It's Hard To Say Goodbye

it is 5:30 p.m. in the holy city of zefat.  my older sister just left for our cousin's home in yavne.  she returns to california tomorrow.  my brother left on sunday last week.  we had one heck of a reunion!  psychodrama til 5:00 a.m. every night.  most of the ranting and drama was done by me, zelda.  my siblings patiently stayed up all night to calm me down.  my buttons were being pushed at all times by our baby sister, who lives in zefat.

i did all of the cooking and washing up.  that's because, according to all of my siblings,  i am  a control freak. no one really wanted to go out or eat in restaurants.  my non -coffee drinking younger sister wanted to go out for a coffee in town.  the time was always wrong.  we couldn't coordinate the four of us  to meet during the day.  our younger sister would come at night.  i managed to hold my own for the first week.  i didn't join them on a day trip to amuca and meron.  i needed bed rest.  i completely shut down after my brother left.  i couldn't  get out of bed except to make meals.

my grandson was a handful, too.  he was put off  by my non hebrew speaking siblings.  he was at his most awful behavior all week long.  my siblings from america couldn't relate.  my brother the child psychologist, didn't put up a great effort to relate to this 'horroble four' year old. either.  my sister, the light sleeper, suffered the most when my grandson was around.  it was a lot of pressure for me to be a good and loving sister and a good and doting grandma at the same time.

after my brother left, i wasn't allowed to give over any more 'war stories', as my older sister calls them.  you all know how i love to milk a  story about my every day living here.  horror stories or 'war stories' are my medium.  they don't call me 'ranting zelda ' for nothing.  i admit that i am obsessed by my stories and rants.  i once went on one of my 'rants' to my friend's brother.  he lives in canada.  he couldn't take my rap.  he told me that if it was so horrible here, i should leave.

some people, just can't take a rant.  mazal tov on our finally catching the elusive rat on erev shabbat!  for weeks now, my son has been calling me downstairs to help in catching the rat.  we enlisted the pincher, who seems far more interested in killing pigeons on the third floor roof top apartment.  on friday, as i was cooking for shabat, my daughter-in-law called me downstairs several times to help catch the rat.  i was exhausted by the time my son came home from work.  i still had things to cook and a cheesecake to bake.  the rat was hiding in the tray underneath the fridge.  we finally had a good chance to catch him.  even the pincher stepped up to the plate and helped kill it.  this seems to be a family bonding time, catching and killing rats.

 i now believe that the he rat was a she rat.  i think she was just  a hard working mother rat, who started a family in our downstairs laundry room..  we have since caught a couple of smaller rats in the one trap that still works.  it is going to be a long hard summer.

i go to tel aviv tomorrow, to do another MRI of my head.  the neurosurgeon wants to have two pictures to compare the tumor .  i then go to see him again in another two weeks.  i am hoping that he will tell me that it isn't urgent to operate.  i am hoping to schedule it in the winter after all of the holidays and chanuka have passed.  this year chanuka starts on thanksgiving day.  i do not want to have an operation right now.  i hope that i will be able to put it off.  i am surprisingly, calm and not the bit , nervous about tomorrow.

we still have a pigeon problem upstairs.  i made a lot of progress but not enough.  the heat wears me out.  i cannot function when it's hot.  i can run up and down the stairs all day long, but walking distances, is still not doable.  i think i don't realize how fragile i still am until i'm back in bed.  i recently went on an over eating binge.  i gained over five pounds since the siblings came.  i need to chill out now.  i'd hate to get heavy again. it's all concentrated in the belly area.  i seriously, need to stop the ice cream and chocolate runs to the supermarket.