Willow Tree

Guess the Monkeys will Have to Get Along Without US

It's raining, it's pouring, right on cue. (We say prayers for rain during this period). More rain expected tomorrow and tomorrow is zoo day. But there is no place to be if it rains, no place that is large and comfortable and can host my own little monkey, not without my aging twenty years. Sometimes, apparently, the zoo will open up a room for us, but it is a small room, and not always and so most people just don't show when it pours.

So mama bear decided we aren't going to show either. Schlepping two hours by bus and finding out you are the only idiot family that doesn't have sense to come in and out of the rain isn't my idea of a jolly day.

Instead, my motely crew and I are going SHOPPING!!!!

That's right, the girls, dh and I are going to go out and buy (drumroll please!)

Underwear and stockings and socks.

Whew, let me get a hold of myself now...I'm just so charged up by the excitement! However will I sleep tonight.

Yes I know it is something we should have bought in the beginning of the year, but we are procrastinators, and we are good at it. So why spoil a good thing?

If the money holds we may even get a skirt or two for The Artist. The Monkey, poor darling, being her sister's little sister, gets to inherit most of her clothes. Yeah she just adores being baby.

Anyway, that's the big docket plans for tomorrow.

toodles

So How Was The Magician?

GREAT!!! He chopped off someone's head!

My baby, the Monkey, who isn't a baby but 7 going on 32, came home after spending almost the whole day outside with her friends celebrating the ending of "Chofesh" the holidays. School resumes on Monday. She played, went to a party, and then saw a magician, coming back home close to 6pm. TIt is still so weird to me that she could disappear for hours somewhere on the Yishuv and I can't just call her home again; can't see her, can't hear her. Out of sight but not out of mind and just having a blast with her gang of friends (who btw, range in age from 3-14).

I can't get over the fact that my almost 13 year old is taking buses in the city, at night, not one bus but two, to go back and forth between her youth group meetings and home.

I can't get over how much freedom my kids have here, as opposed to what they would have in the States.

They have more freedom, and also more responsiblity. They have more rights, and more obligations. I think, in the end, it is a much better life for them.

Oh, btw, while the Monkey loved the magician, she knew exactly what happened in the beheading trick. Don't worry, she assured me. He just scooched down, his head really wasn't disconnected from his body.

Phew. Now you know the secret too...but don't tell anyone!

So Yesterday Was Geography Day

In which the homeschoolers of Jerusalem gave their presentations about Ireland...and we all ate a lot of potatoes. One woman made this delicious potato soup. I'm thinking "great for Shabbat" or the Yom Tovim, especially during Succot.

Today we had our boiler replaced...it "exploded" burst, a rock or something, don't ask me, but its gone and a nice new shiny boiler has taken its place. Soon we will have nice, new gas tanks, at least hopefully if we want to eat we will have nice new gas tanks. Otherwise we get microwaved food for Shabbat. That ought to be fun. Yeah right.

So what other excitement can we expect?

I've a new blog

About homeschooling. You can find it here:
WiSea.

Enjoy. I'm just updating our learning life over there.
Homeschooling? HOMESCHOOLING??? What is the girl talking about?
We've decided to homeschool the Artist. I guess I didn't mention that before.

He's Back!!!!

In Israel at least. Betzalel is home in Israel. I don't know and neither does he know when he'll be home at our house, but we are both looking forward to that day. Chicken, steak, salad and rice are on the menu. Promises that we won't serve tuna or corn. YUCK. YUCK YUCK! (well I like them but when you have been eating them for over 2weeks, YUCK!!!!)

He's coming home he's coming home.
Thank G-d.
It was wonderful to hear his voice again and I almost cried.

Poor guy hasn't had a chance to shower in all that time.

Oh and if you are in Israel and see the news and there are two guys playing checkers with bottle caps, one of them may be my son. Tape and lmk!!!!

So With His Batteries Dead

The last time I SMSed with my son, which seems years ago, but it was only 3 days ago, he warned me the batteries were almost depleted. I haven't heard from him since, but I know he is alright since the army is quite good about informing the family before the public knows anything. Still, my stomach is grieving me terribly, reminding me that while I may outwardly deny my fears inside, inside I worry. Could any mother do anything less? If there were something more I could do....but what?

I send messages that I know he isn't receiving so that when he finally turns on his phone there will be a sign from me that I've been talking to him all along. Okay, he knows that. He knows I love him and pray for him and all. But I want his skin to feel it, the bones in his head to feel it, every part of him to know how much I love him and how proud I am of him.

And how I can't wait to finally, safely, have him home.

He's Going In

But I'm not giving details okay? Just keep him in your prayers....

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Well Internet Woes and Other Thoughts

May be over for a time. Why it couldn't have been at a better time, such as when I really needed to work to get the info in on time is beyond me. But I cleared the work, late, and won't have more till
after Shabbat.

But in order to try and do my work I downloaded no less than THREE new browsers in the hopes that one of them would allow me to work. The strangest of them is called "offbyone" . Very unusual set up, but it looks interesting. I now have flock which also seems good, but I'm not thrilled with Maxthon....so I will probably discard that one.

However, it wasn't a problem with the browser; it was my Internet provider, and here we benefited from my husbands procrastination. We still have a 012 account! So finally after tons of frustration on my part and I expect on the part of my boss, I switched back to 012 and viola! Success. Not perfect, but it allowed me to work. It of course could all be coincidental, but talk about Hashgacha pratis....

I'm calling and annoying my sons daily. I am missing them terribly. I am glad they are both safe and bored. I pray their whole term of service is both boring and safe. I think that is every moms wish for her army son or daughter. Well, any rational mom. The reason we are at war is because there are moms who aren't proud their children serve and have served, but relish the blood on their sons and daughters hands and find glory in the deaths of their children.

Such I shall never understand.

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My MARRIED Daughter

Made me promise not to stop blogging. EVER. Well okay, as long as my mind and arms hold out I'll try, but I'm not promising to write from beyond the grave.

So what can I talk about? The war....told you where to go for that, and basically things are status quo here; my immediate family is safe, my people are not, there's not much I can do but pray. I'll let you know what is happening to my sons when I know. Right now one is in the Jordan Valley and the other near Tel Aviv.

I'm working as hard as I can to keep us moving backward, finacially, as slow as I can. I'm not sure it's working. There is laundry everywhere but where it should be; in drawers and closets. Dishes are having children. Toys are rioting.
As I said, status quo.

So what else is happening at our happy household?

Today we, meaning The Artist and The Monkey and I, met up with some homeschooling families. That should give you all a clue as to the educational direction we may take come Fall. We aren't positive yet...but the families were a wonderful mix of people, and The Monkey eventually warmed up and spoke and played with others. The Artist of course did not. It will take several such outings to get her to actual voice the words HELLO!!!!

