Juke II

Yesterday was one of the most exhausting days I've had in a long, long time. Let me start from the very beginning. So, as usual, I am not sleeping very well. On Monday night, I spent hours tossing and turning in bed. Finally, at 4:30 a.m., I fell asleep. My phone started ringing at 10:00 a.m. and I managed to pull myself out of bed by 10:30 a.m.

So, rememeber the post when I mentioned that the post office is no longer open regular business hours. I guess I should have understood that to also mean that lines are going to be insanely long! After I downed a quick breakfast of 5% cottage cheese and 39 calories-apiece "toasting", I strapped on my New Balances and walked to the post office. It's also, not sure I've mentioned, stinking hot in Tel Aviv! The humidity is a killer people, I feel like I'm walking in the midst of a Russian bath.

Anyway, I got to the post office in decent time and the line was OUT THE DOOR! I couldn't even get inside the building. And all I needed to mail was the text of the Ketubah to my friend Eta's father, who is making us a beautiful version for the wedding.

2 hours later, my turn finally came, and I went up to the postal worker and asked her how much it would cost to have the letter get to the States by Friday. She told me 58 shekel! That's a ridiculous amount of money, for one tiny little letter. Well, I spent a little less for it to go "expess" and I hope it gets there within the week. Oh, and did I mention that once I got into the post office the AC wasn't working well. I was better off outside in the shade, at least there's a bit of a breeze in the shade.

So, after my post office experience, I had to walk all the way to Gordon/Dizengoff to pick up some perscription eye drops. While I was there, I called my friend Rachel to see if she wanted to meet at Dizi for coffee. I love that place, it's a coffee shop/laundromat/video rental store in one. You can also rent laptops while you're in the cafe and the place is really, really nicely designed and clean. I've definitely blogged about this place before, but in case you're heading to Tel Aviv and want to check it out, Dizi is in Dizingoff Center, right across from the Rav Chen movie theater.

Rachel and I had a really, really nice chat over some ice coffee and mint/lemon ice tea (mine, it was terrific!). I don't remember the last time I had such a laugh, it was nice to get out of my own life for a bit and just enjoy talking about other things. After a few hours, I bid Rachel adieu and headed back to my apartment to continue packing.

So yesterday, I packed up all of my books, my comforter and a pillow (these boxes don't fit much folks) and a box of linens and glass items (i.e. vases (2), decanter, candles and candle stick holders, etc.). I also packed up the rest of my hanging items and just left out the items that I am taking back to the States with me. Since I have no idea when the closets are going to be delivered to the apartment, and there is a chance that I won't get it before I leave in 2 1/2 weeks, I wanted to at least make sure my clothes for home were in one place. Anyway, by this point I'm pretty tired, having walked a long time and been out in the heat. But, I was set to meet El Jeffe and Gayle for coffee after dinner to talk about Sheva Brachot.

My friends in Tel Aviv offered to make us Sheva Brachot on Wednesday night after the wedding, and I JUMPED at the chance! How great does a beach BBQ sound? El Jeffe could only join us for a bit because he had a date (I better get a full report later!!) and so Gayle and I quickly went over the logistics and I gave her the guest list with some phone numbers. We hung out some more and discussed Shabbos plans, and then I walked back to the apartment.

Buggy was already practically asleep in his apartment in Jerusalem, so I wished him good luck on his big, big test today, and then stopped off at the AM PM to pick up 5 bottles of Mei Eden. Since I have to move my own Mei Eden water cooler, I didn't want to start a new liter. I don't know how the heck the movers would move it with water attached! So, 5 bottles of water should get me and Buggy through Shabbos (I'm hoping!).

I got back to the apartment and hopped into the shower. I'm up to twice a day at this point, once in the morning and again before bed, because of this weather. It's like New York in August but for 6 months folks, it's just nasty. The only nice thing is that I'm getting tan and I don't even have to sit out on the beach for it! Just walking outdoors is browning my skin nicely.

After my shower, I forced myself to stay awake so that Mom could call me when she got home about the new response cards. I get so excited to hear about the people who are RSVPing to the wedding. Sadly, all of the response cards yesterday were regrets, but many came with very nice and appreciated checks!

So finally, I thought I was in the clear, and I got out of bed to hit the bathroom quickly before getting some much needed sleep. And, when I was in a bit of a compromising position, is when I spied the HUGE juke. It was just hanging out on my bathroom floor, inches away from my barefoot toes. And it was massive. I couldn't do anything about it at that point, and as soon as I washed my hands, the juke raced into my living room.

Now, when I was in High School, I once accidentally woke up to a new station instead of my beloved Z100. That morning, the interviewer on the news station was talking about Manhattan cockaroaches and how much they LOVED cardboard boxes. In fact, the roaches see cardboard and almost always drop a load of eggs (they love cardboard for breeding). I freaked because the juke ran into my apartment and headed straight towards my packing area. Well, the adrenaline was pumping now, there was no way I could just ignored the juke running loose amounts my boxes? I cannot risk letting it either lay some eggs of make himself comfortable in my box and then end up bringing the box with the juke to my new apartment.

So, I decided to try to kill it myself. I grabbed one of my New Balance sneakers, a broom, and a can of bathroom airfreshner. I figured if I could spray the juke with the air freshener, the chemicals might stun em and then I could smoosh him with my shoe.

It took me a few times to move bags and boxes to find the bugger, but when I finally did, my plan worked! I stunned em with the spray and then SMASH down with my sneaker. I then disposed of the carcas with three big, heavy, thick pieces of paper towels and wiped the area clean with an antibacterial cloth.

But, there was no way after that little episode, that I was going to be falling asleep anytime soon. I stayed up until 2:00 a.m., continued reading the same book I've been reading for the past 4 months, and finally calmed down enough to get some sleep. The 2 Advil helped too, it just relaxed my muscles and my aching knee, and I was able to get some sleep.

My alarm went off at 8:00 a.m. and I immediately called Buggy to wake him for his government exam. He was awake, which was good, so I didn't have to talk long and so I went back to sleep. I got a few more hours of rest and now I'm awake and locking myself into this apartment until I finish my story for Professor Kramer. Yonatan from my class is going to meet me for lunch tomorrow and, if I finish the paper in time, offered to bring it to Bar Ilan and drop it off in Professor Kramer's box. That would be really, really helpful for me so I'm hoping to take em up on the offer.

OK - time to stop procrastinating. I'm off to work on my paper.

Crave of the Day is the neighborhood ice cream truck! I miss the familiar jingle and the friendly man dispensing the soft ice cream swirls onto big cones or into cups. My favorite thing from those trucks are the Good Humor toasted almond ice cream sticks. I like those much better than the chocolate eclairs or the strawberry eclairs! Although, sometimes, you just want to have some fresh soft vanilla/chocolate swirl on a cone with rainbow sprinkles. Call me childish, but I've got some great ice cream memories from back in the day!