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Honey is Sweet

Hello - 2008-07-17

I'm grateful for: a busy, happy day; having my exercise bike back; D2's school tuition being sorted out.

Hello, hello, hello, hello! I haven't read anything for days. Two or three of them at least. I have been SO busy! It's good.

Yesterday was a very, very big day. We got up at or before 7am, and tried to leave the house by 8am (made it before 9, tho). TH and S1, D3, S3 and I headed off on an expedition. S2 stayed home to hold the fort and also to enjoy an entire day by himself. That doesn't happen often in our large family. Happy S2!

We drove to Petakh Tikvah, and after a tour through the shuk (where TH pointed out the bakery D2 works at), TH dropped us off on the street with a used bookstore that S1 had *really* wanted to bring everyone to. S1 was a big motivator in the having of this expedition.

The bookstore was kind of good. It is a used English language book store, which is something we definitely need ('we' meaning my family here). The woman working at the store was kind of obnoxious. S1 didn't seem to mind but D2 (who met us there) left the store hissing and spitting. I wasn't there for that.

TH returned to the bookstore having picked up the boy D to join us on the expedition. His sister M was also supposed to join us, but well, it didn't happen. Which was sad. With TH and I, S3 and D drove off. TH we left at his place of employment (where he rarely actually works), and I drove S3 and D back to the neighbourhood of the bookstore, where there was a pizza place which was our designated spot for lunch. My parking fairy was working, I found legal parking with even a teensy bit of shade (which was gone before long).

The others walked over to join us. There aren't too many formal sit-down restaurants, at least in the places I go in Israel. This, like so many places, looked like a fast food takeaway at the beach (image from Chicago), and had some plastic and aluminum tables and chairs scattered about on the sidewalk in front of it. It is NOT fast food take-away however, like you get in more northern climates. These are actual restaurants who don't bother to have indoor seating because there is no need. Anyway the pizza was good, fairly inexpensive, filling, and came with garlic bread that is very good if you knock off 90% of the sesame seeds on top. The 10% that are left are quite sufficient, really. You cannot see the bread for the sesame seeds. It was a good lunch, I had carrot juice and S3 had orange juice and S1 bought Coca cola for everyone who wanted some. We all had a very good time.

The next thing was to bring S3 and D down to my friend MS's home in Bareqet.

I don't know if anyone has been able to track the various people I claim as friends, I do know I haven't come up with a consistent way of identifying them here, but my friend MS in Bareqet at least has always been in Bareqet, at least. And she is one of my best friends, if not my best friend in Israel. She is also disabled, has three children, lives in what was recently an agricultural moshav (still a moshav, recently gotten out of agriculture and becoming a bedroom community for Tel Aviv). She lives quite near to Petakh Tikvah, and has a son N who is two years older than S3, but they are best friends.

Anyway, so I drove the two boys down to Bareqet. It was a nervous sort of a visit. The last time but one that D had been there, he had caused such upset in the family, especially for N, that MS said she didn't want him back, ever. The last time D was there, which was a necessary situation not a visit, we'd driven S3 down there and came to pick him up, but had D with us who was coming down to stay with us for a while. D ended up staying and playing for a bit as adults talked and things were got ready, and it went well. So, MS was willing to give it a try. Bareqet is less than 20 minutes from Petakh Tikvah, but I hadn't even gotten there when the phone rang the first time. My family cannot live without me. ;-)

When I arrived at MS's home, I started calling people back, so I was there for over half an hour, during which time I had five different phone calls (ones I returned and new ones). I stayed long enough to be sure that D visiting would not cause upset, then turned around and headed back to Petakh Tikvah with a promise I would come back later and actually visit with MS.

While I was doing all that, the kids D2, D3 and S1 (okay, I shouldn't call D2 and S1 'kids.' They are still MY kids), were packing things up at D2's old apartment. The went to hang out at the public library for a while (air conditioning) while they waited for me to make it back. Then they loaded the car with boxes and boxes and stuff and boxes, piled in (we have quite a small car) and drove over to D2's new apartment. There, I left D2 to unpack a bit because we now had to drive up to Rosh HaAyin. That was part of what all the phone calls were about.

I don't know if I mentioned my sister bought S1 and S2 ipod nanos as birthday presents this year. S2's has been wonderful, but S1's had problems from the very first, and never worked right. It died completely after a few days. RS had bought them in the U.S., so we contacted her, figured out a plan of action, got the receipts and dropped S1's ipod nano off at the Apple dealer in Israel. There is only one.

