Turning 60

it's 10:30 p.m. in the holy city of zefat. shabbat is over and i turned 60. i guess that is quite a milestone.

i had a bit of trouble yesterday. i got up around 8:00 a.m. when sahar came up to join me. i quickly made him a bottle and got ready to start the day. i fully intended to start my shabbat preparations as well as bake cookies and cakes and corn bread for my big 4th of july weekend/rosh chodesh tamuz 60th birthday bash tomorrow afternoon.

i went outside with sahar and the three dogs to wave goodbye to his parents. i grabbed the semi folded stroller and somehow got my ring finger caught. i have never felt that much pain in my life. i somehow managed to get my finger out and it was a bloodied mess. i had cut right through the middle part of the nail. i was beside myself. i ran back into the house to pour arnica oil all over the top of my finger. it was really throbbing. i was very upset.

i had wanted to go into the pool but i didn't dare with my finger. i was afraid to get it wet. i then found a sterile gauze pad and soaked it with arnica and wrapped it around the nail and taped it around the finger with masking tape. the slightest touch made me scream. eventually, i felt no pain.

i was emotionally drained and physically weakened. i drank some coffee and let sahar run around the garden for a while. i somehow, regained my composure and got him back into his stroller and took him to the grocery store. i bought a challah, some veggies and eggs and a couple of bottles of cheap italian fizzy wine.

when i got back, i put the sprinklers on and let sahar run around in the water, while i did about three batches of laundry. don't ask why. i hung up the heavy towels and fleece training suits outside on the lines. i got sahar back inside and into the bathtub. he was overtired and i thought that a bath would relax him so he would take a nap. he was less wild but sat up on the couch watching the 'baby luli' channel.

gal came home early from the store and took sahar downstairs. i got into action and started making the shabbat meals. i couldn't bend my ring finger that well or put much pressure on it. i found it hard to peel the vegetables. i left the skins on the potatoes. i found it hard to wash the veggies, too. i was still afraid of getting my finger wet. i threw the potatoes and eggs in the pot together for the saturday lunch. i usually cook them separately.

i opted for oven baked chicken and potatoes. i managed to get the excess fat off the chickens and threw some prepared grill and barbecue spices on the top. the kids loved it. i also made a potted fish with carrots, potatoes, red peppers and tomatoes. i didn't have any fresh cilantro so i used a bit of dried coriander, thyme and rosemary. zvi thought that it wasn't the usual recipe. he was right.

i made some tahina, and baked eggplant salad with tahina. no one touched it. i cut up the lettuce and soaked it. i had bought a watermelon but i couldn't handle cutting it up. gal did it for me. some time during the day, the refrigerator shelf was collapsing from the weight of the watermelon. somehow, i managed to fix it.

i made a 4th of july no bake pie which was a total waste of my ingredients and time. i poured a very expensive bag of frozen blueberries into an expensive graham cookie pie shell and covered it with hot strawberry jello. i then whipped up a package of french vanilla pudding with real milk, which was a real mistake. i should have used non dairy milk so i could have served it for my party tomoorow. no one reallly liked it and it's just sitting in the fridge. it would have made a real culinary statement tomorrow. oh well!

i then made up a batch of flourless chocolate/almond cupcakes for the non gluten guests. they rose real high and then fell real low. they looked like something the dogs made. are we having fun yet? i also threw together a half dozen jumbo rye blueberry muffins and they also looked like drek. i froze some strawberry yogurt into popsicle trays for sahar. he didn't get the concept nor did he eat them. i had a couple. they were rather tasty.

i baked a whole wheat banana date loaf cake, which was a success. i think i'll freeze the rest for when my friends from efrat come to vist in a couple of weeks. i bought tons of fresh corn but ended up using a can of sweet corn for shabbat. i couldn't handle shucking the corn. i made some thin french cut string beans but ruined it by pouring on a really bad israeli teriyaki sauce. it was unedible.

i managed, somehow, to grate a couple of beets and a carrot. there was no way of my cutting them into small cubes. i might of added some cumin so zvi, the bloodhound, didn't eat them. i think that the cumin actually, was added to the eggplant salad that no one ate. but who's keeping score, anyway. i also fried up a few slices of niles perch for the grandson but he didn't eat any. i ate them for lunch.

i made a few phone calls to my closest girl pals. i spoke with my soul sister in new york. our birthdays are one day apart on rosh chodesh. i also spoke with my friend in efrat, whose birthday is on tuesday. unfortunately, she can't come up for the birthday party. and lastly, i spoke with my partner in crime friend, who's hebrew birthday is next week. we are sharing the tamuz birthday bash together. i wanted to invite another pal who is also a tamuz baby, but she is working at the candle factory store until late.

i threw some water onto the high chair to clean it and the next think i knew, i was breaking my fall with my right hand. i landed quite hard on my left knee. i struggled to get up and just started crying. i was in a lot of pain. i was beginning to doubt that i would make it to my 60th year in one piece. i was getting paranoid. i then threw tons of sudsy water on the floor to further tempt fate and i was sliding all over the place. it was nearly candlelighting time and i was still struggling to get all of the water out of the house. sahar was walking all over the place saying 'wet'.

as i sit here blogging, i am reminded that the laundry is still hanging outside. do i get up or not? i hear a lot of noise outside. gal is due back with sahar. the kids went over there for third meal and came back without him. i felt like going for a walk too, but i didn't feel like getting dressed. my finger still hurt. i sat back down and started reading psalms. i ate some chicken and finished the tahina and half a can of corn. i lost the urge to walk. i picked up my newspaper and started reading various articles.

i just went outside to check up on the noise and the entire clan was outside sans the father and married sister. i really didn't expect any visitors at 11:00 p.m. the house was a mess. i took the liberty of not cleaning up after shabbat. what a mistake that was. i was not the hostest with the mostest tonight. gal's mom made a cake and the kids ordered pizza. before you knew it, it was midnight and thay all left. i went downstairs and brought in the laundry. now it's 1:00 a.m.

i have half of her mom's cake left over if i don't feel like baking tomorrow. i'm a wreck but i do have my menu planned. i'm making flourless corn bread, chile con carne, meatloaf with barbecue sauce, corn on the cob, stringbeans and almonds, brown rice pilaf, and a tossed green salad. now that i finally know what i want to make, i'm not so sure that i will have the energy to do everything. i have eggplant and chumus left over. and of course, the beet and carrot salad. i can always make a cucumber salad, too.

the watermelon is already cut and i made apple pie icecream sometime, yesterday. i bought a fancy and expensive can of pie filling from the states. it was waful! very slimy and tasteless. i added a ton of vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. i blended it all together. the egg whites didn't exactly beat up. we shall see if it is a success, won't we. i was planning on making a gingerbread cake, and flourless peanut butter and tahina cookies . all i need is the strength. maybe i'll get by with the left over banana and chocolate cakes and the very flat flourless chocolate cupcakes.

good night! shavua tov! chodesh tov! may you all get what you need and really want.