The Letter

it is 6:30 p.m. in the holy city of zefat.  we start the second holiday of pesach tonight.   candle lighting is in 40 minutes.  it was a lovely and comfortable pesach.   it was partly due to using disposable dishes and more importantly, my son was home all week.  he took the kids on trips and spent 3 full days with them.  there is a first time for everything, I guess.   we ate tons of steak and lamb this year because my son was home and in the mood to barbecue.  we had close friends visiting for a few days which made the holiday fun.

I had a few friends come over for lunch and I made schnitzels, fries and salad in record time.  the kids are going to the Sephardi family for the holiday and I am going to my friends in the neighborhood.  the kids will be returning for Shabbat.  I spent all morning cooking for Shabbat.  I went to the supermarket to by some spices because pesach ends on Friday night and I wanted to make regular food for Shabbat.  my son barbecued this afternoon and we had more lamb chops and chicken wings.  I am still stuffed.

all in all, it was a great chag.  I got an email a little while ago letting me know that my niece in Delhi had given birth to a baby girl ten days ago.   my older sister in California had told me before pesach that she had seen a picture of my other niece holding a baby.  she couldn't read the Hebrew text and as none of us were informed that my niece was pregnant, she assumed it was from the exended family.

my sister emailed me the night before she travelled to India and still didn't mention that my niece was due at any moment.  I kind of suspected the truth because my sister, her daughter and husband, all went to India this year.   I figured they were going for a bris.  anyway, I was deeply hurt, once again.  I am happy for my niece but I am not interested in any news from over there at this point.

I guess I should rap this out and get a shower in.  I did the floors this morning.  they were black.  I made spicy chicken legs, spicy chicken stir fry, mashed potatoes, beets and carrot salad.  I will make an Israeli salad on Shabbat.   I bought drinks and also made fresh lemonade and apple juice.  we still have pesach cakes left over and I bought two pints of ben and jerry ice cream.  chag samach!