Pearl necklace

For my Bat Mitvah, years and years ago, my Aunt Irene (TZ"L) gave me a beautiful pearl necklace. I even remember when she gave it to me, right as people were arriving and the wait staff were circling with the pizza rolls. I really liked those pizza rolls, but not as much as the pearls, which I asked her to put on me right away. In all of my Bat Mitzvah photos, the pearls are just a lovely addition to my punked out 80's Bat Mitzvah dress. I wore the pearls often until, one day, the strand broke and I was fortunate enough that all the pearls landed on the carpet by my feet. I scooped them up, put them into a ziplock baggie, and kept them in my jewelry drawer. I kept them there for a long, long time and even though my Mom told me that I should just go get them restrung, I was lazy and left them in the drawer. Fast forward to my wedding day, and I thought that perhaps a pearl necklace would look nice to wear with my gown. I ended up not wearing a necklace and opting for big, beautiful earrings instead, but the idea had me searching for the pearls. And, sure enough, there they were in the jewelry drawer of my bedroom in my parents house. So, I told Buggy that I wanted to bring the pearls back to Israel to get them restrung here. I remember last minute packing before we left for the airport and grabbing the pearls and putting it in my handbag. After Sheva Brachot were over, we went back to my favorite person Mr. Meltzer and brought in my rings to be redipped (don't ask, it's one of the things that having a white gold band entails, sometimes the gold needs to be dipped a few times because it turns yellow) and to have my pearls restrung. I also changed the clasp from a yellow gold one to a white gold one, so that it matched my rings. When Mr. Meltzer called to tell us everything was ready, we drove over and picked up my engagement ring and the pearls.

So, here's what happened. I was so happy to see my engagement ring that all I did was look at the pearls, check out how nicely they were restrung, and put them back in my handbag. That's the last time I saw them. I have looked all over this apartment for the pearls and, I just have no clue where I put them! I am really upset about it, especially because of the sentimental value of the pearls, and I'm just going to keep looking for them. Hopefully, they're in a drawer or a cabinet or even another handbag somewhere and I just don't remember where.

Yesterday was very busy with food shopping and Buggy and I went to the Supersol by Derech Hevron so I could stock up on my Thanksgiving supplies. I picked up 5 cans of cranberry sauce (3 whole berry, 2 jellied), 4 cans of pumpkin, 5 cans of mandarin oranges, 4 boxes of whole wheat pasta, 2 packages of crazines, 3 packages of marshmallows, 4 pie shells, 4 cans of spaghetti sauce, etc. The bill was quite high, but I was expecting it so I didn't freak out. Especially with this Friday's Thanksgiving dry-run, I know that things are very costly. Fortunately, we reserved some of our wedding money in an "entertaining" fund and holidays fits that bill. While we were shopping, quick and efficient like I like it, this woman came barreling down with her cart and starting just shoving herself into my cart. Well, I was not happy that she was being so pushy, so I said to her "sleicha" which in that instant was Hebrew for "excuse me" or "WTF?" She just ignored me and pushed her way past, shoving my cart into me. So, I said to Buggy, "what a bitch" and continued pulling whole wheat pasta boxes off the shelf. Buggy leaned over and whispered into my ear: "baby, next time wait until she passes before you call her a bitch". I shrugged it off and kept on shopping, happy that she was on the other side of the store and ready for a confrontation in case she came after us.

What I DIDN'T except was that she would be our check out girl. I kid you not, she was the only lane open and I had no choice but to use her. I'll admit, I tensed up a bit, thinking that she would somehow exact her revenge while we were packing up our goods. But, to her credit, she didn't say or do anything. Of course, Buggy knew that I was on edge and so he tried to calm me down and reassure me that nothing would happen. Let's just say, I was very happy once we loaded up the car and got out of there. Maybe she just didn't understand the word in English? Whatever, live and learn. Next time, I curse people out when they're not in earshot.

We were too tired last night so I didn't do any of my Shabbos cooking or cleaning. We just watched some episodes of CSI and Boston Legal and went to bed. I was already under the covers by 10:30! That's really early for me!

I got up a bit late today and quickly got my cooking started. The most annoying thing to make is the bread pudding, which you have to soak and then drain. You know, I've never actually made a bread pudding before but I remember sitting in the kitchen watching my Mom make them. She made them whenever the freezer got too full of left over Challah bread and, since there was a time when I was banned from actually cooking in my parents kitchen, I got to watch. I guess I took note because this morning, I did exactly what she does when she drains the bread with a wire strainer. The bread pudding came out great and then Buggy and I took my HUGE hiking knapsac and we went to Falcon to pick up the turkey.

People, I have no idea how big the male turkeys are cause our turkey is MASSIVE! Seriously, I don't think we'll need to make two of these for Thanksgiving because I think one might be just big enough. Buggy could barely hold it, it was that heavy. He made some comment about my nephew Sammy in terms of weight and how he thinks the turkey is just barely bigger than Sam, and he's 27 pounds! I decided to do all the rest of my Shabbos cooking today and tonight so that I can spend HOURS cooking the turkey tomorrow. I also asked them to cut the legs and the neck off, so that I can cook those at a different time. I might even put them in the freezer and save them for Thanksgiving, because Buggy's family tends to like dark meat.

I'll take a picture of the turkey tomorrow before I prepare it so you can see just how big it is. In the meantime, I think my pecan chocolate chip pie is done and ready to come out of the oven.

Oh happy day!