Pesach Is On Its Way

it is 11:30 a.m. in the holy city of zefat. i looked at the calendar last night and realized that pesach was exactly, a month away. boy did i panic! i don't know why it hit me so hard. pesach is always a month after purim. i guess i was still too high from all the purim festivities and getting off on all the fun pix to think about scrubbing out the fridge. alas, the adorable cowboy outfit that i made, never made it to the purim seudah because my grandson pished all over himself.

i thought that i would start with my computer room this year. i store all the purim costumes there. right now i have props, masks, costumes and wigs strewn all over the bed. i don't really feel like dealing with it. i thought about doing the fridge and freezer today. i also thought about doing the stovetop and oven, too. i even fantasized about climbing a ladder to clean the shelves above the counter tops and polishing the silver chanukiahs. i guess i am feeling manic and can't quite focus.

i just did the rest of the shabbat dishes. i had so many leftovers from the purim seudah that i invited the kids and another couple to come for shabbat. i had decided to put a halt to shabbat dinners last week after a rather distasteful harangue by my daughter in law. the reason i had so many leftovers in the first place, is that i prepared a seudah for about 17 people. after i did all of my cooking, the sephardi mother also brought over her seudah.

my daughter in law's family will not eat anything that i prepare. sweet and spicy chicken wings is not their thing. meatballs cooked in wine is also not their thing. neither is brown lentils and brown rice, or instant couscous with almonds and raisins. they prefer to eat white rice that their mother prepares, greasy oven roasted potatoes, and sephardi mama's meat. Don't get me wrong, i am not saying that the meat wasn't delicious. i enjoyed the stuffed grape leaves, immensely.

i am just saying that i don't know what possessed me to even cook for this crowd. shabbat was a repeat of the purim meal. the two sisters wouldn't eat the chicken wings. i guess it was beneath their dignity to use their hands. the oldest sister would only eat her mother's challah rolls and fish. the mother actually sent over a few portions of tuna for her darling 27 year old daughter, who has recently moved in to my upstairs apartment. i have yet seen a dollar.

the cholent came out a bit watery, and the potatoes were undone. i guess i used the wrond size pot. i simply, couldn't find my regular one. all 3 sisters were revulsed by the prepared sausage like kishka in the cholent. the rest of us 'brave' souls ate some and we all survived. i cut up a lot of israeli salad and it was also not to the princesses taste. i remembered after shabbat, that the daughter in law had borrowed my cholent pot a few weeks ago. i reclaimed my pot this morning and dumped out the remains of rotted and fermented leftover potatoes.

if it wasn't bad enough that the food was rejected, the conversation between my son and myself turned mean. he decided to advise me at the shabbat meal, how to make some money. he even told me that the 'perfect' situation would be if they moved into their own apartment and i helped them out from revenue from renting the downstairs. it seemed cheaper for me to give them money than pay these enormous bills. he then recommended that i buy a couple of apartments to rent out. why do they all think that i have tons of money stock piled away. i sold my gold jewelry to pay the last electric bill.

again, i don't know what possessed me to engage with him. nonetheless, i answered that i already had 2 rentals that were not panning out. he and 'wifey' decided to leave me to pay an outrageous electric bill without giving me their share or their stipulated amount of rent money this winter. and to boot, they brought in big sister to 'rent' the upstairs for a few months. yes, things got really ugly at the shabbat dinner. i am done!!!! i am cleaning out the freezer this week and there will be no more shabbat dinners until after pesach.

when my computer savy friend came over before shabbat, i implored her to email purim pix from my son's computer to mine. she was downstairs for over an hour, while i frantically, washed the purim debris off of my floors. i should have done it first thing in the morning, but i was outside with my grandson until noon time. i was relaxing in the warm sun. how foolish am i?

for some reason, my friend chose to download baby pix of the 2 grandkids. the fact is that for the past 2 years since the bris, i have not been given any pix. there are exactly 2 pictures of me holding my infant grandson. i had to fight for a photo of me and the baby at the bris, after the entire clan had their turn. my brother and sister in the states, have never seen pix of my grandkids until this week. i am not loving this at all!!