Sahar Turns One

sahar had his first birthday and party last night. too bad that he slept through it. the poor thing was so tired that by the time all the guests arrived, he needed to nurse and then he passed out.

i've been showered and dressed and ready to hit town since 9:00 a.m. the only problem is that i am too tired to move. my eye is also hurting me very much. this new bout of bellspalsey is mostly effecting my eye. i'm also still sick and blew off the old age home. i'd hate to pass on the virus to the already fragile public there.

i went to town yesterday with gal to buy a few things for the party and get a gift for the birthday boy. i watched sahar for a short while so his mom could do her homework for her accounting course. he was so delightful and full of life. i hadn't seen him for about 8 days. he was quite happy to see me. he looked taller and thinner and he had 4 teeth.

i figured that we'd mosey on over to town in the afternoon when it was less sunny, and buy the nash, drinks and extra franks and buy the gift. gal came down at 11:30 a.m. to inform me that she was ready to go. trying to be the ultimate good sport, i hurried to my room and got dressed. this was my first outing in 9 days. we stopped off at gal's parents' house to leave off sahar. two of the sisters came along.

gal parked in a free area that was about 5 minites from town. in this heat, it felt more like 20. by the time we finally shlepped to town, i felt all of the life force draining out of me. we first went into the most expensive baby store in town to check out the toys. i wanted to buy sahar a baby scooter, that is called a bimba, here. there is quite a range in prices in bimbas. they start at about $12 and go up to about $50. i wanted to buy something in the middle. i wanted something strong that he could really play with.

we then went into the cheap party favors store where everything is about a shekel a piece. gal was looking for party favors for all the little kids coming that night. i bought some plastic party bags for the nash and she decided to buy picture frame key chains. she had her digital camera and decided to have shots of sahar made to insert into the key chain frames. so we then went to the photo shop. i was feeling dehydraded and generally, lousy so i ran off to buy a drink. i settled for a bottle of ice tea mix, something that i never, ever drink for fear of a migraine. when i returned, the kids were still deciding which picture to copy.

i felt myself begin to panic. i suggested moving on to the large toy store to check out bimbas. i saw a couple that were really special and of course, very expensive. gal saw a tricycle that looked more like a baby carriage than a bike. it had a sun hood, a long handle for the parent to push, and a special baby seat that harnessed the kid within. she had her heart set on that. she had seen it on vacation for 800 shekels in a major city and here in the tiny holy city of zefat, it was only 500 shekels.($100+) after a long debate, i decided to give up on my bimba gift idea and go half and half with the kids on this gift.

after we bought the tricycle, we went back to the photo shop and that took another really long time until they decided on the perfect snapshot. we then trecked back to the car and drove to the super on the other side of town and bought the nash, drinks, icecream, and the kabobs, franks and chicken wings with the correct sephardi heksher. i then had to buy a special bunch of kabobs, burgers, and franks for my chabad family who do not eat the sephardi heksher. not to worry, the sephardi bunch do not eat the chabad heksher, either. it does keep one one his toes. i made sure to buy extra charcoals and lighters and plastic plates just to be on the safe side.

we swung by the photo store and picked up the pix and i jumped out at the bakery to buy pitas. we then picked up sahar and finally got home around 5:00 p.m. i just wanted to crawl into bed and collapse. but that wasn't on the program. gal wanted to set up the tables downstairs so i watched sahar. it was still hot downstairs and i was quite skeptical about having the party outdoors. gal blew up all the balloons and hung up the birthday decorations. the last time that i tried to blow up a balloon, i thought that i might have a heart attack. gal had a hard time covering the tables because the wind was blowing everything off. she practically, scotch taped everything down.

sahar was having a ball playing in the grass with me. zvi came home and was his usual,uptight self. he wanted real lambchops and he wasn't so pleased about the guest list. he also wanted beer and red bulls. i had only bought soft drinks. i let his wife deal with it. i was wiped. but as wiped as i was, i made a trip down to the local super to buy icecream cones. i thought we still had a full box at home. i guess we hit them during the music festival. who remembered?

at 8:00 p.m. i demanded that zvi fire up the barbecue. his brother in law usually does the deed but he was, nowhere in sight. i started cutting up an israeli salad and baking a vat of frozen french fries. the barbecue was called for 8:00 p.m.
sahar came down dressed like a big party boy in a long sleeve white shirt and striped bermuda shorts. his hair was freshly styled. he was wearing his birthday crown and his aunt was pushing him around in his new tricycle. too bad nonone else was there to see him in all his glory.

everyone arrived around 9:00 p.m. and by then, the kid was exhausted and wanted to go to sleep. he nursed and passed out. happy birthday! he missed the party. he woke up screaming about 11:00 p.m. when everyone was cleaning up and getting ready to leave. he didn't hear any happy birthday tunes, nor did he get to eat any birthday cake. safta miriam made the most beautiful cake, too. maybe today he'll get some.

i hope to be able to post some party pix later this week.