Manitoba

Okay, so here's why our deck is also known as Manitoba.  In our house not every family meal is a peaceful affair.  We regularly eat dinner as a family, trying to share the events of the day, and talk with our children, but sometimes things get a bit out of hand.  It use to start most often with "But I want to sit next to Eema."Nowadays it may be an obnoxious comment made by one child about or to another.  Usually Jesse is the protagonist in this story.

When we first built the deck, most arguments were about seating.  As the kids would yell, but I want to sit there, Sean would say, "I'm sitting in Manitoba."  His point was that he was sitting far, far away from the noise and the fighting.  After a few of these comments, one of the children pointed out that it was Shabbat, and Sean could not get to Manitoba with out a vehicle of some sort.  I said that of course he could, Manitoba was just outside the door.  Thus the deck was named.  Now, anyone who visits can also go to Manitoba in minutes.

The sukkah is going up on Manitoba.  We're having an open sukkah on Hol HaMoed Shabbat.  Come around back and join us in Manitoba.  As long as the weather holds, it'll be lovely.