Yoja, Yoja, Yoja!

Well, I'm back in Jerusalem folks. I'm honestly worried that Buggy's parents are going to get really sick and tired of me! Hopefully, that won't happen until after the wedding.

Yesterday was a lousy, lousy day. Poor Mom, she bore the brunt of my wrath/sadness. It was weird cause when I hung out with Lana, I was pretty good. I was able to not think about my issues and just concentrate on her, so it was a nice distraction. But then, as soon as I got back to my apartment, the bad feelings kinda took over. I think a lot of it has to do with the weather, it is already humid in Tel Aviv. I spent over an hour blow drying and ironing my hair and the second I walked out of the apartment, the humidity took hold and turned me into Ms. Brillo head. Ain't an attractive site. I spent an hour this morning here in Jerusalem with my hot iron, hoping that when I stepped outside it won't have a similar affect.

So, Mom calmed me down a bit and I got to Jerusalem in time to meet with Buggy's nutritionist. She told me how to cook for him, he's on diets for very high cholesterol, and then I asked her to take me on as a client. I think that was a good call on my part, because she spent a long time writing out a complete program for me to follow and it's not too rigid!

Buggy and I celebrated by going out to my new favorite restaurant in Jerusalem, Yoja. It's on the corner of Emek Refaim and Emile Zola and it's Asian-fusion and absolutely wonderful! We split steamed beef dumplings with three different kind of dipping sauces. Fortunately, the sauce that I liked Buggy didn't like and the sauce that Buggy liked, I didn't like so there was no problems there. Buggy really liked the sweet and sour sauce, which was way too sweet for my palate and I gravitated towards the spicy peanut sauce which was just perfect for me!

Then, we ordered a main course that consisted of Pad Thai for Buggy, who absolutely loved the spiceyness! I ended up with something called the Goa, which was very tastey! We were haven't such a good time together, we didn't realize just how late it was getting, and we ended up closing the place down! Also, the waiter at the restaurant was absolutely the nicest Israeli man I've met since I moved here. Well, excluding Buggy of course! He was genuinely kind, so Buggy and I left him a very nice tip to say thank you.

When we got back to Buggy's parents house, his older brother was on his way out of the house back to his own and mentioned how bloated Buggy looked. Sometimes, you need to have those kinds of meals.

I woke up bright and early today and tried to get Buggy to join me, but he was too tired. So, I left him sleep as I ironed my hair, caught up on some work e-mails, unpacked my clothing for Shabbat and started looking through the diet program so I could really start following it. The nutritionist told us that the reason Buggy wasn't losing weight was because he wasn't exercising enough, so I told him we are going for an hour long walk today! I think that's one of the reasons he didn't want to greet the morning sun with me. Oh well, I need to exercise for at least an hour a day, so we're gonna be doing lots of walking together!

Buggy finally pulled his lazy bones out of bed and is davening as I update this blog. When he's finished, we're going to walk to a Supersol in Katamon to pick up food for breakfast. The good thing about the new diet plan is that both of us can eat, basically, the same way so I don't have to cook for two different people. That will be easier for both of us, for sure!

Hope everyone has a great Shabbat!

Independence Day Blues

I've got the Yom Haaztmaut blues. It's actually a real condition that strikes the inhabitants of Israel after Independence Day celebrations have long gone, and it's supposed to last a few days. I'm hoping to get out of the duldrums by tomorrow, cause it's going to be a really busy weekend!

Let's backtrack a bit to Shabbos. Friday night was very nice, we ended up hosting 9 all together, and the food and conversation was very lively. I was able to crash by 1:00, after all the washing, and managed to wake up in time for shul. In fact, we got to shul during Shacharit, which was shocking since I don't think I've made it to davening that early in a very long time. Buggy got an aliyah, which was very nice and made him happy, and then we had a nice lunch. We decided to lay low on Saturday night since Shabbos ends so late, and we ended up renting a movie from Hot VOD (Pirates of the Carribean II) and turning in for the night. On Sunday morning, Buggy came back for breakfast and as we were sitting at the table, I heard the man calling. Now, this man has yelled outside of my window at various times in the mornings, saying the same thing over and over again. I thought he was calling his dog, and that what I couldn't decifer was a Hebrew name for the dog. So, there we were enjoying breakfast and the man starts shouting. I say to Buggy, "That guy is out there every day yelling for his damn dog. You'd think he would put him on a leash or something."

