On The Second Day Of Chanukah My True Love Gave To Me

it is 8:00 a.m. in the holy city of safed.  i just broke my 12 hour fast with banana 'pancakes'.  it's 2 eggs and one banana and a splash of cinnamon.  they are actually pretty filling.  the dogs had their morning oatmeal and milk.  i  ended up sharing my pancakes with them, too.  i  am now enjoying a cup of my new favorite tea, Bengal, by celestial seasonings.  it has a very strong cinnamon taste.  i find that i need to add almond milk.  i couldn't stand it at first and now I'm addicted. it's yummy.

tonight is the 11th anniversary of my mom's passing.  i want to buy some treats for the guys at the yeshiva so that they can say blessings on her behalf.  i thought about buying the customary fried donuts, that we eat at Chanukah time, but it will be a small fortune to buy 20.  i think i'll go with nuts and dried fruits and chocolates.  it is also a custom to eat dairy.  i toyed with the idea of baking a cheese cake this morning, but quite frankly, I'm too tired.  i am waiting to hear from the kids if i can go to them for Shabbat.

i bought tons of LOL, marvel and fortnite toys for the kids.  i spent a true fortune.  while i was in the hospital a month ago, i bought a fortnite monopoly set for $60.  the LOL stuff was just as expensive.  i can't wait to see the kids and give them their gifts.  i have an out Shabbat this week from the yeshiva and i don't have to work on Thursday or Sunday.  i want to get out of 'dodge' as soon as possible.  we are expecting another addition to the clan soon and this might make or break my chance of seeing the grown up kids this week.  i am trying to be as zen as possible and not sweat it.  it is what it is.

the world as i knew it, is no longer mine.  i am an alien.  i am an antique.  i am pushing 70 and i ain't cutting it at all.  i am still able to cook at the yeshiva but i am too tired to do anything afterwards.  i pulled out most of my costumes to help my friend, who is doing a play.  most of them were too small and not appropriate for her.  i think she was annoyed that i wasted her time.  whatever she rejected, i threw away.  i am tired of storing all of this crap.  i did keep a few things and the kids' costumes from last year.  the daughter-in-law recycles them and hands them out to her sister's kids or friends.

some of these things i used to wear when i was skinny, back in the day.  i have finally lost the extra 20 pounds that i gained last year, when the kids moved away from safed.  i am not aiming for being thin, again.  i just want to be able to navigate without the huge stomach and behind and fit into my clothes.  most of my skirts are a bit loose.  i am not interested in weighing myself or checking out my dress size.  in fact, the outfit i wore in the picture on my blog, was from my son's engagement party. that was nearly 11 years ago.  it fits again, but i gave it to my friend. i am not really a navy blue kind of gal.  i wore the skirt on Rosh Hashanah but i am not mad about it.  i  need to buy some new things.

Tired In Safed

it is 8:15 p.m. in the holy city of safed.  i just got back home from work.  i left for work pretty late today.  i was in a taxi several feet from the yeshiva when i got an s.o.s call from the manager.  he sounded a bit alarmed that i wasn't there already.  i didn't even shower this morning.  i was that tired.  i was still on the phone at 1:00 p.m. with my friend and didn't feel like moving.  i quickly threw on my jeans skirt over my pajamas and called a cab.  i was at work at 1:30 p.m.

i had defrosted some leftover pea soup from last week, the night before.  i added water but i think i thinned it out too much.  i quickly made a bunch of little tuna patties and cooked up three bags of thin spaghetti.  i made an Asian dressing for the pasta.  i added a vinaigrette dressing to the leftover cut veggies from breakfast and threw in a can of mushrooms and a can of chickpeas for good measure.  i put out a tub of chumus and went back into the kitchen.  i leave Friday's breakfast for the guys as well as a cold pasta salad for their lunch and i make the Shabbat lunch, too.

i took two pots and boiled 60 eggs.  i left 30 eggs for their Friday lunch with a container of cut veggies and i made an egg salad for Shabbat day with the remaining 30 eggs.  i then made the meat stew that sits on the eclectic platter all Friday night.  i threw in about 20 small potatoes and about two giant sweet potatoes, a bag of barley and 3 cans of chick peas.  it cooked up pretty fast and i started on the eggplant salad.  i threw the eggplants into the oven as soon as i arrived at work.  i had to cut up 4 packages of herring into little tiny pieces and add hot peppers and onions.  that took quite awhile.

