it is 10:00 a.m. in the holy city of safed. I am truly tired and resting before I go to work. I have already had a slice of salmon and a lot of fresh cherries. I have been travelling a lot lately. I hardly ever leave safed but I had to get to the hospital near tel Aviv for two very important appointments. last Tuesday, I went to Sheba hospital to do my brain MRI. my appointment was at 5:15 a.m. the last bus to bnei brak was at 10:00 p.m. which would have gotten me near the hospital at around 1:00 a.m.
I would have had a huge wait in the lobby and there is nothing open at the hospital at that time. I had gone to an end of school production that evening. the two young girls of my manager were in the production. they come to the yeshiva almost every day after school to schmooze and eat something. they are like surrogate grandkids. my friend was taking photos of the production and came to stay over to watch the pooch. we got back at 9:30 p.m. and I was wrecked. I was too tired to try to catch a bus. I found someone to drive me to the hospital and wait for me to finish. he turned out to be a kid and looked to young to be driving miss zelda.
however, the price was right. the taxi company wanted double what he asked for. I really didn't want to spend the $150 but I needed to. the kid ended up waiting for me for three hours. I finished at 8:00 a.m. and was back at home by 10:00 a.m. I crashed and slept most of the day. I wasn't able to sleep after the show nor did I snooze in the car on the way to the hospital. at one point he got lost and I was too nervous to relax. I cannot fall asleep in a waiting room, either. I am too distracted by the noises. the reception desk actually, closed until 7:30 a.m. and I thought that they had forgotten about me. I wanted to leave. I had no more patience. the ride home was quiet and hot. the kid's jalopy wasn't air conditioned. we were both too tired to speak.
I had wanted to give him a tip for waiting so long but the atm machines were all out of service. I think he made out okay without the tip. his young friend had driven the car to the hospital so he had just the 3 hour wait and the 2 hour ride back to safed. even though he had to pay for gas he still made out. I had to work and stand on my feet for 20 hours to pay for that trip. whatever.... sometimes we have to shell how money to survive. I had to stay at work to make extra meals for the day I missed. on Wednesday, the daughter-in-law came to safed with the kids. she had a bat mitzvah in a nearby town. the kids wanted to sleep here. they came over at around 9:30 p.m. they had been at their cousins' home nearby. we arranged the mattresses on the floor of the t.v. room and we all passed out around 11:00 p.m.
I took them to the pool which is about a 5 minute walk from my house. I thought that it was too chilly to swim but they wouldn't take no for an answer. my friend goes every day to do laps so I knew that it was relatively, empty in the morning. most kids are still in school here. the kids haven't been to a real pool in ages. my friend stayed in the water with them. I wasn't dressed for pool. I ran back to the bakery near my home to buy barekas for us to eat. the pool snack bar was closed. at 12:30 p.m. I taxied back with the kids to the yeshiva. I only stayed for about an hour and a half. I think I made franks and pasta for lunch. it was an out Shabbat so I didn't need to make supper. the kids wanted to go back to the pool. we stopped off in town to buy little toys and I became truly tired. I didn't realize how burnt I had gotten at the pool. we went home. I thought that the daughter-n-law wanted to leave early.
I was invited to go to Jerusalem for Shabbat. I cooked savory chicken bottoms and made a sweet noodle kugel with raisins and an eggless spelt chocolate cake for my friend. I bought prepared beets and made tahini. I used a recipe which called for mayonnaise for the cake. I decided to use up the pesach mayonnaise and forgot that it was made with olive oil. I tasted the cake and it was a bit bitter. I ended up melting in half of a very good chocolate bar.
I forgot how tiring it is to be with kids. their mother showed up at 9:00 p.m. she called to let me know that she was going food shopping. I showered the kids to get them ready. I was getting agitated. I am always afraid that she might fall asleep at the wheel. we left safed at 9:30 p.m. but made it back to Jerusalem in only two hours. the kids and I passed out immediately. we all overslept the next morning and the daughter-in-law quickly got us up and the kids dressed and to school in just moments. an hour later we went to my grandson's end of school party.
I was thinking how I probably won't be around for other major events in the kids' lives. I couldn't stop crying during the class song. cheery, I know. I asked my grandson why he was so quiet at school. he is usually very outgoing at home. he got upset with me and told me I had ruined his day. I never learn to keep my mouth closed.
I managed to visit with my friend and we had lunch with her son. my son took me to his work and we met there. her son drove us back but they couldn't visit because the daughter-in-law was resting. oh well..... I didn't move on Shabbat. it was warm but I was exhausted. the kids played outside for most of the day. I didn't even get dressed. I managed to pray. we tried to play monopoly but the kids had to leave. I took a long nap by myself. we had lunch and it was not serene. it was not a great morning. the evening was a bit better. we had a quick meal before Shabbat ended. the big kids thought about going to a movie. the little kids wanted to be alone with me. I also wanted a moment of quiet. we ended up going to sleep at 9:30 p.m. as soon as Shabbat ended and I showered the kids.
the next morning I caught an early bus to downtown Jerusalem. my friend met me there for lunch. while I waited for her, I went shoe shopping. I love buying shoes there. we had a simple breakfast because I got a bit ill after eating at a fancy restaurant on Friday morning. I caught the 1:00 p.m.bus back to safed and was at the yeshiva at 4:00 p.m. I quickly made supper and taxied home. I was tired. on Monday, I made two extra meals for Tuesday. each meal has three elements. for supper I made a meat loaf, mashed potatoes and spicy carrots. for lunch I made soy schnitzels, quinoa and a sweet noodle kugel.
I left the house at 7:30 a.m. on uesday morning to catch the bus to rosh pina in the neighborhood. I caught a taxi on it's way to tel aviv. they ended up leaving me off at the hospital for $50. I was trying to save money but it was really hot outside and it was a real pleasure to be driven directly there. I ate something at the food court and had a cup of tea. I was two hours early for my appointment. I spied out shoes and bathing suits at the mini maul. I ended up waiting an additional hour for the surgeon. he spent an entire five minutes with me. he told me that when I decide to do the brain surgery, I know where he is. apparently, there was no change in the tumor.
I caught the bus back to tel aviv right away at 1:45 p.m. and an hour later caught the bus to rosh pina. there was a bit of traffic and I got home via taxi at 6:00.p.m. hence, I am still sitting at my computer not ready to go to work.
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