PM
0 comments
