Gossip Girl

XOXO

I'm obsessed with Josh Schwartz's Gossip Girl and thank g-d that iTunes has all of the episodes, cause it's such a wonderful guilty pleasure! I'm up to episode 4 and can't wait to carve out another hour today for another episode.

So, yesterday was another annoying day dealing with Israeli beaurocracy. We went to Misrad Hapnim, the Ministry of Interior, to change our Teudat Zehuts and passports. Thinking that all we needed was the Rabanut paper, we were completely blindsided when they told us that it couldn't be done because when I went to get my Teudat Zehut in Tel Aviv, I was supposed to bring them a letter saying that I was Jewish. Yeah, I had that letter for months, but all of my friends here told me that they didn't really need it. That the woman at the Misrad Hapnim in Tel Aviv didn't know what she was talking about. Blah blah blah. And, like a completely idiot, I listened to my friends who made Aliyah before me and supposedly knew what they were talking about.

Yeah, they didn't and so Buggy and I were screwed because I no longer had that letter. The Rabanut took the letter when they decided that I was in fact Jewish and ruled that way in our marriage case. So, we had to go back to the Rabanut to get the papers from our file. I know, why didn't I make a copy. I had meant to but then the case at the Rabanut came up and when they took it I was too shy to ask to make a copy.

I will never make that mistake ever again!

So, we had to go back to the Rabanut and sit, and wait, until they would deal with us. And folks, the Rabanut is an evil place full will very unhappy people who are waiting to get divorced. Tensions are high and no one really lkes anyone there. When we finally managed to get the documents, I told Buggy that I never, ever want to go back to that building again!

Well, then Buggy dropped me off at home and I ran some errands. Little things like picking up packages from the post office and food shopping. We purchased a moldy 5% cheese cake for Kiddush on Shabbos from the Cafe Neeman at the gas station on Pierre Koenig street and I felt terrible becaue Buggy really, really wanted it. So, I bought the ingredients and made him a cheese cake from the Kosher by Design: Short on Time cookbook. Besides my Mom's cookbook, it's really the only one that I have so I'm slowly weeding my way through it.

Then, Buggy returned and we went to Chile Street to the Macabi center so I could have hearing tests. It lasted about an hour, and that was because the computer wasn't working well, but B"H my hearing is fine. The audiologist gave me a letter to give to the ENT and then it's off to another follow up appointment. I'm just hoping these marathon Dr. visits will end and I can get on with my life. It's starting to really become a strain for us both, running from Dr. to Dr. And, while we were there, we were able to get the results of our genetic testing. B"H, it looks like everything except maybe for one, turned out completely normal. There was one thing that I had 2 strands of on my DNA, and so we're waiting for the official letter to see if Buggy needs to go and have that tested. But, B"H, for all other 11 Ashkenazi genetic diseases I was clean. Phew. That was such an amazing relief.

Well, Buggy dropped me back off at home so he could get back to the office to work and I did some baking. Then, I figured out what we were having for dinner and I just relaxed. It was nice to just chill out for a while, especially since I'm hoping to be really busy today. Aside from finishing up a project for a client, I have to do a big bank run and this time I will be doing it sans Buggy. I woke him this morning at 6:45 a.m. for his 8:00 a.m. class. Buggy needs some TLC in the morning, so I made him a breakfast sandwhich and added it to the breakfast bag I started last night. I also made him a lunch bag, and made sure he didn't forget that on his way out the door this morning. P"G, so far Buggy has lost 4 pounds since Yom Tov ended and I'd like to think it's because I am preparing his meals for him and we are trying to get more active. My weight loss, of course, it an entirely different matter. But for now, I'm pleased that at least one of us is doing well on our diets!

After the bank, I am going to do some more fruit and vegetable shopping and then I have to cook dinner as Buggy's old roomate is joining us. He is going to help Buggy with some assignment so I figured the least I could do was feed the man in appreciation.

And, as far as school is concerned, last I heard the Professors weren't even negotiating. I was really bummed that this looks like it won't end any time soon and I asked Buggy if he thought I should just completely drop out of the program. He encourages me to do whatever I want, and he will support me. But, I know that I'm going to just see it through till the end. If it's one thing my parents taught me, it's to never be a quitter. No matter how unhappy I may be.

Oh well, one more year of school won't kill me. And, at this rate, it won't even happen so I think I'll be able to tough it out.

Hope everyone is having a good day!

XOXO

Mac 'n Cheese

Buggy is back at school and it's so weird to be alone in the apartment. Don't get me wrong, I have a ton to do so it's not like I'm wandering from room to room, forlorn and sad, but it's still an adjustment. That, and the 6:45 a.m. wake up call this morning.

I apologize for not writing sooner. I've actually got a work gig and that means, everytime I sit down at the computer, I'm doing work. I decided to take some time this morning for a quick update before I get back to the daily grind.