Buggy choked on her juice, and started laughing and coughing at the same time. Then he told me how much he loves me, which made me feel nice. Then he told me how cute I am, which made me feel even nicer. And then he told me that the man was not calling his dog but was actually yelling in Yiddish "Alte Zochen" which means old stuff. The guy was driving around the neighborhood in a pushcart with old crap on it, screaming in Yiddish for people to come and check out his wares.

Buggy thought this was the cutest thing even and has managed to tell almost every member of his family - and some of his friends - the story. Whatever, I don't feel the least bit dumb. OK, maybe a little stupid. But at least it was Yiddish and not Hebrew.

I got even though. I told Buggy we're getting a dog, and we're calling him "alte zochen". I'm serious too.

So, Buggy finally got on the road on Sunday and I was left to work, and boy did I have my work cut out for me. I had a story due on Tuesday night, and had barely begun! So, I got to work and wrote, and wrote, and wrote for hours on end. I finally got to a decent point in the story when I got stuck, and as usual, it was with an ending. So, I let it sit for the night and then woke up early on Monday to finish.

Now, Sunday night was Yom Hazikaron, which is really a sad holiday here in Israel. The siren ran at 8:00 p.m., and I stood silently in my apartment and then watched the Tekes (ceremony) on TV. There is no regular programming on Yom HaZikaron and instead, many channels show documentaries about fallen soldiers. I went to bed sad, and woke up feeling the heaviness of the country. Many stores are closed on Yom HaZikaron and the streets are pretty empty, a bit of a similar feeling like Yom Kippur but without the kids on bikes. At 11:00 a.m., the second siren sounded and I stood silently again and thought about the thousands of family members heading to military cemetaries throughout the country to pay tribute to their fallen loved one.

I got on a bus around 12:30 p.m. and headed to Jerusalem, to spend the rest of the day with Buggy and his family. We ended up doing some errands, and stopping by the apartment to put up new Mezuzot for when we move in after the wedding. Then, we went to Chovivei for the Yom HaZikaron/Yom Haaztmaut ceremony. It was very moving, they read out the names and stories of the shul members who lost loved ones in the various wars. Buggy's Great-Uncle, whom his father is named after, was one of the Lamed Heh and they honored his memory during the ceremony. And then, at sundown, the mood of the people changed from subdued to jubilant! We say Hallel with a Bracha and we sang the Hatikvah loudly. The children ran around with Israeli flags and shul set up a big Kiddish outside. Buggy and I went to his Aunt and Uncle's house for a barbecue, but we got there too late for the food. We ended up watching some of the Har Herzel ceremonies, including some incredible dance and singing routines, on the TV.

And then my stomach started growling as the scent of every Israeli barbecuing meat started filling the air. So, Buggy called around and found us another barbecue. We went to the apartment in Katamon where the spread was incredible, complete with kabobs and steak and grilled chicken. I overdid it on the meat, which kept me up and in the bathroom during the wee hours of the morning, but not before Buggy and I got a fabulous view of the fireworks. It was great, and I couldn't believe there was a full day in store for us!

The next morning, after I made sure my stomach was a bit better, Buggy and I went to visit his Great Uncle in the nursing home. It was a pretty depressing place, but Buggy's Uncle was very nice and I managed to hold my own with the conversation. After we wished him a Chag Sameach, we went to Buggy's apartment to get the meat out of his freezer and made our way to his best friend's apartment in Givat Zeev.

This settlement is absolutely gorgeous and even more beautiful in the daytime! We met Chanan and Naama's newest addition to the family, and we gave Hadas the present we bought her (an adorable pink bathrobe with her name on it in Aqua, and a hood that looks like a bears head). Three other couples, with their children, joined us for the barbecue and everyone chipped in to get the food ready! No one sat down and waited, everyone did something. Chanan and Buggy took care of firing up the grill, myself, Naama, her father and another one of the husbands got to work on the salads. Two of the other women prepared the meat and chicken, while Naama's mother put the baby back to sleep. Then, with the children helping, we all set the table and left one of the husbands to take care of the grill. At some point during the lunch, one of the husbands remarked that it was adorable Buggy and I still held hands, and that we should enjoy the moment now because it wouldn't last very long.

