Business As Usual

it's 5:00 p.m. in the holy city of zefat. i just got home a little while ago. it took over an hour for the bus to come. the town was very crowded with visiters today. the school children were dressed in their purim costumes today.

i didn't sleep a wink last night. i looked at the posted photos of the fogel family who were butchered by arab terrorists on friday night. usually, you do not see these type of pictures in the media. after a terrorist attack, you see the empty shell of a bus, or the broken glass and debris from the shops. you never see the victims. you usually are not shown blood. the zaka volunteers come to gather all of the blood and body parts to bury. you are always shown pictures of the victims from happier times.

this is the first time that pictures of this nature were seen on the net. the family agreed to it. you cannot imagine the carnage that these terrorists, may they be struck down, managed to do in a very short time. i will spare you the details because by now, it's probably been discusssed on the american news. i also, cannot talk about these horrors any more.

i looked at the clock last night and it was already 4:00 a.m. i wondered if it was that last cup of coffee that i had or the realization that true evil does exist? i didn't want to go to the senior's center this morning. i just wanted to stay in bed.

i was tired and depressed. i figured that they would probably be holding the purim party for the seniors today. i came to the conclusion, that it was probably, better for me to join in. i had my friend's costume queen dress with me and luckily, a long red purim wig. i didn't have the strength to get undressed and put on the queen dress but at least, i donned the red wig and started dancing.

after a while, i really was feeling joyfull. many of the seniors were dressed in costumes and some even did a bit of shtick. it was a great success. we have to go out of our way to make joy and simcha. we cannot let our persecuters rob us of that. i stayed with the group until after lunch and then made my way to the open air market. yes, wednesday is still shuk day in zefat.

i ran into my son and grandson at the shuk. sahar saw me and wanted me to hold him at once. i left him with his other grandma and merrily went on my way. i was on a mission to find black gym pants for my friend to wear under her chassidic robe on purim. mission accomplished! for only 25 shekels to boot.

as i said, i waited in the hot sun for over an hour for the bus. i should have just jumped into a taxi. sometimes, i pick the wrong time to be frugal. today was one of those times.

i had wanted to get home to make the meatballs for the purim seudah on sunday. i've already made the turkey stew meat, non dairy chocolate rum icecream, and two batches of frozen rum drinks. tomorrow is a fast day. i guess the meatballs can wait until then. that's if i don't have sahar tomorrow. on saturday night, the little 'genious' climbed up to my apartemnt and entered all by himself. i turned my back on him for a moment yesterday, and found him on the third floor.

after a month on the south beach diet, i didn't lose more than a pound or two. i ended up binging last shabbat on rum balls and chocolate ship cookies. i was pretty disgusted with myself. the remedy doesn't seem to have helped me this time. i can barely zip up my queen dress for purim. it doesn't look all that pretty from the belly and behind, either. i have been on a raw veggie and fruit diet all week. i hope that this drastic measure helps.

i've been eating green salads with cucumbers, oranges, bananas, avocado, tomatoes and apples, all week long. i indulged in a mustard and honey vinagrette. who knows? perhaps this will finally get that huge stomach to go down a bit. it has been pretty tasty.