Spicy Dragons & Dinosaurs

And so the "nice" shiksa mama lights the Hanukkah candles with her Chinese daughter preserving ancient family traditions. And no, I couldn't find our menorah. Where could it have possibly gone? It is usually with the candles and candle sticks and I can reach for it whenever I need it. Today. Nothing. But I had a full set of Hanukkah candles. Really pretty ones that I had bought for last year, except last year we had enough odds and ends from other years. (we almost never lit candles every night. There was dinner with some friends, or a night out for a movie. Something.) I opened the new box, and put two candles on a glass plate. And some chocolate coins -- gelt. And I said the barukh -- the blessing -- slowly so Julia could repeat it. She will be learning my poor pronunciation. It was a poor rendition of the beginning of the holidays but it was ours.