I kept trying to get her lips and vocal chords and lungs to move in unison and the others moms told me, nicely, that maybe I should just step back, and to tell the truth if it were someone else's kids that's what I would have told them. Give her time, give her space and she'll start mingling...but it being my kid and all it is hard to step back and chill. Next time in I'll just have to pretend she isn't mine and take the advice. We shall bring a book for her to read and one of the moms is going to bring her a Nancy Drew book. That brought smiles. She, the she being The Artist spoke through me...at 5 this was cute, but it bothers me at 12....step back mom and breathe deep.

Can we ever really disconnect as parents and stop trying to mold and grow? Putting those two words together doesn't sound to hot...but you all know what I mean. Can't stop trying to make it better, trying to get them to appear to others as perfect as we know they are.

Technorati Tags: kids, zoo, animals, war

Just Trying To

Stay on top of the news and keep up with my boys.

The Agent, who is 19 and in Nahal Charedi, the religous arm of the Israeli army, was woken up early in the morning ON SHABBAT and, together with his unit, moved to a different base. They don't move Nahal Charedi on Shabbat unless great need, but he isn't near any of the fighting yet. The other son, The Wit has been moved up north, but not near the border.

It is odd; I hear nothing and see nothing where I live (close to Jerusalem.) It is all happening somewhere else at the moment and I feel very guilty that my life is continuing as normal and others are suffering so much.Many in the north are living in a shelter or remaining close to home and shelters which makes life extremely difficult, especially during the summer time when children should be able to run free.

Instead we are bottled down in a war that could be over 1, 2, 3. Return our soldiers, stop firing on us, dismantle the terrorist organizations.'

We pull back and out.

End of story.

I am glad that the foreign nationalists are being evacuated. I want as many innocents safe as possible. It also makes it easier for Israel to defeat her enemies. The less innocents that could get in the way, or be used as human sheilds or be deliberately killed in a publicity ploy by the Hizbullah the better.

On the actual homefront, homefront, we are enduring an attack of our own. ANTS. Blasted creatures. We have sprayed but the spray is ineffective. We don't want the heavy duty high powered knock em dead kind of spray (ie having an exterminator come in) because the reports on such measures seem to indicate a need for US to leave the house for at least a week. Three days was not enough to avoid the smell according to one family. And we have the cat and kittens to think about. So we are attacking them in bits and pieces, hoping they'll figure out we aren't going to let them alone. Natural repellent ideas anyone? The kinds that will leave the kitties to grow in peace? Barring that; anyone want to host a family of four to six, depending on when the boys are home, plus four cats?

What's up with us

Well I guess just read the news. We are not in the north and there are no bombs flying here, but I've two sons in the army and yeah I'm worried. One was briefly moved to the Lebanese border but then moved down south again. The other is in a state of readiness.

I'm praying for the safety of my sons and the rest of those in Israel. I'm not doing anything different than millions of other moms and dads.

I want my sons safe, but I also want this threat stopped and now, or no one will ever be safe.

So...I just want Israel to go in and do what she has to do and not worry or give a damn about the opinion of any country/leader or other being, except for G-d.

My Hashem protect us and defend us.

That is my prayer and that is where we are.

My Girls

Did very well on their report cards...all goods and very goods and the Monkey got an excellent...

I'm very proud of them!

Glad to Know I'm of Some Use

So the Wit, who is home from the army (but in Jerusalem today to take care of his phone) called my from Jerusalem....

"hey Ima, you know I'm going to go to a barbeque this evening?"
"Yep"
"Well, I forgot I need to bring something...."(he needs to come home, shower and go back out with barely time to breathe in between).
I know what's coming....
"Could you like make a salad or something?"

Like I said, at least I know I'm good for something.....

I LOVE IT WHEN

My cat, for no reason that I can figure out , decides my feet are fair game and launches an attack. I'm sure deep within her feline mind she is justified in her actions, but I don't quite think feline.

'scuse me hon, I feed you, I water you and I play with you...can I have a little respect here?

Yeah, and I've been away TOO long, and haven't been keeping up with blog stuff, so my site stinks. Needs a change, and I need to figure out why the life liberty etc. icon just gave up the ghost.

Ideas anyone? What did I miss? Rachel Ann is busy trying to keep bread on the table she doesn't get much time for play anymore.

Back Home

And the wedding was wonderful. I'll have pictures and everything as soon as I can figure out how to do it with the new camera.

We are of course jet lagged. Yesterday I let the girls stay home but today mean mom that I was I sent them off to school.

We stayed at four different houses for various lengths of times, ate out more than I do normally in a year. The Artist made a new friend (PR's, the new bride, new niece via marriage). The kids were all a bit confused as to why their sister was related and they weren't related to each other, but I think we finally straightened them out on the matter. I think. They still may have this "niece in-law" echoing in their heads. Hey, hy can't they claim a relationship? Is their any real law about the matter? I know various cultures have different standards of familial connections.

The flight to the USA was oh so much fun....I think the first hour I was either escorting my daughter to the bathroom or heading that way myself. Cramped, headachy and full of airline food and other junk, the trip felt like 24 hrs instead of 10. But at least we got food. None of my siblings do; apparently feeding ones over-priced, cramped customers even peanuts and soda is a bit too much service for USA domestic airlines. Soon they'll start charging extra for the right to sit and use the toilet, extra for the t.p. Maybe trains will make a comeback.

The wedding was great as I said. Friends from my old home town came and I caught up with news with them as well as danced my heart out. It was so wonderful to meet the rest of PR's family; what a wonderful bunch! We felt so very welcomed. But the photographer! Why oh why must half the wedding be spent on photo shoots???? I had a cramp in my smile muscles and my daughter and new son in law had twice as many photos as I did! I can't wait to see those pics!

My daughter treated me to a makeover... I haven't worn make up in years... apparently it makes me look good as I received a lot of compliments...which of course makes me wonder a bit; what did I look like before? Um, don't answer that.

A group of three made Sheva Brachot for my daughter (traditional meal, given every day for seven days following the wedding) Tuesday. Wow, it was great....more old friends to see and talk to, great food, and lots of laughs....I wish I could bring everyone back home with me.

For about four days we were by Hotel A. This is a family guys, in a mini mansion. Every morning we were served this fantastic breakfast; salads, eggs or french toast, olives and humous. It was really wonderful! The woman was macrobiotic, and after seeing her dance at the wedding, wow, I think I need to revise my diet! She had so much energy! She isn't related to my daughter, but rather the in-laws of my daughter's brother in law! I think it incredible how wonderful they were to open their house up to us, giving us a real home for those days.

For the first week we were with my in-laws which of course was lovely....and the girls, mine, got to see their cousins again...the girls had been so close, it was wonderful how they connected. My sil made gift bags for each of the hotel rooms (where we stayed before the wedding and the day after) filled with tons of kosher treats! Thank you!!!!.

The last three days we stayed at my daughter's new sil house. They are a great family, and I was so happy to meet them. My girls made friends and as a going away present the mom gave us several games that we had played over Shabbat.