Is that what kids do to couples?

After we pigged out on more meat and chicken, Buggy and I headed back to his parents to rest before I had to catch another bus back to Tel Aviv. I should have stayed over because it took me over 2 hours to get home! It was the worst traffic I've ever been in! Now I know this never would have happened to my Dad, who would have started his grilling at 9:00 a.m. and had everyone back home before Noon! Oh well, we now know what to expect for next year. Hopefully, that won't include traveling between cities during Independence Day rush hour. I got home, checked some e-mails, and then crashed. I don't need to look at meat for a while.

This morning, I was thrilled that the student strike was still on because I had to finish my story. I spent the morning writing, in my pajamas, until the piece was in good enough shape to send out to the class. Still filling blue though, I got dressed and went for an hour and a half walk. This time, I decided to go to a place I haven't explored since moving to this City. That's right, I went to Kikar Hamidinah, which is Tel Aviv's version of Rodeo Drive.

It's huge and has some pretty decent stores. I felt right at home at Ralph Lauren, until the annoying saleswoman shadowed me throughout the store. Granted, I wasn't dressed in designer duds but I certainly wasn't going to steal anything either. As I walked along, I felt something tickle my bra. Thinking that maybe I was sweating from the walk - it IS hot outside, although the humidity is still at bare - I kept on going. When I went to the Cook Store though, I felt the tickle moving around to the other side of the bra and that's when I realized there was something moving underneath my shirt. Now, I couldn't exactly remove my shirt in the store, and fortunately, the little ladybug managed to crawl up my chest and around my neck so I could pluck her off me and flick her away.

That was about an hour and a half into the excursion and so I decided to come back home. It's good that I got the exercise in, and even better that I was able to do the walk at all. While in Jerusalem, I managed to get 5 mosquito bites. Three of which happen to be my foot! Two are on the bottom of my feet, on the soles, and one is on my big toe. Since Buggy and I are going on a hike on Friday with some of his friends, I wanted to make sure I could actually walk. Fortunately, I'm able to grin and bear it. Here's hoping the hike is pretty tame!

I have a new business conference call now, so I'm signing off! Hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather in both Israel and the US.

I'm Back

With an entire block full of these flowers blooming across the street from my Tel Aviv apartment, who wouldn't be thrilled to be back in the Holy Land? I for one am really looking forward to a vacation from my vacation. I certainly could use a little wedding break. Unfortunately, I'm delusion to think I'm actually going to be getting a break. But hey, one can dream, right?

A lot has gone on since last I've posted and there is too much to add to the blog so I'm just going to provide some highlights:

1) Had my very first gown fitting at Kleinfeld's on the 12th. It was pretty surreal to be wearing what will in a few months be my wedding gown. The manufacturer sent a muslin in white satin so it actually looked like the gown. My Mom asked me to give a little squeal at the next fitting so that the seamstress and my contact at Kleinfeld's gets just how happy and excited I am about the wedding. What can I say? I'm just not that girl. I'm happy though, really happy, just not squealing and jumping up and down happy. I don't express my emotions like that. Oh well, I'll try to fake it next time.

2) Somehow managed to take off from JFK during the Nor'easter. Granted, we sat on the tarmac for over 2 1/2 hours, which was torture to the already cramped and long 10 hour flight. But, Buggy picked me up at the airport, so knowing that the pain would be over in 12 hours kept me going.

3) A yeshiva bocher overzealous to grab his suitcase off of the conveyer belt caused a domino effect of seminary girls that ended with me practically on the bottom of the heap. I pulled a muscle trying to keep myself upright when the sem girls piled up on top of me. And then, to make matters worse, he didn't even apologized. Just stared at the ripple effect he caused with his oversized luggage. I guess that's what you get from this year's crop of Oreo cookies. Where's the mensch under that hat people??

