Purim 2015

it is 5:00 p.m. in the holy city of zefat.   I am alone.  ah the quiet!  I had the two little kids running around for 4 hours and the plumbers banging and drilling for a couple of hours, too.  my head hurts.  this year I am spending Purim with my friends.   the kids are going downtown to the clan for the seudah. 

I invited a few friends to join me for the afternoon Purim meal.  it is customary to get loaded.  I plan to do just that.  I didn't buy any expensive alcohol.  my friends aren't big drinkers.  I decided to go with sangrias.  I decided to go Sephardi cuisine, more or less.  I made Libyan style black eyes peas and chickpeas,  Moroccan style turkey meatballs and lentils and bulgur, Persian style orange marinated salmon fillet and a Moroccan tomato salsa. 

I did research on Purim food and found a source for serving fish, legumes and beans, turkey, and liver, as well as meat.  I made a little bit of everything.  I am planning on making chopped chicken liver later tonight.  I also have chicken wings marinating in a Szechwan sauce.  I made poppy seed hamentashen today.  they are not the best.  I also made some chocolate molds for Purim.  I have masks, hamentashen and fish.  I made 2 chocolate CDs to give away too.  my Purim baskets are very modest.  I have small bottles of wine, tiny cans of spicy tuna, mini bags of candy and small tins of butter cookies.

I am going to a Purim spiel tomorrow night.   the theme is cross dressing.  apparently, the men, will be in drag.  I am dressing up as a man in drag.  I have a glamorous costume wig and dress.  I can hardly close the dress which adds to the idea of a man squeezing into a woman's dress.  I will blacken my face under the nose and chin area to create a 5:00 o'clock shadow.  I did this the other night and freaked out all of the kids.

I have the kids with me tomorrow because the gans are closed.   last year I took the kids with me to the synagogue to hear the megillah and I came late and missed the beginning.  the daughter-in-law was sick and I was on call.  this year I get to be with the grown ups.  no little children running around underfoot, and babies crying.  I get to serve my food on time.  no one will be running around starting any barbecues while the rest of us are eating.  and the best of all, no one will be speaking in Hebrew.

I asked my friend to supply the music.  my son is taking the karaoke machine to the clan.  he makes a great Purim mix.  he like me, loves to party.  the other clan doesn't quite get it.  anyway, I'm pleased with  this arrangement.   I've hosted the clan for the last 3 or 4 years.   it  was time for a change.   my son isn't happy about this and has been giving me grief for days.  you know the old saying that misery loves company.   any how, I'm looking forward to Thursday's meal.  the idea of looking forward to anything is a bit foreign to me.   I'm even going to try to make a non dairy chocolate mousse.

I found a tiny puppy before Shabbat and took it home.  I couldn't let it suffer out in the cold.  everyone loves him except for my two geriatric dogs.  I am hoping to find a good home for him in the immediate future.  anyway, it hasn't really been a hassle dealing with him.  it is nothing compared to a Chihuahua in heat.   you may remember that we were "hosting" one before the holidays.  that turned out to be a real disaster.   I saw an add for the dog and her puppies recently.  they are charging $700 a puppy.  I nearly had a nervous breakdown and ended up without a penny after taking care of the 'bitch' for a few months.

I recently went to see a neurosurgeon in the zefat hospital for a second opinion about my non malignant brain tumor.  I was hoping that he'd say to leave it alone.  not the case.  he didn't understand why I hadn't undergone the surgery already.  I let him know that I was scared to death and he told me to leave it alone for a while .   I have a 4 month reprieve from neuro surgeons now.  let's hope I can hold it together for a little while longer.