After TH had gotten to work, he'd gotten a call that the ipod nano was ready to be picked up. The Apple dealer, called iDigital, is in Rosh HaAyin (which means Head of the Ayin (River)). It's maybe twenty minutes in the opposite direction from Petach Tikvah. So S1, D3 and I picked up TH and headed up to Rosh HaAyin. We got there in record time, picked up the (new) ipod nano, and headed back where we met D2 at her old apartment. We loaded the car with everything we could, TH put the bed on top, people crushed inside, and we drove to the new apartment.

D2's new apartment is less than a five minute walk from her old one, but due to the nature of driving in Petakh Tikvah (one way streets), it takes a bit of driving roundabout to get there. Getting back from new apartment to old isn't too bad, fortunately.

It took one more load to get everything D2 had to move, moved. I waited at the new apartment and read my book (that I had brought for just this sort of situation) to give more room in the car, and also because the new apartment has a really nice shaded garden (that would be closer to an English, rather than American use of the word garden). The house has two very large trees, not something you usually find in Israel, which makes it cooler and quite lovely.

The crew came back with Natan, D2's boyfriend. There was a HUGE bit of excitement, TH had run over D3's foot with the car. No damage was done Barukh Hashem! but in the long line of things that TH has done, this was certainly a good one. D2 had given me a severe warning not to drive the boyfriend away, in other words, not to be too weird or behave too comfortably (as in, as if it were all family). I was a little hurt and a little amused. I got over the hurt quickly enough. She does really like him, and TH and I both like him, too. I have strong hopes this will turn out to be permanent, but I'm keeping that very quiet. For now.

The car got unloaded and we sat around and shmoozed. TH went off to pick up D from MS's house, and drive him to his home in Petakh Tikvah, since this had to be done and better done without everyone in the car. D2 had watermelon, which we dug into, and it was very nice. Once TH got back, we had to pile all of us that were going into the car, say goodbye to Natan and D2, and head off to supper and Bareqet.

Supper was shawarma at another casual restaurant on the way to Bareqet. There's an out-of-the-way place we know of because MS told us about it, that serves very good shawarma, and the chips (fries) are pretty good, too. Unusual, to get edible chips here, they are usually cold, way too greasy, and not salted. Often undercooked as well. Not at all appetizing, trust me. We ate in the car, and brought some shawarma for S3, who was still visiting. At MS's, we found that S3 had had a wonderful time, acquired a painful heat rash (which didn't stop him from playing) and was starving. I think he inhaled his supper, I certainly didn't see him chew.

We did manage a nice, if short, visit. TH and her husband S went off to get pizza, as the supper they were cooking didn't work out. TH as a result found a new kenyone (mall) that we can check out sometime. MS is knitting lace for the second time. She made a lace shawl, and is now making another one. She wanted to pick my brain about lace knitting, about circular knitting, to borrow a book I have with lace patterns, and generally to pick my brains. That was fun, and once the pizza arrived and they were sitting down to supper we cleared out and went home. We made it home about a quarter after ten. Lo-ong day. S1 made some chips (french fries), he really makes VERY good chips, as a treat after the long day. S3 had a bath and his chips and went to bed. The rest of us slowly or quickly crawled off to bed sore, tired, but it was a good day. Need more of those (maybe not so long next time).

My exercise bike finally got back Tuesday, and I haven't yet been able to get on it. Might have been Monday, I forget. I hope I will manage tonight, but it depends as instead of laying around recovering from yesterday, I have to now go and to the food shopping with S2. TH managed to hit his head on a rock (long story, stupid, no one holding the ladder, not important) and is walking around with a mighty fine goose egg and is certainly NOT driving anywhere. Everyone else is doing okay, even D3's toes are fine today. I am achey and really tired, but I did sleep more than eight hours, and we do have to eat. *sigh*

I like that I am doing better. I wish that I could scale my activity back to more than I was doing before, without going full out and being exhausted all the time. Maybe... ?? It's supposed to be a quiet shabbos at least.

I miss you all, and maybe will have time to read some, well, tomorrow night. Hashem is in charge, and it all works out. At least I am not lying around feeling sorry for myself!

I'm listening to whatever Pokemon episode S3 is watching on my big computer.

0 bleats so far

:: Yesterdays : Tomorrows ::

~~~Last Five Entries~~~
Hi and goodbye - 2010-10-15
I'll be moving on - 2010-10-10
Gold membership and stuff - 2010-10-10
Decisions, decisions - 2010-10-07
Days to go - 2010-10-06