Purim Is Over

i can't remember exactly, what i did the past few days. i didn't move much the day after the show because i killed myself, schlepping chairs around. i managed to get to yoga on thursday morning, which was a fast day. the day did move along fast, but i actually, fasted until 6:00 p.m. i ran to town to shop for the food for the purim seudah. i spent all of friday morning, cooking and doing laundry. i stayed in by myself because the weather was too stormy to visit anyone. the kids took sahar to gal's family for the shabbat.

i went to hear the megilah with michal on saturday night at the local shul. it was really cold. we then went to a 'mixed' party in the artist colony. i was dressed as an over the hill go-go dancer. my friend and i wore identical blond wigs and sunglasses and we had on a matching dress and skirt to boot. i had bought each item in second hand clothes stores in previous years. we got up in front of the party and did our best go go dance. not bad for two broads pushing 60, i might add.

michal was dressed as an israeli female soldier. she made a skirt out of the camouflage netting that my son had taken home from the army. she looked so pretty in a wig of blonde pigtails. she had an authentic israeli army beret, tee-shirt, and backpack to use. the only thing missing was the toy machine gun. i don't know what happened to it. it would have been a hoot.

hopefully, we will post some pix soon. the party fizzled out early, so we were home by midnight. i got up the next day at 7:00 a.m and started to hustle. (make food and clean the house, not dance.) michal had to brave the pouring rain to sign up at unemployment. gal and i ran to the local shul to hear the megilah at 10:00 a.m. i made tons of chocolates and made some chocolate cds for the neighbors. my rum balls were deadly. my hamentashen dough was a disaster. it was too mealy. i added more liquid and then more flour and then i chucked it all into the garbage can.

i had baked a lot of carrot cupcakes to bring to the old age center but i never made it out. i threw together a few batches of both tahina and peanut butter cookies so i had a nice variety of baked goods to give out. i made giant chocolate clown lollipops which were a big success. the chocolate cds were also a big hit. i never got around to making pina coladas this year. i kept it simple. we drank bacardi and pepsi. i did make a sangria for the ladies with oranges and lemons form the garden and threw in some frozen strawberries. michal and i finished the pitcher later that night.

around midnight, i ate an entire bitter sweet chocolate bar. that began a real purim sugar binge for me. the next day, i ate a dozen or more mini chocolate bars, two bags of jelly beans, a couple of assorted bags of bissli and pretzels, a plate of cold, greasy, left over potatoes, several scoops of non dairy ice cream, and hands full of taffies. somehow, i managed not to throw up. i of course, started my diet again, today. i won't even tell you how much weight i put back on. i was looking pretty slick on purim. i have every confidence that i'll knock off the few pounds again.

we were all having a great time during purim until zvi's brother-in-law started breaking wine glasses. he is usually a very timid and compliant guy. zvi created a real purim monster. the poor guy drank too much wine on an empty stomach. he had us all laughing uncontrollably, until the glass started to fly. there wasn't any real danger of violence but i just wasn't up for picking up any more broken glass.

during purim day, i took on the persona of a 'professor' in the hospital. i spent the day shining a tiny flashlight into everyone's eyes and mouths. i demanded that the kids call me 'professor zelda', too. the little boys spent the day, shooting off fireworks outside and walking the little white dog up and down the street. the other two dogs were totally traumatized from the noise. they spent the day, hiding in the computer room and shaking.

miriam made traditional sephardi purim challah with a hard cooked egg in the middle. she also made a vat of greasy potatoes and a vat of rice. she brought over a huge tray of roasted chicken and her delicious sephardi tsimis of stewed prunes, apricots, raisins, and fried walnuts. i served cocktail franks, kabobs and spicy chicken wings before the official meal. the fancy plastic cocktail forks made it more fun to walk around with. i made a small pot of braised beef in wine and some curried meatballs in artichoke bottoms. we did not want for anything. we had dozens of hand made chocolates and rum balls and a neighbor sent in a package of filled chocolates with liquor. we also had six flavors of non dairy ice cream. we even made toasted marshmallow kabobs on bamboo skewers for overkill.

everyone left happy. no one seemed short changed. i grabbed the last of the sangria and rum balls and called a cab and went on to another party. but it was a bust so we came home early. we babysat for sahar on tuesday and hit the kid's purim stash pretty hard. luckily, sahar couldn't blow the whistle on us.

i went to volunteer this morning at the old age center. someone, apparently died, just before i left. thank goodness, i didn't see the body. tonight, i went to a tribute class for our friend who passed away last month. as i was waiting for the bus, a small cat keeled over in the middle of the road and died. i quickly, scooped it up with a newspaper and disposed of it before a car ran could run over it. i plan to visit my friend's grave tomorrow.

my niece and husband and baby are coming over for dinner tomorrow. they are leaving for india next week. the house is still in shambles. hopefully, i'll get around to straightening it out before they arrive. and then i want to start my pesach cleaning. it's hard to believe that it's already a year since i got the facial paralysis. it's almost back to normal, thank goodness!