Baby It's Cold Outside

it is 8:00 a.m. in the holy city of safed.  i just got back from taking the dogs out.  it was nice and brisk outside.  we seem to have a family of mongoose down the street.  i'm not sure of what the plural is.  the dogs were sniffing away for quite a while.  we have one mongoose at the yeshiva.  the guys named him Patrick.  he used to hang with the cats but he was afraid of them.  i read that they actually do, make good pets.  once Patrick came over to me while i was sitting on the ground, and sat beside me for awhile.  he then gave me a 'love' bite.  it was a bit odd and i was a bit shocked.  he now lives in the wadi and comes to visit every so often. i am always happy to see him and offer him some food.  i haven't met his wife and kids.

i am truly stoked.  today is Thursday and the end of the work week for me.  i have to make one breakfast, two lunches and one supper.  we got a vegetable order yesterday, so i will make a spicy soup with large chunks of pumpkin, zucchini, carrots and potatoes and serve it with couscous.  i'll probably make shepherd's pie for supper.  if not, i'll make mashed potatoes and stuffed peppers.  last night i made meatloaf and carrot kugel.  i also left a huge can of corn for them on the electric platter.  there was also a pot of mushroom barley soup leftover from lunch and a bit of noodle kugel.  i enjoyed two bowls of soup and a good hunk of noodle kugel before i left.  i eat whatever i want these days, as long as it is sugar free.  i enjoyed a fair amount of sweet potatoes yesterday for lunch.

i usually eat at the yeshiva now. i, simply return home too late to have supper.  i don't eat anything after 7:30 p.m.  intermittent fasting has been working for me and i managed to lose twenty pounds.  I'm back to my picture on the blog, weight wise.  unfortunately, looks wise, not real close.  i am pushing 70 and i no longer wear makeup or a red wig.  i know i look old.  one of these days i will update my picture.  i am hoping that there might be a nice shot of me from the recent bris of my new grandson. i was dressed well; all in black, and wore a silver turban. i might have had a tad of silver eye shadow on, too.  i try not to smile much because i have a large gap in my top teeth.  one of these days i'll get them bonded.

it has been freezing here lately.  they are predicting snow.  we have had a record amount of rain and i have been trekking to work throughout it all. i do take a fair amount of taxis.  i used to love to walk in the rain.  it is no fun at this point in my life; to come home wet from work to a cold house.  i do leave heaters on but i cannot afford to use the central heating system anymore.  the computer blog room is absolutely, freezing.  i can hardly feel my toes.  i sleep with a heater on every night.  the dogs like it too.  i have been crashing on a small t.v. couch with an enormous puffy comforter.  the dogs sleep under it, too.  i can hear the wind blowing.  living on a mountain is noisy.  i think it is time to break my fast. i have managed to do 14 hours a few times this week.  my fanatic friend does 16 hours every day.

Raining Cats And Dogs

it is 8:00 p.m. in the holy city of safed.  i just got back from walking the dogs.  the rain has slowed down a little so the pooches agreed to go out.  it has been storming here for a couple of weeks.  it is also quite cold.  doggies have been in and making on diapers and my beds.  i left work at 6:30 p.m. and took the little shuttle bus to town.  my little cell phone isn't working.  apparentl,y the microphone  is shot.  who knows?.  it is less than a half year old.  i stopped off at a small grocery to buy food.  my house was completely empty.

i bought eggs, yogurt, sugar free almond milk, cottage cheese, lettuce, celery, chicken wings, green onions and a bag of cilantro.  i think i will make a soup tomorrow for shabbat night.  last night i broke the fast with yogurt and frozen fruit, salad greens, fried eggs and tea.  i woke up pretty ravenous today and had oatmeal and fruit.  i was still hungry so i defrosted some frozen cholent and ate three bowls.  i gave the remainder of the cholent to the dogs; a little whole ago.  they love oatmeal in the morning, too.

