The End Of A Long Day

it is 7:00 p.m. in the holy city of zefat.  shabbat just ended a little while ago.  while some of you are recovering from a crippling snow storm, we on the underhand, have been experiencing a heat wave.  the houses are still cold but we shed our long johns.  it was absolutely hot in the garden area.  we had to keep on moving into the shade.

while i just bathed the kids, the daughter-in-law did my dishes and straightened out the house.  there wasn't an inch of ground not covered by lego, crumbs, purim props and costumes.  the kids have been dressing up for weeks now.  my grandson likes to think out of the box.  he will put on clown pants over a lion's costume and cover it with a policeman's shirt and a soldier's hat.  today he squeezed his 4 year old frame into a 2 year old's cowboy vest.  he just loves to dress up.

i heard from my son, that when he took the kids to a nearby playground, the grandson had dragged along the pincher dog and made her go down the slide with him.  .she actually, didn't seem the worse for it.  she never gets out for a walk.  as a matter of fact, neither do the kids.  i don't know what got into my son today.  he usually goes off to nap for the day and resurfaces at the end of shabbat.

i was getting ready after to lunch to visit a friend on the next block.  i've already discussed that it's really about 4 short blocks away.  i was still in my robe, doing my after blessings, when my friend showed up. we sat downstairs in the sun for a couple of hours.  i walked her almost home, in my robe and slippers, and returned home to be with my grandson for the rest of the day.

we slept together last night as usual, and woke up together at 7:00 a.m.  the day was filled with making bottles of tea and juice and giving out snacks.  it seems like i did this for hours.  the granddaughter made her entrance about an hour later.  we all went outside in the sun.  it was too nice to be inside.  another friend had come for shabbat with her dog, so we were 2 old ladies, 2 little kids,  2 big kids and 3 small dogs for shabbat.

we all seemed to get along most of the time.  my daughter-in-law came down with sciatica before shabbat, and she was out for the count.  i quickly went into action with arnica cream, heat patches and pain pills.  i wonder if she realizes that i've been suffering like that all winter.  i have to say that i'm feeling a lot better lately since i took a remedy.  i actually have been out and about this week.  i made it to the bank, the city tax office, the water department and the medical carrier office all in one day.  i even bought the kids costumes for purim.

the daughter-in-law accepted the boy's costume but vetoed the girl's.  i bought two costumes for the price of one and spent about $50.  i gave over the receipt and told her to exchange it.  i didn't get all bent out of shape.  maybe i overstepped my place as grandmother of the girl.  i don't really care.  i love purim and i love costuming.  i can try to shorten and alter the snow white costume if she can't find something she likes better.  i wasn't exactly in love with it myself but i tried my best.   i guess i should have just handed over the $ and let her go shopping herself.  when will i learn?

i made shabbat meals once again this week.  the heat slowed me down.  i felt sluggish and sloth like.  i got a late start, too.  i usually start cooking by 9:00 a.m.  not so on friday.  i didn't really get into it until around 1:00 p.m.  i felt like i was doing everything in slow motion.  peeling the potatoes seemed overwhelming for me.  i was planning on making a potato kugel for a change, but i didn't have the energy to grate the potatoes.  i ended up making plain mashed potatoes.  i made a small chicken cholent for lunch.  i fried chicken cutlets for dinner and it took forever to finish.  i had a pile of dishes in both sinks and i wanted to cry.  i truly struggled to get ready for shabbat.

i did spend hours on the phone with friends, beforehand, in all honesty.  it zapped me of all my strength.  i baked a white cake and threw in some orange juice and vanilla pudding.  it was okay.  it did go for a change.  i had wanted to make some dairy corn muffins but there was no time to play around anymore.  i made some cabbage salad with mayo, a little bit of egg salad, mashed up a couple of avocados, and made a small israeli salad of cucumbers and tomatoes. i also served chumus.  it was a simple meal.  i had both kids with me while their mother rested until my son came home form shul.

i didn't get a nap today and neither did the grandson.  he was overtired and wild.  both kids trashed the house while i talked to my firends.  at least, the kids are sparkling clean again and perhaps fast asleep, while my house is once again back in shape and i even got to blog.  that's quite an end to a long day.

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