i didn't check on them and i didn't prick them first and suddenly i heard a large boom and the oven door blew open.  there was exploded eggplant all over the oven.  i took the ones that hadn't exploded and mashed them and added mayonnaise and garlic.  i then cleaned the oven and the oven racks.  i think i might just burn the yeshiva down one day.  anyway, i then opened two enormous cans of tuna and added a lot of mayonnaise.  i still had to make supper for tonight.  i cut up a lot of sweet potatoes into chunks and roasted them.  i threw the remainder of the breakfast oatmeal into two kilos of chopped turkey, added tons of spices and five eggs and made a pretty large meatloaf.

while it baked i cooked up 5 bags of macaroni to make two different pasta salads.  i added mayonnaise and curry powder to one with chopped veggies and i made an Italian dressing for the second.  there was macaroni all over the place.  i sliced up tomatoes and onions and added seasoning for their supper.  i made a cooked beet salad yesterday.  i did the washing up which took about 45 minutes and i washed the floor.  i put the beef stew into the fridge and i cabbed it home.  i didn't go to the market.  i was too tired.  i didn't have dinner.  i grabbed a tuna patty from lunch and a tomato and called it a night.

i will go to the supermarket in the morning.  i need a few things for Shabbat.  my friend is coming over again.  neither one of us wants to be alone.  it is supposed to rain again.  we had a pretty terrific storm before i came home; lighting and thunder, the whole package.  how do those weather people know that much before hand so that they can predict the exact nature of the storm.?  i will take the dogs out for their nightly outing and get back into my robe.  i have been sleeping on a mattress in the t.v. room under the wall heater.  i haven't felt like sleeping in the master bedroom.  i will have  my new tea when i return.  Shabbat shalom!

Cooking Up A Storm

it is 11:30 a.m. in the holy city of safed.  i got up at 6:00 a.m. to take the pooches out.  it rained last night and tiny came home with mud.  this red mud does not wash out . i threw out plenty of sheets last year after the winter.  i hosed him off outside in the yard.  he did not particularly , like this.  oh well.... i just finished washing the floors.  i used plenty of bleach.  the floors were black.  winter here is a wreck.  my dishes and coffee cups from the whole week are still in the sink.  i had to unclog the sink drain, which i use for meat dishes.  it didn't take too long but it was a huge pain because i had to remove everything from underneath the sink.  i went to the local market near work last night.  i was exhausted and needed to get home fast.  i wasn't sure if we were going to have more rain today and i didn't want to risk having to run out to the supermarket to buy food for shabbat ; in a storm.

i bought a large chicken to make soup.  unfortunately, they were out of cilantro and celery and even, carrots.  i bought a package of dill and a package of frozen carrots.  i also bought a fennel root. it has the same crunch as celery.  i think i bought a small gourd.  the soup will be piping hot.  that's the main idea.  i wanted to buy a noodle kugel but i didn't have the strength to walk to the bakery.  i left work at 7:00 p.m. and after eight hours on my feet, i was trashed. i had made the Friday breakfast as well as the Shabbat lunch for the yeshiva.  and of course, i also made their supper, too.  i bought eggs to make a kugel but i didn't buy noodles or any potatoes.  i did buy a package of couscous.  what can i say?  i was tired and not all that focused.

i went down to the tel aviv area on Wednesday to do a CT of my lungs.  half a year ago, after my routine pet scan, they thought they 'saw' something.  my oncologist told me to do a CT. he wasn't having my doing it in safed, either.  my medical insurance carrier wasn't going to let me do it in tel hashomer.  afer all, they have a brand new machine, right here in safed hospital.  i wasn't taking no for an answer and finally got my clearance form.  i have learned how to play hardball with them over the years.

i cooked for about seven hours on Tuesday and left two meals for Wednesday.  i took a taxi to a nearby town to catch an express bus to tel aviv.  i got there in less than 21/2 hours but i still had a 50 minute bus ride to the hospital.  it is about a 15 minute cab ride but the price is exorbitant.  i got to the hospital about an hour or more early.  i went to the small shopping maul to look around.  they have an orthopedic shoe store that i like.  sadly, they had nothing on sale in my size.  i am a 9.  i couldn't eat anything in the food court because i needed to be on a two hour fast before the CT.  i drank a yogurt drink on the bus at noon.  i had some oatmeal in the morning but i would have liked to have something more when i got there.

i was taken to the test relatively, on time, and was out by 4:00 p.m.  i stopped back at the shopping maul to buy a fortnight monopoly game for my grandson.  it was quite expensive but i know he will adore it.  i plan to go there for the first night of chanukah.  now i need to buy some LOL dolls for the granddaughter.  are we having fun yet?

my friend will be coming over for Shabbat.  i need to get the soup on.  i defrosted the leftover cholent from last week and i have two giant pitas in the freezer waiting to be heated up.  i bought prepared beets and cabbage salad.  i have a couple of lettuces and i even bought alfalfa sprouts.  i  think i bought some chumus.  we will be fine.