In between we met my mother's cousins whom she hasn't seen in years, and I don't remember well at all, went shopping for all those difficult to find in Israel things, for us and as is usual, for friends. (Inexpensive, well made sippy cups are apparently hard to find in Israel. There were other friends buys as well)

I bought mostly books. Have read two of the six I purchased, am halfway through three others...Among my choices; DaVinci Code. Maybe all the hype raised my expectations to the grand level, but so far it is a good read, but I'm not hyperventilating and staying up late to finish. The two horror books were decent reads...a collection by Bentley Little and one by Laymon. I've a Jodi Picoult book, THE PLAIN TRUTH, and FLoating Dragon by Peter Straub to finish and Brain Keene's "the Conquer Worm" waiting in the wings. Think that is enough for awhile? Not too long, all well probably be finished soon and then how will I get my fix?

The plane ride home was better than going; I actually slept a bit, which was good for then but I don't know how good for now as I have not been able to get to sleep at nights. Thank G-d Shavuot is coming! We have been asked out for one meal (Shabbat lunch) but are home the rest and I'm going to be taking a lot of naps, trying to get myself back into Israeli time.

We did have a minor problem when checking in; one of our suitcases set off the odor detector...so it got pulled aside, we were questioned, and guess what the problem was? Our shopping trip at the pharmacy for various items which were hard to get in Israel; at least the brands we like. Really, it looked as if we were trying to start our own pharmacy!

Back to work tomorrow! Oh joyful day caliou callay and all that. Oh well, it pays the bills...sort of.

More as I remember it...brain is still fuzzy.

My Daughter's Wedding

Is a week from Sunday. Guess where we are going this Monday? Hint. She lives in the USA. So at 5 (FIVE A.M.) we are heading off for our plane to the USA...and we'll be gone for 2 weeks.

Catch you all later...

The Cat House Down The Street

When I was about 11 or so my cat had kittens. Three I think, but I can't recall for certain. The time came as when kittens no longer needed mom and the parents (mine, not the kittens) needed a bit less expenses. So we did what every child is made to do in that situation; we put the kittens in a box and went door to door with the hopes (on the part of our parents at least) that a combination of pathos and winsomeness would induce some poor, sentimental fool, to take at least one of the kittens off our hands.

Door to door we went, without much luck, until we reached one house where, though refused, the lady of the house suggested "That house around the corner. I know she has a few cats; perhaps she'll be willing to take in another." Unfortunately there was no answer and we returned with three still unwanted kittens. Not to worry, I assured my mother "The lady that has a cat house down the street wasn't home, we'll try again and maybe she might take one."
Luckily the plate my mother was holding wasn't so important.
Then she explained the meaning of the phrase I just used and why it was inappropriate to our neighbors/

Flash forward about 37 years, to our home here in Israel, where we also have three kittens in need. We aren't having much luck and part of me is secretly glad. The Wit accuses me of being a Cat Lady to be and he is right; I could easily see myself takling in one cat after another, one lost sad pup in need of a home. I can see twenty litter pans and plates full of food and water scattered throughout my home, while bills pile up unpaid and the house slowly deteriorates into a horror.

Good intentions can so easily go wrong.
But I want to save the world. I wish I could do more than I do and sometimes I feel overwhelmed.
Who do I, with our limited funds, help? Who gets the support and who must seek elsewhere? How much to this person/group/cause and how much to that?

Sometimes it just seems so hard; I wish that it could be more like taxes. You get a list of needy and a given amount of time and or money owed for each that you file promptly, with possible penalties for failure, along with your taxes. Then I can dismiss the ills of the world and go on with life a whole lot easier; I already gave, it is here in black and white. See?

I don't have to think about Dafur; not on my list. I spent my quota on Katrina, or the blind or the starving. I am AOK in the charity department, in the caring for humanity department. No worries there!

Effort can be directed, by the governing body, at the most important issues of the year, and the world as a whole can eliminate one sorrow at a time from the global pain list.

Of course there are flaws. We aren't suppose to be able to dismiss someone else's pain so easily, even if they aren't on our list. We are one world and the pains are shared, or should be shared, somewhat, by us all. We should feel joy about ending or even minimizing the pain of another, even a little bit. So I guess it all has to stay a bit messy and disconcerting.

I guess there really is no other way.

Redo

If you could take back one thing you said to one person, what would it be and to whom was it said, and what would you say instead?

I know what I would take back: I was waiting outside a Shul in New York city, a rather well known Shul, waiting for my husband to arrive so we could go in and listen to a Torah lesson. A strange (in many ways) woman came up to me, very angry, her face set and hard, and she began ranting about Mikveh, how she hated it, how she didn't really go but only told her husband she went and actually she just went for a walk around the block, on and on...and I sat there stunned, not at all certain what to say. I must have responded somehow, gave some answer to her anger, but I can't remember the exact words.

Then she stopped; her face took on a look of disdain: "You'll probably be one of those who has ten kids!" she spat at me.

"No. Six" I snapped back, because this was what my husband and I had talked about, and I, at that point, was anxious to show I wasn't the kind of woman who just had baby after baby. At that point in my life I wanted a career; children nursed for 6mns, then set to the care of a babysitter, me off doing some good for someone else. "Six" I said, making believe I really was the one in control of the situation.
And if I could II would take back, and would answer instead.
"I'll take ten or I'll take twenty, or half as many or three times agian. I will take whatever G-d gives me and be happy for the blessings I am given."

Now, older, wiser, I wonder how I could have thought that I could named a number of children as if each and everyone granted wasn't worth all the world, as if G-d wouldn't know the right number for me. I wish I had known to appreciate the blessing of carrying, bearing and raising even a single soul in the world.

I have been blessed by my five.

Sometimes I wish I did have this great career where people were amazed by my ablities and accomplisments; plaques and testimonials on the wall, a fat pay check.

But I got my blessings, and I am the luckiest mom in the world.

And I take back everything I said to that woman.

Thank you G-d for blessing me as You have.

My Kids Constantly Amaze Me

It isn't necessarily so much what they do but it is who they are; how wonderful they have turned out. I think; how could I, who am so flawed, have given birth to these beautiful souls. I feel overwhelmed with joy for their being. I look around at the other children in the world and my heart swells and I feel an enormous pride in myself for having been given the children I was given; as if I had anything to do with it.

I guess all parents feel this way inside; but hey, I know the truth.
Whether or not I deserve it: My kids rule.

HA.! HAHAHAHA!!!! HA!

I got a set! I got a set. Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah!!!

Ah, no fair, you got my sixes. And I was about to get a set. POUT.

GO FISH...hehehehehe

Really, the only way to survive your umpteenth game of go fish is to act like your six.

Your kid likes it that way too.

And one of these days I'll win!!!!

AMAZING DISCOVERY!!!!!

Today marks the day of a remarkable achievement, a find so astounding I just had to announce it. And it was discovered RIGHT HERE, in my house.

THE BOTTOM OF THE LAUNDRY HAMPER!!!!

Yes, amazing but true, the actual bottom of the laundry hamper has been found. It is blue. Same color as the outside of the hamper but it has been so long since I've seen bottom that I just didn't remember it.

Too bad my camera broke or you'd have exclusive rights to the first photos of the event.

As it stands, you'll just have to stand in awe of my achievement.

Of course it won't last long. There's todays laundry coming in.....