yes, yesterday we had a day fast, which ended about 5:30 p.m.  i kept to my intermittent fasting and stopped eating at 7:30 p.m.  i also missed dinner.  i did have a strong double Bengal tea with almond milk.  i ended up dry fasting for about 22 hours.  i stayed in bed all day.  i was tired from travelling to Jerusalem for the bris.  i worked until 9:00 p.m. the night before and i truly couldn't move.  i didn't want to go to work today.  it was a day to be home and dry.  i took a taxi to work at noon time.  it was pouring quite hard.  i made two simple meals.  i didn't want to lie and call in sick but i was toying with calling in 'tired'.

 we had a huge food delivery and we were very busy putting away the meat products.  i was really too tired to cook.  i kept on grimacing and checking out the pantry to see what i could prepare.  we were out of potatoes and carrots.  we did have a bunch of zucchini left.  we had a pantry full of tomato puree, pasta, rice, canned corn and mushrooms.  i looked at the clock and it was an hour before serving time.  i kind of whipped into shape.

i made a quick spicy and peppery tomato soup with zucchini, onions and a huge sweet potato.  i also made plain rice and chicken hot dogs.  the guys poured the soup onto the rice.  for dinner, i made a vat of oriental spaghetti stir fry, tuna patties and fried breaded eggplant.  the patties somehow fell to the floor; remaining mostly in the aluminum tray.  they did get a bit smashed up but i couldn't do anything about that.  luckily, no one was around to see me on my knees' picking up tuna patties from the floor.  i read that we need more dirt in our diets.  apparently, we are too sterile.

my house is a mess and i have two sinks full of dirty dishes, dirty tea cups and assorted pots and pans.  i also need to do laundry.  that's what Fridays are for.  i generally do not work on Fridays.  i hopefully, will get the house back in shape on Friday.  tomorrow is a rough day for me.  i have to make 2 lunches, one breakfast, one supper and Shabbat lunch.  it is a lot of work.

Joy To The World

it is about an hour before Shabbat in the holy city of safed.  i spent most of last week in Jerusalem helping out the daughter-in-law.  i am most happy to report that she recently gave birth to my third grandchild.  it is a boy!  there is a new sheriff in town.  i mostly spent a lot of time with the kids.  the weather was much more pleasant than here in safed.  it is freezing here.  we have had a record amount of rain.  they say that lake keneret is overflowing.  we can't complain.  Israel has had a serious drought for years. 

i went to see the latest 'star wars' film with the kids.  not having ever seen a stars war movie, i was completely in the dark about their past history.  my grandson thought it was the best film he ever saw.  my granddaughter slept through most of it.  i wished it would end from the beginning.  it was way too loud for me.  my head hurt.  i took the kids to get hot chai drinks and paid for them to rent scooters and bikes for an hour.  the daughter-in-law got to rest while we were out for the day.

i brought a huge amount of toys and games for them.  i wanted them to get something for each of the eight days of Chanukah.  i was told that i spoil them and get them to hyped up.  after all, they wanted to go back to their home when i arrived at the hospital.  imagine that!  they didn't feel like spending the entire day there.  what can i say?  i am just a children spoiler.  i am the grandma who keeps on giving.  i come with my paycheck and i blow the wad.

i went to work today to make meals for sunday.  i am going back to Jerusalem for the bris.  i came home and swept the house and washed the hallway.  doggies aren't so keen to go out in the rain.  i made some hot dogs for Shabbat.  i really didn't fee like cooking.  i put on the electric kettle and i have some tuna fish in the pantry.  i just had a fruit shake.  i will take a hot shower and then light my candles.  i am one tired grandmother.

i made 90 little packets of blue and white jelly beans and blue and white hard candies that say mazal tov.  i closed each one with a blue stroller sticker that says mazal tov.  years ago i made close to 1000 chocolate 'strollers' but i can no longer do melted chocolates.  the bought candies will do just fine.  i spent a fortune on them and then another fortune on buying a fancy white basket to showcase them.  are we having fun yet?  Shabbat shalom!