Baby It's Cold Outside

it's 10:00 p.m. in the holy city oaf zefat.   thank the Lord, the kids went back to gan this morning.  the snow storm never happened.  it started to snow several times but it never stuck.  it is simply freezing and stormy.  tons of rain are falling in the holy land.  we didn't lose power so with the aid of 3 heaters we didn't freeze.  it was actually comfortable around the dining table and toasty in the t.v. game area where the kids play.

Friday was tough.  from the early morning on the kids were hyper active.  by the early afternoon they were insane.  I lost my cool.  I screamed until I nearly lost my voice.  I could have easily hurt them.  I had done a major part of the cooking on Thursday but I still had plenty to do on Friday.  I was called to break up their wildness countless number of times.  they kept on dragging in a large down comforter from the back bedroom.  I kept on putting it back in the bedroom.   it, nevertheless, kept on being tossed on the rug.  said comforter ended up catching on fire on Friday night.

we were amazingly lucky that my son put out the small flame before it caused any harm to the kids or house.  I was so mad.  it was a down comforter given to me by a friend.   you can't buy these here.  they only have the polyester ones.  I was more mad that the kids had dragged in the comforter after I had spent the entire day retrieving it from them.  it only hit me later on that they could have been seriously harmed by the small fire.  I didn't sleep much that night.

I went to bed at around 8:30 p.m. that night.  I had tasted a bit of good French cognac.  I jumped up at 3:00 a.m.  I ran to the door to see if we had been snowed under.  I saw my oldest and smallest dog, Cookie.  she had somehow been locked out all night long.  she no longer barks or hears for that, matter.  I felt criminal.   she seemed okay.  I didn't see our young dog Tiny.  I left the door open for a  while and drank a cup of tea.  it was freezing.  the heaters were off until around 7:00 a.m.  I set them on timers.

 I thought that Tiny had finally run away.  we've had him for almost a year.  I found him just before Purim and he was really tiny.  he slept in a shoe box.  he's a large dog now with plenty of energy.  I never intended on keeping him.  he has never been on a leash and chases cars and people.  he loves to play with the kids but he can get pretty aggressive.  he jumps into bed with me and tries to lay across my chest like a small puppy.  I went to the bathroom and found tiny lying on a pile of laundry.  apparently he got locked inside at some point that night.

I went back to bed but I couldn't sleep.  the fire and the locked out dogs kept me up.  I held on to my grandson and cradled him.  he still sleeps with me on Friday night.  I have to admit that he generates more body heat than any old comforter.  I think that I stared at him for hours.  I may have fallen back to sleeep around  6:30 a.m.  both kids woke me up at around 7:30 a.m.  I jumped out of bed to make everyone hot drinks.  I put out cake and butter cookies and everyone got a chocolate.  I was so happy that they hadn't gotten injured the night before.

they were so excited every time it started to snow.  they actually went outside in their pajamas.  kids are eskimos, anyway.  they never feel the cold.  they were running around all day in just socks.  they took all of the toys from the t.v. room and built themselves a mock toy store in the living room.  they were quite content.  the living room wasn't heated but it didn't stop them.  I didn't make 'cholent' for lunch.  that's a beef or chicken stew with potatoes and beans that's sits on the electric platter all night.  it is a perfect dish for winter.  and it is a one pot wonder.

 I made a stewed chicken with tomato sauce and threw in sweet potatoes and a couple of white ones.   it wasn't dry like cholent.   I also made a rice and lentil dish.  it was good to have sturdy hot food. my daughter-in-law really doesn't go for cholent.  I always try to please her.  my son came back from shul expecting to get cholent.  I think that if they are here next week I will make a small pot of cholent for my son.  my grandson also likes beef.  I will have stewed chicken for the daughter-in-law or fried cutlets.

I had two electric thermoses filled with hot water yesterday and a third kettle on the gas in case the power went out.  I hated to see my gas supply depleted but I didn't want to take a chance that we would be without hot food and drink.  as it turned out, we were okay. I woke up last night at 3:00 a.m again.  I kept the t.v on and listened with my eyes closed to hours of 'Grim.'  I had a cup of tea and two chocolates.  the house is absolutely freezing.  my hands are frozen as I type.  I think i'll end now and heat up some rice and lentils.  I may have promised the kids a lasagna today.  the daughter-in-law is working the morning shift so she will pick up the kids by car.  I will cuddle under the covers with the 3 dogs for body heat.