Oh What Fun

LICE!!!!
insert curse words of your choice here...
grumble grumble grumble grumble.

My Dog and Cat

and somebody please tell me how to make them smaller!!!

dh got me

An anti-rsi keyboard mouse and mousepad. YEAH!!!!!!!
It really helps. My hand is still achy but it is a lot better now and as soon as I get use to this new keyboard I should be able to do my job a lot faster.

THANK YOU DH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rome(JOE) and Julie(Cham)

Last night, when I let the dog out after his nightly incontinence accident, the cat followed. It was not at all possible for me to give chase; I was dressed for bed, my children were sleeping, there was no one home and I've a sleepwalker.

Well, there it is, I thought, she'll come back pregnant for certain.
But I expected her to come back in an hour or so, or when dh came home or in the morning.

Nope. Nor in the morning.

And mom was worried (yes I call myself the cat's mom).

But dh assured me and the Artist assured me she'd come back.

And the Monkey very prettily explained "I talked to G-d and G-d said we would find her but later."

Guess who was right!? I've got some more questions for the Monkey later...but:
to get to the title of my post.

My dh found said cat with her "boyfriend." This is the same cat that hangs about our house all the time. He is a pretty cat, gold and white, with long hair and (shush, Tzvi don't read this part) I kind of hope he is gonna be a daddy because the two of them should produce some pretty kittens. (I know honey, we can't afford this, and then we have to find homes for them. I still haven't grown up, sorry.)

But to me the odd thing is it is THIS cat that has formed a relationship with my cat. They were together this morning and I'm pretty certain I heard kitten making noises going on outside last night. I'd be willing to lay a bet that she had been with him all night.

And when we took her from him, he began yowling after her!

When we got her home, she yowled for him.

Can cats form partnerships like this? I thought with cats it was pretty much "bye, and thanks for the dip." but this cat seems to be staying around.

He comes to our window, he comes to our door.

I am seriously (yes, I'm insane) thinkning of having the vet give Joe a shot and adopting Joe as well. Then we definitely need to find a way to make it so Chamie has just this one litter, assuming she is pregnant. I feel as if I'm breaking up a love relationship!

Do cats mate for an extended period of time? Could they really "love" each other?

Lucky for Her

We don't eat cat!!!!
The feline in question, one eight month old tabby named Chamomile, knocked over the VCR and broke it (last night) and today, climbed up on the partial wall between the salon and kitchen knocking down a wine glass and a little knickknack, breaking both.

She doens't know how close she came to becoming a fur muff.

Yeah, we're keeping her. I guess we are animal people.

Things NOT to Do

Do not, when the dog you are babysitting comes yapping up the stairs at 4 in the morning, toss on your robe, forgetting a scarf or your glasses thinking joyously "She woke us before she peed the floor! She woke us before she peed the floor!"
She or your own dog has already peed the floor. Right before the front door.

Do not, having found your feet and the cuff of your pants wet, decide to let the dogs out on their own recognizance, forgetting first to check to make certain the gate is closed. You will find yourself, in lieu of a scarf, tossing on your hooded sweater (which makes quite a fashion stament when worn over a robe which you must hold shut with your hand) and blindly (as you are without glasses) rush after said dogs. You will find they are quite fine.

You however, have stepped into something else they left behind.

This is not the best way to begin a morning.

Trust me, I know.

In good pet news; Shiny made no more mistakes this morning, and slept in my bed. Chamomile has fully accepted Caesar, rubbing herself against his nose. Caesar, who is too dumb of a dog to ever really realized he had not been fully accepted in the first place, accepeted his acceptance with equanimity and grace.

Shiny is still unloved by Cham however.

In good and bad news about Chamomile; "the cat came back". We have been desperately trying to keep her an inside cat for her own protection. But it is good to know, as my dh found out this morning when she joined him on the cot in the Succah, that she will come back to us if she manages to get out. Despite the presence of an interloper.

I Guess I Owe Her A Debt of Thanks

I was downstairs in the kitchen, turned about and saw the cat in the sink licking at the dishes. I guess she heard me gripping about the to the ceiling stack.

Yes I tried to take a pic, but couldn't find the camera.

You'll have to take my word on it; it was very cute.

We've Got a Cat alright.

My feet were attacked as I went to sleep, my daughter's as she woke up and stretched.
There was a crash from the bathroom as she knocked off a container of stuff from the back of the toilet.
She got into my thread.
Arms make a good teething room (apparently).

Chamomile Quotes.
"Hmmmmmmmm...that soup tastes good. Oh, was that yours? Naturally I thought it mine. Where is mine? I don't see cut glass bowls anywhere."

"I see you have a DOG. Really, I must share my quarters with a DOG? Hmmmmph. Can't wait to jump on him and scare him half to death."

"My pillow. I have no idea where yours is."

We also have a cat in sink pic which I will post and send to the site as soon as someone shows me how to upload it from the camera to the computer.
Hopefully sometime before she turns six.

We've Got A Cat!

A friends cat. They could not longer care for her. Her names Chammomile and she is a grey tabby cat, thin and wiry, very sweet and friendly; loves to cuddle. I had to make a temporary litter box from an old-dishpan and dirt, and till we get food for her, hopefully today, and bowls, she is eating doggie food. Caesar is such a dear, he just wants to be friends, but she isn't sure about him yet, though I think she realizes he isn't dangerous; when he is sleeping she'll slip past him.

We need to get her all her shots, and I'm praying she isn't pregnant. They let her go out; we plan to make her an inside cat.

Oh, but she is adorable! Cammie for short.

My Day Yesterday

The Artist called me crying from school; she had gotten stung by a bee.

The Monkey came home crying with a sore throat.

The dog peed on the floor in the middle of the day.

Those were the highlights.

Is it any wonder the dishes never got done?

Deeper meanings delved into at your own risk.

Rubber Ducky Your the One

So I was cleaning the upstairs yesterday (everyone applaud) and I found a rubber ducky that had been hanging around the bathroom for quite sometime without a thing to do. It's the type that has a little device on the bottom that tells you if your about to scorch you buddle of joy. Haven't needed that part in about five years.

But as I picked it up I realized it had been used since anyone had floated Mrs. Duck in the water. At one time we had a whole flock of ducks; yellow, blue, big and little. Mama would take her familiy out for a swim, courtesy of baby's and mommy's hands. Bathtime was fun time, the end of the day, followed by cuddles and nursing and sleep. I thought it would be forever till they grew quiet enough for me to do something on my own. I imagined a time when they weren't as needy, when I could read without having to change a diaper or comfort a crying child just as it got to the good part.

What a fool. How could I keep wishing for what would be? I wish I had known how precious those moment were and would have treasured them, instead of getting through them. I know that is always the way, I wish it wasn't so.

I want just one more, just one more baby to take through the beginning steps of life, to snuggle, to nurse, to smell that sweet scent of new life. Just one more.

This time I won't watch the hours, I'll invest in them.