An entire week has gone by and Buggy and I deemed it the final countdown of freedom, so that meant we spent a lot of time just being with each other and hanging out. We did some impressive cooking for Shabbos; Buggy's onion soup recipe was delicious fot Friday night dinner and so much better than boring chicken soup. We also had a very relaxing Shabbos day, which was nice, as Saturday night was really mellow. We watched the top 40 Soft Rock songs of all time - which will explain something in a minute.

Sunday, we spent the morning in Modiin at my eye Dr. and, after he dilated my eyes, we drove back to Jerusalem to spend the rest of the day enjoying Buggy's freedom before school. Since it was Buggy's Day, we did exactly what he wanted to do, which means that we spent the day being Mall Rats. First, we went to eat some lunch at Yotvata upstairs in the food court, and then we ran some errands. We needed to buy handles for the cabinets in both bathrooms, and I wanted to get a magazine rack now that our subscription to The International Herald Tribune began. My folks should be happy about that, P"G when they come to visit us in a few months there will be a daily paper to read! Personally, I'm loving the cross word puzzle so that's fun for me too.

After we left Home Center, we went to Steimazky's to get books for us, since we're both towards the end of the books we're reading now. Buggy is reading Forest Madge by Robin Hobb and I'm reading The Book Thief, which is really unique as the point of view is the Grim Reaper. I highly recommend the book for anyone looking for an interesting read. Anyway, we both picked up some books and then we went to a 4:30 p.m. showing of Stardust. Fortunately, my pupils were close to normal at that point so I wasn't in total agony throughout the movie, which I really liked.



Welcome back Michelle Pfeiffer!! She was really terrific, and looked as stunning as ever. Think she's had any work done? Lord, if I could do some plastic surgery I would totally get her nose and cheek implants. But, I promised Buggy no talk of plastic surgery until gravity really takes hold. Hmmm, one day perhaps?

Anyway, we got back to the apartment and I got to work on a Back to School mix for Buggy. It is the most eclectic mix I've ever put together, but he really, really likes it. Here's what's on it, and you'll understand where the whole Soft Rock Top 40 fits in:

Girls who Play Guitar, Maximo Park
Suburban Knights, Hard-Fi
Suspicious Eyes, The Rakes
Your Love is Not EnoughManic Street Preachers
Empire, Kasabian
Pina Colada, Warren Buffet version
Superstar, The Carpenters
BlackbirdSarah McLaughlin version
Bizarre Love Triangle, New Order
Moonlight Shadow, Mike Oldfield
We Are, Anna Johnsson
My Immortal, Evanescence
More Than a Feeling, Boston
Season of the Witch, Donovan (my suggestion, I love this song)
Hang on Sloopy, The McCoys
Wild Thing, The Troggs
Baba O'Reilly, The Who
Hey There Delilah, The White T's

So, that was a lot of fun putting together for him. I printed it out using my iTunes software so it looks really nice in the CD case and gave it to him as a present for school. We tried to sleep in yesterday morning, but we had a lot to do, so we were up and moving around. I put in about 4 hours of work before we had to go to Hadassah Ein Karem for my neurologist appointment.

Fortunately, I saw Professor Avinoam Reches, who happens to also be the head of Israel's Medical Ethics Committee and, which we sat reading the newspaper outside of his office, I read a quote of his on the front page of the paper. It made me feel good to see someone who was, well, ethical. Anyway, the meeting was going just fine and we were discussing my medical history and whether or not he thought that the Pseudotumor Cerebri had returned, when he asked to do an examination. And, sure enough, he did not like the way my optic nerve looked so he called downstairs and asked one of his colleagues in the neuropthalmology department to do him a favor and look at my eyes. He couldn't rule out papilliademia, which basically means that the optic nerve is getting crushed by a build up of spinal fluid in the brain. If someone presents with papilliademia, it's a serious emergency, because the person could go blind. And suddenly, it was November 2004 all over again and I was being rushed all over because the Dr's thought it was a big emergency. Fortunately for me, this time I was with Buggy, who tried to really calm me down as we raced downstairs to the neuropthalmology department. I almost forgot to breath and kept telling Buggy in the elevator that there was no way I was going to let them do another spinal tap. That's one life experience I never, EVER, want to relive.

The long and short of it is that, after a really uncomfortable exam by a very unpleasant Dr. who really didn't speak any English, he ruled out papilliademia. B"H! We went back to Professor Reches and he gave us the green light to, well, continue with our lives. We asked him if it would be okay for us to get pregnant, given my medical history, and he laughed and told us to go ahead, get pregnant, and we could even get pregnant that night if we wanted to. It was funny, and the laughter helped relax me a little bit. I just want to leave the whole pseudotumor cerebri thing way, way behind me. Losing another 20 pounds would help tremendously, and so we're really trying to get my weight down, but at least I know that at this weight my condition hasn't returned.

We left the hospital really, really happy and then went food shopping for school. And boy, did we buy lots of good stuff! We came home and I made Buggy two brown paper bags full of breakfast and lunch! It was so much fun. And then, early this morning while he was davening, I slipped a note into his lunch bag. Hehehe, I can't wait for him to read it!

