Screwdrivers

It's 1:30 a.m. and I'm sobering up, as Buggy sleeps so quietly and soundly next to me. He's so quiet that I got worried and, a few seconds ago, I put my hand on his shoulder just to make sure he was breathing. Well, it woke him up and he thought I pulled his hair, so I had to explain what I did, and then he said something completely inaudible so I realized that he was still sleeping even though we were chatting, so I just let him go back to sleep.

My work project is almost done, I have a couple more hours left on it, so I'm looking forward to getting my writing time back. I have been neglecting the blog, I know, but it's for an important reason. I need to make money so Buggy and I can feed our immense appetites!

Anyway, this week has been busy but also quiet for me. Buggy had school on Tuesday and Wednesday, but only a couple of hours each day, I spent my time working. Wednesday night is yoga night in our house, and that meants 8:00 p.m. classes in Abu Tor. This week was our second week at yoga and I have to say, seeing Buggy do all the amazing things he can do is really inspirational. Well, that and the fact that I will never, ever, be able to do a headstand. Our instructor, Stan, walked around the class to help anyone who needed help during the headstands. He asked me where I was at, and I told him that now I'm able to push my knees off the floor and bear the brunt of my weight on my head. But, I have to admit, it hurts folks. I bet if I wasn't carrying the weight equivalent of a professional food eating champion it would be easier for me to raise my fat ass off the floor, but hey - at least I'm trying! I am actually good at some stuff, like bridge and table, but bad at others like shoulder raises and headstands. Buggy, meanwhile, is just amazing. He can do practically every, single pose. I'll admit, I'm jealous, but it's a good motivator. I hate not being good at something so it will just make me work harder.

Wednesday was also the first rain storm here in Jerusalem and it was quite a light and sound show! The skies turned dark around 2ish and then the lightening came and it was bright and the crash of thunder was loud. I was happy our cleaning person came that morning, because the rain washed the walkway and didn't leave us with damp and slippery leaves. I get very nervous walking about Jerusalem in the rain as the stone is so slippery, I'm really frightened I'll fall.

Anyway, yoga is an hour and a half, and I'm pretty wiped by the time we're done. We usually eat a big lunch on Wednesday so we drove by Max Brenner's on Emek Refaim and got low-fat frozen yogurt for dinner. Buggy had the chocolate and the cherry with dark chocolate chips while I just had a scoop of coconut. We got home and I went back to wedding pictures, and trying to put everything in albums and pick out the ones I'm sending in for our album. Interesting but getting a bit monotonous, at this point. Still, it's nice to go through the pictures...helps make this whole marriage things really, well, real.

Today was another super busy day. We woke up and I immediately put in 5 hours of work. After my tush fell asleep at the kitchen table, I decided it was time to run errands so I grab my list and went to the Supermarket. I picked up some shnitzel, some chicken bottoms and a brisket. I've never made brisket before and so I'm looking forward to experimenting this weekend. Buggy is my culinary guniea pig and this weekend, he's going to sample new recipes such as lacquered salmon, potted brisket and braised potatos and shallots. Buggy is making pumpkin soup for tomorrow night, and I'm really excited about that! This, of course, is all practice for our next round of invitations. I'm thinking we should invite Buggy's Aunt and Uncle, and their 4 children for Friday night in a couple of weeks. I want to make sure I have all these recipes down before I invite them over, this way I'll know what to cook for them.

So, after going to one side of Derech Beit Lechem for the Supermarket, and the other side for my fruits and vegetables, I got to work on my cooking. Brown rice and roasted vegetables cooked, I thought about roasting the cauliflower when I just got too tired and had to relax. Buggy helped with a nice neck massage and then we got ready to go to his cousin Rachel's end of season BBQ.

I wonder if it was a mistake that we went. When we got there, I was very happy to see Cousins Rachel and Dina, but realized that I had no idea who anyone was in the room. And, as I always felt in the past, the thought of trying to make new friends is just so overwhelmingly frightening. If you're woman, you know what I mean when I say how difficult it is to make girl friends. Fortunately, almost all of my good girl friends have been in my life since elementary/high school. And, except for Cuch and Jules, I haven't really made many good girl friends since graduating high school. And, maybe a primarily singles BBQ isn't the best place to start.