(crossposted at A Walk Into My Life

Two Sons in the Israeli Army Now

No, I'm not doing the happy dance. I did hear from The Agent and everything is fine so far, typical army life with people barking orders at you to do weird and apparently useless things.

They are good kids my boys. I pray for them.

OREET!!!!!!

I've been trying to reach you via your cellphone but the connection isn't being made. I don't know if I copied your number down incorrectly or what. But if you see this, give me a ring!!!!

You Know What's Fun?

Spoiling your son who is home for the weekend from the army.

Home Again Home Again

Well, besides my daughters engagement....here's a quick rundown on the 9 days tour.

1. Dan Panaroma...what a spread for breakfast every morning!!! Enough food for three meals. The first night of the tour my brother's kids remained on USA time, and were awake at about 3 or so, so guess who was in the room beside them and was also awake? Poor bro and sil. I felt so bad for them. They had absolutely no sleep that night. None of us did really. My brother and his family, my sister and her family all took a 6am walk and went to the park. My father, who was also up, was looking at the window and saw us walking away from the motel and decided we looked familiar! HEY it's the KIDS!! He told my mom. (no one was sleeping well that night.)

2. My cousin's daughter had her Bat Mitzvah at the Plaza near the Kotel (western wall) Since it was a Conservative style Bat Mitzvah we couldn't have it at the wall...mixed males/females is a no-no at the Kotel itself. It was a lovely ceremony. She had a second ceremony done at Masada the following week. This was new to me, but apparently it is part of the Bat Mitzvah tour, and even though we weren't on a Bat Mitzvah tour it was done anyway. I've never heard of it before... so don't ask me why it was done that way. Just don't know.

Then we took in the dead sea. Well, other's did. We don't go mixed swimming. I stayed in the pool area and soaked in the sulfer bath for a few minutes though. Now I look 20. Really. YES I DO!!!

3. Friday afternoon we had a quick ceremony for my parents for their 50th. It was at their dinnner that night that my daughter was engaged.

Mostly we hung about that day. But for Shalosh Seudot, the third meal of the day, we went to an old friend of the family for lunch. That was a very nice treat!!!

4. Favorite part of the tour: an archeological dig. We had a terrific guide; he spoke both English and Hebrew as if he were a native; he had American parents but was born in Israel. It really is unusual even in such a situation for that to occur. Most children, at least that I've had contact with, who are raised by English speakers in Israel, speak one or the other with greater ease. This guy was the tops. He kept us moving and laughing. The brave of those among us (and that include me! toured an unexcavated cave. We had to crawl a bit and there were one place with only a tiny opening and another with a hole in the ground that you dropped through, guided by the hands of the guide, but it really wasn't all that risky or scary. Lots of fun though! The other's toured and excavated cave that was a former olive oil factory.

5. The Tunnel tour. Do go on the tunnel tour. I've been three or four times now and I could go ten times more. There is always something new.

6. I could have stayed a week in Safad. Okay, a month. Okay, a year. The rooms were gorgeous and the view from Rimon-Ruth was breathtaking. Unfortunately we only had a few hours in the evening and next morning, my shopping cut short by my daughters who were exhausted and my son who became ill. We did get to see someone throw a pot, from start to finish. (Not the baking and decorating part) which my kids thought was cool, and the woman teaching whoever it was to learn to throw a pot for the first time (lucky him to have three gawkers) thought it cool that my kids thought it cool.

7. Tel Aviv was next, really only for a goodbye dinner and for some a walk on the beach. But. oh that hotel!!! It was the Sheraton and we got a room with a toilet/sink and a bath in a separate room! Yes, I'm immature enough to find that utterly wonderful.

We also met a long lost cousin. He is my father's mother's brother's son. He is also well known in his field, especially since he is the only one doing it! He does the subtitles for movies! and makes the marquees and such. It is fascinating work really, as not only must he know how to trransalate such phrases as "beats me!" and not make it sound like a line about physical abuse, but he must also talk to professionals in a lot of different fields to understand the argot of that particular profession. Anyway, my dad didn't even know this guy existed until this year! Talk about lost!

My daughter and her fiancee left early in the morning; at something like 3 am. We talked for hours, then they packed and took power naps, woke us up to say goodbye. We slept till 5am then we headed off first to the Airport saying goodbye to everyone and then, luggage in tow to Latrun where my sons basic training in tanks came to an end. We were there from about 8 am till 1pm. The boys ran in after a 17 kilometer hike all sweaty and tired to our cheers and then there was this ceremony in the amphitheater. Is my nose sunburned? A long bus ride to the central bus station where we had a quick lunch, and then a second bus home.

8. I took the leftover soap/shampoo/lotion from our room. Yes, I'm that cheesy. but they were only going to throw out the little bottles so why not?

9. I finished two horror stories and have started a third. That means I'm 1/3+ the way through the stash of books my daughter brought me from the USA.

10. All around, a lot of fun was had by all.

and MY DAUGHTER'S GETTING MARRIED!!!!! wow.

Guess What?

My oldest child, my PR is ENGAGED!!!!!!!
I'm going to be a mother-in-law (okay, okay, hit me with some jokes!!!!)
Her fiance popped the question at my parents 50th wedding anniversary party.

Mom (that's me) is thrilled. Daughter is thrilled.
He is a wonderful guy. I absolutely adore him. He is such a good soul... I am so glad he is joining our family and she is joining his family. I can't wait to meet everyone else.

WOW!!!!!

A mother-in-law.

This is too cool!

Please Don't Sing

Women, according to Jewish law, are constrained (depending on the cirucumstances) from singing before men. This is a blanket statement which, like most laws is dependent upon whom one asks for the actual parameters of when and under what circumstances and before which men and well, suffice it to say, everything depends. This law is referred to as KOL ISHA (kol--voice, isha---woman.)

We are more lenient, the we meaning my dh and I and family, restricting the "not listening to" to times of Shema/davening and love songs in general. (And dh says I shouldn't be listening to the love songs of a man either.)

But that isn't what this post is about. See, the thing is:

I sing like a crow. I've no vocal abilities whatsoever. I am probably one of the few women in the world who is told by her children when they are as young as age 2 "Don't sing Ima." More of a plea. A desperate plea.

Probably a good idea to comply. Singing much past that time is likely to do irreprabable damage to their ear drums if harm wasn't done already.

I can not carry a tune. I can't even find the tune to pick it up in the first place.
But I love to sing--I think a requirement of us crows...why those two genes would go together I've no idea---, and I'm apt to break out into song at a moments notice, simply in response to a single word.

"THAT'S NOT A SONG!!!" The Wit shouts. Poor child. Most of the time it is at best a corruption of a half remembered song whose tune is questionably related to the one I'm trying to belt out. I have subjected this chld to such torture with my vocal chords that I am fairly certain that one of the criterions for his future wife will be that she is mute; or at the very least will take an oath that she will never sing. What have I done to the child!!!

However, my sister R. sings beautifully. She is in fact an opera singer (and a pianist par excellance) and insists with the proper training I too could actually produce something approaching a melody.

She's a nice sister to lie like that.

Oh well. Aside from poor singing I'm absolutely pirfict.

