This Week's Post

it's already thursday night and i haven't posted all week. the week just passed by and it all seems like a blur. i guess i've been babysitting alot and i'm just tired all the time.

i missed my yoga class on sunday. i went to sleep at 4:30 a.m. it was Lag B'omer here in the holy land. it was the anniversary of the passing of the great tsadick, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. it is customary to visit his grave in meron and pray for miracles. hundreds of thousands of people make the pilgrimage every year. the busses run all night long, from all over the country. you won't see this reported on the evening news.

we had unseasonably, cold and rainy weather over the shabbat. it cleared up on saturday night but it was freezing. gal and zvi went to meron at night. the crowds were so huge and unruly at the central bus station, that they couldn't get onto any of the busses at first. they tried again at around midnight. they left baby, sahar with the sephardi grandparents. i didn't attempt the trip at night. my eye has been bothering me all week long.

i don't know why i didn't go to sleep that night. i guess i was waiting up for the kids. i woke up on sunday morning and tried to get myself ready to go to yoga. my head was throbbing. i just couldn't get it together and went back to sleep. zvi called from town to ask if he could buy some steak and lambchops for a barbecue in the afternoon. he couldn't get to work because of the traffic. i was thinking about going to meron in the afternoon, but it didn't happen. i ended up eating way too much at the barbecue, and couldn't budge.

on monday, michal and i made up to meet on the 3:00 p.m. bus to town and we went to meron together. it was pretty full but nothing like the throngs of people that passed through the day before. we spent a couple of hours saying psalms and then returned to zefat. on the way back, i walked over to the supermarket to buy some staples and a lot of bottled water. i watched sahar for a while, so the kids could go for a walk.

i went to volunteer at the old age center on tuesday and returned at 2:00 p.m. i watched sahar for a short time while gal went to the dentist. i went to throw out the garbage and cookie, the dog, ran out. i put sahar in his stroller and got ready to take him for a short walk so he could fall asleep. i suddenly heard a terrible screeching noise. it sounded like some animal killing another animal. i quickly searched to make sure that cloey, the pincher dog, wasn't killing a cat or being killed by one. i looked down the stairs and saw cookie, crying, next to a huge roitweiler dog. i thought that she wasn't long for this world.

i started to scream and called for her to make a run back to the house. i quickly opened the gate and she made it back in and the roitweiler didn't. i was shaking. cookie was in shock. i was in shock, too. i wanted to kill the other dog. i held cookie in my arms for a moment to try and calm her down. in the meanwhile, cloey was standing at the gate with her head through the bars. i could very well, imagine the large dog snapping her head off. i tried to get cloey into the house but she kept on escaping and running back to the gate. all the while, sahar was cooing and playing with his fingers, totally unaware of what was happening.

i finally got cloey back into the house. i saw a little blood on cookie's chin so i got out the bottle of lavender oil. it is a great disinfectant. it's better than iodine! i also gave cookie a bunch of rescue remedy. i think that we were both traumatized for a few days. later that evening, i watched sahar for a few hours, while zvi and gal went to visit her younger brother in the hospital. apparently, he had walking pnemonia and had been in the hospital since sunday. no one had mentioned it to me earlier in the week.

yesterday, i watched sahar for a few hours during the day. i like to get down on all fours and race him. he likes it too. i went to yoga this morning and stopped by to visit gal's family. i stayed for just a while to see her brother and then walked to town and signed in at unemployment. i stopped off at the baby store and bought a new mattress and sheet for the playpen. i found it near the garbage just before pesach, and shlepped it home. the wooden bottom was a bit wharped and moldy and the foam mattress was ripped in a few places so i kept it at the side of the house. we finally brought it into the house and sahar absolutely, loves to play in it. go know! i thought about trying to repair the foam mattress with tape and contact paper, but it was easier and cheaper to buy a new one.

sahar is teething but so far he hasn't gotten any teeth. it's very painful for him to nurse and drink a bottle so i've been stuffing him with gerber appplesauce, mashed bananas and sweet potatoes. i even give him a little yogurt, too. the poor thing fell asleep on the couch while i was watching Dr. Phil. he was jabbering away at Phil for a bit before he passed out.

i don't have any guests for shabbat. but i do have a lot of laundry to catch up with .i just might stay in by myself and have a simple meal. and perhaps, i'll go to my sister's during the day. my sister did call to invite me for the night meal. i'll wait and see if i'm up for the walk tomorrow.

i still don't know if anyone is coming to me for shavuot. i bought a pan to make blintzes, not that i really ever do it. one year, i bought the prepared shells but it wasn't like anything that i had ever eaten. it was closer to the consistency of an egg roll. i usually make a meatless lasagna for shavuot. i'm toying with the idea of also making some eggplant parmesan. i would also love to make a quiche but i just don't have the crowd anymore to cook for.

i guess we're caught up now so good shabbas!