4) Buggy and I were kvatar's at his (and soon to be mine) nephew's bris on Monday night. Armed with a bottle of Visine, I managed to keep myself awake and not drop the baby when I passed him along to Buggy. Thank g-d I caught a second wind, cause I was fading really fast between the drive from the airport to Jerusalem.

5) The writer's conference in Jerusalem was extremely disappointing. There are just too numerous reasons why, but I will discribe Wednesday morning's session. I raced from the Dr.'s office (oh yeah, I'm run down and sick so Buggy got me an appointment with his Dr. at the Wolfson medical center who perscribe lots of rest and fluids. I'll get back on my feet in no time folks!) to Beit Avichai (GORGEOUS building across the street from the Sheraton Hotel on King George) for the Noon conference. I made it in time and when I walked into the room, Professor Kramer was just about to begin the panel. Unfortunately, there was not an inch of space! I leaned against the front, praying that the wall would hold me up in the weakened condition, but more and more people kept pouring in! Soon, I couldn't even move my feet a milimeter as people (elderly, younger, middle aged, you name it) had copped a squat around my feet. Since I wasn't feeling well, I decided to make the executive decision to walk out and miss the panel. I heard that I missed a good one, but I just couldn't imagine spending an hour and a half in that situation. Hopefully I'll be able to catch next year's conference and attend like a lady.

So, those are the highlights leading up to this morning. I woke up at a fairly decent hour and got to work on the story that I have due on Tuesday. I have to say, I was having fun writing this morning! It was really just great to put my thoughts down and shape this story. I'm looking forward to seeing the outcome in a few days. Hopefully, I'll be able to comfortably meet my deadline.

I had to mail a thank you card to one of Buggy's parents friends and so I walked to the post office near Nordau. It is such a beautiful day here in Tel Aviv. Not an ounce of humidity in the air but plenty of sunshine and a cool, Spring breeze. I am enjoying this now cause I know what's to come - and it's coming soon. I'm not looking forward to the heat and humidity of Tel Aviv. Anyway, while at the post office I priced out cost to mail RSVP cards from Israel back to the States for Mom's wedding budget. Hopefully, it is reasonable amount based on the number of invitations we're sending out.

After the post office, I walked down Arlozorov to Supersol to do a major food shopping. I had nothing in my fridge when I got back from New York, so I needed to pick up food for myself and for me and Buggy this Shabbos. Since I had a lot of items, I asked for delivery, and only took the perishables home with me. When the delivery man came up, I had him offload all of the items in the hallway between my apartment and Itai's. Then, when he was done, he asked me for the delivery fee. Now, I was prepared to give him a bit of a tip, but when I turned back to get my purse, he told me I owed him 17 shekel for the delivery. Now peeps, I'm no dummy. I know that I already paid that amount at the supermarket, so I looked back at him and said that I had already paid. He insisted that I hadn't, and so I turned back to my purse to get the receipt. As I was turning back, he bent down and pocketed one of the spice jars I had bought. Now, I have no idea why he wanted to steal my spice jar (I think it was black pepper) but he was trying to steal 17 shekel too so I decided to let it go and get this man out of my apartment quickly. I showed him the fee that I had already paid and then handed him 4 shekel, which apparently insulted him because he left in a huff. Whatever, he can count the 20 shekel bottle of pepper into his tip.

Now I know I'm back in Israel, I'm back to the land where people try to take advantage of the American. That just put me in a foul mood.

But then, Jeff called and asked if we could do a big pot luck Friday night dinner.....in my apartment of course. Now, I had to cook anyway because Buggy was coming, so I said why not? We invited about 8 people, including Buggy and I, and have farmed out tasks to everyone. I'm in charge of making the kugels and rice, Jeff is making the meatballs and chicken, Gayle is bring the salad, Lana is bring the Challah and possibly the drinks and dessert is still left up in the air. I'm not baking since Buggy and I are on serious wedding lent and we don't need the cake in the house, but I did pick up some mango sorbet and was planning on getting fruit anyway. So, I am always the backup for dessert if need be. I'm actually looking forward to having Shabbat dinner in the apartment, it will be fun seeing everyone again.