Happy Father's Day Dad!

Hope you are having a great time, and can't wait to see you all. Just a few weeks now!

You're NOT Going Out of the House Dressed Like That!

Dressing fashionably is a skill a girl begins to develop at about age 10, perfects at about 16 and, at least to hear my children, and the children of my friends tell it, loses at about the time one's child turns 16.

Most moms apparently have no taste. And while a smart parent eventually learns to tolerate, if not love, the combination of purple flowers and orange stripes (quite fashionable among the 4-6 set), teenagers are of much stronger stuff.

Moms of the teenage plus crowd have no such luck. One is obligated to stand before a tyrannical judge for complete assessment of ones dress before ever leaving the house or appearing before the child's friends. Woe to the mom who shows up at the child's school or to pick up a child from a friend's house who has made a fashion error (which is quite easy for those with children over age 14 to do.) A cardinal parental sin will have been committed. We will have embarrassed our child.

"You are wearing those glasses?" gasps the child in utter horror and disbelief. "How could you wear those glasses???? They are hideous!!!!!! And that shirt! " Here the child shakes her head and sighs, wondering how mom ever managed before said child's good sense took over, and how will mom manage alone once she, the ever capable and oh so wise daughter is gone for good, living her life in her own apartment.

Instructions are given. "Never tuck in your blouse. People over 30 should never tuck in their shirt or blouse." She intones distraught over a fashion faux pax which is, apparently unforgivable. "And never, ever by clip-on sunglasses again. EVER!!!"

The list goes on. Mom nods obediently and rearranges her wardrobe in accordance with the directives levied by her child. Of course mom can't help but to make more mistakes, or, unfortunately, to fall back upon old, bad habits, without the continuos watchful eye of her helpful spawn.

And so, inevitably, the day comes, when the child is living free and on her own.

And mom can gleefully tuck in her shirt, wear that stupid shirt again, and horror of horrors buy clip-ons.

At least until said child comes to visit.

Doggie Woes

We have a dog. We have a very good dog. He is kind, he is gentle, and he is very, very old (almost 13). Old men often become grey. Old men often have difficulties walking. Old men often have poorer memories. Old men often are a bit leaky. And the same for old doggies.

Coming downstairs to find our gentle beast has sprung a leak is not very fun. Except for the above difficulties, he is a happy old man, and I would like him to remain a happy old man for as many months or years to come as possible.

I also don't like yellow puddles on my floors.

Dog lovers; ideas? Knowledge that you can share? What can I do aside from blocking off an area for him to remain in and covering said area in newspaper, or attmepting to diaper him at night?

ISRAELIM, READ PLEASE! Reach Out and Touch Someone!

Or, at least I'm going to TRY and do that! Long, lost relatives, so to speak (they have always been pretty certain where they were) are living somewhere in Israel. They are my father's cousins, children of his mother's brother, who immigrated to Israel at age 19 (the brother age 19, not my father) which would make it about 1930's or something.. At this point my great Uncle, Mair Valinsky is his name, would be about 92. He had three children: Israel Valinsky, about 60 years old, Miriam (unknown married name) about 55 years old, and Moshe Valinsky, about 48 years old.

If you live in Israel and know these people, EMAIL me, please! If you have a blog and live in Israel, post this message, however you can please. I would really like to find my relatives. (If you are my relative or think you might be, EMAIL me and we'll get in touch.)

thank you!

Happy Mom's Day Mom!!!!!!

Thanks for being there, even when I didn't want you to be.
Thanks for teaching me right from wrong.
Thanks for the nights you stayed up when I couldn't sleep, because I was sick or sad.
Thanks for giving, and giving without thought to your own need.
Thanks for being my mom.

My Day

1 Discovered that potato crisps and vanilla pudding tastes good (one of my students was eating this combination)
2. Found out I'm not teaching tomorror (and I didn't teach today) Glad someone gave me advanced warning!
3. Walking home bumped into a friend and found an hours cleaning job. Thirty five shek isn't anything to laugh at!
4. Got the mail, and a penpal letter, with stickers! YEAH!!!
5. Finished cleaning and started home, met a woman struggling with her bags, so I grab one, and found that she lives in the house with the garden I so love. She showed me around her garden and I got to taste all her wonderful fruits and she plucked me the sweetest smelling rose and another flower. Truly, a taste of Gan Eden.
5. Lost my stickers, probably on my garden tour. Oh well.
6. Got home, ate pizza and rice (yeah I know, more weird food combinations).
7. Dh went to meet the Monkey after school and send her home (he goes off to work) he also bought her a treat (going back to school was a bit tough on her). I went to wait for her on top of the "fifty stairs".
8.Dh calls and says the Monkey and the Monkey's friend were on the way home.
9. Another of the Monkey's friends past me by. She told me sometimes her finger hurt and sometimes her thumb hurt right here. I took this to be a hidden message telling me that someday I would be rich and famous. Don't ask the connection, it is either too complicated or too simplistic for anyone but me to understand.
10. Monkey and friend show up, finally. Mom suspects playing in the play ground, but Monkey tosser herself into moms arm and all was forgiven.
11. Monkey and friend have party. Monkey orders up a feast. I limit her to chocolate milk and her snack. Mean mommy.
12. Monkey's friend's mom comes. Mommies talk. Mommies talk about how to redo Rachel Ann's kitchen so she doesn't overwhelmed.
13. Rachel Ann's private student comes; 1/2hr late. Rachel Ann has sort of stopped expecting this girl to come because she is either late or doesn't come all the time. But Monkey has a return visit to Doctor in 1/2 hr. Rachel Ann will tutor for 1/2 hr.
14. Monkey and Monkey's friend drive Rachel Ann crazy while she attempts to tutor. Rachel Ann attempts to tell the story of Goldilocks and the three bears in English and Hebrew, and tries to teach her pupil about ten new words. Is this really working? She wondersr? SHe is pretty certain we got the words "girl" and "boy" down. Maybe "chair" and "bear" too.
15. Monkey and Monkey's friend and Mommy all head for the doctor, lets call it near running. Luckily along comes a car and gives us a lift. We are only there 10 minutes late. And the nurse made sure to hold that time for us.
16. Monkey's throat is better; but Monkey's ears need cleaning and the the doctor starts talking about a blood test. Anemia. Monkey has a heart murmur. Mommy is not happy to hear these words, and she will worry for the next however many days till something is definitive.
17. Moneky and mommy and Monkney's friend leaves, Monkey's friend goes home. Rachel Ann's hat flies off. and she tosses her hands ineffectively over her head until she realizes she has a hood and can cover her hair that way. Monkey retrieves Monkey gets hat.
18. The Artist calls. Says she has a problem. Mommy doesn't need more problems. The problem is that the door was open and the dog is gone.
19. Luckily the dog is easily found.
There is still more left to the day, but it better be filled with sitting around and being dull.

I Really Didn't Want to Know

So Friday the Monkey says her throat hurts; but she is eating and drinking and running about---mom says DRINK WATER. Friday night as we sit down to the meal s he complains that her throat hurts, and this time there is some pow to it; she isn't eating. Not even Moms delicious and oh so nutritious chicken and matzah ball soup.

