it's been a wile since i blogged. i haven't been near my computer in a month. it wasn't intentional to take a break. i just was out of sorts and couldn't be bothered going to the computer room. i have been plagued with toothaches and headaches and have been fatigued. i just took a break rom life after thanksgiving. i guess i overdid it and needed some time to relax. i was into some sort of hibernation period too. i hardly texted at all. i didn't even check my facebook messages.
Chanukah came and went; just as quickly. i was alone for the first night of lighting. it was eerie. i was a bit depressed. i went to visit a friend and ate a fried donut. it was not sugary so i didn't feel guilty. it was greasy and didn't feel all that great afterwards. i had the shabbat meals with the sephardi family downstairs. i missed my grandchildren. i went to town and blew my money on gifts for the kids.
my granddaughter turned nine and my grandson turned one. i bought expensive birthday gifts and spent a lot on the chanukah gifts. i only get to see them occasionally now. i thought about visiting them in jerusalem on chanukah but i couldn't get it together to travel on a bus. it was a very surreal chanukah. covid has put a damper on all of our holidays and family get togethers.
last sunday; i decided to invite a couple of gals over for a latke meal. i always forget how hard it is to make latkes. last year i made hundreds at the yeshiva but i had help. i also made applesauce, greek salad, greek mini donuts and tomato soup. it took me about four hours. i was a bit frantic at the end. it was the 12th year of my mom's passing. i didn't go to the cemetery because it is not really popular to go on chanukah. i didn't even get to read some torah passages in her name, either. i was really overwhelmed. i had wanted to shower before the guests arrived. it didn't happen.
i used cornstarch instead of flour to bind the latkes and i used too much. the consistency of the latkes was weird. they were like puffed potato pancakes instead of the flat crispy latkes. i made tons. i ended up eating about 15. they were kind of small. i struggled with the applesauce, too. i actually had a problem with every component of the meal. i had wanted to postpone the meal to the middle of the week because i wasn't really up to it; but one of the ladies had already arranged for someone to pick her up; so i forged on. it was a bust.
we all ate in a rush and the gals left a little more than an hour later. we didn't play dreidel or chanukah trivia or even commemorate my mom's passing. i had a rum breezer and i got inebriated. i was pretty miserable. i felt awful. i quickly did the washing up and got into pajamas. it was only 6:00 p.m. i gave out doggy bags of latkes and greek donuts. i did enjoy bowls of the rich tomato soup the next day and the leftover greek salad. nevertheless; it was a non event, as they say.
the grandkids came on wednesday and the real fun began. the sephardi grandma made her famous couscous and chicken and we were all fed really well. on thursday, she made sephardi fried donuts. i indulged in a couple; once again i didn't feel guilty. i recently had my weight and blood pressure checked. my weight was okay but my blood pressure was sky high. i t hink i was dehydrated when i went because i was fasting for my blood workup. i haven't been back since. they are smack, in the middle of a massive drive; to inoculate everyone for covid. i don't do vaccines.
i babysat for the one year old grandson on thursday for 8 hours. he was under the weather, teething and overtired and wanted to go to sleep. i was instructed by the 'clan' downstairs to keep him up. the poor thing was super overtired and desperate for a bottle. i was discouraged from giving him a bottle until it was nearly 9:30 p.m. he gulped it down but couldn't fall asleep until an hour later. i was finished by then and just wanted to go to bed. the two other grandkids were downstairs with their family. my granddaughter came upstairs to sleep with me about midnight.
she woke up in the middle of the night and she was burning up. i was sure that it was covid and that i was a goner. i ran to get the rubbing alcohol. i know it is frowned upon these days but i am old fashioned. her young mother woke up and checked her and said she didn't have a fever so i went back to sleep. in the morning she was cool as a cucumber; as they used to say. i was slightly dead. i didn't sleep much since they arrived. i didn't have a moment to myself to communicate with the outside world, either.
the entire clan came for shabbat. we were eleven adults, 6 children, two babies and four dogs. it was loud and quite active. i stayed downstairs for the entire time. i was in a trance. i couldn't sleep. i was on headache tablets and antibiotics. i was snacking on roasted nuts and drinking hot tea. i didn't go down for the third meal. i was stuffed. i made my own havdalah to end the shabbat and then the real fun began. the family belated birthday party for my two grandchildren was underway.
it was chaos glorified until 11:00 p.m. then everyone went home and the kids went back to jerusalem. i woke up the next morning at 8:00 a.m. i was in a fog. i cancelled my dental appointment. i need to have two teeth pulled. i was really out of it. i was informed that my freind's mom has passed away. i had a problem grasping the news. i spent the morning making hospital appointments and got ready to go to the funeral. after the funeral i went to visit my parents' graves. i cried my heart out. i wanted to walk over to where my sister was recently buried but i resisted. all in all it was a hard day.
s
No comments:
Post a Comment