OK, I'm off to finish cooking! Song of the day is Story by Brandi Carlisle, a great tune that I believe has been added to some sort of Grey's Anatomy montoge on YouTube. Check it out, it's a great tune!

Till tomorrow!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

It's a miracle, I've somehow managed to steal away for a few minutes which means I can update the blog. Its been quite a few days now, since I've had a second to spare to blog, so this is going to be a nice little summary.

My flight on Thursday afternoon was miraculous. Somehow, on this packed pre-Pesach flight to JFK, the seat next to me was empty. I kid you not. Literally, I was able to curl up and sleep comfortably for majority of the trip. Then, when I cleared customs here in the States, my bag was one of the first to come out! I guess it helps showing up only 2 hours before the flight! We landed at 8:40 p.m. and I was already in a cab heading to my parents house by 9:20! The next day was a bit of a blur, I managed to run a lot of errands and help my Mom get ready for the holiday.

Sunday was also pretty errand focused, and Mom woke me up nice and early so we could get started on the cooking and cleaning. I also managed to find time to drop off the wording for the wedding invitation and get some gorgeous hats from Linda Teicher's Headquarters for Sheva Brachot and to wear to Shul in Israel next year.

Monday I was in Soho getting my hair cut before S'firah and then I went uptown to check out my Shaytel. It was a little scary seeing this big wig that has absolutely no shape to it. Plus, the hair is darker than my own because the Middle East sun has already lightened it up tremendously! So, I shook off the image of me becoming Cousin It next year and went to Duane Reade for some drug supplies for Pesach. By the time I got back to my parents, I was tired and starving! Mom and I made the Charoset, grated the Maror and then my sister, her husband and the two kids showed up. The Pesach chaos had begun!

The first seder was a little crazy. The two kids managed to get themselves very unhappy right when the men came back from shul. So, I spent a lot of the seder in the living room trying to calm one and both of the kiddies down. We all fell into bed around Midnight and I was able to sleep until 9:30 the next morning.

It was weird only keeping one seder with everyone else keeping two, but the benefits were very worthwhile! I was able to call Buggy ALL THE TIME in Israel! I don't think he minded too much, he misses me about as much as I miss him! So, I alternated between helping my Mom out with the next two meals and catching up on my Friday Night Lights episodes, e-mails and taking a shower. I was nice and relaxed by the time everyone else joined me in enjoying Chol Hamoed.

Thursday was busy, busy, busy! Mom and I ran some early morning errands and picked up some more food at Supersol for the second days. With my older sister, her husband and kids heading over for the rest of the Chag, the house needed a lot more provisions. After going to town to pick up some sink inserts for me to use in my apartment in Israel, we braved the snowy weather and made our way back to the house to start cooking for Shabbos and second days. As the clouds cleared and the sun finally fought through, I headed into the City for my wedding errands.

And that's when I met Diane, an 11 year employee at Town Shop, THE destination for lingerie in the City. These ladies who work at this store know EXACTLY what they are doing. And, Diane spent 2 hours with me so I could buy a bra to wear under my wedding gown. I'm not going to describe the experience here in this blog because it was slightly traumatic, but in a few months I plan on itegrating the experience into one of my short stories.

I walked down from 82nd and Broadway towards Bed Bath and Beyond to look at china pattens, add sheets to my registry and pick up two over the closet hangers for my parents bedroom. While walking down Broadway I was really shocked to see that my absolutely FAVORITE popcorn place has closed! I've been waiting patiently for some Dale and Thomas popcorn, and was even thinking about picking up a few bags to bring back to Buggy in Israel. What happened to the Upper West Side! And then, when I saw that Eden Wok, the Chinese restaurant I frequented while an UWS resident, was ALSO closed I wondered what was going on with the neighborhood! Cousin Neil said I should relax because Cold Stone Creamery is still on the Upper West Side, but I'm not convinced. Without popcorn and beef lo-mein, where will folks eat?

Anyway, I have to run and help out the family now so I'll update the blog later. But, the first thing y'all should be doing is watching Friday Night Lights on NBC, and the second is that the song of the day is Eyes by Rogue Wave. A great tune!

Shabbat Shalom!