She isn't playing and running about; she is moping and lying on the couch. Ze lo normali (That isn't normal) for this little imp.

Later she is warm. She is in a lot of pain, tired, but can't sleep. She wakes five or six or seven or I lost count times during the night.

We take her to a nurse Shabbat morning (went to the woman's house) She sees no red, but does see pus: "Bring her in Sunday." We bring her in Sunday, but the doctor is not there till this afternoon. I bring her in the afternoon; and we wait, and wait. Finally, about 40 minutes later we see the doctor..

Diagnosis?
FUNGUS!!!!
From the bloomin' water bottle!
And Ima kept telling her to drink.

7 days on Augmentum, 4 days on this cream that I have to rub, or get her to rub on her lips, mouth and tongue (and oh she so loves this stuff! That's sarcasm by the way folks) AND 2 days out of school, I have to bring her back on Wednesday.

Fun! Fun! Fun!

Pesach So Far

The dogs peeing red (he stole a beet and ate it whole. Glad I witneessed the theft or I'd be crying to the vet right now.)

The Monkey has planted an apple seed (please grow, please grow). She has also found a diamond, Really. She insists. I adminred the stone of course and sigh over the innocence.

The Wit is off to have an X-ray. He "did something" to his ribs while on base. Oy vey. Hope he finds the place without too much trouble.

The Artist jsut woke up. Sleepy-head! Poor kid couldn't get to sleep last night. That or she was reading in bed for too long.

The Agent is still asleep. Just wait till he gets into the army!!!

And my arms are still hurting. Got to go!

Dear Children

Ima is going to have a nice long hot bath now. Please do not disturb unless someone is on fire, bleeding profusely, or in danger of losing life, limb or major body part.

Ima is one nerve away from bansheeism.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!!

Everyone wish my daddy a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

The Difference Between Men and Women

We have one of those mesh hampers, the one's that pop open, and can be folded if
they are unneeded (is a hamper really ever unnneded?) the dh brought down the hamper for me the other day, I emptied it, and later, as he was going upstairs, I asked him to bring the hamper back up. Which he did.

Placing it right on top of the clothes that accumulated in the interm.

Okay, do I hear the women groaning and nodding and the men wondering "so what?" Because I can pretty much guarantee you that any other woman, excepting perhaps my worst enemy, would have picked up the handful of clothes and deposited them back into the hamper. And my worst enemy would probably do so as well, just so she could make nasty comments all around.

But a guy? Okay, how many guys would have tossed the laundry into the hamper? How many women believe the ones who swear yes?

HAH!!! There's NO WAY You Knew This!

1.It is far easier to drop the stuff on the floor than to PICK IT UP AND PUT IT AWAY!!! I know...I was blown away by this revelation.
2.If you leave it on the floor, someone might step on it, and break it or hurt themselves. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!!!??
3.One's homework doesn't do itself!!! Shocked, aren't you!?
4.If you go to bed waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay past your bedtime, it will be harder to wake up in the morning. How counter intuitive is that?
and finally;
5.It has been scientifically proven that chocolate milk gets used up more quickly than peas! Chocolate milk more popular than peas? STRANGE but true!

Aren't you glad you stopped by and got educated??? Do feel free to pass these little factoids on to the unknowing public.

Were It Not For Text Messaging

I would never have received this message from the Agent:

CAUTION: Caesar poop on sidewalk.

Yes folks, my life has been greatly enhanched by technology.

Well

We signed the lease for this house so its ours for another 6 mns; but we can't by yet, which really has me down.

I know I should be thankful for what we have, but I really wanted to buy.

G-d willing soon; dh just needs to get a slightly better job.

Houseghosts

There are, I am convinced, ghosts dwelling in my house. They are the pesky variety, given to using our clothes, but never cleaning them or putting them back where they belong, using our dishes, but they simply leave them lie where they were used. Never have these shades thought to even clear them away, not to mention wash and dry and place them, neatly stacked on the shelves.

These ghosts leave scraps of paper about, knock books from shelves and have the audacity to use my children's toys without their permission or knowledge.

At least, that is the only thing I can conclude from a glance at the hamper, a scan of the sink and an examination of the floor.

What else could I conclude????

Shhhhhhh!

Shabbat was full of quiet this week, the Wit being on base and the Agent spending the Shabbat with a friend (from the US). So it was just the two little ones, my husband and myself; and the girls played by themselves and I thought of how it would be in a couple of years when this was the norm.

The house getting quieter and quieter, our food bill going steadily downward, till it was just me and the dh left in the house which will, incredibly expand before our eyes the way a young child, previously the "baby of the family" ages at the birth of a younger sibling. "Was s/he always that large?"

I am not sure I'm ready for this contraction; but of course it happens to all families. One day one is growing the next, inexplicitly, one is contracting---like some think the universe will--expand then contract, and then it all begins elsewhere.

Meanwhile I still have not found the Teudot Z'hute (TZ), and this has devastated me frankly. I am so careful with that blasted thing, where could it be? I never remove it from my purse unless I need it and then it goes right back in; I check almost every time I remove something from my bag to make sure it wasn't removed as well. I know it terms of life it is a rather minor thing, such as losing one's license etc. etc. a bit embarrassing, but not an earthshaking event, yet it was bothering me considerably. I found myself trying to make deals with G-d as if G-d needed my whatever, and was thus vulnerable to bribes. What a way to pray, I realize, what a horrible way to relate to G-d. There is nothing wrong with turning to G-d of course, but to sink to that level.

I don't know why this is eating at my soul except I take it as a personal failure, and I am by nature a worrywart, going over and over something till I am in emotional tatters.

A personality flaw, admittedly.

There are a couple of other places where it might be; I'm checking along the path I go to the girls school, the room we used (I have to search for the book there as well) and a friend, where, if the TZ is there it is there by an incredible string of events, but I'm praying, as the thought came to me in a flash about midnight, that it is by her.

Oh well. If it doesn't show up by about Tuesday we will go in and report it missing. Maybe it was stolen from me and I'm the victim of some sort of id theft.

That's all for today folks.
Get those Haveil Havelim nominations in. Last chance now!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Hey everyone wish my mom a happy "29th" birthday (How she managed to get younger than me, I don't know.) In any case, Happy Birthday Mom!!! May you live to be 120 years, all in good health of body, mind, heart and soul.

Why Is It

That when I turn into Suzy Homemaker for the day my klutz meter goes through the roof and reaches the moon?

The sink is cleaned, the stove is cleaned, the dishes, except for five wine glasses drying on the counter, and a pot, which dh worked on earlier and I am finishing, are not only washed, but put away. I've finished the pot, place it to dry on the stove, then reach over to put away the sponge and

The purple wine glass, my favorite set, is caught on my sleeve, and the base is knocked off. It isn't even the chipped glass that is broken.
Then later I knock over the ketchup and it crashes to the ground sending tomato sauce onto my walls and floors, and it is cracked open. I have yet to find a suitable container in which to decant it.

