Oh Hunaukkah, oh Hanukkah! Come Light the Menorah!

Today is the second day of Hanukkah, making tonight our third night of lighting candles. Since I haven't celebrated Hanukkah (save for a night here and there) since I was about 16, this is a big deal! We bought a menorah with some of our wedding money, and we each went out and bought 8 little gifts for eachother.

We'll be in Washington for the last 4 nights of Hanukkah, so we've arranged to celebrate with Mark and Diane. So, for everyone's edification (I assumed everyone knew the basics of the Hanukkah story, but discovered Matt did not), here is the story of Hanukkah!

So, Friday we celebrated the first night (complete with the Brachos, or blessings, sung in Hebrew!), and had a four hour meal (mainly due to poor planning, wherein only one item was ready at a time...). Here are some pictures:

The Menorah: Matt almost committed a Hanukkah foul when he went to blow out the candles! The need to go out on their own!

Matzo Ball soup. Yum!

Potato Latkes -- SO GOOD! With a bit of powdered sugar. Mmmmmmm.

We don't have any pictures of the brisket, except in the pot (and it doesn't look good there....). But, rest assured, it was excellent :-) Matt had never had brisket before, but it met with his approval. It also gave us the excuse to buy from the Butcher Block, whic h is a high end burcher shop here in Bloomington. The cut of meat was REALLY good!

I will see if I can keep up a list of gifts, just because that is fun :-)
Night #1:
Brea got a mug made by a local artist -- it's a mug she's loved for awhile :-)
Matt got the gift of Hanukkah! This was symbolized by gelt and all that food! And, of course, singing in Hebrew and lighting candles.

Night #2:
Brea got chocolate-covered peanuts (yum!)
Matt got two pairs of boxers. Maybe not that exciting, but he needs more!

Alrighty, we're on vacation! I slept for 14 hours last night, and went back for a 1.5 hour nap this morning. I guess finals really took it out of me! Matt is now camped out on the couch, watching football, and I plan to do some major cleaning of the house.
Over and out!
Team Carlson