And that brings me back to today. I don't think school is going to start any time soon. The Universities are striking because the Government owes them 300 million shekel. For some reason, I don't see Olmert writing a check anytime soon. It will be really interesting to see if I have class next week too! Unbelievable. I feel bad for people in the one year program, this will certainly throw a wrench into the year.

Meanwhile, all my husband wants for dinner tonight is Mac 'n Cheese and well, I can't make it for him. We bought all the ingredients last night and then I realized, I have one pot, and it's meat! I feel terrible, he's going to be so disappointed when he gets home and sees that we're not having his favorite dinner. Think he'll be okay if I surprised him with leftovers instead? Oy! I'm going to have to figure something out...

OK, I'm off to work. Hope everyone is having a good week!

Back to School!

I slept in today and so it's 10:00 a.m. and I'm still lounging in bed. That's a good thing, cause after yesterday's exhausting day I could use some more rest.

So, before I continue with my mundane post, a number of my readers (i.e. Cousin Neil and friends) have requested that I censor some of the topics on this blog. Primarily, they would like all references to bodily functions and Mikvah never, ever to appear again. I asked Yonatan at school yesterday what he thought, and he just said he can also just pass over anything that doesn't really interest him. Regardless, I'll keep this blog clean moving forward.

Well, yesterday was an incredibly busy day. Buggy had a do-over project due at school from last semester and I had to get to late registration at Bar Ilan. It took me forever on the 400 bus to get to school as traffic once we hit the Tel Aviv area was a nightmare. And, they stripped away the bus stop that used to be beneath the Geha gate and so now, they drop me off at least 10 minutes away from the gate. And it's this huge ramp that you have to walk up, and then a bunch of steps you need to walk down, in order to get to the right side of the campus. I was not expecting that, but good thing I was wearing good walking shoes.

Oh, and did I mention that yesterday was like the hottest day of the year? I sweated clear through my t-shirt and it was not pretty. So, first I had to go to the Feldman building to get my print out of my bill since the University never, ever sent me a bill. And, the woman behind the counter told me that she had a problem with my bill and I had to go to the Masters department office to sort something out. I had no idea what she was talking about because all I needed to do was get the bill and pay it. Plus, she spoke in Hebrew and didn't speak any English and I had no idea what she was saying. Oh, and did I mentioned that I had already waited for an hour on the line to see her when this whole thing happened?

Fortunately, Yonatan and Tamara were on campus registering and Tamara was done so they come to help me. The people at the Masters department office, though, are really really obnoxious. No one was manning the door so I walked and and went around to find someone to speak with. The woman got really rude when I just asked her to explain the words that they told me at Feldman and told me to wait outside online with everyone else. She said it in such a disgusting tone that I yelled back that I didn't understand Hebrew and she got surprised. What is wrong with these people? Does she think that she can talked to me and be rude and I'm not going to fight back? Fortunately, Yonatan and Tamara arrived just in time and, we waited online, and then Yonatan came in to be my translator.

Well, as soon as the woman saw me bring a man to help, she completely sofetned and explained the situation to him and made it seem like I yelled at her for no reason at all. Whatever. Yonatan told her I was sorry - I wasn't - and then she looked me up in the computer and told me that nothing was wrong. So, we had to go back to Feldman and this time, I wasn't waiting on any line. There was a different man behind the counter and he spoke English and when he typed in my number he said: "I don't understand the problem, you have to pay 3200 shekel!"

I said - I know - can I just get the print out? The lady was so incompetent, had she plugged in my number correctly the first time, I wouldn't have had to deal with any aggrevation. Well, the rest of the registration process went completely fine. I paid at the bank, went to the administration office to get my form, went to the English department to get it filled in, went to the computer lab to get it registered into the computer and the print out and I was done.

So, my schedule for this year is class on Tuesdays, from 10:00 - 11:30 a.m. That's it. I have an independent study that will meet a couple of times a year, but I'm hoping it will meet on Tuesdays so I only have to be at school one morning all year. I'm pretty happy with my schedule and am looking forward to really working on my thesis.

After a quick lunch, I got back on the bus and went home to Jerusalem. Buggy, who passed his project (hurray!) was running his own errands and so he picked me up and we made a pit stop by his folks and then I drove us to get the car washed at the Mall. Buggy was just like my Mom when I drive, clenching the entire way. Fortunately, I got us there without any problems and we went inside to take out money and get some frozen yogurt treats. At this point, folks, I am falling off of my face. The weather at school was so hot and I sweated through my entire outfit, that I was pretty dehydrated. We got back to the house and Buggy made himself some lunch and I took a nap on the couch.

The rest of the evening was really quiet. Instead of forcing leftovers on us again, we decided to order some sushi for dinner, and then I was in bed by 10:30 p.m. Today is going to be another day full of errands. Buggy and I are going to take down the rest of our Succah once he comes back from giving in his car to be fixed (couple of dings and power steering issues). Then, we're going to go to the Supermarket and buy some food for the week, and then to the other side of Derech Beit Lechem for some fruit and vegetables.

I'm also hoping to finish up on my thank you cards as I have about 60 more to go! Phew! I can't wait till that's over!