Maybe I'll just never clean again.

The Invisible Mom

The Artist comes home from school the other day and we have the typical mother-child exchange: How was school? Fine. What did you do? Stuff. Variations on this theme are repeated in most every household.
Her next comment however made me feel like chopped liver.
"Where's Aba? (Hebrew for father). Fridays my dh doesn't work. Still a bit more than three seconds worth of conversation from a munchkin I hadn't seen in several hours would have been nice.
"Hey, don't I count?" I asked.
"You are always here."

My oldest, now 23, once became very upset when, as a kindergartener, she learned that during the day I wasn't sitting right where she had left me awaiting her return like some princess in the fairy tale awaiting her true love. I suppose most children think of themselves like that; the center of their parent's world. In some ways we become background noise, especially if, like me, one is more of a stay-at-home parent. I know that when I was working during the dinner hour it was much harder on the family, even the older ones, and it was even more difficult than it is having their father gone most of their waking hours. They adore him. They need us both. But there is something important about me just being there, for them, if they need me.

Dependable, reliable, there to grab on to in case of need.

Maybe, in some ways, I'm the center of their world.

ABCDEFG

Look, look the Monkey wants to learn to read!

And I think she will do it fast,
if her enthusasim continues to last.

Doing the letters one by one
apparently is tons of fun!

Circle the picture that match the letter
Everyday she gets better and better!

Next she will need to select
which letter for the picture is correct!

Then after that letters one to three
will put together, what will the word be?

Then Hebrew and English she'll really know.
and her mind will grow, grow, grow!

I know this rhyme is pathetic
What do you want? An epic?

(sorry guys...really, my mind she is a going!)

---and and by the way, the Artist said a whole sentence in Hebrew to her sister's teacher! Wehaw!!! She is talking, a little bit at a time! This is both a shyness and a language issue. We've decided to give points with a reward for ten or more points. Hey, bribery can be beneficial sometimes.

MAZEL TOV!!!!!

To my good friend at HOUSE OF JOY on the birth of a new baby girl!

Go over and wish her a mazel tov!!!!

Your child should live and be well, all in good health of body, mind heart and soul, until 120 years.

Small Things

In the "It's the little things that count"

1. Made a great chicken for Shabbat that all but one kid loved. (soy sauce and honey, boy was it yummy!)
2. Managed to bring a smile to a crying child guest.
3. The girls in my class don't absolutely hate me...they even talked to me!
4. The girls in the Artist class still love her despite the fact that she won't open her mouth to them.
5. I managed to go to both my Shiurim (plural for lectures/discussions) something I haven't been able to do for sometime.

And in other family news:

The Monkey fell in school; my dh was talking to her about it.

DH: "So what happened after you fell?"
MONKEY: "I cried of course!"
ask a silly question!

And the Artist:
one of her Israeli friends stopped by to pick the Artist up for a special thing in school. They left and a few minutes later they were back at the door.
"She's trying to tell me something!"
I listen, trying to figure out what this ten year old is trying to say and the Artist says
"She wants me to go up with her."
Me says "Darlin' you can understand better than me!"
Now that is wonderful!!!

I've Come to the Conclusion

That we have a mouse. I base this presumption on the fact that last night as I was sitting by the computer, something greyish and small, with four feet and a tail, scurried down the stairs and under the shoe cabinet. Any alternate suggeston, other than a rat, would be greatly appreciated. I've come to despise mice.

(sigh)
What do these bloody creatures do? Send out invites to their relatives? Go on to Rachel Ann's house; its rocks!!! We've tried stuffing up the holes and putting down countless traps and they manage to return and annoy us anyway (or annoy me. The children think the mice are cute.)

So today, in an attempt to find out where said mouse is coming from and to prepare for an exterminator, I forced my darling husband to move furniture from wall, and in some cases sweep out the various and sundry junk which has accumulated since the last time we endeavored to clean behind things. In some cases this meant "last week" in some cases I'm not telling you the date of the last purge.

Be that as it may, my actions have prompted this little scenario with the Wit.

The Wit: "Cleaning the floor isn't going to get rid of the mouse you know. They live in the walls."
Me: "they do? Are you sure this isn't a rat?" (I'm deathly afraid of rats and have asked everyone, save the Monkey and the Artist, this question at least twice.)
Wit: "No, the rats live upstairs in my room. I told you that."
Me: "I thought you said they put on a circus performance downstairs every evening? You know; trapeze artists, clowns, jugglers?"
Wit: "They do. They come downstairs every night to perform; but the live in my room. They practice in the attic with the birds. One of the birds is the ringmaster."
(we have birds that fly in through the spaces between the roof and the undone upstairs floors, which we refer to as the attic).
Me: "well maybe if you would call me down when their circus is going on I'd like them better."
Wit: "No you wouldn't. Your a rat bigot."

Got to admit he is right. There are two main Rachel Ann fears that she has had for many years; 1)Alzheimer's, as in coming down with. 2) Rats. And this is without ever seeing Willard. No, that rat movie cannot be said to have inculcated my febrile brain with imaginations of death and destruction at the teeth of annoying plague-ridden disease carrying rodents. To what I owe my fear I've no concept. It has to do with my fear of contracting rabies, but I don't fear as much other known carries of that dread disease. I didn't become completely spooked when the ferret bit me. Nor have I had much contact with the beasties; the first time I saw one up close and personal I was an adult; married, not yet with children, but in the planning stages thereof.

Rats have me cornered, or my rationality at any rate; logic doesn't enter in to play. No one could persuade me to take one in as a pet, or bestow as much as a pat on the head to one kept within the confines of a petting zoo.

I've held snakes, petted hissing roaches, I am unperturbed by dogs who snarl and camels who spit. But a rat, even one sitting nicely and politely noshing its food, without the slightest attempt at doing me harm?

Forget about it!

So what is your worst nightmare?

The Big Important Stuff

J at The Zero Boss asks "How can you have marital harmony when you and your spouse are divided on issues of life or death?" He then lists five issues that divide the couple---such as how they sleep and drive (luckily not at the same time)

I had to laugh; my dh and I were just talking about this the other day. So I have to list the "life or death" ways in which my dear husband and I are polar opposites:

1. I think it is cold whenver the temperature drops below 70; I don socks and flannel and complain that it is so cold I hurt. Dh is boiling hot until his breath freezes over.

2. He thinks figs are the most delicious fruit; they make my tongue all yucky and have these little bits of things that get stuck in my teeth and who can like them anyway?

3. I read books or watch a movie once; he reads books until the covers fall off and the pages tear off in his hands---then he goes out and purchases another copy of the book. He watches movies until he has all the lines memorized.

4. He hates coffee; doses it up with five teaspoons of sugar and a quarter cup of milk. I love coffee, probably adding three teaspoons of coffee to my mug, a tad of sugar and milk.

5. I love blogging. My dh thinks it is nuts.

Is it Swet or Just Pathetic

that when my dh started to sing the "I am stuck on band-aide " jingle, I finished it from upstairs.?

Every vote counts!