Fortunately, Slightly Mad was there, so it was really nice to see her and to chat. But, aside from her and the two cousins, the room was a sea of unfamiliar faces and I was the odd ball out. And that's when I started drinking. Fortunately, Rachel had some vodka so we made ourselves screwdrivers and I was immediately relaxed. Of course, that's when I met "Little Bitch", the man who was manning the BBQ. I realized that I was starving, and Buggy and I brought hamburgers and hotdogs to this little soiree, so I went outside to check on the beef. They were starting the second grill and were pulling off some hotdogs and hamburgers from the first one. I asked them if I should bring the tin with the food back inside and they could just fill another empty tin with the food cooking on the grill. Well, that's when "Little Bitch" started to bitch me out, in Hebrew mind you, that he didn't think it was a good idea to bring the plate out until it was full. Now, I actually understood that and was okay with what he was saying, until he got all attitude with me and said that "the women should go inside the house and leave the cooking to them (i.e. the men).

Oh no he didn't!

Listen, people, I have a BA in English/Journalism, I am getting an MA (well, maybe, the university is on strike again and lord knows when that's ever gonna get resolved) in Creative Writing, I've dealt with puking supermodels, uptight Fortune 500 CEO's, drugged and high A-list celebrities, egotistical athletes, pretentious bosses, unethical journalists and producers, unrealistic clients, the ENTIRE NHL during the 1998-2000 seasons, lived on my own in Manhattan from when I was 20, picked up and moved myself to a foreign country not knowing the country's language, hosted delicious Shabbos meals for 21 people, rode every single ride at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure - for an entire week - and got paid to do it, lost 45 pounds and lived through a potentially deadly condition that could have rendered me blind. If I've done ALL of that, I sure as shit can grill some beef.

So, I marched myself into the house because there is no point trying to argue with a bull headed Israeli man who thinks he's g-d's gift to processed red meat, and told Buggy we were leaving. He was in the middle of a conversation with his friend and decided to try to save me and get me a burger by going outside and reasoning with the "Little Bitch". 15 minutes later, he came back with a burger for me and a piece of chicken for himself, and then told me that "Little Bitch" was, well, as big bitch to him too.

At this point, the vodka is really rushing through my veins and I'm feeling the munchies. I get up and grab baskets of whatever was around the house - potato chips, popcorn, funyans and bugles, cookies and bamba. I'm eating and eating because, well, that was the thing I felt most comfortable doing in a room full of Katamon's singles. Towards the end of the night, when Buggy and I really started to get ready to leave, a guy approached me and was very friendly. I realized that he couldn't see my wedding rings, as I had my hands stuffed into my jeans pocket, and so when he asked me what my name was I told him that I wanted a cookie, and proceeded to past by him towards the cookie basket.

Buggy and I did a post mordum in the car and I was sad because, well, I think we should go to any event in the neighborhood we are invited to so we can meet people. But, on the other hand, is it unfair of us to go to a "singles" party because we're not single anymore. Aside from one couple we knew, who came much later in the night, we were the only married people there. Now, I'm just looking to meet nice girls who, well, I could hang with here in Jerusalem. Is it too much to ask to meet someone nice to have coffee with, or to see a chick flick with? I started to feel so desperate, looking around at the girls and wondering if there was anyone there who I could hang with. And, the worst part was that none of the girls were interested in meeting me! Why would they? They were all there hoping to meet eligible men. I don't blame them. Had I been in their position, I probably would have done the same.

Anyway, I think I'm rambling here but it's the vodka leaving my blood stream and the fact that it's 2:00 a.m. forcing me to be incoherent. I miss my friends in Tel Aviv and especially my friends from home. I miss meeting Jules for a drink and a concert on the Lower East Side. I miss movie night with Cousin Neil. I miss shopping with Eta, and gym and coffee dates with Cuch. I miss Ulpan with Bracha and I miss Shabbos lunch at Marn's. And, as much as I absolutely adore and love Buggy and every single moment we spend together, sometimes being married can also be a little lonely.

I should probably get to bed, I have to be up early tomorrow as I have a ton of cooking to do before Shabbos and we have to go to Buggy's niece's birthday party.

Layla Tov!